In between telling Karuk all his thoughts about everything, including Jenny and the spaceship, which he hated being stuck on, the creature would not be silent.
The cat was the telepath he heard before, not Jenny.
Not any of the humans.
“I’m a fierce beast, you have no idea,”Fluffikins added.
“Sure, you can, Fluffikins.”Karuk telepathically told the fluff ball.
“And that’s another thing. The name. It doesn’t invoke fear and tremors in my enemies.”
“I’ll add that to the list.”
The cat had been giving him a list of grievances since the creature realized Karuk could hear him.
Karuk rubbed his head. He could barely hear himself think over the cat’s very opinionated views of Jenny and the galaxy.
“Are you sure you’re well?” Jenny asked, drawing his attention away from Fluffikins.
“My brain is overstimulated.”
Jenny looked at her cat. “Mr. F if you’re overwhelming him…”
“I’m not. You’re just the first one of you two-legs that can actually hear me, and I have so many things I need to say!”
Karuk glared at him. “Enough.”
“That’s it,” Jenny scooped up the cat. “You are, well, I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re giving him a headache, and that’s rude.” She walked over to a door, opened it, and tossed the cat inside.
He let out a series of complaints the whole time, but when the door was closed, it dampened the sound considerably.
“Now, are you okay? Can I get you anything? I think I have some uh, headache medicine, around here somewhere.”
Karuk waved his hand. “No. I should return to my quarters for the sleep cycle.”
Jenny came closer to him. “Do you need a break? Maybe sit first?” She gestured to the couch. “You haven’t sat down since you came in here.”
He shook his head. Though that wasn’t the most pleasant sensation. He hadn’t been overwhelmed with thoughts from anyone like that in a long time.
He fiddled with the cuff on his ear, adjusting the power of it, and it seemed to ease back his ability to hear the animal through the door. Now it backed off to garbled meows.
“I’m sorry. I’m still not sure I get it, really. You can hear him? Like, in words and sentences?”
“He is very articulate.”
“But can you read my thoughts right now?”
He tapped the cuff on his ear. “Not with this on. I’m going to have to check some settings to see why the pet’s thoughts are getting through.”
“If you’re ever going down to Earth, you’d better. There’s cats and dogs and all kinds of pets everywhere.”
“Not going to happen.”
She smiled. “Never say never. I said I would never get to be up on The Bridge and see what the world was like from there, and look at where I am now.”
“You are much achieved much more than the planet-bound station. You are among the first here.”
“True,” she said. She glanced around her little place, and then back at him. “Can I offer you something? A drink or something?”
