The Mendel Experiment (6 page)

Matak grabbed the creature just behind the fore claws and squeezed. The vise-like claw opened, and Corree stuck her finger in her mouth, trying to ease the throbbing pain. She rose to the surface to examine it.

Breeann joined her. “It didn’t break the skin,” she said after studying the injured digit.

Her finger throbbed. Corree wiggled it and found it wasn’t broken.

Other heads broke the surface. Matak laughed as he waved the offending creature in the air. Lenden grinned, but his thoughts were concerned.
You are all right?

Yes,
she answered, still astonished at this ability.

We have enough,
he announced to everyone.

Once back in the home grotto, the spoils of their gathering were piled on a flat rock. Corree emptied the pouch Breeann had given her and looked over her meager contribution. She had only three of the rock hugging shells. Even worse, they were closed tight. She could not get a fingernail into the openings. Bilor pulled an old shell from his tool belt and showed her how to use it to pry open the stubborn bi-valve. He made it look simple.

Matak stacked his shellfish in a neat pile at least two hand spans high. One of them crawled off the top of the pile. The boy snatched it and put it back, laughing.

“Not bad for a first time,” Lenden assured her. “How’s the finger?”

“Better. Can you all talk inside each other’s heads? Can you tell what someone is thinking?”

“We don’t pry unless we’re away from safe ground,” Lenden explained. “This talent has kept us alive. I just wish it had developed sooner rather than later.”

That was something else Corree wished she could confront Windemere with.

“We will eat and then rest,” Lenden told the group. “Tomorrow at the first moon rising, we’ll head for the learning pod with Corree.”

Several people fixed the meal. They dug out the shellfish meat into a large shell. Breeann squeezed some kind of plant juice into the “stew,” and then sprinkled a powder over it. Corree found the meal even tastier than the one that had been left for her on her first day on the island.

It was a restless night. Corree spent part of the sleep period staring at the subdued light creatures on the wall. A scant five days ago she had been living peacefully with her group in a forest she knew. Now? Now she didn’t even know if she could go back to the forest again. That Lenden thought she could was reassuring. She respected his opinion. Still, until it actually happened, there would continue to be doubts.

Corree evidently slept because she awoke with the dregs of a dream about flying in a pod through darkness.

She saw Lenden staring at her from the other side of the room. His eyes glowed his excitement. He was looking forward to this excursion. After everyone had eaten a mixture of sea plants and the remainder of the previous day’s hunt, they set out. The pod traveled through dim caves and grottos toward the surface of the island.

Chapter Six

Corree’s eyes noticed details she had missed when she came this way with Lenden. Plants grew in tangled profusion all over the walls, but the bottom was almost bare. Why, she wondered.

We cleared bottom plants. Less chance to be attacked.
That was Breeann.

Why not on the walls?
Corree thought the question.

Normally local predators prefer the bottom.
Besides, we haven’t had a chance to do it this season,
Lenden added.

Corree’s eyes were drawn to a part of the wall where the plants didn’t seem “right.” Something hid there. It was some kind of animal.
There is something in the clump of yellow and red broad leaf plants,
she informed her companions.

Lenden’s luminous eyes studied the plants she had pointed out. He pulled out a short spear from his belt, pointing it at the wall as he carefully approached. A short mental order sent the others back. Corree hesitated, not sure whether to help Lenden.

It “felt” like something enormous. With a flurry of debris and dark fluid, a sinuous yellow and rust-colored creature shot toward her, its long, sharp teeth bared, red eyes glowing. Lenden’s spear went all the way through the animal’s body. It thrashed and sent pain and anger messages into her head.

Corree slashed with her knife. The sea snake ducked her first blow, but when it attacked again, Corree knew just where to strike. The point of the knife struck one of the creature’s eyes. A pain in her head almost caused her to black out. The creature’s tail slapped her leg and more pain lanced up her thigh. She wanted to scream, but couldn’t.

Corree felt Breeann next to her. She was singing something in her mind. It was calming. Corree felt her heartbeat slow and her mind empty of all thought. She didn’t feel her body anymore and it didn’t bother her that she couldn’t.

Corree woke up to see Breeann’s concerned eyes staring at her. Her head was above the waves. How in the world had she come from the cave to the surface? She didn’t remember anything after the attack of the undersea creature.

Are you all right?

“Yes. I am now. What happened?”

“I put you in Trance, Corree. The rock snake had injured you and we were still a long way from the surface,” Breeann explained. “I had to do something so you wouldn’t run out of air before we got here.”

