Cat and Company Read Online Free PDF

didn’t know him. There were four hundred people on the ship and they rotated frequently. She also didn’t know how many of them were Varkan. She had to take Devlin’s word for it that most of them were. Varkan were content to serve in menial roles just to be aboard the same craft as Devlin Woodward. That was why the personnel changed so frequently. There was a long list of Varkan waiting for their chance to serve and they had figured out some sort of system that gave each of them equal time. The system worked well. She had never heard of any of them squabbling over time or their place in the line-up. Varkan seemed to be able to get along with each other much better than humans could get along with other humans. The petty selfishness that colored many human dealings was completely absent in the Varkan.
    Perhaps it was something to do with the fact that they were grateful to be among humans in a body that had been gifted to them and they never forgot that privilege. Whatever the reason, it made life aboard the Hana Stareach as one of only a handful of humans very pleasant and stress free.
    Catherine went straight to the flight deck, where she knew she would find Devlin. He liked to watch the stars shift when the jump took place.
    He was standing at the cartography table with the three Varkan pilots when she climbed up the steps to the flight deck. He glanced up as she moved over to the table and gave her a warm smile. “By the skin of your teeth once more, hmm, Catherine?”
    “Sorry. I slept in.”
    “I hope he was worth it.”
    Catherine rolled her eyes and Devlin’s black eyes danced in amusement. He turned back to the holographic star system array rotating over the table. “Do you have the fix, Mael?” He turned to look at the pilot’s chair, which had been swiveled around to view the table. Mael Maedoc was this jump’s main pilot. He was a tall Varkan with shaggy black hair and a scruffy beard and very plain clothes that always looked wrinkled. He was an Interspace expert, considered one of the best among the Varkan. Newer Varkan would seek him out for guidance in finding and navigating Interspace. Devlin liked to use the most skilled help he could find.
    Mael nodded. “I have it.” He swiveled the chair around so that he was facing the big windows. They really were windows, not just screens projecting the outside view, which had been the traditional ship’s idea of viewports. The windows were steel, of course, but the impenetrable solidness of heavy and shielded metal wasn’t needed on Varkan ships, that never left inner space or local orbit.
    The ship lifted off from the docking pad and started to drift forward, as the outer doors of the docking station opened up. Ahead was star field, a green crescent that was Tordis itself, all framed by the superstructure of the station, which started to slide past them faster and faster, until they were out beyond the station itself.
    “Where are we going, again?” Catherine whispered, leaning toward Devlin so she could keep her voice down.
    Devlin nodded at the two other pilots, Cleon and Wayna, who stepped up to the copilot chairs at the front of the deck. He shut down the map and took Catherine’s elbow. Gently. “I have some coffee here, freshly brewed.” He led her to the small lounging area, where a coffee service had been placed on the low table. Steam was rising from the mouth of the pot.
    Catherine’s mouth watered. “Gods, yes, coffee,” she breathed.
    Devlin sat on the forward-facing lounge so Catherine took the other one. He poured the coffee, the small smile lingering around the corners of his mouth. “Is it my imagination, or do I sense an air of regret about you this morning?” He was speaking quietly, so that no one else on the flight deck would hear him.
    Catherine sighed and took the cup he offered. “I’ve told you before. I’m not good and kind and…upright, like you.”
    “We all have pasts,” Devlin said, pouring a cup for himself.