The Pet Plague

by Darrell Bain

  Jamie passed out food to his own animals. His own appetite began stirring once he had gotten rid of his pack, but before he could do anything about it, Kristi came over, bringing Judy and another ranger he hadn't met yet.

  “This is Dick Forsyth. Jamie Da Cruz,” she said by way of introduction. “Let's get our shelters up.” She motioned to Jamie's pack and he dug it out, again not noticing the unhappy expression on Judy's face as she began combining her shelter half with Forsyth's.

  The shelters were of a thin, transparent material weighing hardly anything, but which could assume several rigid shapes, depending on the programmed instructions, then collapse back into the original folded packet when not in use. As it unfolded, it sucked in enough air to provide a thin mattress, then expelled it automatically during the re-folding process. It would retain as much or as little of the heat given off by the human body as desired through the thermosmotic fabric. Jamie had seen only a brief holographic demonstration of it's workings and Kristi had to show him how to program his half to unfold and meld with hers. Together, they made a comfortable fifty square foot sleeping area, and when occupied, the body weight of the inhabitants provided an anchorage from the wind.

  “We have the first watch, Jamie,” Kristi announced, once the shelter was up and she had attached a temporary tie-down to keep it from moving until it was occupied. “Is anyone else hungry?"

  Jamie was. His appetite had grown by leaps and bounds in the last few minutes. He thought wistfully of the last meal he and Jeannie had eaten as he pulled out a ration pack, but very shortly, he found that he had consumed it all and was wishing for more.

  “Not bad,” he commented, licking his fingers and unstrapping his canteen for a drink. The food had made him forget about the hard, uncomfortable concrete he was sitting on.

  “Tell me again how good that stuff is after you've eaten a few hundred of them,” Kristi said. “And go easy on the water,” she warned. “It will be tomorrow morning sometime before we get to any worth purifying."

  “If some animals haven't occupied the drinking place since the last time we were there,” Judy interjected from where she and her tent-mate were finishing their own meal.

  “Couldn't we drive then off?” Jamie asked.

  Forsyth answered that question. “We could, but it wouldn't be a good idea. We survive out here mostly by leaving the animals alone, if we can. So long as they know we're only passing through, they usually won't cause much trouble, but if we started fighting or killing them for no good reason, they would retaliate, just as we would if the roles were reversed. Not only that, most of the smart animals can communicate after a fashion with other species, and they would pass the word on ahead of us. Then we'd really have trouble. Remember, most animals are territorial, especially out here in the wilds. If they think their territory is threatened, they will fight back, and they have the numbers on their side, while we have only so many shots in a gun. How would you like to try killing a thousand rats, or a hundred dogs, all at once?"

  “I see your point,” Jamie said. “They could wipe us out any time they really wanted to, couldn't they?"

  “They could, but there is one nice thing about them being intelligent. They have an awareness of death, now. They won't risk their lives unless it's for a good reason."

  “Like ours, on this expedition?"

  “That's right, like ours,” Forsyth concluded with a wry grin.

  * * *

  CHAPTER 11

  “We want a mouse,” Fuzzy Britches announced from where he and Princess were rubbing against Kristi's thigh as she sat cross-legged while finishing her ration.

  “You had better watch out for the mice here, Fuzz,” Jamie said. “They might be bigger than you are."

  “Please mighty master."

  “If you don't stop that ‘mighty master’ nonsense, I'm going to feed you to the dogs and get me a cat that will show some respect. Kristi, would it be all right?"

  “I don't see why not, if they can find one up here. It's relatively clear and the dogs will let us know if anything comes up.” She whistled softly and her dog trotted over, tail wagging. It was a large bitch with thick, mostly white fur, but sporting several small brown and black patches.

  “This is Lady,” she said, rubbing behind the dog's ears while it nuzzled the thigh not already occupied by cats.

  “Hello, Lady,” Jamie said, wondering if Kristi was addicted to trite names for her pets.

  “Meow,” Fuzzy Britches said, politely.

