Curious
Autor: Audrey | Publicado: 2014-01-19T19:17:00-03:00


by Candace Coates


Henrich Harder - Mesohippus


&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; Cheryl sat with her back against the
tree. It was a good place to be, here in the dark dappled&nbsp;shade. &nbsp;Especially this warm summer day. Cheryl had
brought her harp with her into the forest; this was her favorite place to come
for inspiration. Her sturdy small harp was made of highly polished hard wood
that seemed to cast a faint golden glow even here in the shadows of ancient
trees. This harp was her most treasured of her instruments as learning to play
it years ago had changed her life...

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; There she was
playing beautiful music that sent clear crystal notes dancing into the air. Her
music&nbsp;blended quite well with the calls of birds, and there was a&nbsp;breeze
that was blowing that day through the tops of the tallest trees. Setting trees
to softly whisper amongst&nbsp;themselves like gossiping old women.

A few of the small animals scurried,
racing between scattered outcroppings of lichen covered rocks. Some&nbsp;of the
stones were near the base of one gnarled and twisted&nbsp;tree. One of the
lower hanging branches had covered parts of the exposed tree roots that had
crept slowly into the cracked moss covered stone over time.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Suddenly, there
were sounds of many light footsteps on the trail below the steep cliffs. Alarmed
by the noise some smaller animals bolted for cover. A scolding brightly colored
bird flew into a nearby bush.&nbsp; Sometimes small animals would gather nearby
to listen to the music. So it wouldn't really be the first time someone had
come hunting for the source of those beautiful notes.
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In fact it was how she had met the
other local folks. Even the small children from the village would seek her out
and, they would sit so quietly on some fallen&nbsp;moss covered log or stone to
listen. More often than not they would lull to sleep between the effects of a
warm day and her haunting&nbsp;peaceful melodies.&nbsp;&nbsp;This time it was
different though, it wasn't young children&nbsp;with their mothers that
climbing the hill to find the music &nbsp; of the wind.

Cheryl had just shifted the harp
between her knees so that she could practice a bit using one hand to play the
singing strings. Every so often Cheryl plucked a few chords, sharing the harp's
sweet tones with a breeze that had set the strings quivering with bright bell
like tones.&nbsp; Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small group of
very&nbsp;strange creatures that were cautiously &nbsp; walking over the crest
of the hill. Cheryl continued to play her harp softly, as the animals
came&nbsp;nearer. They were larger than the dogs from the village across the
lake. She didn't believe that she had ever&nbsp;seen their like before. Their
presence could explain those strange tracks she had seen that morning down at
the lake.


&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; They had a pair of small delicate ears that
were set high on&nbsp;a rather square shaped head. Their lower jaws were&nbsp;muscular,
and well defined. Their noses had very large&nbsp;nostrils. Their necks were a
bit longer than deer's, but not by much. All of them had a fine of course short
hair&nbsp;that bristled brush from the whole length of their necks. They all
had these odd looking tails that were bare&nbsp;except for a small tuft of ink
black hair on the end.&nbsp;Their&nbsp;sleek fur was chestnut in color, with
rows of small fawn like white dots along their flanks. Their delicate looking
slender legs had white markings just above their tiny hoofed&nbsp;toes.

The largest of these creatures,
turned their head then walked right up to where Cheryl was sitting!&nbsp; It
was so close that she could see the pair of dark wide set&nbsp;eyes peering at
her. Those delicate ears&nbsp;swiveled back and forth, alert for possible
danger. The&nbsp;other animals stood some distance away, watching intently.
Slowly Cheryl lowered her hand, so not to frighten this strange fragile
looking&nbsp;beast. Cheryl could smell a sweet scent of grasses on its&nbsp;warm
breath. The creature slowly reached out its head, lowering its nose to sniff
Cheryl's out&nbsp;stretched hand. Satisfied that she wasn't a threat the
curious creature raised its head, and made a very soft laugh like sound. Then
it returned to its companions.

The creatures began to browse on the
brush nearby while
&nbsp;their females calmly suckled their&nbsp;offspring. Slowly Cheryl opened
her harp case, and drew out her communicator. She was glad that she had
remembered to recharge her camera unit! She was able to get a few snapshots of
the animals just before they disappeared into the meadow grass at the forest's
edge.

