Pet Noir by Pati Nagle

Author:Pati Nagle [Nagle, Pati]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: mystery, science fiction, humor, cat
ISBN: 978 1 61138 063 7
Publisher: Book View Cafe

6. The Cygnius sedonai Caper

Life took on a comfortable routine until the Cygnius sedonai Caper came down. I was growing steadily, and managed to sneak an occasional visit with Leila despite Elsa’s disapproval.

Gamma isn’t the roughest assignment around, I’ll admit, in fact it’s fairly quiet most of the time. You got your fugitives, bail jumpers, your occasional small-time smuggler of cheap knockoff wetware or nanoporn—they’re usually easy to sniff out because of the fear sweat—and a whole lot of ordinary tourists and emigrees who trip up ‘cause they just don’t know the rules.

I kept busy slinking around the rotunda, mostly, and reporting transgressions and suspicious behavior to Devin. People will do things in front of a cat they would never do in front of other humans, which is what keeps me in kippers. That’s why I put up with the petting and cooing, even let the rugrats get away with grabbing occasionally. It’s part of my job.

No pulling the tail, though. That’s where I draw the line.

It’s a tempting tail for the brats, I admit. My genetic ancestors were Maine Coons, and as I matured the tail got long and very full. My coat lost the last of the kitten fur and became a dark blue tabby-stripe, with silvery tufts inside my ears and a matching silver bib on my chest, which is why some of the two-leggers persisted in calling me Tux. I suppose I would have been less conspicuous with more average-cat genes, but I wasn’t exactly in control of the process, and my breeders were looking for even temperament.

In my job, you have to stay cool. Interstellar criminals are no easy cheeses, and despite the fact that most of our collars were small fry, Devin and I ran into a few that would make your average house cat shed a week’s worth of dust bunnies in a flat second.

The Cygnius sedonai Caper was one of those: a whole different kettle of fish. If I hadn’t had a good team put together—something the chief failed to appreciate at the time—it could have ended very badly indeed.

The day it all came down started out like any ordinary day, except that Devin was gone when I got up. I took the lift up to the rotunda and started on my usual morning rounds in the market rings before heading up to the customs gate to watch the first inbound shuttle load get dumped into Gamma Beta.

The cleaning crew had just been through, wiping up all the really good, gritty smells, leaving behind their usual chem odor and that fresh-clean slickness to the floors. My claws ticked a little on the polished surface. I drew them back so as to prowl silently.

The customs gate is in the rotunda, fed by a dedicated lift that runs straight from the shuttle dock. Incoming passengers get their first look at Gamma under the highest ceiling anywhere in the station, a full ten meters high, with beautiful soaring arches supporting the starview walls of the dome.

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