Conversations with Critters
Walk with the animals. Talk with the animals. And the highly anticipated release of Chapter 9 of The Case of the Jumping Gene!
Today Critters, we are pleased to bring you the highly anticipated release of Chapter 9 of The Case of the Jumping Gene! Brought to you from the great outdoors by the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency!
Previously! The Critters felt a rumble and a tumble! While taking shelter in the Lava Caves of the Mt. Bachelor wilderness, the Ginormous Group Rescue of the Labcats is under a threat of epic proportions!
Now! We are holding the line against an adversary intent on devastation and destruction. But! Where will the action drive the plot next? Backwards? Forwards? Around and around?
Please! Welcome our Core Community Critters, Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo in excellent epic every which way but loose critter commentary and conversation. Take it away! Go. Go. Go.
Jasper: Hello, Dear Gentle Critters! And did we mention the fact that I might miss my next meal with the latest suspension of my spoon in the midst of the action?
Chris: That would be an epic fail!
Jojo: A real tragedy!
Jasper: Hurry, my friends! Let’s. Read. All. About. It!
THE CASE OF THE JUMPING GENE
BOOK 3 FROM THE J KITTEN, SLEUTH & PURVEYOR OF BRIGHT SHINY OBJECTS DETECTIVE AGENCY
BY JASPER KITTEN, CHRIS, JOJO AND STAR IN HEAVEN FUREVER AND EVER
DEDICATED IN LUVLUVLUVING MEMORY OF STAR
CHAPTER 9
DISTRACTED DRIVER
No stranger to danger, Jasper Kitten dropped his spoon in his bowl with great intent and purpose and raced to the entrance of the Lava Caves. He plunged outside and into the snow, the first rays of sunlight cresting the mountains.
Sir Skipper bounded over to him, the sled dogs positioned in a defensive line against the onslaught of the rumble and the tumble of a very large piece of heavy machinery.
“Snowplow!” barked Sir Skipper in warning to Jasper Kitten. They ducked behind a sled, pelted by a wall of snow shoveled onto them.
Star bolted outside with her pound per pound strength and held the line, followed by Jojo, tried and true.
“Officers Clementine and Petal!” he shot back over his shoulder, “Remain in the Lava Caves and protect the Ginormous Group of Rufus Subsets!”
“Roger that!” they shot back.
Chris, too, pounded onto the snow, a growl as loud and as proud as the full frontal attack that plowed toward them. He ducked behind the sled with Jasper Kitten and Sir Skipper.
Jasper Kitten waited and watched, the tension of every single Orange stripe ready to strike at the most opportune moment.
“Please, Jasper Kitten, no matter your world renown, the snowplow is too big to confront on your own,” cautioned Sir Skipper, sensing Jasper Kitten’s next move.
“Thank you, Sir Skipper, I appreciate your concern,” mewed Jasper Kitten, crouched beside him. “However. No machine is going to deter me from cracking this case.”
“Our first line of defense is with the dogs. Stay here and let me try to deter the onslaught. I beg of you, Jasper Kitten,” barked Sir Skipper.
“Of course, Sir Skipper. Understood,” confirmed Jasper Kitten.
Sir Skipper dashed back to the defensive line and the dogs stood their ground while the snowplow lumbered into a turn and positioned itself for another frontal attack.
The grind of the gears shifted in the snow and a steady crush shook the ground. The Canine Unit, Star and Jojo, stood shoulder to shoulder, so focused that the icicles digging into their toebeans could not be felt.
“Chris,” mewed Jasper Kitten, “if the dogs can’t stop this heavy duty piece of machinery then the situation will remain dire and call for drastic action.”
“Jasper Kitten, I’ve got to agree with Sir Skipper on this. You can’t take this adversary to the mat on your own,” cried Chris.
“Of course,” replied Jasper Kitten. “I am in full agreement, but I have also had quite enough of this menacing behavior. Quite. Enough.”
