The Mendel Experiment (3 page)

“With so many environmental mutants sent here, it was assured by the planners that there would be enough humans to create viable Federation colonies.”

Corree could guess what viable meant; this was the second time he had used the term. “And then the Federation can claim the planet.”

“The Federation has already claimed Mendel,” he explained.

She was confused. This holo-man seemed to talk in circles. “Then why did we have to come here? What else do we need to do here for the Federation?”

“The claim was made after you were put here. To answer your last question, you are to grow prosperous in your new home. Watch…” He showed her more of the projections showing mutated humans testing everything in their habitats and sending samples in unmanned pods to humans on other worlds. As the members of each group grew up, they had children. The groups grew bigger until they occupied large areas of their habitats.

When he was done, Corree had a pretty good understanding of what she and her fellow mutants were supposed to do. “What will the samples be used for? Besides fuel, that is.”

“Whatever is useful to the Federation.”

“If something is useful, how will the Federation get it? Normal…” Corree winced at the word. “Normal humans cannot live on Mendel.”

“The scientists will figure that out, but most likely by using special transport pods.”

Corree wasn’t totally satisfied, but had the feeling she wasn’t going to get much more. “Is that all?”

“The rest of your group needs to be educated as well as others who have been called.”

Corree would take that issue up with Tanna when she saw him. “Can I go now?”

The man smiled. “Of course. We would never hold you against your will.”

“Oh,” was all she said.

The door opened.

Corree had a sudden thought. “Wait a minute. Why was I chosen to be leader of my group?”

“Leaders were chosen from among those with the strongest survival skills and the greatest ability to make quick, but sound decisions.”

Corree walked to the door calmly, even though she wanted to run out of the pod as fast as she could. As she stepped onto the ramp, she noticed Tanna and Breka sitting with a group of shaggy furred people on the other side of the river. Corree figured them to be another group of “environmental mutants.” She heard whistles coming from the trees. Tanna’s head shot up and he saw her. With a grin, he motioned for her to join the group. She trotted over the ramp without looking down. A glance over her shoulder showed that the door was still open. The ramp did not pull back when she was across the river.

“Corree, this is Riss and Meeka and their group. They came down from the mountains.”

Riss and the members of his group were covered with thick shaggy, off-white fur, mottled in places with gray, brown, and black. Their ears were higher on their heads, pricked up to points. Their eyes were where the individual members differed most. Riss’s eyes were light blue, but the other’s eyes were darker, a couple almost black. His hands flexed, claws extending and retracting. Corree was sure any one of his group was capable of disemboweling anything that threatened them.

“Dreams?” Corree asked. They all nodded. Corree motioned for Riss and the rest of his companions to meet just inside the forest.

Corree vaguely remembered Riss. He had been a pale, light-haired kid. He was smart, too, coming up with solutions to almost impossible problems. As soon as they introduced each other, Tanna wanted to know everything that had happened in the pod. “I can’t help feeling the holo-man left something out,” she concluded.

“Do you think it would be safe for us to go in there?” Riss asked.

“If it’s the same learning that I had, sure. I don’t like us all being in there at the same time, though. I told him I could tell all of you what I was taught and he wanted everybody to get the teaching.”

The two groups mulled the problem in silence for a short while.

“After I began having the dreams, I remembered the teaching from before. Do you remember how they talked all the time about doing things for the good of the Federation?” Meeka asked.

“I remember…in my dreams, I was told to obey. Nothing specific,” Riss said. “Just to obey. I’m sure there’s more to it.”

“I don’t like it that we’ll have to take things from the forest,” Joshee stated.

“Or the mountains,” Meeka added.

“I think he was surprised that I didn’t want the learning and refused to get in the chair at first,” Corree said.

Riss looked thoughtful. “They didn’t give you any shots? Just the gas?”

“I don’t think he could give shots,” Corree replied. “He wasn’t really there and there were no robots around.”

“But they expect us to obey,” Riss mused. “Maybe we should let them believe we are.” He grinned at Corree. “You be the defiant one.”

