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Virginia brought Sam, short for Samson, home on Friday evening. The seal point spent the first few hours exploring her single story flat. Once he was satisfied that it was safe and acceptable, Sam curled up on the couch next to Ginny, keeping her company while she read.
His hair had grown back remarkably quick and a week later the spots, that had been shaved, were barely noticeable. If it had not been for Jackson’s ominous prediction, Ginny would think that Sam would live for years.
Sam took well to most of her visitor’s, not that she had many. Nina, Gay, Jen, her mother, all showered her new feline companion with affection. Sam didn’t seem to like Paul, for some reason. Foster had stopped by, one evening, to bring her some paperwork she needed. When Sam saw him, he puffed up, hissed, then scurried under the bed, and didn’t come out until Foster had left. When asked about it, Jackson surmised that Sam may have remembered the image of Foster when the alien device was controlling him, and through him, Jim Regan.
Virginia soon found out that Sam disliked being left at home alone, more than a few days in a row, so she convinced the Commander to allow her to bring him in a few days a week, providing that she kept him in her office.
“I can’t believe Ed lets you bring him into HQ,” said Alec, as he sat across from her desk. “He must be getting soft in his old age.”
“This is Straker we’re talking about, right?” asked Virginia.
“He’s mellowed a little bit, since I’ve been at Dreamland. Certainly you must have noticed?”
The truth was, Ginny had noticed, in fact, she saw the Commander in a much better light than most people. Virginia had been Executive Officer for two months now and, in that short time, she and Ed had developed a somewhat close rapport, often able to communicate non-verbally. But this is something she would never share with Alec.
“Maybe, just a bit,” she lied.
While the two conversed, Sam arose from his favorite pastime and climbed out of the cat bed to investigate the unfamiliar face. After a cautious sniff around his shoes, Sam jumped into the lap of Colonel Freeman and presented his head to be scratched.
“Well hello there,” said Alec, as he massaged the top of Sam’s head.
Virginia couldn’t suppress a chuckle as her latest love basked in the attention.
“I think he likes you,” she said.
“Obviously he has good taste.”
Freeman was quite pleased with himself and Ginny decided to burst his bubble, “He likes Jackson too.”
Alec looked down at the feline disapprovingly, “Traitor.”
“Well, Jackson and Shroeder did save his life. That’s got to count for something.”
“I suppose. I’m amazed that Jackson didn’t use him for a lab experiment.”
“Ed surprised me when he came to Sam’s aid. I suspect that the good doctor was planning something along those lines,” said Ginny. “Speaking of Ed, Sam seems to have taken a liking to him, as well.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m serious. Tuesday afternoon, Ed and I were working on the budgetary allocations for Moonbase. To make things easier we sat at the conference table and Sam spent most of the time in Ed’s lap,” she said. “By the way, I’m not supposed to tell anyone that, so don’t say anything.”
“I’m not sure I believe it. You don’t have pictures, do you?”
“Do you really think Ed would let me get away with that?” she asked.
“No, I suppose not.”
Sam jumped out of Freeman’s lap and rounded the desk. Looking up at Ginny he expressed his dissatisfaction.
“Meeeroooow!”
“What little blue eyed boy? Is Uncle Alec ignoring you? Come here blue eyed baby,” she said, as she scooped him from the floor.
“You were supposed to be paying attention to him, Colonel Freeman.”
“Terrific, now the cat outranks me,” said Alec, in a serious voice. But he was grinning, ear to ear.
A week later, Virginia arrived at her flat, much later than she usually came home. When she opened the front door, her housemate began expressing his discontentment, loudly.
“All right, little boy, I hear you.”
Ginny put aside her purse and jacket and reached down to pick him up. Sam rubbed his head against her chin, his happiness evident in his purring.
Sam had a hearty purr and Ginny found it to be quite soothing. After a few minutes, she set him down and hung her jacket up.
“Let’s get you something to eat, okay?” she said, walking into the kitchen.
Virginia set down food and water for Sam and started water for her tea. It’s going to be right to bed for me tonight, she thought, as she went into the bedroom to change.
Once she had dressed for bed, Ginny strolled into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of tea. She took it into the living room and sat down on the couch. She was soon joined by Sam, who had finished eating.
“Did you miss, Mama, blue eyed baby?”
Sam stood on his haunches and nuzzled her neck, apparently quite pleased to have her home.
“A sighting, sir,” said Lt. Paulson, to Colonel Grey, the duty officer.
Grey stepped over to the radar console.
“That’s in the atmosphere. Can you confirm?”
“It’s not a strong signal, sir. I’m having trouble holding contact.”
Paulson’s hands danced over the console, in an effort to firm up the contact.
“Got him, sir! He’s close, less than ten miles from the base.”
How the hell did he get by Moonbase? Grey watched the blip disappear from the radar screen. He punched up a detailed map of the area and his heart froze when he noticed the street name.
Grey picked up the phone, “Security, this is Colonel Grey. I need you to get a team out to Colonel Lake’s flat, right now. We have an incursion in progress and she may be the target.”
Grey hung up and turned to Paulson, “Tara, get Sky 3 in the air, they’re the closest, and contact Colonel Blake. I need him to lead the mobile team.”
The Colonel got on the phone once more, “Ed, John Grey. We have a problem.”
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A Life Worth Saving (Read 1775 times)
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