Robin Cook - Abduction

“Please,” Barlot said as she ducked Richard’s hand. “It’s better not to touch me for fifteen or twenty minutes since I’ve just come out of the dryer. The nerves in my integument need a chance to adapt to the gaseous environment.”

Richard recoiled.

“These three men are also newly arrived earth surface visitors,” Arak said as he gestured toward Donald, Richard, and Michael.

“My word,” Barlot said. “Isn’t this an occasion! Five surface visitors at the same time. I’m happy to be so honored on my emergence day.”

“We were just welcoming Barlot back to the physical world,” Arak explained.

Barlot nodded. “And it’s wonderful to be back.” She examined her tiny hands, turning them over and then stretching them out. She then glanced at her legs and her feet. She wiggled her toes. “Looks like a good body,” she added. “At least so far.” She giggled.

“I think it looks like a superb body,” Sufa said. “And such beautiful blue eyes. Did you have blue eyes last body?”

“No, but I did the body before that,” Barlot said. “I like variation. Sometimes I allow the eye color to be selected randomly.”

“How do you feel?” Suzanne asked. She knew it was a stupid question, but under the circumstances she couldn’t think of anything else to ask. She was distracted by the marked contrast between the puerile voice and the adult syntax.

“Mainly, I’m hungry,” Barlot said. “And impatient. I’m looking forward to getting home.”

“How long have you been in storage?” Perry asked. “If that’s the right word.”

“We call it being in memory,” Barlot said. “And I’m assuming it was about six years. That was the advertised waiting time when I was extracted. But to me, it seems like it was overnight. When we’re in memory our essences are not programmed to record time.”

“Do your eyes hurt?” Suzanne asked.

“Not in the slightest,” Barlot said. “I suppose you’re referring to the flamelike scleral hemorrhages I undoubtedly have.”

“I am,” Suzanne admitted. The whites of both Barlot’s eyes were fire engine red.

“That’s from the limbal fixation sutures,” Barlot said. “They were probably just removed.”

“Do you remember being in the fish tank?” Michael asked.

Barlot laughed. “I’ve never heard the implant tank referred to as a fish tank. But to answer your question, no! My first conscious memory in this body, and in all previous bodies for that matter, was waking up on the conveyer belt in the dryer.”

“Is the experience of extraction, memory, and recall at all stressful?” Suzanne asked.

Barlot thought for a moment before responding. “No,” she said finally. “The only stressful part is that now I have to wait until puberty to have any real fun.” She laughed, as did Arak, Sufa, Richard, and Michael.

“This is our home,” Sufa said from a hovering air taxi as the exit door materialized. She pointed to a structure similar to the cottages at the visitors’ palace minus the large lawns. It was clustered Levittown-style with hundreds of others just like it. “Arak and I thought it would be instructive for you to experience how we live and perhaps have a bite to eat. Are you all too tired or would you like to come inside for a visit?”

“I could eat,” Richard said eagerly.

“I would love to see your home,” Suzanne said. “It’s very hospitable of you.”

“I’m honored,” Perry said.

Donald merely nodded.

“I’m starved,” Michael said.

“Then it’s decided,” Sufa said. She and Arak climbed from the hovercraft and motioned for the others to follow.

Similar to the quarters at the visitors’ center, the interior was uniformly white-white marble with white fabric and lots of mirrors. Also the main room opened to the outdoors with a pool extending from the inside to the outside. The place was sparsely furnished. Several large holographic displays like those the group had seen in the decon quarters were the only decoration.

“Please come in,” Sufa said.

The group filed in, taking in the surroundings.

“It looks like my apartment in Ocean Beach,” Michael said.

“Get outta here!” Richard scoffed while he playfully cuffed him on the top of his head.

“Are all Interterran homes open to the exterior?” Perry questioned.

“Indeed,” Arak said. “As ironic as it may seem we who dwell inside the earth prefer to be outdoors.”

“Makes it kind of hard to lock up,” Richard said.

“Nothing is locked in Interterra,” Sufa said.

“Nobody steals anything?” Michael questioned.

Both Arak and Sufa giggled. They then self-consciously excused themselves.

“We don’t mean to laugh,” Arak said. “But you people are so entertaining. We can never anticipate what you are going to say. It’s very endearing.”

“I suppose it’s our charming primitiveness,” Donald said.

“Exactly,” Arak agreed.

“There’s no thievery in Interterra,” Sufa said. “There is no need because there is plenty for everyone. Besides, no one owns anything. Private ownership disappeared early in our history. We Interterrans merely use what we need.”

The group sat down. Sufa called for worker clones, who appeared instantly. Along with them came one of the pets the secondary humans had seen from the air taxis. Up close it was even more bizarre looking, with its curious mixture of dog, cat, and monkey traits. The animal loped into the room and made a beeline for the visitors.

“Sark!” Arak bellowed. “Behave!”

The animal obediently stopped in its tracks and, using catlike eyes, it regarded the secondary humans with great curiosity. When it stood up on its hind feet, which were monkeylike with five distinct toes, it was about three feet tall. Its doglike nose twitched as it sniffed.

“This is one weird-looking animal,” Richard said.

“It’s a homid,” Sufa said. “A particularly fine homid, actually. Isn’t he adorable?”

“Get over here, Sark!” Arak cried. “I don’t want you bothering our guests.”

Sark immediately darted behind Arak and, standing on its hind legs, began scratching Arak’s head.

“Good boy,” Arak said contentedly.

“Food for the guests,” Sufa commanded the worker clones, who quickly disappeared.

“Sark looks like a bunch of animals rolled into one,” Michael said.

“That’s one way to put it,” Arak said. “Sark is a chimera developed eons ago and cloned ever since. He’s a remarkable pet. Would anyone care to see one of his best tricks?”

“Sure,” Richard said. To him the animal looked like a biology experiment that went haywire.

“Me, too,” Michael echoed.

Arak stood and motioned for Sark to head outside. As he followed the animal he asked Richard and Michael to join him out in the yard. The divers dutifully got up and trooped into the garden, where they found Arak busily searching for something in the depths of a fern thicket.

“Okay, here’s one,” Arak said. He straightened up, clutching a short, rubberized stick in his hand. He stepped out onto the grass. “Now you men are not going to believe this. It’s very entertaining.”

“Try us!” Richard said dubiously.

Arak bent down and extended the stick to Sark. Sark took the stick with great excitement, chattering like a monkey. Then after a windup he threw the stick to the far corner of the yard.

Arak watched the piece of wood until it came to a complete halt. Then he turned back to the divers. “Quite a throw, wouldn’t you say?”

“Not bad,” Michael agreed. “At least for a homid.”

The corners of Richard’s mouth curled into a wry smile.

“Wait until you see the rest,” Arak said. “Just a second.” Arak ran out to where the stick had fallen, picked it up, and carried it back. He then returned it to Sark. The animal wound up and threw the stick back to approximately the same spot. Dutifully Arak trotted out and retrieved it for the second time. When he returned he was slightly out of breath. “Can you believe it?” he asked. “This cute little devil will keep this up all day. As long as I get the stick, he’ll throw it.”