"Now Gabriella, repeat after me," said Rick emphatically, enunciating each word precisely, "I - Will - Not - Let - Spot - Out - Of - This - Cabin."

Gabriella stood next to Spot's cage and pouted. "It wasn't my fault last time," she whined. "How was I supposed to know he'd get into the ship's galley and eat everything in sight...."

Rick waited patiently.

"Oh c'mon. He's a bottomless pit! He always eats a lot," argued Gabriella.

Spot chirped in agreement.

"ALL the food on the ship?" said Rick incredulously.

"So he got excited!"

"So did the cook, and I didn't notice either of you carrying him to the infirmary."

"Bort weighs 300 pounds, and besides, all he did was faint," complained Gabriella. She noticed that Rick was still waiting for her to repeat after him, so she tried one last tack, "But he looked so sad cooped up in here." That didn't work either. Finally she gave in and said grumpily, "Fine. 'I will not let Spot out of this cabin.' Happy?"

Spot grumbled very un-happily from inside his enclosure.

"Thank you, Gabriella," said Rick. He drew her aside and continued in a more confidential tone of voice so that Spot wouldn't overhear. "It's just that Spot's been acting very strangely as of late and I'm worried about him -- I'd hate to have to leave him alone. I appreciate your looking after him while I'm down on Slart. The captain wants it checked out before he sends any shore leave parties."

"Well, you're welcome, Rick," said Gabby, somewhat mollified. Because of the feelings she secretly harbored for the man, Gabriella couldn't deny Rick. "You know I'm always happy to help you," she said.

Rick nodded in acknowledgment. He turned to Spot and said in a stern voice, "And as for you, don't be giving Gabriella any trouble. Understand?"

Spot burped.

"Don't take that tone with me, mister. If you comported yourself with more maturity, I could let you out of here once in a while."

Spot twittered, but Rick cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We'll discuss this when I get back." As he headed for the door, he said to Gabriella over his shoulder, "Try and have a good day."

"Sure," said Gabby with a little sigh. The door to Rick's cabin slid shut leaving her alone with the small creature named Spot.

She walked over to the cage and popped the top. Spot hopped out with a single bound onto the table top. Gabby watched as the bizarre little alien beast flipped himself off the table and landed on the floor. She wondered for the millionth time why in the world Rick kept this improbable little monster as his pet. It didn't even look like a real animal -- more like a 'coonskin cap with three stumpy but powerful legs and a mouth on the underside.

Spot was rolling himself toward the cabin door, and with a hairy thud, heaved himself against it. He whined plaintively. Again and again he rolled back a few inches to get a running start, then forward bumping into the door.

"No Spot!" said Gabby. "You heard what Rick said. You have to stay here!"

Spot ignored her. He kept ramming the door, over and over again. Gabby cringed with every squishy thud.

"Cut it out, Spot."

Thud.

"I'll get in trouble if I let you out."

Thud.

Gabby couldn't take it any longer. She said, "All right. I'll make you a deal. I'll let you out of the cabin, but I'M COMING ALONG! That way I can be sure you don't cause any mischief. Deal?"

Thud.

"Take it or leave it, you little hairball!" She was beginning to lose her patience with this bantam blackmailer.

Spot stopped banging the door and considered. Gabby was standing in the middle of the room, hands on hips and foot tapping the floor, which Spot had come to recognize as meaning that she meant business. After a moment, Spot chirped agreeably.

"Fine. Here you go," said Gabby as she pressed the stud that opened the door. Spot immediately began inching his way out into the ship's corridor. "Now remember, you have to stick with me!" she called after the retreating Spot. She was already through the door when she remembered she had left her things in Rick's cabin. "Hang on a second Spot. I have to get my stuff." Gabby dashed back into the room and retrieved her things.

When she stepped back out into the corridor, Spot was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh rats! He did it to me again!" she cried, with a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach. "Rick's gonna kill me."

Rick quickly made his way up to his tiny office in the hypership Rocinante's security section. The door parted down the middle revealing his able assistant, Sitto Lan, sitting at the desk. There was no one in the brig at the moment, so Sitto was borderline dozing in his chair.

"Good morning, Sitto," said Rick as he walked in. "Ready? The sooner we verify that Slart is a safe planet, the sooner the captain can start sending shore parties down."

