“Someone tried to kidnap Lionheart!” Anders said, and quickly gave them the details.
“Wow!” Jessica said. “If I believed in astrology, I’d say the stars must’ve been out of alignment. We tangle with the Attack Cat. Stephanie and the rest face ’catnappers.”
“But everyone’s all right?” Scott pressed. “No serious injuries?”
“None,” Anders assured him. “Stephanie even went in and gave her talk, just like planned. She says the Earl seems like a good sort, even nicer than his cousin, and she seems to like this Gwendolyn a lot, too.”
“I bet Richard and Marjorie are relieved they’d already made plans to come home early,” Irina said. “When do they get back?”
“Three days,” Anders said.
Scott nodded. “Right. I’m going to talk with Frank, if I can catch him alone. I think our presentation to Chief Ranger Shelton would go better if we can suggest a couple of possible locations. I think I could talk Frank into giving us a few suggestions without letting his boss know.”
“Wait!” Anders said. “My dad and his team have been working out a program that models the sorts of areas that would best suit treecats. They’ve gone beyond the simple things like the need for picketwood, into plants and other materials the ’cats seem to use. They’ve even included things like preferred prey animals. That would help identify possible relocation sites, wouldn’t it?”
“Would he give you a copy?”
“Sure. I have one already. When I’ve had time, I’ve been helping with data entry. I get automatic updates.”
Jessica grinned. “We can overlay that onto the Crown lands, add in where we already know treecats are, and plug in human holdings.”
“I like it,” Scott agreed. “Ever since that bit with Tennessee Bolgeo, the SFS has been really guarded about confirming anything to do with where treecats are currently living. This way Steph and Karl can go in, make suggestions, and Shelton can tell them whether or not those locations will work.”
“And if he refuses to let them be moved?” Irina asked.
Jessica’s grin faded. “He won’t. But if he did, well, I’ve got some images cached that would go straight to where they’d do us the most good.” Her expression brightened again. “But he won’t. He’s not the sort of man to let even a bunch of chipmunks starve to death if he could help. He’ll find a way to make it work. He’d better.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Stephanie’s heart beat rapidly as the shuttle touched down. So much had happened in the last three months—and so much was about to happen. Already the demands of her coursework seemed unreal, especially in the face of the challenges to come.
When debarking began, Stephanie was immediately aware of the change in gravity. For a moment, she thought about switching on her counter-grav unit, but she resisted. From his carrier, Lionheart gave a heartfelt “bleek” and waved his true-hand to show that he, too, felt the changes.
Karl and Stephanie’s parents were chattering, bags were being gathered, general motion began towards the exit. On some level, Stephanie took part in all of it, but most of her was focused on what would happen in just a few moments. Anders had promised he’d be there to meet her, yet she felt suddenly nervous. What if he wasn’t there?
But Anders was there, tall and lean, his wheat-colored hair pulled back in its usual ponytail, his dark-blue eyes intent. His smile flashed when he spotted her in the queue. He loped forward.
“Steph! Welcome home!”
Anders hugged her, then turned and greeted the senior Harringtons. Karl was being hugged by his parents and various siblings, so the young men settled for clasping hands over the assorted dark heads.
“Your dad and I can wait for the luggage, Stephanie,” Marjorie Harrington said playfully. “If Anders wants to give you and Lionheart a ride home, you can leave now.”
Without waiting for Stephanie to answer, Anders grabbed her carry-on from her father, leaving Lionheart’s carrier to her. “Thanks!”
Stephanie considered letting Lionheart out right away, but the treecat would certainly attract attention. Better wait until they were outside. She waved to Karl.
“Later!”
Karl was now wearing some sort of homemade paper crown. He gave her a sheepish smile. “Later…”
Outside, the air was crisp, sharp with autumn in a way it hadn’t been when Stephanie left for Manticore. Or was the change she felt just the contrast between the planets? Lionheart certainly felt it. When she let him out of his carrier, he wrapped his tail around himself, then jumped into the air car.
“He did lose a lot of fur,” she said thoughtfully, talking to cover her sudden nervousness. It was one thing to message a guy just about every day. It was another to finally be alone with him. “I wonder if I should get him a sweater?”
Anders laughed. “If you do, don’t let Dr. Hidalgo see him in it.”
“Right!” Stephanie joined the laughter; both he and Jessica had messaged her about Dr. Hidalgo’s devotion to pristine cultures. “I’m all for letting the treecats live treecat lives, but not to the point where Lionheart gets sick.” She slid into the passenger seat. “How did Survivor do when you took him home? He’d lost a lot of fur, too, hadn’t he?”
“Scott and Irina felt pretty much the way you do,” Anders said. “They sent him home with a couple of jackets they’d cobbled together. All the fastenings can be undone by a treecat, so Survivor can wear them or not as he pleases.”
“That’s good. Maybe I should com for the pattern and make a couple of jackets for Lionheart.”
Anders nodded agreement, but Stephanie felt a throb of apprehension. There was something tight about his features. She couldn’t help but notice that his hand didn’t reach for hers as it would have before. Her sense that something wasn’t quite right wasn’t helped when Lionheart jumped onto the back of the seat and wrapped his tail around her neck instead of bleeking for the window to be opened the way he usually did.
“Steph,” Anders said, biting down on his lower lip. “There’s no easy way to say this, so I’m going to just be honest. I’m…I’m in love with someone else.”
“Jessica.” The answer was so obvious that Stephanie didn’t even need to guess. A sick feeling flooded the pit of her stomach, followed by a flash of anger. How could they betray her? She’d loved them both, though in different ways. She’d trusted them…Then, as soon as her back was turned, they’d gone against her!
“I don’t know,” Anders went on stiffly, “if Jessica loves me. I know she likes me but…She’s been keeping her distance ever since I told her how I felt. That was after the Attack ’Cat went for her.”
The air car was on autopilot, but Anders had been staring at the HUD as if he were piloting through a storm. Now he hung his head. “I feel like an utter blackhole, telling you this when you haven’t even gotten your planet legs back, but I thought holding out, acting like nothing had changed, would be worse.”
To Stephanie’s surprise, Lionheart stretched to pat Anders on one arm. For a moment, she felt a flare of jealousy. Then she understood. Lionheart could feel Anders’ emotions—and that meant the pain she saw on his face was genuine. He wasn’t acting. He really did feel terrible.
“I don’t…” she managed. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Yeah,” he said, shrugging in mute understanding. “Listen, don’t blame Jessica. She didn’t encourage me or anything. We haven’t been dating or anything…I’d been keeping my feelings to myself…Then, there she was, all covered in blood, her eye nearly slashed out…You’ve talked about how you felt when Lionheart was being attacked…I…I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. And I’d never lie to you.”