She gently replaced her harp in its
case, then hiked back&nbsp;down the steep hill trail that wound along the base
of the&nbsp;rocky cliff. Later that night at the village's communal&nbsp;evening
fire an elder shared a legend of a shy creature they called a Mist deer in
their&nbsp;dialect. It would be many weeks later before Cheryl would&nbsp;look
at any of those photos again. Only then would she solve the mystery, and
realize the truth of the "Mist Deer". She &nbsp; would then remember
a trip to see an Eohippus exhibit at a museum back&nbsp;home on old Earth. 

That next morning, Cheryl went to
the home of the village elder who had shared her wonderful story about the
"Mist Deer" at last night's fire circle. Cheryl was very interested
in Peig's tale of the Mist Deer, and&nbsp;asked her if she might have any other
stories about these strange beasts. 

Peig then related this story to
Cheryl about a time when a&nbsp;Mist Deer changed its shape.&nbsp; "One
stormy afternoon long ago, the daughter of a local fisherman had disappeared
into the deep forest. Of course the child's poor mother was frantic with worry,
as there had been recent rumors of an attack on a neighboring village. Morag
stood outside her door shouting her daughter's name into the raging storm but
got no reply. 

After the storm&nbsp;had stopped, a
great bank of fog rose up off the lake, blanketing their entire village in
thick mantle of silver.&nbsp; Morag could just faintly see a group of Mist Deer
walking towards her in the dense fog. "That's very strange she thought, why
would they only come to my door"? Puzzled, she stood there as the animals
began to walk by her one by one.&nbsp; Just as she thought that she had seen
the last one go by.&nbsp; She saw a slightly built young woman cloaked in dark
brown&nbsp;following the deer. This woman suddenly paused in front of Morag's
door nodded her head, and then whistled some low soft notes. At that very
moment, the fog&nbsp;lifted to reveal Morag's lost daughter standing there.
Of&nbsp;the woman in brown, there was no sign. Both she and the deer had
vanished. Ever since that day, Peig said her people believed that the Deer
Woman would return to guide lost children home. 

Cheryl had an interest in myths and
legends that had really begun when she was at the university.&nbsp; When she
wasn't attending classes, she could be found at the campus library where she
would be searching their data
&nbsp; storage collections for old folk tales from diverse cultural sources. 

Mr. Parrish, who was one of her professors,
summoned her to&nbsp;his office for a meeting. Her grades were high and she had
a&nbsp;full course load in addition to working part time at the&nbsp;city's
animal shelter, assisting the vets. "Ms. Burnside I am sure that you
are&nbsp;aware that during the next term you are required to choose&nbsp;an
internship to complete your course requirements. It has come to my attention
that there is a post opening that may&nbsp;be of interest to you." Once
she read the paperwork that Mr. Parrish gave her she was eager to sign the
enclosed legal documents. A chance to study abroad for a year? She had never
expected this! &nbsp;

Which is just how Cheryl found
herself aboard a space&nbsp;shuttle bound for Thurso IV. As part of her
contract&nbsp;agreement, she would need to publish several papers. The first
would be due within six months of her arrival to the
&nbsp; distant Earth sized planet. Cheryl had sent in her firs paper in
two&nbsp;months, well before the deadline. She had written about the&nbsp;Mist
Deer, and as required she had included diagrams and a few color photos with the
text. 

&nbsp;Dear Ms. Burnside,

Thank you for sending us your transmission
from the outpost&nbsp;on Thurso IV. Your data has been sent&nbsp;to our review
board, and you will have a reply in one solar&nbsp;week. I am pleased to inform
you that your request for funding has been approved. 

Sincerely&nbsp;yours, 

George Cameron 

"Publish or perish"....
Cheryl thought. As always it's about
&nbsp; the paperwork and red tape!&nbsp; Now she could focus on getting real
work done. She headed&nbsp;over to her storage area and retrieved her gear. She
decided that she would be going on a four day overnight camping trip, because
she had been working nonstop since her arrival. She was due sometime off!


