The Spotted Tail

The man rose, giving a respectful nod of his head. “Good morning, Mr. Cushing. Mrs. Cushing. Sorry to see you.”

“I will need passage to my office, and a safe place for my wife and daughter,” her dad said.

“Yes sir.” The man smiled while he spoke.

She thought he seemed odd in how he stood and watched them. He made no eye contact. A couple of times his eyes looked behind them, and then back to them. She wondered if maybe he was really just an image and not there at all. It was hard to tell.

“Mom, don’t,” she said, in a whisper, shrugging her shoulders to make her mom stop fretting with the collar on her robe. “Ouch.” She ducked away from her mom’s fingers now trying to comb her hair.

How long were they going to be here? There was nothing around them. It was getting hotter. And Tache was getting heavy. Paxine had the feeling they were going to get stuck there for hours.

“It’s wise that you all stay together,” the man said, as if sensing their impatience. “A Door will be here shortly.”

Her dad nodded as if that was normal. A Door? Doors weren’t normal, at least to Paxine. She had heard about Doors, but had never seen one. No one she knew had ever seen one either. Sometimes she wondered if they really existed. They were different from cubes. With cubes, you entered and waited until the cube transported you to your destination. With Doors, you entered and arrived at the same time.

The Door had to materialize nearby, but where? Probably by the desk, but nothing happened. She expected it to appear right away since the man said it would come soon, but nothing happened. Maybe the desk turned into a Door? But it didn’t. Impatient and just about ready to ask when the Door would come, there was a shimmer off to one side of the desk. There was the Door. It was smooth gray looking metal with no frame or anything assisting it in standing.

“Cool,” she said, lunging forward, but her dad reached out and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

“Sir?” The man pointed toward the Door. “To your office. They are aware of your impending arrival.” The man didn’t move from his desk, and his eyes didn’t follow them.

“Thank you,” her dad said, stepping in front of Paxine, opening the door.

“Good day sir,” the man said.

Her dad’s hand on her shoulder prevented her from looking. There had to be something behind the Door holding it up. The Door didn’t look like it went anywhere, showing a gray hazy mist, but her dad pushed her through.

“Right behind you Paxine,” her mom said.

Her dad stepped through last, closing the door, which melted away to reveal a wall.

Paxine sighed with disappointment, not being able to check out the Door.

A single lamp lit the room, but Paxine knew her dad’s office well. There was his great oak desk with his gold nameplate “Doug Cushing”, one wall lined with bookshelves, and the collection of sofas and tables in the middle. All the books were about law and government policy. She wasn’t interested in them.

Her dad turned on more lights, setting the gun down on his desk. His assistant, Robert, entered holding clothes, laying them on the desk beside the gun. He reminded Paxine of a butler.

“Clothes will be arriving soon for Mrs. Cushing and your daughter,” Robert said.

Paxine thought her dad looked funny standing at his desk wearing his robe.

“Thank you, Robert.” Her dad ignored the clothes. “Where’s Kirt?”

Paxine didn’t care for Kirt. He wasn’t doing a good job if intruders got into their house. She sat down on one of the sofas. Tache stepped out of her arms and plopped down. He stretched to get the kinks out of his sides. After a good yawn, he proceeded to clean where he had been kicked.

“Kirt isn’t in the building, but coming. Phil will be here now.” Robert must have been monitoring where people were because there was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” her dad said before Robert could reach the door to open it.

Phil, Kirt’s second in command, entered. He walked as usual, in a relaxed manner, until he saw her mom at which point he became stiff and awkward. Her mom was dressed in her robe and it seemed to embarrass him, even though the robe covered her properly. He was much more fun to watch than Tache.

“Why were there no alarms?” her dad said.

Phil jerked. “We are still…”

“We have a problem. No alarms mean an inside job,” her dad said.

“It seems to indicate…” Phil seemed unable to focus.

“And that…” Her dad’s stern voice caused Phil to become silent.

Phil then realized he should be taking notes. Paxine muffled a laugh, watching him fumble through his pockets. He did pull out a small notepad, but then he couldn’t find a pen.

“They were professionals.” Her dad ignored Phil’s predicament. “If it hadn’t been for the Tachalarm, we wouldn’t be here.”

“The Takalarm?” Phil’s voice squeaked. He continued to search for a pen.

Her dad pointed to the sofa at Tache. Paxine flinched.

“Tache. The cat. He tripped them up. Literally,” her dad said in a stern voice.

“That was a good thing…” Phil said.

“Find out how they found us.” Her dad ran his hand through his hair and his voice raised a level. “Now.”

“Yes, sir.” Phil jumped, scurrying out of the room.

Her dad took a deep breath, catching sight of her. Paxine knew he could curse up a storm, but he didn’t around her.

Her mom sat down on the sofa across from her and watched Tache, who was now making a big scene of tending to his back claws with his teeth. He seemed to like having an audience. Her dad watched as well.

