Chaos Tales: Sugar-Bone Clinic
To celebrate Black Cat Tales anthology, we give you another dark story with a black cat.
First, happy Father’s Day to all the dads - real and virtual - out there. You rock!
This week has been good but busy. On the writing front, sadly, I have mostly been focused on work writing. We also spent the weekend, filling out forms to enter both pups in obedience competitions this summer, so we will have posts on that coming up. Either excited posts of our success or silly posts about how we managed to look like fools. It is always a toss up when working with animals.
As for this new story, we are trying a new hand (Tod’s) at dark stories, with a flare folklore in a science fiction worlds. This is our first experiment with that avenue. Enjoy.
Sugar-Bone Clinic
Dr. Bruja peered into the radar screen. Her soft brown eyes squinted as she examined the empty three-dimensional screen through the reflection of her white hair. It had been a long time since she had a patient. She was starting to wonder if it was time to move her station to a different orbit a little further from the Ashwood Colony. Maybe she should try nearer the farming bases, where large families exploded and always needed a pediatrician such as herself.
A blue-gray shape occluded the screen. A shadow passing over head before the blink caused the shadow to resolve into her grey parrot, Dr. Moreau. He flew down to perch on her shoulder, tugging at her hair.
Dr. Bruja pasted a patient smile on her face, although shadow of wariness passed over first. "Well, Dr. Moreau dearie, doesn't look like we have any patients coming soon. Everyone's kids must be terribly healthy this week."
The parrot gave a craw of hunger and boredom, shifting from foot to foot. His sharp claws pricking through her thin scrubs.
Dr. Bruja winced, but didn’t try to pry him off. He, like his fictional namesake, had very little patience or use for others, even the one that fed him.
Straightening, she looked through the porthole near the console before giving up for the day. Then, a moving dot of light caught her attention. A real smile started to hover over her lips, and her half thought prayer was answered when the radar chirped.
Dr. Moreau pushed off her shoulder and in her excitement she didn’t even mind the minor droplets of her blood that flecked his claws. He hovered for a moment before he pecked at the shiny, blinking elements that indicated an incoming spaceship.
"From the new colony sector? Yes. Time to prepare for a customer. Oh my, yes. They are heading straight for us." Her stomach let out a little grumble and she rubbed it lightly.
No time for that there were customers coming.
It didn’t take long to throw a lab coat over her scrubs and get a stethoscope down. Dr. Bruja refreshed the cookies she always placed out for patients. And customers. After all, what better way to calm a needy patient than a bit of sugar and spice. She was just polishing the stethoscope, when the late warning chirped again. The ship had started docking procedures.
She raised an eyebrow at that.
Dr. Moreau cawed.
“Yes. Quite right dearie. It is rather rude to not request permission. But perhaps someone is deathly ill. Parents can be so impetuous.”
A quick glance at the docking screen showed nothing more than a name from a commercial service, Anas Alba Shuttle. They had come a long way. She waited for a moment, but no more information presented itself. The long line for serial numbers and tracking codes remained uniquely blank.
Lips pursed, Dr. Bruja peered through the porthole. The white spaceship with silver lettered etched on the side in elegant ancient script matched the radar, only adding a the shuttle number of three or eight which had been almost worn off. The shuttle didn’t wait however, and instead launched itself into the void the moment the doors shut.
Via a camera in the waiting room, Dr. Bruja watched the airlock open as two figures from the ship entered. They didn’t knock or page but used an electronic jimmy on her hatch. The strangers walked in, apparently undeterred by protocol or politeness, although her doors were never locked.
"Hmm. Dr. Moreau, neither one of them looks like a pediatric patient. And why didn't their ship wait? It just went on toward the asteroids."
She adjusted the screen and turned up the volume in hope of an answer.
The first figure hung an unkempt space suit on the rack outside the airlock. In his late teens, he ran a dirty hand through his short blond hair. A loud, rude voice erupted from him. "See Gabby? The doc that runs this place always has gingerbread in the waiting room. We can hide out here and have a snack and no one will be the wiser. The poor old hag has been around for centuries, she’s of little use and less harm."
Dr. Bruja listened, her eyes crinkling with amusement. She decided they must be brother and sister. There was a little jostling of siblings about them the second peeled off her suit, letting her see matching straight blond hair, one side long and braided with the other cropped short. The same sea-green eyes surveyed her waiting room with impatience and a hint of superiority.
Her voice was soft and scornful. "If you'd followed the plan, Harry, we wouldn't need to be here."
The girl, Gabby, took a sling-bag out from under her bulky blue sweater. She tossed it on a seat covered in blue and black butterfly upholstery. She followed by throwing herself into the seat next to it.