  “Hunt, Lady. Mouse. Guard,” Kristi told the dog, pointing to the two cats. Fuzzy Britches and Princess scampered off into the weeds and brush beyond the camp area, followed by Lady and a disinterested but willing Woggly.

  As darkness descended, Kristi led Jamie to a position beyond the group of shelters. He could see shadowy movements within the shelters they passed as couples began settling in. He wondered how early they would be starting the next day if they were preparing for bed this early. “Sit down here,” she instructed him. We can lean back against each other and face in opposite directions. Get comfortable; I'll be back as soon as I check on Judy and Dick."

  Jamie sat down, glad to be off his feet, but found it impossible to turn concrete into anything resembling a comfortable seat. He finally detached the hood from his coveralls and used it like a thin pillow. Kristi returned shortly and sat facing away from him. He leaned back tentatively until their shoulders met and settled against each other. The hard surface didn't seem to bother Kristi, or at least she used no padding. But then, he thought, females are endowed with natural padding they carry with them.

  “It's OK to talk while we're out here, just keep it low,” Kristi said after they had sat for a little while.

  “What are we supposed to be watching for?” Jamie asked.

  “You never know. Even though we are reasonable familiar with this territory, we can't possibly cover it all, or even a very large part of it. All of the wild country is still in a state of flux. It may take the rest of our lifetime before a stable ecology forms, if it ever does, and it almost certainly won't be anything like we would wish for."

  “All that I've seen so far is that rat town, except that I got a rock thrown at me."

  Kristi gave a low chuckle. “So I heard. It's not likely to happen again, though. They don't try things like that very often. From what we've observed in the last few years, this is turning into cat and rat country. It's not likely that you'll see many cats, though. They keep pretty much out of sight. The main thing we have to be wary of is groups of animals migrating into the area from another place where food supplies have been depleted. They might not know much about humans, and be hungry besides. That is the time when we tend to take casualties. A couple of years ago we lost a whole squad out to the west of the Enclave."

  “What happened?"

  “Someone got careless."

  Jamie decided she didn't want to talk about it.

  After the sun had come out that day, it had warmed up, but with darkness, a chill wind began to blow, numbing Jamie's cheeks and ears. “Can I move enough to put my hood back on?"

  Kristi laughed.” I wondered how long it would take before you asked that. Sure, go ahead. We're out here mainly as a back-up for the dogs and to provide some firepower should they need it."

  Jamie quickly fastened his hood back in place and settled back again. “Why do we sit in one spot like this?"

  “It gives us an edge, just in case. Always make your enemy come to you, if you can. Also, we don't want to confuse the dogs we're downwind from. Jamie, we have learned the hard way that caution pays. You can get away with being careless for a long time, maybe, but if you go to the well often enough, eventually you'll run out of water. Look. The moon is coming up. The cats should be able to find some mice, if there's any up here."

  “I don't know about Fuzz. He doesn't get to hunt much."

  “Neither does Princess, but they'll manage. The hunting instinct was left alone in most of the enhanced anim
als, mores the pity"

  * * * *

  The hunting had been poor, but at last Fuzzy Britches crouched low in a clump of stunted weeds, trying to keep the stub of his tail from twitching and giving him away. His slit pupils widened, gathering in all the light the moon furnished. He sensed movement, a furtive scuttling somewhere near. He tensed his back legs, ready to leap. Beside him, Princess waited, her gray fur blending with the shadows, making her nearly invisible in the wan light. The scuttling noise came closer and now he could see, not one mouse but two, foraging together. He leaped. His claws hooked the mouse and bore it to the ground. He gripped it in his mouth, ignoring the tiny squeals of terror. The mouse was intelligent enough to know that it was doomed. Princess leaped a second late and her prey escaped. Fuzzy Britches bit deeply into the mouse's neck to still it's cries; he had no desire to play with it or listen to more of it's terror-stricken squeeks. He salivated as blood ran into his mouth, but he was not ready to eat yet; first he wanted to show Jamie his kill. He headed back to camp with Princess nuzzling at his neck.

