"Pets"

which won an Honorable Mention in The Writers Of The Future Contest and evolved into Lost Among The Stars. T’Chana stole through the underbrush and froze as an unfamiliar stench overwhelmed her. She sniffed again and wrinkled her nose in distaste. Whatever could it be? Carefully, she stepped over any twig that might snap and betray her presence. Her heart thumping, she parted the ferns with her delicate fingers and peered at the scene before her. Listening with every fiber in her body, T'Chana studied the intruders who had invaded her world.
* * *
“Allison! The dinner party's started.”
Miles Gates strode past the bubble domes in the clearing.
“Something interesting out there, Allie? Looks like jungle to me.” Miles drew a deep breath of air--air so clean it hurt one's lungs at first. The aroma of the tree blossoms tickled his nose and he sneezed. Allison laughed and turned around. She plucked a spray of red flowers and tucked them over her ear.
“That'll teach you to try and sneak up on me. Better than any perfume Earth has to offer.”
Miles grunted. “Sometimes this green colony is a little too green.” He brushed an emerald butterfly off his hair. “The planet Papillon, butterfly. Silly name. At least most of our species of butterflies are surviving here. We’d better have something more than flowers, butterflies and yang fur to offer soon. This colony can’t survive without more money. We need those qual gems!”
A yang bellowed and Miles glanced at the enclosures. The yang was an odd animal, he thought, nearly reptilian. It shed its lovely coat twice a year, skin and all as it grew, and yang grew as long as they lived.
“Nasty brutes,” he commented. “I hate raising something that could eat the children.”
“Yang fur is worth a lot, dear,” Allison said. “After all, yang fur is as fine as mink and you don't have to kill them to get it. Everyone is wearing fur again who can afford it since the yang were discovered.”
Miles snorted. “Qual gems are still worth more and they don't eat everything smaller than themselves. Yang remind me of wolverines crossed with small triceratops. Pity the race that discovered the jewels is long extinct. They could have told us how to mine them without violating our policies. My only chance to meet aliens came too late.” Miles sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.
Allison tickled his nose with a flower. “Like we would have been allowed to met them or colonize this world if they were still here. Miles, something is out there is watching us. I can feel it."
Miles put an arm around her and hugged her reassuringly but watched the underbrush for a moment.
“Probably a wild yang,” Miles said sourly. “The force field will keep it away. We have other problems. Your son managed to smuggle that puppy on board and now everyone wants it. We are going to have declare him the colony mascot."
Allison laughed. "Now he's my son? He gets that from you and you know it! As good as that puppy is for morale we should have a dozen. After all, a miniature doxie pup is barely the size of a rat."
"That isn't the point! The colony just can't afford to import pets right now; they are a luxury item. Now if you could just teach that dog to dig up qual gems, he'd be worth keeping."
Allison laughed and pulled away. “You worry too much. Race you!”
She sprang away and Miles raced after her.
* * *
T'Chana rose from her crouch twitching her leaf-shaped ears. She shook back her feathery mane. Giant sentient beings--where had they come from? Earth, the large ones thoughts said. Where was Earth? Their very thoughts were alien. "Force field," meant that strange shimmer in the air she had dug under, mistrusting its twinkle and faint whine. She gazed at the dome village and sighed. Once the T'Chal had lived in homes finer than these but that was long ago before the plague. Now they struggled to survive, slipping gradually into barbarism. Too few remained--if things did not improve soon, their race would vanish like a cast-off yang skin.
T'Chun squirmed in her pouch interrupting her musings. Hearing his hungry thoughts T'Chana patted the youngling. Soon, she promised him.
T'Chana stripped the bush of its berries mollifying her son as she searched for game. An enticing odor drifted to her nostrils as she tested the breeze and her mane quivered. The newcomers had yang and yang were meat, albeit dangerous meat that also devoured T'Chal.
Humming softly T'Chun scrambled to T'Chana's back and clung to her crest. T'Chana pulled her puff-tube out of the sheath hidden in her golden plumes and slithered behind the domes. The yang squealed as they caught her scent. An unfamiliar noise assaulted the T'Chal's ears. She hissed, her mane standing stiffly erect.
"What's that fool pup barking at?"
T'Chana fled, shaking, as her youngling dived back into her pouch. A hysterical yapping made her snarl and hiss. The puppy had found them. He was no larger than her youngling. She aimed a thought at the creature. He yelped then retreated to the dome with his tail between his legs.
