Chap. 274 The Teeko Lizard

Chap. 274 The Teeko Lizard

K’ndar. The teeko lizards are here.

“Teeko”? Teeko lizards?

The ones that hid in your pack from the rain forest. Remember, they were singing ‘teeko’ here in my bay.

OH. Teeko! That’s a good name. Is Siskin with you?

No, he’s with Motanith’s fire lizards, they are hunting the dragon meadow. Shall I call him?

No, he’ll just attack them, and I want to catch one alive. Did you say three?

Yes. Three. No, four. Many.

They must have reproduced, he thought, I only saw two come out of my pack. I’m amazed they can live here, maybe they’re not confined to the rain forest? Maybe they were here, at Landing to begin with? This didn’t seem to be suitable habitat. It was grassy with forested edges, but with trees nowhere close to the cathedral heights of the ancient rain forest.

He let himself in to the dragon bay. Raventh was curled up on his couch. The early evening sun cast a warm light through the opened bay door, framing a view of the fire lizards cruising low over the grass, hunting prey.

There’s one, at the base of the bench

He turned just in time to see the transparent body of a teeko lizard skitter from a corner after a small flutter. It leaped into the air, snagged it and then raced up the wall to one of the high shelves. How do I catch one? They’re hard to see and fast as lightning.

And my net is in my office, I don’t have the time to fetch it.

Ask Siskin to get it. He knows where your office is.

A lizard began to sing from one of the high shelves.

Ahh. I wonder how I managed to survive without your brains to help me.

“Siskin!! To me, lad!” he called. He wished he could whistle like, oh, what was her name? Devon. The Dolphineer. That was it. Devon, whom he met at Observatory 1 on Western.

Siskin flew to him, knowing there was a game in the offing. He extended a forearm in invitation and pushed an image into Siskin’s mind of him returning with a net. “Can you do that, laddie?”

Siskin cheeped, obviously saying ‘Of course!’ He launched off K’ndar’s arm and vanished.

How very convenient, he thought, to have a fire lizard run errands.

Can you see any lizards up there?

Raventh looked up, gauging if he had head room. Getting to his feet, he reared up. Then he dropped back to all fours.

I saw two. I saw a lot of dust, manyleg webs, grass, bones, wings from flutters, dead insects. And something else, I do not know what it is.

Bones?

Small ones. They are heavily covered in dust, they’ve been there for a very long time. Maybe from one of the night fliers.

Grass?

Like a nest. Like the ones birds lay their eggs in. Very old.

“Something else?”

I don’t know. It has edges. Maybe it’s part of the shelf.

Siskin reappeared, warbling in victory.

“Well DONE, lad! Siskin, you are the most clever fire lizard!”

The blue circled over his head, flaunting the net.

Raventh laughed. He feels better than me, he says I can’t do what he can do.

He’s teasing. And the word is ‘superior’.

Raventh rumbled a laugh.

Just as K’ndar was about to say “Bring it to me,” Siskin saw a teeko lizard climbing the wall. He dropped the net atop K’ndar’s head and dashed at the lizard. It fled to another of the high shelves.

Chittering in irritation, Siskin began to claw at the lizard’s hiding place. Dust, feathers, bits of schmutz rained down. Coughing, K’ndar moved back from the cascade.

He sees…

“Siskin, send! Send images!!”

The fire lizard began to send images as he dug in the dust. One lizard ran right under Siskin’s nose to the edge of the shelf. Siskin would catch when it ran down the wall, he was sure. But no! It jumped into the air, fell, bounced and was out the bay door. Another poked a little brown head out from the depths of the dust, eyed Siskin and then bolted for the same edge and leaped.

The net!! At the last moment, he thrust the net out…and the lizard landed in it.

Got it!! He swept the net back and forth with rapid flicks to close it. NOW what do I do with it, he wondered. He ran a fist around the neck just below the band, making sure it couldn’t escape.

Can these things go between?

Siskin yelped-it was the only word he could think of that adequately explained the sound-and sent an image of a fire lizard emerging from behind…a crate?

He caught it. K’ndar heard the crunch. Well, he thought, that’s what fire lizards do.

He looked through the mesh of the net to get a better look at the lizard, but it was too enmeshed for examination. It was, though, still there. No between!

Okay, now what? Where do I put it? I don’t have a cage with mesh small enough, not here, at least. And the one in my office has that beetle from the rain forest living in it. No, wait. There is another tank, one with a mesh lid, but right now? I have nothing, do I? Nothing to put this lizard in. Oh, wait. I do have a klah kettle with a lid.

Siskin followed him into the kitchen, having eaten his kill immediately. Holding the net in one hand, it was a struggle to dig out a klah kettle with the other. Ah, this will do nicely. He swirled the net around several times to make the lizard dizzy, then upended the net to gently drop the lizard into the klah kettle, and snugged the lid in the hole. Siskin watched, intently.

