Dave couldn't help but feel some excitement over his very first long haul fold drive delivery. It would take several months, but the payment would mean that he could, if he so wished, not take a local load for several months. Fold jumps could not be made within a certain distance of a star depending on it's mass, so one would have to travel far enough away to get accurate fold calculations. Also, you needed a quantum capable navigation unit or Limited A.I. in order to make sure you didn't slam into another object during the fold. The stars as we see them in the sky aren't actually where they are now, but where they were. The farther away a star the more it has moved.

The out system journey was nothing exciting. Dave had convinced Cam that while she could watch every episode of Dragonball Z in a nano-second, it was much more satisfying to watch it at a human pace. So Cam humored him and watched. Then Dave had to explain the concept of suspending disbelief to Cam since she insisted on pointing out every impossible thing that Goku and friends did. The time spent was enjoyable and when they weren't watching anime, they talked. Cam learned much about Dave's life up until now and Dave learned how Cam had a fear, a real deep fear, of her matrix being deleted. He began to understand that Cam wasn't just a group of preprogrammed responses, but an actual sentient entity that had it's own survival to worry about. Then, with a little less than three days left until they reached their jump point, the fun began.

Dave awoke to a blaring alarm that sounded a lot like the old red alert alarm from the original Star Trek series. Pulling himself out of the bunk he rubbed his hands over his face as he headed to the pilots chair. "What's going on Cam?" He asked. Cam's reply was quick and concise, "Biological alarm in the cargo pod. According to our records we were not supposed to be carrying anything biological.". Dave nodded, "Could be a sensor malfunction?" he asked. "It is possible, however the chances of a biological sensor malfunctioning is approximately three thousand seven hundred and twenty to one." Cam replied. Dave narrowed his eyes, wondering if those were the real odds or if Cam had just quoted Star Wars to mess with him.

"Well, this is new to me, what's the protocol?" Dave asked. "The cargo pods fold drive will not allow a jump while any warnings are active. You will have to enter the pod and investigate the alarm." Cam said. Every single hauler had a small hatch and extendable inpection tunnel that corresponded to an inspection hatch on the cargo pods. Dave would don a pressure suit and enter the unpressurized cargo pod and look for anything out of place. "Okay, connect the tunnel while I suit up, let's see what's going on here."

It took him about fifteen minutes to suit up and Cam informed him that the tunnel was connected and pressurized with a good seal on both ends. Dave headed to the hauler's rear bulkhead and opened the pressure door there. The hatch and tunnel were indeed small. Dave climbed into the tunnel, closed the hauler side door, and began to crawl across. When he reached the cargo pod side Cam sent the order to open the door. Normally, there would be a rush of air as whatever little atmosphere from the tunnel rushed into the vacuum of the cargo pod. This did not happen.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Cam noticed almost immediately and informed Dave, "This cargo pod is pressurized when it should not be. Please use caution Dave." Dave nodded, "Turn the lights on in the pod, I'm climbing in now." he said. "Acknowledged" Cam said. Once Dave set foot inside the container he knew something was out of place. Normally the cargo containers are loaded with crates from stem to stern, with only a thin walkway in the middle for the random inspection. This pod however only contained five crates, all set along the back wall. Four of the crates were your standard shipping variety about three feet by three feet by three feet, fully sealed with information of the contents listed on the side. The fifth crate is what caught Daves immediate attention.

This last crate was much bigger than the others. It looked to be about five feet tall, three feet wide and six feet long. It had windows built in on each side, all of which were fogged up. Finally the front panel of the crate was separating from the top right corner with about a three to four inch gap. "Cam, are you seeing this through my suit cam?" Dave asked. Cam responded affirmatively, "Yes Dave, that looks like a livestock crate. The load information on this pod says nothing about livestock.". Dave had learned over the last few months that hauling cargo out here had many similarities to back on Earth. Especially the beaurocracies. If you had a trailer full of toilet paper, but the bill of lading says you have a trailer full of paper towels you, and the driver are ultimately responsible. "Not good" Dave said.

Cam informed him that whatever was in the crate was setting off the bio alarm, and that closing the crate may get it to shut off. If that worked they could make the jump to the Halvaro system and contact authorities there to get this resolved immediately. So Dave approached the crate to see if he could push the panel closed. As he got within two feet of the container it shook violently and dave swore he heard a growl from inside. "Cam?" Dave began, "Did you see Tha....". Before he could finished the sentence the front panel of the crate was thrown at him violently. He tried to push himself out of the was but only managed to get his momemtum moving sideways. Once the door hit him it pushed into the side of the pod with a loud thump.

Dave scrambled to turn himself toward the front of the pod, once he got himself oriented he froze. Staring back at him was a cat. A large cat. It wasn't a tiger, or lion although it was the same size, if not bigger. It looked just like one of those majestic looking maine coon cats, with the bright yellow eyes. It spent a few seconds scrambling around the front of the pod looking for an exit. It tried to crawl into the connector tunnel but couldn't fit through the opening. It then back itself into a corner, it's tail began to puff out and it just stared at Dave. "Holy Shit!" Dave exclaimed.