Derelict For Trade by Andre Norton

Author:Andre Norton [Norton, Andre]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-17T00:00:00+00:00

13

Craig Tau ruffled Omega's ears and stroked the sides of the cat's muzzle, smiling at the resultant loud purr. Alpha headbutted his other hand, and he knelt down and for a time did nothing but pet the cats.

It felt good to empty his mind, to just play with the animals. They lived so much in the moment, without worrying about missing ships, or lying rumors, or vanishing credit – or personal problems among their crewmates.

A scratch on his arm brought his attention round to Sinbad, who batted him again. Now he had three cats to stroke. He reached down and scratched Sinbad's wedge-shaped head, watching with a grin as the notched ears went flat and the eyes narrowed with pleasure. Sinbad's rusty-sounding purr was twice as loud as the others'.

"Well, old friend, what should I do?" Tau addressed the cat.

Sinbad licked his lips and purred louder.

"That's what I thought," Tau said with a wry laugh. "Keep my mouth shut."

Alpha jumped up onto his knee and tried to settle into a loaf despite the microgravity. Claws pricked through Tau's trouser leg as the cat pulled itself down into his lap, making him wince. He gently lifted the cat down, hooking his calves under his seat to keep from drifting forward off the chair. He threw a couple of the toys he'd fashioned, and watched all three cats leap after them, their tails stretched behind them in the stabilizing position of a free-fall-acclimated animal. Sinbad lagged behind, not yet as adept in microgravity. Another clue to the identity of the Ariadne's crew: they'd evidently spent a lot of time in microgravity, which meant outside of human space where habitats were common.

The two new cats seemed healthy and happy, and Tau was glad he'd decided to let them out of isolation. Sinbad had been more forbearing than he'd dared to hope, for a cat who'd had the entire ship as his own territory for so long. Or perhaps he knew he'd be no match for the two newcomers under these strange conditions they seemed to know so well.

Of course the two had not ventured out into the ship yet; they seemed content, for now, to stay in the lab.

Tau straightened up, his gaze on the three cats. If only it was that easy with humans, he thought. Of course, with some people it probably was that easy. But he'd served as medic for a shipful of reticent individualists for years now, and he wasn't sure if he should break habit – no, tradition

– and get the two on his mind to talk, or to just keep his own mouth shut.

It didn't help when one of the persons under consideration was the captain and the other was the colleague with whom he worked the closest.

"Laboring hard, I see."

Tau looked up, saw Rael Cofort in the hatchway. She was smiling, looking immaculate as always from her coronet of auburn hair to the neat brown uniform. Tau's gaze traveled back up to her face, noted the tired eyes above the smile, and he wondered when he should break that silence.

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