Astrobiologist Zerka and his apprentice Hunta wore cloaking suits and roamed an alien landscape.

A herd of docile creatures grazed vegetation.

“Tagging one!” Hunta fired the nanite probe.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“No! I set it for widespread! You’ve injected the entire herd.” Zerka grabbed the probe. “You idiot, you used radioactive isotopes! We’ve got to dissect them all to retrieve our nanites.”

They approached the herd, but another creature more ferocious detected them.

The scientists stood still and watched the beast escort the creatures away.

————

Sheila barked and returned to farmer John.

“Good girl! I just got a big order for milk.”