| $@%&! level: Low “Bedroom” level: None Violence level: Low Back Cover: “Pilot, navigator, engineer, doctor, scientist—ship's cat? All are essential to the well-staffed space vessel. Since the early days of interstellar travel, when Tuxedo Thomas, a Maine coon cat, showed what a cat could do for a ship and its crew, the so-called Barque Cats have become highly prized crew members. Thomas's carefully bred progeny, ably assisted by humans—Cat Persons—with whom they share a deep and loving bond, now travel the galaxy, responsible for keeping spacecraft free of vermin, for alerting human crews to potential environmental hazards, and for acting as morale officers. Even among Barque Cats, Chessie is something special. Her pedigree, skills, and intelligence, as well as the close rapport she has with her human, Janina make her the most valuable crew member aboard the Molly Daise. And the litter of kittens in her belly only adds to her value. Then the unthinkable happens. Chessie is kidnapped—er, catnapped—from Dr. Jared Vlast's vet clinic at Hood Station by a grizzled spacer named Carl Poindexter. But Chessie's newborn kittens turn out to be even more extraordinary that their mother. For while Chessie's connection to Janina is close and intuitive, the bond that the kitten Chester forms with Carl's son, Jubal, is downright telepathic. And when Chester is sent into space to learn his trade, neither he nor Jubal will rest until they're reunited. But the announcement of a widespread epidemic affecting livestock on numerous planets throws the future into doubt. Suddenly the galactic government announces a plan to impound and possibly destroy all exposed animals. Not even the Barque Cats will be spared. With the clock racing against them, Janina, Jubal, Dr. Vlast, and a handful of very special kittens will join forces with the mysterious Pshaw-Ra—and alien-looking cat with a hidden agenda—to save the Barque Cats, other animals, and quite possibly the universe as they know it from total destruction.” |
The plot is perhaps a bit unusual. It’s difficult to quite latch on to a single antagonist, for instance. Is it Carl Poindexter? Well, yes, for a while, but he’s mostly just amoral and greedy. Probably thinks of himself as a lovable rogue who never does any real harm. And he sort of changes sides when he gets adopted. Poor guy; he never understood his son even a little bit until that moment. After that...well, maybe a little. Then there’s the guy who causes the whole “epidemic” crisis (again mostly out of thoughtless and amoral greed), but he barely shows up as a character. I do love the way they find of solving the problem, though, sort of going straight to the source and giving him a taste of his own medicine. There’s also an evil veterinarian who hates cats and seems to take an unhealthy amount of joy in the idea of killing them all. But she’s more of a minion than anything. So I guess it must just be that the situation itself, created by a range of individuals each with their own goals and agendas, that is the real antagonist. That’s not the way these things normally go, but I kind of like it. It feels more true to life than if there actually was an evil plot being brewed by some sinister mastermind.
Although I wouldn’t put it past Pshaw-Ra to do something like that if the mood took him. He’d probably even rub his paws together and do whatever is the cat equivalent of cruel chuckling, although he’s from neither the right culture nor species to grow a pointy mustache.