Cats of the Red and Blue Countries
By Tang Ri Shan
The year was 1955. In the city of Berlin, a thick rain was falling. The sky was lit up as lightning flashed across the sky and thunder boomed. Two men who were standing with their backs to a white building winced at the sound. They wore dark uniforms with a red, white, and blue flag on the shoulder, and they carried guns in their arms.
"Darn it Joe! What in Heaven's name are we doing here in this weather?" one of them exclaimed, turning to his companion.
"You know as well as I do how important this job is, Harry!" His buddy snapped back.
"We're here to stop people trespassing over the border, I know Joe!" Harry laughed and pointed to a wire fence standing a few feet away, "If you can call it a border that is! A couple of bushes would keep the East Germans out better than that!"
"That's not what I meant Harry!" Joe tossed a cigarette into the rain angrily.
"Then what did you mean?" Harry asked, his eyes narrowed in slits of hostility.
"I meant the project that's going on in there!" Joe jerked his head towards the building.
"Oh!" Harry exclaimed "You mean them digging the tunnel to…"
"Shut your trap!" Joe slapped his hand over Harry's mouth, cutting him off and knocking Joe's gun out of his hands. "You want the Soviets to find out?" he barked, glaring at Harry. "Now come on! We need to report what's happened so far!" He disappeared around the side of the building. Still fuming, Harry snatched up his weapon and was about to follow when, by chance, he looked towards the weed-overgrown wall of the next building and something made him freeze. A pair of small eyes stared back at him from a gap between two bushes. Raising his weapon, Harry slowly walked towards the building, but as he got closer, the eyes disappeared. "What're you doing there Harry?" Joe was back, staring at him.
"I must be seeing things! Ever since they built that stupid tunnel, I've gone crazy!" Harry yelled.
"Shut up before they hear you! Now get in here and help me!" Joe screamed from inside the building.
Harry followed, yelling "There's no one here you idiot!" But Harry was wrong, very wrong.
As soon as the men had left there as a slight rustling in the bushes and a gray-and-white cat stepped out into the open, wincing slightly as the rain fell on his fur. He looked around, all senses alert for the men's return. When they didn't come back, he arched his tail over his back. As if that was a signal, more cats crept out from behind the bushes. One cat, a mud-brown tom, spat angrily as the rain seeped through his pelt,
"I'm getting tired of doing this, Sky!" He growled to the gray-and-white tom, shaking the rain off his pelt
"I have told you many times Earthen, that this is the safest method to meet them!" The other tom replied, his blue eyes narrowed in annoyance as he faced the brown cat.
"Safe? Safe?" Earthen screeched, "And just what about this place do you find safe?"
"Hold your tongue Earthen!" A large dark tabby tom shoved Earthen to the ground, his fur bristling in anger. "You do not talk to Sky that way. He is our leader! You should give him respect, not complaints".
"Let him up Talon" Sky meowed calmly. Still bristling, Talon released Earthen from his grip, flexing long, hooked claws. Earthen got to his paws, spitting dirt from his mouth. "If you are going to do nothing but complain, than you can go back home, we don't need cats who complain at the meeting". Sky said, his eyes narrowed, as if daring the brown tom to argue. Earthen hissed in anger, spun around, and dashed back into the bushes.
"Earthen has a point though" A snow-white she-cat piped up after the tom had vanished, her fur plastered with rain and mud, "There have been more guards here than usual, and if I know these humans, sooner or later, that tunnel will have lived it's usefulness and they'll block it up, then what will we do?"
"We will consider that, Snow, when the time arises." Sky raised his head to the clouds and yowled "Now come! We're late!"
Sky led the cats through a small hole in the wall of the white building, and into an office inside. Joe was sitting at a typewriter and Harry was reading a book. Neither man noticed that cats slip by down a pipe entrance in the far wall. The pipe sloped down until it leveled out, opening up in a large, steel-walled tunnel filled with sandbags. Moving cautiously, the cats traveled along the sandbag rows until they reached the end of the tunnel and they slipped through a small opening in the wall into a large, root-filled chamber. Several other cats were already waiting inside. One of them, a large flame-colored tom, approached Sky, his head dipped in welcome.
"Greetings Sky, why are you late?" He asked.
"There are more guards around the building, Kadic" Sky replied, dipping his head. Kadic nodded, and then the two cats lumped onto a large root and yowled for silence. "Cats of the red and blue countries!" Sky yowled "This meeting will now begin!"
Kadic stepped forward and spoke. "I think that it would be best, Sky, if we considered finding a new place to meet. This tunnel is not safe for us. The streets near the entrance we use are swarming with workmen, they are sure to discover the tunnel, and then we will be without a meeting place." Cats exchanged curious and frightened glances.
Sky looked concerned as well, though he remained calm. "But Kadic, where will we meet? Don't forget we were once one united clan of cats before the Humans divided our city apart. Do you want us to be divided as well?" he asked.
