But before he could find anything Queex had
appropriated it. And in the end they had to allow the Hoobat its victim
in its entirety. But once Queex had consumed its prey it lapsed into its
usual hunched immobility. Dane went for the cage and working gingerly he
and Ali got the creature back in captivity. But all the evidence now left
were some smears on the floor of the hydro, smears which Ali blotted up
for future research in the lab.
An hour later the four who now comprised the crew of the Queen gathered
in the mess for a conference. Queex was in its cage on the table before
them, asleep after all its untoward activity.
"There must be more than just one," Weeks said. "But how are we going to
hunt them down? With Sinbad?"
Dane shook his head. Once the Hoobat had been caged and the more
prominent evidence of the battle scraped from the floor, he had brought
the cat into the hydro and forced him to sniff at the site of the
engagement. The result was that Sinbad had gone raving mad and Dane's
hands were now covered with claw tears which ran viciously deep. It was
plain that the ship's cat was having none of the intruders, alive or
dead.
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