The Switch
Fiction - by Lisa Timpf
“Get us a look, Quicksilver.” Minna Henderssen’s voice came low and clear over my earpiece. I studied the one-storey building made of the yellow-brown stone so common here on Dorva. Then I honed in on my chosen location, judging that the narrow sill of the front window would provide just enough space for a cat with my agility to land on.
Once I’d achieved that precarious perch, I turned my head slowly so the helmet-cam would provide a panned view through the silica-glass window.
To my right, I glimpsed a black-and-white blur as Pepper, the border collie who made up the second member of our AI-enhanced cat-and-dog team, raced past to do a circuit of the house.
Moments later, Minna called an end to our training exercise. “Good work, you two. That’ll do for now.”
Her tone was unusually terse, but I understood the reason. Since the Galactic Space Ship Meech Lake had landed on Dorva to support peace negotiations, the air had prickled with tension. The Dorva-N’Kisi talks we’d been asked to support seemed to be going precisely nowhere. We all had the distinct sense that in our assigned mission of maintaining peace, there was a strong possibility we’d get caught between the two sides like meat in the middle of a rancid sandwich.
Which reminded me—it seemed like ages since I’d wolfed down breakfast. I checked the wall chrono, my humor not improved by the realization that supper time was still three hours away.
“I prefer real action to babysitting a bunch of politicians,” I grumbled to Pepper as we made our way back to our assigned room in the temporary barracks the crew had erected planet-side.
“It’s our job to go where we’re sent,” Pepper said, her forehead creased with worry.
“Typical good-girl attitude,” I told her. “You don’t have to put on a front with me. It’s okay to question the humans once in awhile.”
“Question the humans?” The way the dog spoke the words, you’d think that possibility had never occurred to her. Which, given her slavish devotion to our handler, was probably true.
I sighed. “Never mind. Look, maybe we need to do something to spice things up a bit. I, for one, am getting tired of these endless drills.”
“You won’t be when the chips are down, and we need to execute in a real situation.” Pepper spoke the words, as she so often did, with an air of superiority.
I curled my upper lip. “Just because you went to the Academy, and I didn’t—”
“It’s not that.” Pepper ducked her head. “You haven’t seen as many tours of duty as I have. I know, first hand—”
“Yeah, right,” I said, turning my back to her. I didn’t have to feign a sense of injury. It had been crystal clear to me, since the day I joined the team some months ago, that Pepper didn’t appreciate what I brought to the table. The notion rankled, though I had no idea how to change the situation for the better.
I studied Pepper’s swaying walk as she led the way to our assigned room. If only there was a way to get her to see things from my viewpoint.
From my viewpoint.
I stopped and sat down, tail curled around my paws. Hmmm. “I’ll join you later. Got an errand to run.”
Pepper shot me a suspicious glance, then shrugged. “Whatever. See you later.”
“Five minutes to destination.” Arbus Wolff, the hop-shuttle pilot, toggled the speed switch as he made that proclamation.
“I thought we had a protection detail assigned to Prime Minister Kosowitz and his daughter,” Minna said.
“We did.” Liam Hardy shrugged and looked out the window. “They were called away just before dawn by Dorva’s security leader. A terrorist threat at the central coffee shop. The prime minister tagged along. Seems the shop owner is a long-time friend of his. False alarm, but by the time they got back—”
“The Dorvan guards left behind had been stunned—by someone using N’Kisi standard-issue ray rifles.” Wolff jumped in to continue the story. “And a crew of kidnappers had taken over the Prime Minister’s house, holding his daughter D’Salle hostage.”
“Do we know what they want?”
“The kidnappers are demanding that talks between the Dorvans and the N’Kisi be suspended, permanently.” Wolff let those words sink in for a moment. “In exchange for D’Salle’s life.”
I turned to look at Pepper, who sat rigidly at attention, her gaze focused on Minna. I cleared my throat and addressed my comments to the dog. “About our discussion last night.”
“Leave it for now. We’ve got more important things to do.” Pepper leaned forward. I knew her body language well enough to interpret this as a signal she’d rather listen to the humans than me.
But there was something I had to say. “Erm—yes, I suppose. Still, there’s something you should know.” I fixed a yellow-eyed gaze on the mutt. “I switched our camera and audio gear. So Minna would put yours on me, and vice versa.”
