“Yes. I find myself wanting verification of just who that was we found and I am concerned that Dr. Quincy hasn’t sent us the information yet.”
“Perhaps there is something keeping him from doing so. Should I send him a message?”
I knew it was late where he lived, so he was probably tucked up into bed just as I should be. Still, he would see it first thing in the morning.
“Yes, please ask him to contact me first thing.”
“Message sent. Enjoy your lomarta, Jolar.”
Morris came into the room, tail held high. He made a soft mewing sound which sounded plaintive.
“Are you hungry?” I asked the cat as I sat down at our breakfast bar. He jumped onto the counter, nosing towards my drink. “No, no. That’s not a drink for cats.”
He gave me an unimpressed look.
“He can probably scent the milk content. Cats are extremely fond of milks. I can provide some lactose free milk formulated as a cat treat for him.”
Morris was not giving up on trying to get into my mug, so I stood up, mug in one hand as I replied, “Yes, please.”
The requested treat appeared already in a small bowl and I walked over to get it. Seeing the bowl in my hand, Morris began pacing about, twining through my legs and around my feet, purring and meowing louder. I bent down, quickly placing the bowl on the floor. He immediately zeroed in on it. The sound of galloping paws had me turning around. Neal’s cat had heard Morris and came to find out what was happening. Her head quickly butted Morris’, trying to move him away so she could have the treat.
“A second one of those, please, Xeranos.”
I chuckled softly to myself as I placed the quickly produced second bowl onto the floor and Morris abandoned his to come gorge on the fuller one. The cats both quickly emptied their bowls, and I placed them into the dish cleaner, requesting Xeranos make up a labeled carafe of the treat for me to store in the chiller. The bowls would come in handy for giving them the treat.
I stood, sipping my drink, watching the two cats sit and begin grooming themselves, each keeping half an eye on the other. They weren’t being unfriendly to each other, but it was obvious they were still getting to know each other better in this strange new place they also needed to get used to. I smiled, knowing that the portents looked good for them becoming good cat buddies and perhaps even playmates. I chuckled to myself as I placed the cup into the replicator.
“Recycle, please.”
An opaque safety shield slid up over the opening and the cup vanished in a haze of lavender light. The shield slid back down. It was a safety feature Darla had Xeranos put into place on all household replicators to prevent unwitting accidents in case of a quite unlikely malfunction that occurred while a hand or pet cat was still inside the receptacle area. The replicator had safety protocols against disassembling living flesh, but Darla had insisted and Commander Gundar had agreed that the redundancy would harm no one.
I looked around our new living space. It was more spacious than our last, including an extra bedroom which perhaps Mitch might like to use as a private place to study. I made a mental note to ask him in the morning, but as I wandered back to our bed, my mind was already imagining the space with a desk for him. He could shut the door to study in peace and quiet while I kept an eye on Neal, or if I was at work, Xeranos could monitor him while he played or watched a program.
I slid into bed, turning to arrange Mitch so his face was on my pec as I cradled him against me.
“Mm, what?” he muttered sleepily.
I dropped a kiss onto his forehead. “Everything is fine,” I reassured him.
“Okay,” he said, snuggling deeper against my side, not even bothering to open his eyes.
He really was cute. In fact he was the most adorable adult human I’d ever met, I decided as my eyes slid shut.
CHAPTER26
MITCHELL
“But I don’t wanna gotoday!” Neal wailed. “I gots to name my kitty and helps her and Molly gets used to being on a spaceship. I cans help you with Morris too!”
I chewed my bottom lip. While getting new pets wasn’t a particularly good reason to keep him home today, yesterday had been a pretty big upheaval thanks to the move and his reaction to Jolar being away when it happened.
“Okay,” I said, caving like one of those houses made of playing cards I used to try to build as a kid.”Tell you what. We just moved here to our new house so it’s been a big change for us all.”
“Uh huh,” he agreed with me, nodding vigorously.
“And I was barely used to our old house, so I’m feeling this is extra new too.”
“Yeah! And I got a new room too! I’m not used to it!”
