and wiped his hands off on his pants before offering her one in greeting.
Charlie smiled and leaned forward to shake his hand. Despite his crude words, his smile was genuine, and his faded denim-blue eyes sparkled with mirth.
“Yep, that’s me, but please call me Charlie.”
Dr. Shelby made a rude noise in her throat, clearly disapproving of their less than professional meeting as she made notes on her data sheet. A small green light flashed and Charlie’s comm beeped directly afterward, also flashing green.
“Your daily schedule has been downloaded onto your comm. Make yourself acquainted with it. In the meantime, Erik is going to lead you through your responsibilities,” Dr. Shelby stated. She leveled Erik with a hard look and pointed her thin stylus at him. “Stay on task. This is a lab, not your playground. It’s unfortunate you aren’t so easily replaceable, but consider this your warning that I will not put up with any more foolishness from you.”
Erik gave a jaunty salute to Dr. Shelby’s retreating form as she departed the room with a furious clack from her heeled shoes.
“All right, Charlie, follow me and I’ll show you the ropes!”
Charlie smiled. “Sounds good. Forgive me for being blunt, but I don’t think I’ve ever met a citizen as nice as you. I’m not really sure how to take it.”
Erik snickered as he walked by her. “Because I’m not a generational citizen. Some of the higher ups can’t stand it, but I gained citizenship by serving my obligatory five-year stint in the military. I got out just in time to do my necessary studies to be a tech before signing on to come to work on this colony. Anyhoo, on we go. First things first. I am going to show you where the feed storage is. Be prepared for all the excitement that you will never have,” he said with a chuckle.
Charlie’s lips twitched with amusement as she followed him out into the vivarium.
Chapter 6
Far from the colony, the offworlders’ vessel zipped over the surface of the rough terrain. Those within were unaware that they were followed as they explored the rocky outcroppings a half-day’s journey from the habitat. Unlike those who were churning up the soil for planting, these were scouring among the rocks. One picked a ten-legged montrachian from between two stones; its long, vibrant, blue-scaled body twisting back and forth as it tried to inject its dual mouth stingers into the one handling it.
Did the offworlder know how deadly it was? The venom could kill an average adult Tak’sinii.
Pale, luminous green eyes narrowed, watching as it was dropped into a clear container, sealed, and set into a carrier hanging off the side of the offworlder’s body. Curious behavior. What interest did they have in it? To all appearances, the creatures appeared to be settling on the Ek’shar Valley. The montrachian did not nest in the valley. It would be smarter to avoid it altogether. There were few uses for the venom, and none of them without significant risk in their usage.
The offworlders worked tirelessly, plucking small creatures and plants up to place them in sealed containers as they took samples of everything they saw.
The a’sankh slid among the rocks, tail flicking. Eyes gleamed as they focused on the collectors. Did they not realize how vulnerable they were? It would be so easy to drop from the rocks above and slaughter them before even one could retreat to their vessel. One that could be taken as a warrior stood off the side, armed with a large weapon, staring into the distance out of boredom rather watchfulness. Even that one possessed the dulled senses that seemed to plague the species.
It had been the same all day. The collectors traveled from place to place with their warrior as they took samples each time they stopped. There was little variance in their activity. Every time the vessel stopped, those within it disembarked and set to work collecting, moving their fingers on flat devices that lit up and appeared to respond to their touch.
Perhaps it was like the Tak’sinii knowledge orbs, though they seemed far less practical than the tiny spheres that were easily carried and conveyed the desired information through the retina of the eye.
While it was nothing compared to those enjoyed by the people of the san’mordan, the a’sankhii had basic knowledge orbs. Theirs, however, were grafted directly into an a’sankh’s neurological system. Upon reaching their final stage of maturity, a ritual took place during which an eye was removed,