17. “I haven’t seen the Veloc move that quickly since the last time I summoned them for their dinner. What did you do?”

SEVENTEEN

“I haven’t seen the Veloc move that quickly since the last time I summoned them for their dinner. What did you do?”

The air tasted vile. Had I been in charge of the expedition, I would have viewed the flavor as the sole warning sign I needed that the planet was not suitable for human life. I flattened my ears and growled over the planet’s assault to my delicate sensibilities, going to work gathering samples and preparing the ten different terrariums so some other scientist could study the planet’s natural ecosystem. I appreciated the terrariums, which were round glass balls with stoppered tops perfect for gathering soil, plants, insects, and anything else I felt might survive within its sealed confines.

As I wanted to gather a good variety, I decided I would set up each terrarium with different mosses, small plants, and life. I might even be tempted to follow their progress over the years, as long as I wasn’t subjected to the planet’s rather odiferous atmosphere.

“You do not like this planet,” Fogali observed, staying out of my swiping reach while documenting what types of plants, soil samples, and how much water I added to my latest experiment. “Might I inquire on why?”

“It stinks.”

“Ah. You can smell the fungus. We Veloc can smell it as well. Viva detects something is amiss. Delta is oblivious. He says it smells like a damp forest.”

“I mean, it smells like a damp forest, if that damp forest were rotting.” I sighed and resumed hunting through the soil for the appropriate substrate needed to keep the terrarium thriving long after it was sealed and removed from the planet. Half of the terrariums would use carbon I would make through burning native wood species. The other half would use a collection of mosses.

Both methods were known to work, and it would be interesting to see which of the terrariums survived the longest.

In my classes, the teachers had been clear: even the slightest imbalance in the ecosystem could result in the terrarium’s failure.

I’d struck gold not far from the landing site for the base layer in the form of volcanic rock, the porous kind that would hold water well and keep the terrarium system naturally cycling. In classes, we’d discussed the use of native volcanic rock, but we’d used fired clay pellets blended with other materials to serve as the drainage layer.

“Okay, please mark that all terrariums are using volcanic rock for the first layer,” I requested, taking the time to measure each glass bowl and report the thickness of the layer. “Can you see if you can find some wood suitable to be burned in this cesspool? I need to create the carbon, and I will not be cheating and raiding Viva’s stockpiles for activated charcoal.”

“I told her it was an unnecessary acquisition, but she insisted. Terrariums use activated charcoal.” The Veloc raised his feathers, lifted his head, and sniffed. “I smell prey.”

Right. I dealt with a hungry feathered murder machine. “Go hunt dinner, I’ll prep an area for a fire and start making the charcoal. Just try to bring back something edible along with wood ready to be burned.”

The Veloc hooted, bounded in the direction of Viva’s ship, paused long enough to dump his tablet onto the ramp, and bounded off. Yulgali joined him, and the pair vanished into the forest, leaving me to deal with the terrariums on my own.

A rather amused Delta came out to join me. “I haven’t seen the Veloc move that quickly since the last time I summoned them for their dinner. What did you do?”

“Fogali smelled prey, and I’m at the stage where I need to burn wood and make charcoal. I don’t want to use charcoal that wasn’t sourced from this planet for this project. For the record, after I’m done with these terrariums, I’m going to get out my botany book and do some sketching, and I’m going to contemplate the entire destruction of this world.”

“The smell is getting to you, isn’t it? Viva isn’t happy about it, and the Veloc are less than pleased but tolerating it better than you and she are.”

“It smells like the death of everything I like,” I replied, wrinkling my nose. “Palta’s genetics have made my sense of smell much stronger.”

“We’ll become blind to the smell soon enough. Viva is tracking the incoming storm, and she thinks the ship will be safe enough on the ground. She’ll use anchors and be ready to take off in case things sour, but she wants to evaluate the planet during poor weather.”

Witnessing a storm would be interesting. “Can the ship withstand trees hitting it?”

“Yes, with ease. She’ll be using a shielding system she has, which will bounce off projectiles. It’s the same system that let us enter the atmosphere without the ship being destroyed by stray birds hitting us.”

My classes hadn’t yet covered those systems, and I hoped they would happen soon. “Do you think Waldren and his sister coped with those storms?”

“Inevitably. They spent years here. Anyway, there’s a lot of wildlife here, and they’re able to survive through the storms. Considering the colony ship has been parked for decades without an issue, we should be fine here.”

“ Should be sounds like famous last words, Delta.”

“You know that and I know that, but Viva really wants to be outside when the storm rolls in. As I think she’s adorable when resembling a drowned rat, I’ve decided to go with her flow.”

“I will not be engaging in such things,” I replied, and to make it clear what I felt about appearing to be a drowned rat, I hissed. “Absolutely not.”

