Free The Next Thing I Knew (Heavenly) by John Corwin Page A

amazing.  I didn't know animals could do that."
    "Nibbles is no ordinary cat."
    "Oh?"
    "Well he's dead for starters," I said.
    "And he has an awesome name."  Nibbles meowed and rubbed against Chris's leg.  "And I think he understands English."
    "Don't push it," I said.  Making feathers is one thing.  A talking cat might freak me out."
    "I won't even bother pointing out how silly that statement is, all things considered."
    "I'm not silly.  I'll have you know I was in line to become high school valedictorian."
    "And that makes you not silly."
    "It does," I said and stuck out my tongue.
    We joined Kyle in space as he and a few thousand other ghosts watched the procession of massive space ships emerge from Saturn's shadow.  I'd forgotten that Nibbles was still in my arms.  He wriggled free and meowed pitifully as he spun weightless in space, legs outstretched and pawing frantically at the void.
    "Here Nibbles," I called making a kissing noise.  I felt the eyes of nearby people turn to me as I made a spectacle of myself trying to calm the hysterical flailing cat.  I wished I'd brought along a red feather to take the poor feline's mind off the vacuum of space.  Unfortunately trying to make things in Earth's dimension was even harder than in Heavenly.
    A stranger made a grab at Nibbles as he floated by, but the cat flitted out of reach.  He flitted a few more feet.  Nibbles stopped meowing and glanced at me, then flitted over.  He gingerly reached a paw to my shoulder and pulled himself onto it where he perched and purred.
    "That is one whacky cat," Chris said.
    "Don't confuse genius with wackiness," I said, feeling protective.
    "Look at the size of those things," Kyle said as he and Bella joined us.
    The ships looked tiny compared to Saturn but stretched on for a couple miles as they glided past underneath us.
    "How long until they reach Earth?" I asked.
    Kyle shrugged.  "Depends on whether they go to light speed or something."
    "And then what?"
    "Wish we knew."
    "What if they blow up the Earth?" I asked.  Even dead, it'd be depressing not to have Earth around anymore.
    "We don't think that's what they're after.  If so, why bother killing only humans and leaving everything else?"
    "They're probably here to inhabit the planet," Bella said.  "Ships that size are probably colonial in nature.  We couldn't get into the closed off areas of the ships, but I'm willing to bet they're filled with cryonic tanks and sleeping aliens."
    "That's the general consensus," Kyle said.
    "If they could travel warp speed, why do they need to sleep?" I asked.
    Kyle and Bella laughed.  "Warp speed is a term used in fictional movies like Star Trek," Bella said.  "Even at light speed, it could take hundreds of years to travel the galaxy so they'd need to slow the aging process."
    "You nerds," I said.
    I left the geeks watching the ships and visited Nick.  I walked in on him during a very personal moment as he watched a disgusting video on a laptop.  Shocked, I spun around and tried to wait for him to finish but curiosity tore at me.  I gave in and watched.  I wondered what it would be like to possess him during a, um, personal moment, but decided against it until I figured things out better.   That plus I felt like a peeping tom.
    Nibbles flitted to Nick and rubbed against his leg during a particularly messy moment.  Nick looked down at his shin, shrugged, and went into the bathroom to clean off.  When he came back, I told him about Nibbles and the ships.  He flopped on his bed and stared at the ceiling, not hearing a thing I said, just like a living man would do to a living woman probably.  After a few moments, he stood up and took a shot of whiskey, then another and another.  I hated seeing him like this.  I yelled at him but that did about as much good as kicking a stump so I merged with him.  I merged too late, however, and felt the hot bite of the liquor as it burned into his chest.
    I'd only been buzzed a couple of