Miina, chapter two

Miina

Chapter Two

First Night

“I wouldn’t be too concerned. I think the virus was specialized for Felgonians. I doubt it would affect any of you,” Myuura told the worried explorers as she entered the town walls. “My equipment is inside the temple. I’ll show you what I’ve found within.”
“Thanks,” Meryl said as she walked inside. The settlement looked like something out of a history textbook as it was mostly a community of tents with a large wooden wall around it. The temple was the only stone structure and was near the back of the community. It was a rather simple rectangular building with no decorations although she was more interested with what else wasn’t present. “What happened to all the people here?”

“I’m afraid that you saw six of them,” Myuura said in a surprisingly casual tone as she led them into one of the rooms which had several computers and other electronic devices hooked up to generators. “Lucky, these things still work. Anyway, here it is. I’ll transfer the files to you and you can send them back to your command craft.”

“Alright, thank you very much,” Meryl hooked her computer to Myuura’s and glanced over the other woman’s screen. Her expression changed from smiling to a neutral one to one of determination and one of utter confusion. “I have no idea what any of this says.”

“Oh, yes,” Myuura laughs and bops herself on the head lightly. “I’ve spent so long here with only limited contact with others that I guess I took other languages for granted. I have a translator” she pulled out a data card and inserted it into the mini computer which searched out for the language files on it and then worked on converting hers. “This will take a while. Maybe you should go back to your ship. I’m sure that there are those who would like to hear about this.”

“Thanks. I’d like to stay down here but,” Meryl turned to Helen and her other guards who nodded and walked out of the temple. “So, you said we just met six of the residents? Are you saying that you and Miina are the only ones not infected?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure how but Miina was spared but somehow she got out unchanged. As for me, it seems that only Felgonians catch it. I wish I could tell you more but unfortunately I don’t know much else. My best guess is that our species lack the animal genes that the virus targets

Meryl figured that she could get the specifics on the disease and planet when the computer files translated themselves so she spent the night mostly getting to know Myuura instead. She was a Morkis female and twenty six years old, at least according to how she counted years. The Morkis were one of the first species (there was some historical debate of who was first) to achieve space travel. They later devoted themselves to studying the universe and now Moria was the center of a huge trade empire.

Myuura was a rather normal girl for her species and had gone into college where she specialized in their equivalent of anthropology. She got into several arguments with her professors mostly revolving around the methods for gathering data, namely that almost all of it was gathered from in orbit or otherwise from some hidden vantage point and was never obtained from actually interacting with those being studied. Eventually, she got angry and left to explore other worlds by herself. Eventually, an accident happened while traveling and she crashed on this planet. “When you look at people from the sky and the people look like microbes then you eventually start to believe that’s all they are” she bitterly concluded her story.

Shortly afterwards, she retired to her bedroom and sent Meryl and Hawk to another room. The two quickly improvised a couple of beds before nodding off. Meryl still felt a little traumatized about the events of her fight with those mutants, killing monsters was one thing although she already viewed the Felgonians as people and killing those were far more difficult for her. Hawk meanwhile found that a little more difficult as he was processing the events of what had transpired recently and decided to head out of the temple for the moment.

“So some others arrived today,” a feminine voice was heard. “I’m pretty sure they had nothing to do with what’s happening. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they helped us a little. Yeah, I probably shouldn’t get my hopes up but it looks like the girl would be easy enough to convince.”

Hawk moved a little closer curiously to see who was speaking and it turned out to be Miina talking to an old house. “I guess it’s not too good to rely so heavily on others but what can we do? Anyway, I’ll keep you informed,” she finished before raising her voice. “You know, it’s rude to listen in on conversations or are manners different where you’re from?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” Hawk said and walked closer. “So, did you…..know someone here?” he asked before suddenly starting to feel a little awkward. Miina looked human except for her tail, ears, and fur. She looked more like a human then either Meryl or Helen. She walked like a human did and with that translator; she spoke human language. He sometimes forgot that this was an alien he was talking to. He had assumed that she was speaking to an empty house where a friend or family member lived like a human might talk to the grave or picture of a loved one although did they have that custom on this planet?

“Yes,” she answered both his spoken and unspoken questions at once. “My mother and I lived here. I have no idea how but both of us were untouched while the others were infected. We assumed we were just fortunate. Now, I’m not so sure.”

