# 15: Talking To Cats

Sometime later Tex was helping himself to a big bowl of “stinky food”, and Hank was sitting nearby talking to him.

Hank muttered while he worked. "Alrighty Tex. We'll just let the surgery heal properly. I'm betting that when it's healed I can visualize that hi-explosive molecule better. You have neural structures running your vision that I don't have so I copied them and implanted them in my head. Soon I'll be able to visualize like you can. Hope it works"

He was the only one on-board and he had gotten used to talking to the cats. There were several cats. The big black one, Tex was his best friend. There was also Okie, an Evil Siamese, to whom Hank was nearly as close, in a much different way, than his relationship to Tex. There was also that bitch kitty Hillary, who he hadn't shot yet just because he was worried about what the bullet might hit if he missed. She was a Persian who wouldn’t give him the time of day. He even thought that he’d even seen a sphinx....although THAT was improbable. There were many more. Hank didn't bother to keep track of the cats too closely. Most of the cats were feral....they’d come with the “real estate”. Hard to believe but where people go so do rodents and where there are rats or mice cats can make a living. Still, how did rats get on an oil platform?

The rats were definitely there…and so were the cats..and the cats controlled the rats.…and some of the cats were his friends. He didn't think too much more about it other than making sure that the cats had plenty of water, food and litter boxes…..and wildly intricate play structures. Hank made “cat furniture” when he was bored.