Chapter 4: Roy Meets a New Friend

Dr. Ivan Harrow disconnected the Comm-Link with a forceful gesture, reflecting his feeling of annoyance. He really respected Paul Masters and he simply adored Martha, but he hated to be called while he was attending a lecture at the annual Galactic life-sciences Conference. This time it was being held on Earth (Terra) and the ancient hallowed grounds of the famous Cambridge University.

Even though he was unable to attend in person this year, and he was there only via GalNet tele-presence avatar, it was still a special kind of honor to be one of the featured lecturers.

Only moments before his Avatar projection proceeded to the lectern, Paul Masters called him to ask him about technical details on floater shields and ruined his concentration and state of mind. He expected Paul Masters to understand those things. He wasn’t a flier expert for Mozart’s sake, but everyone knew CHOPERS were safe and there were only three incidents on Green Hell in which a flier was damaged. Besides both Paul and Martha weren’t new to Green Hell and had been on Green Hell almost as long as he had.

Ivan gave the Comm Unit one more glance and then reclined on the new Virtu-Presence Couch that had been delivered only a month before. He told the Computronic to make sure he was not disturbed for any reason and then activated the direct neuro-connection to the GalNet terminal and reconnected the Avatar session.

He was a Botanist and had little interest in the fantastic technology that allowed him to bridge a distance measured in hundreds of light years without any noticeable delay. He was only interested in the fact that he connected and found himself standing in a conference room filled with distinguished colleagues, scientists, and experts from all over the Union.

Field projectors created a form-field energy cocoon that simulated his body shape. A three dimensional image of him was projected onto the inside of that field. Gravitation and mass simulators gave the projection substance and allowed him to interact with objects and other beings. What his simulated senses experienced was fed directly into his brain. He could see, hear, and feel what his avatar was feeling. Only smell and taste were still hard to simulate and therefore ignored in these non-entertainment Avatar GalNet units. Avatar Enabled GalNet terminals were still a new technology and incredibly expensive, but next to the Union Fleet, the Science Corps was the best funded government agency.

Right now Dr. Nalg Nokes, a fish faced Ult stood behind the lectern, wearing a semi transparent water circulation suit designed to keep the amphibian well hydrated. Dr. Nokes was an authority on the field of marine botany, a good friend of Ivan’s and as the little silvery pyramid shaped emblem on his suit attested he was a member of the Hive of Minds.

The Ult gestured with his webbed hands towards Ivan and his slightly amplified voice carried to the last seat in the auditorium saying, “Without further ado let me introduce the lecturer of this hour, my esteemed colleague and dear friend Dr. Ivan Harrow, senior lead researcher of the Life sciences department at Ant Hill on Planet Green Hell. He and his fellow researchers risk life and limb every day to unravel the mysteries of this truly unique and dangerous world.”

Ivan ignored the small blinking light that appeared in his field of view, signaling he had an urgent call. He blinked it away, thanked the Ult for the introduction, and approached the lectern.

In the audience before him he saw ant-like Klack, olive skinned Sarans and four stately looking Pan Sarans. There was a Takkian sitting right next to a Pertharian giant. To his surprise he noticed an X101. These chrome skinned sentient machines were among the best engineers, to see one at a Bio sciences conference was something unexpected. The three silver haired beauties in the first row were of course Saresii and he wondered if one of them was actually a real female.

A humanoid shaped being, covered in a deep green tight-fitting suit and a helmet with a mirrored faceplate sitting right next to the Saresii must have been a Non-Corp. These beings without real bodies could only interact with others wearing special containment suits, the fact that they made the surface of a sun their home was something he could barely comprehend.

Without further ado, he began with his lecture on Trapper palms and their intricate symbiotic relation to microbial mites.

The audience was a knowledgeable assembly of scientists and they only interrupted his lecture with valuable questions and observations. As the last of his interactive three dimensional presentation images faded away and he had reached the end of his lecture, the audience applauded his efforts which gave him a deep sense of accomplishment and pride.

It was the faceless Non Corp who raised his arm and said with an artificial sounding voice, “Dr. Harrow. I am Nine-three-eight, which is the closest approximation to what my kind uses for names and I am the first Botanist PhD of Non-Corp origin.”

