Read Across The Universe With A Giant Housecat (The Blue) for Free Online

agreed.
    “When am I supposed to go see him, anyway?”
    She fished her tablet from one of her shopping bags and frowned at it. “It says eleven in the morning. In his office.”
    “Good! The earlier the better. “
    “Hey. I have a great idea, Alan. Let’s go get some food to celebrate the return of your chest skin to the light of day.”
    “Huh? Oh, the vest. Sure!” My stomach had been rumbling during our whole conversation anyway—it had been several hours since we had last eaten.  
    We made our way to the cafeteria again, stopping along the way to drop off Katelyn’s purchases at our quarters.
    At the cafeteria, Katelyn dug into another plate of desserts, while Leo ate a plate of everything.  
    After loading my tray with several of my favorite foods, I sat down to eat with them. Katelyn chattered merrily about the sights she had seen so far; Leo nearly got a corn muffin stuck in his throat during an attempt to swallow it whole.
    After dinner, we headed back to our quarters, where Katelyn took a long bubble bath and insisted I take one as well, after her. I found it surprisingly relaxing.
    The day ended and night began. However, I could not sleep, even with the help of the relaxing bubble bath. I lay awake in my bed, the first real bed I had touched in over a year, and stared at the ceiling. Such a blank ceiling—no wiring or pipes overhead, as was common on spaceships.
    Leo slept at the foot of my bed, snoring. Yes, actually snoring. Somehow, the air passageways of a kvyat were designed to help snoring reverberate and emit the same level of noise as the average in-atmosphere spaceship landing. Or at least, that was what it seemed like.
    It was going to be a long night.

Chapter 7

    “Alan! Alan, wake up! Wake up! Your appointment with Standing Admiral Northe is in twenty minutes!”
    I flew out of bed. How had I overslept? I had set an alarm! I had set ten alarms!
    My eyes flew open as my hands flung my covers back, my feet hitting the floor of their own accord.
    Katelyn stood there in her pink bathrobe, toothbrush in hand.
    “How did I miss the alarm?” I cried, searching madly for a set of clean clothes.
    Then I noticed she was snickering, a sound which turned into a full-on laugh.
    “Your appointment isn’t for two hours! I couldn’t resist!” she cackled.
    I was less amused. “You brat!” Here I was, fully awake thanks to the adrenaline rush of thinking I had been late, with two hours to spare.
    “I’m going to get some breakfast,” I announced crossly.
    “I’ll go with you! Wait up!” She flew over to her suitcase to grab an outfit.
    But I didn’t wait up. After getting dressed, I went down to the cafeteria and proceeded to eat like a horse. I expected my appetite to have vanished in a cloud of anxiety at the upcoming meeting, but that didn’t happen. The moment I saw the spread of delicious breakfast food, my mouth began to water and I happily filled my plate.
    Two and a half plates of food later, my stomach rumbled its complaints, but I was content. Or maybe I had eaten too much out of anxiety? Nope. No anxiety there.
    Leo had eaten four plates, beating my food record. Maybe he was going through a growth spurt of some kind. I’d have to look up the maximum size kvyats could grow. I hoped it wasn’t much more than his current size. He was unwieldy enough aboard the Dragontooth as he was.
    “If you want to grow more, you have to learn how to be more graceful,” I told him. He stared at me, licking pancake syrup off his whiskers.
    I glanced at a clock on the wall and saw that it was nearing the time for my appointment.
    Katelyn appeared next to me. Her pink bathrobe was gone and she wore a light blue sundress instead, her hair caught up into a smooth ponytail. “Hey! You were supposed to wait up while I took a shower and got ready!”
    I shook my head. “I don’t wait up for people who wake me up too early and interrupt my dreams.”
    She punched me on the shoulder playfully. “But