by S M Matthews
Our Pet
ABNER
“By the stars...what have you brought back now?”
My brother has something laid out on one of the treatment beds in medical. It’s not moving. There’s a mane of red fur spilling off the head end of the bed, and the lump peaks less than halfway down. It’s small, but by far not the smallest thing he’s ever come back with. Rodents, creatures with scales or covered in bristles or...help me; slime. Please don’t let it be slimy.
“You said after that last thing bit you that you were done. This has to stop; you can’t keep bringing back one of every odd creature you come across. We never found the tiny furry thing, only the stars know what damage it’s doing to the ship, or if it’s died in a vent somewhere. And that thing that bit you, we had to put it down; how do you know this thing isn’t dangerous?”
“She’s not dangerous, I did a scan; she has flat teeth. No claws, no poison glands. The dealer at the market said they we all sedated when he got them; he said he didn’t know what they were or exactly where they came from. They were stressed during transport and were sedated when he took delivery of them, so he just kept them that way.” Tark shrugs ate me. “They were all just asleep in a big pile. I had to have one. What should we call her do you think?”
It’s got flat teeth. Right. As if that makes all this just fine.
“She? Do not name it; you’ll get attached again. Where exactly do you intend for it to stay? Is it even trainable?”
“The dealer said that the original trader had told him, that while they were awake they made a myriad of random noises, and they gathered close to each other in the transport pens, so he thinks a moderate level of intelligence. I have a training collar, I still have a bed in my room that Sho used, plus the food bowls from the last time that we never got to use. I think it’ll be fine.”
I think that’s a lot of unreliable third hand information, but I keep it to myself.
So, we have a totally unknown species on board. Great. But...Tark didn’t actually seem sad at the mention of Sho, a red scaled creature which he had owned for a couple of cycles. It was a friendly creature, and had been happy to follow Tark everywhere. Maybe this new one was distracting him already. He’s already gone into full medic and new pet owner mode. There won’t be any reasoning with him now.
“Right.” I don’t believe my little brother for a second. This had never once gone well; even when it did with Sho, the moping period after it had died was unbearable. He’d even made us have a proper funeral and eject the thing into space.
He always ended up hurt, one way or another.
Tark is the youngest of us, and too loving by far. Always looking for something to care for. The exact opposite of our eldest brother. The three of us have lived on this ship for six...maybe seven cycles now. Trading, travelling. Occasionally visiting family on Homeworld. Tark was always on the hunt for our mate whenever we went home. My oldest brother, Pate, didn’t really get off the ship; he took the opportunity to do ‘essential maintenance’ whether it existed or not. Pate is quiet, reserved, and really likes his own space. “Have you told him?” I ask Tark.
He doesn’t answer me for a minute, but from the way his ears droop, and how his tails go from excited swishing to stop still, I know he hasn’t. Guilty. I know exactly what he’s about to ask, and I cut him off before he can try. “I am not doing your dirty work for you.”
“OH come onnnnnnnnnnnnn, please,” he’s whining like a cub, but the tails are starting to swish again. He knows he will win me over. He always does.
“Please, he listens to you, he doesn’t have any time for me.” This has always been true to a certain extent. I know that Pate loves our littlest brother, and I know he would do anything for him when it really came down to it, it’s just that Tark loves everything beautiful about the universe, he loves adventure, discovery, he still gets excited by it. He loves fun and laughing and is naturally playful. Pate loves it when he’s left alone to view distant star charts, or work out fuel consumption for journeys we will probably never even make, or stock check, or rewire a circuit so it looks neater.
They are just very different people. It makes us a bit of an anomaly. Part of why we travel so much, I think. Most brother packs are very very similar. It makes sense, we had the same upbringing, our fathers were all of the same attitudes and mannerisms. We just...aren’t.
“I will tell him it’s here. But I am not defending you.”
“Could you just wait say...a turn until you tell him. Give her time to wake up so we can make a proper assessment.”