&nbsp; The weather this week would be better. She had delayed her&nbsp;departure&nbsp;last
week because of the rain. She would of&nbsp;course bring her harp along. It
might help bring the creatures back into camera range, as it had worked well
before. She would be returning to the area where she had made "First
Contact".

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; She got her tent up quickly; these
newer models were an improvement from what she had used before coming here to
Thurso IV. She got her new sanitation&nbsp;unit kit set up as well, along with
a lighter weight food&nbsp;storage unit. They took up less space, eliminating a
need for a second tent. 

Cheryl decided that she would leave
the harp in the tent for&nbsp;now. She really wanted to go for a walk along the
cliff&nbsp;trail, which overlooked a crystal clear lake. Cheryl had left&nbsp;a
rope on her tool belt along with a sheath knife she
&nbsp;always&nbsp;wore while camping. Never know when you might need&nbsp;them,
especially out here. 

She was in sight of the ancient tree
on the cliff's edge &nbsp; when Cheryl thought she heard a loud shrill scream!
It sounded like it was coming from the lake below, but with the echoes off the
cliff wall it was difficult to be sure. Cheryl sprinted to the tree, from there
&nbsp; she could clearly see the lake shore. 

All she could really tell was that
there was something violently thrashing around in the water. When she got
there, she could now see that it was a young Mist Deer in serious trouble, struggling
to keep from drowning. It appeared to have its legs caught on something in the
water. Cheryl charged into the icy water after the&nbsp;unfortunate trapped
creature. The water wasn't that deep for&nbsp;her, as it was only two feet at
most. For a young animal held&nbsp;captive, the water was too close to the
terrified animal's&nbsp;head. She splashed out to the youngster, and quickly
put an arm under its chest area. She reached back with her
&nbsp;free hand gently touching the animal's heaving flanks until she&nbsp;could
locate the back legs, which were trapped amongst&nbsp;sections of an old fallen
tree. The lake bottom here was&nbsp;slick with clay and rotten leaves that
flooded&nbsp;over the&nbsp;tops of her boots making it difficult for her to
maintain her balance. Cheryl needed to get the poor creature's back&nbsp;legs
freed from that snag! She was able to get her rope out&nbsp;quickly and wrap it
around the animal's rump to lift the back end free.
&nbsp;Then she just picked up the bawling calf. In about the same manner as she
would have handled those large dogs back home. Carefully&nbsp;she waded with
her burden to the shallows. By this time the calf was too tired to fight and
without resistance allowed&nbsp;Cheryl to guide it to solid ground. She had
barely enough time to examine the Mist Deer for possible injuries before it
went down on its front knees and collapsed! 

The exhausted calf lay quietly on
its side for a few moments then gingerly got to its feet. Cheryl spotted the
calf's mother standing quietly watching&nbsp;a few yards away. The baby took a
few steps forward gingerly before suddenly shaking the water off in a muddy spray.
The mother walked up to him, then together they vanished into the wilderness.
Leaving Cheryl musing if she may have been the one she had made "First
Contact" with. 

After watching the Mist Deer mother
and her calf disappear into the forest. Cheryl took her now wet rope, and slung
it&nbsp;over her shoulder. She trudged quickly back up the hill to the trail.
After having gone for an unexpected dip in that&nbsp;cold lake, a hot shower
seemed like a really good plan.
&nbsp;Now&nbsp;with that new sanitation unit she would be able to get her&nbsp;boots
dry in a matter of mere seconds. It was wonderful that&nbsp;she had been able
to rescue that Mist Deer calf in time to&nbsp;prevent&nbsp; what might have
become a tragic end.

&nbsp; Once she had changed into some dry things she sat with her&nbsp; harp
and composed a ballad about the&nbsp; day's adventure. True she had wanted to see
the Mist Deer&nbsp;again; she just hadn't thought it would have been so soon.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Cheryl had been studying the language as she didn't want to
have to always rely on her communicator unit. She had&nbsp;become friends with
Peig's daughter Meg who had been kindly&nbsp;taking the time to tutor her in
the local dialect. Cheryl&nbsp;was having a bit of difficulty with how to
properly pronounce some of the longer word, but Meg told Cheryl that she was
making some progress.

