Retreat And Adapt (A Galaxy Unknown) (41 page)

Since the building was closed to the public, Jenetta assumed that zookeepers were responsible for the animal's attitude. It would only take one unhappy guard or janitor to taunt an animal until it turned into a crazed beast. If the jumaka were out in the open, it would be difficult for an employee to torment the animal in a zoo environment, but anyone with access to this building could do it without being observed.

Jenetta squatted down where she had been standing. When the jumaka in the cage had stopped snarling, her cats had quieted down as well. They now began circling Jenetta uneasily. She reached out to Cayla and the jumaka stopped and licked her hand with its rough tongue, then pushed against Jenetta in a sign of affection. Tayna also stopped moving and nuzzled Jenetta. The jumaka in the cage quietly watched everything with great interest until Vertap took a step closer to the cage. As the large jumaka growled a warning, Vertap stepped back. The action quieted the animal.

"Vertap, please stay where you are," Jenetta said.

Rising up, Jenetta took two steps closer to the cage. The jumaka didn't make a sound or even move as she approached the cage bars to within the width of a hand. Cayla and Tayna moved with her.

"Has someone been mistreating you, fella?" Jenetta said to the jumaka in the cage. "Some people can be cruel at times, but we're not all like that."

The jumaka looked at Jenetta, then down at the cats by her legs. It suddenly took a step forward, but not in a threatening way, as it sniffed at her and her pets. Cayla and Tayna responded by sniffing back. The jumaka in the cage then walked calmly right up to the bars and looked at Jenetta. It seemed like a different animal than it had been when they entered.

Jenetta talked calmly and soothingly to the jumaka, and with each passing minute, it seemed to grow calmer. The presence of her two cats no doubt helped considerably by demonstrating to the caged jumaka that some people could be trusted by its species. Its mood change was further made evident when it pressed its muzzle against the wire mesh in an attempt to better capture her smell. She helped by placing the flat of her palm against the bars.

Taking their cue from Jenetta, Cayla and Tayna pressed their muzzles against the bars. The caged jumaka reciprocated and essentially established the first contact when it licked at the wire mesh that separated them.

After a few more minutes of talking to the caged jumaka, Jenetta took a step backward. The large jumaka emitted a sound like a mewl, as if it realized she was about to leave. She gave it one sad last look and then turned and walked towards Vertap.

"That was amazing, Admiral," the minister said. "If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Jumakas are very intelligent animals. I think someone has been abusing yours. Like people, they don't respond well to abuse. Treat it well, and it will respond well."

"Shall we continue the tour?"

"Yes, by all means. The exhibits and species are wonderful."

As they started to leave, Jenetta realized that her cats were not at her side. She hadn't noticed it until they were almost to the door because she had never had to look before. Turning, she saw they were still at the cage.

"I guess I'll need another minute or two," she said to Vertap.

"I'll wait outside at the vehicle."

Jenetta walked back to the cage where all three cats were mewling and making assorted sounds. She stood there observing for a couple of minutes and then said, "Time to go, girls."

Cayla and Tayna turned to look at her, then turned back to the caged jumaka and mewled more sounds. Jenetta waited patiently while they said their goodbyes. This was the first time they had seen another jumaka since she had acquired them, and she knew it was an emotional moment. Finally, they pulled back and walked to Jenetta's side. For the caged jumaka, it had also been an emotional time. Taken from its family when just a newborn cub, it hadn't seen another jumaka since. It began to wail loudly as the trio left the building. The sound was heart-wrenching. The large jumaka instinctively knew it would never again see the two lovely females with whom it had shared those brief minutes.

The rest of the zoo was just as wonderful as the first half. It was a place where Jenetta could happily have spent long days learning about all the animals there. Despite the poor situation with the jumaka, no effort seemed to have been spared in providing exhibit conditions that, to the greatest degree possible, seemed to emulate the natural surroundings of the various species, and they seemed to be well cared for. Perhaps the problem with the care of the jumaka was owed to its being an off-world species about which little was known.