I snort, proper assessment my tails. He’s making sure we are far enough away that Pate doesn’t simply turn the ship around and make Tark return her. It.
“I’ll tell him when I call him for eve meal. I can avoid him until then, and if I don’t tell him then I will feel I have...hidden this from him.”
Tark’s ears droop a bit again but he knows I mean what I say.
“Thank you, Abner I really do appreciate this.”
PATE
The scream is piercing, and it echoes along all the corridors of the ship. It startles me for a moment and I miss-tap with my calculation. That silly cub has brought something else onto the ship, I know it instantly. I shake my mane out and stand, saving my work, and cracking my stiff back and shoulders. I wonder briefly if Abner knows and then dismiss the thought. Of course he does. Those two are always in cahoots over these things. Abner feeling like he needs to defend Tark in everything. To be truthful I don’t care about Tark’s little hobbies and idiosyncrasies.
I only care when they inconvenience me.
I almost liked the red scaly one, it ate my leftovers and never got underfoot.
No doubt Abner will be here in a moment, under the guise of retrieving me for eve meal, he will try to make idle conversation then try and tell me about the new pet and how it’ll be no trouble at all, he swears it. Same as every other time. And at some point I will have to sit and watch Tark mourn something. Or worse, un-clamp something's jaws off him.
He is so desperate for something to fill the space where our mate should have been, though I am pretty sure he doesn’t realise that’s what he’s doing. Neither of them does.
I go and wash up for dinner, standing under the hot water, letting it beat its way into my fur. When Abner was born I was so happy to have the first of my brothers, I didn’t see the differences, didn’t realise what they meant. When Tark was born, I was old enough to understand. Old enough to see how similar every other brother pack was, in appearance and personality. I could see that me and my brothers were not.
I work the suds into my ear fur, then my mane and the rest of my body, giving special attention to the tufts at the end of my tails, they always get filthy. I absent-mindedly brush my fangs and clean under my claws. I hope this one’s not slimy, the slimy ones are the worst. I change the shower setting to dry and am blasted by warm air. I get out and dress, just in time for Abner to appear in the doorway.
I call him in.
I am the biggest of the three of us. Abner is the smallest. I have the darkest longest fur, while he has the lightest and shortest, hardly any mane or tail tufts. Our fathers are practically identical, you can’t tell them apart unless you really know them. Abner and I are as different as night and day, with Tark falling somewhere between us.
He opens his mouth to start, but I scowl and huff at him and he snaps his yap closed.
“I heard it. What is it this time?”
“Well...there’s a lot of positives to this one.” He’s cleaning under his claws with the claws of the other hand. Nervous. He doesn’t want any tension, and I don’t blame him. It can feel a very small ship sometimes. Abner just wants to keep everyone happy.
He will learn at some point that’s no
t a realistic goal.
I can’t help the snort that escapes me, and I throw a jacket on and head out; Abner moves aside and then trails behind me. I make my way toward the small kitchen and dining room the ship has. Abner babbles behind me
“She is a biped, comparatively bigger than some of the previous ones so we won’t lose her or tread on her. Not slimy”
Oh, okay. Not slimy. Small mercy. Abner’s walking behind me so he doesn’t see my eyes roll.
These ships are built for four occupants, there’s always one empty seat with us, and whether it is unconscious or deliberate, there’s one seat that none of us will sit in.
By default this chair is always where Tark sits his pets. I don’t think he sees the irony of it.
The door slides open, and my eyes immediately slide to the chair, there’s a huge frizz of rusty orange, which turns to reveal a small pale face, big green eyes go wide and its mouth drops open. I don’t move and neither does it, and I wait a slow count to ten, just to make sure it isn’t going to attack me. It wouldn’t be the first time. Nothing seems to be happening, so I move to get my dinner, and it has to turn the other way in the chair to follow my progress.