“You what?” That got Pepper’s attention. She finally tore her eyes away from Minna to look at me. “Why on Earth—”
“How would I know this kidnapping thing would blow up? I thought we wouldn’t use the gear again till our drills. I figured it would be a good experience if we got a chance to see things from each others’ perspective—you’d obey Minna’s commands to me, I’d obey her commands to you, and because of the camera switch, Minna wouldn’t know the difference.”
“We need to tell her.”
“No time.” I met the dog’s eyes, and stared her down—no mean feat when dealing with a border collie. “Just follow orders—the orders she gives me—and you’ll be fine. You can follow orders, can’t you?”
By way of reply, Pepper lifted her upper lip, showing her teeth.
“Look,” I said, striving to convey an earnest tone. “I’ll make this right. It won’t compromise the mission. Just—I’d rather Minna didn’t find out.”
Pepper glared at me for a moment. Then she turned away mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like, “Cats!”
I drew a deep breath. Not surprisingly, Pepper usually handled arguments like a dog with a bone. The fact that she’d stopped talking meant she’d do as I’d suggested.
Now, I just had to live up to my promise not to mess up the mission. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be easy.
“Okay, you two, let’s get eyes on the situation.” Minna’s voice crackled through our coms. “Quicksilver, get a look through the front window.”
“Just follow the plan,” I told Pepper.
“That’s so high up—"
“So? You can jump, can’t you?” I snapped the question. The potential for my camera-switch ploy to backfire had hit me full force by now, but fear of having it discovered made me goad Pepper into action.
I studied her posture. Frozen in place. She’s terrified.
I shook my head. No time now for disdain. If taunting wouldn’t work, I had to find something that would.
“Look, you can do it. Remember, Dorva’s gravity is four-fifths Earthside.” And if you weren’t as useless as a dewclaw, you’d be up there already.
A grunt, a thump, and then Pepper’s voice, triumphant. “Got it.”
I had no time to babysit her through the next portion of her assignment. Minna’s voice crackled over my earpiece. “Pepper, take a scout around the building. Find out if there are other entrances.”
From all our practice sessions, I knew what to do, but I needed to gallop to keep the pace Pepper normally maintained. By the time I completed a circuit of the building, my sides heaved from the exertion.
“Two guards just inside the back entrance, then,” Minna said. “And a pet door, at the far side. Pepper. Silver.”
I exchanged a look with the dog, who had leaped down from the windowsill, her survey complete.
Minna continued her instructions. “The N’Kisi at the treaty meetings are denying involvement in the kidnapping. The images through the window tell us where the kidnappers are, but we need better images to prove they’re N’Kisi. Use the pet door to get in there and get us stronger visuals.”
Since I’d made the initial scout, I led the way to the pet door. Together, Pepper and I skulked through the undergrowth as we passed the back door, trying not to draw the guards’ attention. The cloying cinnamon smell of the thick clumps of lavender-hued sparkflowers was almost enough to make me sneeze.
The overpowering scent proved too much for the mutt’s sensitive snout.
Aaaaahhh-choo!
Instinctively, both of us dropped, bellies to the ground. Precious seconds ticked away as we watched the door, expecting the guards to burst through to investigate. Meanwhile, my earpiece conveyed an exchange between Minna and Wolff that only heightened the sense of urgency.
“You know how proud they are. If the N’Kisi walk away from the negotiations, odds are fifty to one they won’t be back.” Though Minna spoke the words calmly, tension underlay her words.
“If the Dorvans and N’Kisi don’t strike a treaty, then the Denebans may pull out too, and the Arcadians as well. The relationship between the human-based settlements and the N’Kisi has always been uneasy,” Wolff said.
“Let’s go,” I said. Though I feared the guards still might be on high alert, I didn’t think we could chance waiting longer.
We crept past a patch of catnip. Perhaps, a quick roll, just to calm my nerves? I shook off the impulse and darted behind a low tuft-berry shrub beside the pet door. Man, that pet door is big. They must have a dog—
I crept through the entry-way, then stopped dead.
“What is it?” Pepper asked.
“Something I need to deal with, I think.”
