The young experimental Triads are made up of the
smallest primate tribe of Humans –two; the smallest canine pack of Kiiote – six;
and the smallest camelid herd of Yown’Hoo – eleven, a prime number. On nursery
farms and ranches away from the TC cities, Humans have tended young Yown’Hoo
and Kiiote in secret for decades, allowing the two warring people to reproduce
and grow far from their home worlds. Grendl, Manitoba is one such place. No one
but the Triad Company has ever heard of it and the physical plant goes by the
unobtrusive name of Organic Prairie Dairy.
The Triads never hear of anything they aren’t spoon fed
in their luxury worlds. surrounded by a Humanity that has degenerated into a
“duck-and-cover” society as the Big Boys fight their war. They don’t care about
anything but their own lives. Oblivious, cocooned, manipulated, they have no
idea that their privileges are about to be violently curtailed.
I hung on as tight as I could and shouted, “We have to turn
back!”
Shayla shouted, “We can’t, there’s a mob back there waiting
to kill us!”
Dao-hi, the Yown’Hoo herd mother shouted in Spandaringlish, “The
only way out is through!”
I thought that was a great alien aphorism, but didn’t see
how it could apply here. It seemed like the creek ran of forever. I shouted, “What
if we fall...” Qap, the Kiiote I was clinging to, suddenly dropped beneath me,
dunking us both in cold water. The others suffered the same fate and came up like
us, sputtering helplessly. I figured the Tribal flyer would be hovering over
us, pumping lead into our rapidly cooling bodies as whatever opposition group
it represented claimed victory over our alien oppressors.
We saw the red back lights of the flyer downstream from us,
rushing along as the nineteen of us swam to safety on the shore of Minnehaha Creek.
Doj, one of the neuter Kiiote pack members spluttered, “Good
thing you forced us to take your stupid swimming lesson!”
Dao-hi snarled and slapped him upside the head and said, “This
is a water world, idiot! Only someone stupider than yourself would have ignored
that and never taught us how to swim!”
Xurf, the Pack’s lead female nipped Doj then snarled at
Dao-hi, “Keep your discipline to your herd! I’ll take care of my...”
Shayla bit Xurf on the shoulder. The female yipped, then shook
herself wildly. Shayla had already slipped off and was in a low crouch. I dropped
off of Qap’s back, stuck both fingers in my mouth and whistled. Herd, Pack, and
Tribe gave me their full attention as I said, “We have to move now! In Hoonish,
I said, “Beh! Rah! Fu!” meaning, “Speed!
Flee! Now!” Everyone understood, but I had long ago been cast in the role of
peace-maker. I was the most patient of the Triad.
Yeah. Right.
Shayla poked me with her fist and I said, “We have to reach
the edge of Minneapolis.”
“Why?” Xurf asked.
“Something’s gone wrong. The bus doesn’t stop that far from
the Dome unless we have an escort. Tonight, we thought we could make it because
we could see it. But there was a riot. What causes the Tribe to riot?” I shot
my question to Nah-hi, the male leader of the Herd. They were having the
hardest time understanding Human behavior and they were under orders from Triad
to work hardest. That was because the Yown’Hoo had a tech edge over the Kiiote.
Kiiote had numbers.
Humans had nothing but a world where both aliens could breed
and raise their young to replace soldiers lost in battle. Earth was an ideal
nursery for all three , it’s just that Humans owned it and if either the Kiiote
or the Yown’Hoo tried to take it from the other…it wouldn’t be a place to raise
anyone. So they sniped at each other, mostly ignored Humans and kept coming
back to get their replacements. They picked them up in Minneapolis; Pune, India;
and Harbin, China – from wherever they were raised.
That was a secret few living things knew.
Unfortunately, I’d found out one of the location of one of
the nurseries. I said, “Maybe they’re hoping to drive us to one of the
nurseries so the Tribe can take it hostage.”
All six Kiiote dropped to all fours and growled at me. All
eleven Yown’Hoo reared on their hind legs, pawing the air with their wide,
heavy, camel-like feet. I always thought it was strange that such alien things mimicked
the way an animal from Earth reacted when it was scared. Shayla shouted, “You
idiot!” and tried to punch me.
I was ready for all of their reactions and I was flat on the
ground on my back so that herr swing passed well over me. The Kiiote groaned as
they readjusted their anatomy for two-legged walking. There was a wet, sucking
sound as the Yown’Hoo pulled their manipulating tentacles free of the mucus-lined
pouch they usually lay in. After counting to thirty, I rolled over on my belly
and shoved myself into the air, clapped my hands, caught myself on the way down
then shoved myself to my feet, leaped and did a backflip and landed on my feet.
Shayla’s arms were crossed over her chest and she was
glaring at me in the shadowy light, but I could see she was smirking. I was
smart and a smartass – but I was also a gymnast and it was that rather than
strength that had given me a rank in the Triad. They were listening. I said, “We
have to get out of here. We know someone, somewhere has managed to take us out
of the Dome...”
Qap said, “Why not just return?”
Shayla nodded and pushed up her sleeve and tapped the
stickiphone. The real smarts were embedded in her brain, but we all still
needed something to interact with. If she wanted to, she could pull off the
stickiphone, tap it and make it a hardphone. For now, she left it where it was
and tapped away. She held her arm out, “Look.” A 3D projection jumped up in front
of all of us.
The Old Metrodome, our home, was burning.
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