by Susan Kite
“I’ll watch. You get some sleep. From what you told me, you didn’t get much of a chance in the caves,” Riss told her.
He was right. It was going to be a hard trek to the desert. Corree closed her eyes, but sleep wouldn’t come to her. She kept remembering everything that had happened recently. So Corree was surprised when she woke with full moonlight in her face and her body snuggled close to Riss. She pulled back in embarrassment. He had a questioning look in his eyes, but didn’t say anything. After grabbing another quick meal from his pouch, they set out.
****
For the next two days, she and Riss trudged through narrow rocky valleys and along barely discernible paths through high mountain passes. Twice Riss killed rock rabbits with his sling. The hot meat filled her limbs with energy. Corree caught several rock crawlers, which she cracked open. After hooking the claws together, she hung them from her belt. The meat would dry as they walked and provide sustenance while they were in the desert.
The valleys became hotter while the passes remained frigid. On the last night in the mountains, they snuggled together for warmth in a high mountain cave. Riss’s musky odor heightened Corree’s feelings of aloneness. She knew this time with Riss was temporary. After they had contacted the desert people, Riss would be going back to Meeka and she’d be going back to her family…a family where she’d still be alone. Corree suppressed a sigh.
“What’s wrong?” Riss asked.
“Nothing.”
Riss snorted. “You might as well talk to me. I can practically touch your emotions.”
“Huh?”
“You’ve been…well, down for some reason. What? You don’t like my company? I smell bad or something?”
“I do like your company, Riss. That’s the problem.”
“Uh? What?”
“I mean we’ll be going back to our families after this is done. I love my family, but sometimes I just want someone my own age to talk to…to be with.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot your life mate died after your pod landed.” Riss didn’t say anything else, and Corree was able to discern his consternation.
They were both silent for a long time. Corree thought Riss might have dozed off.
“If we can all change like you have, I could come and visit you every once in a while,” he offered.
Corree laid her head on his chest. “I appreciate that, Riss. I don’t think Meeka would, but I do.”
“Or your group could come live with mine and…”
“And what? I wouldn’t ask Meeka to share her nest, uh cave. That wouldn’t be fair to her or anyone else.” Again there was a long silence. “I’m just going to enjoy your company while I have it.” With that, Corree terminated the topic.
“We’ll figure something out.”
Corree snorted, but she wished he could.
He pulled her closer and held her with his long muscular arms. She felt his heartbeat, smelled the heady musk of his pelt, and temporarily forgot about their dilemma.
****
The pair entered the dry regions through a mountain pass high above the desolate plain before them. A narrow path, carved out by wind and sporadic rain showers, switch-backed down the side of the last mountain. A light breeze indicated what would greet them when they left the mountains. Corree began sweating. Hopefully they would acclimatize by the time they reached the plain below.
“The map showed a group in that direction.” Corree pointed to a small hill in the distance, lit from behind by a rising moon.
“It will take half the night to get there.”
“And that’s only if we don’t run into something that wants to eat us.”
Riss chuckled deep in his throat. “We need to quit exercising our jaws and get going.”
Corree’s only response was to start down the rocky path. Riss followed close behind, grabbing her arm when she stumbled or slid. When he was ahead, she did the same for him.
By the time they reached the plain the first moon was a hand-width above the eastern horizon. During the trip, Corree had felt the itch of fur changing to something else, but she hadn’t looked closer than to verify that her pelt was receding.
“I think we can do it,” she muttered.
“What if they won’t let us stay?”
“I don’t know. Why wouldn’t they let us stay?”
“I think we’d better spend the day here,” Riss suggested. “I would hate to be caught out there at sunrise. We need to rest anyway.” They found a dusty cave barely big enough for both of them before the second moon had set.
“If I hadn’t seen it I wouldn’t have believed it,” Riss breathed.
He was staring at her, and she knew she had made another quick change. The tingling all over her body told her. Now, though, she took a close look. What was left of her pelt had changed color to match the grayness of the bleak desert ahead of them.
His pelt was still quite long, although she could tell Riss was changing, too. “Do you think they made me this way, or is this just some kind of fluke?” she asked.
“No way to know. If the creators did make you able to change more quickly than the rest of us…why?”
Corree shrugged. “I don’t know and to be honest, I don’t really care. I wish the Federation would leave us alone like they did for the past five years.” She tried to sleep, but the heat was stifling. The wind blew grit and dust in their faces. Thankfully, their noses had developed flaps that filtered out most of what blasted them out here.
At first moonrise, they were trotting across the hot sand toward the distant hill. As they traveled, Corree felt the soles of her feet harden. Soon she wasn’t feeling the sharp gravel. Her eyes were no longer affected by the dust. An extra lens covered her eyes, but still allowed her to see. This time she took the lead.
The first moon set and the second moon was directly overhead. There were no shadows to confuse them. They drew close to the hill of the desert settlement. Corree was puzzled by a soft glow and wondered how this group could have gotten the same kind of power she had seen in the teaching pod.
