Although Rocky was happy as a domestic cat in the Anderson home, he was homesick for his home planet of Xenia. Imagine his surprise when he heard the explosion. He thought that his fellow cats on Xenia had noticed his absence and had built another spaceship to come and rescue him.
When he first heard the sound, Rocky ran in its direction. He discovered a few neighbourhood children playing with firecrackers in celebration of Labour Day, a few blocks away from where the Andersons lived. His excitement plummeted to deep disappointment. He had thought that maybe it had come from a spaceship. Obviously he was going nowhere in a hurry.
In his broken-down spaceship Rocky had supplies of food and water he had brought from Xenia. He now returned to the the abandoned building where he had hidden his spaceship. His future was clear. Either return to the Andersons and be their tabby cat or find a way to repair his spaceship so he could return to Xenia.
Rocky knew the Andersons would welcome him back to his life of luxury. But was a future as a tabby cat what he wanted? To live as their pet tabby meant giving up forever his extraterrestrial power as well as his human intellectual powers and scientific skills. Did he want the life of a vegetable? He knew that he had nothing in common with the other cats that he had met in the neighbourhood. He felt that they were stupid. He could never reveal to anyone on earth who he truly was, for he would be regarded as a freak and subject to all manner of examination and inspection and be put in a cage for scientific research.
After considerable contemplation, Rocky decided that he would rather return to Xenia. Since he did not think his fellow Xenians would know where to find him, he had to find a way to repair his spaceship. He needed both scientific instruments and tools, which he would have to find somewhere..
Rocky, with his onboard computer (which still worked somewhat), was able to locate a number of businesses that built and supplied aerospace and scientific materials in Hamilton. Rocky could not, however, enter a store as a cat and make the necessary purchases. To accomplish his chosen task, he would have to transform himself into a human being.
On Xenia, the cat inhabitants were able to transform themselves into other types of cats and even into other animals. Also doable, but much more difficult was a transformation into a human. No cat on Xenia had ever become a human.
But Rocky had to find a way to rent a van which he would drive to the businesses. Once there he would have to have money to be able to purchase the parts and tools necessary to repair his spaceship. He also required a map of the galaxy to enable him to chart an intergalactic voyage back to Xenia. Transformation into a human was the only way to do this.