"Hunh...? Wha...?" Sitto shook his head trying to clear out the accumulated cobwebs, but by the time he had fully woken up, Rick had already gathered up his field equipment and started out the security office on his way to the shuttle dock. "Coming?" he said over his shoulder.

Sitto scooped up his own equipment and hurried after Rick. Minutes later, the two men arrived at the airlock leading to the number one landing craft. Sitto was still a few steps behind Rick, trying to stuff the last of his gear into his uniform's pouches. Rick was already buckling himself into the pilot seat by the time Sitto finally caught up with him. As soon as Rick saw that Sitto was ready, he turned his attention to the docking tech: "Release docking clamp."

The landing craft detached from the Rocinante's side and began its controlled plummet into Slart's atmosphere. No one had noticed the small furry interloper that had rolled itself through the landing craft's airlock at the last moment to hitch a ride with the 'official' landing team.

Two security men and one small unnoticed companion set down in the center of a beautiful glade on the surface of Slart. There were trees all around, springy green turf beneath their feet and a light breeze propelling puffy white clouds across the crystal firmament above. Rick took a moment to savor the air. It felt good to be back in nature -- sometimes he missed his old home back on Earth. Even city-boy Sitto seemed to be enjoying the raw beauty here.

Off in the not-too-far distance, Rick could see a small town nestled amongst the trees of a small wood. "That must be the administrative center for this hemisphere," he told Sitto. They began walking toward the town to meet with the chief administrator. Along the way, Rick noticed that there were many homemade flyers pinned to light poles and trees offering rewards for lost neighborhood pets. He wondered briefly at this, but in the end dismissed it as unimportant.

Meanwhile, still unnoticed, their small companion moved off on his own and soon disappeared amid the trees and buildings of the town.

Constable Nedic Arn walked his beat in the quiet arboreal suburbs. He had been in the police force for almost eleven years now and he still enjoyed his job -- the fresh air, the exercise, and the fact that nothing very serious ever happened. Naturally, just as this thought passed through his mind a shrill female voice cried, "Help! Officer, help!" Arn turned and saw a young girl frantically jumping up and down and flailing her arms to get his attention. "This way!" she waved. "Quick! Mr. Tuvo's in trouble!" Arn didn't hesitate for a second. Quick as he could, he dashed off in the direction the girl indicated, determined to save Mr. Tuvo.

Fifteen minutes later, Arn climbed out of a tree with a small furry bundle in his arms and handed a frightened little beige kitten to a relieved little girl. She hugged the little kitty to her with such fervor that the kitty's eyes bugged. "Oh Mr. Tuvo, are you all right? I was so worried," she gushed. "You're a naughty kitty for climbing so high."

Arn brushed some leaves and twigs from his hair and uniform. Now that he had a moment to think, he recognized the little girl. He also noticed that her cat looked like an expensive pure-bred. "There you go, Fiola," said Arn. "Mr. Tuvo sure is a nice cat. Now you take care of him, okay?"

"Thank you officer," said Fiola as she skipped away back to her house.

Arn stood watching until Fiola disappeared into her home. He made a mental note of the address. He'd be back -- tonight....

Arn turned around to resume his patrol and bumped straight-away into a pair of men costumed in uniforms of some type he didn't recognize. Must be some of those 'Earthmen' I've heard about, he thought to himself.

One of the uniformed men smiled and said, "Pardon me, sir -- terribly sorry," and politely stepped aside to let Arn by.

Arn said absentmindedly in return, "No trouble. My fault," and went on his way. He had other things on his mind.

He hadn't walked far when he thought he caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye behind a tree. He walked over to investigate, and just caught a glimpse of a small, brown, furry object scuttling away behind some other trees a little farther down the way.

Intrigued, Arn decided to follow in case it was a dangerous type of animal that would have to be dealt with. But it seemed as if the more determinedly Arn chased the furry whatever-it-was, the more quickly it was able to elude him. It was as though there were more than one little animal. Arn dashed over to the tree where the furball had just been, only to see a glimpse of it disappearing behind a different tree. He ran to the new tree, just in time to see it duck into a nearby bush. It was becoming maddening. He thought he saw a hint of fuzz beneath the leaves of a nearby hedge, but then a sudden movement made him turn his head to the left. A small dog ran yapping from behind one tree trunk to another. Then, another motion diverted his attention to the right when a small cat zipped between two low bushes with a loud and very deliberate "meow".

