On the walk back to our dorm we talk about the upcoming Thanksgiving celebration. Jackson is cooking for the event and will be too busy to visit anyone. Andi insists I go with her and won’t take no for an answer. In the end, I cave and promise to go.
I crawl into my pod and wait for everyone else to lie down. Andi gives me a strange look but then lies down, and a few minutes later, she’s sound asleep, just like all the other girls in our room. I’m weary from my long day, but my mind refuses to quiet long enough for me to sleep. The pod would easily fix my sleepiness, but I can’t chance it. I remain upside down and try counting sheep. I lose count several times before eventually drifting off to sleep. I dream of my neighborhood filled with white picket fences and perfectly manicured lawns. My dream takes me back to the day when I was naive enough to think that all parents loved their kids and nothing bad would ever happen. In my dream, everyone I care about is magically protected from car accidents, plane crashes and anything else that could cause harm.
Chapter 14
When I awake the next morning, my lingering dream makes me unsure of where I am. After a few hard blinks, the fog clears from my brain. I’m happy to see that Andi is still sound asleep in her pod. I head out for a morning run and to visit Caper. Molly promised to meet him, but with the other girls sleeping in the field lab, I’m still worried. Molly is already awake taking advantage of the extra two hours sleeping upside down provides, and she’s brewed coffee. Thanks to the pods, Gabriella and Jennifer are still out cold. Molly and I relax and drink our coffee while we wait for Caper’s happy chirps.
“I’m gonna take a quick walk outside.” I don’t want to alarm Molly, but Caper should be here already. He and Sapphire have been visiting every morning without fail since her release. Sapphire always hangs back and watches from a distance. I can’t blame her—we may have released her, but Sapphire has little reason to trust any humans.
I don’t see any signs of either meerkit. My worst fears play through my mind. What if Caper followed Ryan’s scent back and found Elliot? What if one of Elliot’s traps caught Sapphire? They could be alone, frightened and hungry, with no one to help them. I begin chirping and cooing, desperate to hear either Caper or Sapphire respond. I’m so focused on finding him that I don’t watch where I’m going. My foot lands with a splat and flies out from under me making me land on my butt with a thud.
Yuck
. My hand lands in the same muck that caused me to slip. I cringe and look down. Though barely recognizable, the pile I stepped in is now smashed opal berries. Caper was definitely here. Something glints in the sun, a marble. I search the pile and find three more, one for each of us—Jake, Molly, Ryan and me. In my heart, I know the reason Caper parted with his prized jewels. He was saying goodbye.
He’s migrated south for the winter. I knew it was coming, but I still feel shocked and a little hurt. I should be happy that Caper’s safely away from the base, but he’s always been there for me and I miss him already. I explain what’s happened to Molly and then finish my morning run.
Afterward I return to the dorm to shower. I prefer the privacy of the field lab’s showers, but I want to make sure that Andi doesn’t oversleep. I’m happy to see that the dorm room is empty, and I step into the shower. When I finish, I find two maintenance workers nosing around my pod.
I clear my throat. “Um, excuse me. What are the two of you doing in the
girls’
dorm?”
“We received a report on a malfunctioning pod,” says one of the workers. “It’s not our fault that you got a late start.”
“I went for a run. It’s not the same as a late start. Either way, I should be able to get out of the shower without worrying about strange men in my room.”
The guy slowly looks me up and down and then snickers. “Yeah, whatever. We’re done here anyway. There’s nothing wrong with the pod—just some girl overreacting.”
I hitch my towel higher. “You push an overreacting girl enough,” I growl, “and she’ll be forced to verify just what the policies are regarding maintenance entering a dorm room.”
The two guys turn and leave, swearing under their breath.
Jerks.
A few days later, Elliot calls us to his field lab and announces we’re going on a field visit, tomorrow.
“That’s not much notice,” I complain. I’m thrilled to finally get out into the wilderness again, but time is needed to properly plan and prepare.
“Don’t worry yourself. I have everything we need for tomorrow.” He gestures to a stack of cages behind him.
“Basically we’re your pack mules,” I state flatly. I know from Jake and Molly’s reports to expect this kind of treatment, but it still doesn’t make it any easier to accept.