The tour made Jenetta think about Obotymot and the efforts to save as many species as possible after the meteor strike. On her next visit there, she promised herself that she would find out how that effort had gone and see if there was anything she could do to assist repopulation of the various species.

It was approaching suppertime when the tour ended back at the shuttle pad. Jenetta thanked the minister for the warm reception she had received on the planet and again expressed her appreciation for the intel he had provided in the past. She also expressed her hope that they would continue to work together for the betterment of both their nations. He echoed her sentiments and told her she would always be welcome in their kingdom.

As Jenetta climbed the shuttle ramp with Cayla and Tayna, the cats paused and looked back. Perhaps they expected Jenetta to bring the large, caged jumaka with them. After a moment's hesitation, they continued on into the shuttle.

~ March 15
^th
, 2288 ~

Captain Gavin was waiting at the shuttle bay to welcome Jenetta back. The normal greeting protocol for visiting admirals had been extended to Jenetta when she first came aboard, but she had since modified it for those times she was aboard the ship for an extended stay. Now the protocol only required the captain to be present whenever an admiral came back aboard, unless an emergency required that the captain be elsewhere, at which time the second in command would greet the admiral.

"Welcome back, Admiral," Captain Gavin said formally.

"Thank you, Captain."

"I trust all went well on the surface."

"It was a very pleasant visit. I actually enjoyed myself, which I usually can't say with state visits."

"I understand," he said, smiling." Your package arrived a short time ago. We placed it in a secure hold— for safety's sake."

"My package?"

"It was addressed to you from Minister Aloyandro."

"I wasn't expecting anything."

"Really? Should we send it back?"

"Let's go take a look at it before I decide."

Two heavily armed Marine sentries at the entrance to the hold braced to attention as Jenetta and Gavin approached.

"What did he send— the crown jewels?" Jenetta asked.

"Not hardly," Gavin said, then nodded at one of the sentries. The sentry turned and entered the code that would open the hatchway.

As soon as Jenetta entered the hold, her pets left her side and raced to the large cage. A series of mewls then ensued between the animals. Jenetta couldn’t help but smile.

"It seems your pets like it," Gavin said.

"They developed a quick friendship on the planet."

"Are there many jumakas down there?"

"This was the only one, as far as I know. I have no idea who brought it here. Taurentlus-Thur is in Region One of GA space.

"Only since the expansion in 2273. Before that, it was unclaimed space."

"Still, it must be twenty-five hundred light years from here. I suppose it's possible that a trader was breeding jumakas and selling them as security animals. I don't suppose we'll ever know."

"You're going to keep it, then?"

"I can't refuse a gift from the King of the Hudeerac Order," she said with a smile. "Besides, the animal was obviously miserable on the planet. They had it locked away in a warehouse at the zoo because it had attacked several zookeepers."

"It sure doesn't like Hudeera. It never stopped growling and snapping at the Hudeera cargo handlers. But as soon as they were out of sight, it calmed right down. Even when our people moved it into this hold, it just sat quietly in the cage."

"It must have been abused on the planet. Perhaps the zookeepers who were injured were responsible. It doesn't matter now. I could never send it back to that situation."

"Two jumakas was stretching things a bit. Can you really go about with three?"

"No, that would be too difficult. I'll have to figure out how to deal with the situation."

"Then you're definitely keeping it?"

"Definitely."

"Very well. I'll take the ship out of orbit and head us back towards Region Two. Uh— it's five now. Dinner at six?"

"You're on. Tell my steward, please. I want to stay here for a few minutes."

As Gavin left the hold, Jenetta walked to the cage. The large jumaka looked up and mewled at her approach. Cayla and Tayna were pressing their muzzles against the cage and mewling also. Jenetta knelt with her cats and the bonding began in earnest.

