Paws and Planets (6 page)

Jansu had
laughed as had the others gathered round the bonfire they had lit
to celebrate their tenth anniversary of landing on Dagan.

“Quite
impossible,” said another, “they don’t have enough brain power to
understand,” he added with a guffaw and an arch look at Dakaru.

“See you,” said
Jansu, shaking his head, “you’re getting your wings all in a tangle
my friend, next you’ll be telling us that they’ve begun to
talk!”

Hilarious
hilarity was the order of the celebrations after this and an
embarrassed Dakaru had remained largely silent for what remained of
the evening.

“So what is it
you wish to say?” enquired Saru.

Now that the
moment was upon him Dakaru was finding himself reluctant to begin.
He shuffled around on his talons and wrung is digits together with
agitated indecision. His wings, instead of sitting relaxed at his
sides were tense and quivering, a sure indication for Saru that the
information his friend was about to impart must be disturbingly
important.

“I’m
listening,” he encouraged and Dakaru began, “do you remember the
night of the bonfire?”

“Sanua would
have the wings off me if she though I’d forgotten. Sure, it was the
night before the eggs arrived.” He settled his bulk down on them to
make his position more comfortable, at this stage of their
development the shells were hard and more than hard, they were apt
to get most uncomfortable for the sitter if he or she sat on them
for too long. Sanua had been out hunting for some time now.

“They look
wonderful!” admired Dakaru regarding the parts of the shells
visible to him.

“They progress
well,” answered Saru with pride and realising that this was an
attempt by Dakaru to change the subject, added, “all should hatch
well and healthy but thanks to your praise we digress. What about
that evening?”

“Not that
evening only,” Dakaru answered, shuffling round on his talons
again.

“Then when?”
asked Saru in a perplexed voice. “What are you trying to tell me? I
do remember the celebration. Sanua couldn’t get comfortable no
matter how she tried and the rumbles from her stomach!”

Saru rolled his
expressive eyes.

“The eggs were
making their imminent arrival felt,” agreed Dakaru with a laugh,
“do you remember …?”

“You’re
changing the subject again,” chided Saru, “hurry up, Sanua’ll be
back soon and you know how touchy she is about others around her
precious little ones to be.”

“She allows the
Lind to sit around them though, does she not?” asked Dakaru.

“Well, yes, she
likes having them around and they are expert at keeping the
slithering brbstas (snake-like creatures) away. They seem to have
an extra sense where they are concerned.”

“Quite,” said
Dakaru.

“Quite
what?”

“They protect
our eggs. They are both protective and fascinated, an interest and
fascination which has not abated. I believe that they were most
surprised when out of them emerged the ltsctas that first
time.”

Saru cocked an
eye at Dakaru, “you’ll be telling me in a tvan that you told us
that night is true!” He said the words in jest and was amazed when
Dakaru took at step back, his hide glowing more golden than
usual.

“Well …”
stuttered Dakaru.

Saru took a
deep breath, all at once remembering exactly the conversation round
the bonfire that night.

“You are
telling me,” he enunciated his words with care, “that the Lind have
told
you about this surprise with the eggs?”

“Not in so many
words no, but I
am
convinced that they are
trying
to.”

Saru let his
breath out.

Now that Dakaru
had managed to disclose the initial surprising news, he continued
apace, “I’ve been wondering for many moon times now,” his words
were tumbling over each other in his haste, “we called the first
little Lind who arrived at our daga Andei, he is a male. I knew
from the first that he was of above average intelligence for one of
his kind, at least the ones we have had interaction with, he only
made a mess on the floor of the daga once and him only tiny. Adua,”
Adua was Dakaru’s mate, “she said it was a pity to have only the
one, he was so good at getting rid of the brbstas so she asked me
to go out and catch another. I didn’t even need to go and look, a
little female was waiting for me not far away …”

“Waiting for
you!” exclaimed Saru.

“Now they’re
both adult and I’ve been observing them more and more of late. I
know they communicate with each other, some sort of mind to mind
contact I presume and their barks and whines, well, some individual
ones, some appear to repeat themselves and they are being uttered
in the same order each time. You might think me foolish but I began
to talk to them, sensible talk, not just giving them commands using
word and gesture and believe it or not Saru, they began to
respond.”

