Bolden's Pets
Page 5
distance. For an answer the native shifted the bow inhis hand and glanced behind the couple, in the direction of thehospital.
The movement with the bow might have been menacing, but Bolden ignoredthat gesture. It was the sense that something was missing that causedhim to look down. The animal was not at his side. He turned around.
The creature was struggling in the dust. It got to its feet and wobbledtoward him, staggering crazily as it tried to reach him. It spun around,saw him, and came on again. The tongue lolled out and it whined once.Then the native shot it through the heart, pinning it to the ground. Theshort tail thumped and then it died.
Bolden couldn't move. Peggy clutched his arm. The native walked over tothe animal and looked down. He was silent for a moment. "Die anywaysoon," he said to Bolden. "Burned out inside."
He bent over. The bright yellow eyes had faded to nothingness in thesunlight. "Gave you its health," said the man of Van Daamas respectfullyas he broke off the protruding arrow.
It was a dark blue arrow.
* * * * *
Now every settlement on the planet has Bolden's pets. They have beengiven a more scientific name, but nobody remembers what it is. Theanimals are kept in pens, exactly as is done by the natives, on one sideof town, not too near any habitation.
For a while, there was talk that it was unscientific to use the animal.It was thought that an electrical treatment could be developed toreplace it. Perhaps this was true. But settling a planet is a big task.As long as one method works there isn't time for research. And itworks--the percentage of recovery is as high as in other commonailments.
But in any case the animal can never become a pet, though it may be inthe small but bright spark of consciousness that is all the littleyellow-eyed creature wants. The quality that makes it so valuable is thefinal disqualification. Strength can be a weakness. Its nervous systemis too powerful for a man in good health, upsetting the delicate balanceof the human body in a variety of unusual ways. How the energy-transfertakes place has never been determined exactly, but it does occur.
It is only when he is stricken with the Bubble Death and needsadditional energy to drive the invading microbes from the tissue aroundhis nerves that the patient is allowed to have one of Bolden's pets.
In the end, it is the animal that dies. As the natives knew, it iskindness to kill it quickly.
It is highly regarded and respectfully spoken of. Children play as closeas they can get, but are kept well away from the pens by a high, sturdyfence. Adults walk by and nod kindly to it.
Bolden never goes there nor will he speak of it. His friends say he'sunhappy about being the first Earthman to discover the usefulness of thelittle animal. They are right. It is a distinction he doesn't care for.He still has the blue arrow. There are local craftsmen who can mend it,but he has refused their services. He wants to keep it as it is.
--F. L. WALLACE