It was 0200. He was sitting in Roberta's living room while she and Rerra were off to meet the new cil. Bernie provided a special live feed for him, at least in the pces with cameras, which were far fewer than he would have liked. This was made up for by Bernie's stant entary - in Fallerian.

  Finally, Rerra and Roberta appeared on the official broadcast, which was running on Roberta's rge pad. It showed the lift exit to the Samul representative offi level -1, the former residence of Hopkins II. Theood and waited for the new cil members. "Here es the first, Kiltrani of Jatra from Samul, 34 years old, elected for Sector I." He could have read that from the subtitles. But the AI tinued. "This is where most high-tier Samul live. And si has bee the most expensive area, no other s afford it." Rerra stood and bowed deeply, while the silver Samul cat just nodded, feeling superior and showing it. She bowed a little more to Roberta.

  "Kiltrani could certainly afford it, she was third in maintenance. Since she was not from Saresh, the former leaders of maintehe remaining Samul agreed on her. With so many Samul in the sector, her ele was a fone clusion. Had there been no cil, she would probably have been the station mother. You must have met her in the ic."

  "No, I do not remember her."

  "Well, she was at the ic when you reinstated me. Here es the member, Crice of Yukab from Ketcher for Sector III, again no surprise." She was certainly a Ketcher, almost all of them looked like es to him: Tall, well-built, with their characteristic fur patterns and wearing cat-formal beachwear. "Again, with the i Sector III, the only question would have beeribe. She is her Fiyul nor Th and thus their promise didate. So far for the b ones."

  He could almost hear the AI grinning.

  "Now for a real surprise." A bck cat emerged from the lift, oep and then stopped, hesitating. "Hodrat of no tribe nor . The bcks were from Hodrat, but that had not survived the civil war after Hopkins' death. And she was not even born of any tribe, on top of being less. As underdog as a cat could be: A bad childhood, abandoned by her mother when she left for the p. She had even been victed of theft. But with a fairy tale twist, as you see. She was senteo social servi the nursing home ior V, a cheaper area. She must have e there. It must have been her calling, almost all the senior cats had voted for her, 200 votes. The bck cat finally walked over to a friendly smiling Rerra and bowed deeply.

  Rerra bowed even deeper and then spoke to her before Roberta led her into the cil room. (Where a rge Petra Catering buffet was waiting, along with Eli and Kit.) He wished he could hear Rerra speak, but the official stream was still muted and Bernie did not tell him. Instead, the AI was focussed on the member.

  "This will be really iing. Now we have another Samul for sector VI, but not a high-ranking one. A retired pilot, Kara." Oh, that cat was old, older than Roberta. The oldest cat he had ever seen. She walked crookedly, her head below the shoulders of the other cat she was getting off the lift with. A cat, so very different from all the others that he had seen so far. So he listened with only one ear. "She has no tribe and has spent all her time and money expanding and maintaining the wilderness on level 3. I am surprised so many people still remember her, but"

  "And the other one?" he interrupted the AI. She was tall too, but slender, with small breasts and short fur. But what a pattern, white fur with patches ranging from pale yellow to all shades of brown and even bck.

  "Ah, yes, Torita from Kumar for Sector VII, adopted. This pattern is called Calico, a rare mutation found only in females. You ask Cassandra more about it, I mean the ic AI".

  "So she is a celebrity."

  "No, Torita works with street kitteirely depe on donations. There, her fur certainly helps to raise funds. I believe most of her supporters are former kittens that she has cared for. This time, ic AI's idea worked so well. But I am not sure if the cil will not be full of Ketcher and Samul again."

  The door opened again and a grey tabby cat stepped out. Not as tall as Ketcher or Samul, but t over Rerra and at eye level with Roberta. She bowed formally, like someone who was clearly used to it.

  "Hiran of Kumar for Sector VIII, owner of the rgest kraaurant oation and mother of her tribe. Well, sector VIII has a bigger Kumar presehan all the other tribes."

  Roberta had just left the stream with the tabby cat when the lift doors opened again. Another silver cat appeared.

  The AI sighed as well as it could through a speaker. "Kroratz of Kyiju from Samul. A high-tier, just one level below Curragh. Must have hidden during the fighting and then used his work to get the votes. Cheapskate, that's why he lives ior II."

  This cat was as arrogant as the first. Just a nod and walking past Rerra and Roberta. Roberta shrugged and stepped aside to let her walk off in the wrong dire.

  "That leaves the st member. She is a security guard, Fallit voesk from Setersk ior VI. She works for a big pany and maybe that got her the votes. But she had the smallest margin, 36 votes to 35 for the sed."

  The door opened and a strong, tall cat stepped out of the lift. Her fur had yellow and bck stripes. And she was strohan Rerra. But Rerra smiled and bowed, and the other cat bowed too, and they began to talk. Maybe they knew each other from the gym?

  The stream now switched to the cil hall. The two younger silver Samul cats were talking to the obviously disied old Samul. Hiran, the restaurant owner, was talking to Kit, who did most of the serving, while Eli stood a bit to the side and talked with the calico cat and the be.

  The locher stood off to the side, eating, clearly not used to not being the tre of attention and without clear allies for Ketcher.

  When Rerra entered with the guard, the sound was unmuted. But only the sound of cutlery bei down came over the speaker.

  "Good evening, everyone," Bernie spoke at Rerra's request. "You know me, I am Berhe station AI, and I am pleased to serve this new cil. Please take a seat a me introduce you all."

  There was a round table with nis. But her Rerra nor Roberta sat down. Instead, they both stood near a er, only half visible to the camera.