“So that is a trance? That feeling that everything is far away?”

“Yes. When we do Trance, our bodies need less air. We can stay under longer. Especially if someone is there to help us back.”

“You mean to help come out of the trance?”

“Yes.”

Breeann continued to swim next to her until they reached the tiny cave on the island. The group, with Lenden at the rear, followed. It was crowded, but everyone managed to fit inside. With great difficulty, Lenden lifted his spear out of the water. Corree saw the size of the snake. The head alone was almost as large as her head! The pale eyes still seemed to follow her, even though Corree knew the snake was dead.

“Wish we had time to butcher it for
later
,
”
Toya muttered.

Lenden grinned. “Me, too, but there’s no time, and it would attract other predators.” He turned to Corree. “How did you know it was there?”

“I felt it.” She tapped her head. “I could feel its hunger.”

“You could feel…?” Lenden’s voice trailed off.

For the space of several heartbeats the only noise in the tiny cave was the drip, drip of water from above. Corree wondered if it had rained outside.

“You really have changed,” Breeann stated. “You couldn’t even hear us at first.”

Corree just shrugged. “I could see him, too, as soon as I knew where to look.”

“I have always wondered why some of us mutate faster than others.” Lenden mused. “And that is the first time one of the rock snakes has hunted in the first moon rising.”

“When do they usually hunt?”

“During the day.”

“Maybe they’re adapting, too,” Corree suggested.

“But we were the ones made to adapt,” Lenden protested.

“Could the scientists have created other animals?” Breeann asked.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t see anything in the memories,” Corree said. “Besides, it would be stupid to have other predatory creations here when they want us to make colonies and get resources from Mendel.” Corree paused, thinking. “I just think the sea snakes are smarter than the scientists thought they were, if they even knew they were here. You said you haven’t lost any members since you developed the ability to ‘hear’ each other,” Corree said. “How long ago was that?”

“About thirty tide cycles,” Lenden replied.

That translated to about three years. The sea groups had been forced to outguess their enemies for a little less than half of the time they had lived on Mendel. She did some more math. The number of deaths was staggering. Corree had changed as soon as she came to her new habitat. What if some of their changes were meant to come later? For the sea people it had been disastrous. Why would the old ones—the scientists—want to do that? What was worse was the nagging thought that they were all experiments. Was that why she changed so quickly? Did they try something different with her?

The others were gazing at her questioningly. Were they listening to her thoughts? If they did, they chose not to say anything.

The journey to the mainland was without incident. Corree felt her gliding flaps undulate as she swam. She adjusted the motion of her arms to accommodate this new change. It made swimming much easier.

Despite her pleasure with her new abilities, Corree stepped on shore with a sense of profound relief. The forest giants sat quiet and dark several body lengths ahead of them, their limbs held out like welcoming arms. It was all she could do to keep from running to the nearest tree and climbing into the canopy to watch the moons rise in the velvet sky. The sea people gathered around her, Matak hanging on her arm.

“The pod is that way.” Corree pointed. She broke into a trot, then slowed. The others weren’t used to running. They weren’t used to being on the land much at all. “The first moon will set soon, then the second one not far behind. If we hurry, we might make it to the pod before the sun rises.”

Lenden just nodded as Corree led the way. When they reached the river, everyone dived in and swam as far as they could before the rapids forced them out again. It took longer than she expected since they were swimming against a strong current. They found a cave just above the water line and rested during the day.

At sunset, Corree showed Lenden the path that would take them to the teaching pod. She would have preferred going all the way with them, but she didn’t want the holo-man to see that she had sought out the sea people, even if she thought that was what they had in mind. She also didn’t want to meet the rest of her family the way she was right now. It wasn’t that she thought Tana or any of the others would freak out. She didn’t want to go back now. She wanted to find the other groups as well as test Lenden’s theory that she would be able to change back to her forest form.

In order to get to the caves, she’d have to go into the mountains. She wondered why Riss hadn’t volunteered to contact the cave dwellers; they were closer to him. Maybe he was afraid of caves, even though he didn’t seem like the type to be afraid of anything. Still, there was something foreboding about going to see these people.

As the first moon rose, Corree found a narrow pass into the mountains. The height of the peaks kept everything in twilight. She was leery about going on, but even more leery about waiting here until the moonlight reached all the way into the pass. Corree sniffed the cool air blowing from the mountains. No indication of any predators. She detected no movement other than the waving of wind-whipped grasses and sharp-needled shrubs. Her ears caught no sound of footfalls.

