Winds of Fate

by Thomas H. Reed

  Karen was obviously stunned speechless. When she could speak, she said, “You don’t know that. You’re just guessing.”

  “And you’re taking the word of a group of bureaucrats whose only concern is the progress of their county and all the credits that they will be adding to their bank accounts. I’d wager a sizable bet that few, if any of them, have ever seen a Tearth. If they did, they just might realize that Tearth are more humane, than they are.”

  Karen had now turned a few shades paler and it was obvious she was giving some in-depth thought to what Ruth had said. Karen was a doctor. Her sole purpose in life was to save lives, not destroy them. After a thoughtful moment, she said, “Our government has been exterminating Tearth for centuries. If what you say is correct, why hasn’t someone spoken up before now?”

  “Because the citizens of Tuva like their planet, and want to remain here. If the Tearth are proven civilized, there is a possibility according to the original Galactic covenant that human kind might have to give up their homes on Tuva. A constitutional covenant is a hard thing to change once set in motion.

  This planet was populated when we arrived, and Tearth ruled the planet because they were the only intelligent beings here. However, due to their non-violent nature they had no particular means for dealing with the aggressive humans. So, unfortunately, they are practically an extinct species due to the intervention of human kind. We have always killed or exterminated the Tearth. I suppose, except for those that were brutally murdered, they were killed humanely, just as little Mindy Rose will be. She will be given a lethal injection, never feeling a thing as her life drains away.”

  Ruth picked up the little Tearth and brought her over to Karen where she unceremoniously placed Mindy in Karen’s arms, and at the same time took the phone from her.

  Dr. Karen held Mindy in her arms as she looked into her intelligent green eyes. Then she looked at Sylvia and asked. “May I ask how you came to have a Tearth in your home?”

  “I found her in my flowerbed, eating my violets.”

  “And what possessed you to bring it into your house?”

  Sylvia shrugged. “She needed a new dress?”

  “And a bath,” offered Olive.

  “Okay. So you brought a Tearth into your home, gave it a bath and then put clothes on it.”

  Silvia beamed. “The bath was mandatory, the dress was optional, but doesn’t the dress look nice on her? It really brings out the color in her eyes.”

  Karen studied the Tearth, and had to admit that she did look beautiful as well as clean and healthy, and said as much. Then she shook her head as if she could not believe what she had just said.

  “What the hell am I saying? All this is beside the point. And until you have undeniable proof that the Tearth are not dangerous to human beings, you don’t just go around playing dress-up with them. What if they are disease-carrying, and might I add, unpredictable animals?”

  Silvia said, “Oh, we can tell you are terrified that she is going to attack you and maybe pass along some disease that will cause your skin to rot off. Just look at her, sores all over her body, glassy-eyed, smelly breath… Yes, I’m sure you’ve noticed all that. Is that why you are rubbing her back and bouncing her on your hip?”

  Karen stopped what she was doing and handed Mindy back to Ruth, “May I have my phone back please?”

  “That depends, what are you going to do with it?”

  “You can’t keep this Tearth in your home!” It may seem cute and cuddly at the moment, but when it gets older it could become vicious and uncontrollable.”

  “And just how many Tearth have you raised?” asked Silvia.

  “None; but I have read their history, and no matter what you may think of what our government has done to justify the extermination of the Tearth, until we have undeniable proof, you have to allow the authorities to do their jobs.”

  “Oh, really, Doctor. Then at least give us your honest medical opinion of this little Tearth that you are planning to murder. Oh, you won’t put the needle in her vein that will kill her. But you will be responsible for her death just as surely as if you did.”

  As Ruth’s ire grew and her anger rose, the little Tearth reached out and caressed her face, making a small cooing sound. Ruth observed the distressed look on the Tearth’s face, and then whispered, “I’m sorry Little Bits. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Karen had also seen the anxiety in the little Tearth’s eyes, and for a moment, her whole thinking process cracked and then scattered like a sack of beads across the floor. Karen had never seen a human baby that was any more capable of such reaction as this Tearth had just shown. Had she been wrong for all these years? Was Ruth right about Tuva’s government and their motives for exterminating the Tearth? At that moment, she was convinced that Ruth was the one who had it all figured out. Without further ado, Karen reached out and took the baby Tearth from Ruth; she sat her on the table, undressed her and did a thorough visual examination. Then, still not totally satisfied, she went to her car, took out her medical bag, walked back into the house and began all over again. After checking everything possible with the equipment she had readily available, she just shook her head.

  “Okay, Dr. Karen, what is your professional opinion about our little girl here?” Ruth asked.