“That’s because you’re sensible. However much I love my wife, when she gets an idea like this into her head, sense leaves the building. Just go hide inside when the storm hits. It’ll be fine.”

I was the only one to hide inside the ship when the storm hit. Had I been outside during the first crack of thunder, I would have fled. As it was, my fur stood on end, I hissed every time the clouds vocalized their displeasure, and not even the thick hull of the ship could erase the drumming of the rain.

The wind hissed, growled, and, on occasion, roared its fury.

I retreated to my quarters, closed the door, hid under the blankets, and crammed a pillow over my head, which did a decent job of mitigating the worst of the sound.

I didn’t mind most storms, but the one that tore across the island cared nothing for those in its path, and it took everything I thought I’d known about nature’s fury and amplified it.

The minutes stretched into hours, and when exhaustion finally caught up to me, I slept through as much of the torrential downpour and raging gales as I could.

Only after the thunder quieted did a rather amused—and soaked—Fogali poke and prod me awake. “We come bearing gifts.”

I hissed at him, flattening my ears and swatting at his hand. Fortunately for me, he’d capped his claws, else I would have bled. “Is the storm over? That’s the only gift I want.”

He cooed. “It is over. How does it feel being the only sane being on this island?”

“As I’m alive, it’s okay. Is everyone else alive?”

“We are. We have rescued a creature who would have surely perished from the storm, and it’s a friendly little thing. Viva thinks it will make a good companion for Squeakers. You like the pitiable little things, so you should come introduce yourself.”

“Is it one of those cat-like beings?”

“No. It’s an undocumented species. Viva has spent the past three hours confirming we can take it from the planet, as it would, without our intervention, perish. She’s already handled registering it, acquiring the appropriate permits, and handling the base care.” The Veloc stole my pillow, set it aside, and went to work extracting me from my blanket. “We have had a most excellent hunt. Come see our prizes.”

As the Veloc would keen their grief if thwarted, I got out of bed. “My pajamas better be good enough for this.”

“You may run around the ship in your pajamas if you’d like. I recommend it. Just watch the hem of your pants, else they will get wet. Roll them up. We have dripped water and mud throughout the ship, much to Viva’s dismay. Cleaning will keep us busy while you research the wonders of this island. After we clean, we will be attempting to tame our prey.”

Uh oh. “Your prey is still alive?”

“We have caught several of the young deer, old enough to be weaned but young enough we might be able to domesticate them. Viva thinks it is a terrible idea. Delta also thinks it is a terrible idea. We agreed it is a terrible idea, but we wish to try anyway. We have an island on our world much like this one, and it does not have any life on it right now. We can populate it with sufficient life for our herd. And if it does not work out, they are delicious.”

“Release the carnivorous death deer,” I ordered, glaring at the Veloc. “You do not need any more carnivorous mounts.”

Fogali’s crest snapped up. “We did not think to try mounting them. Even the young ones are large enough and strong enough to support our weight.”

“You weigh practically nothing for giant feathered murder machines.” Both Veloc did weigh more than I did, although not by much. I took the time to roll up my pants and went to the door of my quarters to discover a muddy mess in Viva’s once pristine hall. The presence of cloven hoof prints on the floors and walls indicated their new death deer wanted nothing to do with being captive. “How many injuries have they caused so far?”

“Surprisingly, none. We’re quite agile.”

I sighed. “Where are the death deer?”

“They’re in the cargo bay taking a breather before we try to walk them through the ship again.”

Shaking my head over the insanity, I went to see what the death deer were like and hopefully talk everyone into releasing them back into the wild where they belonged. Inside the cargo bay, Yulgali battled with an animal reminiscent of a horse with a pair of spiraling horns, one placed in front of the other, much like a mythical unicorn’s. The first of the horns was smaller than the second, and both could likely pierce through somebody without much difficulty.

Rather than a horse’s blunt teeth, it possessed sharp incisors, which it snapped at the Veloc.

“That is not a deer,” I said, shaking my head. From top to bottom, it appeared as though someone had taken Earth horses, made them carnivores, and set them loose to evolve as they saw fit. “Outside of the cloven hooves, that definitely appears far more equine than cervid. The body shape, size, and conformation all point to equine.” I took the time to explain the differences between equine and cervid anatomy. “While some species of cervid will eat the stray mouse and other rodent, neither species are carnivorous. That is definitely carnivorous.”

Fascinated by the animal’s build, I drew closer, narrowing my eyes while I watched it breathe. “Are they nose and mouth breathers or solely nose breathers?”

“They can breathe from nose and mouth,” Viva reported from a safe distance away. “I had the unpleasant job of pinching its nostrils closed to see if they’re like horses. They can hold their breath, they can breathe out of either their nose or their mouth, and we have discovered, through misfortune, they’re capable of vomiting.”

