“Thank you Gloria. Dillon, anything you can add?”
“Tet, the rippers absolutely did it on purpose and they knew exactly where the fence was. They all pulled up just short of the wire. They expected one or more of the prey to be killed. When that happened one of them came close to check on the dead cow. It must have been tangled in the wire so it left it alone to avoid a shock. Those are pretty smart animals.”
“If I tell you that Yancy and Carlos found the dead cow completely clear of any wire?”
Yancy thought about it again. “That’s right, we did. I wonder why it didn’t try to feed on the cow? They have on other accidental electrocutions that fell clear of the wire. They have damn good night vision, and they obviously saw the wires before the cows even hit them.”
“It could have seen that the broken wires were at least teen feet away,” agreed Carlos.
Thad had kept his own counsel so far, knowing Tet was also trying to educate, as well as looking for confirmation. It was time to offer his opinion.
“They weren’t after food, it was a ripper scouting mission,” he stated with assurance.
Mirikami nodded, having decided the same thing, but only after several replays and a longer time to think. Thad was military trained and thought in terms of tactics and strategy, and he had seen it right away. His own suspicion was affirmed.
Thad elaborated, “The rippers were testing our defenses and how to breach them. They weren’t really hunting at all. They chose a cow with a calf, something the mother and usually other cows will risk a lot to protect and not abandon. The older cow that died on the fence I think was probably in front because experienced rhinolos usually lead the herd, and her size and speed would take her well through the wire. Five rippers, working in the dark, could have isolated that calf but they didn’t try to do that. I believe they wanted them all running headlong, exactly where they aimed them.”
“That’s giving a lot of credit and smarts to animals,” suggested Carlos.
“Some aspects could be coincidence,” Thad acknowledged. “Like the older cow being in front. Like last night being a dark night with no moon and a lot of clouds to make this work better.
“But the ripper that calmly walked through the fence gap alone and stood and watched the other two very alive rhinolo running into the compound learned what they need to know. With its night vision it already knew the first charging cow was dead and had cleared away the wire. The other four rippers also could see that. They had plenty of time, two miles out and in the dark, to have safely fed before someone would take a shot at them at daylight. Instead they simply strolled away.”
“Thank you Thad. I spent a lot longer reaching the same conclusion. We need to be more alert for stunts like this, and recognize that these predators are considerably smarter than we thought.
“And Carlos,” he added in an afterthought. “The Krall constantly underestimate us ‘animals’ so let’s not be too quick to downplay how clever a ripper is.”
No one was deluded any longer into thinking the fence could keep out a smart determined ripper pride. The desert panther had made it up a thirty-foot smooth wall to kill a woman, and rippers were more powerful. They might be able to clear the top of a twenty-foot electric fence, even if they didn’t simply drive a rhinolo through the fence to make it easy.
Nights belonged entirely to the animals, but floodlights were being readied for placement around the dome, and would activate if the fence were breached. However, humans would still be huddled inside the dome, looking out at the narrow circle of light for green eyes in the dark.
****
Telror walked beside Haktor, having gained his interest again over Rasha’s best efforts to win his attention. Telror had cemented his fascination for her tonight with the successful demonstration that the not-live gray killer vines could be broken if they wanted, by making the giant horned prey break them for them.
She had boldly walked through the place where the broken vines had been. The young horned prey and its mother were alive and still running, which was her proof that it was safe to pass through. It was still a thrill to actually walk past the ‘trees’ the killer vines grew from, as the others of her pride watched, particularly Haktor.
Rasha, her cousin, friend, and competitor had to watch as Telror employed a trick shown to her by Rasha the very first time they had tested if some gray not-life vines were truly dead. Turning back, Telror clearly saw the older giant horned prey was not touching any of the gray vines. She nuzzled it as she passed, her frill brushing the dead animal. There was a soft echo of a recently deceased life, but none of the wonderful thrill of the actual dying or of any fear that made kills so enthralling.
This giant horned prey was still warm and would taste good on the tongue, but she had fed earlier that day. This wasn’t a food kill, and it was definitely not a wanton and forbidden pleasure kill, because there had been no pleasure. This was done to show the pride how they could bypass the frustrating and annoying obstacles placed between them and an easy prey to kill.
This prey tasted sweet and different from any prey they had ever eaten, she recalled. Not the best-flavored meat, but its novelty had made it more appealing. It was also somewhat dangerous if it had the stinging sticks, as her now healed scar proved.
The red ones had all gone, the fresh scent of them was no longer here at all, but the new smaller prey had increased greatly. However they had the best sentinels the pride had ever encountered, and their new sting sticks could reach farther, as seen when they hunted the same animals the pride claimed as theirs.
They never had a chance to drive them away from one of their fresh kills, because they never hunted near any of the pride. This prey was always warned and hiding in their den or flying things anytime the pride stalked them.
After Telror had shared her startling mind memory of the new prey she had killed, the interest in them had grown. They had never experienced a prey species with the ability to sense them in return. There was doubt that they were just prey, because they hunted and kept the meat, even though they also ate plants. They could also be predators, just as the red ones believed they were.
