As Java told us later, he woke up inside the saucer to find himself alone. Well, he was almost alone. At the other side of the cabin, the three purple androids were working quietly on a ceiling panel that had come loose again, maybe the same one that clobbered MeMe the first time she went up into space. Java was terrified to be alone in the same room with the scary things.

The freezing cabin air gave him a sudden urgency to use the restroom, but he didn’t know where it was. Putting necessity on the better side of caution, Java turned to the nearest android and meowed with his eyes on the door, giving it plenty of meaning. The android studied Java for a moment before the door slid up with the pleasant whir of little motors.

A wave of hot air and brilliant sunshine swept in.

Java jumped back horrified—this wasn’t Pennsylvania.

With second thoughts, Java turned back to ask the metal cat for the washroom key, but the android brusquely tossed him out the door.

Outside the air conditioned ship, the desert air almost knocked him down it was so hot. With sand stretching to infinity, it was like an enormous litter box with heat lamps.

Yielding to a sense of panic, he stood outside the door and meowed as loud as he could, making it deep and forlorn. Of course nothing happened, and he knew nothing would ever happen because the metal cats didn’t like him.

It was mutual.

The dry desert air made his nose leather as parched as an old dog bone. His tongue felt like 60-grit sandpaper. And where were his friends? Maybe he’d better go look for them. He stepped away from the shade of the saucer into the sunshine.

EEE YOW! The sand was hot! It burned his bare feet, just like two winters ago when he jumped on top of the wood stove in the kitchen. He could still hear the screech of his claws on the cast iron.

Java couldn’t hold on a minute longer, so without any more delay he stepped around the shadow of the saucer and scraped a little pit.

Ahhh, at least that felt better as he pondered things, trying to figure out where he was. While he was scraping his feet he saw something strange. Over the sand dune came a band of twelve men wearing white robes with colorful cloths around their faces. As they came closer Java had the shock of his life.

Those animals they’re riding aren’t horses!

This was definitely the craziest place he’d ever been in his life. He flattened himself down in the shade of the saucer to watch.

The men had noticed footprints leading back and forth between a mound of sand and the small excavation the androids had dug. They were more than curious to find out if someone had discovered a tomb.

The saucer’s holographic camouflage made it look like any other mound in the desert. But when the hatch slid up, it looked for all the world as if a little door had opened in the side of the sand dune.

Three of the men kneeled their mounts and ran to the ship. Eager to find out what was inside, they crouched down on their hands and knees trying to peer in.

One of the androids stood in the hatchway blocking their view. The metal cat gave them a cold glare, red gloves on hips, one red boot tapping impatiently.

The men drew back. Their companions called out from safety high atop their camels, “Can a brave man like you be so frightened of a mere toy?” and they all laughed.

Java thought to himself, “I wouldn’t touch that if I were you,” remembering what happened when he’d done it himself.

Egged on by his confederates, the man grabbed the android to throw it aside. As soon as he made contact, a blinding flash even brighter than the blazing sun dazzled Java, immediately followed by the sound of thundering feet.

When Java could see again, he found it strange to see the man lying on the ground with his beard on fire. The man suddenly jumped up and leapfrogged onto his strange creature, trying to escape.

Bedeviled by chattering cries, camels stampeded around and around the ship, in a bedlam of angry metal cats, lightning bolts, and panic.

With nowhere else to go, Java did the only sensible thing he could think of and ran back inside the air conditioned ship. He kept on running lap after lap around the cabin, which got him nowhere, so he raced up the curving stairway into a small quiet room where he was able to finally relax with a sigh, happy to be back in air conditioned comfort.

When the androids returned, hi-fiving each other and chattering in excited metallic laughs, they cautiously closed all the hatches. The door to Java’s room whirred shut and he was sealed inside.