A man has a cat friend he carries everywhere.
Others only see a man with a whole-arm cat puppet with a offhand-operated armature to emote the puppet's tail.
The cat knows things, but when the man tells other people, they only think the man's cuckoo has escaped his clock.
In the end, the cat runs away.
This is a response to the following writing prompt. Please read its title & (only the) anchor post before reading the following story . .
Phideaux, Spider-Ted and Doctor Snapclaw (not his unpronounceable real name, but what Phideaux called him) were in a shuttle heading for a regional conference. Since joining the Galacticum science directorate and being assigned to UX-442 (out on the far edge of Galacticum space), this would be Phideaux's first time going to a conference. He was to give a talk about utilizing natural fibers found on UX-442.
Phideaux was raised in the country by a family who'd long lived in the country. For him, hunting & fishing and foraging for edible plants was just how things worked.
Every 25 years, a meeting of directors from all over the Galacticum is held (local & regional meetings are held more often)
The unofficial big topic of conversation at this meeting is "humans", as shortly into this 25-year period humans had joined the Galacticum.
Sitting in lab 31 of the Galacticum Special Projects Division
"Do you remember the "bait ship" proposal we floated a while back?" queried Stanav of his associate Harqun "The one where we'd bait pirates in and destroy them without a trace?"
I started this website so budding authors (amateur or pending professionals) could have a place to share their stories and prove "first published" copyright date.
The Galacticum has found that Terrans are the only species that can safely police other Terrans.
Terran military units are rotated through various Galacticum population centers to be "on call" when events require more than a SWAT team.
This is the story of 4th platoon, 183d Marines.