Paxine wondered if her dad was somehow going to blame the intruders on Tache.

Kirt arrived, surveying the room and giving her mom a quick nod. It didn’t matter that she was in a robe to him. He was all business, squaring himself up in front of her dad.

“I only saw two,” her dad said, “but they were in battle black and equipped for a night attack. They carried stunners. No alarms. They were already heading up the stairs. The cat tripped them. I think I may have hit one of them before we evacuated.”

Kirt’s eyes moved to Tache on the sofa. “Cat alarm.”

“Tachalarm,” her dad said, corrected him with just a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

“No one knew you were there.” Kirt showed no more interest in Tache.

“I know. That means an inside leak, and what about the timing? The conference was last week. Why now?” her dad said, sitting on his desk.

Phil poked his head back into the office. “Kirt? A word?”

Kirt left but was back in minutes. “They want to blame the cat.”

Paxine rolled her eyes, frowning. Yep, blame it all on the cat, she thought.

“They searched the house and all the alarms and deactivators were off. No bodies. They cleaned up after themselves. There is no way to deactivate those alarms from the outside. We tested each alarm that afternoon and everything was working flawlessly,” Kirt said in monotone as if reading a report.

“The cat goes through drawers. He doesn’t deactivate alarms. You need key codes for those alarms. So, you think I have a double agent in the form of a cat?” Her dad gave her a wink. Paxine almost laughed aloud.

“Are you sure he’s not mechanical?” Kirt said, trying to be funny as well, but he just sounded stupid.

The mechanical deactivators that prevented her from playing her games worked with a companion alarm that worked using non-electronic parts. The deactivator and companion alarm were supposed to be impossible to bypass without codes.

Her dad sighed, pushing aside the pile of clothes on his desk.

“We have clothes for Mrs. Cushing and Paxine,” one of two women said, standing at the door. One carried Paxine’s school bag.

This was going to be a good day after all, Paxine thought, standing at the same time as her mom.

The receptionist desk was empty. It was too early for anyone to be there. However, Paxine thought it was strange how Robert always seemed to be at the office. She wondered if he lived here.

There was a restroom midway down the hall. Tache led the way, then then he tried to push open the door.

Paxine grabbed clothes from one woman, who then left.

“You’re going to have to grow a little before you can open this door.” She pushed open the door and dodged into a stall. Tache tried to balance himself on the toilet while he attacked the belt to her robe

“Can I go into The Room?” she said, hearing her mom in the next stall. The sound of her voice echoing off the walls caused her to jump. She forgot that the thin bathroom stall hardly blocked her voice.

“I will check, and you don’t have to yell,” her mom said.

“Sorry.” She almost knocked Tache into the toilet.

Her dad’s office was the only place she knew of that had a permanent Room. Her gamer was in her school bag, which was why it was going to be such a good day, if her mom allowed her to go into The Room.

“The Room is free today,” the woman who was still there said. “Breakfast will be here soon and she can eat in there.”

“Please, mom? I’m dressed,” Paxine said, keeping her voice quiet. She wrapped her pajamas in her robe and handed it to the woman. “Please?”

“Okay.” Her mom sounded tired.

“Cool.”

Paxine hoisted up her school bag, following the woman out of the restroom with Tache leading again. His tail swayed side to side as if search for danger or paper wads. She laughed to herself at the idea.

The hallway and the receptionist desk were still empty. Her dad, still in his pajamas, was in his office talking with Kirt. Their voices were low, but neither of them sounded happy.

The woman swiped her badge to open The Room, which contained a couple of chairs and a table. The gray walls were empty of pictures or whiteboards. The door sealed behind her with a hiss, causing Tache’s tail to poof out. The silence was intense. Her every move was audible while she put two chairs together, making a lounge chair so she could stretch out.

Tache hopped up onto her lap, not relaxing or unpoofing his tail until she started her gamer. Only once the music of her gamer echoed against the walls, did Tache stretch, yawn and settle down for a nap.

Paxine enjoyed his warmth in her lap, petting him until her gamer took her attention away.

Boxes on one side. A wall to scale on the other. Move boxes to build a stair to climb the wall. There was a woman standing in front of her.

“Sorry to startle you. Your mother sent in lunch,” the woman said, setting down the box lunch and leaving.

Paxine wasn’t happy to see her. “No,” she said in frustration. The distraction was enough to cause her to lose the game. “Darn. I was almost to the center.” This game was impossible to win without absolute concentration.

Tache hopped up on the table, checking out the box.

“I guess I better let them know we have to feed you too,” she said, checking out the lunch box items. There was a sandwich, chips, fruit, and milk. “Darn, no soda. Oh, well. Looks like a ham sandwich.” She ripped off a piece for Tache. He gobbled it down.