  * * * *

  The moon hung above the horizon, almost full. It disappeared from time to time, obscured by wind-chased clouds. The stars shined with a hard bright light where no clouds blocked them out.

  “It's pretty out here without the city lights, but I could enjoy it more if it weren't so cold,” Jamie said. He shivered.

  “It will be better once we get inside. Have you known Jeannie long?"

  Jamie was surprised at the turn in conversation. “Just a few months, since she came to work for our section. She's a whiz with the computer."

  “I like her. She's refreshing."

  “I like her, too,” Jamie said. “A lot."

  “Good. Hang on to her. You two go well together."

  “I intend to. How about you?"

  “I like you both,” Kristi said, deliberately misunderstanding his question. “Judy is kind of upset with me, but she'll get over it. There was nothing permanent involved."

  That was Jamie's second inkling that Kristi was more orientated toward women than men, making him wonder even more why she had decided to share shelters. Then he thought that Kristi might be trying to use him as a conduit to Jeannie's affections, but quickly decided that was wrong. If she wanted Jeannie, she wouldn't go at it indirectly; she was much too open and direct for that. He wondered what Jeannie's reaction would be if she did. He was fairly certain that she had never been sexually involved with a woman, though given the current mores of the Enclave it was safe to assume she had been approached more than once. For that matter, he didn't think there had been all that many men in her life before he came along. He had found her to be relatively inexperienced, but never reluctant to experiment.

  “Did I say something wrong?"

  Jamie was startled out of his reverie. “Oh, no. I was just thinking."

  Kristi reached back and patted his leg. “Don't think too much. You might reach some wrong conclusions."

  He wondered what that meant. Considering his earlier conversation with Judy, and the direction the present one had gone up until then, he had been anticipating what might happen at the end of their stint of guard duty. Now he wasn't sure. Did she want him, or not? In his usual fashion, he decided to put the subject out of his mind, at least for the next thirty minutes, and see what developed later. If she wanted him, he was certain she would let him know.

  When their relief did come, he found to his embarrassment that he couldn't remember which of the half dozen shadowy shelters belonged to them, and was forced to let Kristi lead him to it by hand. The wind had dispersed most of the mosquitoes and only a couple managed to whine inside with them.

  Kristi unstrapped her gunbelt and carefully laid the weapon to one side of the central pad, then sat down to pull off her boots. Jamie was pulling his own off when he realized something was awry.

  “Where are the animals?” He was suddenly concerned by their absence.

  “Mice must be scarce around here. Don't worry, Lady will take care of them, and she can show them how to get inside when they're ready to come in.” Kristi stood up and began stripping off her coveralls. Underneath, she wore a brief halter and underpants, dark colored like her suit so that the uncovered portions of her body seemed disconnected in the pale moonlight shining into the shelter. She unfastened the band holding her hair and shook it out.

  “It's cool in here without any cover,” Jamie said as he pulled off his own suit. He lay down and wrapped his arms around himself, then stretched luxuriously. He wiggled his toes and feet and sighed as his head felt out the pillow portion of the air pad.

  Kristi lay on her side, facing him, propped on an elbow with her chin cupped in her hand. “Are you tired?"

  “You know it. I just thought I was in good shape until today.” He hugged himself again. “How long does this thing take to warm up, anyway?"

  “Not long with two of us in here. Want that back rub now?"

  He did. Just the thought of having his sore muscles eased gave him an almost irresistible urge to roll over on his stomach, but his mouth was leading a life of it's own. He turned on his side to face her. Her blond hair flowed down over her shoulders, reflecting bits of moonlight when she moved. “Kristi, why did you want to bunk with me?"

  “I thought I had made it obvious, but perhaps I didn't. Do you want to change?"

  “Of course not. But why me? I'm nothing special and you—” He hesitated, unsure of how to continue, or even what he was trying to say.

