Free Catacombs by Anne McCaffrey Page A

said, even though she couldn’t understand me. “Don’t clobber the cat who feeds you.”
    The girl hopped back, clutching her bleeding leg, and I returned my attention to Renpet. To my surprise she was paws up, showing her tummy in a submissive gesture. “Please do not slay me, mighty catcher of fish!” she said. “I mean no harm.”
    “Is that so?” I asked, hovering but not attacking. “It seems to me that whatever it was that made the temple shake and thump is probably your fault, since you seem to be running away from it.”
    “We only created a diversion while we took back what is mine by right. Nefure would have destroyed it. She is evil, Chester the Fisher. She assassinated my mother.”
    “Why? Was your mom in the habit of stealing
her
fish?”
    “My mother was the greatest queen our race has seen since we came from the stars. She brought peace and prosperity.”
    “You must take after your sire. There’s nothing peaceful about you.”
    “My sire is a traitor—I had hoped when he returned he would make Nefure pay for her treachery, but instead he has become her follower. Did you not see him join her in pursuing me, his own offspring?”
    “You mean Pshaw-Ra is your sire?”
    “None other,” she said bitterly.
    “And he’s also the queen’s sire? And you thought he was going to choose you over the sister with the power? You don’t really know him very well, do you?”
    “I fear not. He is something of a legend among us.”
    “I’m sure he started the legend himself,” I said. “He thinks he’s very impressive.”
    I noticed as I spoke that the girl had something strapped to her back. It smelled dead and musty. “Is that what you took? The thing she carries?”
    “That is no thing. That is my mother. We are taking her to properlyprepare her for the afterlife, something Nefure would have denied her.”
    “Afterlife? There’s something besides, well, no life at all?”
    “Yes, of course. Royal cats are immortal and are granted nine incarnations on this plane. Of course, the trick is knowing which incarnation you happen to be on at the moment and how many remain. For that we must clandestinely consult the former royal astrologer.”
    “And that would be?”
    “A problem. She now serves Nefure. Before his departure, my sire also served as royal astrologer, but the post was not evidently elevated enough to suit him.”
    No surprise there. “Complicated family you have,” I told her. “I had two mothers and two sets of littermates, and mine is much simpler.”
    “You are not royalty,” she said.
    “Maybe not, but I am
very
well bred. Just ask my mother, or even my father for that matter, he’s here too.”
    “No time for that. We must spirit my mother away from here, but we are going the wrong direction.” She looked puzzled as she said that and gave a small mew.
    “Why?” I asked. Surely it would have been easier to go in the right direction?
    “The explosion we set accomplished its purpose, but it also collapsed the ceiling of the most convenient passage. There are other ways but to reach them we must first pass through the temple, where we will be taken by Nefure’s guards. You must assist us, Chester the Fisher.”
    Must I? There was absolutely no reason to favor this fish stealer and her girl except that I wanted to see what they’d do next—that and I thought it might really annoy Pshaw-Ra.
    “I will, but only because I am a very heroic fellow,” I told her. I could feel my boy waiting anxiously for me above, and though I hadn’t been communicating directly with him since my descent,I did now.
We have a bit of a situation down here
, I told him.
That pair we met at the river need to get out without being caught. Can you do something to distract everyone?
    Through his eyes I saw that the adult cats seemed to be getting extremely friendly with each other, the air thick with a hairy haze and a very musky scent that may or may not have been part of the cause of my sudden