There was more than one animal here! When Arn looked back under the hedge where the brown fur-ball had been before, it was gone. The animals had ganged up on him and were deliberately trying to divert him from catching the fur-ball. Arn couldn't believe it. What was this little fur-ball that it could unite the pets of the neighborhood against him like this?

Suddenly, Arn saw his chance. He dove at a rustling shrubbery hoping to snag this mystery creature, but instead, the foliage exploded with dozens of dogs, cats, ferrets, wuzzles and goombas, and Arn wound up face down in a mud puddle, empty-handed. The animals jumped all around and on top of Arn in a hopeless whirlwind of confusion tearing at his uniform, but through it all, Arn managed to spy the small brown animal riding away from the scene on the back of a small beige cat that bore a remarkable resemblance to Mr. Tuvo! Gathering up the tattered remnants of his uniform, Arn took off after the pair and the chase was on!

Meanwhile, aboard the orbiting Rocinante, Gabby was still desperately looking for Spot. She had checked out the mess hall, the kitchen and the pantry, all the likely places a hungry Spot might head for, but there was no sign of him.

"Where could he be?" she said aloud as she stood in the middle of a corridor feeling at a loss for where to look next. Then a thought hit her. "He must have jumped ship along with the landing team!"

As Gabby ran down to the shuttle docks, her mind was full of thoughts of wreaking her bloody vengeance on that stupid little miscreant for putting her through all this. Again.

Rick and Sitto were scanning a few DNA samples of various flora and fauna to confirm there were no unpleasant surprises in store for the crew. As soon as they were finished and made their report to the captain, shore leave would commence. The only thing that was requested of them from the Slartan administrator was the basic request not to upset the local citizens with any ruckus or troublemaking while on shore leave.

As they made their way back toward the edge of town and the glade where their lander waited, Rick noted once again the high number of reward posters for lost neighborhood pets.

A distant racket was becoming louder. Rick realized it was the sound of many animals barking, meowing, growling, howling and harrumphing, and they were coming this way. He and Sitto stopped beside a brick wall to wait and see what was going on.

A few seconds later, a small beige cat came bounding around the nearer street corner and ran right past Rick and Sitto. They jumped back in unison against the brick wall to avoid being run over. The cat ran down the middle of the street, around the far corner and out of sight. That in itself was not all that noteworthy, but Rick also happened to notice that the small beige cat was bearing a 'coonskin cap-shaped rider on its back like some sort of bizarre Lilliputian horse and jockey team.

"Spot? How...," said Rick in disbelief. He and Sitto looked at each other in astonishment, but just then, a stampede of other animals came tearing around the corner after the Spot-and-cat combo, making a fearsome noise.

When they too had passed and disappeared around the second corner, Sitto shook his head and chuckled. He said, "What's next, a cattle drive?"

Rick was about to comment about how unlikely that was, but he was interrupted by a new noise. To his further surprise and Sitto's growing amusement, Gabriella came barreling around the corner hollering, "Spoooooot! Waaaiiit!" As she blew by the two men, she spared Rick a smile and called, "Hi there Rick," in between her huffs and puffs, and then she too rounded the second corner, the echoes of her hollering still ringing in the men's ears.

Deciding that this situation probably needed looking into, Rick was about to take off after the parade himself, but again, the sound of running footfalls checked him. This time a man wearing some sort of tattered uniform came around the corner. His face was red from the exertion, his clothes were dirty and torn, and he was clutching a large, long-handled net. He ran by Rick and Sitto and vanished around the second corner in hot pursuit of anything he could catch.

"Come on!" said Rick to the madly grinning Sitto as he headed off after Spot. He couldn't imagine how Spot had gotten himself down to the planet, but he was causing trouble and needed to be stopped before he got hurt or jeopardized the relationship between the Slartan and the Rocinante. To discover that Gabriella was involved came as no big shock, he assumed she had come down on the second lander, but now he realized that what he suspected was wrong with Spot was much more likely to be true, and it alarmed him a great deal.