Corree laughed. “I think I was even then.” She sobered. “But what if they do something different?”

“Like you said, they can’t physically do anything to us. He was a hologram, right?”

Corree nodded. “Humans can’t live down here. At least not unless they are like us.”

“So they really couldn’t do anything except close us in, and what good would that do?” Riss asked. “I think we need to take a chance.”

“Okay,” she agreed and walked back into the pod with the rest of the group.

Corree had watched as the others meekly took seats around the inner walls of the pod. There were no needles, no restraints, and no sleep gas. She wondered if they were receiving the same information she had. The holo-man pointed to a chair, and this time she complied without complaint.

“I did tell you no harm would come to you, did I not?” He almost sounded smug.

“Yes.” This time there was a screen in front of her where she was shown more information about the training they had received before their mutations. It seemed to repeat a great deal of what she had seen in her dreams.

Then came information about the Ologrians. They were stick thin and tall, with fur only on their backs. The skin was a dull bluish-gray and looked scaly to the touch. The pelts were orange-colored and short, much like hers. It was very soft, beginning from the base of the Ologrians’ skulls all the way to the tips of very long tails. Even the tails looked like weapons. They were jointed, sinuous and covered in something that looked hard and smooth, ending in a sharpened point.

As she watched, the Ologrian turned and stared at her, its enormous, ruby-red eyes boring into hers. Its mouth was wide, with thin lips that barely covered its dark teeth. Even though it seemed almost ridiculously thin, the creature exuded great power and Corree didn’t doubt that it could easily kill her.

An off-white cloth covered the front of the Ologrian, reached over its shoulders, and draped down its back on either side of the pelt. It was tied at the waist with a thick blue corded belt. Several weapons hung from the belt. They all looked deadly. Even as she studied them, Corree was given a demonstration of their effectiveness. The holo-Ologrian drew one and fired. It shot a hole in its holo-victims. Another totally disintegrated an object. One weapon rendered its victim helpless to move or speak.

Within seconds of demonstrating its weapons, the Ologrian joined others of its kind, all similarly dressed. They marched, in long-legged precision on a group of human men, women, and children, their thin red lips drawn back into grins of pleasure. None of the humans appeared to be armed. Weapons spat, mainly the ones that burned holes in people. Corree heard screams of pain and terror. The Ologrian warriors made clicking squeals of laughter; their longish teeth glittering in the reflection of their weapon fire. Men tried to shield their children, but they were cut down. Some of the Ologrians burned off hands and arms before killing their victims; others mowed down large groups and then went on to do the same with others.

Soon the scene was one of silent horror. The Ologrians finally put away their weapons and stepped among the dead humans. If they found one alive, they shot it. Occasionally an Ologrian would bend down and examine something, then toss it back down. What appeared to be Ologrian doctors went through the carnage taking samples, putting them in pouches at their belts. When the doctor had finished, the soldiers dug through the bodies, throwing corpses aside with casual disregard. When they found children, the Ologrians… Corree felt bile rising in her throat. They ate them. She closed her eyes, but the picture stayed in her mind. They were eating human flesh.

The scene began to fade, to Corree’s immense relief. She felt sick to her stomach and her head pounded. The panel came back into focus. If the object of the demonstration was to scare her, it succeeded. It also angered her. The holo-man appeared on the screen in front of her.

“Now do you understand why you are here?” He paused and then shook his head. Corree couldn’t tell if it was a sign of sadness or something else.

“Did they really do that?”

“Yes.” He repeated his question.

“If we are here the Ologrians won’t be?” she asked.

The holo-man nodded. “We have to do whatever we can to keep the Ologrians away from Federation settlements.”

“We’re not even grown. Why would they be afraid of us if they wanted to come to Mendel? What if they decide to do the same thing to us they did on that colony you showed me?”

“We have ships near the system to protect Mendel.”

Somehow Corree wasn’t reassured. Could it be the Ologrians weren’t able to live on Mendel either? She looked at her fellow Mendelians. They were still watching some of the same things she had seen on her first visit. She took a shuddering breath and noticed that the holo-man was standing in the middle of the room with his arms folded. He still watched her, but left her to her thoughts.

