Character bios: Mr. Paws…
[Note: This article is part of the new series of blog posts, “Character Bios”—you’ll find them all in the blog category of the same name.]
Part of a secret genetics program on a futuristic version of the International Space Station, Mr. Paws became friends with Shashibala Garcia and the other three kids in her gang, the Fearsome Four, who lead similar lives to Army brats living on the old military bases of the past. In other words, they get into trouble, and trouble finds them.
Mr. Paws is more like the reclusive scientist who created him, though, in the sense that he’s an adult cat with human-like emotions and feelings. He’s also a genius, a mathematician interested in number theory but willing to tutor the kids in their calculus assignments.
He values the adventures he had with the Fearsome Four on the ISS. They set out to solve the mystery of his origins, but that pursuit led them into a lot more trouble than they’d bargained for. In the process, he was torn between his maker and the kids, the most charming humans he’d ever met.
Mr. Paws has his own genotype—superfelis domesticus. He’s unique, though. He’s Dr. Watson to Shashi’s Sherlock Holmes, and he chronicled all those adventures on the space station. He has no desire to write more chronicles, though. AIs in the far reaches of Earth’s solar system aren’t as sophisticated as the one on the ISS, and he needs a good editor! Besides, the poor fellow became discouraged: the censors on Earth watered down his book so much that he didn’t feel like publishing. A friend helped him send the manuscript back in time to two authors whose books he’d read, but Mr. Paws is sure that Earth in their time period will just call it a sci-fi mystery. Maybe Watson and Holmes had a similar experience?
Mr. Paws is currently stationed near Saturn where he works with an astrophysicist he met on the ISS. He hasn’t had a chance to socialize much with other cats, but he’d like to meet a nice lady-cat someday and have some kittens, hoping the lot of them would be like the Fearsome Four…or Five…or Six.
***
The Secret Lab (2nd ed). Four students on the International Space Station discover the origins of a mutant cat and uncover a conspiracy in a sci-fi mystery that’s sure to entertain young adults and adults who are young at heart. In a new second edition completely rewritten and reedited by Steven M. Moore’s collaborator A. B. Carolan. Now available in a print version (Create Space) as well as all ebook formats (Amazon and Smashwords).
From a review of the first edition: “I will disclose this: I picked up The Secret Lab because of Mr. Paws, the intelligent cat. Yes, I could not resist the temptation to read the adventure of a sentient, mathematics inclined cat, told by Steven M. Moore. It exceeded my expectations. Mr. Paws is the result of a genetics experiment aboard a facility orbiting Earth in 2147. The cat and his newly found friends, a group of four smart teenagers, find themselves in an intrigue with corporate agendas, young curiosity, dangerous and ethically problematic research, relationships and their difficulties when coming of age. The complexity is enthralling, but the author also makes it easy to follow, using a light, natural style to tell us their story.”–Alfaniel Aldavan, in a Smashwords’ 5-star review
In libris libertas!