The pride elders had decided that if they could get close to the den before the prey awakened in the mornings, they might take one as it first came outside, to sense it as it sensed them in return before it died.
Now they knew how to get closer to them, though Telror wasn’t as sure as the other pride members that she wanted to experience the kill from both perspectives at once again. It had unsettled her. Perhaps sharing some other pride member’s mind image of a mutual sensing at the time of the kill would be easier. No one seemed to experience the discomfort from her images that she had felt first hand from her kill.
****
Everything the new settlers tried to plant outside grew poorly or was eaten; by small insects, grubs, worms, or animals. The enclosed and covered corral remained the only place Earth plants and animals could survive outside of the dome.
The original hydroponics section was doing very well, and with the Krall gone, the top level with its greater natural roof lighting was being turned into a second hydroponics garden. A number of Koban plants were also being cultivated, but a favorite, the Death Lime, was too risky to plant where people might be exposed to the thorns.
One of the new labs not involved with human genetics had managed to extract the paralyzing agent from the wax on the thorns of the Death Limes, and was on the verge of being able to replicate the chemical structure. The next goal was a counter agent or antidote. There were plants that had a less toxic version of the wax. People needed some way to protect themselves while perhaps using the substance defensively.
Another change was coming for the first time for the majority of the people here. The weather was definitely cooler. Autumn was coming fast, and only the long-term captives had experienced the cold season. In the deepest winter the snows came, and at times bitter cold. The life here either fled to warmer climes, or had ada
pted to unlikely temperature extremes for most human settled planets. A tropical jungle here managed to survive freezing conditions, and rebound quickly when the rapid change back to warmth happened.
Thad was talking with Mirikami at breakfast. He had given up his overly spacious quarters in the dome, and had a smaller cabin on the Fancy. “Tet, you have mentioned the weather change, but I don’t think you newcomers realize how quickly fall turns into winter here. Most of the herds will move south towards the coast, but some new migrating animals will replace them.”
“Like what?” Mirikami asked around a mouthful of gazelle meat. His appetite had become an embarrassment to him since the last mods. He needed a lot of energy to feed his new muscles and metabolism. It was unfortunate they hadn’t worked on a “tall gene” for him. He was still short, but had become a bit stocky looking now.
Thad hardly noticed Tet eat because he was feeding his own new appetite as the latest mods worked their magic. He felt ten years younger.
“In about a month, possibly less, the savanna herds will have migrated south, and a sort of light blue hairy yak will arrive, and turn pure white as the first snows come right behind them. It will dig up snow to get to the frozen grass, and eat the leaves and bark on low trees and bushes. It has an impressive set of horns, and a thick bone cap between them. There’s a large deer or moose kind of animal that stays in the woods, but I don’t know of anyone that ever saw them close.”
He shook his head and shrugged, “There is some sort of really big predator that comes south from the mountains following them, and we’ve heard them roar and seen some really impressive tracks in snow outside the gates. But we have never seen them because we didn’t go outside the compound walls.”
“No Krall hunts?” Tet asked.
“The Krall didn’t seem to like to hunt yaks, probably because they aren’t as aggressive or dangerous as rhinolo, and no ripper threat. The yaks are a bit smaller than the rhinolo but still big and powerful, and look almost as fast as a rhinolo on open dry ground. I’ve watched them from a truck through the gates. I’d think they would be no challenge to hunt in snow when they can’t run fast, so that’s a possible fresh meat source if we use a shuttle. None of us know what they taste like.”
Just then, they were joined by company arriving to share the rest of their breakfast time with them. Aldry, Maggi, Noreen and Dillon, plus Rafe Campbell, walked into the semiprivate nook. The recently hermit-like Rafe being the only surprise visitor. He seemed to sport the proverbial “cat that ate the canary” grin.
“Good morning all.” Tet remained standing until the ladies were seated. This was another example of role reversal, one he had subtly reintroduced. “Rafe, it’s good to see you outside the lab for a change. After Maggi recruited you to head the second human gene lab you dropped out of sight, even sleeping and taking meals there. All work and no play, you know the old saying.” He smiled at the widower, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Tet,” Rafe grinned, “I just thought of another old saying. The one about the pot calling the kettle black?”
“He’s got you there Sir,” agreed Noreen. “You never take a day off either.”
Rafe’s wife had been killed on the ship while they were being towed to Koban. “Terminated” by a Krall warrior probably just bored. The man had withdrawn from social contact after her death.
After being interviewed by Maggi and Aldry, whatever they offered him to run the lab had brought him to life again, and he leaped into the new work. His social life was still negligible, however.
The five quickly placed their food orders with the table AI, then Maggi, as was often the case, cut to the chase. “If you don’t mind we need to talk business and policy while we eat, before some fresh emergency pulls any of you away.”
