Chapter 9

It was seventy years after the Quatyl found James and the world was a very different place. Almost every highly driven person of good moral character owned a Quatyl. The most adventurous of them went to space. Everyone who went into space took their Quatyl with them. Among those highly driven people was the grandson of James Leonard Foster. His mother, Bee Kamp, had named her son James Foster Kamp in honor of her famous father.

James Foster Kamp entered the space station, St. Louis, with his gear slung over one shoulder and his Quatyl tucked into the bag strung across his chest. The Quatyl had its head sticking out to watch the activity. His wife, Ann, stepped into the station behind him with her gear and Quatyl. When James stopped, Ann asked, "Do you see him?"

"I don't see him, but Uncle Arthur said he'd meet us here," James answered looking at the small audience who had gathered to watch the shuttle disembark. He was searching for the uncle he had never met.

"We better clear the hatch before the Steward yells at us," Ann said gesturing to a rather pompous looking man in a uniform.

"Oh sorry," James said while stepping out of the way of the people behind them. Four other members of their crew flowed out of the hatch relieved at getting out of the small shuttlecraft that had brought them from the Jupiter station.

"Is that him?" Ann asked pointing to a man who was waving.

"Yes. Are you ready to meet my uncle?" James asked with a great big grin. He had been waiting for this moment ever since he had learned that he was going to the space station.

"I guess. Your mother warned me that he doesn't have much of a sense of humor," Ann said worried about how he would react to James. Bee Kamp had described Arthur as a particularly dour man who didn't know how to smile. She found it rather hard to believe that the son of James Foster didn't have a good sense of humor.

"Did you bring the cape?" James asked with an even bigger grin than before.

"Yes, your mom wouldn't let me leave without it," Ann said rolling her eyes. The cape apparently had some family significance of which she wasn't fully aware.

James reached into his pocket and pulled out a large scarf. He tied it around his neck so that it hung down his back and while rubbing his hands together excitedly said, "Let's go meet my uncle!"

"Okay," Ann said wondering if it was really such a great idea for him to wear the cape. She could just picture him getting sent back to Earth for being mentally unstable. The last thing you wanted on a space station or a space ship was a crazy man.

"Hey, put on your cape," James said noticing that she hadn't put on her cape.

"Next time," Ann said. She wasn't quite confident enough in herself to pull off her introduction to everyone on the space station wearing a toy cape.

"Okay," James said feeling a little disappointed, but not disappointed enough to prevent him from taking off to meet his uncle.

Ann followed behind James shaking her head. There were times when his humor was just as likely to get him into trouble as out of it. More than one person stopped to watch him when he passed. A rather large crowd followed him down the hallway to where his uncle was waiting. She had to admit that there was something special about a person who could walk through a crowd of strangers wearing a cape without acting embarrassed.

James stopped in front of his uncle and adopted the Superman pose. In a deep loud voice, he said, "Greetings Uncle Arthur. Have no fear, I am here. Yes, I, Super-spaceman, and my wife, Super- spacewoman, have come to protect you from the evil intergalactic hordes on their way to ravage our solar system!"

"Oh God! You're just like your mother," Arthur exclaimed holding his hands over his ears.

A dozen of the people in the area broke out into laughter. Most of them worked with Arthur and had been expecting such a scene. The space faring population was small and stories had a tendency to live for a long time. One of the most widely repeated stories told of how Arthur's sister had shown up at the spaceport when he left Earth wearing a cape and promising that Supersister would come save him if he ever got into trouble. Money changed hands as bets were settled.

"Thank you. She's my role model, you know," James said provoking a groan from his uncle.

"Take it off," Arthur said pointing to the scarf. He didn't even want to look at it despite knowing that this was another story that was going to live longer than he would.

Grinning, James removed the scarf. After folding it, he put it back in his pocket. Winking at Ann, he said, "Mom says hello."

"I leave the solar system and that damned cape follows me out here," Arthur said shaking his head. He turned to look at Ann and said, "You have my condolences for having to put up with him. How you manage it, I'll never know. I had to live with his mother for eighteen years and, as soon as I could, I left. I've been running away from her ever since then."

Ann laughed at the theatric manner in which Arthur had protested and said, "He kind of grows on you."

"I guess I can understand that. It's kind of like a wart. They grow on you too," Arthur replied while shaking his head sadly.

Not expecting the reply, Ann burst out into laughter. She turned to James and said, "Hey wart, he's got you figured out."