Just inside the pet door, a black and grey tabby blocked our way. The cat was huge, almost the size of Pepper. It was only then that I remembered something I’d noticed on the briefing sheet—house rodents on Dorva can be just over the size of the average Terran rat. It should come as no surprise if their felines were super-sized.
“Who said you could come in?” The cat looked down at me, scowling.
“This says,” I said, raising my right forepaw to point at the Galactic Space Service logo on my flak vest
“Means nothing here,” he snorted.
“Can’t read, huh?”
“And you can?”
“As a matter of fact . . . ”
Pepper cleared her throat, hinting that if I didn’t get a move on, she’d see fit to get involved. Which, given her understanding of feline diplomacy, would be a disaster.
I decided to change tactics.
“Don’t you care about D’Salle?” I asked.
“Care?”
I rolled my eyes. “Care. Like, not want her ripped to pieces by the N’Kisi, just for fun.”
“N’Kisi?” The cat narrowed his eyes. “If you two are the best the Galactic Space Service has to offer, we’ll stick with our own, thanks.”
My forehead creased. What is he talking about. Why—
I heard a loud snuffling noise behind me. “He’s right,” Pepper said. “They’re not N’Kisi.”
I craned my neck, just able to glimpse the grey-fuzz-covered legs of the kidnapper behind the kitchen table. “Sure looks like a N’Kisi.”
“Smells human.”
I sampled the air. My nose quickly confirmed Pepper’s theory.
I put my right front paw against my forehead, trying to concentrate. We needed to get evidence of N’Kisi. But the N’Kisi were not N’Kisi. So we needed proof of that. But how?
I glanced around, seeking inspiration. The pet door had brought us into the living room, which was adjoined to the small kitchen. An archway stood in the wall opposite us, showing a living-grass-carpeted hallway.
“One of you, see if you can get a visual of D’Salle. Make sure she’s okay.” Minna’s voice came over my earpiece.
In response to my inquiry, the tabby pointed toward the hallway with his chin. “She’s down there. Second door on the right.”
Pepper looked at the expanse of open floor leading to the hallway, panting. “We need a distraction,” she said.
I continued my scan of the room. That’s when I spotted the terrarium. What I saw inside it drove all thoughts of our assignment out of my mind for a moment.
“What—are—those?” I took a step backwards, my tail fluffed out in dismay.
The tabby shot a careless glance at the enclosure and yawned. “Naava spiders. D’Salle keeps them as pets. Although why—”
“You teased me with plastic spiders the other day.” Pepper cocked her head and looked at me. “You’re not afraid of them, are you?”
“Afraid?” I said, feigning nonchalance. “No, but I know who might be.” I jerked my head toward the imposter N’Kisi in the kitchen.
“Perfect. Those spiders will supply the needed distraction.” Pepper grinned at me. “Be a sport and hop up there to let them out.”
“Me?” I squawked.
“The N’Kisi are similar in color to Dorvan tundra buffalo. The spiders should go right for them.”
“Should,” I said, noting that Pepper had elected not to mention that my silver-blue fur was just a shade or two darker than the dense fuzz that covered the kidnappers.
“Look, you were right.” Pepper’s tone was as smooth as the peanut butter she loved so much. “There’s some things you are better at. This is one of them. For me to jump up there—I’d make too much noise, for starters.”
“Don’t look at me,” the tabby said, taking a step back. “I don’t go near those things.”
I fixed my gaze on the terrarium and shivered.
“You did serve as pest control on a luxury ship, didn’t you?” Pepper said.
“Yes, but I prefer my quarry to have four legs or fewer,” I grumbled. No point now mentioning the Xandrian sand crabs that had given me nightmares as a kitten.
With a sigh, I hopped up onto the table.
“Make sure you’re on the opposite side to the terrarium when they go out,” Pepper whispered.
“I thought you said they’d be attracted to the N’Kisi?”
“Best not to take chances.”
My paws shook as I reached for the terrarium’s lid. I pulled it toward me, creating an opening on the far side of the enclosure. I shot an uneasy glance at the nearest kidnapper, who stood with his back to us, clutching his ray-rifle as he looked out the window.
“There. Done.”
“And?” Pepper said.
I looked at the terrarium and frowned. “They’re just sitting there.”
“Well? Chivvy them along.”
