Chapter 58

Back at camp they turned in their report to coincide with the AI's. Their next stop was the hanger. It was debatable whether they wanted to see the new ship or the cub more.

The Donai cub ran to them, even before seeing them, she jumped on the first person through the large entrance way and it happened to be Jim. She scrambled up and licked his face and in her excitement pissed all over his coveralls. Jim knew what had happened but was not too concerned, considering the laundry service here. "Down Rosie, down, Come here Tom, you take her."

He handed the animal to his mate and paused long enough to pet her soft hair on her head.

"Is her name Rosie now?"

"I guess it is. It was a spur of the moment thing. I had a dog once that pissed on me when she was excited." Turning to the techs he thanked each by name for watching Rosie. They seemed to be happy with the arrangement and hated to see the animal go. She had killed some of the smaller vermin that plagued large areas like this.

Looking at the main floor Jim saw that more of the ship had been assembled but still none of the hull was in place. "Will you come and eat with us? I found some better recipes that had not been completely programmed in before."

They were thanked, but the Tandra women declined saying how much more had to be done and that they would gladly eat with them some other day.

In the cafeteria many more people came up to them asking about the availability of more cubs. Jim was not sure why the term cub was more appropriate than pups but it was. Rosie came into the room as if she were raised here and after a moment got a much larger plate of synthetic meat.

Jim worked on one particular recipe he wanted and tasted the results. There were only a few diners wanting to eat and he let them pass so he could continue his research. Eventually one recipe came the way he wanted it and asked to have the formula saved. The first recipe he had been working on a gumbo recipe that he remembered from his childhood. The gumbo was made by a neighbour that had taken care of him at times. She had been the one to give the pup, Rosie, to him. Jim was finding pleasure in the simple act of programming foods into the computer. The next recipe would be much more appreciated.

The Humans present had saved some of their better portions and wanted to give them to Rosie, but didn't want to upset her feeding. Jim could feel this in the room and said to all, "Rosie is thin at the moment but will get fat if she is given too much. I am also trying to give her only a few things at a time to find out if any will make her sick." If the Humans had money, Jim felt he could make another fortune here. Wait till they saw his new ship.

Before leaving the cafeteria they picked up some food for the mother Donai. Jim decided he needed to try the mother on synthetic meat as the main diet food. He may not be able to supply fresh meat all the time. It was time that she was awoken. The storm last night had blown over and the ground was now suitable for camping. A light rain was predicted but nothing to really worry about.

Tom set up their camp outside the main camp and made sure to bring combat suits. A collapsible tent was set up. It had enough room for six. Their fighter and weapons were set because they did not want the same thing happening as a few nights ago. They placed their tent close to the fighter and placed some blankets under the machine to make a comfortable area for the Donai.

Rosie stayed with one or another of her protectors as the camp was set up. The last to come, was the mother on a gravsled. Jim had ordered her sedated so that she would be able to react but not attack.

Rosie ran over to the sled and tried to get on. When she couldn't she just ran beside it till it stopped outside the camp in some tall weeds. Jim lowered the sled and slid the mother off with a small bump.

The mother took the attention of her child for a moment and then placed her long arm on the cub, to keep her away. Her gaze fell on the Human and the Tandra but did not seem too concerned. Both Jim and Tom were monitoring her mood to see if they were in danger.

Jim was sending her calming thoughts and pictures of her child playing and eating well. Tom, as per the plan, showed him protecting the little one.

Her nose twitched and followed the scent to the food. She got up, staggered a bit, and walked to it. Rosie was not interested so the mother ate her fill which happened to be all of it. She pissed and returned to the weeds. Again she felt the others but strangely did not feel threatened.

Jim and Tom separated and threw the rag ball back and forth. The mother just followed the flight without any worry. Rosie crouched down like a cat and watched the flight intently. As Tom threw the projectile lower the anticipation was too much. Rosie dashed out of the weeds and jumped into the air grabbing the rag in her mouth. Crouching, she started to worry the rag with her teeth and front feet. Jim ran to Rosie as they usually did. She saw his approach and ran in a circle so as not to get too far away.

