Why have there been no new Great Deaths? Where is the inter-reality plague that will ‘Doom us all’? This is a question that many doctors and scientists have been asking themselves since the advent of Inter-Reality travel. When populations or individuals travel from one part of the world to another, there is always a chance. For example, the Black Death plague brought from Asia wiped out over 50% of the population in Europe, the same as smallpox and other diseases devastated the native people of North and South America.
WHY did this not happen when we started traveling between Realities?
We did take precautions at first. All soldiers and travelers were quarantined for months after staying in the other Realities. The worst that happened was a small cold. We couldn’t even find the virus that caused it. Most just had minor elevated body temperatures. We couldn’t even find non-native viruses or microbes. The only disease that seemed to break out was among the populations of the Federacy and Devonal, and those lasted for mere weeks, flashing through the people at lightning speed. Thousands died, but it petered out quickly. The Federacy instituted vaccines among their population, quickly stopping it there. The Devonalian Biomancers and churches used magic to stop the disease on their side.
After contact with the Storm League on Devonal, the spread of inter-reality disease stopped entirely. There was a quarantine process for the League troops, but the diseases seemed to stop. The only difference between these two were the method of contact. Erde was contacted by both Kondarria and Rowrashaoh via the Sky Hurricane. The Federacy and Devonal were connected via Gates only. Could there be something in the Sky Hurricane that is inoculating people who contact it and spreading through the Realities they go to?
Mechanon uses gates exclusively, but they don’t seem to suffer any disease outbreaks there. So maybe this is a bad hypothesis. On the other hand, we still don’t know how their fabled Devil invasion happened, so maybe it was a crashed skyship? We know that most diseases that aren’t genetic disorders have decreased in severity across all the worlds that use the Sky Hurricane. So maybe there is something to it?
Unfortunately, our technology isn’t high enough yet to figure out this puzzle. So we should just consider it a stroke of good luck that our populations weren’t wiped out by a microbe that we have no defense against.
Lecture on Pandemics in Inter-Reality Civilization
Maik Hönigsberg
Ahornhügel Biologisches Institut
Jan 3, 2186 ESC
Sattelrücken Storm League Joint Forces Base
South of Annasheim Metroplex
Reality of Erde
November 16 th , 2187 ESC
Her boots were shiny, barracks room perfectly spotless, and uniform creased in all the right spots. The duty uniform at this base was a brown t-shirt, tan desert camouflage cargo pants, and a camouflage shirt over the undershirt. Her hair was braided then coiled into a bun at the back of her head to keep it off her neck. On her shoulder board was a new rank consisting of the 4 diagonal stripes for 2nd Corporal. On the bottom of the rank, insignia was a strip of dark green and brown bars for the Special Forces and reconnaissance specialties. The demotion had hit her ego badly, but logical, as she had been gone and left her unit in the lurch. Captain Hollis had chewed her out for a while when she had returned. The demotion paperwork had even been signed by the Staff Captain and Major above him.
Today she was standing for inspection as her new Sergeant checked out the rooms. Her unit had been cycled out, and she was reassigned to the Rapid Forces Division, support company, repair platoon. Now, her role was as a weapons care specialist and trainer for Mechanese equipment.
Corporals didn’t rate their own rooms and had to share, though she didn’t mind in this case. Standing next to her was her roommate and platoon leader. 1st Corporal Ticualtzin Andrea del Valle was curvier and shorter than Althea at 175-centimeters. The nut-brown-skinned woman was from the Republic of Texico and had a wicked sense of humor. Today she had her black hair in a barely regulation ponytail and was wearing her many gold ear studs and her septum nose ring. Her arms, back, and shoulders were covered in Azteca-style tattoos. Again, those weren’t regulation, but they were cute and complimented her green-gold hazel eyes. Her datasphere was also noticeably tidy to Althea’s senses.
“Hey, d’Argus,” Ticualtzin said.
Althea twitched an ear in response, “Yes?”
