"Mercedes Lackey - A Tail Of Two Skittys" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

the Lacu'un and very propitious.

"We did," Vena replied absently, scratching a pleased Astra beneath her chin.
"And I agree with you; I think this one would please the Lacu'teveras very
much." She laughed a little. "I'm beginning to think you're psychic or
something, Dick; you haven't been wrong with your selections yet."

"Me?" he said ingenuously. "Psychic? Spirits of Space, Vena, the way these
people are treating the cats, it doesn't matter anyway. Any `match' I made
would be a good one, so far as the cat is concerned. They couldn't be pampered
more if they were Lacu'un girl-babies!"

"True," she agreed, and reluctantly took her hand away. "Well, four cats
should be just about right to keep the Palace vermin-free. It's really kind of
funny how they've divided the place up among them with no bickering. They
almost act as if they were humans dividing up patrols!" Erica shot him an
unreadable glance; did she remember how he had sat down with the original
three and SKittyтАФand a floor-plan of the placeтАФwhen he first brought them all
to the Palace?

"They are bred for high intelligence," he reminded both of them hastily. "No
one really knows how bright they are. They're bright enough to use their
life-support pods in an emergency, and bright enough to learn how to use the
human facilities in the ships. They seem to have ways of communicating with
each other, or so the people at BioTech tell me, so maybe they did establish
patrols."

"Well, maybe they did," Erica said after a long moment. He heaved a mental
sigh of relief. The last thing he needed was to have someone suspect SKitty's
telepathic link with him. BioTech was not breeding for telepathy, but if such
a useful trait ever showed up in a fertile female, they would surely cancel
Brightwing's lease and haul SKitty back to their nearest cattery to become a
breeding queen. SKitty was his best friend; to lose her like that would be
terrible.

:No breeding,: SKitty said firmly. :Love Dick, love ship. No breeding;
breeding dull, kittens a pain. Not leave ship ever.:

Well, at least SKitty agreed.

For now, anyway, now that her kittens were weaned. Whenever she came into
season, she seemed to change her mind, at least about the part that resulted
in breeding, if not the breeding itself.



The Lacu'teveras, the Ruling Consort of her people, accepted Astra into the
household with soft cries of welcome and gladness. Erica was right, the
Lacu'un could not possibly have pampered their cats more. Whenever a cat
wanted a lap or a scratch, one was immediately provided, whether or not the