Thank the stars its head doesn’t go all the way around, I hate that, makes my fur all itchy.
Abner grabs his meal alongside me, and we go and sit with Tark at the table. The creature is trying to watch all of us at once. Its skin appears to be the same colour all over, and its wrapped in a medical gown which is made for us, so it’s hanging off it everywhere. It’s grasping a mug. So smart enough to use simple objects then. I note the training collar, good, at least he’s taking some sort of precaution with it.
I sit eating, the tension in the room is a physical thing, but I will not be the one to break the silence.
That silly cub knows full well he was not to bring any more strays aboard.
TARK
I can’t bear it anymore. Pate’s just sitting and eating, like nothing’s happened. I’m waiting for him to say we have to return her, or he’s going to throw her out of an airlock, or just go into and absolute rage. He isn’t doing anything and it’s so much worse. I squint a bit at Abner, once I have his attention I try to coyly nod my head at Pate. ‘Get him to talk’ I silently beg. Abner just smirks and looks back down at his dinner, studiously ignoring all of us.
She’s looking back and forth between all of us, and for a moment I wonder if she’s intelligent enough to grasp what is going on. If she knows her existence is in the balance.
Right, I draw in a big breath trying to steady myself to speak.
“So erm...I got her from a dealer, like a proper pet dealer. She seems quite clean so far, hasn’t messed anywhere. Medical scan seems fine. So I’ll errr…just keep her in my room most of the time. Won’t know she’s even aboard.”
“If you got it from a proper dealer, then what is it? And I knew it was aboard when it was making that void awful squawking noise.”
“I think she was startled; she’d just woken up...and the dealer’s not sure. Bought them from a passing trader.”
Pate makes that non-committal humphing noise that I hate, finishes his meal, gets up and leaves without a word. She watches him with huge terrified eyes whilst he’s moving around. I can smell the fear falling off her in waves.
“That went well I guess”
Abner smirks at me “Depends on your definition, but yes for Pate that was okay. Maybe because she’s not slimy. How come she’s wearing clothes?”
“She shied away from me, hence the loud noise, and then she kept trying to cover herself, stole the blanket off the bed. She has pretty much no fur, so I figure she was cold. Probably from somewhere warm enough that they just never needed fur. I’ll have to see what we have in storage and adjust a few bits for her.”
“What’s she got there?” He gestures at her with his spoon.
“Just some water at the moment, I was going to trial and error different things for her.”
“Right. I’ll leave you to that, I’m gonna go up front and run diagnostic, need me to shut down med lab?”
“Yeah yeah, thanks” He’s on his way out, and I’m wondering where I should start. Flat teeth, so probably start with raw fruit and veg and work my way up from there.
MAISY
Right. Drink the water. Don’t lose your shit. Drink the water. Panicking will not help. Deep breaths. Drink the water. No one’s actively tried to hurt you.
So let’s assess.
The last thing I remember is walking home from work. Then nothing. Then waking up with some other people, in a cage, terrified. That bit did not last long, once we had gathered our groggy selves together at that back of the cage, our fear rapidly overcoming our embarrassment at our nudity, the panic set in. Panicked wailing, crying, screaming. People speculating loudly on if we were all about to die. Then a vaguely humanoid creature, and I have no other word, it was a flabby green skinned creature, appeared. It must have done something, because the next thing I knew I was waking up with a massive, mottled furry face staring down at me. It had its hands on me; around my throat. I panicked.
I’d screamed, scooted backwards, fell off the bed, and then screamed again on the way down. Then I realised I was still naked, dove for the blanket and then huddled in a corner.
It had sort of stood there. Watching me. In retrospect it might have been as startled as I was. It had gotten me this long shirt thing out of a cupboard and sort of dropped it near me, and then backed away with palms outstretched. Apparently a universal gesture of ‘I won’t hurt you’.
Once I realised what it was I’d shimmied into the shirt. That’s when I’d realised why it was touching me, I was wearing a collar. Great.
