CASUAL ENCOUNTER: SHIP'S CATS
There is a breed of cats called "Ship's Cats" that have
been specifically bred to serve on space ships. There have been
small amounts of genetic tinkering in their line. This has mainly
been changes to their instinctual reactions to certain things.
Of course the original product has interbred and changed over time
leaving a species which is partially engineered and partially
adapted.
Ship's Cats can deal well with changes in gravity and
can cope quite well in zero-G. Most understand standard "brace
for acceleration" warnings and can act accordingly. Special
cat-spacesuits are available on the market and it takes minimal
training for a cat to learn how to get in and seal themselves.
Although they are still competent at chasing out small
vermin of a variety of species (which *still* can cause problems
on ships) they are less skilled at this than their terrestrial
companions. They do have a keen sensitivity to changes in
pressure and electrical disturbances. Often their behaviour can
point to potential problems.
They tend to understand the difference between Crew and
Passengers and are good at not being seen by people who would not
appreciate seeing them. Exceptional specimens can even distinguish
between High and Middle passengers.
Ships Cats are more restrained in their breeding habits.
They tend to remain infertile for long periods during travel.
They will come into heat when at dock for an extended period,
such as during annual maintenance. Also if they are with another
animal that is not a near relation they will move into a breeding
cycle. Their ability to distinguish relations is based on scent
and makes it safe to have more than one cat from one family on
a ship.
The offspring of these family units are highly sought
after. Many of their skills are learned from their parents and
the type of ship they were raised on. As such there are Navy
breeds, Merchant breeds, etc, etc. Certain family lines are
widely known and the subject of idle dockside talk.
Most spaceports allow registered ship's cats into
their extrality zone with the same processing as for crew.
All such animals must be identified, though.
Moving from the general to the specific, my players had
a Ship's Cat for ages but lost it due to various events. At one
point they decided they wanted another. Nothing specifically
notable happened with their first one, it was just generally
useful. However they decided to buy their next one at a small pop,
tech level G spaceport. I decided that the selection was limited
and give them three choices.
The first was a fairly mangy looking beast. This, of
course was the best buy, being an authentic experienced cat. They
could have got it at a good price as the sales people didn't think
much of it.
The second was basically your standard Terrestrial Model
Russian Blue. Pretty, pedigree, and pretty expensive. But,
just a cat.
The third was just for laughs: a cross-eyed neurotic
Siamese with a god-awful throaty meow. Moderate in price.
What do the players go for? The bloody Siamese! They
named it "Crosby" because of the eyes and thought it was
cute as it wandered around bumping into things.
It has, of course, been no end of trouble for them.
Crosby has a knack of turning up in the wrong place at the
wrong time. Perhaps it has some of the Ship's Cat's genes
bred into it: in reverse. Usually it announces its presence
in such a circumstance with its throaty yowl.
It sat on passenger's breakfasts. It crapped in the
marine's shoes. It managed to get into the Exec's shower
cubicle and turned it on without being discovered for several
hours.
In one circumstance the players were involved in a
sniper fight in a crashed spaceship on a planets surface.
Suddenly, on their internal speaker channel they hear Crosby's
familiar yowl. "It must be warning us!" they decide and
send some of them racing back to the ship (parked nearby)
to see what was up. When they got there Crosby was sitting
on the bridge console playing with the pretty lights.
Later they were making a tension filled landing
on the base of a dubious genetic lab under threat of
a laser battery (see the Critter follow-up posted earlier)
with a critically wounded passenger. Just as they are
committing to landing up jumps Crosby onto the bridge
console as pleasantly as your own moggy jumps on they
Sunday paper you are trying to read.
They began wondering how Crosby, who could barely
walk in a straight line, could keep getting into places
that were crew-locked. Eventually they found out the
ship's Chief Steward had entered Crosby onto the database
as ship's crew for tax reasons. This meant that the
ships computer considered Crosby crew. Crosby's yowls
matched no known language recognition so the ship had
dutifully engaged the self learning language ability
and tried to comprehend the feline utterances as orders.
Of course, it frequently got it wrong. So far the worst
Crosby has managed to do was lock everyone off the ship.
It hasn't found the right pitch for self-destruct just
yet...
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