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  Hissing venomously to Netty as he left he said, “Don’t you dare move.”

  Netty sprang to her feet. She heard Robert’s plan for her. She knew she must run now, even as she seethed with anger and shock over the night’s revelations. Glancing toward the fireplace, her eyes caught the reflected glow of Robert’s prized gold coins. Without thinking, she grabbed one, thrusting it into her undergarments and dashed out the French door to the terrace. From there she began her long journey back to Sussex County, on foot. Hiding in barns at night and staying to the wooded edge of the roads by day, she resolutely limped her way, stumbling over rocks and ruts, ignoring the protests of her tender bleeding feet.

  Netty’s thoughts were suddenly yanked back to the present again. Did I doze off? She realized she just dawdled away hours of valuable time with her reminiscing. The late afternoon air was cooling and she knew it was time to get back to the cabin to light the evening’s fire.

  The small object hidden under her bodice dug into her chest. She reached in to adjust it, first drawing it out to admire, the coin even glinting in the late afternoon light. Yes, it was the coin she had purloined from her husband’s collection.

  She hesitated to use it for the cabin repairs, as it would draw too much attention. She suspected her husband might not come after her. After all, she legally owned the cabin now. But she had no intention of giving him another excuse. She did not want to be accused of robbery. Stealing was given a dim view in these parts. It was a serious crime.

  Netty realized Robert only married her for the land. And it was now clear to her that her real father must have been Mr. Woods. It explained so much. She loved her papa dearly but she also loved Mr. Woods. She felt lucky having two good men in her life. Pulling up her bodice to replace the coin, it inexplicably slipped from her stiff chilling fingers. Lord. She watched it as it bounced off the rock and over the edge. She scrambled up to hear it ping on the rocks below. Leaning over, she saw that it bounced all the way over toward the cairn of stones she noticed on her assent up the path. It glinted in the sun, mocking her. Oh well, there remained no choice but to climb down and retrieve it. Rolling up the legs on her torn and faded trousers, she slipped down from the granite rock.

  As Netty approached the cairn, she saw it was much larger than first thought. She reached to pick up the coin, her fingers dislodging a stone, sending the coin deeper into the mound. Ugh, the prospect of digging the coin out lacked appeal. She wanted to go home to the cabin. Grumbling, she lowered herself to the ground, pushing the stones out of her way. Progress was slow, her feet hurt and she quickly tired. The light dimmed as her digging created quite a hole in the side of the hill. Where was the darn coin? Netty decided she would come back tomorrow when she would be stronger. This was a bigger job than she counted on. Rising to her feet, she brushed off her apron. In the periphery of her vision she saw a flash of colored light. An aura. Again? Not knowing what to make of it she shrugged to herself and got ready for the trek back to the cabin.

  Chapter 2

  The Oolahan tried to shake off its sleepy weariness. Its tiny limbs, withered and leather-like coiled protectively around its cooling body. It’s small round head, perched upon its swiveled neck, devoid of the fur that normally protected its face. It’s perfectly round eyes with their abundant lashes missing, were shut. It could still feel that the fluid in its body was low, making its eyes dry and cracked, its vision useless. Its long dense tail thumped weakly, unable to expel, its healing light waves useless to project onto itself, anyway. Scattered around the great cavern, were the large black fragments of its transport. It had no idea how long it had been in the cavern. It felt an urgency to begin the implementation of its mission, but, unfortunately the details of the purpose eluded it. The creature thought perhaps the Womb could help, sensing its presence. Why had it not given him instructions? It needed help to remember the mission.

  Taking matters into its own hand, it decided to summons help. It sensed that the life force it called to might be closer. It did not worry, as it knew the life force would find its way to it eventually.

