Tri-Galactic Trek

By Mary E. Lowd

To boldly go where no cat or dog has gone before...

Join Captain Pierre Jacques and the intrepid crew of the Starship Initiativeon their grand journey through the universe. In addition to the loyal dogs and clever cats onboard, meet an Ursine exchange officer and a photosynthetic green otteroid from the planet Cetazed, not to mention the only android in the fleet—an androgynous arctic fox.

In this episodic novel, you will encounter alien races, strange worlds, technological malfunctions, and an all powerful trickster in the form of a Cheshire cat. Get ready for a ride of discovery, awe, and wonder from the Ursa Major Award-winning author of the Otters In Space trilogy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary E. Lowd
• Release date: Dec 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215746820

Mary E. Lowd

Mary E. Lowd is a prolific science-fiction and furry writer in Oregon. She's had more than 200 short stories and a dozen novels published, always with more on the way. Her work has won three Ursa Major Awards, ten Leo Literary Awards, and four Cóyotl Awards. She is also the founder and editor of Zooscape. She lives in a crashed spaceship, disguised as a house and hidden behind a rose garden, with a large collection of animals, both real and imaginary, who collectively serve as her muse.

Book preview

1

ENCOUNTER AT HOPPALONG

The starship Initiative glided through space, the technological culmination of centuries of work done by uplifted cats and dogs from Earth. The graceful, swooping lines of the ship’s exterior twinkled with light from within, where the ship’s crew lived their lives. Dogs and cats worked side by side, exploring the universe, searching out other species, and seeking the humans who had left them behind.

Captain Pierre Jacques was a Sphynx cat, and he was grateful from the tips of his pink ears down to the end of his hairless tail that humans had taken the time to uplift his people to sentience before disappearing from the history records. But personally, he couldn’t have cared less what had happened to them afterward. He was a forward looking cat. An explorer. That’s why he’d abandoned his degree in archeology and focused on his career in the Tri-Galactic Navy. He was one of the first feline starship captains, and he had to live up to the honor of commanding the flagship of the fleet.

A beautiful blue sphere hung on the Initiative’s viewscreen like an ornament, a glass bauble to be admired. The blue expanses of the alien world were dotted with emerald chains of islands and frosted with lacy white clouds. Captain Jacques could have stared at the world in peaceful contentment for hours, watching the lacy clouds chase each other, drifting slowly over the oceans and obscuring the island chains. But the Initiative was orbiting this world because they’d received a distress call.

Open a channel down to the planet, Captain Jacques ordered. He leaned against the side of his captain’s chair, and the tip of his hairless tail twitched anxiously beside his carefully crossed hind paws.

The Ursine exchange officer at the ship’s helm said, Yes, Captain, in her deep, rumbly voice, and with a large, brown-furred paw, she worked the brightly colored buttons on her console.

The image of the blue world disappeared from the main viewscreen and was replaced by the image of a white-furred creature with a round face, long ears, and a very twitchy nose. The creature wore a hooded robe with the hood loose around her shoulders. She looked a great deal like an Earth rabbit would, if humans had uplifted them. Much like how the Ursine exchange officer, Grawf, looked a good deal like an Earth bear.

Captain Jacques stood up from his chair and took several steps toward the main viewscreen. His tail swung jauntily behind him, and he said, "I am Captain Pierre Jacques of the Tri-Galactic Navy Starship Initiative. My crew and I have come to your world in answer to a distress call. May we be of service? What is the nature of your planet’s distress?"

The rabbit-like figure twitched her nose again, and her left ear bent in the middle, flopping forward. You are on a starship? she asked. More nose twitches. Orbiting our world?

Yes, Captain Jacques said, a purr rumbling deep in his throat. There was something deeply satisfying about making first contact with a new alien species. Scans of the world below had shown that this world did have space-faring technology, but the lack of satellites and outposts in the rest of the star-system suggested that they hadn’t had it for very long.

The Tri-Galactic Navy is a peaceful, exploration-focused fleet of scientists and diplomats, Captain Jacques explained to the alien bunny. We’ve been exploring the three galaxies clustered together in this quadrant of space, and sentient creatures from many worlds have joined our union. Here the Sphynx cat captain gestured with a pink-skinned paw at Grawf, the Ursine exchange officer. We have rules for our interactions with less technologically developed species, but our scans suggest that your world has developed the basics of spaceflight. And if it’s within our abilities, we’d like to assist with whatever problem you’re facing.