“Easy for you to say.” Grimacing, I extended a tentative forepaw and tapped at the side of the terrarium a couple of times.
The spiders boiled into action so quickly I snarled in surprise and fell off the table, performing a spectacular and unappreciated back flip. Fortunately, the eight-legged atrocities paid me no heed. They lowered themselves to the floor on silky ropes, then scuttled over to the nearest kidnapper and shimmied up his right leg.
If I’d needed any evidence that the kidnappers weren’t real N’Kisi, this was it. Feeling those pincer-equipped feet tugging at one’s fur would be an unmistakable sensation. Unless, of course, you were wearing a N’Kisi outfit.
I glimpsed Pepper disappearing down the hallway. So far, so good.
“What was that?” One of the thugs at the front door left his post, heading toward the kitchen.
“What?” The kidnapper standing near the sink turned to look at him.
“That thumping noise. Didn’t you hear it?” I crouched low as the kidnappers looked my way, hoping audio would suffice for Minna’s needs for the moment.
“Yeah. I thought it came from over there.” I dared a peek from behind my hiding spot. The guy from the kitchen pointed in the opposite direction to where I stood. The outfit must be distorting his hearing.
Seeing the kidnappers’ attention diverted elsewhere, I popped up to give Minna a good look on video feed.
The guy from the front door stopped in his tracks, then took a step back. “You have—um—”
“What? Spit it out!”
“A couple of giant spiders. On your—”
The spider-endowed kidnapper caught a glimpse of his reflection in an ornately-framed mirror hanging near the back door. He emitted a very human scream, a sound no self-respecting N’Kisi would have allowed to come from his throat.
Though I knew the kidnapper was not N’Kisi, Minna and the other watchers did not. I heard them gasp as the spider-infested kidnapper pulled his N’Kisi headgear off, to reveal bleach-blonde hair and silver-blue irises that marked him as a Dorvan.
“How’d they get out?” The Dorvan jumped back to put distance between him and the spiders, which still clung to the discarded mask. “I know. It must have been you.” I closed my eyes instinctively, waiting for his wrath to fall. Detecting that his footsteps were moving away from me, I dared another peek.
Instead of heading toward me, the kidnapper confronted the second guard at the front door. “You!”
“Me what?”
“You’ve been on my case the whole time. If you’ve got a problem with me—” The bare-headed kidnapper jumped at his fellow.
“Look, I wasn’t even over there—"
Any time now, I thought. Right on cue, I heard a loud Bam! and the front door flew open, to reveal Minna, Hardy, and Wolff in full battle gear, weapons trained on the kidnappers. At the same time, I heard the sounds of struggle, quickly silenced, as more Galactic Space Service operatives kicked down the back door and subdued the guards stationed there.
Pepper bolted down the hall and then led the way back to D’Salle’s room with Minna in tow. When the dog returned to the living room, she nodded to me. “All good. The girl wasn’t harmed. Minna’s released her from her bonds and she’ll bring her out shortly.”
“Hopefully, she’ll make her first priority getting those spiders back in their enclosure,” I told Pepper.
We lounged on the floor, waiting for our human compatriots to finish handcuffing the kidnappers and providing their update calls to various interested parties, starting with the treaty negotiators.
“I didn’t take you for a student of geography,” Pepper said. “I’m surprised you knew about Dorva’s gravity.”
“Oh, that? I made it up. Dorva’s gravity is about Earth-equal, as far as I can tell.”
“You made it up?” Pepper’s eyes narrowed.
“I knew you just lacked confidence. So I gave you the information you needed to believe you could make that jump.”
I braced myself for an angry retort. None came. Instead, the dog cocked her head, staring at me. I caught a glint of hilarity in her expression. “I guess that makes us even.”
“Even? What do you—wait a minute. How did you know the spiders wouldn’t go for me instead of the N’Kisi?”
“Fifty-fifty chance,” she said, showing her teeth in a grin. “I took a guess.”
“Do you think we’ll get court martialed?” Back aboard the Meech Lake, Pepper sat, panting, in the bunk room we shared with Minna.
“For what?” I’d been cleaning my face with my front paw, a serious business that I hated having interrupted, and I let her know that with a disdainful glare.
“For switching the camera gear.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Everything worked out. I’m sure Minna won’t give it a second thought.”
