The apartment was sparse but functional. I set Kyper’s carrier on the floor and opened it. He flattened himself against the back and gave a low growl.
“I know, buddy,” I said. “It smells funny.”
I walked the space while he considered his options. There was a bedroom with a door that closed and a small bed. Just enough room for Kyper, it looked like. A bathroom with a toilet and a shower stall. A kitchen with a stove, a small fridge, and what appeared to be an incendiary device masquerading as a microwave.
It wasn’t great. But it looked like it was going to be home.
Kyper finally emerged from the carrier, sniffing cautiously, as though one wrong cabinet might give him tetanus or prove him right about this place.
I pulled his bowl and a small bag of food that I was able to bring in his carrier, mostly because I didn’t trust the airport to make sure our luggage arrived with us. I set his bowl over near where I was sure I would be eating and fed him. Then got the water bowl out and filled it, placing it beside the sink.
“Going to have to see where we can find a litterbox,” I said. Kyper merowed. I didn't know if he agreed or not, but he decided he was thirsty and located his water bowl. After a long drink he walked back to me and rubbed against my leg as though to say he was willing to forgive me but only if gravity behaved itself.
I reached down and scratched his head briefly and went to unpack the rest of the carrier. There wasn't much, just a few of his toys and some of my important things. I pulled my phone out and as suspected after they informed me I was on Alpha Centauri, it had no signal. I did have an email it looked like. One that had come in hours ago. It was from the suits. I didn't read it, I'd save it for later when I wanted a horror story to sleep on.
A knock sounded and my door opened. A lab coat walked in, closing it behind him. He looked about and nodded to himself. He was pulling a smoking suitcase that looked suspiciously like mine.
“Looks like you're set up well enough, hopefully nothing in here is too damaged,” he said, confirming it was, in fact, mine.
“What happened to it?” I asked.
“Black out is in three hours. We're lucky it wasn't apple sauce,” he said. I frowned.
“Apple sauce?” I asked again. He waved his hand in dismissal.
“Is this Keplar?”
“Kyper, yes,” I answered. Kyper hissed at the lab coat when he reached to pet him.
“Opinionated,” the lab coat observed.
“No, he just likes his name stated correctly, do you know where we might find a litter box? I'd hate for him to soil your experiments,” I said. The lab coat looked horrified.
“We will find something suitable,” he answered and saw his way out of the apartment. I frowned and retrieved the suitcase he'd left. It wasn't hot but it smelled of burned plastic. It was slightly melted as well. I opened it to find my clothing in decent shape, they stunk but that could be fixed. I took the suitcase to the bedroom and pulled the clothes out to set on top of the small dresser. I'd find the laundry later. I pulled Kyper's second bag of food out and took it back to the kitchen and put it in a cabinet, along with the smaller bag.
I got the last few items out, a notebook, a pen, and some odds and ends. I ripped a piece of paper out of the note book and on it, I wrote:
DO NOT ENTER!
Door broken.
BEWARE OF CAT
Then I fixed it to the front of my door and closed it.
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