  The creature ruminated, remembering its Brothers and Sisters back home. Many of the Oolahan were preparing for breeding. Breeding, a critical necessity for the Womb, meant death for the Oolahan. Once upon a time, the Oolahan enjoyed immortality. They became Elders, learning the skills of the Womb, instead of just being minions. Creativity exploded. So much could be done for life with so many solar systems to work with. It was when the Elders decided to use their own genetic material to experiment with, that disaster occurred. Their experiment introduced one of the most destructive elements ever seen on a fertile planet. Unfortunately, the planet just happened to be a long time favorite of the Womb. As a result, the Womb punished the Oolahan, denying the privilege of immortality. A protein was introduced to their system, nullifying the hormones and enzymes that enabled their forever life. And they were forbidden to ever heal the results of their ill-fated experiment. Through the act of healing, it was discovered the Oolahan could accidently pass to the life form the very protein that unlocked the introduced enzymes that triggered immortality.

  The Womb agreed not to destroy the life form, only to monitor them until it became intolerable. The forbidden life form was not the only life that grew out of control. When a species on any world overwhelmed another to the point of extinction, the Womb would intervene. Often, it meant the elimination of the offending species. Only then would the Womb rein destruction, allowing new life to take its turn at evolution. The Oolahan did not need to breed, as their numbers were enough to satisfy the Womb. But once they were stripped of immortally, they began to die. Their only recourse was breeding their own replacements. Since they were originally created by the Womb to act as its minions, the only way to breed was by incubating a cell from the host; a simple matter. The new cell was then implanted inside the dying Oolahan, taking nourishment from the host until it was ready to emerge, bringing about the eventual death of the host Oolahan. Each Oolahan prepared a life cell, then expertly implanted themselves, as their talent was creating life, anyway. It was an intensely personal matter. After implantation was deemed successful and the cell was dividing well, the breeding was announced. Upon Emergence, the Oolahan Brothers and Sisters preserved the afterbirth with its valuable cells, took charge of the new naive Oolahan and monitored the disposition of the deceased who was to expire within a very short time.

  The Oolahan missed the opportunity to report its Breeding before it was chosen for the mission. Easily overlooked in the excitement of its preparations, the breeding remained unreported. Signs of life inside the minion became apparent after it started its journey to this new world. But it alone knew of its condition. Had its condition been known, it would have been rejected for the flight. It knew the Emergence occurred sometime after landing. Evidence of dried and useless afterbirth abounded. Had it been conscious during the Emergence, the healing waves of the afterbirth might have prolonged its life. If the Emergence occurred back home, it would have been surrounded by Brothers and Sisters, experts in the science of rechanneling. The rechanneling of waves from the afterbirth had the ability to prolong life for a short time, long enough to make preparations to salvage its valuable cells. It should have expired by now. For some strange reason, it still lived, although, just barely. Either way, the mission had been doomed from the start. The creature wondered how long it had to live.

  Apparently, hibernation and termination changed its body chemistry, altered in some fashion upon successful landing and burrowing. Was it because of the new Oolahan’s Emergence? Did the fact that Emergence happened on this new planet somehow interfere with the chemical compounds in its system? Not being genetically programmed for maternal or paternal feelings, it didn’t show concern about the whereabouts of its offspring. But it did worry about its mission. Maybe in time it could sort things out, but right now it needed to concentrate on attracting the life force to it. It needed its sustenance.

  It was not w
ithin the fabric of its species to hurt living creatures. Its species revered all life. For an eternity, their sole purpose was to study and enhance life. The Elders had been fiercely ambitious. The creature suspected its mission had something to do with the changes in its species’ priorities since the life altering mistake of the Elders. Their attention turned from their business in the stars to their own survival. At the moment, the creature had no idea how the details of its mission could be recovered. So it decided one necessity at a time.

  The creature tried to lift its head, bringing on a sharp pain accompanied by dizziness. He had somehow been damaged. It felt its useless wings crumbled and cramped under its tiny body. It tried desperately to remember something about the life forms of this planet. Unable to focus, it wondered if it was due to the unexpected presence of its offspring, the atmosphere of the planet or complications during the Emergence. As the creature drew in the life form, it planned to take what was needed, leaving the life form essentially unchanged for now. The current in its veins quickened as its antlers picked up the distant sounds. The sounds were very faint, the entrance to its shelter being so far away and at a different elevation. Soon, the next chapter of its mission would start, but sadly, it had little hope for its success, as its death, due to the Emergence, was not far off.

