Knowing Intergal’s ways, Yana doubted the “ethnic groups” had been asked their choice in the matter. She kept reading.
… following initial seeding, adjustments were made cm-site by company staff members among the colonists. The team determined that although the planet could support life of a primitive sort, most low-level machinery and electronics would not withstand the cold. Therefore, biological alternatives were developed. Company botanists perfected food and fodder crops, and other domesticated plant life specially designed for the Petaybean growing season. Summer thawing of rivers and shorelines is facilitated by the planet’s network of subterranean hot springs, which to some extent warm the surface water, which becomes warmer as it deepens, preventing all but the shallower streams from freezing to their total depth. This deep water, along with hot springs occurring on the planet’s surface and open year round, and small quantities of melted snow, provide hydration for plants, humans, and animals.
Company geneticists also altered existing animal species to conform to the requirements of the Petaybean climate. The following species were developed under company auspices: Petaybee curly horses, for nonsnow and heavy-duty transport; foxhounds, intelligent hybrid dogs for pulling sleds; domestic felines, originally for fur-bearing purposes but later to control the vermin, the development of which was not authorized. Additionally, fur-bearing species able to sustain themselves in the wild were introduced and specially adapted for the climate-wolverines, wolves, bears, lynx, as well as caribou, reindeer, wild sheep, and moose.
Sounded right to Yana. Just about what one would expect a fully stocked subarctic Earth clone to have. She had done the Service and London interactive holos as a kid. The only thing missing so far was the malamutes, as in Malamute Saloon, and the foxhounds seemed to be standing in for them. Too bad there wasn’t a continental mass along the equator that would be more temperate. But even with long-term terraforming, one couldn’t always choose appropriate sites for continental masses, though she didn’t know the geology involved in supporting Gaias.
She skimmed past the description of ocean and river dwellers, noting that some long-extinct species on Earth had been revived for this planet, making the terraforming valuable for that purpose if no other, in her estimation. Five kinds of whales populated the ocean: orcas, humpbacks, grays, rights, and the small so-called pilot whales, as well as dolphins, otters, seals, walruses, and all of the fish and plant life necessary to support them. The only odd thing about Petaybee was that the oceans were still many times warmer deep down than they were upon the icy surface, since considerable geothermal activity was still taking place following the terraforming. This same activity accounted for volcanos, hot springs, earthquakes, and the odd domes the Irish-Yupik-descended colonists of this continent called “fairy hills,” the report noted.
Yana flipped forward. Nothing irregular here yet that she had to memorize and eat. Nothing she shouldn’t know-or be able to ask about, for that matter. If it was here and it was authorized to be here, it was no doubt a matter of public record.
The next aberration she found was a notation that it had been unnecessary to develop a methane-based energy system when, by the time enough colonists had settled the planet to make such considerations a priority, it was discovered that the smallish alder trees transplanted to this planet had somehow mutated far beyond the alterations of the company botanists, into a completely new hardwood that made unusually long-burning and hot fuel. That explained why her home fires were still burning, anyway.
But in the last part of the report, she began to wonder if the computer’s word processor hadn’t gotten scrambled with some kid’s IAH game. One of the expeditionary team members, prior to of complete disappearance, had reported via land-to-ship voice transmitter that she had seen what appeared to be a unicorn, Unicorns were definitely not among the authorized species for this planet, or any other. The official theory, the report went on to say, was that the woman had suffered from snow blindness or hallucinations induced by hypothermia. This climate was hostile to those not bred to adapt to it, the report rationalized. One team member who did return from that expedition appeared to have aged at least a decade and had patently gone insane, babbling about hearing voices from the soil and tree roots, though the reports he .we of crystal caverns led the authorities to hope that there was some thread of reality in his ramblings.