Page 28 of Experimental Voyage
I tensed, wondering what the verdict would be.
“Relax,” Alban ordered. “Waldren thinks we can get away with the bird due to its circumstances. He has plenty of videos showcasing healthy specimens, and it is clear this one is deformed and unhealthy and would become fodder for scavengers. He has counted at least fifty individuals on this stretch of beach, so it meets the criteria for common species. Registering the bird, showing our care in catching its prey, and recording its behavior will handle what the regulations and rules do not already cover. If you wish to use the space in your quarters for a crab and a bird, that is entirely your business. We will sort out habitat and take some sand for the crabs. With luck they will produce a supply of food for the bird, but he thinks we can mimic something for it.”
I nodded. “But what about pests and illnesses?”
Herserael cooed, and after a moment, showed me the bird, spreading out a wing. “The little one will have a very unpleasant few minutes, as will we all when we are hosed down with various insecticides. The crabs will be scanned using different machines, as some will be food for the bird. See the shape of the wing at the joint? Where it does not bend quite right compared to other birds?”
I nodded. “I see it.”
“This is a sign of malnutrition on birds on our world. It is resolvable with the machines we have on board, although for now, we will leave it as is. We do not want the little one to fly around the ship until we determine if it can be trained or if it will thrive on board a ship. If not, we will make a habitat for it on our world so it can live out its days in comfort. This is good evidence we do no harm to the ecosystem taking the bird. This is a sign there are too many birds for this stretch of beach—the strong thrive, and the poor hunters, injured, or malformed eventually starve.” Herserael tilted his head to the side. “Thereis no prey instinct in these birds at all. These must be the largest predators on shore. Not even other birds hunt them. Had they, we would have terrified them. There must be larger but gentler prey species within the woods, but nothing like foxes or cats.”
“Releasing cats here would destroy the ecosystem,” I predicted.
“You are correct. There would be nothing to hunt the cats, and the birds would be wiped out. This would not be a good place to release cats. But perhaps it would be a good place for a menagerie.” Herserael adjusted how he held the bird, cupping his gloved claws around it. “No fear at all. What a brave and beautiful little creature.”
“Perhaps the gate didn’t care about us at all but saw the plight of the bird and the crab,” I suggested, gesturing at the thriving beach and its nearby forest. “They certainly need far more help than I.”
“The universe works in mysterious ways. I cannot say you are right,” Herserael replied, and he flashed a toothy grin my way. “I also cannot say you are wrong. But do try not to adopt the entire planet. On a normal expedition, the crab and the bird would be monitored to see how they came to their ends to be recorded for the sake of science. You’re getting away with the jellyfish because those are for scientific study. But as we are not here fully for science, we have room on board the ship for compassion. The captain of the ship requests that you limit your acts of compassion to one more count for the day if at all possible. He can rig up one extra unexpected resident on board of alien origin. After that, we will be pushing our luck.”
After an houron the beach collecting crabs, samples of seaweed, and small stones, sea-polished crystals, and shells, I discovered there was one predator of the birds: fish. The birds ventured close to the water to catch crabs, and something large, dark with glistening scales, brave, and with big teeth surged up the beach, caught a bird in its mouth, and used the same tactic the birds used on the crabs to secure its supper. Feathers flew along with blood. Without bothering to return to the water first, the fish gulped down its meal.
Then it waited for a wave and wiggled back into deeper water.
I turned to Alban and said, “You could not pay me all the credits in the universe to go in that water.”
The Veloc hooted, bobbed its head, and replied, “That was highly educational, yes. The oceans on our home contain similar fish, as brave as they are hungry and willing to test their luck for their next meal. So, do you want the good news or the bad news?”
“Let’s go with the bad news first.”
“The crab is probably going to make it, and it already shows signs of regrowing its limbs.”
“How is that bad news?”
“The fresh limbs you gathered from the birds seem to be regrowing crabs.”
I blinked. “Excuse me? Did you just say thelimbsare growingcrabs?”
“Yes, that is what I said.” The Veloc shook out his feathers. “We were not anticipating having hundreds upon hundreds of dismembered crab legs growing bodies on board the ship.”
“Is that normal crustacean biology? I do not remember this from my biology classes.”
“That is more bad news. It seems to be a first. Waldren can’t find any evidence of this happening in the records. Crabs growing new legs? Yes. Crab legs growing new crabs? No.”
I shuddered. “What does that mean for our samples?”
“Well, that’s more bad news. You probably won’t be able to keep any of the crabs as pets.”
I stared at him before shaking my head. “I have lines, Alban. I draw a line where if I accidentally yank off my pet’s leg, it grows into another pet.”
“It explains why the birds were ripping off the legs of the crabs. When you can grow at least twelve new crabs in short order from dismembering a single crab, they’re replenishing their food supply. I am a fierce predator, but I do not want my dismembered prey growing into more prey.”
“So, we’re agreed. The crabs are creepy, and they can regenerate new crabs from yanking off their legs. Maybe we should leave the crabs here.”
“The crabs are invaluable to science, so Waldren has decreed we will not be leaving the crabs here. He is the only one who thinks his logic is sound.”
“Do you have an airlock and a method of ejecting these crabs into space?” I muttered.
“I am concerned the crabs will become spacefaring crabs, able to survive through the vacuum of space,” the Veloc confessed.