  ###

  Netty labored long and hard to remove stones and larger rocks from what appeared to be the entrance to a tunnel. She felt dog tired. How or why she continued was beyond her comprehension. The sun set hours ago and the cold numbed her fingers. Who in the world dug a tunnel way out here and why should I care? Her poor feet screamed, her sores begging for a good soaking. Netty found she could now stand in the mouth in the tunnel.

  Straightening up and standing tall, she realized she could actually see inside what should have been a pitch black interior. Reaching out, she touched one of the walls, quickly withdrawing her hand, as the wall felt squishy and wet. Examining her hand, she found it bone dry. Quickly moving away from the strange wall, she took tiny steps into the tunnel. As she shuffled along, she noticed the absence of debris on the floor. Odd, she thought. And why is it that I have no trouble seeing in the dark? Actually, it no longer appeared to be night. It seemed to be more like daylight. What is this place?

  She trudged on, noticing the tunnel branched off the main artery, into many other directions. A quick peek astonished her with the breadth and the height of the other branches. She must be careful or she would get lost. Time past as she continued on, sticking to the main artery. From time to time, she rubbed her hand along a normal looking wall. The harder she pressed the wall, the deeper her hand disappeared. Yet each time, her hand remained dry when withdrawn. She eventually noticed a distinct change of grade, signaling her descent. Her shivering ceased as the cave began to chase away her chill.

  Netty suddenly stopped her trek. She turned to the right, noticing a small opening to what appeared to be a chamber. Puzzled about an irresistible compulsion that suddenly gripped her, she stopped and entered the chamber. Clearing the little opening, she gasped at the sight of what appeared to be a dead infant lying on a rock ledge. As she approached the child she realized her first impression had been wrong. It was not a child after all. She could clearly make out a tail. She edged closer, her heart going out to the poor creature that had probably found an opening to the cavern and crawled inside to die, safely away from the forest predators. But what such creature is this? The tiny shriveled body was unrecognizable. It was obviously female, as she did not see signs of any genitalia. She strangely saw no overt signs of decay. Cradling the creature’s head in her hands, she prayed over it, asking God to accept another of his children into his arms.

  As Netty’s eyes were clenched with prayer, she failed to notice the creature’s tail rising. She tenderly cradled the creatures head, feeling warmth. Opening her eyes, she saw the little creatures limbs had unfurled and taken on a rosy golden hue, although the texture still looked like that of dissected leather.

  Suddenly, she spotted the tail hanging in the air. The end now shaped like a large bulb, extruding a thick fibrous membrane. She felt a wave of pressure and detected a stinky aroma. Good heavens, the creature is alive. Startled, but not yet frightened, she dropped the creature back on the rock ledge, stepping back. As she watched, the creature slowly opened its eyes. They then shut, just as slowly, as if in great pain. A weak mewing sound emanated from its body, yet its mouth failed to move.

  Netty felt suddenly weak and fell down flat on her generous bottom, her skin tingling. The creature’s eyes opened again and watched her. It did not move. Perhaps it can’t, she thought. Maybe I should take it home? She could nurse it back to health. They stared at each other for several minutes, the creature on the ledge, Netty on the chamber floor. She wondered how long she had been inside the cavern. She should be getting home to bed but she realized she no longer felt bone tired. Standing up, she discovered her feet no longer hurt. She dismissed her good fortune, just grateful she would now have the strength to walk back through the cavern and home with the tiny creature in her arms.

  Brushing herself off, she approach gingerly, trying not to frighten the creature. Carefully, she slid her hands under its sunken belly, giving extra support to its head. It mewed again. Looking into its expressionless face, it also blinked, staring at her but offering no protest. Easy she thought, I don’t want it to bite me, although it looks like it surely does not have the strength. She placed the creature up over her shoulder, like you would an infant and gently rubbed its back to reassure it.