Corree started up the steep path. It was rocky and she slipped on loose gravel. Several times she felt the bite of sharp rocks when she fell. Her feet, then her legs became one large ache. Her pace seemed to be slower than that of a fuzzy leaf crawler, but it couldn’t be helped.

Corree knew the second moon had risen from the light on the mountain tops. The path was still almost as dark as the forest in the moonless time of the night. Her eyes, adjusted to the dimness of the ocean depth, were able to make out some detail around her. No creatures moved on the path ahead or in the rocks above her. Tough grass lined either side of a rock-strewn path. The peaks towered high above her on one side; almost as high on the other side. Swirling wind whistled all around. She shivered in the biting chill. How in the world could two such different places exist so near each other?

Corree wished for her pelt right now. While the ocean-tough skin kept much of the cold out, she still felt the raw bite of the winds. She licked her dry lips and rubbed her arm. To her surprise, the rubbery skin she had developed underwater was slightly rough. She rubbed the other way and felt individual hairs rise at her touch. Her pelt was returning. Corree rubbed all the way up both arms and grinned. She was changing! She
could
mutate back.

As she continued on the path, she felt the soles of her feet toughen. As before, her joints ached, but not as much as the previous mutation. Her palms itched, telling her that something was happening to her hands. She was probably losing the webbing between her fingers. The soreness lessened as she adapted.

When the moons had risen enough for her to study her changes, she noticed her pelt was darker than before. Her fingernails had lengthened, but not quite as long as they had been originally. The wind continued howling down the gorge, but Corree felt warmer. She looked down at her arm and noticed the pelt was longer than even a few minutes ago. So quick! The palms of her hands were tough and leathery, but the hair on the back of her hands had grown thicker.

Corree reached the end of the gorge and was confronted by huge boulders strewn haphazardly in her way. The map had shown a cave somewhere near the end of the second valley, but where was it?

She searched around each rock. After what was beginning to seem like an impossible quest, Corree found it. The opening was barely large enough to admit her. She squeezed through and stood in the almost complete darkness wondering how she was going to navigate through the caves to find the mutants who lived here. How could anyone adapt to living in a cave? She opened her mouth to call out, in case they had someone near the entrance, but then she stopped. There was something spooky about this place. It wasn’t just the darkness; there was something else here. Corree started down the tunnel, feeling with her hand, but stopped after a few tentative steps.

As much as she hated to admit it, this time she may have taken on more than she could handle. If she continued on, she would probably get lost. The only thing to do was to go back and help Tanna find other forest groups. It rankled to come this far and not be able to accomplish what she wanted.

Right now she was exhausted. The swim, the climb, the changes—she had to rest. Corree felt around for a place that might be suitable to take a brief nap; something less rough. She settled down, facing the mouth of the cave. Within minutes she was asleep.

Corree jerked awake, feeling someone or something nearby. He or she—no she, was to her left. “Who are you?” Corree asked, keeping her voice low. Still, she winced. It echoed and sounded as loud as a shout. The girl in the cave answered her voice barely audible.

“I am Esteya,” the cave girl whispered. “Who are you? Why are you here?”

“I am Corree and I’m here to meet you and your family.”

Esteya was silent for some time.

“Did you hear me?” Corree finally asked when the silence became uncomfortable.

The girl nodded. To her surprise, Corree was able to see the movement, or rather feel it. Or maybe she was hearing it. It was like another part of her brain had opened up and she could hear Esteya’s heartbeat, feel the vibrations or some kind of an aura from the other girl that allowed Corree to see her. Esteya was thin, but not quite emaciated. Her eyes were weak, but her ears were large and attuned to Corree. Esteya radiated heat but was not as warm as Corree. Her pelt was almost as long as Riss’s. It was white, as was her skin. Esteya was afraid.

I won’t hurt you
, Corree thought.

Esteya only nodded.

Have you had dreams?

There was more fear aura.
Yes. At first we were told to leave the caves and go somewhere beyond the mountains.

The fear spiked. There was something else with it. Sadness.

But we cannot leave the caves. The sun is dangerous.

That is why we travel at moonlight,
Corree explained.

We? There are more of you?

They are not with me. They are back in the forest trying to find other families.

Esteya took another step toward her. “Weren’t you afraid to come alone?” she said out loud.

Even as Corree thought about it, Esteya must have felt her emotions.

“You were afraid and still came,” she whispered.

“Sometimes you have to do things…” Corree let the sentence hang. “I thought it was important to tell everyone why they were having the remembering dreams. And why we are being pulled to the learning place.”