Alien Pets, Trisha McNary [free novel 24 .txt] 📗

on his master’s face. The look Master Mytaar always had when Eegor told him about his exploits. But Master Mytaar wasn’t looking at Eegor. He was looking down at the floor.

Odd, that, thought Eegor.

He continued his story.

“I asked her if she wanted to meet outside of class, and she said ‘no,’ but you know how females always say ‘no’ when they mean ‘yes,’ right?”

Eegor looked at Master Mytaar again for confirmation, but the big alien still didn’t look back at him.

“So anyway,” said Eegor, “I heard she was going to the gym tonight, so I waited in here for her. Then when she walked by, I grabbed her and pulled her in. Because like I said, we all know Earth females want it, but they always say they don’t. It’s part of their species mating habits. I mean my species. Right?”

He looked again at Master Mytaar. Still not looking back.

Could he be acting like this because Mistress Moneeka is here? Eegor wondered. He’s always fine with whatever I do with these females. He always says, “The mating habits of your species are very interesting, Eegor,” or something like that. But now he’s not backing me up. Hmm.

Eegor got a bit nervous. Would he really get some kind of punishment for this? He finished his story in a rush.

“So I pushed her down on the floor and tried to give her what I know she wanted. And then she bit me! Can you believe that? If anyone needs to be punished, it’s that bit… inferior female.”

He looked up at Mistress Moneeka. But she wasn’t looking at him. She was staring at Master Mytaar. That tall, skinny adolescent troublemaker M. Hoyvil was staring at Master Mytaar too.

Then Mistress Moneeka turned to Eegor.

“You may go back to your room and tend to your wound, Eegor,” she said. “We’ll let you know what we decide to do about this.”

That’s a relief, thought Eegor.

He was eager to escape the uncomfortable atmosphere of the room. On his way out the door, that bitch Antaska and her stupid human friend and her stupid cat all moved sideways away from him. Eegor glared at them. He wanted to say something, but he couldn’t with the master and mistress standing there. The stupid cat hissed and waved a tiny sharp-clawed paw at him.

Ha! Like that could hurt me, Eegor thought.

Then weirdly, he thought he heard a tiny female voice speaking in his head.

“I will hurt you,” said the voice.

Eegor shook his head and kept going down the hallway. Thoughts of Antaska returned. The feel of her shiny pink hair, her soft tanned skin pressed against his. He shook his head again.

No. After what she did, that inferior female doesn’t deserve any more of my attention. I’ll have to pick a new one, he decided.

With that decision made, Eegor cheered up. He mentally reviewed the various charms of the other women in the gym class.

Yah, things will be back to normal by tomorrow, he thought.

Back in the classroom, Potat listened and watched with interest as Tilde told her version of the story. Tilde looked Mistress Moneeka in the eyes as she spoke. A pinkish tinge bloomed under her pale skin.

“I was in my room waiting for Eegor to come visit,” said Tilde. “I knew Antaska was ignoring him in class, so I didn’t think he would be meeting her. Then he told me he wanted to go to the gym and work out alone. But something about him seemed weird. One of his eyes kept twitching. I wondered if he was lying to me.

“So after he left, I kept thinking about it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Then I thought maybe it was just an act. Maybe they were trying to trick me, and Antaska was just pretending she didn’t like him. I got mad, and I ran down the hall looking for them. And then I found them.”

Tilde stopped and hung her head down.

Well, at least she seems to know she did something wrong, thought Potat.

“And then what, Tilde?” Mistress Moneeka pressed her to go on.

“Then I came in this room and found Eegor on the floor holding his neck, and Antaska standing there over him. I didn’t know what happened. But I knew someone had insulted me, and I just lost it. I had to punch someone. So I tried to punch her, but M. Hoyvil got in the way.”

She turned and looked up at M. Hoyvil. He was shorter than the big adults but still a foot taller than her. He looked down at her with huge eyes that were stony green slits.

“I’m sorry, M. Hoyvil,” said Tilde. “I’m very sorry that I hit you and that I tried to hit Antaska. I’m just glad that you stopped me.”

M. Hoyvil’s expression softened only a bit. Potat knew he was waiting for something more. Tilde turned around slowly to face Antaska.

“I’m sorry, Antaska,” Tilde’s words stuttered out. “I’m very sorry for everything I’ve done. I blamed you for something that wasn’t your fault. I hope I’ll know better in the future, and I hope you’ll forgive me some day.”

Potat noticed Tilde looking from Antaska to Pablo as she spoke.

I think she’s more worried about what Pablo thinks, Potat thought.

But Antaska didn’t seem to care about that.

She smiled at Tilde and said, “Yes, I forgive you Tilde. Thank you for apologizing. And thank you for inspiring me to get in shape and learn martial arts.”

Oh, sheesh! thought Potat. No cat would ever be that forgiving. Well, at least Tilde apologized.

Tilde turned back to face the three giant Verdantes.

“Thank you, Tilde,” said Mistress Moneeka. “I appreciate your honesty. Now the three of us need to discuss this.” She indicated the other Verdantes. “You can go join the others. I see that you want to.”