The toebeans of Jasper Kitten and Chris also remained impervious to any and all discomfort from the icicles, their focus centered on the snowplow picking up speed and aiming straight toward them.
A ferocious round of barking confronted the snowplow on its trajectory of destruction. The line of dogs advanced a step and then another and then Star darted to the right side and Jojo to the left. The plow swerved and corrected course.
Star and Jojo switched directions, crisscrossing back and forth and causing the plow to swerve off track again.
“Excellent diversion, Canine Unit!” cried Jasper Kitten. “You’ve distracted the driver!”
Amidst a shower of snow dumped on the Critters from the plow, the Canine Unit continued their hardscrabble skirmish and the sled dogs inched forward on a relentless advance.
Jasper Kitten calculated the risks involved in the kerfuffle and, in a moment of rapid cognition, saw an opening through the snow, and made his own bold move. Chris did not hold him back.
In a blur of Orange fur, he charged the cab and latched onto the passenger side door. The driver, wearing a helmet and a mask, looked at him and their eyes locked. Jasper Kitten yanked hard against the handle.
Chris monitored the progress of Jasper Kitten and ran after him, reaching out a toebean and grabbing the driver side door with a fierce secure grip.
Both doors were locked, but Jasper Kitten and Chris held on fast, flailing in the air, the swerve and curve of the plow whipsawed them above the frozen ground.
“Hold on, Chris!” cried Jasper Kitten.
“We’ve got this, Jasper Kitten!” growled Chris, loud and proud.
Star and Jojo rounded on the plow. The Canine Unit gnashed their teeth while Jasper and Chris slashed at the doors of the cab to open open open.
The driver shifted the plow, but the gears jammed. Jasper Kitten and Chris held on as the plow slammed forward and back, stuck and stuck but good.
In a series of swats against the glass, Jasper Kitten shattered the window of the passenger side door and crawled inside the cab. He lunged at the driver and scruffed the Critter while simultaneously unlocking the driver side door for Chris.
“Who do you work for!” demanded Jasper Kitten, shredding the driver’s mask to reveal a set of barred and gritted feline teeth.
“Why, Jasper Kitten asked you a question, Snowplow Driver. Tell us who you work for! Do. It. Now,” Chris pounced behind the wheel.
“Please, I’ll tell you everything!” begged the wide eyed response.
Jasper Kitten lightened his hold, but kept a white gloved paw steady and at the ready against the back of the driver’s neck.
“Chris, take off the helmet. Please. Proceed,” requested Jasper Kitten.
“Why, I’d be happy to do so,” complied Chris with the tip of a toebean.
“Yes, I see,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “This is interesting. Very very interesting.”
Revealed in the dawning light of day, an Orange cat glared back at Jasper Kitten.
“Now,” said Jasper Kitten, “you offered to tell us who you work for.”
“I work for a scientist,” squirmed the Orange cat.
“And can you be any more specific?” asked Jasper Kitten with a slight increase of pressure of his white gloved paw.
“Yes, Jasper Kitten. To be exact. The Experimental Experimenter of the Bio Lab Pacific Northwest By Northwest,” she said flatly.
“Thank you for your candor,” asserted Jasper Kitten. He relaxed his paw. “If my instincts serve me correctly, you look a lot like the rest of the Rufus Subsets from One to Ninety-Nine. Were you in fact given a number and not a name?”
“Yes, Jasper Kitten. I am, in fact, called Rufus Sub One Hundred,” came the confession, toneless.
“I see,” stated Jasper Kitten.
“Why, if that’s true then how come you’re operating separately from the rest of the Ginormous Group?” asked Chris.
A quizzical expression furrowed the brow of Rufus Sub One Hundred and she lapsed into silence.
“That is a good question, Chris,” praised Jasper Kitten. “Let’s hear the answer, Rufus Sub One Hundred. Why are you operating independently of the rest of the Rufus Subsets?”
“The Experimental Experimenter and a team of scientists programmed me to get behind the wheel of a variety of motor vehicles capable of functioning in the snow, Jasper Kitten,” she elaborated. “And they control me remotely.”