Ivan smiled at the alien entity and motioned him with a gesture to continue while he congratulated the being for his academic choice, “It is a rewarding field of study Dr. Nine-three-eight, and I’m delighted to hear a Non-Corp made a similar career choice as I have done.”

Other members of the audience also added similar sentiments and the Non-Corp nodded gracefully and said, “My motivations to choose this field were many, but I did raise my simulated arm to ask your opinion, Dr. Harrow. I have read and studied Green Hell by reading as many papers and publications as I could process so far. There is a wealth of information on a host of fascinating life forms indeed, but it does not appear as if life on Green Hell came from one source and that there are hundreds of Evolutionary processes running simultaneously, some completely alien to the other. It would appear that there is no common denominator among these lifeforms.”

The Non-Corp now raised both his arms, “The only common thread I can find is the disproportional array of body weapons, poisons and other means of lethal attack. To me it looks almost as if life on Green Hell was designed by someone and each life form is part of an experiment or project. What is your professional opinion on this?”

Dr. Harrow put down the simulated PDD his Avatar hands were holding and said, “This, my Non-Corp colleague is the reason for the Science Corps deep interest in Green Hell. This is the reason for all the research we conduct and what we call the Green Hell Question. Evolution on every world in the Universe follows certain patterns. Even life on your Star, as alien as it is to many of us, developed from one source, but not on Green Hell. The Lighting Bolters have no evolutionary connection to the Water Snakes, or the Stompers or any other life form on Green Hell. The same as the snakes, they too have no real connection. There is not a single DNA commonality between the Moolax spinners and the Pandora Swans and no one has yet been able to find out why.”

He took a few more questions and discussed speculations and theories with others, and then he reluctantly severed the connection. It took him a few moments of feeling dizzy and disoriented before he was completely back.

His assistant stormed into the room and said with a breathless voice, “There has been an accident. The flier went down. We think it crashed.”

Roy

Roy stared at the beast in front of him, this animal was covered with short black fur, except around the neck area where the fur formed a thick mane; it had four legs and a boxy brutish looking head, with two ears and small horns on the crown of its skull. Roy estimated it to be perhaps 140 centimeters (55”) tall from ground to its back, the head slightly higher, attached to the torso by a short but massive neck. The animal was perhaps 300 centimeters (9’-10”) long and had a short thick tail. The muscles of the animal were well defined under that luscious shining black fur and it gave the being a massive and strong appearance. It had two eyes that glowed dark red and had no visible pupils. The short broad snout was topped by flaring nostrils. A pair of long canines emerged from the upper jaw past the chops and extended at least 40 centimeters (15 ¾”) past the lower jaw.

Only now did he notice the dark metal band around the beast’s neck with short cone shaped metal spikes in even intervals all around its colossal neck. It was something man made, it was a collar! Roy sighed and relaxed, this was not an animal native to Green Hell.

It was quite obviously a pet, a tamed animal. Terrans especially, but other cultures as well, found joy in keeping domesticated Pets.

Domesticated life forms were unknown on Green Hell, as no foreign life form could survive the Jungles even for a few moments. Ranger Solomon had a tank of fish in his office, but those were the only off world animals Roy knew of.

His friends however, secretly kept Green Hell animals as pets, unknown even to their parents.

Norm often teased him, that he was not a ‘real Greenie’ as he had not managed to befriend a local life form as of yet. Norm theorized that being able to become friendly with a Green Hell monster was the ultimate proof and hallmark of a real next generation Greenie.

Out of an impulse he hadn’t thought through, Roy reached out and touched the animal and said, “Are you lost, Partner?”

The animal opened his terrifying maw and for a moment Roy thought he was done for, but instead of being maimed or bitten in half, a huge blackish tongue appeared and licked him straight across the face. The big black tongue was dry and felt like a metal sanding disc as it charred across his skin.

As the animal licked him, he received strange new and foreign images in his head. He saw images of deep space, stars, and planets as if looking through the view port of a space ship. Then he recognized one of the planets, it was Green Hell, a beautiful emerald green sphere. The planet seemed to became bigger and it was like watching a fast descent or fall, finally the images showed Green Hell jungles and then there was an image of himself.

