Fur Feathers Scales and Stars - 3.2

   Trying to find a robot the size of a fly, at most a woodlouse, in a pile of burnt out metal was one of the more difficult tasks Treego had faced on board the Canopy. He supposed of all the senior officers who’d been at the meeting he wasn’t the least well equipped to deal with the nanobots’ teeny-ness. For everyone else, it was like searching for a needle in a haystack; for him it was more like searching for a pencil on an untidy desk. In fact, probably only Kernik could have been better. Treego thought that that did not forfeit him the right to complain about it though.

One person who definitely was suited to the current search was Stephen, a young engineering apprentice who actually was a woodlouse.

“See anything, Steve?” Treego sighed and let his shoulders slump.

Steve shrugged. Unlike the rippling elegance of Kernik’s shrug, Steve’s was just the hard shell of his body bumping up and down once.

“I probably do,” said Steve. He gestured at the pile of metal with a couple of his legs. “It’s probably right in front of me – I could even be staring right at it – but how would I know? What is it we’re actually looking for, sir?”

Treego also shrugged. When he did it, he struggled to prevent his stomach producing a cartoonish ‘ribbit’ noise that he really didn’t like the humans to hear.

“Maybe some little legs or something,” he said. He screwed his eyes up and stared at the pile. “Like a metal version of you.”

Steve raised an eyebrow. “Is that why I was assigned to this project? Like the picture you work towards on a jigsaw puzzle?”

Treego matched his raised eyebrow. “When have you ever done a jigsaw puzzle?”

“My apprenticeship has been … interesting.” Steve grinned.

“To answer your question, I don’t know why you in particular were assigned to this project,” said Treego, going back to sifting through the metal. “It could easily be that your surname was next on an alphabetical roster.”

Steve was frowning and staring at the ground. Then he said, “So Captain Puccoon doesn’t tell you that kind of stuff?”

“What kind of stuff?” Treego didn’t stop working.

“Organisational stuff. Everyone says you’re like, his right hand guy. Weren’t you children together before … all of this?” Steve was staring right at Treego, who registered the woodlouse’s gaze out of the corner of his eye.

“We certainly lived near each other,” Treego admitted, “But before ... all of this, as you put it … frogs and monkeys weren’t really friends. You know I’d probably have tried to eat you if we’d met three years ago.”

“That’s one thing the humans have done for us, I suppose,” Steve said.

“What?” Treego looked up and tilted his head at Steve.

“Those food substitute things that mean you no longer need to eat me,” Steve explained, “We wouldn’t be having this conversation without those.”

Treego smiled. “Hm, maybe people ought to try listening to you. Then they might trust the Bug Division a little more.”

Steve nodded and sighed. “Of course, they’d then hear my roommates and think we’d all open the loading doors and invite the stupid great wasp in without a moment’s hesitation.”

Treego grinned. “So, like all great societies, the Bug Division is split on an issue. We’re getting more and more like humans every day.”

“I’m not sure that’s a bad– Look here it is!” Steve bounced up and down and jerked his antennae towards a little black speck.

“Wonderful!” Treego leaped over and leaned forward as low as he could. ‘A metal version of you’ was probably the most accurate description he could have given Steve, on reflection. “What, do you just spend a lot of time looking in the mirror?”

“Huh?” Steve looked up at him, still grinning widely.

“Nothing.” Treego shook his head. “I’ll take this up to one of the labs. Nice to meet you.”

“And you.” Steve performed a rather jerky bow.

Treego smiled and leaped off to the labs.

Lab work being a vital component of most of the ship’s departments, no one department had been granted ownership over the laboratory suite. In fact, as Treego fiddled around with the microscope’s dials, he was joined in Lab Three by one fellow Conditions Management Officer, a couple of environmental scientists and Louis, the ship’s deputy chief of medicine.

Treego had known Louis for the full three years he’d been able to really “know” anyone. They’d “Awoken” within ten metres or so of each other in the Amazon rainforest, attended the same training centres on and off for six months or so, and then were assigned to the JCST Canopy as apprentices in the very same batch. Louis kept looking over at him and frowning, then glaring back at his work whenever Treego tried to make eye contact with him.

Treego sighed and slitted his eyes at Louis, who had the decency to look up, and do so rather sheepishly. Louis glanced from side to side at the Treego then at the environmental scientists, all of whom seemed to be doing their best not to notice. Treego jerked a splayed webbed foot towards the open doorway. Louis nodded and drooped his head as he left the room. Treego leapt out after him and nudged the door closed behind him.

“What’s the matter, Louis?” Treego narrowed his eyes at the young spider monkey.

Louis made a low groaning sound and fiddled with his tool belt. “Do you promise not to tell Chip?”

Treego rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone seem to think I share a brain with Chip freaking Puccoon these days?”

“Huh?” Louis stopped fidgeting and frowned.

“Nothing.” Treego shook his head. “I promise I won’t tell him.”

Louis took a deep breath. “How much do you remember of Martha – Chip’s sister?”

“Hrm …” Treego murmured. He rapped his knuckles on the blue linoleum floor. “I don’t think I saw much of her after the Awakening … couple of images of her swinging about somewhere above my head before that … Why?”

“She’s my mother,” Louis said. He paused, then took another deep breath and continued, “And I think I remember something important about her. F-From before.”

“Louis, would you rather go to my office and do this?” If Treego had been tall enough he’d have placed a hand on the young monkey’s shoulder.

Louis shook his head. “No, no I need to get it out as quick as I can. When I … When I was young. Really, young, that is. Still growing. I remember mum used to disappear for ages at a time. She’d leave me with my grandmother and … and I don’t know how long she was gone for but, sir, this happened all the time. Sir, you’ve spoken to most of my family in the past two years – remember, my gran came with me to my apprenticeship graduation back on Earth? I’m sure you’ve met loads of others too.”

“I have, yes.” Treego nodded. His stomach felt tight and a little groggy. None of this sounded like something he wanted to hear, but he couldn’t stop the kid from talking. The words were tumbling out of him like a waterfall.

“But you’ve never met my mother.” As if the river had run out of water, Louis stopped talking and stared right into Treego’s eyes. Despite the rather glaring height difference, Treego distinctly felt as his eyes were being looked up into.

“No, no I haven’t,” Treego agreed. “What are you getting at, Louis?”

“I – I don’t know,” Louis muttered, spreading his hands wide, “That’s why I don’t want to take it to Uncle Chip. I don’t want to worry him in case it’s nothing. But please, sir, you have to help me in case it’s … something.”

Treego sighed and started leaping off down the corridor. “Come on, Louis, let’s go see what we can find at the infocentre.”