The Beginning

When banks of storm clouds churn, beware the wide silver moon that rises to heat their foaming edges into lambent mists. Nights like that are, as any feline knows, the sign of an interdimensional tear … and the calling card for Brumous Siam.

It was my howl that inspired Allen Ginsberg. It was my grin Lewis Carroll drew on the Cheshire cat. It was my purr that moved Tibetan monks to chant. It was my profile Egyptians worshipped. But these are not the reasons I was called here.

It began in the time of Pharaoh Siamun when the sun and Sirius rose together on the first day of Dhwt in the year 980 B.C. I was slumbering in my temple when the incense smoke, which had been rising in peaceful columns, suddenly twisted toward the ground as a terrifying shriek clawed the air. When I saw the humans and dogs acting as if nothing had happened, I knew it was a frequency beyond their capabilities, a creature beyond their perceptions. Something was tearing into our dimension. Nothing was visible, so I opened my mouth to amplify the odors and there it was: the sharp, glassy smell of Lususnaturae.

Lususnaturae of Selofaine, the fourth dimension, the transparent world. To us, the membrane between our dimensions is like smudged memories of color that disappear if you look too closely. But to Selofaine, the membrane is transparent: they can see us and to them, we are a dazzling, irresistible riot of color. And Lususnaturae, ruler of Selofaine, craves color. He would give up his throne to live here, but it is not allowed. There are beings of other dimensions who can and do immigrate to Earth, but the crystal race from Selofaine is not allowed. Their bodies bristle with razor sharp edges and they are large, almost seven feet wide. Imagine the damage such a bladed creature could do walking down our sidewalks, hiking through our woods, or swimming in our waters. Lususnaturae doesn’t care. Red is his favorite color.

When he first arrived near my temple in the desert of Egypt, he appeared as a ghostly cloud, a shimmer of brilliance in the wide blue sky. Then he dropped to the desert like a mirage. It took six months, but we sent him back to Selofaine. That is when I discovered my talent, and that is when Pharaoh Siamun extended my nine lives to infinite. It was one of the few great powers the pharaohs had left. In less than a century, Earth, their adopted planet, would strip away even that small vestige. In me, however, the infinite lives given that day by Pharaoh Siamun hold fast.

And now Lususnaturae is returning. I am gathering my frontline crew from a fine clowder of felines at the shelter. But your cat will also work with us. The next time you see your kitty sleeping, feet twitching in hot pursuit, don’t lull yourself into the tender reflection that he is mousing. He is not. He is guarding your world. And the next time you think your cat is staring at nothing in particular, remember this: it is the duty of all felines to repair the small interdimensional leaks that occur almost daily. A simple glare from our magic eyes will do it. But when the leak becomes a flood, the call goes out for Brumous Siam. I am not a good cat. But I am very good at what I do.

The First Crew

We cats owe our nine lives to more than just our ability as escape artists. We have nine lives because when we dream, we are the guardians at the nine interdimensional gates. It has always been so. It is why the Egyptians, who were a highly evolved people, worshiped us. And that is why Pharaoh Siamun gave me an infinite number of lives.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am Brumous Siam and as I told you last week, I am not a good cat. I am too fond of catnip and mollys. You will not find me curled up next to your fireplace or artfully arranged on your cushions. You will not feel me rub against your leg or hear me purr in your lap. But you will enjoy all these things with other cats because I make it possible.

Which is why I have been called here. The bladed crystal suzerain of the fourth dimension is coming. Lususnaturae of Selofaine, the colorless world, aches for the richness, the dazzling chroma of our world. And he will have it, unless I stop him.

To that end, I am gathering my crew from a fine clowder. Mosby, the grey ghost, had a rough time of it as a lad, but he’s still willing to risk one of his six remaining lives on this adventure. I take it very seriously when it comes to that. Nine lives can go pretty fast, and no one knows it better than someone who has spent more than ninety. Each one of our lives is a fleeting pawprint through time.

Tomtom is a burly young tabby, an impressive giant with a gentle heart. He took in two mollys when they were just kittens and they rarely leave his side. The clowder calls them the three mouseketeers. Cassiopeia is a gorgeous silvery-white cat with tanzanite blue eyes. When she sits in the sun with her tail curled around her front paws and eyes closed, I think of Egypt. But it’s her brains we’ll be using, for she is a crackerjack linguist. It’s the Siamese in her. Sheena is a little manx minx with calico camo, perfect for undercover operations.

It was Sheena who first saw the dimple hidden in the blue sky. It was only a pinpoint but as she watched, there were two nearly invisible pulses in the light around it and she knew: Lususnaturae was making another attempt to wormhole his way into our world. The light shifts were two of his scouts threading their way through the nanotube they opened between our dimensions.

We have met before, the scouts and I. Hyaline is a polished operator, but completely degenerate. To listen to her is to skate with razor blades on a dangerously thin shell of deception. Hyaloid is a shape-shifter. His favorite disguise is to ice himself over an object or another living being, even a human eye. And if you were his victim, you would neither see nor feel him. Only the superior oculus of an experienced cat can catch the minute change he causes in the refraction of light.

The Hyal twins are here to make the wormhole large enough to accommodate the suzerain of Selofaine, a job that will take many months, more if the sun continues to shine. Unlike Lususnaturae, the twins do not love our world. They are depressed by these clear autumnal days, blinded by the bright blue skies and glittering leaves of jade and amber. They do not thrive here. So as long as the blazing sun of Siamun reigns, Hyaline and Hyaloid will work slowly, giving my young crew time to plan and practice.