Barn Cat

“Well, this is embarrassing,” Dave mumbles.

Irene doesn’t even look back. “Don’t worry, I always pack extra underpants for you. My digestion still isn’t quite used to all the bean-based Colony food yet either. That’s also why I volunteered to lead.”

“I should have let you read the map too,” Dave says. “Remember how we took the long way around to avoid that swampy patch indicated on the map? It may be coffee.”

Stomping back to Dave, Irene snatches the map and sniffs it. “I wouldn’t call that swill they serve around here coffee, but you have a point.”

“Joaquin specifically told me to avoid it,” Dave gripes. “Granted, we’ve only been under his command five days, but I suspect if he wanted us to take a long hike to build character, he’d just say so.”

Pausing from her inspection of the blob on the map, Irene considers. “True. He specifically told me if we tracked any swamp ooze into his building we’d be on cleaning duty for a week straight.”

Dave turns on his dusty bootheel and starts walking west, toward the trees that supposedly ringed the swamp. “Joaquin is as new to this territory as we are. Somebody fed him a line when they gave him that map.”

When Irene doesn’t add her own companionable insult, Dave looks over his shoulder. She’s still standing in the middle of the field, holding the map up to the sun. “What are you looking for, clues?”

“Actually, yes. Come back and take a look at this.”

Jogging back, Dave notices a shadow within the smudge. “Looks like somebody wrote something, tried to cross it out, but then maybe tried to blur it? Seems like a lot of work. Why didn’t they just print a new one?”

Irene gasps. “Because there’s no printer here yet! Did you notice Dr. Simms skulking around when Joaquin gave us this assignment? I bet he gave the map and instructions to Joaquin and that rule-following tool didn’t ask any questions – he just took the swamp story at face value.”

“Question everything,” Dave sighs. “Ok, let’s find this fake swamp. I bet it’s a cave leading to a trove of precious metals and he’s keeping it for himself.”

“Suspicious much?” Irene asks, following Dave into the trees.

Dave maintains a thoughtful silence for about 30 seconds before commenting. “I’m definitely suspicious he’s hiding something, but I’m not sure what. He’s the only one out of the original five that’s still here, and he hasn’t been very specific about the other four other than vague references to accidents. That’s plausible since we’re in unknown territory, and he’s probably traumatized.”

He continues to muse while they crunch over small branches and undergrowth for about a mile. “Dr. Simms knew we were taking the first week’s exploration as well. He gave Joaquin this map knowing we would figure it out and check out the fake swamp anyway.”

Irene stops. “I’m a little confused. Are you thinking Dr. Simms is trying to steer us into a dangerous situation to get rid of us, or to show us something he can’t tell Joaquin about?”

“Possible a little of both,” Dave answers. “Like I said. I think he’s hiding something, but I also trust him at least as far as I can throw him with my sweet robot arm.”

Flexing the metallic appendage so it catches stray rays of sunshine, Dave wiggles his eyebrows at Irene. “Seriously! This bad boy can fend off a lot of weapons!”

While Dave is admiring his arm, Irene notices a clearing up ahead, and what looks like a building. She hurries forward, and it comes into focus.

And it’s not at all what she expects.

The old barn looks like something out the destroyed Midwestern plains on Earth Prime, all gray and sagging timber. It’s not even the pre-fabricated panels of the structures they’re currently building in the settlement area for incoming colonists. The doors are half off the hinges – enough that it would take an effort for anyone outside to open them…but she’s not sure how much it would slow down anything on the inside coming out.

She can’t tell if Dave is too stunned for words either, but he doesn’t speak. He keeps up his steady pace, reaching for the small flashlight in his backpack. Silently, he gestures around the side of the barn, as if he wants her to follow him around the perimeter. Irene nods. Not a bad idea to check the perimeter, see if there are any other doors or signs of….anything.

They creep around the side, seeing nothing more surprising than the barn itself. At this proximity, Irene notices the boards aren’t uniform in width. She wonders if someone – or something – built this by hand. As they round the corner, it’s still just a blank wall, though with a distinct list in the direction they are walking. No large gaps, though the shifting wall has left a few spaces between the boards. She looks in, but it seems to be mostly empty space. Maybe a few unidentified – yet unmoving – shapes. It could be tools…or not.

They continue around the last unexplored side, but Dave motions a halt. The barn seems to be leaning at an angle where an errant sneeze would send it into collapse. But no other doors or windows. They give it a wide berth and circle to the front. “Do you want to go in?” Dave asks.