&nbsp;By the time Cheryl had completed her evening studies a pale full moon had
risen and the first evening stars were twinkling brightly as gemstones. She had
her dinner and then&nbsp;laid on a thick soft pad on the ground outside her
tent just gazing up in the night sky. She could hear a night bird calling out
to a mate. In the mauve darkness she could hear frog's voices rising in a chorus
of song from the moonlit lake. She had heard that there was to be a meteorite
shower later that night, and oh&nbsp;what a light show that was! The flashes of
color were just
&nbsp; spectacular and here she was with the best seat. Cheryl couldn't
remember ever seeing&nbsp;so many shooting stars at once. She wasn't the only
one up late watching the sky. 

There was a soft puff of air that
delicately ruffled her hair as a small owl swooped past her in pursuit of prey.
&nbsp;Not&nbsp;so much as a sound betrayed the little night hunter's&nbsp;
passage. It was a dramatic end to her first day away from&nbsp;the
village.&nbsp;

Cheryl awoke in her tent the next morning
feeling refreshed&nbsp;and well rested. She and Meg had &nbsp; chatted a bit
after their last lesson. Meg had mentioned that there were caves up in the
mountains&nbsp;out near the same meandering trail that lead some miles past the
area where Cheryl planned to camp that long weekend. Meg&nbsp;had also told her
that there was a wide creek that followed the upland trail. The creek that
although it had a few rapids, was perfect for a canoe. Meg had said&nbsp;she
had an old canoe that was stored on one of the low boat racks in the launching
area. 

Cheryl knew that Meg had the next
two days off from work and called her after breakfast.&nbsp; Meg was glad to
hear from Cheryl and they decided to get together to take the canoe out. They decided
to go out to the caves. 

They met at the ancient&nbsp;tree by
the cliff, together the young women returned to the&nbsp;campsite. Meg had
brought a box lunch to share and Cheryl&nbsp;had made some fresh bread early
the other day. They took their small&nbsp;packs and headed off for the trail. 

The old canoe was in great condition
despite its battered appearance. The paddles had been stored along with the
seat&nbsp;cushions. Together, they slid the canoe off its rack. After stowing
their gear in the boat, it was a short push through dew wet grass to the&nbsp;sandy
shore. They slide the canoe into the shallow water and&nbsp;climbed aboard. 

The first set of rapids were a few
miles&nbsp; further down, so it would an easy&nbsp; time of paddling until
that&nbsp; point.&nbsp; The rocks were fairly easy to find in the spot where
the water ran faster with the current. You could see a white "vee" in
the clear water. The narrow&nbsp;part of the vee was where the rocks were. All
they had to do was navigate their way away to avoid them. After they&nbsp;cleared
the first of the rapids, they pulled the canoe up on&nbsp;a sand bar in the
middle of the creek to break for lunch. 

"How much further are the
caves?" Cheryl asked her&nbsp;friend. "On the map I have, the caves
are not even shown."&nbsp;&nbsp; "Well, that goes to show you that
even these newer&nbsp;communicator units still have a few issues yet." Meg
&nbsp;laughed.&nbsp; "Oh I know just what you mean; every so often there
are still&nbsp;factory recalls." "That last unit I had got recalled
twice!&nbsp; You would think by now they would be able to build a decent&nbsp;unit."
Cheryl joked. 

"The first cave is about five
miles&nbsp;from here. Since we are&nbsp;on the water it won't take long since
the current is&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; flowing&nbsp;in the same direction." Meg
explained.&nbsp; "Have many people been there" Cheryl asked. &nbsp;"Most
of us from the village have gone over the years. These caves are an&nbsp;experience
you will always remember." Meg promised. 

After the meal, they pushed the
canoe back into the creek.&nbsp; The water was very clear, they could even see
the bits of&nbsp;gravel and a few flat stones down on the bottom of the&nbsp;channel
where the craft gently floated with the current.&nbsp; Down below the surface
Cheryl could see very large fish&nbsp;swimming along on creek bottom. As Cheryl
and Meg came&nbsp;around the bend they could hear the steady roar of the&nbsp;rapids.
The wild white water was roiling, roughly tumbling&nbsp;amongst the huge moss
covered rocks. Some of those boulders were nearly as tall as a tree! 