From a few steps behind Rick, Sitto shouted and pointed to a narrow alley that looked like it offered a shortcut. Rick altered his course, and running between buildings and through people's back yards, he and Sitto quickly gained on the amok Spot and his train of pursuers.

Jumping out from between two buildings, Rick stood fearlessly in the middle of the street in front of the approaching stampede. The cat carrying Spot came to a screeching halt in front of Rick and Spot went flying head over heals through the air. He thumped into Rick's chest and plopped onto the pavement before Rick's feet.

Rick looked down and said, "Hello Spot."

Spot chirped an angry and annoyed reply.

Just then Gabriella came running up surrounded by dozens of yammering and jumping wuzzles and goombas. She was saying, "Beat it you mangy beasts!" as she fought her way through them to where Spot lay. She shot off a rapid-fire stream of words: "Spot! You bad boy.... Hi there Rick," she smiled shyly and fluttered her eyelashes innocently. "I'll just be taking Spot here back to the ship now. No harm done...." She bent to scoop up Spot in her hands and make her escape before Rick could reprimand her when the red-faced uniformed man finally caught up.

"Not so fast, Miss!" he huffed. He shouldered past Gabriella and bent down to pick up Spot himself. Spot reared up on his hind leg and began screeching and hissing. He jump at Arn's reaching hand, and Officer Arn jerked his hand back.

"OW!" he yelled, wiping the blood off his finger. "That animal just bit me! That's it. I'm taking him in!"

Rick's brow furrowed. This really wasn't like Spot at all -- normally he was a very gentle soul. True, he was occasionally a little misbehaved, but never before had he been so completely out of control and vicious. "Is that really necessary, officer?" Rick interjected in defense of his little friend.

"The name's Nedic Arn. Yes it is; for biting me, suspicion of being responsible for the disappearance of several neighborhood pets (at that he pointed to the closest of many nearby posters advertising a reward for the return of a family pet), disturbing the peace, inciting these other animals to riot, ruining my new uniform and anything else I can think of. That creature, whatever it is, is a menace."

Gabriella butted in, "So Spot and his friends got a little frisky? Can't we settle this without going through all the nasty and time-consuming paperwork?"

"Not a chance," said Arn, readying a sack.

In spite of himself, Sitto Lan found himself coming to the little varmint's defense too. He put his arm conspiratorially around Arn's shoulder and said, "All right Arn. What's it gonna take? Twenty bucks?"

"No."

"All right, fifty."

"No. Not twenty, not fifty, not a million. You can't bribe me." He gruffly disengaged himself from Sitto. "You'll have to take this up with the judge." With that, Arn scooped Spot up in his sack and tied it shut. Spot could be heard rustling about inside and squeaking pathetically.

Arn turned back to Rick. "Court will be in session tomorrow morning. You can tell your story there." He handed Rick a slightly mangled slip of paper from his shirt pocket with the address of the court house, and without further ado walked away, sack and Spot in hand.

"Thank you," said Rick to Arn's retreating back.

By this time, Gabriella was practically in tears. She flustered about saying, "Oh jeez.... I'm so sorry Rick.... It's all my fault.... I let him get away from me. Again."

"What're you gonna do, Rick?" asked Sitto.

"We'll come back tomorrow and explain everything to the judge. I'm sure justice will prevail and Spot will be set free."

"You're gonna tell the judge the truth about Spot?"

"Of course," replied Rick matter-of-factly. "We can't lie to the authorities!"

"Spot's dead," moaned Gabriella.

The next morning dawned cold and gray. The clouds overhead threatened rain as the landing craft from the Rocinante touched down once again in the quiet glade. Three figures emerged and walked toward the small town and the court house. With Rick in the lead, the trio found the building and the right room. They waited a short time while the court took care of a few other cases.

Then, finally, it was Rick's turn. He stood before the judge's bench while the Honorable Judge Neblit Gis silently read the paperwork before him enumerating Spot's 'crimes'. Rick gave a reassuring look back at Gabriella, who was sitting at the back of the room nervously clutching Sitto's arm.

Finally, the judge looked up and addressed Rick. "Lieutenant Commander Richard Hunter. Uh.... do I have that title correct?"

"Yes sir."

"The animal in question is yours?"

