The Cat Chronicles - Chapter 17

Arthur sat facing the Council President and wondered exactly what had gone wrong to make this cat so ugly and mean spirited. Was it the tiny paws? Or was it the microplastics in his tiny brain?

President Glump, on the other hand, looked at the human before him and thought about the potential for profit once he could get these stupid little creatures to do his work for him.

Glump glowered at Arthur.

“Do you know why you’re here?”

“No, but I’d like to know. Are you going to tell me?”

“I want something from you and we will negotiate so that, of course, you will benefit greatly. Perhaps you will benefit more than I. The benefits to Earth will be the greatest benefits ever.”

“And what is it that you want from me?”

“First, we would like to know what work you did at the NSA. Specifically, what work did you do on the Phalanges Project? And did it involve our planet, as we suspected and was confirmed by our esteemed DUGE leader, Neon Moneylust.”

Arthur sat back in his chair. This was going to be tricky. There had never been a Phalanges Project as far as he knew. Was it possible that this big miserable cat and his alien sidekick were toying with him. Well, cats do like to play with their prey Arthur thought.

“I swore an oath upon leaving government service to never discuss any aspect of my job at the NSA. I can’t help you with what you are asking. Maybe there is something else you would like to know?”

Glump smiled inwardly and thought to himself how easily this Earthling could be sidetracked and misled.

“Right. But we have so much to offer you. Perhaps you will reconsider about the Phalanges Project when you have heard our generous offer. Will you listen to our proposal?”

“Of course, just so that we understand each other, I cannot divulge information about the NSA or my work there.”

(Above) President Glump and his co-conspirator in cat disguise, Neon Moneylust.

Glump turned to Neon and whispered to the Alien.

“How soon can you have a troop ship ready to go to Earth?”

Neon smirked and promised to have a test ship ready within the month. He would have his slave-workforce work around the clock to do it. And if anyone complained, he would have them “erased”.

“You see, Mr. Streiger, we are prepared to send a ship laden with gold bars and expensive jewelry sent to your planet within the month. Your people will only begin to benefit from our generous relationship with them. We have great plans for your Earth! The greatest ever”

Arthur felt a sort of nauseous feeling in the pit of his stomach. But he knew he must maintain an appearance of calm and confidence in order to deal with this situation.

“I don’t know what to say. Your offer seems very generous, but you still haven’t told me what you expect in return.”

“Never mind that for now. You need time to think it over. Today we have arranged a special “Greeting Day” for you. You will be able to meet some of the cats that live here and even get a glimpse of our Big Beautiful City.”

Neon Moneylust could hardly keep from grinning his rather insane-looking alien grin. He had sold over a hundred thousand online tickets to City dwellers so that they could view the Earthling online. And another thousand tickets (for ten times the price) to see the Earthling in person. At the end of the day he was 20 billion Glumpcoins richer!

“Your escort will take you back to your suite now. We’ve provided some clothing for your tour of the City today. We think you will like what we picked out for you.”

Arthur walked back to his prison room with the Big Cat, Ms. Moshe. At least she seemed genuinely concerned about Arthur.

“Are you feeling OK? You seem a little pale. I can bring you something to eat or drink. Is there anything you’d like?” Ms. Moshe asked.

“Thank You Ms. Moshe. Maybe some yogurt and a tea?”

“Of course, I will bring it myself” she said as Arthur’s door closed and he turned towards the window that looked out at the desert. He could just make out some sort of crazed lunatic jumping up and down by himself in the barren desert.

(Above) Neon sheds his cat costume and dances his Money Dance in the desert outside the City.

“Where are they? Someone should have noticed I was kidnapped by now.” Arthur thought to himself.

And at that very moment, Goma, Max and Bella were meeting with the Castle wizard, “Bernie”.

Next Friday: The rescue plans are coming together. The Castle wizard, Bernie, may well turn out to be the most valuable player in the plot to rescue Arthur. Will Mars and Marmalade arrive in time to help? Are there loyal Orange Planet citizens who might help? Will president Glump manage to escape his due punishment?

You can subscribe for Free! But please consider being a Paid subscriber. It is only $30 a year and all the money goes to house and feed the 50 animals currently at the Accidental Animal Rescue Center.

Please leave a comment. Feedback is important and may even help the author bend the direction of the story. I do the illustrations as well as write the story. Your comments matter!!

You can send a personal message to the author. I’ll even write back!

You can share this story with friends and relatives. It might take the edge of the news-related sadness going around at this time in history.