"Of course not Sky, but must we meet here?" Kadic replied, his green eyes questionable.
"Do you have another idea?" Sky asked.
"Not at the moment, but surely we can find such a place?" Kadic suggested. Sky sighed, "I will consider it, but we should not do anything unless…" Sky was suddenly interrupted by the sounds of shouts and running feet. Earthen shot in through the opening, colliding with two Red-Country cats. "What is it Earthen?" Sky shouted, springing to his paws.
"Sky … At the tunnel's end… gas leaking out… coming this way" Earthen panted. Cats sprang to their paws with loud yowls of alarm.
"We must leave at once!" Kadic cried and raced for the entrance, followed by his companions. Sky gathered his warriors and fled back up the tunnel and the pipe, though the now-deserted room, and out into the rain.
"Well Sky" Earthen said as they raced through the rainy streets, "Didn't I tell you that place is dangerous?" Sky didn't answer, but he looked thoughtful.
A few weeks later, the Blue Country cats were hiding in the abandoned building that was their home. In one of the dens, Sky was discussing about humans with his mate, Hiss. "Do you remember how peaceful it was before the war, Hiss? Sky asked, turning to the black she-cat.
"I do" she replied, her green eyes flashing. "These silly humans got so worked up in the war that they divided Berlin into four pieces! However, I can see why."
"What do you mean?" Sky asked, looking puzzled.
Hiss blinked at Sky "These Blue human clans, America, France, and Britain must have taken their sides to stop the Red Humans, this Union of Soviets from spreading—what's it called again?"
"Kadic says they call it Communism" Sky replied, shaking his head.
"Do you remember the time those huge flying birds dropped bundles everywhere?" Hiss asked.
"Yes" Sky answered, "I also remember that they were carrying humans out of the city inside their bellies. I think the humans called it the Berlin Air Raid."
"And of how the Soviets blockaded the city?" Hiss questions continued. "Yes! Yes I do!" Sky hissed, getting annoyed. Hiss shrank back into her nest of rags, but was spared any more trouble by a voice outside. "Come in!" Sky ordered. Talon padded in followed by a Red Country cat, a black tom with white paws and a white patch on his throat.
"Greetings. My name is Fury" I was sent here by Kadic" The cat meowed, dipping his head. "What does Kadic want?" Sky asked, dipping in reply. "He wants you to meet him in the tunnel now to discuss on finding a new meeting place". Fury said calmly, though his eyes betrayed his worry. Sky thought for a minute and replied "Very well, I'll go meet him." He got up and left with Fury.
That night the cats were awoken by a fierce yowling and screeching noise. Sky came racing into the house followed by a human in a dark uniform. Talon gave a battle cry and leapt at the human, running his claws down its leg. The human gave a yell of pain and spun around as other cats pounced on him from behind. He went down in a fierce knot of withering, wailing cats. Suddenly there was a shout and two more humans burst into the room. The first human, seeing them, threw the cats off and fled out the window. The cats sprang out of sight as the two other humans began shooting.
"You got him?" one asked.
"Nope. He's gone" replied his partner. "Shame, I could have sworn we'd had him." said the first human.
"I don't think that a Soviet spy is going to yell like that" The other said. The two humans walked out. Sky staggered out of hiding and collapsed on the ground with a small moan of pain. He was bleeding from a large cut on his flank.
"Sky! What happened to you?" Hiss cried, nuzzling him.
"Humans" Sky spat. "They caught us in the tunnel, one of them grabbed me. I bit him on the hand and he threw me against the wall." Hiss gasped and lay down, staring at the floor as if she couldn't imagine humans acting this way. "I managed to escape the building, but then that other human started chasing me." Sky continued. "I thought I would never loose him."
"Did anything happen at the meeting before you were caught?" Talon asked, shifting uncomfortably.
"Yes Talon" Sky replied slowly. "We decided to help the Red Humans discover the tunnel."
"But how?" Earthen asked.
"Kadic told me that the tunnel is used by the Americans to tap into cables for something the humans call a telephone. All we need to do is destroy a few cables and the Red Humans will do the rest when they investigate." Sky seemed to have the plan all figured out.
"Brilliant!" Snowy cried, jumping for joy.
"We will cut the cables tomorrow night. Dagger, Earthen and Snowy will come with me. Hiss will be in charge until we return."
"You can count on me Sky!" Hiss looked very determined as she spoke, as though determined not to fail.
The next night, Sky, Earthen, Talon, and Snowy peered out of the bushes at the wire fence that separated East and West Berlin. Harry and Joe were back on guard. They stood facing the fence yawning out of boredom. When they turned their backs, Sky whispered "Now!" The four cats pelted across the field, but Snowy tripped and landed in the mud.