Hawk sensed the bitterness in her voice and wasn’t sure whether to press her for more details. “It’s an incredibly painful process,” she continued on her own. “I’m sure that you noticed it. The skin, the bones, the muscles; they all change as the disease takes its course. The last to change is the brain meaning you’re aware all through the transformation. You can see the terror and agony in their eyes.”

Miina looked about sixteen although Hawk couldn’t help but wonder how reliable his guess was. Did they age differently here? Mature quicker? When he was sixteen, his main concerns included getting good grades in school and maintaining friendships-many with people whose name’s he had forgotten by now-clearly nothing like watching your entire community die off. “Then, my mother got it,” Miina said as she brought him out of his thoughts. “And she begged me to kill her.”

“I see,” Hawk said. He wasn’t sure if he should ask although his inquisitiveness nature won out. “And did you?”

“I should have,” Miina said bitterly. “I kept saying that I wasn’t a killer. Well, not one of other Felgonians, anyway. I simply wouldn’t compromise on that. Well back then anyway. You’ve seen how I changed” she gave a mirthless laugh. “Now that I think of it, I was just being selfish. I said it was wrong to kill others without just cause but isn’t it wrong also to allow others to suffer needlessly? I watched as she was twisted and changed and then killed after her rampage. I said what I was doing was right but in reality; all I was doing was holding up a shield to try and protect me from my own cowardice.”

Hawk nodded as he listened to her but said nothing at first as he tried to think of a response. Miina started to fidget uncomfortably at the silence. Perhaps he was simply being polite and only wanted the answer and not a story behind it? “Well, let’s change topics, shall we?”

“Sure,” he said before trying to think of one. “That animal you were chasing before. What was it?”

“Oh, that? It was a Cliinskam. I was originally just planning on chasing him and then let him go, but I forgot how fast they run and got hungry when I caught it. Then, you came so I guess that it got lucky.”

“I see. Is it sentient?” Hawk asked before getting a blank stare in confusion. “It means, like you. Able to think and feel.”

“Well I’ve never really tried it although I’ve heard of others able to train them,” Miina said slowly. “But I wouldn’t really say they’re like us. They’re pests really. Get into our granaries and things like that and speaking of which” she smirked as her ears twitched suddenly. “I think I hear one.”

Hawk nodded as he quietly turned to follow her. “Yeah, I think its inside. Just be quite and watch” she smiled and threw open the door before springing inside. The chase took only a few minutes of frantic chasing before the little huntress caught her prey. “Got you!” Miina proclaimed proudly.

“Nice catch” Hawk congratulated her as he inspected the catch. It looked mostly like a mouse with short brown fur although its tail was a little shorter then the ones he remembered. “This is a Cliinskam then? Looks like something we had on our planet.”

“Yeah” Miina said as she brought the struggling animal closer. “I caught it so easily. It’s a lot lighter then the other ones and female too, weird.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Well, normally you never see females outside of the nest. Sometimes those past childbearing age leave to forage but those don’t go far from it so even those are rare. As for its size, well that’s obvious. The strongest ones would go to high areas” she smiled and stroked it gently as the predatory gleam left her eyes. The smaller animal seemed to notice she was in a lot less danger and calmed down. “I imagine that her being out here means that they’re having problems at home.”

“So, then what do you plan on doing with it?”

“I’ll let her go,” Miina answered.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Hawk nodded. “You could follow it, I mean her, to her nest.”

“And why would I do that?”

“Well, you said they’re pests. You could catch the problem at its source.”

“They are pests,” Miina said slowly before she hissed upon realizing what he meant. “How dare you say such a thing?”

“They’re pests,” Hawk repeated. “You said it yourself, and you caught this one stealing food.”

“They are pests and I did catch this thing stealing food but does that justify exterminating them? Eating one is one thing but I’d never do something that evil,” she growled. “I will follow her now but only because now you made me worried.”

Hawk sighed as he tried to figure out what she said. He knew that on Earth there were those who objected to any form of killing and used live traps instead of more conventional ones but he had seen Miina almost eat a Cliinskam before and she seemed to take enjoyment from hunting others so she didn’t really seem like the type who would do that. “I guess it’s the ‘exterminate’ part she doesn’t like” he mused before remembering another part of their conversation. “She said that females are never away from the nest and the fact that one was here was due to some hard times. Perhaps she’s thinking that it’s the disease that caused her to be here,” he said and remembered what was outside. “Of course. She sees herself in it. Why didn’t I realize that?”