  Karen had looked at the Tearth’s scalp, noticed that it was clean, healthy and free of parasites or bug bites. Her hair was healthy and had a nice shine to it. She had taken the Tearth’s hand and examined it, seeing that the fingernails had been trimmed and cleaned, and her skin had a healthy glow. There were no sores or dry patches anywhere on her body. Then, as an afterthought, she had put her thumb on the Tearth’s chin, opened her mouth and peered inside. Her teeth were clean; her tongue pink. There were no sores or abrasions and her breath was sweet and clean, smelling slightly of apple. Her eyes were clear and intelligent, and there was no tawny color to the whites.

  All the while, Mindy had looked on with curious eyes. When Karen was finished, she hooked the earpieces into the Tearth’s ears and let her listen to her own heartbeat. Mindy Rose looked up at Karen with awe when she heard the sound of her heartbeat.

  Taking Mindy’s arm, Karen pressed her thumb down lightly on her skin, when she took her thumb away the blood flowed back evenly with no sign of discoloration.

  Karen sat down in one of the kitchen chairs and studied the small Tearth playing with the stethoscope. She was healthy, had good muscle tone and nice skin. She was a bit thin, but overall, she was the perfect picture of health. More to the point, she was alert, curious and very sweet in nature.

  Karen was a doctor; her job was to preserve life, not be the instrument of death. This little thing was full of life, healthy and alert. If she called the authorities, they would do just what her friends had said, “It would be painless and humane, and she, Dr. Karen Hastings, would be responsible for its death, just as surely as if she had murdered it herself.

  “Damn you Silvia, you know I can’t call the authorities now. But what you are doing is still dangerous and very irresponsible. These things live in the wild, they are not used to being cooped up in a house, eating strange food and wearing clothes. It will be a miserable life for a Tearth to live with humans. So how do you plan to handle this situation? How will you handle the authorities when they learn you have a baby Tearth in your home?”

  Silvia shook her head, “To be honest, Karen, I don’t have any answers for you. But I can’t put Mindy Rose out; at least not until she is old enough to take care of herself in the wild, she has no one but me. She needs me and I plan on taking care of her.”

  Karen looked completely defeated. “You even named her?”

  Of course, I named her. Am I supposed to call her “The Tearth” for the rest of her stay here?

  After a while Karen said, “You are planning to release her back into the wild when she’s old enough to take care of herself, aren’t you?”

  “It’s like you said, she isn’t human. She needs to be with h
er own kind. But for now, she has no one to take care of her, and the only alternative is to take her back into the forest and hope she survives, or we can turn her over to the authorities. Either way she will end up dead. At least she has a chance here with us.”

  Karen reached out and took the stethoscope from Mindy, then picked her up and stood her on the floor. The little Tearth looked around and then went to the back door of the kitchen and looked out through the screen. Karen walked over to the screen door and opened it. Mindy walked outside and begin wandering aimlessly around the back yard. All four women watched as the Tearth examined everything she encountered in the yard that wasn’t a part of her natural environment. Just once, Mindy looked back at the house, and then again at the woodland beyond the gate. She gazed at the distant forest for the longest time as if trying to decide something, and then she turned and walked back to the door.

  Karen opened the door and Mindy walked inside. The little Tearth held up her arms to Silvia who picked her up and hugged her close.

  Karen sighed, “Okay, add one more crazy to the list, but I still think you’re asking for a lot of heartache.”

  But Karen saw the way Silvia and the Tearth looked at each other and thought, I think you’re right, Ruth, but not for the reasons you believe; those two are made for each other.

  Six years had come and gone since Silvia discovered Mindy Rose in her garden eating violets. Mindy was healthy and happy and content to live in the shelter of her adopted family. She had become the most endearing, living entity in the lives of Silvia, Olive, Ruth and Karen. At least one of the women worked with Mindy on a daily basis and kept documented evidence of her progress every step of the way.

  Mindy had learned to bathe and dress herself, brush her teeth, comb her hair, and eat with silverware. But this was only the beginning. Because of Mindy’s genetic makeup, or so it had been supposed, she would never vocalize her thoughts. But, in time, she had learned traditional sign language, and Sylvia had heard her making sounds that led her to believe that with a bit of vocal training, Mindy might even be able to speak.

  Mindy’s accomplishments were not observed by the outside world. However, some Tuvans had begun to believe that the earlier declaration about the Tearth had been politically motivated in order to allow settlers to live on the planet. And there were those in denial who thought that the species was nothing more than a disease-carrying, filthy, and dangerous pod of animals.

  Even after Samuel Wait’s documentaries were made public, it seemed that Tuvan citizens chose to ignore them. It was easier to think of the Tearth as a horrible beast rather than giving them a chance to prove otherwise.

  Sylvia was always happy to get an unexpected visit from Ruth. As a rule, Ruth came armed with new information about what was happening on Tuva, as well as any changes in Galactic law. Sylvia had learned from Ruth just yesterday that there was a possibility that changing the status of the Tearth might not affect the planet’s standing with the Space Federation. Tuva had been populated with humans for almost two hundred years. There might be a clause that would allow them special privileges, even if their earlier findings concerning the Tearth should prove to be wrong. Sylvia asked Ruth if there was a dateline attached with the possibility of changing the old Galactic laws. Ruth just looked at her sadly and shook her head. So far, there was nothing but speculation. But the speculation had been spread throughout the Galaxy.

