Chapter 12: Separating Stars

Out of all the people there in the hangar, only Cattia was smiling. Everyone else was still in a shock over seeing her sudden appearance, not to mention her offering of a new job. Everybody was too amazed to speak or even move, and Cattia’s smile increased a little more as she stared back at the spellbound group. She raised a single eyebrow, crossed her arms, and gazed from one person to the next.

“ ... So ... what’s the verdict?” she tried. It was a lot cause to snap that lot out of their befuddled state; better to wash a cat than to loosen these tongues. Finally, Dana and Zet stepped forward, and of course they both had a million questions to ask.

“How did you do that? How could you possibly escape? What do you mean when you say you have a job for us? Why should we trust you?” And so on, and so forth, until eventually, everyone else stepped in to contribute something. Cattia sighed and blew several strands of hair out of her eyes as she was being attacked by questions, and since everyone was talking at once, she had to shout to be heard.

“Hey, hey, HEY!!! One at a time, okay?!” Her yell did little to help quiet the noise in the hangar, but luckily, Diana was able to silence them all with a sharp whistle. The half-dragon, half-human woman slowly approached Cattia, her reptilian façade making her a little more frightening with every step. The Space Cat seemed only a little concerned as the demi-human came up to her.

“ ... It seems as if we have some questions on our minds,” she said. “If you don’t mind, I really think you should start answering them. First of all, how was it possible that you escaped the ship’s laser cage?”

“What can I say?” shrugged Cat proudly. “I’m an escape artist. My trade secrets are my own, so don’t think I’d tell them to you.” Diana bristled a little, but kept her cool as she grilled the infamous outlaw.

“Fair enough ... Then tell us this: why should we trust you with anything, let alone a job offer?” Cattia gave the other woman a slight smile, and stared back with hazy blue eyes.

“I don’t know what kind of hash you’ve been given, but the rumors about me killing all those people is a lie.”

“It takes a liar to know a liar!!!” roared Dana suddenly. She pointed her finger directly at the Cat, and yelled with the voice of an enraged prophet. “This woman is a con artist, a scammer, a liar, and a fraud! She’ll do anything to get herself one step of the law! Don’t trust her for even a second!”

“Listen to me!!!” shouted the Cat. “I may not be a model citizen, but I can tell you that I’m no murderer!”

“More lies!” screamed Dana.

“I did not kill those people!“ screamed Cattia. The two women glared at each other fiercely, and probably would have fought right then and there if they had not been separated.

“Enough!” shouted Diana, who was holding Cattia down. “Whether this woman is a killer or a saint doesn’t matter now! You need to stop fighting before you get hurt! I’ve seen enough strife already to last me a day!” Diana’s emerald eyes burned their way into Cattia’s soul first, then Dana’s, and finally, Zet’s. “Now stop fighting!”

“ ... Lady Diana...” Said demi-human gave Zet another gaze, swallowed, and backed away from Cattia. Waving her reddish hair off to the side, the half-human took a deep breath, crossed her arms, and stared hard at the Space Cat.

“I’m not involved in any of this,” she stated. “My only goal is evading the Magic Stars. These people claim to be able to help me, and I don’t know whether to believe them or not. But Miss Prepells, I have no argument against you. I don’t know what’s true or what’s false right now, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to hear you out, okay?” A pause. Cattia took a deep breath and nodded her head.

“ ... Okay. Now ... Diana, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay ... Miss Diana, since you’re the only one here who’s not acting like a rabid dog, I guess I can inform you about this job I’ve been working on. Oh, hey, you! C’mere!” Cattia suddenly pulled on Greg’s shirt sleeve, and dragged him closer to her. “Yeah, c’mere! This has something to do with you, kinda.”

“Me?”

“You held those packages for me, right?” she asked. Greg slowly nodded his head, and Cattia cleared her throat so she could tell her story. “Okay, then. Now that I have your all’s attention, I might as well start out by stating that I am innocent of all charges pressed against me.”

“That’s a load of--”

“Hey, Dana...” Greg placed his hand on her shoulder, and shook his head slowly. She sighed and mumbled out a weak apology. “Continue, please.”

“No interruptions? ... Well, all right. Anyway, whether you choose to believe me now or not isn’t important. The important thing is that I find some help in accomplishing this mission, and since I got you all involved in a sense, I guess you all will have to do.”

“You’ve gotta be kiddin’!” shouted Jerwon. “After what you did, do you really expect us to work with you?”

“Yes,” she said flatly, “I do.” Jerwon and Dana both snorted, but level-headed Diana was there to goad the scarred woman onward. “Anyway,” she coughed, “I guess the more help I get, the better. You know those two guys, the knight wannabe and the goat? Well, they were hired by the guy that I stole these plans for.”

“Hold on, what guy?” interrupted Greg. “What’re you talkin’ about? Lady, this may sound strange to you, but we have no idea what’s going on!” Cattia looked at the young man in annoyance, sighed, and grumbled a little.

“I guess I can tell you the story in a nutshell, but you’re going to have to promise me that you won’t interrupt me any more.” After receiving a promise from everybody (Dana merely grumbled), Cattia cleared her throat and elaborated on her mysterious mission...