The T'Chal caught a delicious scent, more appetizing than yang and easier to obtain, as it rose from a bowl sitting on the ground.
Cautiously, T'Chana knelt and touched the stew with her long, scaly fingers. It was warm. She raised her hand to her muzzle and sniffed. It smelled wonderful. Placing her fingers in her mouth T'Chana sucked avidly at them.
Her youngling whimpered, sticking his head out of her pouch, and she gave him her fingers to lick. T'Chana stiffened as an alien thought flickered across her mind. One of the creatures watched her, the one they thought of as "Allison." T'Chana whirled and fled down her burrow then climbed out the other side into the jungle.
* * *
“What in the world was that and how did it get through the force field?" Miles asked from behind her.
Allison stared into the jungle. "I don't know. Another reptile-mammal thing like the yang, only cute and bipedal. It looked just like a toy dragon with a golden feathered crest all the way down its spine and green fur. Big, shiny black button eyes. Cute. A fuzzy bipedal lizard with feathers? Maybe it is evolving into a bird, except I'd swear it had a pouch like a kangaroo."
"Puts me more in mind of a seahorse that evolved on land with claws for digging." Miles stalked into the berry patch and searched the ground. "Well, I'll be a yang's uncle! It dug under the field. Smart little critter. First digger we've run across. I think I'll christen it, 'Gates Landhorse.' What do think?"
"If you say so. Looks more like a midget dragon to me. It's darling, whatever it is. I wonder if they are tamable and what they eat?"
"Omnivore, it looks like. Better turn on the field around the yang. It might like yang and yang eggs, too."
"I'm going to leave her some more of the pup's stew. She looked hungry."
"She?"
"There was a baby landhorse sticking its feathered head out of her pouch."
"Oh, and I suppose you want that baby?" Miles snorted, throwing his hands into the air. “Just what we don’t need, another mouth to feed.”
"Don't you roll your eyes at me, Miles Gates. It's young enough to be tamed and it will make a darling pet," Allison said firmly. Just like the puppy. Only we can get more of the landhorses if we can trap them. I’m sure they don’t eat much. We’ll find more qual gems soon. Once we discover which of these plants have value to Earth we’ll be set. Stop fretting."
* * *
T'Chana watched as the two beings went back into the dome. The smaller one came back with another bowl and left it on the ground. The meaty odor made the T'Chal swallow as hunger knotted her stomach.
T'Chana stared at the steam rising from the bowl, feeling torn. The odor was irresistible but their thoughts made her uneasy. Take her youngling? Like the puppy? Puppy was the thing that bayed at her.
What was a pet? Some kind of slave relationship like Doomble moths and Roan bugs? Where one lived off the secretions of another?
Warily, T'Chana slunk into the compound. She hunted for traps and finding none she tasted the stew, then let her youngling eat. T'Chana licked her mouth as she waited for him to finish. The three day hunger paced in her middle like a wild yang. Finally, T'Chun sighed and crawled back in her pouch. T'Chana ate what was left.
She crawled through the tunnel and drowsed in the chamber on the other side of the shimmering barrier. A grunting woke her. T'Chana leaped away in terror as a huge beaked snout dug at her burrow. The old yang grabbed at the quivering T'Chal, snapping his beak on the empty air and then getting a mouthful of dirt. She raced back to the other end of her tunnel.
The yang hooted in disgust. Then it spied T'Chana on the other side of the bushes and charged. She gasped as the beast hit an invisible wall and bounced off, shrieking in pain. The monster yang turned and fled into the jungle. Shaken, T'Chana stayed on the alien's side of the force field, hidden in her hole.
The next day, T'Chana spied on the camp, studying the "humans," (as they thought of themselves) fussing over the puppy. Slowly, the seed of an idea grew in her mind. She reached out with her thoughts and nudged one of the human younglings. She watched as it trampled into the ferns and squatted in front of her--its yellow crests hanging about its naked face.
T'Chana wrinkled her velvety muzzle. Clumsy thing. Its pale skin, totally devoid of fur, was unappealing but not all could be as attractive as the T'Chal, she reminded herself. At least its thoughts were kind. HER thoughts were kind, T'Chana corrected herself. This youngling was a female.
"Hi, I'm Julie. Aren't you cute? Come here, little dragon horse. I won't hurt you, little darling."
T'Chana understood cute and darling. She emanated cuteness, harmlessness--and hunger at the girl.
