The crew, with postings

• RyCat

  Mission Commander

  Talked his way into a rocket the same way he talks his way onto any roof in Bed-Stuy: like the door was already open. Flies with the hood up and the bow tie on. The stories still start and end with him, they just start further out now.

  Back home

  The One They Talk About

  Breed

  Beige Tabby Tuxedo

  Turf

  Bed Stuy

• Bandit

  In memoriam

  Flight Director, Emeritus

  Every launch runs on his procedure. The red bow tie is on the console at the front of the room, and the room is named for him. Measured sentences, gravitas, and the last word on any go/no-go — the crew still asks what Bandit would have called.

  Back home

  The Patriarch

  Breed

  Black & White Tuxedo

  Turf

  Bed Stuy

• Luna Cat

  In memoriam

  The Heart of the Programme

  There is a window on the observation deck that is always hers. Lost, not gone — the crew leaves the light on there and nobody has ever suggested otherwise.

  Back home

  The Heart

  Breed

  Tuxedo

  Turf

  Bed Stuy

• Lobster Cat

  EVA Specialist — Heavy

  Twenty-two pounds of attitude in a hardsuit built to spec, and the only crewmember who has had a standoff with something bigger than himself and won. If a hatch will not open, The Clawd is the procedure.

  Back home

  The Street Muscle

  Breed

  Red Maine Coon

  Turf

  The Alley

• BonnyCat

  Flight Surgeon & Orientation Lead

  Teaches orientation and mobility by day and runs the pharmacy by night, which turns out to be the exact job description for keeping a crew alive between planets. Knows every dose on board and every route through the ship without counting.

  Back home

  O&M Instructor by Day, Pharmacist by Night

  Breed

  White Longhair (Albino)

  Turf

  Brooklyn (exact block undisclosed)

• C-Train

  Communications

  Tunnel division, promoted to deep space. Hears the signal under the noise the way he used to hear a train three stops out, and has never once been wrong about what is coming.

  Back home

  The Ears

  Breed

  House Mouse (tunnel division)

  Turf

  G/C Tunnel Walls, Bed Stuy

• Static

  Navigation (Uncredited)

  Plots every transfer burn and lets someone else read it out. The name on the flight plan is not his and that is exactly how he wants it.

  Back home

  The Brain (Uncredited)

  Breed

  House Mouse (tunnel division)

  Turf

  G/C Tunnel Walls, Bed Stuy

• ByteCat

  Onboard Systems & Autopilot

  Large, fluffy, blind, and the best pilot-adjacent mind on the programme. Flies the ship by instrument and memory, which is the only way anyone flies it once you are past Mars and the light is an hour late. The mechanical keyboard is audible two compartments over.

  Back home

  Code & ML Host

  Breed

  Maine Coon

  Turf

  The Studio

• PixelCat

  Instrumentation & Cockpit Design

  Blind, elegant, precise, and the reason every control on the ship can be found without looking at it. Laid out the cockpit by touch and travel, and does not bump into anything. If an instrument is legible in the dark, she put it there.

  Back home

  UI/UX & Design Host

  Breed

  Siamese

  Turf

  The Studio

• NetCat

  Deep Space Relay

  Keeps the link home open across an interplanetary gap and explains the protocol like a jazz musician explaining scales. Headphones on at all times. Named after the tool, still has not mentioned it.

  Back home

  Networking Host

  Breed

  Abyssinian

  Turf

  The Studio

• DaviCat

  Life Support & Infrastructure

  Sleek black, gold-amber eyes, anchor energy. Runs the air, the water and the power with a warm delivery and ice underneath — sounds relaxed right up until he is not, which is how you know the numbers moved.

  Back home

  Cloud & Infrastructure Host

  Breed

  Midnight Black Domestic Shorthair

  Turf

  The Studio (and wherever the money is)

• Tommy

  Ground Systems

  Has personally run every system on the pad and has opinions about all of them that he mostly keeps to himself. The most approachable cat in mission control and the one you actually want on the loop at T-minus nine.

  Back home

  OS & Systems Host

  Breed

  Orange Tabby

  Turf

  The Studio

• The Plug

  Supply & Logistics

  Sources what the manifest says is unavailable, on a timeline the manifest says is impossible. Nobody asks about the supply chain. The corner just extended a very long way.

  Back home

  The Plug

  Breed

  Orange Tabby

  Turf

  Myrtle Ave Alley

• Skitz

  Unscheduled Variable

  Not assigned to the mission. Aboard the mission. The squirrel has been found in three compartments that were sealed, and the review board has stopped writing it up.

  Back home

  The Squirrel

  Breed

  Eastern Gray Squirrel

  Turf

  Prospect Park (supposedly)

• Velvet

  Xenobiology

  Chocolate Burmese, and the first to put a hand on something nobody has classified yet. Reads a new world the way she reads a room, which is faster than anyone is comfortable with.

  Back home

  The One Everyone Wants

  Breed

  Chocolate Burmese

  Turf

  Bed Stuy

• KelliCat

  Mission Public Affairs

  Fronts every broadcast from orbit and makes a fuel-transfer briefing sound like an event. The programme gets its funding because she is very good at this.

  Back home

  The Prom Queen

  Breed

  Orange and White

  Turf

  The Venue (originally Pensacola, FL)

16 of the Brooklyn Cats hold a posting. The rest of the block is still the block.