Cheryl was in the bow&nbsp;calling
out the rock positions over the water's roar. Meg was back on the stern steering
clear of the rocks as she used her longer paddle like a rudder to navigate.
Being mindful of those foaming white
&nbsp; vees, that warned of the locations of partly submerged rocks.&nbsp; Both
Meg and Cheryl were experienced with canoes, having&nbsp;both been taught the
safe use of canoes by their fathers years ago. One of the many things that they&nbsp;had
in common in spite of the fact each had been raised on a different world.
&nbsp; "We have time to see two of the caves today, but there is one
&nbsp; in particular that is really special. You will be amazed. "Meg
confided.” I brought along some spare battery units for&nbsp;the flashlights
and some spare jackets in case we need&nbsp;them, I put them in one of the
pouches on the rucksack.&nbsp; Cheryl replied.&nbsp; &nbsp; "Good
planning, Cheryl. Oh by the way remember those light &nbsp; helmets that you
saw&nbsp;at our house last week? My father said&nbsp;that we may borrow his
set. The light sources on these things&nbsp;are intense!” 

"We are close to where the
caves are, we can beach the canoe&nbsp;here in this cove." Directed
Meg.&nbsp; The shallows of the cove had a sandy bottom which made it&nbsp;easy
for them to push the canoe up on shore. After getting
&nbsp; their hiking boots back on they were ready to go explore the area. There
was a large standing stone which hide the&nbsp;opening to the cavern. As they
entered, Cheryl got the sense that it might be a very long one. The trail they
were following into the cavern was already going downhill, near the bottom of
the grade they put on their light helmets because in another few yards the
daylight dissolved into the darkness. From here they would be&nbsp;dependent on
the light source of the helmets.&nbsp; The cave walls were rough and cold to
the touch. As they continued onward&nbsp;into the cave's depths, their
lights&nbsp;revealed&nbsp;what appeared to be an underground lake. 

Where&nbsp;the light touched the
still green blue water that faintly sparkled with the reflected light. They
decided to take the left hand fork in the trail as it looped quite a bit. It
was&nbsp;getting cooler so they put on their jackets. Just around the&nbsp;next
sharp turn the cave opened up into a huge cavern. It&nbsp;seemed so much brighter
because there were so many&nbsp;variegated outcroppings of colored crystals all
over the&nbsp;cavern!&nbsp; They saw&nbsp;delicate shades of lavender, primrose,
azure, buff yellow, red,&nbsp;orange and crimson. It was just spectacular to
see all these&nbsp;crystals reflecting the bright lights of their headlamps. 

Everywhere they looked they could
see an iridescent rainbow.&nbsp; Some of these crystals were prisms so that the
entire space was bathed in fiery brilliance. Gracefully Cheryl pivoted&nbsp;slowly
like a trained dancer to attempt
&nbsp; to take in this view of their underground surroundings. 

"Thank you for sharing this
special place with me Meg, I&nbsp; feel this is an honor"&nbsp; "You
are quite welcome Cheryl, we keep the location of this&nbsp; cavern a secret.
The other caves are interesting, but this one is sacred to my people." 

"We still have some time to go
to another cave, so we should&nbsp;start going back to the trail head"
&nbsp; &nbsp; There was still some daylight left as Cheryl and Meg exited the crystal
cave. The next cave was&nbsp;just a quarter mile from where they stood blinking
owlishly in the bright daylight. "This whole mountain range&nbsp;was once
a series of volcanoes in prehistoric times. My&nbsp;mother said that there were
some hot springs in the area&nbsp;that were popular to go to when she was a
young girl. "Meg&nbsp;stated. 

The second care was clearly more
popular as there&nbsp;were&nbsp;a few basic tables and a few crude benches near
the trail for this cave. Just before they were to enter, they thought&nbsp;they
heard a soft squeaking noise. Even before they had a chance to&nbsp;investigate
thousands of tiny bats shot out of the cave like&nbsp;a whirlwind spilling into
the late afternoon sun. 

