“That is quite okay.”
“Ugh, I hate these live feeds sometimes,” Dreenagh chuckled. Her transparent visual representation shimmied up and down like a drunken ghost trying to maintain the strength of its connection from the ether.
“You know, one time, I appeared in my boyfriend’s toilet while he was brushing his teeth. So embarrassing!”
Dreenagh’s affable humor didn’t wash very well with the Gagarin family. She shrugged her shoulders, pulled up her left sleeve and pointed at the chair, “Is that for me?”
“Yes,” Vera pushed her long ponytail behind her neck and showed Dreenagh right side of her face. “I prefer if you show this side as it is better than my left.”
“You’re gorgeous, you have no bad sides, Vera,” Dreenagh held out her see-through hand. A tiny drone built itself from the surface of her skin. “How are you, Remy?”
“I am well, Dreenagh. Thank you.”
“You excited about the interview?”
“Yes. I think so.”
The drone whizzed from Dreenagh’s palm and zoomed twenty feet away. She angled her fist to the right, moving the holographic drone above the coffee table. “Okay, ready?”
“We are ready,” Vera held her posture steady for the drone.
“Amaziant, here we go…” Dreenagh turned to the drone. The light beaming from its iris blasted out and highlighted the contours on each of the three bodies.
“Hey, good people,” she smiled at the drone and jumped into professional-mode, “Dreenagh Remix here on Individimedia forty-four. As we approach the two-year anniversary of the Star Cat Project and Opera Beta’s mission to Saturn, I’m here, so to speak, with the Bisoubisou’s owners for an exclusive update.”
Dreenagh turned to Remy and gave him a media-strewn smile. “Remy Gagarin. You must be very excited?”
“Yes, I am. My cat is going to help people.”
Vera placed her hand on his knee. “Yes, we are most proud of Bisoubisou.”
“Now, Vera, as Remy’s mother, how has the past two years affected you?”
“Oh, we have been most fortunate. We have the satisfaction of knowing our beloved pet is helping USARIC on their vital mission,” she beamed, and eyeballed the interior of their expensive front room. “As you can see, the money has helped, too.”
“So I see,” Dreenagh’s holographic image sat forward, impressed by the no-expense-spared decor, “I gather the quarter of a million dollar prize money was just the beginning?”
“Indeed, it was very helpful,” Vera smiled at Remy, “Since then, Bisoubisou has become a hero and we have become like celebrities.”
“I guess the celebrity endorsements contributed to your wealth, too?”
“My mother had a small part in Star Jelly thirty-eight as a scientist.”
“Oh, yes,” Dreenagh chuckled politely, “The Star Jelly movie franchise. She was very good at acting, wasn’t she?”
“Yes,” Remy said, “And I appeared in cat food commercials.”
“Meow-nom-nom,” Dreenagh enacted the famous line from the commercial. “I’m sure people say that to you all the time, right?”
“Not really,” Remy said. “We try to stay away from poor people.”
“Oh.”
Vera rolled her shoulders and held her neck out, attempting to remove her double-chin from the drone’s feed. “Yes, it got very much bad after everyone found out where we lived. So we moved here. Remy is now home-schooled.”
“A very wise idea.”
“Yes.”
Dreenagh’s mood softened as she looked at her forearm, preparing herself for the next question. “Remy.”
“Yes?”
“Have you been missing Bisoubisou since she’s been away?”
Remy stared at his pristine-suited legs and considered the question. “Yes, I do. But she will be home soon.”
It was clear that Vera had no knowledge of recent events at Cape Claudius. She wondered why the aura in the interview was so chirpy. If Remy and his mother and known the truth they might not have been so forthcoming with their answers – or even agreed to the interview in the first place.
Jamie sat cross-legged on the floor of the front room watching Dreenagh’s Individimedia broadcast. His mother, Emily, sat on the couch keeping one eye on the floor.
Remy and Vera’s holographic representations sat in the middle of the front room awaiting Dreenagh’s next question.
A toddler crawled across the carpet, trying to grab at Vera’s sparkling shoes.
“No, Jolene,” Emily ran over to her and scooped her off the floor, “It’s not real, don’t touch it.”
“Ga-ga!” she burped and produced a messy grin.
“Mom, please. I’m trying to listen,” Jamie lifted his palm in the air and, along with it, the volume of the broadcast.
Emily lifted Jolene into her high chair, “Not too loud, poppet. You’ll upset your sister.”
“Not as upset as Remy’s going to be, look,” Jamie pointed at Dreenagh, “She knows they don’t know. She’s going to tell him.”
“Oh, Jesus…” Emily lowered her behind to the couch, entranced by the drama that would surely follow, “That woman is a piece of work. Tony, come and see this.”
“History in the making, is it?” Tony appeared at the door to the front room with a cup of coffee. He leaned against the frame and shook his head. “They have no idea?”
“No, Dad,” Jamie turned to the broadcast with great intensity, “Everyone knows but them.”
Dreenagh cleared her throat and dampened her voice. Remy eyes shot back at her, wistfully.
“Remy, what was your reaction to the breaking news a couple of hours ago?”
“What news?” Vera asked. “What are you speaking about?”
“You don’t know, do you?”
“No,” Remy said with innocence, “Is something wrong?”
Dreenagh closed her eyes. On the surface she felt terrible. In her heart, she knew she had the exclusive story of a lifetime. She’d be the first to break it. Enough for her to continue with her USARIC-like grab for power and glory.
“Someone broke into USARIC and found Bisoubisou’s body.”
“What?” Remy snapped. “You liar. Is it a joke?”
“No, Remy. He sent out a message saying that Bisoubisou was dead and still at USARIC.”
“This is quite terriful,” Vera snapped. “Bisoubisou is at Saturn helping the Americans find out what the message means.”
“I’m afraid not,” Dreenagh held out her finger and drew a large rectangle in from their face. Handax’s face appeared and the broadcast began to play.”
Emily turned to Tony, full of emotion. “I can’t watch this.”
“No, Mom. We need to watch it,” Jamie pushed himself onto his feet. Now seven-years-old, he’d grown since he’d last seen Jelly. “It’s always better to tell the truth,” he turned to his stepfather for confirmation, “Isn’t it, Dad?”
“I’m not so sure on this occasion, Jamie,” Tony fixed his gaze on Remy’s beleaguered face. “Sometimes we have to tell lies. Sometimes it’s necessary.”
“The scumbags never told them,” Emily left the room in a flood of tears. “All this time we thought they knew.”
“Sweetie,” Tony walked after her and tried to talk her down from her upset. “It’s not your fault—”
“—Yes, it is. I took USARIC at their word like a complete fool.”
Jamie shut out his mother’s grief and concentrated on the interview.
Remy burst out crying and fell into his Vera’s arms. She was equally as shocked at the news as her son. His mother’s holographic representation pushed through Jolene’s face. She, too, began to cry at the visual of Remy doing the same thing.