Before I could resume my face-washing, I heard Minna’s light tread on the floor. I leaned forward in anticipation, expecting that she would, as usual, do us the courtesy of filling us in on how everything had turned out.
Minna lay down on her bunk and put her hands behind her head. “Turns out the kidnappers were Dorvan dissidents. They had their own reasons for wanting to limit the amount of interaction with other species. They were involved in some shady business the Galactic Space Service tried to mop up a couple of years ago and felt the fewer prying eyes on their planet, the better.”
She swung her feet over the side and rose to a sitting position. “Once they found out that their own countrymen had been behind the kidnapping, the Dorvan negotiators were extremely apologetic, and the N’Kisi were gracious enough to resume the talks. We’re lucky we resolved things quickly, though. Rumor has it the N’Kisi were infuriated about being accused of kidnapping D’Salle, and were on the verge of heading back to their ship in a huff. If the truth had come out much later, they may have been gone for good.”
Pepper and I exchanged knowing looks. Another assignment completed. Hopefully, the navigators would set a course away from this planet soon, and we’d be headed for more exciting action. If so, I couldn’t wait.
Minna wasn’t finished. “I said everything turned out okay, which is true. But the camera feeds getting mixed up—I’m not sure how it happened—”
Though I knew Minna wouldn’t understand my words, something compelled me to want to state my case. I jumped forward. “I was only—”
Whatever I intended to add was drowned out by Pepper’s strident barking. “He’s the one.” Pepper pointed her muzzle toward me. “It was him.”
“As I was saying, I’m not sure how it happened.” Minna shot each of us an intense glare. I shut up, and the mutt zipped it too. “But I’d like to hope I can count on that sort of thing never happening again.”
Pepper paddled her forepaws and bowed her head. I twitched my whiskers and pretended I’d found something of intense interest on the floor.
“Look.” Minna sighed, deeply. “Maybe it was a mistake, teaming you two together. Maybe we should just give this up, huh?”
A sudden choking sensation, as though I’d swallowed a sparrow-sized hairball, caused me to cough. I thought of all of Pepper’s insults, and at the same time, all of the occasions on which she’d pulled my tail out of the fire.
I looked at Pepper, my eyes round. Surely she understood that all my teasing was for her benefit, to keep her from taking herself too seriously? That I valued our partnership, even if there were times I didn’t think she valued me?
I made my move, and realized, in the same instant, that Pepper was making hers. We came together in the middle of the room and stood, shoulder to shoulder, looking imploringly at Minna.
“Do your thing,” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth.
Pepper cocked her head left, then right. She whimpered and tucked her tail between her legs. Then she capped off her performance by leaning forward in a play bow, then giving Minna puppy eyes.
I could see our handler’s resolve melting. “Fine. I won’t break up the dream team. It’s just—it’s been a stressful few days, that’s all.” Minna glanced at her wrist chrono and swore under her breath. “Gotta get to the mess hall before all the good stuff’s gone.”
She looked at Pepper, eyebrows raised. The mutt jerked her muzzle toward the door, communicating with Minna in a private non-verbal language I was just starting to understand. Go ahead. We’ll be there in a minute.
The instant she was gone, Pepper drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. “That was close.”
“Yeah. Look, I—I’m sorry.”
“Do tell.”
I gritted my teeth. “It’s just—sometimes I don’t think you value my contribution. I feel like—”
I paused, seeking an appropriate analogy.
“Like a fifth wheel?” Pepper suggested.
“How could I be a fifth wheel? There’s only three of us.”
“It’s an expression.”
“Whatever.” I decided to try a different approach. “You and me, we’re like cougars and catfish. Different in some ways, alike in others. But different isn’t necessarily wrong.”
Pepper shook her head. “What you did—it could have jeopardized the mission.”
“But it didn’t.”
“We were lucky.”
“I just wanted you to see that the things I’m good at aren’t always easy.”
“I get it. And you’re right.” Pepper closed her eyes, as if marshalling resolve. “I agree, you do add something to the team.”
“Fine. Was that so hard?”
“Can we call a truce?”
“For now,” I said, turning toward the door. “Ready for dinner?”
“Always.”
“Last one there is a naava spider.” I darted down the corridor.