What could have made the Ologrians want to kill like that? Even with their forgetting, Corree’s group didn’t kill more than what they could eat. She shuddered. Were the Ologrians hunting humans for food? They hadn’t seemed to be doing that in the instructional film, though.

Why hadn’t there been any human soldiers there to protect their people? They didn’t look like it, but were the humans like the Mendel mutants? Sent without knowledge of a before time? Something just didn’t seem right, and she figured there were huge chunks of information the holo-man had not shown her. Corree was about to ask, but for some reason, decided not to, even though she was still curious about the Ologrians, despite the gruesome scene she had been shown.

Chapter Three

Later the two groups sat just inside the fringe of the forest, comparing notes.

“First, did they tell us the truth?” Tanna asked.

Corree nodded. “I believe so, but I still think they left some things out. Even the extra stuff they showed me didn’t seem complete. It’s like they were just showing us….”

“The things that make us want to do anything they ask,” Riss finished. “They created us to live on a world they couldn’t live on. Why? They say it’s so they can claim a world close to the boundaries of the Ologrian Empire and to get stuff from the planet they need to make fuel for their space ships. That’s probably true, but there has to be something else.”

Corree felt the same way, but said nothing.

“They want samples of different minerals and plant life,” Riss mused.

“And if there’s something they want, they’ll send their pods to get it,” Meeka grumbled.

“They’ve spent a great deal to create, uh, develop our abilities,” Corree said. “The way the holo-man talked, I don’t know why they couldn’t have claimed Mendel using bases in orbit just outside the solar system.”

“That doesn’t get them their space ship fuel,” Tanna offered.

“True,” the others agreed.

“So what’ll we do?” Meeka asked.

“I think we should contact other groups. We need to know where all the others are and who they are. I think the key to living here isn’t just trying to build up our own little families, but for all the families to communicate and learn from each other,” Corree said.

“In case we ever have to band together for protection?” Joshee asked.

Corree wasn’t going to say protection from what. “And to compare what each of us has learned since we’ve been here.”
And maybe we can figure out what we haven’t been told,
she thought. She felt uneasy, but couldn’t figure out exactly why. Corree remembered the map of Mendel she had seen in the pod and realized what a daunting job it would be to find the different family groups.

Riss must have been thinking the same thing. “My group can go to the colder habitats.” He plucked at his long hair. Sweat was dripping down his face. “I don’t think I am well adapted to the rainforest.” His fangs gleamed in a wolfish grin.

“We will find the other rainforest groups and the sea groups. If we can, we’ll try to contact the cave people, too.”

“When the two moons converge, we’ll meet at the base of the mountains beyond the river.”

Corree could see the wisdom of not meeting near the pod. She wondered if the ship’s computer was watching them now. Could it hear them talking? She turned her back on the domed building. “Two days after,” she mouthed.

Riss and the others nodded their agreement. Waiting for the convergence would give them a quarter of a year to locate other family groups. Still, it was going to be difficult.

“We will find the other rain forest groups first.”

“While I contact the ocean groups,” Corree said, knowing that Tanna was capable of leading the group for a short time.

Now there was little left to do other than saying goodbye. Corree and her group watched silently as Riss and his family crossed over the river on the still extended ramp. They climbed back into the mountains without looking back.

She motioned everyone back into the rainforest. An amber drop of sweet dew splashed on her arm. She licked it off and tasted the bitter and then sweet flavors as she swallowed.

“Why are we splitting up?” Joshee whined.

“Time,” Corree said tersely. “It will take too much time if we don’t try to find more than one group at a time.”

“When are you going?” Breka asked.

“Shortly.”

“Where are these sea people?” Tanna queried.

“The ocean where the river meets it.”

“How in the blue sun haze are you going to locate people living out in the ocean?” Mora asked.

“I will figure that out when I get to the shore. Perhaps they have been called by the pod, too. Maybe they will already be on the way.”