Ew. “Why did it vomit?”

“The one that vomited is ill.” Viva pointed across the cargo bay, where Delta knelt next to a downed death deer. Judging from its sides, the poor thing struggled to breathe. “You have no idea how much damned paperwork I’m doing to lug these fucking things off this planet alive. But Yulgali cried when he realized she’s sick.”

“I did not cry. I keened softly.”

“That is the equivalent of you crying.” The fox hybrid huffed, she puffed, and she turned her ears back. “Delta’s trying to figure out why she’s sick, but none of us are vets.”

“I think it’s the fungus,” Delta said, shaking his head. “Did we bring enough of the treatment to try her on a dose?”

“I brought enough treatment to handle about six hundred people because your father is a worry wart. Dosage is one unit per ten pounds for homo sapiens , fifteen units per ten pounds for Veloc. If you want to try to dose her with it, go for it. It’s administered by syringe. The worst you’re going to do is kill her faster.” Viva grimaced. “Her symptoms match what Waldren’s sister claimed happened to the rest of the colony, so it’s a solid guess. We have noticed that there are not many older specimens of the death deer here.”

“They’re not deer. Equines. Horses,” I said, and I went over to the sickly one, joined Delta, and mustered enough courage to stroke her nose.

Rather than bite me, she bumped my hand back before coughing.

Poor thing.

“Okay, I’ve changed my mind. We can try to rescue the death horses. But I don’t want to hear any damned crying if we lose them.” I sighed and, aware of how genetics worked, said, “How are we going to handle genetic diversity?”

“We will evaluate all the islands, see if they have populations of the death horses, and take a pair from each island. Then we will return every two or three years and steal more death horses. Ideally, we will steal the sickened horses, restore their health, breed them, and diversify the population that way,” Fogali said, and he joined me and Delta at the laboring animal. “This is not the first time we have done such a thing. We have machines that can help with genetic therapy as well.”

Yulgali, who still battled his death horse, managed to get the animal to lower its head without stabbing him. With a practiced hand, he transformed the rope into a halter, secured it above and below the animal’s horns, and braced for the next wave. When the death horse relaxed, he loosened the rope around its neck, cooing to offer reassurances.

“Shouldn’t that process take a lot longer?” I asked, marveling over how Yulgali had wrangled the beast.

“They’re smart, and Yulgali killed one of the other ones, so the response is fear based. We will train them out of that, as we won’t eat them—at least where they can see,” Fogali informed me, and he petted the sickened animal. “Delta, go get the medication. I will keep her company with Camellia. It is better to overdose than not in this case. Bring clean water, the spray fungicides, and towels. We will need them. I did not bring a brush suitable for their coats.”

“I can make something,” Viva promised. “I’ll go with you, Delta. I think I have some items in the med kit we can use to help open her airways. I came stocked with cervid, bovine, and equine medications knowing we’d be hunting these animals.”

Once the couple left, Yulgali hooted a laugh, which startled the healthier death horse into rearing and pulling back against the rope. “That one would save the universe if she could. I knew this would be our fate before she did. I checked the species registrations and saw the variety of species prized off this world. And that the sickly one seems to be dying from the fungus is of interest—they must have a short lifespan.”

“How long does it take the fungus to actually kill people?” I asked. “You said it was a year for the infection to be irreversible?”

Fogali sighed, and he flattened his crest. “In homo sapiens , it is a year for the fungus to take root beyond what we can currently treat. It is closer to ten years for the virus to kill. This is part of what made the trauma so bad for Waldren and his sister. It wasn’t just the adults who died. The other children died as well, many of them while infants. The fungus gets into the entire body, and the children were infected with the mature spores at birth. According to Waldren’s sister, they were the only surviving children of the colony. After the adults died, the few young children struggling to survive followed soon after. We have located the burial site.”

I winced. “But can the fungus be treated? She’s so sick.”

“She is not a homo sapiens . We don’t know. We will find out, however. She will either live or die, but she will do so with the best care we can give her.” Fogali scratched behind the death horse’s ear, and the animal leaned into his touch. “The ears are a sacred scratching spot uniting all species, I see.”

“Do you think that we’ll be able to develop a treatment for when the fungus has been established for longer than a year?”

“That is something we don’t know—and nobody is willing to test to find out. Thus far, there has been a zero success rate for treatments. Waldren and his sister are immune, and nobody understands why. Perhaps if we can figure out why they’re immune, then a treatment can be made. The answer is buried in their genetics somewhere. Nobody knows where, though. No matter how much we progress, there will always be secrets.” The Veloc sighed, and he cooed to comfort the death horse. “But we leave this world knowing we tried to save one—and if we can save her, we can save others like her. And then this species will be given a chance to thrive on one of our worlds.”