Saru still
looked sceptical.

“We’ve got a
couple of Lind of our own,” he said, “and I’ve noticed nothing.” He
snuck a glance over to the corner where the two of them were
sleeping.

“Have you
tried
to talk to them?” asked Dakaru.

Saru looked
highly amused at this. “Hardly!”

“But haven’t
you felt them listening when you talk to others?”

Saru shrugged
his wings but Dakaru was a good friend of his and so he felt he
couldn’t dismiss what he was telling him without giving it due
consideration. Dakaru was an eminently sensible Lai and not much
given to flashes of imagination or speculation.

“I suppose they
do listen,” he conceded, “but Dakaru, they’ve never attempted to
talk to me, communicate, yes, possibly. If they had I’ve probably
jumped out of my hide with the shock. You must be mistaken.”

Dakaru looked
stubborn.

“I am not
mistaken and Adua agrees with me. Andei and Taya, that’s what we
called the little female, they interact with our ltsctas too,
sometimes we think that the whole squalling lot of them are holding
a conversation which we know nothing about until the mischief they
have been planning happens. You must come visit us at our daga
Saru, see and listen for yourself.”

“I will,”
replied Saru, “when Sanua gets back and takes over the eggs.”

But it was the
next day before Saru was free to visit the daga of Dakaru and Adua.
When Sanua had returned after her successful hunt she had declined
the opportunity to sit on the clutch and had insisted Saru continue
his egg-sojourn until dawn.

“I am in need
of the time to digest in comfort,” she declared, “and I want to
spend some leisure to spend with the ltsctas we already have. They
grow so fast these days and will be flying free from the daga
before we know it.”

As every wise
husband knows, discretion is the better part of valour so Saru
tried to ignore his secret excitement about what Dakaru had told
him and agreed with her, spending an increasingly uncomfortable
night atop the eggs whilst Sanua slept in comfort on her leafy bed,
her half-grown ltsctas clustered round her.

Incidentally,
not only was Saru physically uncomfortable enough for it to disturb
his slumbers but his brain couldn’t rest either, so filled was it
with dreams about talking Lind.

So it was a
sleep-deprived Saru who with due courtesy declared his presence
outside the daga of Dakaru the next day.

“Come in, come
in,” called out the hospitable Dakaru, “Adua is out teaching our
three the rudiments of hunting, there’s a kura herd migrating north
and she thought it too good an opportunity to wing by. I’m here and
so are Andei and Taya. Was a bit difficult keeping them here, they
wanted to go hunt too but I explained the situation to them and
they decided to stay and see you. They are terrible show offs and
they feel a great urge to demonstrate their latest
accomplishment.”

“Accomplishment?” enquired Saru, obeying Dakaru’s winged invite to
enter.

“Andei said my
name!” Dakaru looked as if he might explode with pride.

Saru had to
laugh, why Dakaru was looking too comical for words. As his eyes
grew accustomed to the dim interior he caught sight of the two
Lind.

Andei and Taya
was sitting almost directly in front of him, their eyes gleaming
and their tongues panting with excitement.

“They know this
is an important moment,” said Dakaru. “Settle down over there Saru
and whatever you do keep quiet, just listen. They’re excited and I
don’t want them to get so excited that they forget everything
they’ve learned.

Saru subsided
into the indicated spot and waited. He still only half-believed
Dakaru and was still inclined to think Dakaru was imagining things
to be what he wanted them to be and not what they actually were.
Talking creatures indeed!

Dakaru glanced
over at Saru and hid an inner smile. His friend was about to be
utterly dumbfounded by what was going to happen now. Dakaru was not
stupid, he knew Saru was thinking he had been spinning a tall
tale.

Seeing is
believing!

Dakaru stepped
over until he stood in front of Andei and Taya and being very
careful not to spoil Saru’s view.

