This morning, Otto texts. ‘You might be interested in this,’ he says. ‘”The Trumpet” has a feature on the Magic Carpet Convention. Yesterday was the last day, and they held the Annual Magic Carpets Race, which, as you know, goes around the pyramids several times. It is always hotly contested. This year, the local carpet team won it by a huge margin.
‘The commentator said their main rivals in the past, the carpet team from Australia, were absent this year. So everyone is wondering where the Australian contingent has gone. All the Australian carpets come to cheer on their team, but none arrived this year. If you find any, let me know. Or at least let the Cat Collective know.
‘See you in Adelaide! I wonder who will get there first. Sandy and I plan to take our time, visit some interesting places on the way and camp out when the weather is good.
‘Have you met Nelson yet? Give my regards to him. I texted him to look out for you. A super elegant Russian Blue, I said. He has this youngster with him called Sirin. Her pawrents asked him to look out for her. Sandy and I met her briefly, and she’s a very pretty cat.’
“The Trumpet” is a feature in the national feline newspaper The Australian Meow. Most cats eagerly read it each week for the highlights of feline activity across the country. The paper always has a great selection of international features that might interest cats, and since the carpets disappeared, there has been speculation about what happened.
Otto includes a video of the race start.
And he includes a picture of the award ceremony.
I don’t know how I could search for lost magic carpets while we are trapped on this ship. I began to feel trapped after I found that we signed a three-month contract with Bruno. It doesn’t specify work on the ship, so he must expect us to continue working for him at the end of the voyage.
I text Otto again with a bon voyage message, but it fails to send. He must be wondering why I haven’t replied. I am always prompt in answering his texts.
Bruno still expects me to join his high-flying buddies at poker. I must be careful not to lose all my credits, especially as we don’t know what to expect at the end of the voyage. I tell Mitzi we must be careful and stick to places that are free for the crew.
She looks at me and says, ‘I am fully aware we must economise. You can trust me, Sasha, to manage the budget for both of us.’
Saphira is well paid and now also has extra credits from passengers who wish to take her dance classes.
A note: these are all fantasy images, not real scenes, and they were created with AI.