Except for Rafe, all of them were on the unofficial Koban Committee, though with the Krall gone, the group’s original function had technically ended. They no longer needed to convince the Krall that Humanity was worth fighting, as opposed to being exterminated or enslaved. Nevertheless, they still directed their efforts towards surviving on Koban for the long term.
“Fire away Maggi.” He chuckled. “I sense a broadside coming whether I agree or not.”
“Good. I’d hate to show you that those new muscles won’t protect you from determined little old ladies.” She smiled sweetly, which experience had proven could be more threatening than a Krall glare.
“To start, I’m pleased to announce that we now have several thousand applicants for the initial gene mods, and three hundred forty four already started. We can have all three thousand started before this month ends. The other ship’s pharmacies are helping us turn out supplements at a rate faster than we are using them. The fruit and vegetable requirements are barely being met by the first hydroponics level, but the new top level is quickly coming on-line. Hunting in particular has provided the high quality protein we need to give them.”
Dillon had a question. “That’s a big turnaround in first mod applicants. Nobody has to survive a match up with a Krall hunter-killer team now, so what do you think’s motivating them?”
“The planet and wildlife have a lot to do with it,” she told them, “and the gradual realization that they actually can have a long life ahead of them here if they are adapted. In addition, you, Tet, and now Thad have been visible examples of what is possible for them. You boys run around with more energy than anyone here does. The three of you bring in nearly a quarter of the fresh meat we eat.”
“But we don’t do that on foot or even from trucks,” Dillon pointed out. “Without a shuttle and the new .50 caliber rifles we couldn’t go very far outside the fence to hunt game. That’s the same way all of the hunting parties work.” Hunting remained the most dangerous activity they did, and without the aerial advantage, they would lose too many hunters to rippers, panthers, and sometimes the dangerous prey itself.
“Sure, but you three stay out longer, go farther, and bring more meat back than any other teams. You have the endurance. Macho pride has returned to the human pack. The men in particular hate to be upstaged, and they account for three quarters of the applications.”
“How about our opposition group?” Noreen asked. “Cahill is picking up anti-gene mod activists from the last arrivals. The potential number of people they can recruit to vote to stop us is considerably more than the number that experienced the Krall threat first hand. They don’t feel the same level of motivation as we or the early captives do. This is despite the stories they hear and the recordings we play. That bad time is now in the past; it left with the Krall to their way of thinking.”
“They all eat, don’t they?” asked Thad. “I mean they share the meat we risk our lives to kill and bring them. Every hunter sees how over matched we are. Even the small animals out there are faster than we are, and often dangerous to mess with. We notice and report new animal types almost weekly, now that we explore a bit farther. I suggest we make everyone participate in the hunting. Finding out what it really takes to survive here would be an eye opener.”
Mirikami added, “They’ll be seeing some of those new animals in the dome. A rat shaped critter the size of a fruit rat has made it under the fence and into the dome. It’s so fast, strong, and smart, that no one has even been able to trap one yet. They’re able to break open most traps we’ve tried, but now they’ve learned to ignore the bait, and why not? They can simply run up with impunity to take food from a plate right in front of you. A person can’t move fast enough to knock one away in time. If several people corner one, it attacks them like a little blue whirlwind with teeth.”
Maggi returned to Thad’s suggestion. “Thad’s idea to send everyone out to hunt is too strict, because not everyone that likes to eat has the fortitude to hunt. However, I think everyone should be sent out to ride in the shuttles to watch how it’s done, to see what it takes.
“We can tell them the requirement is a necessary familiarization with Koban, which is true enough. I think it would
be seen as a chance at sightseeing. Who wants to spend the rest of their life confined within a circle two miles across? I don’t hunt, but I enjoyed the flights I’ve taken.”
She paused a moment. “There’s a beautiful world out there that we can’t experience because of how weak nature made us, at least by the standards of this world. Regardless of how we came to be here, Koban is by any measure a new colony for humanity, even if we are the only humans that know this and have no outside support. We and our children will live and die here; if we can have children that is.” She looked to her friend.
“Aldry has more to say on the latter subject.” Maggi sat down as Aldry rose to her feet.
Aldry looked solemn. “I don’t know how many of you knew that nearly two hundred women arrived here pregnant. Most of you were aware that there were twenty-three women between six and seven months along because they were showing. All of those ladies obeyed the travel cut off dates imposed for expectant mothers for Jump travel. Those travel restrictions did not factor in a destination where the gravity was half again Earth standard.”
She told them the sad statistics. “Each of those women has now miscarried because we can’t move them to a gravity controlled environment. Except it’s worse than that. Over a hundred forty other women have miscarried as well. After the first two months on Koban, we had eighty-five percent of the pregnancies end in spontaneous abortions, and we lost three mothers. There is good reason to expect all of the current pregnancies to abort before full term, no matter what we do for these women.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that Aldry,” Mirikami replied sadly. “Of course I knew of the problems the women that were farther along were experiencing, but I didn’t know that of all of them would likely lose their babies. You advised me that most women receiving one or both sets of gene mods before conception should generally reach full term. Can’t you offer those mods to the pregnant women now, to increase their chances?”
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