The Visitor (6 page)

Akkaliza lent a distracted ear.

"It’s exactly that. Our Astronomy Agency friends had actually spotted the thing several days ago. It’s a small object relative to what’s usually seen in space. It’s quickly approaching us. So, as more time passes, more its images are accurate. Thus, it has suddenly become clear that it’s not a natural body, but a machine. Imagine their surprise and then ours, when they showed it to us! We’ve decided to change the planned trajectory of one of our spacecraft to try to approach the thing. I won’t go into the technical details, but it won't be easy... »

Akkali turned off the TV and looked at her husband:

“
Well, Akkal!” she said putting her four elbows on the table. “Tell us what’s wrong, okay? What are you sulking about? Don’t tell me that you’re still thinking of your sister!”
 

Akkaliza’s father shuddered as if he was suddenly coming back from stupor or a deep dream.

“
I’ve problems," he said. “We must find a way to reduce the cost of meat by zero point five per cent.”
 

He gave a tired look towards his wife while scratching the scales on his forehead, which was recognized as sign of nervousness for him.

“
Try to think about something else but your work, Dad!” exclaimed Akkalo.
 

With those words, he rose from the table to go put his four hands on the shoulders of his father.

“
But, my son! The future of Natural Foods worries me, because it’s our own future...”
 

“
You’ll manage! You always do...”
 

“
Ahem... Believe it or not, we’ve received an invitation from Channel 2 to attend The Inquirer Show.”
 

“
Oh yes! When?”
 

“
I don’t remember.”
 

“
So, you're going to appear on TV?”
 

“
No. I prefer that Ykkypol go there.”
 

“
But honestly, why?” asked Okkalo.
 

“
They’ll invite many people for a program on current farming methods. I’ve no desire to respond to attacks from my sister.”
 

“
Nothing says she’ll be invited.”
 

“
And nothing says she won’t.”
 

*

Emerging suddenly from a terrible dream, Mahisa awoke with a start. In her sleep, Etos was threatened by at least ten lightning-slayers. To defend him, she had thrown herself upon these creatures at the risk of her own life. Terrible detonations killed them both, in the arms of each other... She cried out several times before realizing that all this had only been a nightmare. After walking all night, she fell asleep exhausted at dusk, hidden in the forest inside thick shrubbery at about a hundred steps from the path that she had followed.

From the height of the Sun, she saw that the middle of the day had already passed. A thought for her parents, who must be wondering where she was, crossed her mind; she hadn’t had the time to let them know. Although she felt sad while thinking of them, her concern quickly returned to Etos. Anchored firmly in her was one certainty: the conviction to be ready to die for him. She knelt down in the grass and laid her two hands on her stomach, imbuing herself with the notion that she was carrying a little of whom she loved.

Reinvigorated by this refreshing thought, she started walking again. She had to find something to nibble and to drink so that she could regain her strength.

*

In wanting so much to pretend to sleep, Etos had finally got trapped by real sleep. But, nevertheless, his slumber wasn’t deep. His dreamy thoughts were visibly troubled. In them, he saw himself using his tool to put his plan into action and he was able to break free. He then ran like blazes towards his kin and especially towards Mahisa. But he had a hard time finding her. Where was she?

*

Akkaliza observed the bov with affection. He still hadn’t eaten anything, but his nap was good sign. Pain not preventing him to rest showed that his injuries were evolving towards recovery. Taking advantage of this moment, she passed a syringe through the bars to inject him a sedative, and then she entered the cage. Using her four hands, it didn't take long to remove all the bandages from her patient, scrutinize each wound, coat them with new antibacterial gel and protect them with new dressings. Done, she injected him with a new dose of antibiotic, instinctively removed plant debris from his right cheek’s hair and let herself out of the cage. It was time for her to return to her ethology school.

*

Akkal shook the two left hands of Ukkosal, who had just been brought into his office.

“
Hello," he said “you’ve come in response to our ad?”
 