The doctor's laugh lines returned as the two each grabbed a gingerbread cookie, also in the shape of a butterfly. They ate like it was their first meal in a while - without a care for manners or hospitality rules, taking handful instead of the polite single cookie each.
"Well then, not patients, and in bad need of lessons in decorum. Definitely potential customers. If they're healthy."
She handed the bird a long, twice-baked gingerbread biscuit and checked her lab coat that covered her blue scrubs in a nearby mirror. "Let's go greet our... customers, dearie."
The bird cawed, but flapped his wings to sail in front of her.
His entrance hid her own.
"Greetings young ones. What brings you to Ashwood’s Sugar-Bone Clinic? We are a pediatric space station. You're a bit older than my regular customers."
Both the young ones jumped as Dr. Bruja husky voice creaking from the now-open doorway.
The two siblings exchanged glances.
The young man started answered her. "I'm Harry. This is my sister Gabby. She's--"
Gabby interrupted her brother and pushed him towards the pediatrician. "--concerned about my brother. He wasn't feeling well. We were passing by. I insisted that we stop and have him checked out."
She gave a sweet smile that didn’t reach the eyes, but small tears started to pool as if from worry.
The brother sputtered in protest “No. I’m—”
But a quick glance that his sister shot him, before she turn back to the doctor, quelled him.
His head dropped a little as his sister continued. “I hope you won't mind an older patient, just this once?”
After looking over both carefully, Dr. Bruja gestured at her grey parrot and smiled, once again displaying her kindly laugh lines.
"This is Dr. Moreau - don't worry about him, dearies. But don't wave shiny things at him either, please. I'm Dr. Bruja. I believe I can make an exception for you. There are no patients scheduled for some time."
She ignored the relieved looked the two shared. "Please follow me to the exam room."
Harry followed her, Gabby on his heels. But the sister ran back to retrieve her bag from the butterfly embroidered chair. As she rejoined them, a fake smile plastered itself on to her face. "Thank you, Dr. Bruja. This will really make me feel better."
In the exam room, Dr. Bruja helped Harry onto her diagnostic table. "So, what are your symptoms, dearie?"
The two answered her simultaneously.
Harry said, "My head hurts."
Gabby informed her, "His stomach."
Dr. Moreau let out a loud squawk as the doctor laughed. "Well, let's check both."
As she reached into a drawer, both her potential customers tightened up. Harry moved his hand toward his back and Gabby put her hand that wasn't holding the bag under her sweater.
A quick glance told, Dr. Bruja that it was a weapon of some sort. Sneaky little ones, but she knew better than to give away that she'd seen their reaction. Instead, she focused on the diagnostic scanner she'd retrieved from its place in the drawer. "Now, let's give both of you a scan."
Gabby objected, "But I feel fine."
Running the scanner over Harry, Dr. Bruja replied, keeping her tone absent-minded. "It might be a contagious disease. You might actually have been exposed first and further along. But your brother is showing symptoms first. A lot of viruses and even some bacteria express that way - ever since the Great Germ War."
At this, Harry and Gabby flushed. Harry looked at his sister, who pulled the bag to her chest and tried to edge away.
Again, Dr. Bruja decided it best to ignore the byplay. The scanner chirped, indicating a complete scan. She looked at the small readout on the base. "Hmm. Interesting."
She moved to wave the scanner over Gabby. Soon, the scanner made the same chirp. Dr. Bruja reviewed the results.
Smiling, she looked directly at Harry. "It looks like you've picked up a minor bug. I'm surprised you can even tell you're sick yet, the infection levels are so low."
Harry looked surprised, which she thought he should, since both siblings were perfectly healthy.
"Uh. Really? I mean, you can fix it?"
Laugh lines in her smile answered him. "Let's get you to lie back. I'll activate the treatment cycle and see to your sister."
She triggered the diagnostic bed, which activated restraints while an opaque treatment shield went up over Harry. It clicked in place, leaving a grey dome, hiding him from sight.
That accomplished she turned to Gabby, who was still drawing in a breath to react. "Now, let's get you taken care of."
"Me?"
"Yes dearie. I didn't want to worry your brother, but I was right in my guess. You do have it worse than him."
She led Gabby to a tall, white cabinet in the corner. "This is the critical care module. Fortunately, even a pediatrician uses full-sized units."
Gabby pulled back, not wanting to enter the enclosed space. "Can't I wait until Harry is done?"
Dr. Bruja made a show of looking into the critical care unit. "Oh, I'm sure your brother is being taken care of. Hmm. That's weird. I can't get the privacy cover unlatched. The unit will auto-disrobe you, and your brother will be out before you."
