Young Adult / Creature- part 5

By morning, George had overcome the aftereffects of the scream, and was well enough to perform the surgery. He gathered his tools and found the needle from the day before. What little metal had not turned to powdered rust, had been warped beyond recovery; the glass had shattered. George looked at the creature with amazement and awe.
The small man continued with his plans. He removed the stone… a stone that he had never seen or heard of… a stone that screamed of alien territories and undiscovered lands. Then he took a vial of blood for further testing later. To finish, he bound plaster molds around the leg and ribs, and attached a helmet on the skull of the animal. Finally, he moved the creature to the observation lab a few rooms down. He would be able to watch the animal from here and still be able to run tests without frightening the creature. This is where he had kept all his previous critters when he had studied them.
Gerard entered the observation lab shortly after George had finished scrubbing down. The creature lay in a pile of pillows and blankets, and fresh meat and water were in dog bowls beside it.
Gerard gaped at the animal. “What in this world is That?”
The midget chuckled as he sat down. “Not of this world, but alien to it.” He produced the stone which he had removed from the bone of the animal. “See this? I…” He hesitated, quickly concocting a cover-up story, “…I was a geologist for some years and I’ve never seen anything like it. Technically, no-one on this planet but this creature has. And have you ever seen anything like it?” He gestured at the creature.
Gerard shook his head. “Looks like some chemistry experiment gone bad.”
George corrected him. “No. Not bad. Have you seen the anatomy of this thing? Unbelievable!” The squat little man began pointing out features animatedly with his grubby little fingers. “… and look here, see the webbed back feet? See how powerful its legs are? I bet this creature could swim for hours upstream no-problem! And then this tail… I’ve never seen anything like it. This tail seems to camouflage itself completely to its surroundings. In everything but smell, it almost becomes that which it is camouflaging itself to. Look how large it is; I bet that it could cover up this entire creature like a sleeping bag and have extra flesh to boot!...” And on and on he ranted.
Gerard yawned loudly. George didn’t hear him. Gerard yawned louder. George was still off in his own world. The taller man rolled his eyes, sighed, and left for a cup of coffee. When he returned, the squat little man was still ranting about this and that, completely oblivious to the outside world.
The creature stirred. Gerard jumped; he had thought the creature fully sedated. To see it move was almost like seeing a dead body suddenly roll out of its coffin and begin walking around. It could not open its eyes yet, but it could smell, and smell it did.
Upon catching his scent, the creature’s nostrils flared and it groaned audibly. Gerard cocked his eyebrows and back-stepped quickly.
The dog-like creature whimpered and attempted to move again but was unable to. Gerard double-checked the straps to make sure that they were secure, then retreated to the observation room.

________

        When I next awoke, it was morning. I was still bound, and I could not open my eyes. The physical energy required to do such a menial task was unbelievable. Instead I relied on my other five senses. The fat man was still there. I could hear him talking to somebody else… or maybe he was speaking to himself. I continued to search around, sending mental probes into all the corners of the room. The taller man from yesterday entered the room. A bitter scent followed him, and clinging almost as closely, was the scent of self-confidence and pride. That man had some serious issues.
        I groaned. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have been here anyway- I’d have left and never come back. Even if I couldn’t go all the way home, I would at least stop on some other planet; anything to get away from here.
        My legs were getting numb with all the weight on them. To remedy that, I tried to stretch, but the bonds were too tight. I wouldn’t have gone anywhere; I was still too exhausted to do any more than lay here on the floor, and yet, the taller man jumped as though I were attacking him, then he fled the room. Jumpy little fellow. And suddenly the whole room smelled of fear. I wrinkled my nose in disgust. To smell fear is to smell imminent death. And I wasn’t even hunting! Even then, I don’t like the smell of fear; it is the smell of weakness. When I hunt, I do so in a way that my prey doesn’t even know what’s happening. For your dinner to taste like fear… yech! Might as well eat their dung.
        I tried to go back to sleep, but by now I was far too wake. The Skreet was still in the room. He continued ranting about whatever it was he had been conversing to the other man. Eventually he realized that his companion had left and he began studying the rock from my forearm. As long as he didn’t try to cut it, he would be alright. Asteroidean rock tends to shatter rather than be cut; and this particular asteroid we had hitchhiked on wasn’t exactly what you call the softest rock either.
        Curious as to what he would do, I kept a mental probe on him while of the rest of mind wandered. I was in a different room this day. The other room had been a cold place with many unwelcome feelings; this place was warmer and I wasn’t laying on a hard surface either. The room smelled of timidity and of welcoming. I could tell other animals had been here. Some had been like me, brought in when injured. Others had been brought here while completely healthy and the Skreet had monitored them. I could smell this despite the Skreet’s apparent attempts to remove all traces.
        The Skreet was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. He must have sensed my mental probe. He put the rock down and come over to check on me. He rubbed his hand from the base of my neck all the way down my spine, to my tail, which he avoided touching. The fault of that might’ve been that I had armored it like the armadillo animals that had lived on my home world.
        For some reason I trusted him. Maybe it was the rubbing; that small show of caring and understanding. Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t trying to hurt me. Whatever the reason my muscles relaxed and my tail took on its normal appearance.
        I love my tail; completely waterproof, large, warm, and a perfect camouflage tool. Even amongst my own kind my tail was admired. Many had a rougher texture and were a coarse gray in their relaxed state; my tail was soft and was the warming, gentle color of mahogany. I don’t where I got that gene; both my parents had rough, slate gray tails.
        The Skreet was on the move again. He reached over and dipped his hands in what I could only guess was some sort of depression in a solid material. When he brought his hands back, they were wet. He placed his hands under my jaw and allowed my whiskers to touch the water he had cupped. With much effort I opened my eyes and took a good look at him. Maybe he saw my appreciation for this act of kindness for I had been very thirsty for some time now, because he did not back away, although he did flinch. He had probably thought I was sleeping. I took a few sips of the water from his hand and he cupped some more water and brought it to me until my thirst was finally sated.
        Deciding I could trust him, I sighed then entered my resting state.

Reviews

There are no reviews of this item.