I first read "the game of rat & dragon when I was about 16 in the mid '50s and it has stayed with me ever since. 7 years later I married a "Little Girl named West" (5 ft 1 & 1/2 inches and 100 lbs) whom I soon found was actually a cat-in-human-form. Our 50 year marriage, before her always dodgy chest finally did for her, was almost telepathic. I have just re-read "The Game of Rat & Dragon" for the first time in over 50 years and I acn't help wonder whether my "Little Girl Called West" might not be out there on a star-ship pin-lighting in the "Up-and-out." The question is "Is she part of the human fighting team, or has she reverted to feline form and is one of the telepathic Partners?"