Are We On Mars?

Chapter Thirty-Five

"What are we doing?" Alderwood fretted, scrunching into the pod and instantly shrieking. "THERE'S SOMEONE IN HERE ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION I REPEAT ABORT--" 

Pebblepounce caught the frenzied tom as he scrabbled desperately past him. "Of course there's someone in here," he snorted. "We did just slam into a forcefield, probably generated by the Saturn cats. Let me through."

Pebblepounce poked his head into the pod, which was cramped and painted a strange fiery red on the inside. Dust billowed from his paws as he stepped inside, closely followed by Shadepelt, who made a face at all the dirt. "Do they never clean?" she muttered mutinously, and was about to say more before Pebblepounce shushed her.

"Lfmfrg rltjnvhgekliisl lryjorkefkoe?" the gray tom asked cheerfully. A small brown cat was sitting in the center of the pod, her eyes alit with a strange curiosity. She was about the size of an apprentice, maybe a little smaller.

"They send their apprentices on pod missions?" Alderwood blurted out. "That's--"

But the others never got to hear the wise words that the brown tom would share, because Shadepelt slapped her tail across his mouth just in time. The small she-cat looked remotely offended.

"Mfhjkdoic wektrjhekiv ltjierofa," she replied to Pebblepounce. "Lfgjhmrs rtjhgfmsjdj yjuhyrfts, rgf tfrser hbyvdscrd wasdft Mooshifur." 

Pebblepounce replied quickly, something along the lines of "Adsmf, fcsgcg ytvecgs Pebblepounce," before turning to the rest of the cats. "She says that she's a Saturn civilian, and we crashed into the protective barrier at the side of a space road. Her name is Mooshifur. I told her we meant no harm and that I'm Pebblepounce."

Shadepelt yawned, exposing sharp teeth. "That's all well and good," she remarked slowly, "but how are we going to get to the main planet hub like Lionshine wants--especially if this cat is only a civilian?"

Pebblepounce shrugged. "I'll ask her," he replied brightly. "Ofdknj grvjkm agrsuhl rsvlhgec urrrrljfaxkihco yrvifxce Saturn tvjghmacl tycomfreamp pt fredesaw cwt?"

The she-cat looked thoughtful for a moment, then spoke to Pebblepounce with what the other cats figured was a pleasant enough tone. "Ckjcfgmknv caewrx vgghyj ecxgxf etvyhc axgc jbyvhgc vgtch cfrth canhge."

Alderwood knocked over three stacks of papers as he moved around Shadepelt to inspect the control panel. Hastily diving to retrieve them, he successfully bumped into a large red button which immediately started flashing vibrant rainbow colors and wailing a song of some random bird that lives in the Artic and died eighteen years ago.

"That's outdated," Shadepelt snorted. Nearly at the same time Alderwood asked, confusion lighting on his face, "Is your alarm gay?"

Pebblepounce slammed his head into the side of the pod, causing it to shift slightly. Shadepelt busted out laughing. "YES. YES, ALDERWOOD, IT IS." she guffawed. Mooshifur stared at them in confusion. 

The gray tom recovered from his head-slamming and glared at Alderwood. "Mooshifur was about to guide us to the hub, you buffoon! Now we've alerted the police--"

"The gay police," Shadepelt offered unhelpfully.

Ignoring her statement, Pebblepounce continued. "--and they might not be very kind! Not like Mooshifur."

Alderwood sighed. "Sorry, Peblepounce. I'm really sorry." He hung his head, looking ashamed.

Shadepelt felt bad immediately. "It's fine, Alderwood," she comforted. "We'll find a way to convince them that we're no threat, and that it was only an accident."

The three cats stood in the pod with Mooshifur silently, waiting for the Saturn police to come and sort everything out. 

yay a new update happy new year guys written by leopard