Two alert and
furry heads followed him. The male Lind, Andei, began to wag his
tail, ever so slowly. Andei’s eyes, Saru noted, were indeed
gleaming with latent intelligence and he found himself hoping
against hope that what Dakaru had told him was true. Not for the
first time Saru thought, I like these creatures, there is something
very appealing in their make up, why, they even mate for life as we
do!

Dakaru grinned
at the two Lind and they grinned back.

Saru watched
every nuance in their behaviour.

Dakaru’s first
words were a command.

“Come
here.”

The two Lind
immediately got to their paws and walked over to Dakaru.

Saru sighed,
this was not a demonstration of intelligence. His two Lind, Aei and
Aya also obeyed basic commands like this one.

This is
training, nothing more. They are obedient, which is good but that
is all it is.

“Are you
ready,” Dakaru asked them and to Saru’s great surprise both Andei
and Taya nodded their heads.

Dakaru could
have trained them to nod. Saru was still not convinced

“This is Saru,”
Dakaru told them, “he is my friend.”

Two grinning
furry faces glanced over to where Saru sat.

Why,
he
thought,
they’re laughing at me!
The female, Taya at this
point opened her mouth even further showing off a set of
exceedingly white and tremendously sharp teeth. Like a complacent
smirk, the intrigued Saru was thinking. He leant forward so as not
to miss what came next.

“What is my
name?” asked Dakaru, trying not to sound anxious. He knew that the
Lind were very sensitive to verbal nuances.

Andei looked at
Dakaru who looked back with what he hoped was an encouraging
face.

Taya gave Andei
a nudge with a sideways look over at Saru which he interpreted as
look at me, I’ll make him do it. Her action was so like what Sanua
might have done that Saru chuckled and Andei jumped.

“I told you to
keep quiet,” hissed Dakaru as he turned again to Andei. “What is my
name?” he asked again.

Andei’s furry
face took on an expression of intense concentration. He opened his
mouth. Saru held his breath.

“D … d … kru.”
The sounds emerged from between his lips and teeth, something part
way between a growl and a whisper.

Dakaru looked
triumphant.

“Say it again
Andei.”

Andei rolled
his tongue around in his mouth and concentrated again.

“Da … kru,” he
said, clearer this time. Then he spoilt the effect by wagging his
tail, with a pleased look. Taya stared at him in admiration.

“Taya isn’t
there yet,” Dakaru explained, “but we’re working on it, aren’t
we?”

Taya whuffled
and in amongst the whuffle Saru thought he could distinguish an
attempt at the word for ‘yes’. “Well,” he said at last, “I’m
daiglaied, absolutely amazed. Are you sure they understand what
they are saying though? I mean, does what comes out from their lips
make any sense?”

“Yes it does,”
answered Dakaru with a wink in Andei and Taya’s direction and Saru
got another surprise when Andei solemnly winked back.

That action was
enough to rock Saru’s composure even more; right from the ends of
his talons to the ends of his wingtips. He sat there mesmerised as
Andei and Taya touched noses before turning to face him.

Andei’s face
took on that look of concentration again and his next word took the
last vestiges of Saru’s control and flung it into the wind.

“S … ru,” he
said and sat back to watch the effect.

For almost the
first time in his life Saru found himself bereft of speech.
However, being Saru, he recovered almost at once.

“Andei,” he
greeted him, “I, Saru, am very pleased to meet you,” and Andei
nodded, his ears cocking forwards and backwards nineteen to the
dozen.

“S … ru,” he
said again and turned to his mate, “T …y… ,” and he nudged her with
his forepaw.

Saru chuckled,
“and I am most pleased to meet you too Taya.”

The syllable
‘s’ hissed out of Taya’s mouth and Saru understood that she was
also trying to say his name.

He looked at
Dakaru, “I’m almost convinced,” he said. He couldn’t wait to get
back to his own daga and begin to talk to his two Lind. “What an
amazing thing,” he said and laughed aloud.

Andei’s eyes
were full of mirth,
no
, thought Saru, they are saying,
we
are not creatures like the silly kura , the fast jezdic and the
humpty zarova, we are Lind and our brains are every bit as good as
yours! Now we can talk and you will be surprised at what we can do
and what we think.