"Yes Your Honor, he is. Well, that is to say, he doesn't actually 'belong' to me. We met in the wilderness on my homeworld, and we've been friends ever since then."

"Do you mean to tell me that this is a 'wild' animal?"

"Well,.... I wouldn't say 'wild' per se, Your Honor." In the background, Sitto could be heard groaning in disbelief.

"I see," said the judge, looking over Spot's paperwork again. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Since your hypership only arrived a few days ago, I'm dismissing the charge of killing local pets. It looks like the only significant complaints about your 'friend' is that he bit a police officer."

"Yes, Your Honor. I assure you, he's never bitten anyone else. On this planet," reassured Rick, confident that his honest testimony would win Spot's freedom. That's why he couldn't understand why he heard, in the background, Gabriella moan and slap her forehead with her hand.

Judge Gis looked with surprise at Rick. "Commander Hunter, This seemed like a simple case. I was about to release the animal to your custody with the provision that you return it to your ship and take steps to ensure it never again returns to Slart, but I have now changed my mind."

"Your Honor?"

"I'm going to do you a favor instead," said the judge. "What we have here is a wild animal living in an enclosed area on a hyperspace vessel. Immediately upon your arrival here, it escapes to the planet surface and bites someone. By your admission, it has bitten people on other planets, and according to the report in front of me it's responsible for causing a considerable amount of commotion in a very short amount of time." Judge Gis had been getting visibly upset during his little lecture, but now he paused for a moment, sighed deeply, then calmly spoke the court's sentence, "It is the court's decision that the animal be put to sleep." His gavel came down on the benchtop in a damning clap of thunder.

Rick stared at the judge in shock and disbelief. How could this be? Nipping someone on the finger didn't warrant a death penalty! Behind Rick, Sitto and Gabriella sprang to their feet upon hearing the judge's decision and rushed forward exclaiming, "Wait a minute!" and, "You can't be serious!", but the judge had already risen and two seconds later he was gone from the courtroom.

The three officers stood in stunned silence just looking at each other. None of them had thought it would turn out like this.

Finally, Rick broke the silence. He just sighed and said, "Oh, bother...."

Rick sat in the center of the floor in Spot's kennel somewhere near the court house. Spot was sulking a few feet in front of Rick, ignoring him. Rick was saying, "Is there anything I can get you?"

Spot made no acknowledgment.

"A pillow maybe?"

No reply.

"A cookie?"

Spot turned around to face away from Rick.

Just then the door to the cell clanged and rattled as someone on the outside of the cell was unlocking it. Apparently, visitor hours were over, so Rick made to stand up and leave. In that instant Spot lunged toward the door himself in a desperate last attempt to escape, but Rick moved to block his way. He suddenly jerked his left arm away from the wildly agitated Spot and cradled his wrist in his right hand.

He ducked through the now-open door, then turned around briefly and said to his friend, "I'll come back tomorrow, Spot." Then the door clanged shut again, sealing the angrily croaking Spot inside. The guard who had opened the door walked away, intent on his other duties, leaving Rick alone with his whirling thoughts. Perplexed and more troubled than ever, he just stood a moment outside the cell. Spot's unprovoked attack grieved him deeply, and he even considered for a moment the possibility that the judge's sentence was just and correct. For when he took his hand away from his wrist, it came away red, dripping with his own blood.

Late at night, a dark, sinister figure crept along the wall of the small house, keeping to the bushes as much as possible. It was impossible to identify the interloper because he wore a ski mask. He had marked the address the day before, and now he was following the sound of soft meowing coming from around the corner behind the house. He reached the corner and carefully peeped around. No one was in sight, and the back yard was draped in gloomy shadows -- perfect.

The sinister figure's sharp eyes swept quickly across the yard and homed in on what he was looking for -- the source of the meowing -- a small beige cat. It looked at him curiously. He gently withdrew a tiny needle-gun from his jacket pocket and took careful aim. A puff of discharged gas from the gun, a hissing sound as the needle sped away, and a suddenly toppled kitty told the story of what just transpired.

The sinister figure slunk over to where the cat lay softly snoring. He unfolded a sack from his belt and stuffed the cat into it. Then, as quickly as he came, the dark sinister figure dissolved back into the night from whence he came.