"Oh, you're hungry," Julie crooned, brushing back her thick braids.
"Wait here!" She skipped back to her dwelling and returned with something warm and sweet smelling. "Here's a cookie for you, little dragon-horse. You're so cute. Come here. Don't run away!"
T'Chana snatched the cookie and retreated, leaving the girl calling in dismay. She shared her bounty with her son but saved half for later. These creatures could be influenced. This needed thought. She must consult with the elders.
T'Chana worked her way through the jungle, then froze as hungry thoughts hit her mind. The Yang! Terrified, she crept into a hole and pushed at the creature's thoughts, trying to influence it to go the other way. Sometimes it worked, sometimes one lost.
“Get behind me,T'Chun!” She put herself between the beast and her youngling--if she failed her youngling could escape while the Yang fed on her. “Return to the aliens if I am caught. They will feed and protect you.” T'Chun squeaked but climbed from her pouch and hid behind her back.
With shaking hands T'Chana loaded her puff tube. Old Yang stomped through the vines like a mountain. Even the humans would be wise to steer clear of this monster.
Raising its horned snout the yang sniffed the air. Finally, it bellowed and galloped off in the opposite direction. T'Chana heard the death shriek of the beast it found and shuddered. T'Chun climbed back in her pouch and T'Chana resumed her journey.
The burrow was nearly overgrown but she managed to find it and crawl under the ruins of the ancient city.
The old one stared thoughtfully at her as he stroked his whitened mane. His crest hung nearly to the ground. He was humming in contentment, having devoured the remains of the cookie T'Chana brought him.
Finally he spoke, "I am all that remains of the elders. T'Chol wanders in his mind. Soon he will depart. Our survival is at stake. Symbiosis may be the answer I have searched for, little one. Take the last two hands of our people and see if this thing will work."
"What is symbiosis, old one?"
"An old word, for an old one," muttered the male. He sent the meaning into her mind, his thoughts wavering with age.
"Mind-bonding! One only mind bonds with one's mate. This is for life," T'Chana protested.
"Your mate is dead, T'Chana. Your child may be next. Please do what I ask!"
T'Chana bowed her head her crest covering her face. They needed the big ones to protect them. She bade the elder a sad farewell. He would not come with her. Soon he too would make the journey; the last of the T'Chal to remember their golden age. None was left to bury the elders perhaps she could get the big ones to do it someday. They prized the gems the old ones had cut and polished. T'Chana also admired their beauty but saw no practical use for them in her daily struggle for survival. Still, T'Chun like to play with them. She dropped some into her pouch for him to play with on the journey back. He was hungry again. T'Chana's milk had dried up from her own hunger. She thought of the stew and steeled herself to return to the big ones. If only they didn't smell so bad!
* * *
"Anything in the trap today, Miles?"
“No.” Miles sighed and brushed his hair out of his face.
"Well, it was a good try," Allison said. "Tell Toby you’re sorry about the puppy. It must have been sick when we landed."
“Or it ate something it shouldn’t have. I just don't want that young man trying to wander into the jungle to catch a landhorse. Especially after that yang monster attacked the berry pickers," Miles told her grimly. "Toby and that Julie Smith were arguing over who would bag one first. I catch any kids past the force field and they'll have cause to regret it."
* * *
T'Chana crouched at the edge of the forest; she bobbed to the other T'Chal then edged cautiously into the camp. Waves of grief came from the human youngling seated on the log. Wetness streaked his cheeks. He didn't smell like the adults did. Maybe something could be done about it. T'Chana hopped on the log beside him and chirped.
"A landhorse! Hi, little landhorse. Want a cookie?" He snuffled, then held out a piece to T'Chana. Boldly, she jumped into his lap. Toby grinned as she ate from his hand, his eyes widening as her baby's head popped out of her pouch to nibble with his mother.
“Yum, you smell like pumpkin pie. All spicy.”
Toby stroked her velvet fur and carried her into the dome. The waiting T'Chal listened for T'Chana's thoughts. Could these creatures be handled or would their race be at their mercy?
Another T'Chal crept into the compound via the burrow. He peered around and chirped in astonishment. Old Yang's hide flapped on a tree. Never again would the beast hunt any of their race.
* * *
Later that night, Allison sat on Toby's bed and brushed back the hair from her sleeping son's face, then gasped in astonishment at the bundle of fur in the boy's arms. The landhorse chirped at her.
"Miles, look!"
