Skodla, Part 4

So, when you boil it all down, simply owning and loving the cat Skodla eventually led to Rome's Revolution. Rei discovered this the very first time he entered Rome's mind when they used the Espansor Bands. But that was the last mention of the cat until Part 3.

When Rei and Rome came back to Earth, Rome was put on trial. Her mother came and attended and eventually with Ursay's help, Rei got Rome's sentence commuted to banishment. Binoda agreed to accompany them into exile. The Overmind gave Binoda permission to stop by her apartment and grab a few possessions before heading to Hawaii.

To everyone's surprise, Skodla was among those things. He had lived a very long life and Binoda had been caring for him while Rome was out on the Tabit mission. He takes up a lot of room. This is from the original long form:

     Rome kneeled down and laid the cat on the floor. Like a dog he rolled over so that Rome could rub his all-white belly. His striped legs stuck straight up in the air, each ending in a pure white paw. The effect was somewhat like he was wearing two pairs of sneakers. His purring was a vibration that Rei could feel through his shoes.
     “How old is he?” Rei asked Binoda.
     “He is nearly 21 years old,” Binoda replied.
     “Wow,” Rei said. “For a cat, that’s really old.”
     “Yes, it is,” Binoda replied. “But he has had a good life.”
     “Has he always been this big?” Rei asked.
    “Yes,” Rome answered. “I remember that when we first got him as a kitten, he became gravely ill. He nearly died. But after he recovered, he just grew and grew until he was very nearly the size you see now.”
     “In my day,” Rei said, “they probably would have given him his own ZIP code.”

So at least I was able to get the ZIP code joke in there. Skodla has one more scene then he is pushed into the background because he didn't contribute to the action very much.

Tomorrow, the end of Skodla :(