The GEV slowed to a stop and settled earthward in front of a low-built, warehouse-like building. The structure was camouflaged so that it almost disappeared amidst the thick trees and shrubbery that surrounded it. A man emerged from the building and watched the hovercraft settle earthward. As he stepped into the light, the face of Judge Neblit Gis was revealed. He walked toward the hovercraft and greeted the pilot as he disembarked. "Arn. You're ahead of schedule."

"It's been a good week, judge," said Constable Nedic Arn. He walked around to the back of the GEV and popped the cargo hatch. Inside were several cages each containing what looked like someone's pet. One of the cages held a small beige cat.

"Mmm. Nice haul," said the other man.

"Yeah, they should be worth more than the usual. Plus I got one more I need to pick up. That weird alien creature from the hypership you ordered put to sleep yesterday. No one will know we stole it instead. Too bad we couldn't pin all these other disappearances on it."

"This is one sweet business we have here, Arn," chuckled Gis. "We pick up these critters and then sell them to the genetic experimentation labs. How's the finger, by the way?"

"Still smarts," grumbled Arn.

"The cash we get for that little beast will make it feel better," said Gis.

Chuckling at their own cleverness, the two men began transferring the cages from the vehicle to the warehouse.

Back on the Rocinante, Gabby sat by herself at a table in the mess hall. She was staring out a porthole nursing a good stiff drink, her third, and she was feeling worse than she'd ever felt before. Rick had entrusted his best friend Spot to her care and she had failed them both miserably. Now Spot was going to die and Rick would never forgive her. She sighed. She might as well jettison herself out the airlock.

Just then from right behind her, the voice Gabby most dreaded hearing interrupted her morbid thoughts.

"Gabriella? Mind if I sit down?"

Gabby turned to see Rick waiting for her to give her permission, ever the polite gentleman. She couldn't say no, so she indicated the seat opposite her with a motion of her hand, and Rick sat down.

Before she lost her nerve and before Rick could start chewing her out she began blurting out, "Rick! Oh, I'm so sorry! I tried my best, but you know how Spot is. Oh, it's all my fault!" She was practically sobbing.

"It's not your fault, Gabriella. It's mine," said Rick.

Gabby continued, "I can never make it up to.... What did you say?"

"I said that the blame is mine and not yours," said Rick. "I knew Spot was not himself. I should never have left him with you." Rick's eyes suddenly acquired a faraway look. He continued in a somewhat quieter voice, narrating almost to himself as if he'd forgotten Gabriella was there. "Spot's been following me around ever since the day we met. Then, after I left Earth, he lived in small rooms on cramped space stations and hyperships -- all artificial environments. But Spot is, and always will be, a natural, wild animal. This dark turn in his personality was bound to happen sooner or later." Rick paused and looked down at the tabletop. When he looked up again Gabby saw real grief in his eyes, which surprised her because she well knew Rick's reserved and stoic temperament.

Rick's eyes returned to the present; he looked at Gabby and said simply, "Spot's returned to his wild state. All he wants is to go home."

"Oh," was all Gabby could think to say.

Rick rose from his chair. His composure was now fully in place again. He said, "Well, I just wanted to tell you that, so you don't worry yourself too much."

Gabby reached out and took hold of Rick's hand. He didn't resist. She sniffed and said, "Thanks, Rick."

"You're welcome, Gabriella," said Rick, then walked out of the mess hall.

After finishing her drink, Gabby wobbled back to her cabin. She was definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol. She tried to sit down on her bed but missed and wound up on her back on the floor. She lay there staring at the ceiling trying to force her pickled brain to think.

She still felt bad. Even if Rick had known about Spot's mental condition, it had still been her responsibility to look after the little guy while Rick was on his mission. Spot had escaped because she had diverted her attention for a second, and then he had gotten in trouble and was sentenced to be put to sleep by the Slartan judge. And all because Spot had reverted to his wild state and was simply following his instincts and trying to go back to his natural environment.

Well, she couldn't let that stand. She had to do something! Spot was scheduled to be put to sleep tomorrow, so she had to do something tonight, but what could she do?!? There was only one thing....