Miles stared at the landhorse. "Well, what do you know? I guess that kid can tame anything. Tell him to train her to keep off the bed. I can make her a pen in the back." The little creature stared intently at him out of obsidian eyes. Miles rubbed his forehead and threw his hands in the air.
"Oh, well. A little thing like that doesn't take much space. I guess she can sleep on the bed for tonight. At least she smells nice. I wonder if it's something she eats? Smells like pumpkin pie spices." Shaking his head, he closed the door.
The next morning Miles strode into the kitchen and froze, his face tightening. "Hey, what do you think you are doing, feeding that animal at the table? Pets eat out of bowls on the floor! You know that, young man. Get that thing off the chair, now!"
Toby tensed, his freckled face defiant. He thrust his small chin out belligerently. "She ain't no animal. She's T'Chal, and her name is T'Chana."
"I suppose she told you that," Miles snapped. He grabbed for the landhorse but his hands stopped inches from her green velvet fur. Black eyes gazed soulfully at him, batting long, dark lashes. Slowly, his hands lowered while he stared at her, then he rubbed his forehead.
"Well, at least she's neater than a baby would be," he muttered. "I need some coffee! Nice, what was put in the coffee? It smells spicy.”
“Th'ral spice. T'Chana found it,” Toby said proudly.
Miles froze. “How do we know its not poisonous to humans?”
“Oh, T'Chana knows,” Toby said airily. “Makes you smell good, too. Adults stink you know, Dad.”
Miles shook his head. “I'd better take it to the lab just in case. If it pans out we have another export. Coffee grows well here. Add some of this spice and it will sell well back on Earth.”
T'Chana breathed a sigh of relief. This one was smart. She must be careful not to nudge him too hard--just enough to manage him while her alter ego was still a youngling. The bond between them strengthened with each new day. She could hear Toby's thoughts and feel his emotions without trying just as he was learning to feel hers.
Miles noted that within a week every child in the compound had their own landhorse and everyone smelled spicy. Most adults cooed over the pets and babied them constantly. The children even brought them to their lessons, unable to part with them for a moment.
"I tell you, Allison, this obsession everyone in this compound has with those animals is beginning to scare me. It's almost like we've been invaded by little green men."
"Oh, don't be silly, Miles. They're only pets. I'm going to see Dr. Shan this morning. Look after Toby." Allison kissed her husband, her son and the landhorse, then left the dome. Miles stared at her as she kissed the pet. He shook his head and returned to his reading.
Miles raised his eyes from the page as a giggle came to his ears. He frowned. Toby was stroking his fuzzy green companion and giggling as her ears twitched.
Why, I wonder? Miles thought. She twitches those ears all the time.
Outside, the children giggled at a wild yang trying to get past the force barrier to join the yang in the pen. The leaf-shaped ears of their pets twitched in response.
"Toby, what's so funny?"
"Nothing, Dad."
"I don't know what you and your mother see in that worthless animal. She labors not, neither does she spin, but she eats plenty at my expense and doesn't do one useful thing."
"Yes she does, Dad. Look at these! T'Chana brought them." He held out a handful of red and black fire that made Miles gasp.
Qual gems, worth more than this colony could make in a year. Toby poured the cut stones into his father's outstretched palm and returned to stroking his pet as Miles gaped over the jewels.
"These stones are worth more than all we have put together! The landhorses are natural burrowers. They must collect shiny objects--just like some crows or magpies on Earth. We certainly can use the credits. Did your mother tell you she's going to have a baby?"
"I know. It's a girl. T'Chun likes her."
"T'Chun?"
"T'Chana's youngling. She'll be his pet."
Miles stared at his son, his eyes narrowed with suspicion as he measured the creature on the boy's shoulder. She batted her doe eyes innocently at him.
No, Miles thought in dismissal as he inspected the gems through a jeweler's lens, Allison is right, I'm being paranoid. Nothing that small could possibly be intelligent. Toby has a wild imagination. After all, the creatures are merely amusing little pets. He glanced at the landhorse as she braided her mane with her delicate fingers. Aren't they?
T’Chana relaxed as Miles dismissed her. Soon the symbiosis would be complete. She sniffed the spicy air with pleasure. The Terran younglings and the T'Chal could do much together that was not possible apart. Toby stroked T'Chana and looked up at the forbidden cookie jar on the highest shelf. It floated down and landed on the table. T'Chana chuckled to herself. The young learned fast.
THE END