Dogs of War?
Tannis Sarroskan paced back and forth in front of the holding cell. He paused momentarily every few rounds and eyed the subject inside.
“It's called a human,” Lyric said. “This one's name is Corporal Lance Albright.”
“And why does he have such a horrified look on his face?” Tannis asked, scowling.
“I do not believe there are dragons on his planet any longer, sir,” Lyric answered.
“Tell him about the metal,” Copper chimed in. Lyric shot him annoyed look.
“Metal...?”
“Yeah, he had some in his back,” Copper answered.
“Right,” Lyric said with a nod. “So we took it out.”
Copper nodded in agreement. “All of it.”
“Yes,” Lyric answered, “all of it. There was also some in his teeth...”
Tannis lifted his head in surprise. “In his teeth? Like he had been eating it? You didn't find me one that's addled, did you?”
“No, no, nothing like that,” Lyric answered quickly. “Apparently they used it for repairs. Anyway he screamed a lot. Then Copper put it back in.. and he screamed a lot more.”
Tannis heaved a sigh of exasperation and rubbed his coppery snout. “Look is he alright or not?”
Lyric punched a few buttons on her console and brought up a spinning paper doll of a man's body. There were a few darker green areas around the man's spine.
“The subject is healthy,” she explained, “now that his back is repaired. They don't have any crystals showing signs of maricite radiation, so their weapons have been based on sharp metals and metal bullets for much of their recorded history.”
“So it'll work?” Tannis implored.
“Yes, yes I think it will,” Lyric answered earnestly.
“I dunno,” Copper drawled. “His Darvashian is lousy.”
“They don't speak Darvashian,” Lyric hissed.
“Has he said anything the translators have worked out?”
“Ehm... not really...?” Lyric answered with hesitation. Copper on the other hand perked right up.
“Why yes, he said 'Die Not See Scum.' I have to say I'm not sure I like this world if they're so hateful toward their blind. Had a weapon and everything. Think he was going to shoot some of them.”
Tannis groaned. “Is that all?”
“He offered to mate with me,” Copper added, sounding indignant. “After I fixed his teeth and everything. Sounded pretty angry though.”
“Ugh, just... get the damn thing fixed, would you?” Tannis asked.
Copper, the ship's mechanic, was quick to comply, scampering away to fetch his tools. After he was gone, Tannis sat down by Lyric and watched the medical readouts scroll by.
“I hope we're right about this one,” Tannis observed. The numbers looked promising, optimistic, even, but they'd looked that way before.
“You're worrying too much, captain,” Lyric said. She brought her soft blue tail up against his chin and gave him a soft smile. He smiled back, the edge of stress going out of his face for a moment.
“Well then, let's get on with it. What's the coordinates?” Tannis asked.
“Jamya four seven two, Positive,” Lyric answered.
“Jamya four seven two, positive,” Tannis echoed, his console beeping softly as he tapped in the coordinates. He saw that Lyric had already set the date to 10453.2 47. It would mean little to the subject, but it was around a hundred years in the future, on a world far from his own. A similar world, cast from a similar mold.
“Preparing the subject,” Lyric announced. Tannis returned to his customary position in front of the holding cell. The human soldier was yet unaware of his important mission. The instructions would be placed in his mind, instinctive. He would be nearly completely unable to resist following through with his noble task.
“Which part is this?” Tannis asked, watching the man through the one-way field. To Lance Albright, there was only a wall of white light on that side of his cell.
“He will install the phasic disruptor,” Lyric said, sounding distracted as she tapped in the sequence. There was a quiet hiss as the genetic gas was released into the cell. When this was done, she joined him by the viewport. “It's the last part of the power supply. Then the system will need about fifteen days to charge and that maracite field will stop producing ions. The locals will never know how close they came to extinction.
“Maybe one day they'll read about it in the histories, when they join us in the stars,” Tannis observed, smiling.
“Maybe!” Lyric said cheerfully. She smiled back at him.
Tannis purred to her. He liked it when she smiled.
“What the Error?” a tinny voice chirped from atop the holding cell. Tannis frowned at it.
“Cheese and crackers!” it said next. It repeated this several times.
“Isn't that a food?” Tannis asked. Lyric shrugged, then she pointed.
“Oh, it might mean he has a tail.”
He did have a tail. A bushy gray one, which swished about as he scrambled to get away from it, screaming various things that the translator seemed to struggle with.
“Wait, was that profanity?” Tannis asked, his eyes lighting up. He punched in the buttons that would let the subject see him and hear him.
“Now see here!” Tannis bellowed. “There will be no language like that on this ship. We are scientists, not sailors. Do you understand?”
Then the man howled. It was a peculiar sight, watching him tilt his head back as a dog's muzzle pushed out, but it seemed to relieve his stress somewhat. He stumbled backward, his hands turning into paws that scrambled at his face until the limbs shifted to no longer work that way. He made a canine whine, dropping to all fours. He shook vigorously, then growled at the two dragons observing him. Then he blinked once, twice, and sat quietly on his haunches as fur spilled over the rest of his body. His eyes had changed, Tannis could see. He wasn't sure why, but they always became more docile at that step.
“Nanites got to his brain,” Lyric said. She turned off the containment field and rubbed the wolf's muzzle. “Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy!”
The wolf mrr'd questioningly.
“You are! You are!” Lyric cheered, scratching his neck lightly.
The wolf's eyes lit up and he barked happily. He was a good boy!
“Erhm, this is only temporary,” Tannis explained. “We've cured your ailments and made you suitable to endure the environment of Tallos. You'll be given a parcel which we need you to carry into the maricite field and attach to the machine there. Simply push the button with your nose and it will activate when it senses the other components. Then come back here for extraction. We'll restore you to your former self and return you home. Understand?”
The wolf barked. “HI!” the tinny voice said.
“The instructions. Do you understand the instructions?”
BARK! “HI!”
“This is useless!” Tannis growled.
RRR?? “What?”
“Do you understand your orders, corporal?” Tannis asked.
“Bark Bark!” “Hello! Hello!”
“They're implanted. It's best he doesn't remember this. They'll think the poor fellow's gone mad when we return him,” Lyric offered.
Tannis knew that the odds of the wolf's mind understanding what he was saying were poor, but he never liked the idea of simply dropping the subject on the planet and trusting that the computer had gotten everything right. It felt... callous. So he gave the instructions every time nonetheless, to what effectiveness he'd never had the opportunity to investigate.
“All right, send him on his way,” Tannis said, then took his seat on the mat in front of the main view screen.
Not an hour into the mission he heard a tinny voice exclaim “Copper's a good boy! Yes he is! Yes he is!”
“Huh...?” Tannis asked, looking toward the containment cell. A beige-furred wolf barked at him.
“Copper! Hello from Copper!”
Tannis's neck itched. He scratched it with his hind leg, feeling the claws rake through fur. “W-wait! Copper?? Did you turn off the... I...” His mind swam. He swished his shorter, fluffier tail. “... need to hit the... the... …” BARK!
Ship's Log, Starship Halberd.
We've located the missing Darvashian Vessel Iota Nobet Err that disappeared twelve years ago. An accidental exposure of the time egg to the crew caused a detour of sorts. Captain Tannis has given his report. Unfortunately Corporal Albright, their subject, has not been located, but it seems Tallos is now populated by a large number of wolves.