A lone, shadowy figure slunk down a dimly lit corridor in the kennels near the Slartan court building. It crept along a wall toward a certain door. At the door, the figure pulled some sort of device out of a pocket and applied it to the door over the lock. A second later, there was a soft click and the door swung silently open. A soft purring sound came from the other side of the door. The lone shadowy figure whispered, "What're you waiting for? Let's go!"

There was no choice left; Rick knew what he had to do. He was on his knees in his cabin next to his bunk. He pulled out and opened the chest that had always rested under there. His mindset was grim and focused, undistractable. The chest held old family relics and the like, and hadn't been opened for many years.

He piled out a bunch of miscellaneous things until he was almost at the bottom. Finally, he withdrew from the chest a long narrow canvas-shrouded bundle and set it aside. He replaced the other things he had taken from the box and closed the lid again.

Rick now turned his single-minded attention to the long bundle. He untied the twine cords and flipped back the canvas folds. Now before him lay the wicked, black form of a portable particle projection cannon. It was one of the first ever made, and it had belonged to his grandfather.

He picked it up and hefted it to get a feel of it. It was perfectly balanced, and Rick was momentarily impressed by the craftsmanship. Then he remembered who he planning to use it on, and the black shroud of despondency fell over him again. He hefted the PPC again and checked the power cell -- fully charged. He heaved it onto his shoulder and headed for Security.

The doors parted to reveal Sitto Lan manning the main console as usual. "Sitto!" called Rick.

"Yo."

"Are you still monitoring Spot's location?"

"Yup. He's moving now."

Where is he?"

"A few miles north of the city on the borders of a large forest."

"Any other life signs nearby?"

Sitto punched a few commands into his console. "Yes. One other, Human."

"Gabriella," said Rick. He'd figured she'd try something like this. "She's in grave danger."

"What? From Spot?" asked an incredulous Sitto.

Rick turned to face Sitto. He pulled back the uniform sleeve on his left arm and showed Sitto the bloody bandage where Spot had mauled him back in his holding cage.

"Oh jeez!" said Sitto.

Gabby walked behind Spot. After she had sprung Spot from jail, she had wanted them to head due north into the forests, away from the population centers. She figured that was where Spot would be happiest since that was where the wilderness was the thickest, but Spot had been veering north-east. She was tired of arguing with the stupid critter, so now she was reduced to just widely-spaced complaints. "Where are you going? Are you looking for food? I've got snacks in my backpack, you know!"

Spot ignored her and trundled on. Soon enough he came upon a building that seemed to be camouflaged to blend in with the surrounding forest. Spot headed for it, but Gabby hesitated. She had a weird feeling that something wasn't quite right here. She quickened her pace to catch up with Spot and reached him just as he reached the door to the building.

The door was slightly ajar, and Spot squeezed through. Gabby tried peeking inside, but the interior was dark. She didn't really want to go in, but she didn't want to stay out here all by herself either, so finally she pushed the door open just enough to let her squeeze her lithe body in too.

Seconds later, her eyes adjusted to the dim light and she looked around. Inside were row after row of shelves and low tables with small cages on them. Spot was nowhere to be seen of course. Gabby hissed, "Spot! Come on, let's get outta here."

A commotion was starting somewhere off to the left that sounded like a bunch of animals making noise, so Gabby went to investigate. There was Spot, amidst a group of cages that all held animals of one sort or another. They seemed excited to see Spot and were being quite vocal about it.

Gabby said, "What's going on here? What are you guys doing locked up like this? ....In a secret warehouse? ....In the middle of a forest?" Something was definitely weird about this. Spot meanwhile had climbed up a table leg and was nudging open the lock on a cage that held a small beige cat. The cat meowed a thank-you as it sprang out of its prison, and Spot answered with a chirp.

Always ready to lend a hand, Gabby said, "Here, lemme help." She began popping open the cages one by one freeing the captive pets until she was surrounded by a miniature stampede of dogs, cats, ferrets, wuzzles and goombas. When they were all loose Gabby said, "All right now. Let's get outta here!" She ran toward the door and the stampede followed her.

But as she emerged back out into the light of day, she was stopped by Constable Nedic Arn, who had by an amazing coincidence just arrived on the scene to check up on things.

Completely surprised, he barely managed to stutter, "Who are you?!? What are you doing here?"

