Flash!  And there I... where the heck was I?

  I'd responded to a Naline call.  And I'd flashed to her
world... I think.  The computer said as much.  But this was
no place I'd even been to before.

  It was night, sometime way after midnight.  Dark.  No moon.
Almost cold.  The landscape was as barren as the grassy
plains of the savanna get.  There were a few piles of bushes
now and again, but no salient rocks, trees or any such
outstanding landmarks.  I was nowhere near Naline's Rock.
Was I even in her pride's territory?  And where was she?

  "Kitten?"  My answer was an earsplitting roar that would
have scared the fur off me if I'd had any.  As it was, it
startled me enough to separate me a couple of feet from the
ground.  I landed in a fighting stance, blade in one hand,
artillery in the other, ready willing and able to sell my
life dearly to whomever or whatever it had been that had
roared so discourteously loud!  I warily scanned the
surrounding countryside, waiting for the attack that was
sure to come.


  Except none came.  Strange.

  "Kitten?  Are you there?"

  "Oh," a voice came from a nearby herd of bushes, "I'm so
sorry!"  An apologetic talking bush was not within my range
of experience.  That's okay.  I'm a professional.  I can
deal with the unknown.

  "Not to worry, talking bush.  No harm done."

  "Cruz, quit being silly."   Now the plant was chiding me.
Wait a minute.  I knew that voice.

  "Kitten?  Are you in there?"


  "Of course.  I'm sorry I roared at you.  I'm a little on
edge just now."

  "What are you doing in there?"

  "Come in and see."  You know how you can tell when
someone's smiling when they're talking?  Even if you aren't
looking at them?  Just by the way their voice sounds?
Naline sounded extraordinarily happy.  She must have had a
smile a yard and a half wide.

  "Okay."  I didn't have to be asked twice.  My curiosity
was dying to find out what in the world Naline was doing
hiding in a bush in the middle of the night, miles away from
her usual stomping grounds, roaring at unwary passersby.  I
stowed the hardware and sauntered on over.

  "Come in through the side, by the rock."  I got on my
hands and knees and followed her directions.  A well-worn
path appeared, concealed by a rock from the casual observer.
Okay, I could do this.  I took a cautious first few steps,
crouching low to avoid branches and twigs.  "Watch out for
the..."

  "Ow!"  Something sharp poked at the top of my head.


  "...thorns.  Sorry."  I struggled, burrowed and dug my way
in, finally reaching the center of the bush.  Inside, the
branches and leaves parted to form a sizably large sort of
open chamber, a kind of a roomy space in the middle of the
greenery.  Except the greenery was pitch black.  There was
no moon, and the leaves blocked whatever ambient light there
was.  "I'm over here."

  Great, where was here?  Naline's sensitive feline eyes
could see in this unlit darkness, but I was only human.  All
I saw was black.  "Hold on a minute."  I did have, where did
I put them?, starlight glasses.  They look like stylish dark
eyeglasses, but they amplify light some-thousand-fold.  Made
night seem like, well, not bright as day, but bright enough
to see.  I put them on and beheld the single most adorable
sight I had ever seen in my entire life!

  Right in the middle of the hollow in the bush was Naline,
curled up, resting on her side.  And sleeping alongside her
were the three cutest newborn cubs you've ever seen!

  What could I say?  I was speechless!  I struggled to find
something appropriate to say, but my brain wouldn't work
because it was being overwhelmed by the oceans of cuteness
that radiated from the three little furballs.

  "They are so cute!"  Naline looked on with motherly pride.
"Why didn't you tell me?"  This had come as a total surprise
to me.  I had known nothing about this whatsoever.

  "I wanted to surprise you."  She smiled and beamed and
glowed so much she almost overloaded my starlight glasses.


  "And surprise me you did."  By the look of them, they were
nowhere over a couple of hours old.  I'd been the first.  Of
all her friends and family, she'd picked me to be the first
to see them.  I was way beyond honored.  What a privilege!
"Wow, congratulations!"

  "Thank you."  She licked and fussed and fretted over them,
the way new mothers always do.  The three little cubs were
sleeping as peacefully as only newborns can, warm and safe in
the care of their mother.  Could you feel the love tonight?
Most definitely.

  "Nick's?"

  "Nick's."

  That was really great.  Naline and Nick had really hit it
off and they were happy as larks with each other.  You'd
think they'd never made a pair of lions so compatible with
each other, the way these two got along.  After Phil had been
run off, Nick and Naline had become inseparable, spending
just about every single waking hour in each other's company.
At first, I was sure that such a non-stop schedule would end
up making them sick of each other, causing them to get on
each other's nerves.  But it hadn't, and they'd just gotten
more and more in the type of dreamy-eyed love that makes the
worlds go round.

  "Whatcha gonna name them?"


  "I haven't made up my mind yet, I've got to ask Nick."

   For my part, I was glad as peaches about it because Nick
was a really great guy, a sterling-silver-type person who
always treated Naline with the care and gentility that she
deserved.  He always let her go first at lunch time, even
though it was his prerogative as a male lion to be among the
first in line.  He always encouraged her when she was down or
unhappy. And I'm sure if there had been doors in the savanna,
he would have held them open for Naline.  Hey, there was an
idea!  I'd have to get a hold of a door one of these days and
test it out.

  "Say, are you okay?"  I hadn't even thought about that.
She'd just undergone an extremely physically trying time,
how had she fared through it?  "You feel alright?"

  "I'm okay."  She smiled.

  "You sure?  Any pain?  Dizziness?  Lightheadedness?"

  "I'm alright."


  "Nausea?  Fatigue?  Unusual cravings?"

  "Well, I do have an annoying mercenary."

  "Annoying mercenary.  Check."  Were was a veterinarian
when you needed one?  "Want an aspirin?"

  "Cruz!"

  "Alright, alright.  If you say you feel fine, then you feel
fine.  No problem.  Okay.  I just want to make sure that
you're absolutely okay."

  "Thanks.  It's cute when you're frantically concerned."


  "No problem.  Anything for my little Kitten."

  One of the cubs turned in its sleep, tapping the
neighboring one just enough to wake him.  The little cub
started mewing, and Naline was quickly there, reassuring it
with her warm, motherly touch.  This caused all three of them
to awake and wobble about, mewing for their mother.  I took
this as my cue to leave.

  "Kitten," I said as I wriggled my way back out of the bush,
"if you need anything, anything at all whatsoever, you give
me a call."

  "Thank you."  She smiled that wonderful smile of hers and
went back to fussing over her three precious little furballs.

  I emerged from the bush with a wonderful smile of my own.
Huh.  Imagine that.  My little Kitten, a mother.  Hmm.  She'd
make one great mother.  I was sure of that.

  "Bye, Kitten," I called out to the bush, "take care."


  "Bye, Cruz."

  I took one last look around, taking in the dark savanna
sky, breathing deep of the cool night air.  The music of the
distant night birds melded with the whisper of the soft wind,
creating just the kind of harmony that makes you glad to be
alive.  It sure was a great night.  I stepped a little ways
off so that the burst of light wouldn't bother the newborns
and...

  Flash!  There I wasn't.

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