The rabbit alien muttered something, presumably to someone standing just outside the view of the screen. Then she turned back toward the captain and said, I am Kytha of the planet Hoppalong. Our technology is the problem. We have a fleet of our own—starships, as you say—but they’ve broken down, and we need to fix them. Soon. Quickly. Right away.

Captain Jacques glanced toward the back of the bridge and skewed an ear interrogatively at his head engineer, Lieutenant Jordan LeGuin, an orange tabby wearing techno-focal goggles. The orange tabby nodded, and then Captain Jacques turned to face the alien rabbit again. I’d be happy to send a team down to look at your vessels, to see if we can help. In return, would you be willing to send a delegation of your leaders up to my vessel? To learn about the Tri-Galactic Union and discuss whether your planet, Hoppalong, would like to join?

The rabbit’s other ear flopped forward, and after a moment’s consideration, she nodded. Yes, that would be acceptable.

Once they’d agreed on the logistics of both missions—the diplomatic summit and the technological aide—Captain Jacques ordered the communications channel closed. As soon as the Hoppalong’s face was replaced on the view screen with her peaceful blue world, Grawf rumbled from her station at the helm, Captain, you should know that I’m getting some weird gravitational readings from the surrounding space.

Captain Jacques approached the helm and looked at the console. The display showed the gravitational lines around the planet Hoppalong, depicted in a cheerful shade of orange. As Grawf had said, there was an unusual fluctuation, almost a pulse or a flicker, in the lines, as if there were another highly massive object nearby, distorting the gravity field.

It almost looks like the pattern we’d see if Hoppalong had a small moon... Captain Jacques traced the lines on the console with a carefully extended claw. ...except only if that moon were somehow popping in and out of existence.

Our scanners may be malfunctioning, Grawf said, shifting her weight uncomfortably in her small chair. The bear was larger than even the biggest dog in the Tri-Galactic Navy, and so many of the fixtures aboard the Initiative seemed a little tight for her.

As a cat in a command track that had been mostly dominated by dogs before him, Captain Jacques knew what it felt like to have everything feel like it didn’t fit quite right. He’d have to see what he could do about making better accommodations for his one Ursine officer.

Run an internal diagnostic on the scanners, Captain Jacques said. However, once you have the diagnostic running. I would like you to join me and the other ranking officers in the diplomatic union with the Hoppalongs.

Really? Grawf said, sounding surprised. She adjusted the chainmail sash that she wore over her Tri-Galactic Navy uniform, a cultural signifier of her people.

Yes, Captain Jacques affirmed. As an exchange officer, I think your insights into the benefits and process of joining the Tri-Galactic Union could be invaluable.

I will not let you down, Grawf rumbled.

I don’t expect that you would, Captain Jacques quipped, swinging his tail jauntily again. He did enjoy meeting new societies!

Lieutenant Jordan LeGuin had seen the planet Hoppalong on the Initiative’s main viewscreen—blue, clear, inviting... and dull. The orange tabby was much more excited by the sight he saw through his techno-focal goggles when he teleported down to the world and found himself inside a giant spaceship hangar. One ship after another crouched on the expansive hangar floor, like row after row of giant, mechanical, sleeping grasshoppers.

LeGuin had never seen spaceships quite like these ones. They all seemed to be designed as short range cargo hoppers. Except there weren’t any other planets close enough to Hoppalong to be within their range. And even more bewilderingly, when LeGuin scanned the vessels with his uni-meter, the readings showed that their cargo holds were already loaded. Entirely loaded. And largely with perishable goods like fresh fruit and vegetables.

Where’s this fleet planning to go, Sharro? LeGuin asked the hooded rabbit who’d been following him as he walked from one ship to the next, scanning each one, and finding the same thing over and over. They were all ancient, possibly centuries old. Their metal was fatigued and rusting. The unstable isotopes in their engines had decayed far beyond usefulness. Every one of these ships needed a complete overhaul.

That is not your concern! Sharro snapped. His ears straightened up tall, causing his hood to fall back to his shoulders.

The rabbit quickly turned away, but not fast enough to stop LeGuin from noticing the mangy, blue patches on his cheek and neck, breaking up the fluffy brown of his fur. Sharro covered the scaly blue patches with one paw, and with the other, he pulled his hood back up, bending his long ears down.

Okay... LeGuin said. But I am concerned about the state of these ships. They’re older than my great-grandcat!

