Fuzzy Nation Read Online Free Page B
Author: John Scalzi
the cabin door, slamming it shut on Holloway’s forehead and nose. Holloway cursed and dropped to his knees by the closed door, clutching his nose. There were more crashing noises inside.
After a few minutes, Holloway became aware of two things. The first was that his nose, while swollen, was not going to bleed out on him. The second was that all the crashing noises had stopped, replaced by the sound of Carl’s constant bark. Holloway stood up, touched his nose one more time to make sure it wasn’t going to spontaneously gush, and then very carefully opened the door to his cabin.
The cabin looked like one of Holloway’s college dorm rooms at the end of a semester: an explosion of papers and objects on the floor, which should have been on a desk or shelf. Dishes previously in the cabin’s tiny sink were shattered on the ground. Holloway’s spare infopanel was likewise facedown on the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to see whether it was still functional or not.
Carl was propped up against the cabin’s sole bookcase, barking madly. A quick glance up established that he had treed the cat thing on top of the bookcase. Books and binders had been flung off the shelves as either the thing climbed up the shelf or Carl tried to get at it. The bookshelf was nowhere close to anything the cat thing could jump to; it seemed like it was too tall for the creature to jump down from, even if Carl weren’t there. It was safe from Carl for the moment, but it was also well and truly stuck. It stared down at Carl and then over at Holloway, alternating between them, cat’s eyes wide and terrified.
“Quiet, Carl!” Holloway said, but the dog was too out of his mind with the thrill of the chase to hear his master.
Holloway glanced around the room. Amid the mess he saw the creature’s place of entrance: the small, tilting window in Holloway’s sleeping alcove. He must have left it unlocked, and the creature must have been able to pry it open and get into the cabin. Once the cat thing got in, it wouldn’t have been able to get back out; the window was easily accessible from the outside roof, but it looked like it would have been too high for the creature to get to from the cot or the floor.
He looked back at the cat thing, which was staring right at him. It stared at the window, and then back at him. It was as if the critter knew he’d figured out how it got in.
Holloway went to the tilting window in the alcove, closed it, and locked it. Then he walked over to his dog and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Carl stopped barking with a surprised urk and skidded his back paws ineffectually against the floor. Holloway maneuvered the dog to the cabin door, opened the door, and tossed the animal out. He pressed his leg against the dog door until he could secure its manual lock, and then stepped back. There were two thumps as Carl batted his head against the dog door. A few seconds later, his paws and head showed up in the window above Holloway’s desk, alternately barking with indignity and whining to be let back in.
Holloway ignored his dog and turned to the cat thing, which looked at him, still terrified, but perhaps slightly less so now.
“Well, you little fuzzy thing,” Holloway said. “Now it’s just you and me.”
Chapter Four
If I were this thing, why would I be in here? Holloway thought. Animals weren’t terribly complicated creatures; anywhere you went in the universe, they tended to want to do one of three things: eat, sleep, and have sex. Holloway concluded the last two of these were out. Food, then.
He glanced around the mess of his cabin; on the kitchen counter, next to the sink, was the plate he kept fruit on, covered by a plastic bell to keep out the local insects. In the rumpus, the plate had been moved but the bell had not been dislodged. Underneath it were two apples and a bindi, a local fruit that was shaped like a pear but tasted not too far off from a banana. Both apples and
After a few minutes, Holloway became aware of two things. The first was that his nose, while swollen, was not going to bleed out on him. The second was that all the crashing noises had stopped, replaced by the sound of Carl’s constant bark. Holloway stood up, touched his nose one more time to make sure it wasn’t going to spontaneously gush, and then very carefully opened the door to his cabin.
The cabin looked like one of Holloway’s college dorm rooms at the end of a semester: an explosion of papers and objects on the floor, which should have been on a desk or shelf. Dishes previously in the cabin’s tiny sink were shattered on the ground. Holloway’s spare infopanel was likewise facedown on the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to see whether it was still functional or not.
Carl was propped up against the cabin’s sole bookcase, barking madly. A quick glance up established that he had treed the cat thing on top of the bookcase. Books and binders had been flung off the shelves as either the thing climbed up the shelf or Carl tried to get at it. The bookshelf was nowhere close to anything the cat thing could jump to; it seemed like it was too tall for the creature to jump down from, even if Carl weren’t there. It was safe from Carl for the moment, but it was also well and truly stuck. It stared down at Carl and then over at Holloway, alternating between them, cat’s eyes wide and terrified.
“Quiet, Carl!” Holloway said, but the dog was too out of his mind with the thrill of the chase to hear his master.
Holloway glanced around the room. Amid the mess he saw the creature’s place of entrance: the small, tilting window in Holloway’s sleeping alcove. He must have left it unlocked, and the creature must have been able to pry it open and get into the cabin. Once the cat thing got in, it wouldn’t have been able to get back out; the window was easily accessible from the outside roof, but it looked like it would have been too high for the creature to get to from the cot or the floor.
He looked back at the cat thing, which was staring right at him. It stared at the window, and then back at him. It was as if the critter knew he’d figured out how it got in.
Holloway went to the tilting window in the alcove, closed it, and locked it. Then he walked over to his dog and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. Carl stopped barking with a surprised urk and skidded his back paws ineffectually against the floor. Holloway maneuvered the dog to the cabin door, opened the door, and tossed the animal out. He pressed his leg against the dog door until he could secure its manual lock, and then stepped back. There were two thumps as Carl batted his head against the dog door. A few seconds later, his paws and head showed up in the window above Holloway’s desk, alternately barking with indignity and whining to be let back in.
Holloway ignored his dog and turned to the cat thing, which looked at him, still terrified, but perhaps slightly less so now.
“Well, you little fuzzy thing,” Holloway said. “Now it’s just you and me.”
Chapter Four
If I were this thing, why would I be in here? Holloway thought. Animals weren’t terribly complicated creatures; anywhere you went in the universe, they tended to want to do one of three things: eat, sleep, and have sex. Holloway concluded the last two of these were out. Food, then.
He glanced around the mess of his cabin; on the kitchen counter, next to the sink, was the plate he kept fruit on, covered by a plastic bell to keep out the local insects. In the rumpus, the plate had been moved but the bell had not been dislodged. Underneath it were two apples and a bindi, a local fruit that was shaped like a pear but tasted not too far off from a banana. Both apples and