She felt ill at ease. Without thinking, Corree reached up and scratched behind one ear, something she always did when she sensed something wasn’t right. Except now there was no ear and her hair was short, thick fuzz. Each change seemed to come quicker as well as easier. That brought no comfort.
To her surprise, Corree could see the hill was not natural. Around it were smaller mounds near the large one. They weren’t natural, either. It was more like pods of varying sizes had been half buried in the sandy soil. Her skin prickled and her mind screamed an alarm.
As she reached out to stop Riss, the smaller mounds seemed to erupt. Towering figures burst from yellow-white openings. Tall and gaunt, Corree recognized them immediately. “Ologrians!” she shouted, grabbing Riss’s arm, spinning him around. He snarled a curse, hesitated a split second before following her. They ran back toward the mountains but got no more than a half dozen steps before something seemed to make all her muscles go limp. She fell without being able to put her hands out to break her fall. Her shoulder banged painfully against a rock, and her cheek scraped on the rough sand.
As she lay there fuming, Corree heard the low click clack she knew from her pod training was their language. She tried to call out to Riss, but couldn’t get her tongue to work. Without a great deal of hope, Corree attempted to contact Riss with her mind. Even as she did, her lungs yammered for air. She stopped trying to communicate and concentrated on her breathing. It was useless. Her muscles, her lungs; everything except her mind was asleep. Was she going to die? If she was, why struggle? Corree felt the darkness thicken and then she was aware of nothing.
****
A wizened old man sat quietly in his servo-chair. The only part of him that seemed alive was his eyes. They glowed bright with triumph. Tiny servo-bots hovered like flies around the old man’s body. They checked his breath, heartbeat, making sure he continued living. The light in his eyes finally reached his lips. They thi
nned and drew into a smile. Deep in his chest, gurgling laughter formed and pushed up his throat. It bubbled from his mouth and continued until he was gasping for air. The little bots squeaked in alarm, buzzing toward the life support devices. The old man slowly regained his breath but continued chuckling softly.
“What is it, Dr. Windemere?” one of his human aides asked, his voice anxious.
There were three of them standing behind their leader. The “aides” were scientists of incredible standing, geniuses in their own right, but they were like children next to him. If they didn’t believe it, Windemere was only too happy to point it out to them. These were the three, who along with Dr. Windemere, had created the hundreds of children sent down to Mendel. Now they gazed blankly at one another. Only Windemere knew everything that was going on.
One of them turned back to the data screens. “Doctor!” he cried out in alarm. “They’ve been captured by Ologrians!”
“Yes,” Windemere hissed. He paused to breathe. “They will take them to the Ologrian mother ship.” Before any of the scientists could say anything, he continued. “Where the dormant virus within the girl will awaken.” Another breath, but one more dramatic than necessary. “And spread a killing plague that will destroy every Ologrian on board.” He began chuckling again. “If we are lucky, one or two will escape to the home world and begin killing them all. If they don’t, the home world will eventually be curious enough to send someone to check out their derelict ship. The virus will still be viable and ready to infect anyone who goes on board.”
All three scientists looked ill at ease, but no one was surprised.
“A whole race,” the youngest scientist said under his breath.
“Eh, what was that?” Windemere snapped, touching the controls that whirled his chair around to face the speaker. The blotched face appeared stormy.
“I was reflecting on what a stroke of genius that was.”
Windemere turned back to the panel of readouts with a satisfied grunt. It was obvious he didn’t believe the underling, but he was satisfied at the fear he still wielded. “Do not ever forget how much the Federation has put into this project. Into all of it!” he thundered. “This is not just about one planet.” Once again his eyes studied the readouts and again he smiled in triumph. “It’s about much more than one planet.”
Chapter Eight
Corree woke up to pain stabbing deep inside her body, pulsing with each beat of her heart. She remembered what had happened and jerked around, expecting to see Ologrians. There was no one. She was unrestrained, lying on the floor of a small cubicle about twice her height long and half that wide. There was nothing on which to sit, no water or food, not that she was interested in anything to eat. Her stomach lurched, and she swallowed in an attempt to put it under control.
Pain shot through her legs, and she groaned out loud. Corree felt twinges in her fingers. They had lengthened, but with them there was only the stretching soreness like before. The pain in her lower limbs continued, echoing stabs going up and down her spine. After what seemed an eternity, it subsided into a dull ache that centered in her knees.
As the pain decreased, Corree found herself drifting into sleep. What else was there to do in this place? Troubling thoughts kept snatching her from full sleep. What if she woke more like an Ologrian than a human? What if she woke up wanting the taste of blood? She had changed before, but always into some variety of human mutation. While the outward appearance was different, her thoughts had not changed. She was still Corree. Would that happen when she turned all the way into an Ologrian? If she could just find a door. Then what? She felt groggy. So tired. I want to go home. But she couldn’t; she could only sleep….