  Mindy spent her days inside or on guarded trips into the woods with Silvia, Olive, Ruth or Karen. The women tried to make these excursions as often and as pleasant as possible. But being on constant guard was stressful at times. They never knew who might go hiking in the same area, and on the same day. It was relatively easy to hide Mindy since her appearance wasn’t that different from a human child, and her long, thick, brown hair always hid her pointed ears.

  A group walking together always made enough noise to attract attention. A single hiker was a different story. They could hide almost anywhere in the forest, and if they were deliberately watching someone they could easily spy from total concealment. It was impossible to determine what lengths someone on a mission might go through to report an incident of a Tearth held in captivity.

  Nevertheless, the women did everything they could to see that Mindy had as normal a life as possible, even under such difficult circumstances. They had given up on finding an appropriate time for releasing Mindy into the wild to cope with unknown dangers. She had advanced far beyond their wildest dreams, but in some ways that had made her even more vulnerable. She knew nothing about the ways of her own species, and her foster mothers would never allow her to leave their protective realm under those dangerous circumstances.

  One fateful day Mindy’s life and that of her foster mothers’ would change forever. Someone had seen Silvia and Olive walking in the woods with Mindy and reported it to the authorities. Later that same evening an agent from the Wildlife Department had shown up on their doorstep. An arrest was forthcoming, and the two women ended up spending the night in jail. It seemed an eternity before Silvia or Olive could make a phone call. However, once they got permission, they got in touch with Karen and she called her personal attorney, Tamara Freeman.

  Ms. Freeman listened carefully as Silvia and Olive explained the reason that they had been keeping a Tearth in captivity for more than six years. By the time they had finished talking; Tamara had built up a load of compassion for their plight, but had no idea how she was going to help them with their legal problem. She had never handled a case like this in her entire career. Although she had a lot of confidence in her own abilities as an attorney, she feared the outcome of this case, and doubted it would ever make it to trial.

  The citizens on this planet avoided talking about the Tearth, and there was seldom any middle ground when it came to their feelings on the subject. Tamara had her own idea as to how she felt about the species, but had never voiced her opinion publicly or taken any legal action on their behalf. She had read Samuel Wait’s book and watched his documentary a few years back. She had been intrigued with his work and impressed with the Tearth as a species.

  Mr. Wait had been systematic and thorough when collecting information for his documentary, but in spite of his calculating appearance, it was still easy to see he had a deep-rooted desire to help the species. The problem was that the Tearth inhabited mostly isolated parts of the forest. The general population seldom, if ever saw them, and had taken on that old “Out of sight, out of mind” attitude about their existence. Consequently, the more human population expanded, the less territory remained for the Tearth, and they naturally became fewer in number.

  It had been three years since Tamara read Samuel Wait’s story. At the time, she had taken such an interest in the Tearth that she had hired a guide to take her close enough to observe them.

  Contrary to some beliefs, she found these creatures were not at all aggressive, and posed absolutely no threat to human beings. However, they were reclusive, which made it difficult to witness some of the traits Samuel Wait had recorded.

  With time and patience, Tamara had seen enough to know that Mr. Wait had accurately recorded the Tearths’ behavior. That fact posed an emotional problem for her; how could she make the citizens of Tuva understand that their misinformation and presumptions about the Tearth had been wrong? How would she convince them that accepting the Tearth as an intelligent species would not upset their whole world, maybe even force them to leave the only home they had ever known? That is, if the Galactic covenant should continue in supreme power.

  In the end, Tamara came to the same conclusion as Mr. Wait; it would be next to impossible to change centuries of negative programming; especially, when it wasn’t advantageous for the majority of people to even consider such a change.

  Eventually, Tamar’s own heavy workload had taken priority over her feelings of responsibility toward the Tearth. Now, after hearing Silvia and Olive talking about their experience in rearing their wonderful little Tearth, her passion had reignite
d. She was prepared to take on the world if necessary to establish a truth that had purposely been hidden for so long.

  Being a seasoned attorney, Tamara didn’t believe that all the Galactic covenants in the universe could actually evict nearly a hundred million people who had inhabited a planet for almost two hundred years. She realized there were those who lacked her knowledge, and might fear for their future. However, she believed with enough time and courage, that Tuvans would eventually be victorious. The laws would have to change, because nothing else would ever work.

  Tamara knew that she would be talking to a judge even at this late hour if luck permitted. It was imperative that he knew how important it was for Mindy Rose to be back in the only home she had ever known. Tamara knew that most of these cases were handled in the same way. The perpetrators were jailed until they could be brought before a judge, charged a stiff penalty, and then released.