The doctor looked over the shoulder that didn't have a grey parrot sitting on it. "I'm trying but it won't move."
The young woman gave a superior grimace and pushed the doctor aside. "Oh, let me. Some people--"
As Gabby leaned into the unit, Dr. Bruja pushed her, lightly but firmly, keeping her customer off-balance until she fell into the cabinet, dropping her bag. Dr. Moreau flapped his wings, his bright red tail feathers standing out, as he protested the sudden movements that locked Gabby in.
Dr. Bruja's soft brown eyes squinted as she checked both units. Her laugh lines returned as she smiled and spoke to her parrot. "Both units are working. They're anesthetized and the blood drain and autopsy cycles are running."
Dr. Moreau squawked again.
"Fresh soup tonight."
She picked up the young woman's bag, dropping it into a bin. She continued filling the bin with the clothes and belongings her pediatric care units cleaned and returned to her. "Hmm. Clothing typical. But-- Oh! Two very nice laser sonic snub pistols. They will fetch a nice price."
She hauled the bin into her storage room, placing it next to a bag of pearls and a box of coins. Opening Gabby's bag she found a beautiful, shiny cylinder. Embossed on the cylinder was a black cat, regally seated on a purple cushion.
"Now, this looks expensive."
A bong from the radar room interrupted her before she could open it to investigate it further.
Being old-fashioned, she looked out the porthole again. This time, a sleek space interceptor with GWE on the side and a stylized wolf's head in gray sat docked with her station.
Going to the waiting room, she greeted a young man in all-black space armor. As she entered, he removed his helmet to reveal sharp features with short black hair and a line of beard along his jaw. "Sorry to disturb you, doctor. I'm W. Jacob with Grimm Wolf Enforcement. We're chasing a pair of sibling terrorists. They killed a dozen people at the Great Germ War Research Center and purloined the last batch of Plaga Felis Astra."
Dr. Bruja's smile lines disappeared as she gasped in genuine horror and Dr. Moreau let out a screech. "The nano-disassembler plague? Oh, my!"
"Yes, ma'am. Have you seen them?"
Pulling herself together, she smiled again. "Well dearie, an Anas Alba Shuttle flew past a while ago - the radar let me know, in case it was a patient. But I haven't had a patient all week."
W. Jacob stared at her shoulder. "What is your parrot chewing on?"
Looking down, she surreptitiously pulled one of the twice-baked biscuits from her pocket. As she took the item the parrot was chewing, she switched it for the biscuit, which she handed to the officer. "One of my gingerbread biscuits. I bake straight ones for him. Easier for his beak. Would you like a butterfly cookie?"
After glancing at the biscuit, the man returned it to her with a sniff as if he could smell something off. "No, thank you, doctor. We're hoping to catch up to the two fugitives. I must leave now."
"Thank you dearie. I'll let you know if I see them, and feel free to stop for cookies on your way back."
The man nodded, but his sneer at the sweets did not give Dr. Bruja any hope.
After the GWE ship left, she tightened up in terror and quickly transferred the nano-plague tube into the sterile disintegration unit and activated it.
Finally, she relaxed and transferred Dr. Moreau to his stand and returned his original treat to him. "Now dearie, when did you steal that finger? You only had a to wait and I would have given you something better."
In Black Cat Tales, we tell the story of A Press of the Button.
The publisher has a video for the release here:
We have the first story we ever wrote just came out - we’re going to say it is our 13th story published (even if it is 11th or 12th) because it’s cooler that way.
From Black Cat Publishing, Black Cat Tales: An Anthology of Black Cats
Available Friday the 13th of June, 2025 from Black Cat Publishing: http://www.black-cat-publishing.com/
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Cat-Tales-Anthology-Cats-ebook/dp/B0DXMXX5JP/
Black Cat Publishing says:
A black cat approaches, do you let it cross your path, or run in the opposite direction? From the superstitious to the unlucky, from a witch's familiar to a soul stealing grave robber, black cats have captured our imagination and remain solidly in the realm of the dark.
Join authors from around the world for never before published horror, dark fantasy and mystery short stories and poems featuring the beloved, feared and mystical black cat. Black Cat Tales showcases a diverse group of authors ranging in age from 17 to 80, some with multiple award winning publications under their belts, for others, this will be the first time seeing their work in print.
On top of this was our first interview as authors!
Chaos Tip of the Week
Remember, when you’re planning to open something, if the instructions sound like a dare, it’s probably best to just slowly back away and pretend you never even picked it up.
Chaos Question of the Week
What’s the funniest thing you or your critters ever opened or almost opened, that you really shouldn’t have opened?