“No you don’t, little one. You’ve had your lizard, this one’s mine.”

He heard a light skittering sound emitting from the klah kettle. It’s alive, then. Where do I put you so that Siskin doesn’t get you?

The safest place is with me, he thought. I’ll take you to my office. Tonight? Might as well. I have time to write up some notes on it, maybe take its picture?

Satisfied that he finally had a specimen, he then remembered Raventh’s observation.

You said a crate is on that shelf?

Yes. And something else, on another. Two things.

He went back out into the bay. The sun was setting, illuminating the sky but deepening the gloom on the grass. Late birds and early night fliers were coursing the skies. Francie’s three fire lizards had gone home. He waved the bay door shut and called “Lights on!”.

He was always amazed at automatic things here. Doors that opened with a wave of the hand. Lights that came on or off at a command. Datalinks that were a portal into a huge database, the depths of which he doubted would ever be plumbed.

Now, in the quiet of the bay, he could hear the slight hum of the lights, just as Grafton had said. How is it I never heard it before?

He put the klah kettle on the work bench. Siskin landed next to it, and began scratching at it.

“Siskin, stop.” The blue fire lizard twisted his head, then began washing his paws. The lightest haze of dust still glittered in the light, the stuff so light it would take hours to settle. The bench was covered with it. There must a meters’ worth of dust on that shelf. But…a crate!

“Siskin..go back to the shelf. Send me images of what you see.”

Siskin cheeped and launched. He landed on the shelf, looking for more lizards.

The crate appeared to be metal. That was an indication of great age, all in itself. The colonists used metal for most of their shipping containers. It was long, maybe a meter and a half? So covered in dust all you could see was the outlines. But there was also what appeared to be figures on the side, just barely legible due to the dust. Next to the markings a yellow triangle was just barely visible. Siskin trotted to the edge of the shelf, leaped across the gap between shelves, and sat, sending images of another crate. Smaller than the first, so covered with dust it was almost invisible.

Now I definitely need a ladder, he thought.

I’ll have to wait until tomorrow. It’s not fair to Maintenance to bring a ladder out after duty hours. Can I wait that long?

The klah kettle made scratching noises. Okay, let’s put you in the office, he said to it, before Siskin figures out how to remove the lid. Or it figures out how to negotiate the spout!!

What my mother would say if she knew I put a lizard in a klah kettle. I can hear her shrieking now.

He laughed.

The first stars were emerging in the velvet night sky. They were drowned out, though, by some of the buildings with exterior lights. He resented some folks at Landing insisting on keeping lights on the outside of their buildings. Were they afraid of the dark? How can you see the night sky with those things? I’d much rather look up and see The Swordsman constellation then a lit up building. I love the dark. I don’t mind the little markers on the walkways, he thought, they come on just long enough to show the way and once I’m past, they shut off. All lighting should be that way.

He let himself into his office. It felt strange to be in the building with no one else to make the everyday sounds of human occupation.

After several minutes of searching, he found the clear tank he’d remembered. It was in itself, an artifact, having been discovered in the biology lab when it had been opened and cleaned. It wasn’t glass, it was of a clear substance called plexiglass, he remembered being told. It was opaque from great age, but still would serve to hold the lizard, as it also had a metal mesh top. I’ll fill it with soil and live plants tomorrow, but for now, this will do. He put in a half a coconut shell, hoping the lizard would use it as cover, and put in a small bowl of water. I’ll I’ll find something for it to eat tomorrow, insects or even a hunk of meat.

Then he carefully placed the klah kettle into the tank, just above the bottom, tilted it, and slid the lid open just enough to allow the lizard to exit it.

The lizard obligingly fell out. It was lifeless.

“Oh SHARDS!” he shouted. Did I kill it? It’s DEAD? Did I kill it? Shock? How?

Shaff it. He sighed in resignation. Might as well get some data while I’m here, he thought.

He opened a notebook, wrote a brief report, sketched the beast after measuring it and dug out a molecular camera to take pictures.

It’s not a crawler, at all. It’s definitely a reptile, he thought. He touched the tiny brown head. It was so amazing that it was almost transparent. Should I dissect it?

He yawned. His body said, let’s do this tomorrow, okay? You have a klah kettle to clean, a bench to clean up, and some reading to do. And submit a ticket for a ladder.

He checked the tank with the beetle. After several minutes of searching, he saw its antenna sticking out of the hole it had dug for itself in the forest loam he’d installed. They wiggled. At least you’re alive, I’ve got to write you up, too.

Somehow, the faster I go, the more behind I get, he thought.

For lack of any other place, he placed the lizards body in the empty tank. Then he went home.