The face of a pig with blonde, curly fur stares back at me from the wall lightscreen in my room. My eyes are tired, and lie down glancing at the night sky through the porthole, closing my eyes for nano, when a thick, bright spirit cord appears in my mindsight.
My eyes flash open. "Tootega, how much space does a full grown pig need?"
The pig's face dissolves,and Tootega's appears. "Swine over two hundred and fifty pounds require a minimum of ten square feet," she says.
With a spirit cord that fat and bright, t must weigh at least that much, maybe more.
"Pull up a map of Eastern Europe. Zoom in, and tell me where this is." I ask, getting off the bed to stick my finger in the lightscreen where the cord leads. "Keep zooming until I say stop..."
She zooms in quickly.
"....okay stop! Where is this?"
"Romania."
"Zoom in another nano. Okay stop! Here." I point, while the spirit cord blinds my mindsight.
"The Cerna Valley in the Southern Carpathian Mountains."
"Set destination coordinates for the Cerna Valley, and prepare fauna room one with the most absorbent material in the system."
***
We touch down in abandoned farmland, now a giant meadow. Trees and forests beyond stud rocky mountains on both sides of this valley. I'm still buckled in, but as soon as the cargo door opens, and the fresh air whooshes in, I want out. Instantly. So does Mig. I can feel it. Tuk waits in the galley while I release Mig.
I squat to open the cubby under my bed, "Do not go far. Understand?"I say, and before opening Mig's door, send a picture of him at my side.
"Hungry!"He barks, and sends a picture of a fat vole.
He pushes his snout into my hand, purring as I crack the cubby door."Come when I call you." I scratch between his ears as he nudges the door wider with his shoulders. "Okay?" I ask, and he bolts.
"Hungry!"he shouts with another vole picture, and leaps down the stairs.
Tuk stands like a soldier, waiting for me.
"Can you smell the forest?" He asks, inhaling deeply.
Still waking from winter, the light green meadow practically sparkles in the sunlight. I take a whiff, watching Mig head through the grass straight toward the forest. "Smells crisp, fresh. Come on," I tug his sleeve. "Follow me." We walk to the end of the ramp.
Tuk leans into my neck, "Wait a nano!" He whispers, "There. Under the oak. Fifty three yards at two o'clock."
My eyes dart to the right, to the edge of the meadow. Grazing under a big tree, the furry back of a big, blonde boar. He snorts around.Chomping acorns?
Mig circles the grunter wide, and barks, "Stinks!" in my mind's ear,then trots off into the forest.
Tuk and I approach the pig slowly, and stop within ten feet. The grunter lifts his head toward us and snorts.
He's big enough to ride! Not cute, cuddly or clean like the pictures, videos and holograms. He's disgusting! His coat is full of twigs and leaves. Brambles, nuts, and seeds. Shriveled berries, dirt and burrs.His legs and belly are caked with mud dried like a layer of bark.Drooling with twisted tusks, and blonde, curly ears that hang down over his eyes, he exclaims with a grunt, "I am found!" His voice slurps and sucks in my mind's ear, like pulling boots from the mud.
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EXTINCTION WARRIOR
المغامرةTwelve year old, telepathic, animal communicator Luki Sloan's parents are detective-scientists with World Endangered Animal Police Protection (WEAPP). Stationed in Wales, Alaska, her parents patrol the Bering Strait to protect the seasonal marine mi...