The mother was now frightened and watched Jim chase her child. When Rosie was caught she emitted a fierce growl as the youngster fought for possession of the rag. The mother used her mind and saw that it was only a game but wanted to protect her child regardless. She got up and staggered before starting her very slow run to the conflict. As she got close the rag went flying to the other person and then back. She stopped and watched her child vainly trying to intercept it.

Jim tried his best to hide his mind from the mother. He pulled the rag from Rosie's mouth and threw it to Tom. He was very glad to see the Donai run after the rag and not appear to have a problem with someone after her prey. It was not easy to pretend to be unconcerned when a hundred kilos of teeth and muscles were pounding down on you. He saw the mother pause and consider the situation better and then decide to stop and watch for more danger.

When the cub was breathless from its running Jim tied the rag to a long stick. After a drink the cub chased the rag as it rose and fell in its travels around the Human. The mother could feel no anger, hunger or anticipation to attack toward her or her cub and relaxed a little more.

The sedative that was administered to the mother was designed to wear off gradually in six hours. Jim and Tom had used some of this up and wanted to proceed to the next stage. Taking their weapons, they walked away from the camp and the city to hunt for a very common animal that served the same purpose as a rabbit on Earth. The coona was the size of a small antelope and weighted in at 12 to 20 kilos. The entire area had many of the family- oriented animals. A typical group would number about two dozen and could leap like the Springbok of southern Africa.

A group was about three klicks away, and both men stretched their muscles to run to them and keep down wind. Later, they spread out and herded the springbok like animals to their camp and a mother that would enjoy and fresh desert after her synthetic meal. They made only slow progress because the coona could become very frightened and run and leap at an amazing speed.

As the animals neared camp Jim started to run, for the animals would soon scent the Donai and change direction. The group took off and ran through camp. The animals moved even faster when one was brought down by the mother. Jim and Tom raised their rifles and picked off two more of the antelope for after.

Rushing into camp they saw the mother with the antelope she caught in her mouth. Her eyes almost glowed as she dared the males to take the food from her. They gave her a wide berth and continued to their own game. Tom pointed out how one was already claimed and Rosie had dug her feet into the ground and tenaciously ripping at the hide of one of the beasts.

Jim dragged the carcass back to camp with Rosie doing her best to wrest the beast from his grip.

By the time Tom brought his own back, Jim had started to clean the one he had. A short rope held the animal from a tree and the hide and entrails were removed. The mother watched them being placed before her child and the little glutton tried her best to eat it all.

Jim made a fire after clearing a wide area of flammable material. The smoke did not travel towards the tents or the mother in the tall weeds. Jim took some green branches and stripped them with his knife. He pushed portions of meat onto them. Wooden forks pushed into the ground supported the meat off the fire. Tom had got some dead branches and had wondered why at the time.

"Are we supposed to eat that stuff? Just a moment ago it was running across this land."

"I predict that after one bite you will want more. If it didn't taste good why do you think Rosie's sides are so pushed out? Momma is making a lot of complementary noises about her meal. I know you will, too."

Opening a cooler he brought out two bags of beer and gave one to Tom. The only brand copied was Molson's Export and hoped the brewery did not want to be paid for each counterfeit litre drank here.

Jim sat down and fed the fire better to make a bed of hot coals. The wind was negligible and attested to the smoke drifting lazily upward. More wood was added as they talked about the day's events. Jim's thoughts came back more and more to the land and what could be done with it. The different areas could support different crops and present problems with the warm weather.

Tom was cautious with his thoughts; he knew that the synthesizers would make any farm obsolete. Their own history told of this happening. Raw material could be scooped up and sent through a separator where each of the molecules were split up to atoms and rejoined on command to form any food desired. For millions of years this was the accepted way of doing things.

Jim talked about various fruits, vegetables and meats, paying attention to a way of preparing a sample of each. His stomach growled thinking of the imaginary feast.

Tom tried bringing the conversation back to Jim's life on Earth and found that the man had not been very happy with his lot there. He had a failed marriage where the wife kept the children and he was only given access on certain occasions. Jim had sold all of his property to pay the wife off but it did not help his longing for his children.