  The first item was the ele of a ninth member. But this was quickly voted dow roposal from Samul to elect a leader to make decisions instead of the cil. But that too did not pass. It quickly got into some ugly politics that he, not being a station cat, could not rete to. So he went to the bathroom. When he came back, Rerra seemed to have fled the meeting, as only Roberta was there, now sitting at the table.

  * * *

  He stood at the dog ring with Rerra. Dead tired, despite having slept 3000 iernoon. It was unusual. As a pilot, he did a lot of short jumps and then he had to be alert immediately. But here, oation, he seems to not resting well.

  It was well past midnight, approag 2000. But the dog area was y, there were a few workers here, ing aying the rubbish bins. It was good to see the statiourning to normal operation.

  The tdown timer for the A3 port ticked down. Dog ports A1 and A2 were still down, as there had been quite a bit of fighting. And the dog cmps were still damaged from the emergency de-dog when the ships fled. This meism had not been maintained. Like most on this dead trap of a station, to quote Bernie.

  He had heard of a few pces where locals had taken possession of a station and run it into the ground. But usually, these were more like squatters a avoided as they overcharged for fuel and had fearts. A civilisation's only station was held in high esteem in most pces, as it was their gateway to the riches of the gaxy.

  He had been to weird pces before. Once he had been to a station run mainly by AIs, because the whole race was agoraphobid very few individuals could travel into space. But only once before had he tacted the station's AI via flight trol. On both occasions, the unication had been strictly business. The chatty AI was fitting this very unusual isnd in space. Bernie was like a hatg, always eager to talk to anyone who would listen. And so he learned more than he o know about the ten shuttle passengers. He was not looking forward to meeting any new cat. With the exception of Trina, the cat Rerra adored the most, and Fanny who he knew already from Fallerian. After having seen so macher es, he was curious how she would appear to him now. He did not care about the rest, be it Trina's sister or the two highest cats of this system. Just to please Rerra, he memorised their he mothers Curragh from Samul and Fiyul from Ketcher. But he was not looking forward to meeting them after all the stories Rerra had told him. There was also mother Krega of Kumar, and the other three cats had no file, probably the personal bodyguards of the three mothers.

  As the tdown ticked down, spectators arrived. Here to see the first shuttle sihe rebellion, and to see their leaders, who rarely left the phus a lot of silver, ocelot and tiger cats were there.

  ting down past 0100, the eight very tired members of the cil arrived with guards. The six tall, broad-shouldered cats of various furs wore bck leather vests. He and Rerra were ushered aside, the security unsure how to deal with a human. But they did nnise Rerra after she had washed the fake fur off with the first water that came. She grihat had been the pn.

  Only now did the statioion ittees of Ketcher, Samul and Kumar s arrive from three different dires, parting the crowds. he Ketcher delegation, hissing started, raising the few hairs on his neck, and the guards rushed over. Samul also got a cold reception, while most of the cats present cheered for Kumar.

  The shuttle was on time and docked silently. First three bodyguards disembarked, all in their furs, grey stripes for Kumar, silver for Samul and ocelot for Ketcher. Then the old cats came out. First came Samul, just a few cheers and a few hisses. was Ketcher, and the hissing got intense again. And then Kumar, and more cheering. Kumar's mother looked youhahers. And at the end came Trina and Fanny, both standing closer to the bodyguards than their mothers.

  Trian and Fanny were also wearing the usual sty clothing of cats, while the mothers were naked, with accessories such as a neckce of bones, a sheath with a long knife, a spear or feathers, but also sungsses, silver s and gold jewellery in their ears. These were probably culturally signifit heirlooms, but he couldn't help chug.

  The three parties quickly split up and joiheir delegations. He g Rerra's pad where Trina's 'See you at my table for breakfast' and Fanny's ''t get away, sorry. Let's meet for breakfast.' had arrived simultaneously. As she sent her reply, he yawned. Only to be outdone by her, who showed him how to yawn properly with a snout.

  Roberta was still not there when they returo her ft. So they took their ce to cuddle and then he fell asleep on the floor he Rerra.

  * * *

  He blinked several times, then slowly sat up.

  "Hello, sleepy human in my living room," Rreeted him in Fallerian. "Rerra left long ago, but you are just in time for lunch."

  He yawned, still tired. Then his stomach growled. Well, food sounded good. He yawned again. Was it the cold air? He pulled his bighter around him. His borrowed shorts and trousers y on the couch. "A quick shower?"

  "0030 left for today." Not very long, but he really needed one. So a quick shain, lukewarm water at best, which did not wake him up. Yawning, he followed his o a table with a sweet-smelling stew and two ptes.

  "Enjoy your meal."

  He had not finished his pte when Rerra returned, every part of her body looking tired, eveail hanging limply. She smiled when she saw him.

  "No thanks, bruntil now," she waved away Roberta's polite offer and y down on the couch. "Too short a night."

  "And you didn't even stay for the meeting. I finished after 3000, someone had to deal with the shuttle and also tomorrow will be a bigger freighter dog."

  "Uh, well, Trina wao meet at 3500. I probably left right after you returned. So you are still in charge of flight trol?"

  "For now. This cil is very slow to agree on anything. At least we have a new head of maintenance, Ledra of Karen from Samul. And Trina may keep her job at the shipyard."

  "Ha, who else be appointed? Only you, Traxy and Tryxa are left. They came too. We missed you." She yawned and demonstratively closed her eyes.

  He finished eating and helped Roberta with the dishes. Then Roberta left, following Bernie's call to the temporary flight trol office.

  He snuggled up o Rerra, who did not even stir. He soon fell asleep as well, hugging the warm short fur.

  prissi