He looked down at SCat, dumbfounded. "You were with the Patrol?" He whispered it; you did not invoke the Patrol's name aloud unless you wanted a visit from them.
Yellow eyes met his for a moment, then the paw tapped the screen. He read further.
Type MF-025, designation Lightfoot of Sun Meadow. Patrol ID FX-003. Standard Military genotype, standard Military training. Well, that explained how he had known how to shut down the "pirate" equipment. Now Dick wondered how much else the cat had done, outside of his sight. And a military genotype? He hadn't even known there was such a thing.
Assigned to Patrol ship DIA-9502, out of Oklahoma Station, designated handler Major Logan Greene.
Oklahoma Station--that was this station. Drug Interdiction? He whistled softly.
Then a date, followed by the ominous words, Ship missing, all aboard presumed dead.
All aboard--except the shipscat.
The cat himself gave a mournful yowl, and SKitty jumped up on the desk to press herself against him comfortingly. He looked back down at SCat. "Did you jump ship before they went missing?"
He wasn't certain he would get an answer, but he had lived with SKitty for too long to underestimate shipscat intelligence. The cat shook his head, slowly and deliberately--in the negative.
His mouth went dry. "Are you saying--you got away?"
)