"I'm crushed," James said laughing.

Arthur smiled and said, "I can't call you Super-spacewoman for the rest of your stay on the St. Louis."

"I'm Ann."

"Nice to meet you Ann. Let's leave this guy behind and get a drink," Arthur said.

One change that had occurred over time was that many businesses had created little rooms where Quatyl could play while their owners were busy. These were called Quatyl Playrooms and the Quatyl could be quite insistent on being allowed to visit them. These rooms always had that funny little game that Quatyl enjoyed playing. Most also had the highly desired guinea pigs.

The Quatyl Playroom on the space station St. Louis was located down the hall from the bar. It was well provisioned with a dozen guinea pigs. Arthur led James and Ann to it so they could drop off their Quatyl into the Quatyl playroom. James pulled his Quatyl out of the pouch and petted it for a couple of seconds. Squatting down, he said, "You have a good time, Starman."

Ann knelt beside him and set her Quatyl on the floor after petting it. She said, "You have a good time, Stardust."

The pair of Quatyl turned to make sure that their pets were okay before running to the center of the Playroom. James watched his Quatyl start the dance at the game board shaking his head. It always started out the same, but diverged according to some rules that he could never understand.

Arthur watched the Quatyl play and said, "That's a nice looking pair of Quatyl you have there."

"Thanks, Uncle Arthur. Scout and Cubby are Starman's parents. Fuzzy and Wuzzy are the parents of Stardust," James said.

"What happened to Scout and Cubby after Dad died?" Arthur asked. He had heard that his sister had taken them in, but didn't know what had happened after that.

"Mom adopted them," James answered.

The other Quatyl in the room listened to the discussion among the three beasts with interest. It was generally acknowledged that pets were often good at providing introductions for their owners. Not only did they provide the names, but often the birth records for them.

Once James and Ann left, Stardust went over to the board and introduced herself as Starman's mate. It was a formality that was always executed regardless of any introduction that was made by the pets. Introductions were always made using the letter board on the floor even when guinea pigs were available.

One of the Quatyl controlled a guinea pig to ask, 'What brings you here?'

Using a guinea pig, Stardust answered, 'We are here to fly on the new spaceship.'

Her answer caused a commotion among the other Quatyl as they fought over control of the guinea pigs. This was the first chance that they had to learn more about the mission of since the Quatyl who were to serve on the ship had been taken directly to the ship. When the riot finally quieted down, Starman said, 'My pet is installing the sensors and will operate them during the voyage.'

'My pet is calibrating the communications gear and will serve as communications officer on board the ship, ' Stardust said.

'Do you think you'll meet up with other Quatyl?"

'Space is big, ' Starman said giving the stock answer to that question.

'It would be nice if you do. Although I've never seen one, it would be great to get a Slathern, ' said one of the Quatyl. It was the great hope of the Quatyl that they would finally be able to talk to their pets.

'You can say that again.'

Arthur stood when his wife, Emily, approached the table at the bar. Seeing his uncle stand, James stood as well. Emily arrived at the table and took one look at the expression on Arthur's face. Knowing that Arthur would tell her all of the details about the meeting at the gate, she put a finger over his mouth to keep him from talking and said, "I heard all about it."

"It doesn't take long for a story like that to make it around the station," Arthur said feeling crushed that he wouldn't get a chance to tell the story.

"Evil intergalactic hordes -- I like that. Arthur definitely needs protection from them," Emily said with a grin. Arthur rolled his eyes. He'd been asked how many evil intergalactic hordes were after him by almost everyone who worked under him.

James pointed to the television and said, "Hey, look at that handsome devil!"

Arthur turned in time to see James' approach and introduction play out on the station television channel. He groaned and covered his head with his hands. Grinning at the television, Emily said, "There's something wrong with the color. Poor Arthur looks positively green."

"You did it this time, James. That's going to be broadcast on every station, asteroid hut, and moon habitat in space," Ann said. Out of everyone she knew, only James would be able to pull it off without being embarrassed.

"Yes, isn't that great," James said polishing his nails on his shirt in obvious pride.

"You're just like your mother," Emily said reaching over to hug James.

"Ah, that reminds me," James said. He reached over to his duffle bag and pulled out an old fashioned book and a movie chip. He handed them over to his uncle and said, "Mom finally got granddad's last book published. They've already made a movie out of it. She wanted you to have copies of them."