Several of the group members looked doubtful, but no one had any better ideas. A quick flash of fear made Corree wonder if she and Riss were doing the right thing; but they had lived in ignorance too long. She resented that more than anything else.

Kollin and several others tried to hide yawns. “Tanna, after everyone gets some sleep and something to eat, take the group back home, then move west to the other locations we saw on the map.”

“You’re going now?” Tanna asked.

“Yes.” She knew the surest route would be to follow the river to the ocean. From the map in the pod, Corree knew the forest grew fairly close to the ocean’s edge. By the time she reached the sandy beach area, the sun would have set. She could rest a short while during the heavy dark and set out across the ocean when the first moon rose.

Tanna enveloped her in a tight hug. His gliding flaps folded around her in comfort. They nuzzled each other’s necks and then pulled away. The others did the same. Corree knew they would be all right. Her only worry was if she would. She wanted to say something else to them. She wanted to imprint them in her mind—just in case. Then Corree felt the urge to stay and forget all the other groups. Before she could follow through on that thought, she turned and loped through the under story east toward the lowering sun and the ocean.

When she was well beyond sight of the others, Corree nimbly climbed up a hollow core tree. Halfway up the tree, she spread her arms and leaped toward the next tree. Heated updrafts carried her slightly higher, as she knew they would. She had barely touched the next limb when she was leaping toward another tree. When she got too close to the ground, Corree climbed up gnarled trunks. Then she began the process again. The sun was setting when she reached the mouth of the river.

The yellowish tint of the river slowly gave way to the green of the ocean. It stretched before her eyes in an endless expanse. It was huge! Even as the tropical forest had seemed almost endless, this body of water really was. Corree watched the waves washing in and out on the shore. The blue-tinted foam bubbled on the fine shore gravel before winking away. They looked gentle but she saw smooth pebbles rolling with each wave. In the last lingering light, she could see the rocks in the distance. It seemed very far out, but it was where the map had said that the closest sea group lived.

Corree sighed and tried to figure out how she would get out there. While she could swim, if she had to, she could count on one hand the number of times she had been in water deeper than her thigh. One didn’t splash around in forest pools. Forest creatures lived in the water, too, and some could be quite nasty. Others liked to wait near pools and prey on animals that went there to drink. She began thinking about what could live in the ocean and shivered. There had to be something to ride on. Corree had a rudimentary idea of a raft, but wasn’t sure how to go about building one. Her knife could help strip leaves from vines to tie wood together, but it wouldn’t cut the tough hardwood branches.

Then she saw a dead tree lying at the edge of the forest. How to get it to the water was the next problem. The log was as thick as her waist; gnarled limbs jutted out in all directions. As she pondered, Corree saw smaller logs, most not much more than the diameter of her arm. She gathered a half dozen and laid them in a row. She hacked several lengths of sticky vines and used them to tie the logs together. The light waned to blackness and Corree climbed into the nearest forest giant to get some rest. Sleep was hard coming. Mostly she dozed, but was awake when the first moon rose beyond the western horizon. Even though she wasn’t hungry, Corree foraged. She suspected it would take all the energy she had to make the trip to that island.

When she returned to the raft, she checked her lashing. There were only a couple of knots that needed tightening. She took the two logs she had kept aside and laid them in front of her raft. With some effort she was able to push the raft onto them. It was fairly easy to roll the raft to the water’s edge after that. A long piece of bark would serve well enough as a paddle. A final shove and the raft slid into the ocean.

Wavelets splashed against her face, the caustic elements stinging her eyes at first, but the protecting film slid down over the lenses and she felt better. Corree splashed aboard her makeshift transportation and immediately felt the raft tilt upward on one side. Her feet slipped, but she finally managed to make it to the middle. She eased the makeshift paddle into the water and pushed away from the safety of the jungle. Experimentation showed her the best way to propel the raft through the water toward the island. Soon she was beyond the reach of the shore waves. The swells were larger and farther apart and she paddled in their rhythm. A warm breeze ruffled her pelt. It was soothing, even as the patter of rain was soothing in the great forest.