“Do you think they can thrive on other worlds?”

“Surely. This species must have come from Earth stock, likely genetically modified for survival. Earth horses are fragile things, and much of what makes horses fragile has been resolved with deliberate intent with these animals.” Fogali gestured to the death horse’s nose. “Take her illness, for example. An Earth horse would have perished from this already. Their lungs are weak. They cannot vomit. They cannot do many things this beauty can. Her entire body has been modified for survivability. She is a marvel of genetic engineering. Someone made her on purpose. But who?”

The why I could understand. I’d paid attention to my lessons about Earth.

Homo sapiens loved horses, and they had formed a partnership with the animals from their earliest civilizations.

“I’d guess some variant of homo sapiens . Even on Earth, they tried to unlock the secrets of the universe and master the art of creation.” I sighed, wondering what the rest of the day would hold. “But I guess the other animals here haven’t avoided the fungus, have they? They just live long enough to continue breeding and surviving.”

“I feel you are right—and ten years for homo sapiens is insufficient to breed and establish populations. Horses can breed as early as two years old. By the time they’re dying from the fungus, they’ve potentially bred six to eight times. That’s enough to keep the population increasing. There are scavengers on this world that benefit from the ready supply of bodies as well.” The Veloc shook himself off, and it took me a moment to realize the situation stressed him. “We will have to manage the populations carefully and perhaps work on a vaccine to give the herds to extend their lifespan a few years—enough we can steal away a few little ones each year for our breeding program without endangering the wild population. But it depends on what we find on the other islands. Is this island the only place with these animals?”

We would find out soon enough, assuming Viva was willing to fly us island to island before we left. “Can we observe their habits enough to know what they eat?”

“They are adventurous, decent enough swimmers, and hunt fish when the waters are calmer. They also will eat their own dead. I don’t know if they eat any of the other animals on the island—and if the other animals suffer from the fungus as well.”

I bet they did, else the island would have been overrun with birds and animals. “Considering how rare wildlife is, I’m assuming the fungus is aggressive and nothing is immune to it except other plants. The botany thrives.” I hesitated. “Only the botany seems to thrive.”

“Perhaps we should collect all mammal, avian, and reptilian life we can and test to see if they’re infected with the fungus.”

“Fish, too,” I said. “I’ll take care of the death horse as much as I can. I’m the reason we’re here, after all.”

“That’s a good way to end up the owner of the death horse,” Fogali warned me. “She won’t be suitable for staying on Cremora Delta; your quarters do not have space for her, and where they keep their equines is too far for you to work with. But should she become your animal, we can stipulate that your adopting clan must provide for her and her kin. We can take over the other creatures, which are more rodent in nature from the looks of it. Assuming, of course, they survive treatments.”

“Do you think we can teach them that Palta and Squeakers aren’t food?”

“With the right psionic abilities, I’m sure it can be done. There is nothing in the rules that bans you from taking your choice of five animals alive .” The Veloc heaved a pained sigh. “You could even abuse us, taking our animals.”

“And the dying ones?”

“Would be registered as rescues and would not count against your five. We can’t do too much damage to the population here, though. We will evaluate their numbers, and assuming we can save this girl, we will rescue others close to death. And if we can’t, we will have learned more about the nature of this fungus —and perhaps figure out a way to treat homo sapiens that have been infected for longer than a year.”

It would be a good start. “Do you think these animals were on the planet while Waldren was here?”

“Certainly. They likely stocked the island with them. We can confirm that from the colony’s records, though. That means boarding that awful ship and seeing if their systems survived. Viva appreciates a challenge, and she can teach you more of how your link works trying to revive the ship’s systems.”

“I would like that, but I’ll care for the death horse first.” I pointed at the male, which Yulgali had managed to tame enough to pet. “That one, too.”

“I will hope, for your sake, that they both survive. I do not think I am prepared to deal with every homo sapiens on board shedding tears over their loss.”

I could see myself crying quite a lot over the animals should either die. “I’ll try to be reasonable.”

It wouldn’t work, but I would try.

“Once Delta and Viva return, I will see about catching more wildlife to evaluate for the fungus. Perhaps we will learn more from your terrariums as well.”

“I’ll need some time to do my sketches and investigate the plants,” I murmured, wondering how I’d cram everything in.

“We will figure something out, including how best to purge the fungus from ourselves and everything we take off the island. But for the moment, we will see what we can do for these animals. Just prepare for the worst. In homo sapiens , she would die in the next day or two at most. There might be nothing we can do. But if we can purge the fungus, we can make use of a regenerative machine to restore her organs. There is little hope, but there is hope.”

A chance was all I could ask for.

I’d been given a chance, and if I could give the death horses a new lease on life, I would.