by Seven

Disclaimer:  Earth: Final Conflict and its characters are copyrighted by Tribune Entertainment
Company.  All rights reserved.
 
 

Author's Note:  Shortly after  "A Friend From The Rain" .
 
 

**********
 
 

Liam awoke to find Galahad perched on his chest, wide eyes staring into his sleepy ones. "Well, we're
the early kitty, aren't we?" Liam said with a tired smile, stretching his arms. The still-thin kitten leaped
off him to the floor, uttering an anguished yodel and gazing mournfully at the door. "Hungry, huh?"
Liam asked, getting to his feet. "I swear, you eat more than most water buffalo, Gally. You're going to
get big and fat soon if I don't stop spoiling you."

Suzanne was sitting at the bar, reading a beauty magazine. She smiled as Liam emerged from the
back, scratching his head and yawning. Galahad was circling his ankles as he walked, still meowing.
"Gally wants his breakfast, huh?" she asked.

"Yerm," Liam said through his yawn. "Ahhh.... yeah, he's a bottomless pit." He flipped open the cabinet
and pulled out a plastic bag full of cat food, pouring some of it into the cat food bowl on the floor.
Galahad pounced on the bowl and began eating as Liam grinned and mumbled, "Last of the mighty
hunters."

Liam vanished into the men's room for a while, then began to step outside. As he was every day,
Galahad was perched on the steps. He meowed and rubbed the top of his skull ecstatically against
Liam's leg. Liam scratched the kitten's ears and mumbled, "Buh-bye, Gally. I'll be back tonight."

Liam would never admit it to anyone, but the ritual comforted him. It reassured him of the cat's
unyielding caring for him.

****

Dark clouds were gathering over Washington, promising more rain than the city had seen for a long
time. It was a fair walk to the Taelon Embassy, and Liam had to pick up the pace if he didn't want to
get drenched.

Liam didn't notice the dog until he was almost a block from the Flat Planet. It was a big dog, a black
Lab, but so emaciated that it looked almost like a greyhound. In its pinched, bare-spotted face, huge
golden eyes were pleading.

Liam looked back at it with growing anger. Galahad had lived on the streets, abandoned. The dog had
clearly been starved and neglected, if it had an owner at all. He turned around and knelt down. "Hey,
boy," he called out softly.

The dog stopped, looking afraid, drawing back a little. Liam held out his hand for it to sniff. The dog
slowly walked forward and licked his hand, suddenly glad for the attention and gentleness of this
stranger. Liam saw with rising fury that there were welts and old scars on the dog's back and sides.

He made a decision. He gathered the dog up in his arms and turned around. It leaned its head against
his shoulder, not nervous in the slightest now. It felt, Liam thought angrily, like a sack of bones.

****

Lightning flashed through the pouring rain. Suzanne gasped as Liam reentered the Flat Planet,
drenched, with a huge black Lab in his arms. The dog's eyes were closed, nostrils twitching in misery.
"Get me a blanket," Liam wheezed, putting the dog down on the floor. A curious Galahad hopped over
and sniffed the dog.

"I'll get two," Suzanne said, vanishing into the back rooms and reappearing with a pair of fluffy
blankets. "You could catch pneumonia!"

"I'm fine," Liam gasped, taking the blankets and scrubbing at the dog's back and legs with it. The
dog's large eyes opened and surveyed Liam mellowly. Galahad was now standing with his front paws
on the dog's jaw, completely unafraid. "Could you... get the sofa ready for... Gawain?"

"Gawain?" Suzanne said, now completely confused. "But... what about Gally? Won't they fight?"

Gawain's tongue flicked out and swiped the kitten across the side of the head. Galahad flinched and
began scrubbing at his head with one paw, but neither seemed inclined to fight.

"No," Liam said, shivering a little. "They're gonna get along just fine."

****

Liam snuggled deeper into the nest of blankets that Suzanne had wound around him. He couldn't
move, but that was fine. The sore throat had started shortly after he had come in from the rain, as
had the congestion and constant coughing. She had given new meaning to the words "mother hen."

Well, it was worth it. Liam sighed and glanced over his shoulder at the
packing-crate-turned-doggy-bed in the corner, where Gawain was curled up after what appeared to
be his first full meal in weeks, if not months. The dog had fallen asleep, exhausted.

And perched on top of the blanket mound was a dark furball. Galahad raised his head and stared at
Liam, as if in apology. "I get it," Liam wheezed. "You have to greet new arrivals."

Galahad yawned and fell asleep on the back of the sleeping Gawain. A few minutes later, Liam had
followed them into slumberland.