Read Online Outward Borne by R. J. Weinkam - Free Book Online Page B

catastrophe occurred. They
analyzed what and why it had happened from the available
surveillance records and movements of individuals within the
ship
    - MDK
    Zep, like all Cathians, had a low,
wide, and very strong body. She had six stubby thick legs that
extended directly beneath her lumpy body and massive feet that
folded into fists when walking. This level of support was needed in
the high gravity of Cathia, but their habitat on the Outward had a
much lower force in which their stiff stout legs bounced them about
and made their movements appear awkward in the extreme. Their heads
were tapered snouts hanging forward from their broader mottled
yellow-tan to red-brown bodies. Small eyes protruding from the
sides of the head could look forwards and backwards, complementing
their long supple necks. Like some other alien species, their
cup-shaped feet were very flexible and could serve as hands to
manage small delicate objects even without having defined
fingers.
    Cathia was a beautiful but
difficult land, and those that lived there and survived were tough,
hard beings. The climate was variable leading to periodic droughts
and starvation, and storms came often during the cold season
bringing the damp and diseases of the ocean’s coast. Survival at
times required that they burrow into the ground and persist until
the harsh times were over. The older Cathians developed dusty gray
patches on the top of their heads and what might pass for shoulders
or knees. Pok was particularly well padded, flexible, strong, and
mean.
    Zep, Pok and their friend Sut, had
been members of a construction gang. They dug wells and built
bridges and houses using stone and the available reeds and grasses,
and generally tackled whatever projects they were told to do.
Several others from their rugged gang ended up in the Outward, but
their bosses had not. The captive Cathians were without direction,
living in a foreign and unexplainable cage, discouraged and
weakened. Yet, no one had stepped forward to organize or control
her fellow captives.
    Zep and her crewmates were
workers, not rulers, but they were adept at problem solving and had
been trained to take on the challenges of some substantial
projects. They began to shake off the lethargy of their captivity
by doing what they knew how to do. Pok had slunk around the place
and it was clear that the Cathian habitat was larger than needed.
It had many identical little rooms, far more than the small group
needed, but lacked the open space they were used to. Zep, Pok and
Sut began to pull down walls and ceiling panels to create a larger
open area and collected lighting modules to brighten the room. It
became the only space within the habitat where the Cathians could
see one another clearly and communicate freely. Unfortunately, the
construction had not destroyed the embedded ObLaDa surveillance
cameras or microphones, but it was a start.
    The small group’s despair changed
to anger when bodies began to disappear. At first, no one
understood what was happening. Two Cathians, Kit and Loft, were
taken. They were apparently removed from their sleeping quarters
during the night, but no one saw or heard a thing. They were just
not there anymore. Pok was especially angered by the kidnappings;
Loft was her friend. She wanted to learn how the abductions were
being conducted and began to creep around the exterior walls of the
habitat during the night, watching and waiting, but saw nothing.
There were no further seizures during the nights that followed and
the Cathians began to believe that they had regained some control
over their lives. Then one morning, in full light, an access door
slid open and two flat-topped service robots rolled into the
habitat. They went directly to the room where young Bek was lying
unconscious. She had probably been gassed in her sleep. One bot
picked up her body and they both rolled back through the entryway.
The operation occurred with hardly a sound and was complete in less
than five