Excerpt of Genus Unknown: Adaptation by Kaitlyn O'Connor

Chapter One

"Wait! Go back!" Dr. Kate Drexel exclaimed. When the robot seemed to continue to advance, she turned from the display and looked at the tech operating their robotic sample collector in annoyance. "Can you back it up?"

Her annoyance deepened as the tech glanced at the project leader, Dr. Sam Waters, for confirmation. Waters studied her a moment and finally nodded.

"What are we looking for?" the tech asked as he programmed the robot to retrace its steps.

"I don't know. It looked like it might be eggs. It could've been rocks, I suppose, but it looked out of place. Back up, back up … There!"

"I don't see anyth …." Dr. Waters broke off as Kate strode forward and tapped the display screen.

"Zoom in there."

"I see them--looks like rocks to me," the tech muttered.

"We've got enough rocks," Rodriquez agreed.

"They look too symmetrical to be rocks," Kate disputed and then glanced at her own team leader, Minks, for support. "What do you think?"

Minks narrowed his eyes at the objects under question.

"It's a streambed," Waters said dismissively. "The moving water could've shaped them like that."

"But …! They aren't smooth!" Kate argued. "Wouldn't they be smooth?"

The tech glanced at Waters again. Waters frowned but finally nodded and the tech moved the robot a little closer, zooming in more tightly on the objects under dispute.

"I don't see anything that looks 'nest-like' at all," Minks said after a moment. "They do look somewhat egg shaped, but they still look like rocks to me."

Impatience and anger wafted through Kate. So far, she had zilch as far as she was concerned. "I thought the idea was to collect as wide a range of samples as we could to get a picture of the environment? I'm not disputing the importance of studying the atmosphere, geology, and soil, but colonists are going to need to have some idea of what they'll be dealing with insofar as flora and fauna, too! So far we've got a great selection of rocks, dirt, water, and air samples--and micro-organisms--and a handful of insectoid organisms that we just happened to capture in the process of snatching a few plant clippings. If those are eggs, it could give us a chance to study a higher life form. If they're rocks--then you'll have more rocks!"

Waters' expression was tight with annoyance when she glanced at him, but the bastard knew it was true! It was just her luck that the mission leader, Waters, was a geologist and far more interested in collecting samples for himself and his part of the team than living organisms for the xenobiologists on the team. He excused his blatant favoritism by pointing out that they didn't have facilities on board the ship to preserve living organisms since they hadn't known enough about the planet to prepare for them and that they would be dead, decayed, and useless by the time the ship made it back.

He finally shrugged. "Get them, Mills. I think it is rocks, but they're along the streambed, as everyone pointed out. There might be something useful attached to them."

"Careful!" Kate cautioned as she watched the robotic arm reach out and the 'fingers' close on the first object.

"She might be right," the tech, Mills, said, surprise in his voice. "The readings indicate the object is soft."

"Reptilian?" Minks speculated, excitement now threading his voice. "Something like a snake or a crocodile?"

"It's by the water," Waters murmured. "That would seem to imply that, wouldn't it?"

"Water birds nest close to water," Sonja Rice pointed out. "Some mammals, too."

"If it was earth, it could be any of those possibilities," Kate said, trying to keep her voice neutral. "But this is Sirius. The chances are that it won't be anything we're at all familiar with."

"You've got a point, Dr. Drexel," Waters agreed. "And yet, so far, we've seen a lot of similarities. Sirius may not be Earth's twin, but it's starting to look close enough to be a kissing cousin."

"Except there don't seem to be any beings of higher intelligence," Mills said. "Isn't that weird considering the other similarities to earth that we've found and the age we've calculated of the system?"

* * * *

Noo had been aware of movement and felt the threat of danger but until he managed to break through his pod and examine his surroundings he had no idea how serious the threat was. Alarm went through him as soon as his eyes adjusted enough to allow him to examine his surroundings. His nose had already told him the worst, however. There was no scent of water and none of food.

Weak from his struggles, he lay where he fell, trying to gather the strength to search for food and water before he became too weak to do so. His nest mates, Rak and Dae broke from their pods and tumbled onto the hard surface before he'd had time to gather his strength, and lay weakly on the hard, cold surface as he had, struggling for breath.

Where are we?

Not on Ra, he responded, rolling over at last and pushing himself to his feet. While they rested, trying to regain their own strength, he shuffled painfully around the hard pod in search of an opening. There wasn't one, but he found a surface that was pliable. It was long and very thin, covering an opening too narrow, he was afraid, to allow them to escape, but he examined it anyway. Hooking his talons in it, he began tugging at it and finally managed to tear it a little. When he did, air wafted to him that contained all the smells he'd expected to detect when he'd emerged from his pod.

Rak! Dae! There is food and water here!

Encouraged by their needs, his nest mates struggled up and joined him, helping him tear at the strange thing until they had shredded it. Noo peered through the opening they had made. This is a strange place.

Very strange, Rak agreed.

And definitely not Ra, Dae said. How did we come to be here?

I felt movement. You did not?

