Fragment

8:42 P.M.

Alien as they appeared, Hender’s kindred were each strangely beautiful, with graceful limbs that expressed different styles in motion. Able to locomote with two, four, or six limbs, either swinging from the ceiling or walking on the floor, each of the beings moved in ways disconcertingly different from the others. It was as if five antelope had discovered five completely different ways of walking using the standard four legs. Their fur varied widely, too-not so much like different breeds of cat, more like people wearing different clothes. Watching them, one could only conclude that each had a unique style, and, in this respect, were essentially human. Only humans-juggling, walking, crawling, swimming, skydiving humans-displayed so much individual choice simply through movement.

“See others.” Hender’s woodwind-like voice had a melodious tone. “Thank you thank you thank you. Emergency exit. Hazar-do-us!”

“Yes, Hender. Hazardous!” Geoffrey nodded. He gestured to himself, then pointed at the door. “When others come, emergency exit. OK? Yes?”

Hender smiled, revealing the three wide teeth that wrapped around his upper and lower jaws. He nodded vigorously. “Yes, hazardous! Emergency exit! Thank you, OK, Geoffrey!”

Hender translated for the four other hendropods, whose eyes flicked back and forth between him and the humans.

Under her breath, Nell told Geoffrey, “You speak pretty good Hender.”

“Hender uses only imperative verbs and simple nouns-probably from associating the words with pictures on directions and warning labels. They’re designed so no one has to be able to read to get the point, but often have a variety of verbal translations.”

“I’ll be damned,” Zero muttered. “And I always hated those things.”

Nell smiled, delighted. “Who would have thought warning labels would be the Rosetta Stone?”

Thatcher had been staring off into space, but he abruptly broke his silence. “I still don’t see how they could evolve here.”

“That’s easy,” Andy piped up. “They disappear.”

Nell looked at Andy, puzzled.

“I think their fur can sense light and somehow reflect it on the opposite side of their bodies. Hey, Hender. Disappear! Don’t worry-he likes doing it. He knows it freaks me out!”

Hender nodded at Andy and smiled as his thick fur fluffed out.

Although they were looking right at him, Hender…vanished. The background seemed to emanate through him, leaving only his grin and two eyes visible.

“Dear God,” Thatcher murmured.

“It’s the freakin’ Cheshire Cat, man!”

All of the hendropods followed suit, blending into the background except for their colorful eyes and smiling teeth.

“Holy shit.” Zero videoed as he laughed.

“That must be how their ancestors managed to slow down long enough to think in this environment,” Nell said, thoughtfully.

“And make tools,” Geoffrey added.

“They can step outside this crazy food chain.”

Geoffrey’s eyes lit up as a piece fell into place. “That’s it! Death by predation is so common here that none of these species needed a biological clock to enforce a life span. When these guys developed invisibility…” He turned toward Nell, excited. “They may have become virtually immortal. Which allowed them to preserve the integrity of their gene pool by minimizing procreation! Intelligent creatures could not reproduce very frequently on such a small island,” he murmured. “In a group this small, the risk of compromising the gene pool would be too great. So the longer each generation lasts the less opportunity for genetic corruption. It’s a scenario that I never imagined before!”

“So Hender’s kind might actually be immortal?” Nell whispered. “My God…”

“There are monkey versions of Hender in the jungle that disappear, too,” Andy said. “Quentin and I called them shrimpanzees. Hender doesn’t like them very much because they steal from his traps.”

“Sounds like a much safer species to rescue, if you ask me,” remarked Thatcher.

“Hey Hender saved all of our lives today, asshole!” Andy retorted. “Shrimpanzees would have had you for lunch. And dinner, maybe.”

“Dozens of people have died on this island in only a few weeks, Dr. Redmond,” Nell said. “We may seem safe right here for the time being, but we wouldn’t last more than a few minutes outside this tree.”

“By the way!” Andy rose and slid his glasses up his nose, raising his eyebrows at the ruddy zoologist. “Just out of curiosity, Thatcher, where the FUCK is our driver?”

“He should have been back by now,” Thatcher snapped back, hotly.

“What have you done with him, Thatcher?”

“What in God’s name are you suggesting?” the older man spluttered.

“I’m starting to wonder about you. I mean, just how far would you go to protect the biosphere from intelligent life, anyway? After all, people are the biggest danger on the planet, right?”

“I resent whatever you are trying to imply,” Thatcher shot back.

“If he doesn’t come back soon, Thatcher, we won’t stand a chance trying to cross this island!” Zero said.

“And even if we stay here, we’ll go out with a big bang.” Geoffrey studied Thatcher thoughtfully.

“Are you absolutely dead nuts positive you got the message across to that kid?” Zero said.

“Or should we start panicking now?” Nell asked.

“What exactly are you accusing me-”

Another quake wrenched the ground, twisting the fuselage around them.

The hendropods reappeared and moved closer to the humans.

“With this kind of seismic activity the military could already be evacuating the island for all we know,” Geoffrey said.

“Maybe the Army doesn’t want the hendropods to get off the island, and they’re just going to leave us behind!”

“He may have had an accident,” Thatcher conceded, realizing it might be true and gambling heavily that it wasn’t.

“Maybe he got ambushed by God-knows-what-out-there,” Geoffrey said.

“OK,” Nell said. “That’s too many maybes, guys. Zero, can your camera zoom in on the base so we can see what’s going on?”