Before Gabby could answer though, the door burst open and the stampede of family pets thundered out, knocking Gabby sprawling forward into Arn's arms. He was caught off guard and the both of them went down in a hopeless tangle of arms and legs.

"Get your hands off me, you masher!" sputtered Gabby as she tried to extricate herself from the hapless Arn and at the same time slap him silly.

Arn defended himself as best he could against Gabriella's flailing attack until Gabby scrambled off him. He jumped back to his own feet totally flustered and shouted, "You're nuts, lady!" but the escaping animals quickly regained his attention.

Last out the door was a small beige cat bearing a smaller, 'coonskin cap shaped rider, and when Arn saw them an insatiable anger burned in his eyes. That little off-world creature had been the bane of his existence these last few days, but now he was determined to get it!

Gabby gave a small yelp and jumped back a step when Arn drew his pistol. "Look out lady. I'm gonna get that critter," he said and took aim.

Just then another voice called from a short distance, "Please stop right there, sir!" It was Rick and Sitto. They had finally arrived on the scene.

"What?" said Arn.

"That animal is my responsibility," said Rick. "I'll take care of it." Arn lowered his gun, not quite sure what was going on and where all these people were suddenly coming from.

Sitto, who had been carrying the big PPC, now handed it to Rick with a concerned expression on his face. "You sure you want to do this, Rick? You want me to do it?"

"No. I have to be the one," said Rick as he flipped on the targeting sensor. He raised the cannon to his shoulder and swung it around to point at Spot, who was still racing away from the scene on the back of the cat.

From her place in the doorway, Gabby cried, "Oh no! Don't do it, Rick!"

Rick heard her, but this was a duty he had to perform, much as he hated doing it. The figure of his life-long friend centered in the targeting scope, but suddenly the image became blurry and spoiled his aim. With detached interest, Rick knew what the trouble was. He reached up and wiped the tear from his eye and took aim once again. The cat that was bearing Spot away was running at full tilt and would soon be out of range. But there was something about the cat that bothered Rick at the back of his mind. What was it? It looked out of place.... Of course! It was wearing a collar -- it was someone's pet. But what was it doing here miles from home in the middle of a forest?

Then, Rick became aware of the large number of other escaped small animals running around amongst the trees. They all looked like pets. Then he remembered the unusual number of 'Lost Pet' posters he had seen in town and he made the connection. All these animals must have been stolen. He knew that Gabriella had nothing to do with it, so that just left....

Rick swung his grandfather's rifle around toward Nedic Arn just in time to see the Slartan officer pointing his own sidearm at him. Rick's trigger finger was the quicker, and his blast shot Arn's pistol right out his hand!

"Aaahhhhhh!" cried Arn.

Gabby strode forward and clobbered Arn with a well-placed clout to the jaw. Arn dropped like a sack of potatoes.

"Well, all's well that ends well, I guess," said Sitto.

"Oh, it's more than just well, Sitto," said a very happy Gabriella. "Spot's still here, Arn and that crooked judge are in the slammer, and our relations with the Slartan have been fixed."

"Indeed," said Rick.

The three of them were sitting at a table in the center of the mess hall, and there was a large crowd gathered around them. On the tabletop in the center were a dozen small, furry, purring creatures. The crowd was cuddling them and petting them and "Oo-ing" and "Ah-ing" over them.

"And to think, all this craziness was just because Spot wanted to get someplace natural so he could replicate," continued Sitto.

"How is Spot?" asked Gabby.

"He seems to be his old, normal self again," said Rick. "Last I saw him he was in my cabin, resting. I just wish he had just told me about this before everything got so crazy!"

Gabby put one of the baby furballs on Sitto's head.

"Hey! You're getting hair all over me," complained Sitto. He plucked the little furball off his head and put it back on the table. "What about these?" was Sitto's next question. He pointed at the babies squirming around on the table in front of him.

The newly replicated babies very quickly found homes with various members of the crew. Even the captain took one. Rick wandered back to his cabin and walked through the door. He set his grandfather's rifle on the desk, very glad that he hadn't had to use it for the reason he had unpacked it.

He turned toward Spot's habitat, to see how his old friend was doing, but Spot wasn't there. Rick turned around a full 360 degrees in his cabin, but Spot was nowhere to be seen.

"Here we go again...."