The wife worked in Edmonton for a large advertising agency. She made it difficult for him to see the children and used her position with the company to provide excuses why this was so. Jim loved his kids and had a real problem with the way his ex used them to punish him.

His own parents had loved the life of the north and still lived on a small farm that could barely meet their own needs. They had been adequate parents but did not work very hard to raise their children the way they should.

When the flames died down Jim put the meat over the coals and looked around. Rosie was sprawled out in front of the rest of her food after getting around a major portion of it. Jim dusted his hands and got up. A few steps brought him to the cub and momma's head came up to see what was happening. Jim walked to the patch of high weeds and heard a small growl as he placed the sleeping cub at her mother's front feet.

After backing up a few metres he saw a large pink tongue clean the cub. Rosie endured the attention in her sleep and just moved to a more comfortable position.

Returning to the fire he got another beer for each of them. Ten minutes later, the meat was turned and Jim got out some crystalline plates and the ever-present spoonknife. When the meat was done he pushed it off the skewer and onto Tom's dish and then one onto his own. More meat was placed on the sticks and they started to heat over the coals.

Tom held the dish in two hands and just looked at the dark mass before him. Jim could feel revulsion, sorrow and a helplessness to react to the situation, as he wanted. He looked at Jim as he placed the first piece into his mouth. Tom felt Jim's happiness at the taste and knew that he considered the food good. Tom remembered the time he ate and drank, then got so sick his stomach that actually heaved up its contents. Coming to a reluctant decision he cut off a small blackened piece and brought it to his mouth.

Prepared for the worst he tasted the food and had to actually chew it. The consistency was very un-Tandra like. The feel of the rough edges with the soft sections was very uncommon but the taste was not really that unpalatable. He chewed some more and swallowed. The next piece was larger and he saw the pink centre and thought of the blood that flowed from the meat before cooking. This piece went into his mouth and with his stomach growling the food was found to taste a little better.

The next piece was better yet and he used his finger like Jim did to deposit some of the fat from his lips to his mouth. Before long the food was gone and his stomach clamoured for more.

"Would you like another piece Tom? There are lots of pieces."

Tom could not hide his feelings and wouldn't this time if he could. "The meat was good. I had a lot of difficulty at first, but after it seemed to affect me differently than any of the Tandra food would. Do you think it is an atavistic tendency of mine?"

"Perhaps it is. Humans enjoy going back to nature. My parents like it and even live that lifestyle as best they can. Hunters and fishermen find a lot of enjoyment out of taking down their prey, the same as a farmer has with growing a very tasty crop."

The second, and a small third portion, went down as easy as the first, especially with more beer. It was a shame; Jim thought that the beer, even with alcohol, did not make him feel the same way it did before his enhancements.

It was starting to get dark and the alarms were set, the combat suits informed of their duties and told to protect the two Donai too. The carcass of the butchered coona was placed in the cooler and the other left as it was to provide breakfast for their guests. It was just placed under the fighter to keep it out of the rain when it came. Perhaps the Donai would even go there to keep dry. Last of all, the fire was extinguished and both men went off to relieve themselves.

It was getting chilly for the usual warm weather signifying the approaching rain. They went over to the Donai and said their good nights, but used pictures to the best of their abilities. The mother was almost over her sedation but did not growl or show any fear this time.

Inside the tent, Tom put the helmet on and tried to work on his education as Jim waited. Jim thought of the person in his arms and wondered how he would function if they immigrated here after their stint in the military.

Later Jim finished his own studies and decided to turn in. A cool wind blew from the east and the light patter of rain was heard on the synthetic material of the tent. Before long the rain got heavier and Jim pulled Tom closer to him as they thought of their future together.

When the rain got heavier, a small hairy wet body crawled into bed with them and cuddled between the two to keep warm. Jim shuddered with the cold and turned over to get his coveralls to wrap the furry bundle in to keep the cold and wet away from their skin. Rosie smelt a little like a dog and acted a lot like a cat. She just walked in and claimed her place. Jim pulled the blanket over all of them and went back to sleep.

Towards morning, he had to take off the blanket because he was too hot and went back to sleep. An hour later they were awoken by Frieda for their next mission. Turning over Jim found his arm around the mother and she just opened one eye to see what he would do.