“Something like that.” He smirks. I meet his gaze and refuse to back down or show any sign of intimidation. After all, this is the same guy who’s treated my friends like crap and altered his discovery dates in the database. “See you tomorrow,” he growls as my dismissal.
I immediately hunt down Jeremy. A field visit beyond the one-mile radius means a week’s quarantine. I still have one pill left, but I won’t be able to spike Andi’s milk. Fortunately, Jeremy is willing to help out.
Pack mules are exactly what Elliot uses us for when we venture into the field. He takes a small backpack with food and water for himself and leaves us to carry everything else, which are traps, traps and more traps. We follow him around as he checks his traps. When he finds a full trap, he replaces it with an empty one and makes us carry the full cage. By the time he’s finished his rounds, we’re each carrying two animals except for Elliot. His hands are free, and he’s ready to continue laying the remaining traps.
I rest my cages on the ground. “We’ll plant the new traps after we return the animals to the field lab.”
Anger flashes in Elliot’s eyes. “Have you already forgotten who the team lead is?”
“How would that be possible? You’re constantly reminding us,” I retort.
Elliot steps close so he can look down at me. “So then why are you trying to give the orders?”
I remain calm and refuse to let him rile me. “We’re not that far from the lab and these animals are hungry and dehydrated. It makes more sense to drop them off, give them some water, and then take care of the remaining traps.” I look around and see most of the team is nodding their agreement.
“If you’re not physically up to your job just say so,” he snaps. “We can go back to the lab first, but don’t expect to make a habit of it.”
I ignore him and start toward the lab. The end result is what matters.
As soon as we arrive, Elliot sits down and leans his chair back on its rear legs.
“Gabby, get lunch,” he barks. I have an irresistible urge to sweep my foot and knock the chair out from under him. As if reading my thoughts Jake steps between the two of us and gives me a warning look.
I water and attempt to feed the animals while everyone else eats lunch. I’m unfamiliar with a few of the newly acquired animals and can only guess what to feed them, but unlike the zoo, my food selection here is limited. Elliot really isn’t interested in keeping them fed and healthy. He doesn’t need them alive to dissect them. At least the zoo animals were spared from dissection. Maybe I can do something about these animals.
“I have some bugs if you need them.” Ryan shakes the container in his hands. Judging by the dirt on his fingernails, he’s just collected them.
“Thanks. Can you try giving some to the hairy lizard?”
“Sure.” He takes a grub-like bug with a pair of tweezers and holds it just inside the cage. The lizard’s long, orange tongue darts out and snatches the grub. “You called that one right.”
“Yeah, not that it will make that much difference. Elliot will slice it open the first chance he gets.” I take the container and try to feed a weird-looking gray blob.
“I’m over Kelly now,” Ryan says.
“That’s good,” I respond. I haven’t been alone with Ryan since the night of the dinner party. Truth be told, I’ve been avoiding him – scared to discover his feeling for Kelly are real.
“I sat through an entire dinner with her, and didn’t feel an ounce of attraction.” There’s a treble in his voice that I assume is anger.
I avoid looking at Ryan and instead jiggle the tweezers around trying to entice a response from the blob. I should have told him about the pods before we even got to the base. Just how do you tell someone they’ve been locking lips with the wrong person because you didn’t share important information with them?
Ryan feeds a second grub to the hairy green lizard and sighs. “I figured you should know.”He tosses his tweezers on the counter and faces me. “
A loud slurp brings our attention to the gray blob. “I guess the little guy was hungry. He ate the worm—tweezers and all. I still have no idea where his mouth is though.”
Blurp
.
“Gross, I guess that’s the mouth, or the other end.” Ryan reaches in with his tweezers and picks up the worm the blob just spit out. “But what did it do with the tweezers?”
“Maybe it eats metals.” I examine the bottom of the trap, and sure enough, the bars of the trap look eroded.
Ryan tilts his head and examines the cage with me. “There’s not exactly a lot of refined metal in the woods.”
I set down the cage and look for another sample of metal to offer the blob. “But there are rocks and soil. Maybe it usually draws nutrients from those.”
Ryan chuckles. “If that’s true then refined metal must be like candy to this little guy.”
