Page 155 of Pets in Space 10

Vistrite Seam

The afternoon sun was warm on Adele’s shoulders as she clung to the brace of the open-air cart.

Used by the Nightingale geologists, the vehicle was ideal for the rough terrain.

The initial stage of the platform site excavation had executed without incident, making Adele redundant by midday.

When Felspar, one of the geologists, had mentioned he was taking the cart to the seam’s apex to set monitoring devices, she had leapt at the chance to accompany him.

There was no SkyHigh purpose in the outing, but she hated being idle while her team labored, and she was eager to see more of the strange planet.

As the cart moved north, the vistrite seam widened, providing a more expansive view of the western mountains.

The ragged peaks were so much higher than the hills of Fort Rimon.

An occasional bird soared overhead, too high for details but easily as large as any hawk on Fortuna.

To the east, the grasslands flowed into the purple plains. The unchanging terrain was oddly hypnotic. “I thought there were herds of grazers?”

Felspar shook his head. “They do not like the sound of the cart.”

The cart had a distinctive hum, but it was not overly loud. They did not need to raise their voices. “Is that why there are no creatures in the seam? I was expecting lizards or snakes.”

“The vistrite seams are lifeless. Nothing to eat or drink.”

Fascinated, she peered at the pitted gray expanse.

She had seen arial visuals of the Great Crevasse on Metricelli Prime.

Thirty miles deep and two hundred miles long, the lights within never dimmed.

The massive fissure bisected the plains from Crevasse City to the crystal mountain range.

“It was hard to imagine this arid bed will one day hold a crevasse twenty or thirty miles deep.”

The geologist chuckled. “Not in our lifetimes, or our grandchildren’s. It will be another year before the first core is extracted. A decade to reach a quarter-of-a-mile depth along the full length.”

It was dizzying to think that she was traversing an untapped seam.

Something that had not occurred in the Thirteen Systems since vistrite was discovered in the Sixth System more than eight hundred years ago.

She wondered what the grasslands and the mountains would look like in the coming centuries. “Is the seam narrowing?”

“For the past twenty miles. At the apex it is only five paces wide. Another twenty minutes or so.”

***

Adele stepped out of the cart and bent over to touch her toes, enjoying the pleasant stretch. When she straightened, Felspar was removing a monitor from the storage compartment. “Are you sure I cannot assist?

“It is a single-person task. I will need about half a period for this first one, so you may want to look around. On the way back, we will only stop for a quarter period at a time.”

In preparation for the imminent arrival of colonists and supply transports, Serengeti was setting monitors that would send alarms if anyone attempted to enter the seam without authorization.

Taking Felspar at his word, Adele wandered toward the grasslands where the edge of the forest was visible.

To her disappointment, the five-foot ledge was sheer, rather than sloped.

Not that she was foolish enough to enter a wildwood, but the view of the trees was limited.

This close, she could see that what appeared as a burgundy blur from the bay was a blend of red, blue, and green.

The red had needles rather than leaves, suggesting conifers, while the leafy trees varied from dark blue to fern-green.

Seeking a closer look, she moved farther north along the seam toward a tumble of rocks that were perched on the ledge. She wondered why whatever force had deposited the rocks had failed to land some in the seam.

A sharp sound had her turning in Felspar’s direction.

His back was to her, intent on his device.

Maybe she heard a bird call. It came again, but from the ground.

Squatting, she examined the pitted surface.

Another sound, and she met two bright blue eyes floating six inches from the ground.

Shocked, she lost her balance, her butt landing hard.

White spread from around the eyes, revealing a panting muzzle with a pale-pink tongue, overlarge pointed ears, and then the body of a small dog, huddled awkwardly by the base of the ledge.

Adriana’s dog? “Blue?”

Easing forward, Adele held out her fingers. “How did you get all the way up here?”

The little creature stretched to sniff her fingers, and the sharp, painful sound came again.

“You are hurt!”

Crawling forward, she gave the dog a minute to get her scent. She gently rubbed its ears with one hand, using the other to stroke the stocky little body. When the dog did not flinch or cry, she slid her hands beneath its belly and lifted.

Its sharp yelp tore at her heart. Cradling it close, she sought the source of its injury and discovered it could not possibly be Blue. “You are a little boy.”

As she said it, she recognized other differences between the little dog and Blue. He was smaller and younger. Not a puppy, but also not full-grown. No more than six or seven pounds. His coat was smoother, revealing muscles that would thicken and strengthen with time.

When she probed its hind left paw seeking injury, it cried again. His doe-eyed gaze was pleading.

“Adele, are you injured?”

Intent on the dog, she had not heard the soft hum of the cart.

The geologist peered at her over the console. “Where did you get the Star Bred terrier?”

“I found it here. Its left hind leg is injured. I think it may have fallen over the ledge.”

“Possible,” he said, dismounting from the cart. “The pack lives in those rocks. There’s a freshwater pond on the other side.”

Adele had been told Blue’s kind lived near the vistrite seam, but enraptured by Lochan, she had not managed to learn the story behind Adriana’s pet. “It seems docile for a wild creature, but it is hurt.”

Bracing her back against the ledge, Adele struggled to rise while holding the dog. “I thought it was Blue at first.”

The geologist surged forward, grasping Adele’s elbows to assist. “It’s the nature of the breed to like people. The ancients bred them.”

“The ancients made invisible dogs?”

The geologist chuckled. “Genetic hybrid. They did something so the fur changes color to match its surroundings. Like some lizards.”

“They terraformed more than half the Thirteen Systems. I suppose a lizard-dog was nothing to them.” Adele walked toward the cart.

“What are you doing? You cannot simply take the creature. That whole section of forest, including the terriers, is a Blooded Dagger preserve.”

Easing into the cart, Adele said, “What choice do we have? It is injured. If we leave him here, he will die.” She pressed her cheek to the soft fur of its head. “He is barely half Blue’s size. Probably not much more than a puppy. I am sure Adriana can tell me what to do for him.”

***

One of the geologists had field-medic training, and through a series of alerts with the Nightingale, they determined the little dog’s leg was not broken but badly wrenched.

Adriana suspected the dog was probably six to eight months old.

Firmly wrapping the leg eased its discomfort to the degree it hopped around the camp, curious about every object and scent.

After a meal of raw ground squirrel and a bowl of water, it collapsed on Adele’s cot.

Rather than try to improvise a dog bed, she was content to keep it where she would know if it woke up and was in pain.

According to Adriana, the creature had some form of genetic memory and would know to use the cleansing pad laid on the floor for its biological functions.

Marveling at the nearly magical technologistics of the ancients, Adele prepared to join the puppy in slumber.