But can you fix them? Sharro asked.

LeGuin had been sent down to scout out the situation with the ships and determine what help he’d need from the rest of the Initiative’s engineering officers to fix them. But from what he’d seen, if the entire crew of the Initiative teleported down to the surface of Hoppalong and worked on these ships... the ships would still crumble to dust before they ever saw spaceflight again.

Look, LeGuin said, tail twitching nervously behind him as he tried to figure out a way to break the news to this rabbit gently. Have you been maintaining these ships?

Maintaining them? Sharro asked, scratching at his face under the shadow of the hood he wore. LeGuin guessed he was scratching at the patches of blue scales.

Yes, spaceships need maintenance, LeGuin said. Then, even though he’d meant to be polite and ignore the rabbit’s skin condition, he added, Also, we have a doctor aboard our ship who could take a look at those scaly patches under your fur. They seem to be bothering you.

Sharro’s ears shot up, tall and straight, knocking the hood back down. This time he stared angrily at the orange tabby, instead of turning away to hide his skin condition. The rabbit’s pink-rimmed eyes sparkled defiantly. These scaly patches under my fur are exactly why you need to focus on fixing our ships, instead of lecturing me about the previous generations of my people who didn’t maintain them!

I’m sorry... LeGuin said, though he wasn’t at all sure what he was supposed to be sorry for. This rabbit seemed to have completely unrealistic expectations for what could be accomplished. I’m an engineer. Not a miracle worker.

The rabbit’s nose twitched furiously. And then he pointed with a brown-furred paw at LeGuin’s orange-striped arm. Maybe you need to become a miracle worker, because the pathogenic virus that inflicts my people with these degenerative scales seems to work far more quickly on your system than ours.

LeGuin looked at his arm, and then he touched it, gingerly, with his other paw. Tufts of orange fur fell away, revealing scaly patches of blue. His skin was usually soft and pink under his fur, but these patches were a brilliant azure, contrasting starkly with his fur, and as hard and scratchy as a lizard’s scales. What the hell! he meowed. You invited me down here, knowing that it would make me sick?!?

No, the rabbit said, turning away again. Honestly... I had hoped your people would be immune. But now, you must help us. If only to help yourself...

LeGuin scratched at the hardened blue scales on his arm, as if he could rip away the illness inside of him with his claws. But the scales were tough and smooth; his claws slid over them without effect, and when he managed to snag needle-sharp claw tips between the scales, he only succeeded in hurting himself. Blood oozed between the scales, fresh and red against the sea-blue chitin. His body was changing, and he didn’t know how to stop it.

Back aboard the Initiative, Captain Jacques proudly led a delegation of five bunnies around the corridors of his ship. Two of the Hoppalongs were pure white—one snowy and the other more like milk—two were piebald, and the fifth’s fur was hazelnut brown. Each bunny wore a long hooded robe with the hoods down around their shoulders. The leader of the group was one of the piebald bunnies with a large brown spot over her left eye, named Colonel Hippity.

As the rabbit aliens hopped after the Sphynx cat, their long ears tilted, angling to listen to the thrumming hum of the ship’s powerful engine, and their fuzzy noses twitched, demurely showing interest in the many science labs the captain pointed out to them as they passed by.

Grawf followed along behind the bunnies, towering over them, and grumbling rudely when any of the visitors expressed too intense of an interest in any of the ship’s technology or showed a desire to step off of the path that the captain was laying out for them.

Captain Jacques disliked the idea of correcting one of his officers in front of diplomatic guests to the ship, but each time the bear growled, his own pink-furred tail swished unhappily. Eventually, he found himself forced to say, Officer Grawf, that’s enough. He stepped back through the crowd of bunnies, until he stood close enough to the giant bear to speak up to her in a quieter, almost hissed tone of voice: These are our guests, and if they’d like to take a diversion through the astrophysics lab, then I’m more than happy to oblige.

Grawf shifted her weight from one hind paw to the other and yanked at the chainmail sash across her chest. All the while grumbling.

Do you have something to say to me, Officer? Captain Jacques asked pointedly.

As a security officer, Grawf said, "it’s my responsibility to point out that our guests do not have any security clearances, and that you’re showing them potentially vulnerable parts of the ship!"

Captain Jacques blinked at the bear. That astrophysics lab? You genuinely think that’s a particularly vulnerable part of our vessel?