Jenetta remained in the hold for half an hour, then had to leave for her dinner appointment with Gavin. Cayla and Tayna seemed reluctant to go, but she told them they'd come back later and bring food for the newest member of the family. That mollified them, and after a few more mewling sounds, Cayla and Tayna accompanied her to their quarters. She fed the cats first, then washed up for dinner. Her steward told her that dinner would be ready at six, so she relaxed in her sitting room until Gavin arrived. It was a few minutes before six, so they went to the dining room and took their usual seats.

"Everything go okay in the hold?" Gavin asked.

"Fine. My girls were a little reluctant to leave the new jumaka alone down there at first, but I told them we'd go back down after dinner."

"I've always been amazed that you can talk to them like you would another person, and they always seem to understand you."

"I wish I knew more about them, but there's almost nothing in the various databases. All they talk about is the basic physical attributes, such as length, height, and weight, and mention that they're used as guard animals. I suppose that Taurentlus-Thur is so far from Earth— and as you mentioned, it only recently became part of GA space— that no zoological parties have gotten to that area yet."

I've never seen any, apart from your two pets and now this new one."

"I've never even heard of anyone having one. And the new one is the first I'd ever heard of being in a zoo. I'm glad the Hudeerac King gave it to me. It's too intelligent an animal to be in a zoo. It would be like putting Terrans on exhibit behind bars. We'd react badly as well."

"Have you decided what you'll do with it?"

"I know Christa or Eliza would love to have one. The problem is deciding who gets it. I'm sure all of my brothers would love to have one as well."

"You might have hit on a solution earlier when we were down in the hold."

"Did I?"

"You suggested that a trader might have been breeding them. The large one in the hold looks like a male, and you already have two females. If the new one is healthy, you can have two litters in no time. What's the gestation period for jumakas?"

"I have no idea. I remember reading once that it's about one hundred days for jaguars."

"There you go. In about three to four months you could be up to your eyebrows in kittens."

"Just what I need right now. But I'm glad we discussed this. Somehow I'll have to figure out if my girls are in heat and keep them away from the male until they're past it. I'd hate to keep him locked in the cage all the time."

Gavin smiled and said, "If anybody ever says parenthood is easy, they're either crazy or lying."

With furrowed brow, Jenetta lowered her head and gave Gavin a hairy eyebrow stare.

* * *

"That was an interesting report you sent me," Gavin said the next day. "When did you receive it?"

"It arrived yesterday while I was with the Hudeerac King."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? We may be putting our people in danger."

"And then again, we may not. I believe our captains know their ship must not make contact with any other ship in the same envelope mode, whether single or double, but we can warn them again. As to whether they're in danger when passing through a ship that has an envelope in place— well, we'll leave that issue unstated for now. The physicists are divided, so there's no sense placing additional worries on the shoulders of our people until we know."

"Is that fair to them?" Gavin asked.

"Do you feel we should ignore an enemy ship traveling FTL because there
might
be a danger? Should we simply let the enemy ship get away? I don't have to warn you of the potential dangers these enemy ships represent."

"What if we try to stop it first? If it stops and drops its envelope to fight, then we'll know we're safe."

"There's one problem with that. The only way we'll know it hasn't cancelled an envelope is if it suddenly goes FTL. If it simply stops and doesn't cancel its envelope, we'll never know the envelope is still active."

"Then let's assume that if it stops, the envelope is down."

"I have no problem with that," Jenetta said, "but what if it won't stop?"

"Then— we attack and pray that the physicists who believe the scout-destroyer will lose its double envelope and reintegrate inside the enemy ship are wrong."

"Amen."

* * *

"Captain," the tac officer aboard the
Nile
said," I believe I saw something."

"Something?"

"I can't be any more definite than that. It was at maximum range and appeared only for an instant."

"Helm, turn us around for another look. Tac, provide the coordinates."

"Aye, sir," both officers said.

Five minutes later the ship had turned around and returned to the possible sighting area.

"Contact off the larboard side, sir," the tac officer said.