“To do what?” probed Jasper Kitten.
“To thwart your rescue efforts and retrieve the Rufus Subsets. I’ve always been kept separate from them since we were all kittens. The scientific team turned me Orange like everyone else, but then they did even more experiments on me.”
“Why, are you saying you were not only genetically modified but also subjected to mind control?” questioned Chris, asserting a toebean against Rufus Sub One Hundred’s forehead.
“Yes, correct, Chris,” she noted.
“Then we need to deprogram you, Rufus Subset One Hundred. But first. Let me ask you something else which is of the utmost critical, immediate and pressing importance,” continued Jasper Kitten.
“I’m all ears, Jasper Kitten, if Chris would kindly put slightly less pressure on my body. He has, afterall, been sitting on me behind the wheel all of this time,” requested Rufus Sub One Hundred.
“Sure, Rufus Sub One Hundred,” growled Chris, low and slow. “But note that I have taken the key out of the ignition and you’re not gonna go go go anywhere again. You’re not gonna blindside us, sideswipe us, make a sneak attack from behind us or make a full frontal attack at us. Are. We. Clear?”
She gave a restricted nod in the affirmative as Jasper Kitten continued to exert a certain if not substantial pressure on her scruff, but Chris lightened the load.
“Are there any more Rufus Subsets? Say, a Rufus Sub One Hundred and One?” pressed Jasper Kitten.
“No, Jasper Kitten. I am the last of the line. Do you think you can deprogram me?” inquired Rufus Sub One Hundred.
“I will try my best,” promised Jasper Kitten. “Furthermore, I will reverse engineer your genetic Orange mutation, but I can’t do it here. I must ask for your patience until we are out of the Mt. Bachelor wilderness and have access to another laboratory.”
“Thank you, Jasper Kitten. Thank you very much,” she gave a robotic sigh. “You wouldn’t take me back to the Bio Lab would you?”
“Absolutely not, Rufus Sub One Hundred. I will perform the genetic procedure in a legitimate lab. First do no harm. Rest assured, you are safe with the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency.”
“Thank you so very much. I’m terribly sorry that I’ve been programmed to run you over with a variety of motorized vehicles that are operable in the snow,” apologized Rufus Sub One Hundred.
“Your apology is appreciated, but not necessary. It was not something in your control,” apprised Jasper Kitten.
“And besides,” added Chris, “we’ve taken your keys away from you.”
Jasper Kitten and Chris were not about to take any further chances. Any and all risks were completely and carefully calculated while they were in the cab. They hopped out with Rufus Sub One Hundred under close guard should an unexpected and spontaneous mind control episode or event overpower her.
Star and Jojo joined them and the Critter Detectives proceeded to the Lava Caves, fortified and protected.
“Gosh, Jasper Kitten, now that’s what I call teamwork,” barked and remarked Star, sweeping the terrain with her cinnamon brown paw.
“Yes, I see, Star,” mewed Jasper Kitten as they strode forward.
“Is an arrest needed?” queried Jojo as he kept careful watch over Rufus Sub One Hundred.
“Thank you for the question, Jojo, which I very much respect coming from you as a Retired Sergeant Detective Sheriff, ” replied Jasper Kitten, “but your incredible career experience in law enforcement will not be warranted at this time.”
“Copy that, Jasper Kitten,” replied Jojo.
They passed the sled dogs who had since stood down under the command from Sir Skipper. Jasper Kitten paused in the march with Rufus Sub One Hundred.
“I must take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all of you for your invaluable assistance during this life threatening snowplow situation,” he praised them.
“We are at your service, Jasper Kitten, and will remain on duty,” barked Sir Skipper.
Jasper Kitten gave a bow to Sir Skipper and the sled dogs.