Dae frowned. I did, but I thought we had been carried away by a flood.

Mayhap we can figure it out later--if we live. I smell food and water, but I do not see any.

Rak pushed his nose to the narrow crevice. It is in those strange pods.

Father! Dae called out when he realized they were trapped. Help us!

We cannot get to the food and water! Noo yelled.

We are trapped! Rak added.

The three paused, tilting their heads to listen.

The father is not near, Rak concluded finally. He has followed the queen to seed her again.

We are not on Ra, Noo pointed out.

But we would be if the father had not followed the queen, Dae said angrily. He would have guarded the nest otherwise.

That seemed inarguable. In any case, they were on their own regardless of what had happened to put them in that position.

The three of them began tearing at the oddly hard and flat side of the pod they were trapped in, alternately battering against it. Abruptly, it simply fell away. They inched to the edge of the opening and peered around for predators. Relieved when they saw none, nor smelled anything threatening, they climbed out and allowed their noses to lead them to the food and water they needed.

They were almost too weak to eat and drink by the time they'd managed to tear open the strange, hard pods where the food and water had been hidden. They began to feel better once they'd filled their bellies, however--stronger, but sleepy from their full stomachs.

I need to sleep, Noo announced.

I also, Rak agreed.

I am tired, too, Dae told them indignantly, but someone needs to watch for predators.

There are none in this strange place, Noo said dismissively. We would have smelled them.

I smell something strange, Dae pointed out. You do not smell it?

It passed this way long ago, Noo said. The scent is old and stale.

Noo climbed down from the pod where they had found food and discovered the ground was as strange as the pods. It was hard and cold, but it did not look like stone. It looked like the same thing the pods were made of. This is a very strange place, he said uneasily. Everything is the same!

You do not think it is strange that everything is in pods? Dae asked. Even things that should not be in pods?

It is … not warm either, Rak complained. Why is it not warm?

Noo tilted his head up and stared at the sky. I do not see Sheva. Nor any sister stars. The sky looks like the ground. He frowned. It is another pod. We are inside of an even larger pod.

Mayhap we are on Ra but inside this strange pod and if we break out then we will find the father? Rak suggested hopefully.

Noo stared at him for several moments. I am going to climb back into the pod where we woke and sleep. When I am not tired anymore, then I will see if there is a way out of the big pod.

Rak and Dae stared at one another questioningly when Noo started to climb back into the strange pod where they'd woken. Shrugging after a moment, they followed him. They were still not warm, even when they had curled tightly together, but it was not nearly as uncomfortable.

Noo felt a good deal stronger when he woke--and a good deal hungrier than before. Rising, he stretched and left his nest mates to search for food. They joined him when he had finally managed to break open the pod by himself and he glared at them a little indignantly as they went inside and helped themselves to the food. He dismissed it after a moment and focused on filling his own belly. He was sleepy again by the time he finished eating, but he decided it was time to explore the great pod they were in. There was food and there was water, but there was not a great deal of either and three of them to share. They might yet starve or die of thirst if they could not find a way out of the great pod and into the forest.

In any case, they would need to find a queen to breed once they reached maturity and he had not seen another beast of any kind beyond his nest mates. The search for a suitable female might be a long one.

Rak and Dae followed him as he left the area where the small pods were. They found that the great pod they were in was sealed in the same strange way as the smaller pod where they had hatched and the pods where they had found food. This one was far bigger, however, and although they clawed at it and beat themselves against it, it didn't budge.

Noo settled, curled in a tight ball, and went to sleep. He was angry, though, to discover yet another impediment and decided as soon as he woke to examine it to see if he could find a spot where the soft stuff was thinner. He discovered very quickly, however, that he could not dig his claws into the hard surface and climb. His wings were too small to fly. Closing his eyes, he focused on his hands and feet and changed his claws into the soft, rounded pads of the merlie, a climbing creature absorbed into the clan long ago. This time when he pressed his hands against the slick, hard surface, they clung. Triumphant, he carefully picked his way along the vertical surface, stopping to check the thin, soft stuff from time to time.

He'd made it almost halfway up when he stepped on something that yielded beneath his hand. When he did, the barrier fell away. He stopped, staring at the hole and the darkness beyond as lights began to flicker and the area brightened. Look! Light!

Rak was already looking, his lower jaw sagging in surprise.

Dae snorted and lifted his head, blinking. Sheva?

It is not warm, Rak responded, tipping his head to look up at the source of the light, and that does not look like Sheva.

Noo glanced uneasily at the pods where their food lay. If this closes as it opened then we may not be able to reach the pods where the food is.

How did you make it open before, Dae asked curiously?

With this moving stone. He removed his foot to show Dae and it promptly closed--with Rak on the other side!

Panic gripped him for a moment, but as soon as he pressed on the stone again, the pod opened up as it had before. He eased his head around the edge to see if there was a similar stone on the other side, more than a little fearful the thing would close on him and cut him in half. Relieved when he saw there was another small stone like the one he'd already found, he waited until Dae had gone through and joined Rak and Dae on the other side.