****
Corree woke the second time, feeling tendrils of discomfort swirling in her head and across various parts of her body. It wasn’t sharp like before, and she was thankful for that. As before, Riss was not with her. Corree tried to stand and found it impossible at first. She was stiff and her legs were still sore, but the main problem was that she had an extra joint in each leg. It was like she had two knees and it was hard to get them to work together. One knee bent the way she was used to, while the other one hinged in the other direction. Holding on to the wall, Corree finally managed to pull herself up. Then there was the trick of remaining on her feet. She fell twice before she was able to walk more than one step.
After mastering that, Corree was anxious to examine the rest of her changed body. She held out her hands. There was no pelt, no smooth sea skin. It was more like the dry, scaly skin of the tree snakes. Her skin flaps were gone. The taller frame allowed her to reach up and touch the ceiling of her prison. Her fingers were now long and very slender. They also had an extra joint.
The light in the room seemed to have a rosy tint, Corree noticed as she continued the examination. Her weapon’s belt had been taken away. A soft, but durable cloth covering had been wrapped around her torso. A plain woven belt kept it from falling off. She finished her examination and realized her mutation to Ologrian was complete. How long had it taken? She was thirsty, but thankfully, she had no desire to drink anyone’s blood.
Carefully, Corree stepped off the perimeter of the room. It didn’t take that long, even as clumsy as she was. The hair on the back of her neck rose. She felt as though she was being watched, but there were no windows or peep holes where anyone could observe her. When she turned back from her exploration, she was surprised to see a tall container in the opposite corner of the room. How had they put that in there without opening a door? She studied the corner and walls behind the cylinder. There was nothing to show how the jug got there.
She examined the container and saw that it held some kind of liquid. There was no smell to tell her what it might be. She shook the container. It was the consistency of tree sap. Setting it down, Corree squatted in the corner and pondered. All the while her body clamored for her to take it and gulp down its contents. It was maddening. Finally, Corree decided it didn’t make any difference if she died of thirst or of poison. She drank the liquid slowly, not only trying to savor each swallow, but to see if it would do anything adverse to her body. It felt wonderful as it slid down her throat.
After finishing the contents of the jug, Corree practiced walking. She quickly got the hang of the rolling gait and paced around and around the confining room. When her mutated joints and muscles protested, Corree lay down and was soon asleep.
Another jug was waiting when she woke up. It held the same kind of nourishment. This time she didn’t hesitate. She picked it up and drank. Corree also noticed the ceiling was taller now. How did they do that?
Without warning a bright light shone on one wall. She saw an Ologrian drinking out of a container like hers. Clacking, garbled sounds accompanied the pictures. Every time she heard the words, the Ologrian took another drink. After several repetitions, Corree repeated the sounds and took a drink. The Ologrian faced her, much as the holo-man had done in the teaching pod and gave her a thin-lipped smile. They were teaching her their language!
Corree smiled back and said, “Thank you for the drink.” The picture didn’t move, but she heard a different string of sounds. Could that be their way of saying thank you? If so, that meant they knew her language. Why didn’t they just talk to her? And why didn’t one of them show himself? She wondered about Riss. Where was he? Was he all right?
The lessons continued. She was shown pictures of different objects and their accompanying word/sounds. The lessons seemed to go on forever, but Corree had no idea of actual time. When she had learned enough words, the unseen instructor began putting them together into sentences. It was at this point that the training became more intense. One day she found herself conversing rather effortlessly with her projected instructor. He began asking her questions. At first they were innocent enough; questions about her life on Mendel. They asked her what she ate, what she and her group did during their days, what the forest was like. After a while, the questions were about the Federation.
“I want to talk to someone real,” she snapped at the insistent holo-Ologrian. The Ologrian disappeared. It was silent inside the cubicle. She was left with her thoughts. Food and sleep came twice and still she was left alone.
She was surprised, then, to see a tall figure staring at her through a window. As soon as the Ologrian knew she was aware of him, he began to speak to her in his language. “Are you able to understand me?”
Corree could only nod, her surprise was so great.
“I am Greelon.” He added something she didn’t figure out until later in the conversation. When she did, Corree felt her insides twist around. Greelon was a scientist. He was an Ologrian scientist. What would they do to her? And when they were done, would they eat her? Corree tried to keep her features calm as he continued to talk to her.
“Why did you come all the way from the mountains to our base?” He had to repeat himself several times before she understood the question.
Corree ignored it. “Where is Riss?”
Greelon’s deep-set eyes looked puzzled for a slight moment. “Riss? Do you mean the one who was with you?”
“Yes.”
“He is in another room. We had to…him so he would not hurt himself.”
He must have seen the alarmed look on her face, because he reworded his statement. “He became angry and beat on the walls during the lessons. We had to give him something to…sleep. We had to do the same when he changed, to help him during his mutation. He had a great deal more pain than you did.” That was a statement, so Corree didn’t bother to say anything.
Corree felt a small bit of relief. Greelon cocked his head slightly, as though trying to figure out something he didn’t understand. She felt bad for Riss, but at least he was still alive. The Ologrian repeated his previous question.