“Absolutely,” Irene says. “Do you want to throw a branch or something at the door first, make sure it won’t collapse if we jar it? Even if we surprise a being inside, it will have to work to get out, and give us some time to climb a tree.”

Dave jogs back to the treeline. “Sweet, it’s a walnut tree.”

He picks up a couple of green fruit and hurls one at the barn door. It thuds and drops to the ground, with no immediate consequences. The second and third projectile have similar results.

“Let’s check it out,” Irene says. “I’ll get my stun stick ready. Do you want help with the door?”

“Nope,” Dave says, grinning. “Robot arm for another win.”

With the stun stick in one hand and flashlight in the other, Irene mimics the cop shows she used to watch with her brother. Dave flings open the door with far more force than is needed, sending it into the trees like a large wooden frisbee.

Irene forgets to flatten herself against the wall, instead gaping at Dave. “I literally don’t know my own strength yet,” he says defensively. “Hey, nothing jumped out.”

A quiet, but brief, growl emerges from the barn. Irene backs up a few steps, swinging the flashlight beam in a wide arc. She catches a quick glimpse of light reflecting back at her.

“I think I saw a saw,” Dave said. “Maybe we just heard tools…settling.”

The growl comes again, closer this time, but still quiet. Low to the ground. Irene takes quick steps back, shining her flashlight at the door. Dave has his flashlight out now, shining it in on the opposite side of the barn. “If something meant to hurt us, I think it would have already happened. There’s a couple axes, a pitchfork, a….”

He trails off, directing the flashlight beam into the grass near the door. Irene sees it too…grass moving gently, as if tossed to and fro by a light breeze.

The air has been completely still all day. Not a breath of wind.

With another growl, the waving grass leaps up at Dave, knocking the flashlight out of his hand. Instinctively, he cradles the gray cat against his shoulder, the growls now sounding more like content purrs.

“Awww, it likes me!” Dave smiles. “I had a cat when I was a kid.”

Irene starts to scold Dave for assuming it’s really a cat, but is once again at a loss for words. The color appears to be leaching out of the creature’s fur…or rather…the top half shifts to the same drab brown as Dave’s shirt, while the bottom half assumes the shimmery silver tone of Dave’s prosthetic arm.

“It’s….a chameleon cat.” Irene breathes.

As if in protest, the cat wriggles around and fixes her with an unimpressed stare. It opens its mouth and growls, but now seems sort of cute. “I’m going to call him Shadow,” Dave says.

“We can’t take it back to the settlement!” Irene protests. “It could be venomous, or a shapeshifter, or pose some other danger.”

“Who’s worrying too much?” Dave asks Shadow. “Do you want a piece of bean jerky?”

He turns back to Irene. “Seriously, I think there’s a small animal carrier in there with all the tools. Take a look.”

Walking into the doorway, they both illuminate the interior. Not only are a variety of tools leaned up against the walls, but both oil lanterns and battery-powered flashlights covered with decades worth of dust and grime perch on makeshift tables. Irene notices a crust of corroded battery acid by the largest flashlight.

“How old is this stuff?” she asks. “I thought they only started researching interdimensional travel like 10 years ago?”

“You’re underestimating the multi-verse again Irene,” Dave says, still petting Shadow. “It’s not necessarily just ‘us’ sending explorers and colonists out. Which is why I’m very interested in getting back to the settlement to talk to Dr. Simms about who was really here first. Oh look, there’s the cat carrier!”

“How do we explain the cat carrier?” Irene asks.

“I’ll hide it in my quarters or something. I’ll figure it out. Who wants another piece of bean jerky!”

Dangling the snack inside the carrier, Dave expertly lures Shadow inside and latches the gate.

“That is definitely not a normal cat,” Irene says.

“You didn’t come to the Colony looking for normal, did you?” Dave asks.

“No, but I do think a cat, a barn, and potential evidence of unknown interdimensional travelers is enough for one day. I’m ready to go back to the settlement and eat something made from beans.”

If Irene and Dave hadn’t been distracted by Shadow, they might have noticed a device that looked like a large saw, leaning up against the barn wall…wasn’t. Every so often, a small light on it flickered, like the reflection of a flashlight beam. Many things in the barn weren’t what they seemed, but they were excellent with disguising themselves.

Just like Shadow.