The guard snapped a salute, and Yana thought she saw a little smile playing at the edges of his mouth. Yana wondered about that, and began to suspect what Torkel would find about the disposition and composition of Intergal troops currently on duty in Petaybee. She noticed that Steve Margolies was looking exceedingly thoughtful: he kept glancing from Torkel to Sean to Dr. Fiske, but whatever was worrying him he kept to himself.
“You keep speaking of these adaptations, son,” Dr. Fiske said to Sean, with an air of getting back to important matters. “Just what do they consist of?”
“The most important,” Sean said, his voice filled with the sort of excitement that the other two scientists, more than anyone else in the room, were best equipped to understand and share, “is how Petaybee-not I or my grandfather-improved, beyond their previous capabilities, the perceptions of some of the more intelligent species.”
“Like the pussycats here with Frank?” Steve Margolies asked.
“Yes, and like this,” Scan said, and lifted his hand and closed his eyes. In a moment there was a scratching at the window and a whining at the door. One of the guards opened the door to admit Dinah, who was leading a weakly smiling Francisco Metaxos, followed by Aisling. Clodagh opened the window to admit Nanook, who jumped down across the sill in one fluid motion, walked calmly over to Whittaker Fiske, put one saucer-sized paw on the man’s uninjured arm, and said “Meh,” quite clearly.
“My word!” Dr. Fiske leaned away, staring at the cat. “You asked it to come and do this?”
Scan nodded while Nanook gave a burst of purr, marched to Torkel, and repeated the performance.
Torkel started to shove Nanook away but stopped, giving Sean a puzzled look. “It’s telling me that Giancarlo is resting well, thanks to it.”
“Him,” Sean said. “Nanook is male. And he likes his ears scratched. Most of the felines here have the ability to soothe troubled, or sick, minds. They’ll carry messages, lead people across dangerous terrain, and hunt when that’s necessary.”
Dinah, tongue lolling from her open mouth, waited until Metaxos was safely deposited in a chair between Diego and Steve, then pranced up to Fiske. She gave a bit of a whine before she pushed her nose at his arm and held it there a moment.
“Talking cats and dogs?” Dr. Fiske asked, eyes round with amazement.
“Telepathic, actually,” Sean said. “When they choose to be. Dinah, as a lead dog, had no trouble communicating about trail conditions and finding her way across frozen wastes. She had bonded most effectively with Lavelle, the woman who died when
Captain Fiske and Colonel Giancarlo had her removed from Petaybee. Nanook has a close bond with me, but is actually a pretty |j| social creature.”
“And Clodagh’s cats-” Yana began, but Clodagh shot her a look and she subsided. No need to tell the offworlders everything. Not more than they needed to convince them. Not just yet. So Yana made no mention about unicorned curly stallions, intelligent seals, and trained ravens. Scan’s hand dropped to the back of her neck and kneaded it gently as he watched the reaction of the Fiskes and Margolies.
“Telepathic sled dogs and felines .. .” Dr. Fiske said, shaking his head.
‘Tour granddad was one busy guy.” Torkel snorted. Nanook dug his claws into Torkel’s leg, ever so slightly. “Ouch!”
“Grandfather developed several types of large felines and canines suitable to this icy climate, but, as I said, Petaybee improved on his work many times over the years. Give Petaybee a chance, and it will improve on anything you ask it to. Isn’t that much better than blasting the planet apart for mere minerals and ores which the company can surely find on lifeless asteroids and planets?”
Dr. Fiske sighed. “Ah, now I suppose we come to the crux of all this. If I understood it correctly, Petaybee is extremely grateful for its life, but not grateful enough to endure our resource development plans? That’s why the teams have disappeared or been killed?”
Frank Metaxos cleared his throat and said in a rusty voice, “It wasn’t intentional, Whit. I-freaked out, as Diego would say, what with the blizzard followed by that intense psychical input. I understand now that what I sensed in the cave was only this same explanation. And-incredible as it seems-something of an apology. Perhaps Petaybee could adjust its climate a bit for those of us who aren’t used to such extreme conditions.”