  “There, there little girl, Netty will take care of you.” Slipping off her apron, she placed it around the little creature’s pitiful shoulders and started her trek out of the cavern and back home.

  ###

  The Oolahan had felt the emotions of the life source as it headed toward The Hive. It could feel the life source was benevolent but in pain. That always made things more difficult. It knew pain made other creatures unpredictable and dangerous. It could not have that. A noise outside its chamber had announced the arrival. The life source stepped into sight. It was a female; a Sister, a mature one. Could that make a difference? She was staring, seemingly transfixed. That’s good, a little closer, it prayed. And yes. The Sister placed her hands on the Oolahan, allowing it to suck in the life giving energy that would nourish it back to health. How did she know? How wonderfully easy; since its tail now had enough energy to expel, it let loose on the Sister in a gesture of gratitude. It could sense great worry from the Sister. Why was that? Could she not see? The Oolahan stared at her as it tried to understand her actions. The Sister stared back. It felt the Sister picking it up. It panicked, mewing; a complaint, but relaxing as the Sister rubbed its back. Things are clearly out of control, the Oolahan thought, as it felt the Sister place a cloth over it as she walked out of the cavern with the Oolahan over her shoulders.

  Chapter 3

  Netty struggled with the unwieldy broken door of the cabin, juggling the creature as she fought with the warped boards that were her protection from the elements. The creature made no further sounds as she trudged with her burden from the woods, her wayward gold coin having been returned to its hiding place, under her bodice.

  She went directly to her old straw mat by the fireplace. Fresh straw and a good sweep and dusting had made the room serviceable. Much of her mama’s possessions had been ransacked or stolen. Having purchased a used rocker and some pots, she knew a warm fire and something in their stomachs was all they needed for now. She set the creature gently on the straw mat and got busy making a fire. Soon the cabin filled with the sounds of crackling wood and warm air that moodily pushed away the evening chill.

  She finally had time to sit in her split oak rocker as her dinner pot simmered over the fire. She studied the creature as it appeared to study her, its expressive eyes now appearing bright and swirly with color. How odd, yet beautiful. The little thing looked dead, but she clearly was mistaken. But whatever injury or illness gri
ped it could still cause its death.

  Netty decided she must give the poor creature an exam. She approached it carefully, although she no longer feared it would bite. She saw its limbs appeared shrunken and withered with a sort of attachment at the end of what appeared to be its legs. The attachment looked like a foot of sort, but it wobbled when she moved it. Was it broken? The creature did not appear to feel any pain when she wiggled it. She examined its head noticing it wiggled like the foot. She gently turned its body to the side to examine underneath. As she did so, she noticed the creature’s head turning to follow. And turn and turn. That cannot be. It is a physical impossibility. Looking closer, she found the creature simply had a different type of bone structure, allowing its head to rotate around the body, as its feet probably could too. On the creatures back, she found herself amazed by a crumpled structure that almost appeared to be tiny leathery wings; the poor thing. She wondered what unfortunate fate came knocking at the creature’s door. She picked up the creature’s lovely tail. Since they left the woods, a subtle sheen colored its crinkled leathery skin, fine golden hairs sprouting. Its abdomen was round and gold, firm to the touch. The striking similarity between its hands and that of great apes from the dark continent of Africa entranced her. The differences jumped out at her. She wanted to touch the very fragile and elongated fingers with itty, bitty fingernails just like hers. Turning them over she could make out tiny swirls that actually looked like they meant to be a device for suction. Interesting …

  Taking the creature’s head in her hands, she stroked what looked like golden fuzz on its head, stopping at the point where two glittery antlers emerged from the rear of its head, growing forward and twining together like a crown. They almost looked like they were made of glass. How could that be? As the creature suddenly smiled at her, she felt her bruised and withered heart miss a beat. Continuing the exam, she decided it sure looked like an odd and improbable creature. Well, she was an odd creature herself, wasn’t she?