Pale-skinned Tilde flushed pink again. She turned awkwardly and looked at Pablo. He smiled at her.

Humanoids! thought Potat.

Potat sat on a big Verdante desk between Antaska and Pablo. Tilde walked over with slow steps and stood facing Pablo. Potat listened to their conversation. Of course Antaska was listening too.

On the other side of the room, Potat could hear the three Verdantes arguing telepathically. But she was more interested in the vocal conversation of the nearby humans. So Potat recorded the Verdantes’ conversation in one part of her brain. She’d listen to it later if she wanted to.

“Are you mad at me?” Tilde asked Pablo. “Will you ever want to talk to me again?”

“I’m a little mad,” said Pablo. “But I’m glad you apologized, and I still want to talk to you, yes.”

Potat heard Tilde breathe a quiet sigh of relief.

“But I’m really glad you didn’t punch Antaska. If you had, I probably wouldn’t want to ever see you again,” Pablo said.

Tilde was silent for a few seconds.

“Does that mean you like her? Like Eegor, you like her too? Is that why?” Tilde asked him.

“No! I don’t like her like Eegor does!” Pablo insisted. “She’s my friend. We train and fight together, but I’m not romantic about her. Right, Antaska?”

He turned toward Antaska.

“Right,” Antaska said. She made a thumbs up gesture.

Pablo turned back to Tilde.

“Actually, there’s someone else who I feel romantic about,” he said.

“Really?” asked Tilde in a breathy voice.

Oh no, thought Potat. I know what’s coming now. That nasty mouth rubbing stuff humanoids do.

“Yes, really,” said Pablo.

Pablo and Tilde moved in closer to each other. But lean-muscled Pablo was a foot shorter than the beautiful seven foot tall Tilde.

Phew! I guess that’s not going to happen, thought Potat.

But Pablo was resourceful. He grabbed the high Earth human chair from the side of the desk and put it next to Tilde. Then he climbed up two of the steps. When his face was at the same height as hers, he leaned forward. Tilde leaned forward too. Their lips met and locked. Their arms encircled each other. Their firm, fit bodies pressed together. Hairless skin rubbed against hairless skin.

Ew! thought Potat.

Then there was a lot of groping. Potat heard some funny noises like sighing and moaning.

“Aw! That’s so sweet!” said Antaska.

Potat didn’t share her opinion.

“Would you mind? Would you please stop that? There are others here who don’t need to see this!” Potat protested in her loudest telepathic voice.

“Who said that?” asked Mistress Moneeka telepathically from across the room. “Did someone say, ‘you stop?”

The gigantic green woman stared over at Antaska and Tilde with disturbing curiosity in her eyes.

“Oh, that was Potat the cat,” said M. Hoyvil. “Cats are sentient and telepathic, you know.”

“Really?” said Mistress Moneeka. “That tiny thing? I didn’t know that. But I guess Tilde wouldn’t have said ‘you stop.’ And of course, it couldn’t have been Antaska.”

What’s that supposed to mean? Potat wondered. She’d better not be putting my pet Antaska down!

“In any case,” said Mistress Moneeka, “maybe they are getting a bit out of control over there.”

She spoke out loud to Tilde from across the room. “Tilde! I think it’s time for you to go to your room now.”

Tilde let go of Pablo and turned around to face her. She brushed a hand though her long blonde disheveled hair.

“Yes, mistress,” she said demurely.

“We’ll let you know later what we decide. I’m afraid there will have to be some punishment for you as well, but yours will be lighter than Eegor’s. Especially since you seem to understand that you did something wrong. Most likely it will be some amount of confinement in our residence on the Verdante home planet when we get back,” said Mistress Moneeka.

“Thank you, mistress,” said Tilde.

She started walking out of the room. As Tilde passed from the dim classroom into the brighter hallway, Potat saw a faint glow of green in her skin tone. Pablo followed her.

What kind of punishment is that? Potat wondered.

After Tilde and Pablo left the room, the Verdantes’ telepathic conversation caught Antaska’s attention.

Master Mytaar spoke to M. Hoyvil.

“Nice block, by the way,” said Master Mytaar.

“Thank you, instructor,” answered M. Hoyvil in a respectful telepathic voice.

Mistress Moneeka spoke up again. “I think we’ve all agreed about Tilde’s punishment, but what about Eegor? M. Hoyvil wants the heaviest punishment possible, but you want the lightest, Master Mytaar. In this case, you know that’s not possible. To sexually violate another person or attempt to do so is one of the highest crimes of galactic law. I know he’s more than just a pet to you, but why do you insist we let him go unpunished?”

“Yes, why?” said M. Hoyvil.

Antaska was curious too, but she pretended she didn’t hear their telepathic speech. She didn’t know everything about the Verdantes, but one thing she did know was that they took humans along to space with them only because they weren’t telepathic. Trying to look casual, Antaska leaned back against the desk and scratched Potat behind the ears. The small cat purred and leaned against her.

Master Mytaar sighed telepathically and answered the question with partly shut eyes.

“Eegor doesn’t deserve this punishment because it was also my fault. I must take part of the blame. I failed in my responsibility to control my human pets. Yes, I know that Eegor will have to be confined at