“Please, allow me to identify the culprit of this current conundrum. I present to you the remaining and now rescued Rufus Subset, number One Hundred to be exact, from the Bio Lab Pacific Northwest By Northwest,” iterated Jasper Kitten. “She has quite a backstory of being subjected to unethical biomedical experimentation both in terms of genetics and mind control.”
A murmur spread among the sled dogs and they shifted and shuffled with the news, gazing upon Rufus Sub One Hundred.
“Jasper Kitten, do you find Rufus Sub One Hundred to present a clear and present danger here in the Mt. Bachelor wilderness?" asked Sir Skipper.
“At this time, my Detectives and I remain confident that she no longer poses a threat. We have taken her keys away from her and neutralized her ability to cause harm,” advised Jasper Kitten. “Furthermore, my next task is to deprogram her from the mind control which the Experimental Experimenter has exerted over her autonomy. This will be done in the shelter of the Lava Caves.”
“Roger that,” replied Sir Skipper.
The Critter Detectives approached the entrance to the Lava Caves and ducked inside with Rufus Sub One Hundred held close in their huddle.
“Rufus Sub One Hundred, before you are reunited with the Ginormous Group, I must ask the question that begs a direct response from you,” clarified Jasper Kitten.
“I’m all ears again, Jasper Kitten,” she intoned.
“Do you know the mechanism of mind control that has been instilled in your consciousness?” asked Jasper Kitten.
“I’m not sure, Jasper Kitten,” she responded. “What would be an example of a mechanism?”
“Hypnosis for one thing,” he said with a furrowed brow.
“Well, sometimes I do start to feel very very sleepy before I get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle in the snow,” she said after giving this vital line of questioning careful consideration.
“I see,” mewed Jasper Kitten. “What about a possible brain implant?”
“You mean like a neurotransmitter?” she asked.
“Yes, like a neurotransmitter. Do you get headaches when you operate a motor vehicle, Rufus Sub One Hundred?”
“No, Jasper Kitten. I only start to feel very very sleepy,” she furrowed her own Orange striped brow at him.
“I appreciate your honesty in defining the mechanism of mind control. Your very very sleepy symptoms at the onset of driving have convinced me that you are under the influence of hypnosis,” asserted Jasper Kitten.
“Does that mean you can deprogram me?” she asked.
“Yes, I believe so. It’s definitely worth a try,” nodded Jasper Kitten in the affirmative.
“I’ve been outfitted with this,” she said, reaching into her pocket. “The Experimental Experimenter trained me to use this every time I get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle in the snow. Would you find it helpful, Jasper Kitten?”
She held out a gold plated pocket watch and Jasper Kitten clasped and grasped it by the chain with his white gloved paw.
“Yes,” he replied. “This will be purrfect.”
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Poetry with Pets
A programmed attack
An adversary unmasked
Drive the plot forward
By Jasper Kitten, Chris and Jojo
Critters! Catch up on all of the mystery and adventure with The Case of the Jumping Gene! Book Number 3! Brought to you by the J Kitten, Sleuth & Purveyor of Bright Shiny Objects Detective Agency!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap. 7🐾Chap. 8
The Case of the Bowled Over Bowler Hat! Book Number 2!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap.7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap. 14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16🐾Chap. 17🐾Chap. 18🐾Chap. 19🐾Chap. 20
The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope! Book Number 1!
Chap. 1🐾Chap. 2🐾Chap. 3🐾Chap. 4🐾Chap. 5🐾Chap. 6🐾Chap. 7🐾Chap. 8🐾Chap. 9🐾Chap. 10🐾Chap. 11🐾Chap. 12🐾Chap. 13🐾Chap.14🐾Chap. 15🐾Chap. 16🐾Chap. 17🐾Chap. 18🐾Chap. 19🐾Chap. 20
The Case of the Misplaced Priority Envelope
All action and more surprises! These Critters know how to captivate their readers.
Hypnosis triggered by the hypnotic mechanism in one's possession? Brilliant, Heidi! 😃 Those critters are so well rounded in world things' knowledge and procedures! Can't wait to read more. ⌚︎