Roy’s mother was a native of Phantas and like almost every Phantsian she was gifted with psionic powers, not that he had ever known her to use her telepathic abilities on him, but he was no stranger to Psionics. Once every other year when his grandmother came to visit, she demonstrated her telekinetic skills and transmitted her affection towards Roy almost the same way as the animal did now.

His father, Paul Masters, was seven points below the Heidelberg Psi Index (HPI) threshold where Psionics usually emerged in a being and Roy did not inherit any of his mother’s abilities. His HPI was a disappointing 56 and well below the level of even the weakest form of Psionics to manifest.

Roy, like every other Union kid, had been subjected to the mandatory HPI test on the first day of Union School. Union PSI laws were very strong and the Psionic Power Registration Act of 3210 required everyone’s Psionic ability to be tested and if such abilities existed trained and registered.

It was this knowledge and exposure that ensured that he didn’t freak out as these strong images flooded his mind. He still was quite unprepared and surprised by the sudden Psionics and he sensed that the animal meant him no harm and was quite intelligent, but unable to communicate in any form of language or truly coherent thought.

Roy petted the animal’s immense shoulders. While the black fur felt as soft as the finest velvet, Melissa had a dress that felt that way, the body, and the muscles underneath were as hard as Ultronit.

The animal lowered itself to the ground so Roy could pet it more easily and he felt waves of affection and pleasure radiating from the animal.

Roy could not help himself and smiled, “I like you too. Let’s see if we can get you home! This is no place for an Off-world pet. Do you belong to someone?”

As Roy asked this question he received a mental image of himself as if the animal wanted to say, I belong to you.

Roy opened his wrist com and dialed for the ranger station. It took only a moment and Ranger Solomon’s face appeared. “Hi Roy,” the local lawman greeted him with a broad smile on his face. “Bob is already at that secret meeting place where you guys always hang out and I am sure he is waiting for you already.”

Roy said to the father of his best friend, “Good afternoon Mr. Solomon. I am on my way to see Bob and the others. I was calling to ask if anyone reported a missing Off-World pet. I think they call them dogs or something like that.”

The Rangers forehead wrinkled upwards as he answered, “What a strange question, Roy. No there are no such reports and there could not be, as Off World pets and animals are not allowed on Green Hell. Don’t tell me you are outside again!”

Roy tried to shield the optic pick up as much as he could, so the Ranger would not see the jungle background, but of course it was way too late for that, “Well I am sort of a little, but not really far. I was just curious if someone is missing a pet.”

The Ranger knew of course that Roy was outside and said with a smirk, “Your father is going to have a field day with me if he finds out I know that you are outside.”

Roy snorted and raised his chin a little in a defiant gesture and said, “I told them that I was outside Sir. I told my parents I went outside many times. They just don’t believe me”

The Ranger knew that no one would really believe him either and that was the main reason he didn’t make it an official issue. He smiled weakly and sighed then he said to Roy, “Anyway be careful out there. As for your question, no there are no reports of missing animals of any kind reported to the Ranger Network of this entire quadrant, including Green Hell. The only Off World animals I know of are a swarm of Gold Fish in a tank in my office and they won’t go anywhere.”

Roy asked, “How big does a Terran dog get?”

The ranger shrugged his shoulders, unaware that this gesture would be lost on the small wrist display and said, “I have never seen a real dog Roy, so I don’t know. Whatever it is you see is most certainly not a dog or a domestic animal. Stay well clear of it, take a few pictures and consult GalNet or ask your parents.”

Roy closed the call saying, “Thank you Mr. Solomon. I will do that, I mean I’ll run a search on GalNet.” With a wave he disconnected the CommLink with the Ranger and switched to GalNet. “System, identify the life form in the images I am transmitting.”

The little Wrist Unit linked to the GalNet relay at Ant Hill, while a smart logarithm isolated the image of the black beast, calculated its size and weight then ran it against the most comprehensive collection of knowledge collected, the central data bank of the Science Council known to everyone in the Union as WALES. Normally a search lasted a few seconds at best. This time he waited almost a minute and then the warm male voice of WALES responded, “Insufficient data to identify. Seven life forms, nine mythical beasts, and seventeen unsubstantiated references found. None match the received data to more than seventy percent. Do you wish to make a new entry?”