Grawf shifted weight between paws again. She was so large, it was like watching a mountain move. But she didn’t say anything. What could she say? The astrophysics lab was not a prime target, and the science studied there was esoteric—not immediately applicable to weapons construction or mapping out the colonies, star bases, and fleet movements of the Tri-Galactic Navy. Nothing vulnerable. In fact, it was an ideal laboratory to show off to the Hoppalongs. Captain Jacques wasn’t sure why he’d originally planned on passing it by.

That’s what I thought, Captain Jacques said eventually, punctuating the statement with a swish of his tail. Watch yourself, Officer Grawf.

The Sphynx cat stepped back to the forefront of the group of bunnies. By and large, they were a little shorter than him, unless he counted their ears, which rose higher than his own triangular ones when they stood tall. He led the bunnies into the astrophysics lab and directed the dog and cat scientists there to give the bunnies free reign to explore, and to explain anything to them that they wished.

While the bunnies poked around, Captain Jacques watched Grawf with concern. The Ursine officer had been, up until now, one of the steadiest, least easily perturbed officers that Captain Jacques had ever encountered. She was not only the size of a mountain, she generally had the calm placidity of one, even in the face of minor annoyances that would have made the captain extremely irritable.

He wondered if there was something about the Hoppalongs that particularly threw off the Ursine’s composure. Perhaps a pheromone that cats and dogs didn’t react to? He was about to call the ship’s doctor, an Irish Setter named Waverly Keller, on his comm-pin to see if she could check the ship’s databases for any clues, when his comm-pin chimed with an incoming transmission. He tapped the golden insignia pinned to his uniform and said, This is the captain.

LeGuin’s voice emanated from the pin: Captain, this is Lieutenant LeGuin on the planet, and... We’ve been deceived.

The captain turned away from the group of Hoppalongs, stepping back into a far corner of the lab. He lowered his voice and said, Please explain.

The Hoppalongs suffer from a planet-wide viral infection that modifies their bodies, transforming them from warm-blooded mammals into cold-blooded reptiles. LeGuin’s voice sounded shaky, but that could have been the quality of the reception on the comm-pin for a signal coming all the way from the surface planet.

"It sounds like you should get back aboard the Initiative as quickly as possible—" the captain began, but he was cut off.

I’ve been infected, Captain.

The captain looked at the group of bunnies in the astrophysics lab, examining the various display screens and standing far too close to his own officers. With a sinking feeling, Captain Jacques said, Computer, please seal off the astrophysics lab and begin quarantine procedures.

The doors to the lab slid shut, and alarms blared, flashing yellow lights. The bunnies hopped about excitedly, and Grawf began outright snarling. The previously peaceful laboratory had become a tiny tempest of chaos.

Captain Jacques told LeGuin to stay where he was and continue learning what he could about the Hoppalong’s fleet of broken down spaceships. Then he contacted Doctor Keller and asked her to scan the ship for traces of an infectious virus—or anything else unfamiliar that the Hoppalongs had brought aboard with them.

Perhaps that was why Grawf had become irritable. Perhaps they were both infected with the Hoppalong virus, and it affected her differently. As far as Captain Jacques could tell, he was no more irritable than usual for his feline self. Although, he was now feeling—rationally, he thought—quite annoyed with the Hoppalong visitors.

I’m informed, he hissed sharply at the leader of the bunnies, that your people are infected with a highly communicable virus, and you may have brought it aboard my ship without warning us. Is this true?

Colonel Hippety hopped toward the captain. It is true, but⁠—

Before the bunny could continue, alarms rang out through the astrophysics lab. Different alarms than those caused by the quarantine. These were softer, chirpier chimes, accompanied by blinking lights of blue and green on various computer consoles.

What’s happening? the captain asked, turning from the leader of the bunnies to his own officers.

A calico cat with fascinated delight in her golden eyes said, The gravity is shifting... Her orange and white splotched paws moved over the computer console. This is highly unusual. These readings are unlike anything I’ve seen before.

Is it safe? the captain asked.

I don’t... The calico’s ears flattened as she considered the practical question rather than the sheer joy of research. It depends. We seem to be safe for now. The fluctuations are concentrated on the far side of the planet, more than a thousand kilometers from us.

It is our moon, Colonel Hippity said, raising her hood over head and casting her piebald face into shadow. The other bunnies followed suit, raising their hoods, covering their ears and casting their faces with their twitchy noses into shadows too. It is coming back.

The snowy