Astronauts and Their Cats

Book excerpt: Astronauts and Their Cats: A Mother and Daughter Astronaut Team, the Immortal Shape-Shifting Space Cats, Snifferu and Whiskers, keep Patches, the Kitten busy in the Intergalactic Cat Club. They make a rather different family household during the day. However, at night, the space station is cat-shadow dark, except for the human’s cats that mingle with the shape-shifting immortal space cats that prowl the corridors and live among the rows of computers. They are wannabee free cats who travel onboard the space shuttles. Some, unknown to the space program, aren’t even home-grown. "Which cat sprayed gang graffiti on the space shuttle?" A ground controller cat, an orange tabby, studied the photo. "But how did it get there?" He aimed a scowl over his computer at his boss. "Maybe it's a paste-on the astronauts put up to celebrate all those years here," the boss said in a dark-as-coffee voice. The cat’s boss hurried to another computer. Patches, the Earth-born part orange tabby, part Siamese cat, formerly a library cat adopted by the ground controller's boss, sniffed with disdain and curled up on top of the main filing cabinet. A computer screen banner reflected bright red in each kitten's cornflower blue eyes. Rows of blinking computers lit up the room everywhere. The controller called in an expert. Every expert in the room studied the graffiti this time through video monitors as they watched the space shuttle. The controller pressed a button on his phone. "I'll call security."