Golden Light, Silver Light

Scene 007

Scene 007

The next morning Amy awoke to the door's chimes. She'd been up all night watching and listening to the information that Cat had displayed on the monitor. Sitting, Amy rubbed her head and thought about all she'd learned yesterday. Valdiar looked to be a pleasant place to live on. The chiming came again, breaking into Amy's thoughts. 

Jac's voice called into the room, "Are you all right?" 

Jumping, Amy called, "Cat, let Jac in."  

Jac came into the room. Amy watched as he looked her once over. She apologized for leaving him outside so long. "I learned so much yesterday. Your people are so smart. You have no cars or fossil fuel crafts of any kind. The clan-like structure of your community is wonderful. For every question Cat answered, I've about a hundred more I want to ask," said Amy. Blushing, she realized she was still abed and climbed out. 

Jac nodded his head. He watched Amy quickly make her bed. 

"Let me get some breakfast. I'll be right back to talk to you," Amy said, walking into the kitchen. 

"That's fine. I have a few reasons why I'm early today," Jac said. "The first is to let you know your mate will be calling to talk to you at fourteen star time hours. Do you know when that is?" 

Coming back through the doorway, Amy said, "Yes. I would called it noon on my planet, but your planet has a twenty-eight-hour day, so fourteen star time hours means Midday. That's one of the many things Cat explained to me." Amy took a seat at the table across from where Jac sat. 

"Good, the second thing is . . . Well, what I really need, is . . . Did Cat explain to you about the population on Valdiar?" Jac asked, looking as if he didn't know how to go on with this conversation. 

"Cat gave me the basics. You know religious, social, and community structure." 

"That is fine, but did she show you how our average population looks?" Jac inquired. He looked hopeful. 

Amy thought about it, while she nibbled on a piece of toast. "Come to think of it, I don't think so. Why? Do you all have an extra toe or something?" 

"Or something," came the reply. "Cat, on this panel display the most common citizen of Valdiar." Jac pointed to the one over the table. 

A picture appeared in the panel. The picture was of a human man except, on his body he had a light dusting of fur all over and had many catlike features. 

"This is some joke," Amy said with a rub to her head. She looked closer at the picture. The man had big hands with what looked like retractable claws on them. He had the eyes of a cat. His nose had a box-like shape to it. His ears were on the side of his head but they were pointed at the tops. "Jac, you're pulling my leg this can't be right. You don't look anything like this." 

"I know, but my family line has married off the planet a few times," Jac explained. "The reason I showed you this is I want to take you to the medic's so she can check you over. She looks quite a bit like this, just a female version. Oh, this is good." 

"Hey, that was the rest of my breakfast," Amy cried. Jac was eating her last piece of jellied toast. "I really think you're pulling my leg. Tell me, does my mate look like that?" 

Jac stopped licking his fingers and thought for a few seconds. "He looks a little like that, about as much as I do."  

Amy thought about it for a few minutes, rubbed her head again, and shrugged. "Now tell me, why do I need to see the medic? If I remember right, a medic is like a doctor and a spiritual adviser?" 

"That is correct," Cat stated, breaking into the conversation. 

A word slipped out of Jac's mouth. Amy's didn't understand it. "Cat, just how much information did you stuff in her head last night. You were allowed on this ship to let her learn at her own speed, not to ply her with too much information at once." 

"Teaching Amy fowl language was not suppose to accrue, either," Cat chided. "We covered a long list. I will display it on the panel and you can read it for yourself." As Jac read the list, Cat continued, "Amy is very intelligent. She learns extremely fast." 

"Why, thank you for the compliment Cat," Amy said sweetly, getting tired of being talked about like she wasn't in the room. 

"Did you really cover all of this last night?" Jac asked. He continued to read the list. His amazement showed on his face. 

"Yes, that's why I was so slow to answer the door this morning," Amy said with a smug smile. "Why do I have to see the medic?" 

"You may have a transporter headache. I figured, we might as well take care of it before it gets worse," he replied offhandedly as he read on. 

"Is that how I got this headache, it came from the transporter beam? I thought I had gotten it from staring at the computer's monitor for so long. Sounds like a fine ideal to me if it'll get read of this ache," said Amy, rubbing the back of her head. "Before we go anywhere I need to change, take a shower, and stuff." 

Looking at the viewer and then looking at Amy, Jac couldn't believe everything she'd covered. "I might be able to wait that long if you would be so kind as to get me some more of what you were having to eat." 

Laughing, Amy said, "Got a sweet tooth, hum."  

A small blush formed on Jac's cheeks. 

After getting him more jellied toast, she asked, "Was there another reason you are here or anything else I need to know before I shower?" 

"Only that, I want to give you a tour of my ship," Jac said, bitting into a piece of toast. 

"Really!" Amy cried out in excitement. "I better hurry up. I'll be out in about fifteen minutes." 

Jac waved her away. He wanted to enjoy this sweet breakfast treat.