Meg had nearly forgotten about the
bat colony, she hadn't been to&nbsp;Black Cave herself in ages. The women
followed another trail&nbsp;that led into the cave away from the side the bats
had&nbsp;exited. After a few moments they had to use the light&nbsp;helmets
again. Even though this cave received more human&nbsp;visitors, out of respect
for the bats well-being there were&nbsp;no electric lights permitted in this
cave. Here they saw some&nbsp;exotic formations that had names like "Tree
of Stone", tiny&nbsp;signs were posted next to each one. It was more
interesting&nbsp;to make up other names which set both women into gales of
laughter. Their gleeful voices boomed in echoes around them&nbsp;which they
found to be even more amusing. All and all they&nbsp;enjoyed walking around
this shorter cave.

&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; After leaving this last one, they found it took a bit
longer&nbsp;to return to their starting point as they had decided to&nbsp;portage
the canoe part of the way carrying the watercraft&nbsp; part of the way to
avoid the&nbsp; rapids. It was dusk by the time they returned the canoe to the
rack.&nbsp; Cheryl and Meg returned to Cheryl's campsite just in&nbsp;time to
set up a second sleeping bag as Cheryl had asked Meg&nbsp;to stay the night. 

After dinner, Cheryl brought out her
harp and shared her ballad of the Mist Deer rescue. Then they&nbsp;spent a few
hours singing old songs that they both knew and loved. Meg had brought a wooden
flute along so they played lovely duets which were a mix of traditional tunes
and new ones they had written.

&nbsp;&nbsp; They set up the video recorder that night on the off chance&nbsp;that
the creatures might make an appearance. Might as well be prepared. Cheryl
practiced her harp at dawn as the sun came up.&nbsp; Just as they were thinking
of having breakfast they had unexpected visitors. Much to their mutual surprise
a group of&nbsp;the Mist Deer gathered a short distance from the tent to&nbsp;listen
to the sweet harmonies as Meg joined in the practice&nbsp;session with her
flute. 

Two of the animals boldly not
only&nbsp;walked into camera range but decided to get as close to&nbsp;Cheryl
as they could, and proceeded to lie down. Lulled by&nbsp;the sweet melodies, the
smaller one of the pair was curled up&nbsp;and sleeping soundly nearly at
Cheryl's feet! Thankfully their recording unit had plenty of data storage left.
Using the universally known sign language Meg signed&nbsp;that she and Cheryl
should continue to play. They played&nbsp;another duet for the sleeping
creatures as the animals showed signs of waking up. "Momma" rose to
her
&nbsp;feet&nbsp;first, strolled&nbsp;to the sleeping calf and gave it a gentle
nudge. Then both&nbsp;animals turned together, paused for a moment then left
the campsite. Afterwards, Cheryl thought that this pair just&nbsp;might be the
same creatures she had made First Contact with. 

After the creatures had gone, Meg
turned off the recording&nbsp;unit. "Off the record, think we might get
our names in a&nbsp;history book'? Meg joked. "Anybody's guess, now I
suppose. I&nbsp;just hope it's enough&nbsp;evidence to show them these animals
really do exist here."&nbsp; "Let's make some copies for
"insurance" purposes." "There is&nbsp;no way I am going to
risk sending them the original."

&nbsp; “It seems to me that we better get back to the village, I am going need
to write up all the paperwork, and put that data&nbsp;file in a safe
place."&nbsp; "My next report&nbsp;isn’t due for&nbsp;another six
months, but I think it might be smarter to submit&nbsp; my fieldwork now"
"Makes perfect sense to me too&nbsp; Cheryl ". Meg agreed. 

The tent went down quickly and they
got everything packed to&nbsp;leave.&nbsp; The university review board had
contacted the law office of Macbeth &amp; Guilderstein. They in turn located
a&nbsp;scientific investigator, Mr. Maxwell Drummond. Max was
a&nbsp;nondescript sort of man who could blend in a crowd. Just&nbsp;minor
changes of Max's appearance and the person being&nbsp;shadowed&nbsp;never had a
clue. Just something simple like a change of clothes was all it took. It was
surprising how people just never paid attention to other people in a crowd. Max
packed his smaller kit bag. He didn't expect that he would need to stay long on
Thurso IV. Perhaps a solar week would do. 

