Bestial Planet

Chapter 11: They Come in Peace

The morning sun stretches out over California, blinking the cobwebs from it's eyes with help from the wind. Lancieta, is in a makeshift bed with the new days light pouring through a hole, gets a ping on her comm. She sighs heavily and stretches as she rolls over. It was luck, she thought, that she was able to find silk sheets in this destroyed remnant of what used to be Long Beach. She rolled over again, picked up the comm and only half understood what she was being told. Something about the triplets reading a panther.

He had been in the house for 3 days straight, a time span she had spent scouring Section 6 for one of the few remaining power cores. Given how much damage Section 6 sustained, T.V.R. had trouble locating her in some areas. They mentioned something about brain activity being off the charts. A yawn seemed to clear up her early morning mind and in a flash the words being spoken at her suddenly pieced together. Like a mother fearing the worst, she pulls on some clothes in a rush, almost tearing her pants and slips on the outspilled contents of her hiking bag while she grabs the keys to Tezzy, completely forgetting to put on her shoes.

Roisin notices hurried steps coming closer to and readies a quick sentence.

"Hey Lancieta, where are you off to so early?" Lancieta almost ran passed the eating area, but clawed at the doorway to stop herself and her feet shot out from under her, sending her to the floor for the second time this morning.

"The triplets got a solid read on him. He's at the house. He hasn't moved in three days, he might be hurt!"

The intensity of her Captain's attachment to this human finally hits home. Roisin, for the first time in months saw tears in Lancieta's eyes... the bare feet were another sign.

"Take me with you! I've been studying the veterinary information we collected. If he's hurt... let me grab my kit!" Roisin shot up from the table, leaving her breakfast alone and dejected.

As Lancieta jumped into the driver's seat she popped the trunk for Roisin and as soon as the veterinarian climbed in Lancieta kicked the car into 1st and sped off. She had done some heavy modifications over the last 5 months while ignoring Yora's insistence that the electric car didn't need a mechanical transmission. She extended the distance the wheels were from each other even more to deal with how harsh the roads were becoming and would continue to get. Driving around now was less like driving on a neglected city road and more like driving in the Dakar rally, given the extreme growth the plant life was exhibiting. She re-geared the redundant transmission and put on bigger tires as well.

Partially because she didn't know what to say, partially because Lancieta's driving scared her, Roisin stayed quiet the whole ride. She was relieved when her Captain didn't hit that jump while going up the hill to the Panther's house.

Lancieta leapt out of the car, not even using her door and ran up the steps, Roisin was following as close as possible after retrieving her kit. When they reached the top of the landing they saw the Panther sitting as still as a statue looking out over the valley. Not as though he were its king but rather like he was looking for something or someone. Lancieta was amazed at how different he looked while awake. His grey fur had become disheveled and matted and also looked like it had gained a slightly reddish tint to it. She scanned it closer and it vaguely resembled a woven fabric much different from when he was asleep. He looked hungry, yet at the same time strong and sturdy, musculature was distinguishable beneath the fabric-like fur.

"Like a tank..." She said under her breath.

"From what I can see and the readings from my initial scan he just hasn't moved much in the last three days or eaten for that matter." Roisin said in a slightly unsteady voice.