“
Yes, sir. From the employment agency.”
 

“
Yes, okay. Have you ever worked in this environment?”
 

“
No, Sir. This’ll be the first time.”
 

“
Okay! Come with me. I'll introduce you to the lady you’ll be replacing.”
 

Ukkosal followed his new employer. Outside, the latter requested that he get into an electric vehicle used for travelling within the site. Akkal started off. Rolling on the asphalted roadway that circumvented it, they were passing along by the huge building. About two kilometers further down, Akkal stopped in front of a door and exited the small vehicle.

“
It’s here," he said. “Come with me.”
 

Ukkosal complied.

Should he ever learn that I'm a spy sent by his sister, he’ll kill me, that's for sure!
He said to himself while Akkal pushed the doorbell.
 

Almost immediately, someone opened it.

“
Please meet Ukkmato,” said Natural Food’s boss, “she’s the one that you’ll be replacing during her leave. She’ll train you. Ukkmato, here’s Ukkosal who’s come to allow you to leave and take a rest. Teach him the job well, so that he may replace you without problem.”
 

“
Very well, sir”
 

Akkal left. Ukkmato closed the heavy armored door. It produced a metal sound that resounded eerily in Ukkosal’s ears. Although the dramas that were being lived out here were yet to be revealed in their full breadth, he already had the impression of being suddenly entrapped in the bowels of a damned prison. They were in an airlock. Ukkmato opened its second door and invited him to enter before her. An awful intuition made him hesitate, but the thought that Okkala was counting on him gave strength to his determination. He crossed the opening, followed by his instructor who closed the door behind them.

This second metallic clap was like one of those horror film sound effects, intended to surprise the viewer when a vision of horror was slapped into his retinas. Ukkosal jumped and couldn't suppress a cry. Ukkmato made the scales in her cheek vibrate in an expression a condescending amusement.

“
You’ll get used to it," she assured. “It’s always like that at the beginning.”
 

She let him have time to assimilate what he was seeing.

Ukkosal stood between two rows of dairy bovs which, on both sides, stretched farther than the eyes could see. These females had a minimal space, defined by railings preventing any movement. Bent over by forty-five degrees to the front, they were supported on their stomachs by a metallic structure holding the automated milk collectors that were connected to their enlarged breasts. The staggering size of these struck Ukkosal with stupor. The creatures stood over a grid through
which fell their feces and urine. At head’s height, automatically filled troughs provided puree nourishment made from flour diluted in water. Their mouths were smeared with partly dried mush. These brownish stains stretched far from the edges of their lips, dripping down on their neck, obstructing nostrils and even forming crusts right up to their ears.
 

While milk collectors greedily sucked the secretions from the huge sore breasts, one could see the white liquid circulate in transparent tubes that converged into a large central pipe.

Despite constant ventilation, a horrible stench permeated this hell. Ukkmato seemed to be used to it.

“
You see, the beasts drink and eat at the same time," she said to her future replacement. “The proportion of water and flour is adjusted to... Hey! You can handle this, eh? You look awful! If you feel unable to take on this job, you just have to say so! I don’t want that at the last moment... my time off...”
 

“
Don't worry. I'll do the job!”
 

“
Okay, so you've got two thousand beasts to take care of, a thousand on each side. We’re now in rows seven and eight. We say ‘in seven eight’. If you have a question that I haven’t had time to answer, you can always ask colleagues who manage other rows. The one in eleven twelve, I know well. I'll introduce him to you.”
 

“
Two thousand!”
 

“
Yes, two thousand. But you won’t have much to do. Everything is automated. You must just ensure that there are no problems. Such as a dead or sick beast. injured breasts, a messed up distributor of puree... you see, those kind of things. In all cases, you'll do nothing other than report it with the special phone that I’ll give you.”
 

“
What happens to injured breasts?”
 

“
Well, for you, nothing. You’ve nothing particular to do. As I told you, you call and then someone will take care of it.”
 

