Page 53 of Experimental Voyage
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 trymountingthem. 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 releasingthem 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 Yulgalicriedwhen 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 forhomo 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.