I look around from cage to cage. “Maybe we can smuggle a few of the animals back to our lab. Elliot doesn’t pay that much attention. We could properly study and observe them without him ever knowing.”
“There will be hell to pay if he finds out,” Ryan warns.
It’s my turn to laugh. “What could he possibly do to us, make us do
all
the dirty work around here?”
“Brett—” His fingers brush against mine, but the contact is so unexpected that I pull my hand away.
“It’s time to go.” Elliot calls from the doorway.
We spend the rest of the day following Elliot around while he plants the last of his traps. After dinner I sneak out to trip all of the traps before they can capture anything. Ryan follows and helps me, but our conversation is kept to a minimum. I guess he changed his mind about whatever he was going to say earlier today.
“Jake explained the pods to me,” Ryan says after the last trap is tripped. “You should have told me.”“I know. I planned to once I had some evidence or at least talked to Andi about but then…well, you know.” Why is it suddenly so hard to talk to him? We could literally talk the entire day when we were out in the wilderness, but now I can’t string one sentence together in front of him.
“I know – Kelly.” Ryan kicks a rock along the ground. We should get back before Elliot realizes we’re gone.
We spend the next two days cleaning up after Elliot as he haphazardly cuts up animals in the name of science. Ryan and I manage to sneak away the gray blob, the hairy lizard and a few other creatures, but not nearly as many as we would have liked to save. Despite our collaboration, Ryan’s barely talks to me and when he does it’s with an icy tone.
Chapter 15
When our quarantine is over, Dr. Brant visits the lab. She looks pissed. I figure one of Elliot’s girls ratted about the animals in the other field lab.
“I need to talk to you, outside,” she tells me.
“What’s the problem?” I ask once we’re outside.
“Is there more than one I need to be aware of?” She looks smug. Once again, I catch myself questioning just what could have caused Dr. Brant to have this level of contempt for me.
“Well, you certainly don’t look like you’re here for a friendly visit,” I say
Her mouth thins into a cruel sneer. “No, I’m not. I’m here to discuss your insubordination.”
“Huh?” I stumble back in surprise.
Her eyes narrow. “You’re not the team lead anymore. Whatever Elliot says goes. If I get any more reports of you refusing to follow his directions, there will be serious repercussions. Understand?”
My pulse throbs in my ears, and when I respond, my voice sounds low and harsh. “I understand, but just how and when did I refuse to follow directions?”
“Elliot’s the team lead. He decides when and where the team travels and you follow. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.” This was about me making him return to the lab to take care of the animals. “Didn’t you once tell me that the best leaders don’t lead, they’re followed?”
“Well yes that’s true,” she admits and confusion creeps into her eyes.
“If that’s true, then please explain to me how you consider Elliot your best team lead when he demoralizes everyone around him and barks out orders? When I insisted we return to the lab and
then
continue with the day’s planned route I was only thinking of the welfare of the animals. I don’t care who the leader is, I won’t intentionally be cruel.”
“The difference of opinion isn’t the issue,” she says. “It’s how you handled it. The next time you have a concern, try some tact. Bring it to Elliot’s attention quietly and then follow whatever he decides.” I nod and Dr. Brant disappears inside. I take some time to compose myself. Dr. Brant’s continued disapproval makes me doubt myself, but I am not about to show that to anyone else, especially Elliot.
Elliot’s retaliation isn’t over. He banishes me back to my field lab to work on the database which I hardly consider a punishment. I have more time to study and observe the animals I rescued and time to work on the database. I actually like working on the database now because I learn so much. When I finally get my team back out in the field, I’ll be ahead of the other teams instead of behind. I’ll already know all the discovered species and won’t waste time “rediscovering” them.
Because of the database, I know the hairy lizard is previously discovered, unlike the gray blob. I focus my observations on the strange creature whose body is soft and pliable like a slug’s, but when it sits perfectly still it resembles a rock. Instead of drinking water, it absorbs it though its skin and can either absorb or ingest its food, regurgitating any unneeded materials. Also, I discover it likes to eat rocks, dirt, and any kind of metal I feed it, except for copper. The little guy seriously wigs out, shaking and slinking away, whenever there’s copper near him. That’s assuming he’s male. I still haven’t figured out his gender or how he reproduces.