“
Yes, I understand. But, out of curiosity, what is done for the animal?”
 

“
Well... I don’t know! What does it matter to you, since it’s not your job? In general, sick or injured animals are ground up... and presto! into the puree!”
 

Ukkmato showed the number 7 528 tattooed on the front of one of the dairy bovs which was also engraved on its cage.

“
All you have to do is to mention this number and say what’s wrong," she continued. “Someone will come to fix the problem. From time to time, you'll see a vet. They come to do the inseminations and remove waste from birthing. Whenever there are births, you must report them.”
 

The beast numbered 7528 move its eyes towards Ukkosal with a look that froze him. They conveyed all the resignation of a prisoner of life that had nothing to hope for except the final deliverance of death. He was then besieged by a terrible inner struggle. Part of him wanted to turn his head away, but he feared that then those eyes would see him as one of the torturers. So he remained frozen a few seconds, unable as he was to interrupt their eye contact, in fear that its poignant pleas would become damning accusations.

“
You okay?” asked his instructor. “You’re feeling sick?”
 

Ukkosal thought of his parents who, in competitive production, had been ruined by intensive farming. He also thought of what Okkala expected of him.

“
Everything is fine," he assured. “I need this job. I'll do it. You can count on me. Don't worry. You can go on vacation.”
 

“
Very well," said Ukkmato apparently reassured. “you’ll also see someone come to shear the beasts. It’s only done every six months, but it should be soon now. See, how long the hairs are on its head and around its mouth there. It raises hygiene issues. It falls into the feed troughs...”
 

*

Etos slowly awoke. He sat down, looked around, rubbed his head while yawning and then stretched. Wanting to scratch his shoulder, he noticed that the things that were glued on him were all new, all clean, that their shapes were different and that they were not quite in the same places. He wondered if they had evolved or if they had been replaced by other things of the same kind. After reflecting upon this for a few seconds without finding an answer, the first concern which came to mind was to check that his tool was still where he had left it. He squatted down and reached an arm between two bars. To his great relief, it was still there, in the grass, against the floor of the cage. He felt it with his fingertips. Just as he was about to grab it, a slight noise was heard. Quickly turning round, he saw the lightning-slayer. He got up and tried to look unperturbed. Had circumstances been more conducive to introspection, he would have been surprised to find that, although its presence delayed his escape plan, he was more happy than upset to see it again. He looked on at it approaching trying to not think about his tool and even less about his wish to break out of his prison. The lightning-slayer could have powers that were unknown to him, such as reading minds. However, he acknowledged that it didn’t appear to harbor ill intentions towards him, although it kept him prisoner. His generous soul came to assume that perhaps it wasn’t responsible, that he had been locked up by other lightning-slayers and that it couldn’t release him. With this idea in mind, he gave this one the name ‘Gentle Lightning’.

*

Akkaliza had just returned from school. In approaching the cage, she noticed that the bov rose with suspicious haste. His embarrassed behavior hadn’t escaped her perceptiveness. Bov facial expressions were very different from Akkaliza’s and of course from all other umas, the dominant species of this world. The umas regarded bovs, and most other animals of their planet simply as assets. Most we say, therefore not all because some were pets. Species arbitrarily chosen, or rather not chosen, because we should readily agree that to choose arbitrarily is an oxymoron. A few species thus had the chance to be those that were privileged by uma cultural customs. These included prominently the thacs and the hinecs. The first were small felines, the latter canines, generally a little larger.

So, Akkaliza had noted the caged bov’s embarrassment despite the difficulty for umas to read these animal’s facial expressions. Maybe it could be explained by the fact that she had studied with great interest and remarkable insight the behavior of this particular bov, but especially from many wild bovs images in animal documentaries. Thanks to these, she was fascinated by the discovery that they knew how to make tools. Still rudimentary tools, but sufficiently effective to be very useful. Of course, this demonstrated their intelligence, but also, just like umas, they had a culture. Because they had passed down this know-how from generation to generation.