Conversations with Larry
By Swellison

Jim Ellison paused, confirmed the room number underneath the "Animal Observation Laboratory" and opened the door. He entered a well-lit, basic university lab room, with a row of medium-sized cages along the back wall. Spotting Blair Sandburg in front of the third cage, he walked over to join him. Jim glanced at the cage's occupant; it was his recent houseguest, Larry the monk--Barbary ape. "Back behind bars again, eh?"

"Shhh, Jim. I'm on the phone," Sandburg said, cell phone to his ear.

"You're on hold," Jim pointed out, having easily heard the muzak coming from the phone.

"You hear that--? Of course you do," Blair corrected himself. "What else do you hear?" he asked casually, knowing that Ellison was still very uneasy with his recently-activated hypersenses.

"Your heartbeat's a little fast," Jim answered after a few moments, rather taken aback that that sound was the first he identified in an unfamiliar room full of background sounds - the electronic buzzing of lights and computers, the chattering and skittering of the various lab animals, all were drowned out by the slightly too-fast beat of his new ride-along's heart.

"My heartbe--? Cool, man. What else?"

Before Jim could say anything, the cell phone squawked and Jim eavesdropped.

"Hello, caller. What's your name, dearie?" a woman's voice with a definite English accent emitted from the phone.

"Uh, Blair, ma'am."

"And what's your pet's name?"

"Ah, he's not a pet--exactly, he's-- his name's Larry," Blair finished, deciding against telling the pet psychic that he was calling about a lab animal.

"Larry. How are you, Larry--? Oh...oh, dear." Her voice sharpened, "Blair, I sense a barricade? - between you and Larry."

Jim's eyes widened, and he shot Sandburg a "what the hell is going on here, Chief?" look.

"Busted," Blair whispered, then said. "Yes, ma'am, I should've told you earlier. Larry's a Barbary ape, at Rainier University's lab."

"Oh, I -- see. Why did you call me?"

"Well, Larry's life has been--hectic, lately. He was recently--and totally accidentally, I assure you -- caught in a minor explosion--"

"Minor explosion? Is that what you call all the noise and 'bang-bangs' that Larry's telling me about?"

"Well, no, ma'am, that was the TV. He was watching gangster movies, old black-and-white episodes of the Untouchables, whatever I could rent at the video store.

"But that's not what I called about. After the explosion, Larry and I stayed at a--a friend's place, which he trashed, then escaped from..."

"Oh, that would be the tall-as-sky-place that was too neat? Barbary apes like a messy place, y'know, dear, something natural and lived-in."

"Yes, he did like it, enough to break back into it and re-tra--er, re-decorate it to his liking."

"But now he's back where he belongs," Blair added. "He's been at the university for years, and he's glad to be back with his friends, or at least I hope he is."

"Yes, dearie, he is happy among his friends," the pet psychic agreed, getting bright, warm flashes from the Barbary ape of his four-legged and two-legged friends at the university.

"Oh, good, that's what I wanted to know, I needed to make sure that he wasn't traumatized by the recent upheavals in his life."

"No, dearie, he's perfectly happy to be among his friends, like the white rats, and Cindy, the pretty little chimpanzee next door, and the" - the pet psychic reached out - "cat?"

"Cat?" Blair glanced around the room, looking for a stray, since he knew there were no cats at the university's labs.

"Yes, a big, black one--he's rather shy, not very talkative. Must be an observer, then-- Oh, my, he just growled at me! Such big teeth he has...'not an Observer' he says, that's someone else's job...."

Jim's eyes widened and then narrowed, rather catlike as Blair had an impromptu coughing fit.

"Are you all right, dearie?"

"Yes, ma'am," Blair managed to say.

"Good. Well, cats are very independent creatures, this one says he prefers the shadows...for now."

A new voice broke into the conversation. "Well, that was just fascinating. Always a pleasure talking to our pet psychic, Sonya. I see that our time's up, though', so good-bye from the Animal Hour at KCCW."

The cell phone cut off and Blair closed it.

"What the hell was that all about, Sandburg?"

"Ah, come on, man. Everyone listens to Cascade's very own pet psychic, surely even the police have heard of her?"

"Yeah, I know who she is. What was that stuff she made up about a big, black cat?"

"I dunno. Strange, she's never sounded like she's making up stuff before." Blair smiled, putting the call in perspective. "Anyway, she did say that he's not suffering from his recent - er, escapades. Larry's home." The anthropologist's voice ended almost wistfully.

"And so are you," Jim spoke impulsively. "You can stay at the loft as long as you like. That is, if you want to."

"If I want to?" Blair's grin widened and he visualized all the things he could do, with his

Sentinel at such close quarters. "Are you sure I won't be cramping your style?"

"Turns out I like having you underfoot."

"I mean, we're two very different people--"

"I know. My refrigerator's never going to be the same." Jim groaned comically. "I'll have to buy some Tupperware in a different color, to separate your, er - stuff from my food."

Sandburg decided to ignore the crack about his perfectly edible food. After all, if they were going to be roommates, some compromises would be necessary. "Hey, why are you here, Jim?" Blair bounced slightly as an answer occurred to him. "Did you decide you wanted to do those Sentinel tests after all?"

"No. No, not tonight, it's been a rough week. I thought maybe you'd like to split a pizza for supper, back at the loft?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Hey, thanks for picking me up, tonight. Just my luck that the Corvair decides to get finicky less than two weeks after the warehouse blows up. I appreciate the lift, really."

"No problem, Chief. Let's go home." And the two left the lab, with not even the Sentinel noticing the silent black panther watching from the top of one of the cages.

THE END