After all, Ms. Burnside was only a
student intern on an exchange program. He had read&nbsp;the transmission she
had sent to the review board. Her data&nbsp;read like the science fiction his
ex-wife had always been&nbsp;banging on about. Eohippus alive and well on
Thurso IV&nbsp;indeed Max chortled. If this were a hoax, he would be saving the
university from the fate of being&nbsp;a laughing stock for generations to
come. He glanced at the&nbsp;small sign on his wall that read" Remember,1912,
Piltdown&nbsp; Man. An instant of fame, generations of shame." 

He paged an air cab and got to the
local star port to&nbsp;catch the last shuttle run out to Thurso IV.&nbsp; When
he arrives, he checked into a shabby motel room. It was&nbsp;out of the way but
cheap. What he didn't need out of his&nbsp;expense account for lodging, he
could spend on meals. Max had&nbsp;enjoyed trying new food when he traveled. He
considering&nbsp;girth, it was more than a hobby. For Max it was a passion. 

He began his investigation by
checking&nbsp;the local press. He&nbsp;was surprised to discover that there
really&nbsp;had been two sightings of these creatures fairly recently, about a
month or two back. The articles did not&nbsp;show photos although several local
people had been&nbsp;interviewed. One of them was the subject of his &nbsp;investigation, none other than the humble
intern Ms. Burnside&nbsp;Max learned that she was out of town on a camping
trip, but would be expected to return by mid-week. Plenty of time&nbsp; Maxwell
thought to sample whatever passed for fine dining in&nbsp; this little
backwater town as he hired an air cab and went in search of his dinner. 

Meg and Cheryl had hiked back to the
village. Cheryl would&nbsp;have liked to have camped out another day or so as
she had&nbsp;originally planned, but this newest data was too critical.&nbsp;
Meg only lived a few streets away from where Cheryl's host&nbsp;family lived.
They planned to get together again later in the week. Cheryl unpacked, and
stowed her gear. She then&nbsp;left the house to run some errands.&nbsp; She
had put a hold on incoming transmissions while she was away. It would just be a
matter of clicking a button on her&nbsp;comm unit to get her messages anyway.
Those could&nbsp;wait, though she really&nbsp;needed to pick up some new harp
strings at the local music&nbsp;store. A few of the strings badly needed
changing. 

She got to the shop; she noticed
they had a new&nbsp;sales clerk. Strange, why would they&nbsp;hire someone now
during their slow season? It made no sense. The clerk was a short portly
balding gentleman who did not know his way around the shop.&nbsp; The new guy
had no clue which file drawer to check when she&nbsp;asked him for the size
strings that she wanted. She suspected that he was new in town as she hadn't
seen him&nbsp;around before. She then
&nbsp; told him where the owner kept the string stock as she would&nbsp;often
help out there on occasional weekends. 

The man thanked her for her
kindness, and said his name was Max Bean. Mr. Bean rang up her purchase. She
had a strange&nbsp;feeling about Max. Something just wasn't right with that
guy. He made her feel uneasy while she was at the shop, it&nbsp;was as if he
had been watching her every move.

&nbsp;She finished the rest of the errands, and went home to change&nbsp;the
strings. It was simple to do; it was just time consuming as she had several
faded strings to replace. Might as well do them all at the same time. Once that
was done she left&nbsp;the harp in its stand. 

She opened her messages next, and
was shocked to see that&nbsp;there was a legal document there&nbsp;from the
university's legal department. Apparently someone&nbsp;there on the review
board had their doubts about the
&nbsp;content&nbsp;of her last transmission. They were basically accusing
her&nbsp;of a hoax!&nbsp; At least they&nbsp;were decent enough to let her know
that they&nbsp;were having her investigated. She&nbsp;hadn’t done the write up
part of her report yet, since it&nbsp;wasn’t due for another six months. 

This current situation changed
things. She sent off a reply&nbsp;to let them know she had gotten their
transmission. That&nbsp;would at least buy her some time to get her paperwork
in&nbsp;order.&nbsp; Under the circumstances, perhaps sending in the next
transmission with the actual live recording couldn't wait.&nbsp; If the university
followed through, and sued she could lose everything.&nbsp; Then she
remembered&nbsp;Mr. Parrish telling her that if there&nbsp;was an emergency to
contact him at the office. This certainly counted Cheryl thought. 