"Hey Joe, look!" The cats looked up; Harry was walking across the field towards them. "Run for it!" Earthen howled, racing under the fence followed by Sky and Talon. But Snowy wasn't fast enough, Harry scooped her up. She hissed angrily and slashed Harry's arm, making him drop her with a shout. She dashed under the fence into the bushes on the other side
"Are you all right Snowy?" Talon asked, shouldering her for support. Snowy was shaking all over, but her eyes blazed with anger. "Sometimes I hate those humans!" She spat.
"All the more reason to cut the cables immediately" A voice said behind them. Spinning around the cats saw Kadic sitting nearby with Fury and three other cats, a fiery red she-cat, a smoky black tom, and a ginger she-cat. "These are Blaze, Heron, and Star" Kadic explained, "They are here to help".
Heron stepped forward "We discovered that the humans left a hole open that we can use to reach the phone lines". They followed Heron to an open hole and leapt down it in to a dark, concrete tunnel. Inside, they found large red-and blue cables twisted around each other like large snakes.
"You ready?" Kadic asked.
"Of course" Sky replied, flicking his tail.
Talon leapt at the nearest cable, slicing with his claws, and cut it in two. Blue-white sparks leapt from the broken wire, illuminating the tunnel, while the other cats pushed deeper into the cable jungle, slicing and scratching cables open at random. They had just uncovered the wires used to tap into the phone lines when they heard Star, who was standing guard, shriek a warning.
"Loot out, there are two humans coming this way!" Hearing this, the cats scrambled towards the manhole. They heard shouts as two humans raced towards them screaming
"Get out of there you crazy cats!" The cats fled back across the fence. Sky looked back to see the two humans entering the hole to inspect the damage.
"Did you hear the news?" Earthen said, rushing up the next morning, "They discovered the tunnel and they're sealing it up!"
"Hopefully we won't see them here again" Sky said, lying on a beam.
"But what about that spy they were talking about before?" Hiss asked, looking around uneasily. "He's still supposed to be in the area."
"They found him too" Earthen replied. "Apparently, the noise we made when we attacked him woke up some of the neighbors. One of them spotted him sneaking down an ally and called for help."
"That's good." Talon said, "Now maybe we can finally get some peace in our lives".
"Actually, I don't think we're out of the woods yet" Earthen said.
"What do you mean?" Sky asked.
"I passed by the fence on my way here and met Fury. He said he heard the Red Human leaders say that they were going to replace the border fence with a wall." Earthen said shakily.
"WHAT?" Snowy cried, springing to her paws, "THEY CAN"T!"
"They already have, they've started building it already. And there are more human guards than I can count" Earthen looked at the floor.
"What can we do Sky?" Hiss looked desperately at her mate who sighed and shook his head.
"Is there any way through the wall Earthen?" He asked after a few minutes.
"I don't know Sky, I didn't see any" Earthen replied.
"Then we are out of options. The humans have truly divided us" Sky turned away. Snowy and Hiss explained shocked looks, while Talon flexed his claws in and out angrily.
"What happened then Stripe? What happened?" a young voice interrupted the old tabby tom's thoughts. He opened his eyes and looked around at the little kits lying below him; all were watching him with wide, eager eyes. A tiny blue-gray she-cat was practically bouncing up and down on her paws. "What happened? What happened?" She squeaked.
"I'll tell you what happened after you settle down, Wave." The tom said, gently pushing her into a lying position with his paw. "So anyway, the humans did manage to complete the wall, which remains here still. The humans put gates in the wall, but they were all guarded, and there were more guards along the wall-top. They shot any human that tried to get across it. They also covered the ground near the wall with things they called mines. They explode when you step on them. We lost many cats to those fiendish devices."
The young cats looked horrified as Stripe continued. "We tried to find a way through the wall, but there wasn't even a loose brick in it. I don't know what became of the Red Country cats, but I guess they are facing the same problems we are. Now come on little ones, time for bed." Stripe watched the kittens go into one of the holes in the wall that served as a nursery.
"I don't understand why the humans could do that?" one of them said.
"If I was there, I would have showed them" Wave boasted her tail in the air.
Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of shouting. Wave practically jumped, her fur bristling, making her look twice as big.
"W-W-What is that?" She squeaked.
"Sounds like the humans are celebrating." Stripe said, "But what are they exited about?"
"Can we see?" One of the kittens asked.
"I don't see why not, but stay behind me" Stripe ordered. The cats followed the sounds to the wall. Stripe froze in his tracks. "Can it be? They're tearing the wall down!"
"Let me see!" Wave tumbled in front of Stripe and froze with her eyes wide with shock. "Look!" Stripe looked where one of the kittens was pointing and saw cats coming through the smoke and debris of the collapsed wall.
One cat, an elderly tortoiseshell tom, bounded up to stripe and touched noses with him. "Scale! My old friend!" Stripe exclaimed, wide-eyed.
"Stripe, I never thought I'd see you again." Scale rubbed noses with his, purring loudly.
"I never could have imagined it possible" Stripe murmured. "After all these years of being divided, we are united once more."