"Good morning momma. I hope you slept well."

Tom was holding Rosie to him and both were keeping each other warm. When Tom woke up he asked, "How come I always wake up with my nose by her open mouth? I can smell all the things she ate yesterday as they are working through her digestive tract."

"Well my bed partner was even warmer than yours and she did not breathe in my face."

Tom got up on his elbow and saw the Donai peaking at him with one of her big eyes open. "Looking at her teeth, and this ones breath, I think, I would trade you, next time."

The men got out of the tent, and prepared to break camp but the Donai seemed to like the tent. Tom asked, "What are you going to do now?"

"If you only knew the joke about the big gorilla, you would know. Let's get our stuff and put it on the gravsled and take it back to our room. We will just leave the tent here with some blankets and the meat. If they are here tonight, then they may want to stay, if not then that is the way they want it."

They went into the base and got their shower and breakfast. Both were back to the fighter on time. Before they left they said goodbye to the Donai and invited them to stay if they wanted.

Today they worked with the sensors again trying to find out what the Samutz were up to. If singletons were found they were to take them out but if it looked like a coordinated movement then the satellite was to take over and see where they went.

The northern section of the Gordon Plateau was covered next and their tracking would go near the section of their crash site and the family they found. Thinking of the fish Jim contacted Frieda and got the drones to scan the water to pick up concentrations of fish.

When the adjustments were made on the fly Jim said, "Now this is about the best fish finder I have ever seen."

"What is that?"

"On Earth we would use a device to look down into the water to try to detect fish. It was very crude and not always correct but it did give some information. We would just lower our hooks and gave them a chance to bite. It was better than nothing at all except if you knew where the fish would congregate."

The infrequent but large forests had a lot of wild life within their boundaries. Larger antelope and even a small primate contested with a multitude of other animals and reminded Jim of a rich jungle on Earth.

The hours passed till they eventually came to the Umal Mountains and made their first of many passes. The area around the destroyed Tandra base was searched with extra care but nothing was found. They came to a deep valley with a very large waterfall. It was almost completely filled with water about twenty klicks away. The lake was almost five square kilometres in area. The possibility of Samutz was nil, but fish was a different matter.

"Tom, I am going to turn around and go over that lake. Get the drones down there and see what the fishing would be like."

The fighter stayed high and all the drones descended into the deep valley. They worked much slower because of the difficulty of seeing into the deep water. Tom got very excited and pulled the drones away and said, "Get out of here."

Jim did as he was told and flew east and within a second at the most the lake disappeared behind the high walls.

"What happened?" Jim asked for Tom's mind was a furious jumble of thoughts.

"We found them," he said with triumph.

Jim wandered what he was talking about. Fishing was not that important to Tom, or at least he didn't think so.

The thoughts were still unclear so Jim looked at his own display instead of checking on threats around him. When he rolled the history, he found an underwater city. The clip was very short but there were many openings, in the side of the mountain and all underwater. Samutz could be seen swimming, and in one case a piece of machinery was being transported with some buoyant device. Jim rewound the clip and viewed it many times.

"General Shingle, are you there?"

"Yes Jim. What do you want? You sound excited."

"I am sir. Tom found an underwater city about twenty klicks behind us. There are many Samutz swimming around and many more openings for habitation."

The computer was checked and the location was sent along with the video clip. There was a lot of activity now in Souts. Jim and Tom were not excluded from it, but could get only the fringe.

The General came back and said, "Continue with your mission Jim. We don't want to warn them that we know their location. Check other locations that have deep water." Then to Tom he said, "Tom I want to thank you for this. We have been looking for this base since finding that other base you two ran across a few days ago. We have gotten two good breaks from you boys and I just wanted to say thanks again."

Both said thanks in their own way and the mission continued. Frieda uploaded more locations of watery habitats and plotted a course that would allow them to search about 40% of them.

"Well Tom I think we could get a job commanding one of those cruisers sooner than I thought, but in a way I have taken a liking to this planet. I don't seem to know what I want anymore as long as you are with me."

Tom felt very good when he was complemented like that from two very important people in his life. "This discovery is mostly your doing. If it wasn't for you wanting to checkout fishing areas we would never have found them."