She sent the&nbsp;transmission, outlining
her current situation.&nbsp; Mr. Parrish told her that the legal process was
slow. She&nbsp;would have the time to present her written documentation. He
told her not to send the recording yet. Get the paperwork written, and then she
could send it to him for review. It took&nbsp;her three weeks to get the paper
just as she wanted it. &nbsp; Mr. Parrish looked it over, and sent her a quick
message&nbsp;that the paperwork was perfect. It would certainly stop
them&nbsp;from taking further action against her. 

She sent two transmissions. One copy
went to the legal&nbsp;department and the other to the review board. As Mr. Parrish
had advised her, she did not send the recording. He had&nbsp;told her that
would be for the parting shot... whatever that&nbsp;meant.

&nbsp; When Mr. Drummond returned to his dingy motel room that&nbsp;evening
there was a message for him at the front desk.&nbsp;&nbsp; "Cease and
desist. Your services are no longer required."&nbsp;He was out of a job.
"Hmmm, they already paid my expenses this week, and I am still needed this
week at the music store&nbsp;too. Can't be any harm in that, besides&nbsp;what
they pay me will cover the bar tab at the local pub. I would really like to
know just what that young intern is is really up to."

&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There was to be a live music night in a place over in
the&nbsp;village, maybe checking out the local talent might be amusing. Some
musicians were warming up when Max&nbsp;arrived. He thought he saw &nbsp; Ms.
Burnside in a corner chatting with her fellow musicians.&nbsp; What in the
world was that strange instrument she had with&nbsp;her? 

Well the music wouldn't be starting
just yet so he might&nbsp;as well sample the local brew. He got a booth facing
a well-lit stage. The rest of the place was in low light, but enough to see
that the tiny place was really getting packed. Every seat was taken,
yet&nbsp;people were still coming through the doors.&nbsp; Ms. Burnside was up
second, joined by a lovely young woman&nbsp;carrying a wooden flute. Well,
that’s&nbsp;an instrument I recognize thought Max. As the flute
player&nbsp;began the set, the whole place fell silent. 

After a moment or two of the flute
solo Ms. Burnside joined&nbsp;in performing the most complex haunting music he
had ever heard. The silvered notes of the flute&nbsp;soared, dancing a pattern
around the mellow&nbsp;tones of the harp. Their combined sweet sounds made
tears come to Max's eyes. He had never experienced something that intense, or
beautiful before. 

When&nbsp;the last notes faded away,
the silence was deafening. The&nbsp;applause that followed the pair as they
left the stage was&nbsp;beyond words.&nbsp; Stunned, ax sat there speechless.
This had been the same&nbsp;woman who had so kindly helped him while he was
working&nbsp;undercover in the local music store? This gifted young
lady&nbsp;did not deserve to be treated like a common criminal. That his client
had even thought so shocked him. He breathed a
&nbsp; sigh of relief. Thank goodness the case was&nbsp;closed!&nbsp; Upon
trying to stand Max discovered that the beer he had consumed was much stronger
than he had thought. Leaving his bar tab at the table with a generous tip, the
big
&nbsp;man tottered drunkenly out the door. Fortunately, Max got back to his
grubby motel room intact. 

The next morning, Max awoke with a
hangover of truly cosmic proportions! He packed his kit bag and stumbled down
the hallway to a filthy dimly lit front office and paid his bill. He hailed an
air cab, and just
&nbsp;barely made it to the spaceport to catch the first early shuttle back to
New Sidney. Hopefully, the poor fool was not space sick on his return trip. 

Meanwhile, the review board sent
Cheryl a brief transmission begging for her forgiveness. Cheryl had attended
the local theater's production of one of Shakespeare's plays only last&nbsp;solar&nbsp;week.
They had done a grand job with Richard the Third. One line in particular she
just couldn't resist… especially considering what the Mist Deer really were... 


She replied to the review board with
this transmission:&nbsp; "A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse"!