I’d sat there for a while, and then at some point it must have gotten bored of waiting, because it did a sort of ‘come come’ gesture, tapped its thigh and made a clicking noise. That was decision time for me, and I figured I’d go willingly rather than wait and risk it forcing the issue. It’s a fucking giant.
It had said something, then, I think, but it was just a collection of growly noises. I’d followed it, but not far really, and then we’d been here. It had patted the chair and then watched me, so I sat in it. I had to pull myself up a little, it was high, and my feet didn’t touch the floor. Then it put the mug in front of me, and sat with his own opposite me. He started drinking, so I inspected my mug, the fluid was clear and didn’t smell of much. Tasted like water, so I guess that’s what it is.
And then the door slid open, and another one walked in. This one was massive, and my mouth fell open, I couldn’t help staring. Much darker fur, much longer too. What a beast. And then there was another one! He was very different, short light fur and noticeably smaller all over.
I must have been a bit distracted by it all because then they were all sat. Eating. It actually smelt all right, and I realised that, despite everything, I could eat. They started having a growly conversation. I was pretty sure that’s what it was. The big one got up and left; the remaining two ‘talked’ for a bit longer. Then the smallest one left; and I was left alone again with the first one. So far he seemed to be my keeper.
There’s nothing I can do. I don’t know where I am. I don’t know why these creatures have me. I don’t know what’s happened, or if I can ever get home again. One of life’s mysteries has definitely been solved. We are most definitely not alone in the universe. And I have never been more terrified.
TARK
“So, I’ll just try a few things, and hopefully you’re clear about what’s good or not. I think you might be as smart as Sho you know.” I can’t help but chatter to her as I’m preparing a few samples, from my scans nothing should be poisonous, but I will start simple just in case. When I turn back, she’s turned in the chair and sat on her haunches to carry on watching me. She’s still scared. I put the plate in front of her on the table and she slides back round to sit properly. She doesn’t move at first and I nudge the plate from across the table. She goes to
pick up the nearest thing, but she’s not looking at what she’s doing, she’s watching me. The threat. Definitely intelligent. She sniffs, then licks then eats. She puts one thing back after the sniff, and two more things after the lick. After both of those she immediately drank some water. She changed her face and made a sound too. She’s definitely choosy then, but I take note of what seemed to go down well and what didn't, and use that to gauge my next plate of samples. She's got the idea now, and goes for it without really watching me this time.
She tries the last thing on this plate and makes a groaning noise, I think at first it’s hurt her, but she waves the other half at me to stop me standing any further. It’s almost comical how expressively she eats and chews the second half. “Enjoyed that then?” She can’t possibly have understood what I just asked her, but she’s nodding.
I get another few pieces of just what she’s shown to enjoy, and put that out in front of her. She eats more slowly this time, looking at me and then away. Maybe I’m gaining her trust. She's very delicate the way she eats, using her fingers and then sucking them clean. It’s fascinating. From a scientific point of view, of course.
She finishes and I start to get up again, but she waves her hand and makes a short, sharp noise. Then she pats her stomach.
By. The. Void.
She’s trying to communicate. This is not real. I have to test this.
I point to myself “Tark” She leans forward in her chair, points to me and, sort of, makes a noise that sounds like my name. She mangles it pretty badly actually, but she definitely understands. Then she points to herself “Maisy”.
I try and repeat it, and to be honest I’m pretty sure I mangle whatever she's just said, but the smile that she gives me is absolutely radiant.
I have to tell Abner. I’m up and round the table to her, but she slides off the other side of the chair and recoils into the corner. The smell of fear wells up again. Right, nervous creatures. The pet guy did tell me that. I put my palms out again, and she slowly seems to relax. I make the follow me gesture, and thankfully she does. Right. I need to be careful around her, not too be too quick on the approach. I really should be taking notes. She could be an entirely new sentient species.