  She felt for his hand in the darkness and clasped it in her own. “Don't put yourself down. Let me decide whether you're special or not. I think you are, and so do Princess and Lady."

  Jamie laughed, thinking of how Fuzzy Britches and Woggly always let him know whether or not they approved of his women. “Sometimes I think our pets have more to do with running our personal lives than we do."

  “Why not? They can sense emotions and attitudes far better than we can.” Jamie didn't answer and after a moment she continued. “Does it bother you that I like women? Don't worry, I like men, too. Sometimes. Like now.” She released his hand and began tracing little circles along his thigh with her fingers. He shivered, more from the tickling than from cold. Their body heat was already warming the air inside the shelter. He slid an undemanding arm around her waist.

  “I like you a lot, too, Kristi, but Jeannie—"

  She touched his lips with her fingers. “Jeannie is a sweet girl. I'm attracted to her as well as you. Do you mind?"

  Jamie avoided the question. He didn't know whether he did or not. “I don't know if she feels that way."

  “I'm not certain myself, and it would be foolish of you not to worry about her. She does care for you, I know that. But why not let it lie? These sort of situations have a way of sorting themselves out."

  Jamie agreed, and he thought Jeannie would also. Despite her youth and inexperience, she was a remarkably well adjusted young woman. He mentally tabled the subject and drew Kristi to him in a sudden surge of desire, sore muscles forgotten. Kristi cooperated. The full softness of her lips pressed against his own then parted at the first quest of his tongue. She moved one leg over his, bringing the full softness of her body into contact.

  Jamie slid his hand up the smooth plane of her back until the warm flow of flesh against his palms was interrupted by her halter strap. With no more than the usual male clumsiness he fumbled the closure loose. He scratched gently at the little crease marks left behind on her back and the ones on the underslope of her breasts. He cupped the full firmness of them in his hands. He slid his hands down over the curve of her hips and beneath her last scrap of clothing, not forgetting to scratch the crease lines there, too, as he peeled it away. He quickly removed his shorts and drew her close again, marveling at the supple firmness of her sleekly muscled body and the softness of her skin. He stroked her slowly, wishing it were lighter so that he could admire her visually as well as by touch.

  Kristi tugged at him, and h
e followed her urging, moving over her. She spread her thighs and pulled him into her. He moved slowly at first, letting her set the rhythm, then faster as she wrapped him with her legs and dug her nails into his back. She strained rigidly beneath him and bit at his neck to keep from crying out as she reached her climax, and seconds later he spent himself in the locked embrace of their bodies.

  Long minutes later he was finally able to raise up a little and take some of his weight from her. She ran her hands over his back, feeling out the indentations her nails had left. “Did I hurt you? I'm sorry, I never realize I'm doing that until it's over."

  He kissed her, a little peck on the nose and lips. “I didn't realize it either, or if I did, it felt good at the time.” He let out a long, tired, satisfied sigh and let the full weight of his body settle on her again. He stayed there for a moment, then gently disengaged. His abused muscles were in command of his body again.

  They lay for a while in the darkness until their breathing returned to normal.

  “How about that back rub now?” Kristi asked in a soft voice.

  “Jamie?"

  There was no answer. Jamie was fast asleep.

  * * *

  CHAPTER 12

  The next thing Jamie was aware of was Kristi shaking him awake. “Time to get up, sleepyhead. Come on, it's almost daylight."

  He started to sit up and fell back with a startled yelp. He tried again, more slowly this time, but fared not much better. His whole body felt as if it had been hung from meat hooks overnight. He was sore from his feet to his head and every movement was a study in the avoidance of pain. “Ouch! I hurt. I don't know if I can get up or not."

  Kristi smiled, the whiteness of her teeth barely visible in the diffused light of earliest dawn. “You should have stayed awake for your backrub, lazy. Come on, if you wait much longer you'll be dressing in the full sight of eight women."

  “They may have to help me dress,” he moaned, pulling himself painfully to an upright position.