It was the strangest, most confusing thing imaginable. It seemed to be a world of pods within pods. They weren't surprised that it was confusing to them when they had only recently escaped their own pods, but none of them could summon a memory from the father, the queen, or the old ones that explained what they found.

This is someplace different, Noo said finally. It is not Ra.

We knew that, Rak pointed out.

We thought that, Noo corrected him. I am more certain than ever.

I am also more certain, Dae said, his voice sounding strange.

Noo looked up and saw that Dae had made his hands and feet like the merlie and climbed up one of the vertical sides. He was peering through a hole he'd found. Excitement flickered through him and he changed his own hands and feet as he had before and climbed up eagerly to look through the hole Dae had found.

It was not a hole at all, he discovered. It was as hard and slick as everything else, but he could see through it--and all he could see was sky, a night sky--and it looked nothing like the night sky of Ra was supposed to look. It seemed to go on forever and there was no sign at all of Mother Ra or their forest--or even Father Sheva, whose light and warmth they depended upon for life.

* * * *

An air of almost hysterical excitement gripped the entire space center community as the UNSS Nostradamus successfully docked. Expelling a collective sigh of relief as control announced a successful docking, everyone almost instantly burst into wild jubilation, laughing, crying, jumping up and down, and hugging each other exuberantly. The Nostradamus, the prototype for the first colonist ship, had successfully completed its maiden voyage to Earth's prime target planet and back with flying colors! The hyper-drive had performed beautifully, taking the ship to the target planet in less than six months and returning in three!

Kate suspected that even the engineers who'd designed and built the new hyper-drive had had their fingers crossed when the decision came down to test the ship at full speed on the trip back. She certainly had! All she could think about was their specimens and whether they were going to make the trip to earth in one piece! But then, that was part of the reason for the decision to start with. They had living things aboard on the trip back. Not only were they anxious to get them back while they were still living--or at least had some chance of it--but the project leaders had thought it would be a good thing to see the effect the hyper-drive would have on living things--if any.

Hopefully, they weren't going to have to scrape their specimens off the walls and view them under microscopes, she thought uneasily as soon as the first thrill had died down.

Kate didn't realize everyone else was as uneasy as she was until the sudden, piercing alarm sounded and the computer announced a level red lockdown.

"Containment breach aboard Nostradamus," the computer announced calmly. "All stations--Warning! Alien biological hazard. Executing protocol five-seven-one-one-zero--station lock-down in five, four, three, two … Lock-down executed. Doors sealed. Potential biological hazard contained."

Kate's ears rang in the dead silence that followed as someone managed to shut off the warning Claxton. Her heart took the place of the ear-piercing screech, pounding against her ear drums in a deafening tattoo. Emerging from her shock a few moments before the majority of the scientists who'd gathered to watch the docking of the Nostradamus, just returned from its historic voyage to the first Earth-like planet on the agenda for colonization, she dragged her gaze from the image on the viewing screen and looked at Bill Warner, who was manning the controls. "What happened?"

As if the question she'd voiced had unlocked everyone else from frozen stasis, shouted questions began to ping back and forth across the control room--shouted, no doubt, due to a combination of consternation and temporary deafness from the Claxton--but as disruptive as that had been.

"Hold it down!" Warner bellowed from his console.

The order jolted Kate and she stared at the back of his head with a combination of surprise and indignation. The bellow effectively silenced everyone, however, and for a few moments silence reigned.

"The breach is aboard the Nostradamus. As far as the computer can ascertain, the seals on the docking station are holding."

The scientists, Kate included, breathed a collective sigh of relief.

It might well be premature, but at least they had the illusion of safety for the moment.

She still felt as if invisible bugs were crawling all over her and it took an effort to convince herself it was purely imagination.

Howard Keel, who was in charge of the scientific expedition, moved to stand directly behind Warner, leaning over him to read the monitor. He straightened after a moment and glanced at the communications officer. "Execute Protocol One. Notify ground control that the space station is in quarantine until we can complete an investigation."

There was an immediate rumble of voices as everyone began speculating, aloud, as to what had happened and what needed to be done.

Keel rounded on them. "Clear the control room. You'll be notified once we have a better idea of what's happened and a plan has been formulated. Group leaders should plan to meet in the conference room at 2100 unless otherwise notified."

Dismissed, everyone simply gaped at him for several moments. Finally, a few of the scientists in the rear ambled toward the lift. When they did, it created a general exodus from the control room.

Kate lingered. "We aren't going to sterilize the Nostradamus, are we?"

Keel glanced at her a little absently, his mind obviously elsewhere. "You'll be notified once a decision is made," he said dismissively.

"Yes, but …."

Keel's lips tightened. "No one wants that."

Slightly appeased, Kate nodded and turned to follow everyone else from the control room. She was only minimally reassured, however. If they'd lost everything they'd collected it could have more disastrous repercussions than anyone wanted to think about. Teams had already been assembled to re-outfit the Nostradamus for the first colonist venture, at which time it would become Eden I--the first, hopefully, of many colony ships that would carry the children of Earth 'back to Eden'.