“No, not at this moment.”

While he did all that he committed a deadly mistake, he had remained for way too long on the same spot and did not pay as much attention to his surroundings as he should have.

An Insecto-Saurus broke through the thicket and was preparing for an attack.

His Sense of Danger did warn him, but he had been distracted. Normally he would have had no problem avoiding an Insecto. These beasts had no sense of smell and their field of view was restricted, by its own body to the back of the animal. But now the Insecto had clearly made him out and his trick imitating the Snake sound would not work because Insectos had no hearing and besides Insectos attacked Snakes if they thought the snake was small enough for them to succeed.

Worse yet, Insectos never had their heart at the same spot, it could be nearly anywhere in the main torso and their small brains were well protected inside a tough small skull. He had seen an Insecto continue to fight for several minutes even with a completely severed head. They were as tough as Stompers, and twice as fast. His mother once compared an Insecto-Saurus to a mix between overgrown Scorpion, Praying Mantis, and Raptor Dinosaur.

Roy never understood why they always compared anything to Terran life, he never paid much attention and did not know how those animals looked, but he knew the poisonous stinger of the Insecto would kill him as fast as the scratch of a Pandora Swan claw and that the scissor claws that were able to cut through a Tantalus Oak tree trunk would have no problem clipping him in half. Not to mention the powerful mandibles.

The boy realized he would die right here and now and while he was afraid to die, he did not regret it or hate the Insecto for it, this was how things went on Green Hell. He was a Greenie and this was how anything on this world eventually died.

However death did not come as he expected, the black animal catapulted itself over the eight meter distance that separated it from the Insecto.

Roy already imagined seeing blood and bits of black fur and was worried about the black beast and against all better judgment he remained still, instead of using the black animal’s sacrifice as a diversion and escape.

He had pulled his blaster anyway and held the Vibro Machete in his other fist hoping he might be able to fight the Insecto and help his new friend.

To Roy’s utter amazement, it was not necessary. The scissor claws of the Insecto slid across the black fur without even scratching the skin beneath. Those scissor claws were razor sharp and diamond hard sharp and yet they could not penetrate the black animal’s skin. The Saurus screeched and hammered its poisonous stinger into the side of the black beast in a frenzied staccato, but the stinger was as ineffective as the claws, the stinger broke and drooled greenish poisonous slime over the sides of the black animal.

The black beast suddenly grew enormous claws out of the front of its paws and with them it ripped sizable chunks out of the Insectos body. The crystalline armor shattered like brittle glass while a shower of blood, guts and flesh sprayed everywhere. The black beast slashed its claws so fast through the air; Roy saw them only as a flashing blur.

The black beast attacked with a level of vicious brutality and power like nothing Roy had ever witnessed on a planet where nature was more vicious and brutal than anywhere else. The Psionic connection he had with the animal transmitted a feeling of pure and powerful rage.

It was over as fast as it had begun; the Insecto was nothing but a torn heap of shredded flesh and legs, barely recognizable for what it once was.

The emotions of rage ebbed away and again filled Roy’s mind with a feeling of devotion towards him.

Swarms of Vamp Flies already buzzed around, attracted by the smell of blood. Roy knew ants would not be far behind.

He jumped over a Fire Nettle and said to the beast, “We’d better get out of here, fast!”

The animal reacted instantly, and followed him, sending waves of warmth and affection to Roy. There was no sense of pain or agony to suggest the black animal had suffered any wounds.

Roy caught his breath and said, “Wow that was something! You sure did a number on that Insecto. I thought we are both done for.”

A feeling of deep pride caused by Roy’s praise emanated from the animal and a warm sensation of deep affection was the answer.

After walking beside the animal for a little while he got the mental image of him riding on the beast.

“You want me to sit on your on your back?” he asked aloud.

The image reappeared.

Roy had never sat on an animal; the very thought of it was very alien to him, but for some reason he trusted that animal with his life and felt a sense of affection for it.

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