“Don’t tell grandma. I don’t think you’re supposed to get people food, but I guess this is a special circumstance.” She took a bite of her sandwich.

She set her gamer down, swallowing.

“I gotta go to the bathroom. You come with me and leave my sandwich alone,” she said, dragging her school bag over to prop open the door.

Her dad was still in his office. Box lunch wrappers cluttered his desk. He had changed out of his robe into office clothes. His fingers drummed his desk, and he looked upset. She decided to stay out of his way.

“I want an update.” Her dad’s voice echoed down the hall, stopping her in her tracks.

Paxine stepped back into a doorway, curious. Her dad ran his hand through his short light brown hair. That was a sure sign he wasn’t happy.

Her dad was lean and athletic, which always seemed to catch everyone off guard. Most lawyers with a desk job tended to run to fat. Paxine always pictured him as a big cat, despite the fact that he didn’t like Tache. Her dad could wait patiently forever until it was time to pounce. She knew his cases rarely made it to court. Of the few times he had, he always won.

Kirt passed by without seeing her. He was also lean and athletic, but his job was more physically demanding. Even so, she always felt he had a hard time keeping up with her dad, both physically and mentally. She figured that her dad just liked him around because he was obedient.

Kirt didn’t close the door to her dad’s office and his voice carried down the hall. “Sir, we have no idea how the alarms were disabled. We interrogated every single person involved in the alarms. They are clean. Your wife, daughter and you are the only human options available. Mechanical means would be impossible with the deactivator. As for nonhuman, you ruled out the cat.”

Her dad eyed him tiredly. Paxine knew mention of Tache just annoyed him. Kirt seemed unaware of that.

“We have already gone over the impossible. The only possibility is that a non-mechanical device deactivated the deactivators and then a mechanical device was able to infiltrate and deactivate the alarms. However, that is impossible,” Kirt said, sounding like a recording.

“The impossible just happened. Your advice?” her dad said, using a dangerous tone of voice.

“Those alarms are impossible to hack,” Kirt said, sounding like he was having a problem facing reality.

“Your advice?” Her dad’s voice was stern and a notch louder.

“We’re starting to look at adding some biological alarms. You may have to get rid of the cat,” Kirt said as if that would solve all the problems.

Paxine frowned, thinking there was no way she was going to let them get rid of Tache.

“So we should get rid of what saved us? I don’t think so. Besides, my daughter would have a fit,” her dad said to her relief, turning from Kirt as if to dismiss him.

Paxine nodded in agreement to herself, and was glad her dad realized Tache wasn’t the problem. Maybe her grandma was right that it was her dad with the problem, not her and Tache.

Kirt sighed. “Yes, sir. We’ll see what we can do. Meanwhile, we have a temporary suite setup for you with human guards in addition to all the rest.”

Kirt passed by her, again taking no notice of her. She stuck her tongue out at him before heading to the restrooms.

No one else was in the restroom so Tache kept pressing the knob to run the water in the sink.

“Tache.” Her tone of voice was telling him to stop. He did until she put her hands out, and he put all his weight on the knob to activate it.

“Thanks Tache,” she said, washing her hands.

Tache tried to catch the paper towel when she threw it in the trash.

She opened the door to find her mom lounging in a chair. There was an unopened box lunch beside her.

“Paxine, dinner is at six. Did you get lunch yet?” her mom said, nudging her own box lunch.

“Just got it. Heading back to eat,” she said.

“Okay. Any homework to be done?”

“Nope, all done,” Paxine rolled her eyes. She was way ahead in homework.

“Okay, at least I know where to find you,” her mom said, opening her lunch.

“Haha.” Paxine knew her mom was trying to be funny. Anyone who knew her would know she would be in the Room playing her games. This was as good as a vacation as far as she was concerned.

Her dad was at his desk working. No one saw her go back into The Room. Good, now maybe she could win this game.

“Dinner,” her mom said, entering The Room. The woman with the security badge that unlocked the door, waited just outside.

“What? Already? You’re kidding,” Paxine said, staring at half her box lunch sitting untouched on the table. Her stomach growled. Tache eyed her with a mischievous look.

“That was my stomach growling,” she said to him.

He whacked her with his tail.

“Pack your bag. Your dad’s waiting. And don’t forget the harness and leash.”

Paxine stuffed her gamer into her bag.

“I’ll get the trash,” the woman with the security badge said.

“Okay thanks. Hold still Tache,” Paxine said, trying to hold onto Tache and put the harness on him at the same time.

Tache pulled her out of the room.

“He hasn’t eaten all day, mom,” Paxine said with a whisper.

“Don’t worry. I remember traveling with my mom. I’ve made arrangements.”

They joined her dad in the cube.

Ding. Her parents’ cube announced their arrival and the door opened to a private dining room. A waiter took them to their table. Tache scooted under her chair.

“I’m sorry….” the waiter, said, “No pets.”