Page 55 of Experimental Voyage
“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 treathomo sapiensthat 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 everyhomo sapienson 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. Inhomo 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.
EIGHTEEN
The Veloc’s crest snapped up. “Do I get to keep the tree cat?”
Both death horsessurvived the night, and whatever injections Delta and Viva had administered to the animals had caused a rather violent—and disgusting—reaction. Unlike Earth horses, the death equines could vomit in copious quantities, and I identified a mossy fungus in the vile mess.
“Do you think the fungus is growing in the stomach and barring the absorption of nutrients?” I asked, studying the blackened, bloodied edges of the fungus, which I assumed had been affixed to their stomach lining. Upon my realization of what might be happening, Viva had collected a sample before Delta had taken the rest away to be disposed of. “Do we have a way of scanning the stomach of a non-treated death horse?”
“Yes,” Viva replied, and she hurried back into the ship.
As Yulgali appreciated the challenge of wrangling death horses, I turned to him. “Please catch an old one and a young one.”
The Veloc hooted his enthusiasm and bounded off.
“I want to catch death horses,” Fogali complained.
I bet he did. “You’re also hungry, and these ones aren’t for eating. I want you to catch one of the tree cats.”
The Veloc’s crest snapped up. “Do I get to keep the tree cat?”
“If you find a particularly sick one and can get Viva to handle the paperwork, I see no reason why not. Remember, the tree cat is a science experiment. We are documenting how the fungus kills species. We are trying to purge the fungus without killing the host. If your tree cat dies, you will have to cope with it quietly.”
A mourning Veloc could, according to Viva, givehomo sapiensquite the headache along with ringing ears.
Fortunately for both death horses, Viva had brought a myriad of treatments and medications, including ones meant to stop hemorrhaging. It had taken some trial and error, but we’d gotten the death horse’s bleeding under control. Feeding them had proven to be a challenge, but we’d discovered they would consume bone broth and soup.
Unfortunately, the bone broth had been made from a death horse we hadn’t been able to save. We’d learned a few important things from the stallion’s corpse, however.
The fungus did not infect the muscle.
We’d put all the organs, still intact, into stasis to be taken to a lab for further research.
In a few days, we would try to feed the pair solid foods, but for the moment, we kept them alive with fluids along with meat and plants Viva had pureed and mixed into their broth. Feeding them required a funnel, but the animals had demonstrated a high capacity for learning, adapting within a few minutes of us making a mess and trying to get the concoction down their throats.
In what I viewed as a good sign, the mare’s breathing had eased. Between feedings, she slept soundly, a far improvement to her earlier laboring.