When the second moon rose, Corree groaned in disappointment. She wasn’t even halfway to the little island. With a frown, she dug her crude paddle deeper into the water and stroked as hard as she could. She eased closer and closer to the rocks. Her shoulders were sore, but still strong. Corree felt the tug of a new current; one that pulled her toward the rocks.

She stopped paddling. The rocks loomed closer and closer. Corree saw the water crashing against their sides and realized her peril. She tried paddling her raft parallel to the shore, but now the current was too strong. Her heart thudded painfully against her ribs. A huge wave picked her off her raft and drove her toward a massive boulder. She tumbled under the foamy water, felt one foot scrape against the rock. She swept over the boulder and banged against a smaller one just beyond it. Another wave picked her up and carried her farther onto the shore, rolling her like one of the pebbles she had watched earlier in the night.

Corree choked on seawater, gagging at the cloying, biting tang. Her fingers dug into the sand, trying to stop her tumbling progress. She rose to her feet, only to be knocked back down by the next large wave. Finally, she was able to crawl forward and beyond the reach of the punishing waves.

She coughed water out of her lungs and lay panting in the moons’ waning light. When she had gathered a bit of strength, Corree stood up. Her legs were wobbly and she leaned against a smooth boulder. After wiping brine from her eyes, Corree studied her surroundings. It looked desolate. There were no signs that anyone other than herself had ever been on this jumbled mass of rock.

She walked the beach just beyond the water line, occasionally having to climb over crustacean-covered rocks. The interior sloped upward to a gentle rise covered with a few windswept trees. How anyone could live here was beyond her. Not even a pod could have sustained a family for the years they had been on Mendel. There was no pod now. It didn’t look as though there ever had been. Could the holo-man have been lying?

The wind whistled mournfully and rattled the limbs of a scraggly little tree a few feet up the rise. Corree shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. The loneliness was crushing. She had always had the group nearby. Even when she was scouting alone, she could hear or sense other creatures nearby.

A new thought struck her. How would she get back? Corree scanned the beach for the raft. There was no sign of it. Not even one log. Panic made it hard to breathe. What had possessed her to do this? This group was either dead or they had moved somewhere else. She had been crazy to do this! Corree sat against the base of the tree. The noise of the surf warred with the whistling of the wind. Both sounded mournful and lonely. She slid down onto the sand and curled up into a ball. Thinking about anything was too tiring right now.

Corree lay on the sand until the moons had both set and the bright glow of the approaching sunrise brought new anxiety. She was in the open. Scrambling to her feet, Corree looked for shelter. She studied the few stunted trees at the top of the hill. They were less than useless. There was a small copse of bushes on the other side of the island, halfway to the shore.

The shade was scant, but she was exhausted. Sleep came quickly. The sun beat through the brush and she would wake just enough to move to a more shaded spot. It was dark when she fully woke. The moons had not risen. Her eyes made out tenuous movement. Wind still whipped the trees, but the motion was more than that. Then Corree looked at her feet and saw a shell. It was round with up-turned sides and filled with several different things. The scent told Corree that everything was from the sea.

She reached out and touched one of the objects. It was prickly outside, but contained something soft inside. Corree dug it out with a long nail and popped it in her mouth. The taste was sour and sweet at the same time; quite pleasant, she thought. Her stomach demanded more. She had not realized how hungry she was in her misery at being stranded. The other offerings joined the first.

When she was finished, Corree sat back and considered. This didn’t just blow in on the wind. “Hello,” she called out. “Thank you for the food.” She paused to see if anyone would answer. Only the surf did. “I’ve come to see you. To talk to you.” More silence. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.” Nothing moved, except the skeletal limbs of a nearby tree. Frustrated, Corree got up. She paced a small area around the brush, avoiding the tumbled mounds of rock.

A slight glow on the western horizon told Corree the first moon would soon rise. Occasionally she called out her reassurances, but no one answered. She was sure her invisible benefactor was long gone by now. Picking her way down to the beach facing the mainland, Corree tried to figure out how to return. There was nothing here sturdy enough to build another raft. She couldn’t swim and even if she could, there was no telling what might be waiting to eat her.