She pointed towards the door with her nose, “What’s got the Sergeant’s panties in a bunch?”
The biofem shrugged, “Unknown. Did you not refill the coffee dispenser?” A tiny smile ghosted on her lips.
Ticualtzin snorted but kept her composure. They both stood at attention as she heard 2nd Sergeant Diosanthe Alikarnassos approaching down the hallway. The lamia woman slid into view. She was very similar to a human woman from the waist up save for the scales on her nose, forehead, and across her cheeks just under her eyes. She was a green and gold snake the same width her waist would have been from the waist down. She was approaching middle age and had an expression that said she was just not having any excuses. Her gold vertically slit eyes stared at both women over a beak of a nose. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a severely tight bun. Her uniform was almost the same as Althea’s and Ticualtzin’s save for the blank shoulder boards with a solid white border. Being from a magically active race, the only datasphere she had was the dataslate she had on her belt.
The lamia eyed them and took a sip of her ever-present Turkish coffee (she insisted it was Greek). “Which of you two knuckleheads didn’t put away your tools properly yesterday?” she asked after a sip.
Althea replayed the events in her mind and didn’t recall leaving any tools out. Ticualtzin had an expression of confusion as well. Althea went to open her mouth, and the lamia cut her off.
“Doesn’t matter,” she said. “Get your asses back to the shop, clean it up, and,” she snapped her fingers. A small light appeared over them in response. Althea could see it was a tiny ball made up of thousands of minute glyphs. It shot forward and zipped around the room. It paused near Althea’s cheap Festus plushie that she had gotten in a Kinder meal, then shot right under Ticualtzin’s bed.
The 2nd Sergeant slid forward and leaned close to the woman, her nose almost touching hers. “Personal sex toys must be cleaned and put away in your locker, 1 st Corporal del Valle.” The Lamia’s tail whipped around and pulled a bag out from under Ticualtzin’s bed.
Oh, that’s what I was smelling, Althea thought but kept her eyes forward. I thought she just needed recreation or something.
Ticualtzin blushed, “Oh yeah, 2nd Sergeant. I’ll do that.” She went to reach for the bag, and the lamia’s tail moved away from her.
“Nope. These are confiscated,” Alikarnassos said. “Think of it as a lesson learned for you not to be dirty.” She slid over to Althea and looked her up and down. “I expected better from you, d’Argus. You were paired with her to teach her better discipline. Maybe I shouldn’t have trusted you. You went crazy once, after all.” Althea blinked but did not object. Alikarnassos let out a little snort and then said, “After you clean the shop up, I expect you both to clean the common areas and the bathrooms tonight. Both of you need to tighten up.”
She turned and started to leave, Ticualtzin’s middle finger started to go up, and the 2nd Sergeant paused, “That’s two days of cleaning. Your squadmates will be so happy everything is so spotlessly clean.”
They waited until the lamia was out of earshot before Ticualtzin began cursing in pure Spanish, “Perra estúpida. Ella necesita echar un cajé. Robar los juguetes sexuales de otros, ¿Qué tan bajo puedes caér?” Ticualtzin pointed a little finger at the door. “¿Necesito apretar? Un poco más apretado, y tu coño escupirá un diamante, perra.” She fumed a bit and Althea looked at her in curiosity.
“Perhaps you need to find a recreation partner as well?” the biofem asked, sitting on her bed and waiting for her roommate to calm down.
Ticualtzin leered at her, “You volunteering to be my ‘recreation partner’?” She gave a wink that Althea had interpreted over the months to mean she was telling a joke. Althea looked away from the shorter woman. “Well, one of these days, you’ll say yes,” the human said.
Althea retrieved her slouch cap with a graceful move and said, “Perhaps, but not right now. Also, I would have to set the condition of no vaginal penetration. I do not wish to get pregnant.” The human woman blinked at her in surprise. “Your gene therapy has made you rather beautiful, you know,” Althea said and walked out of the room.
There were some shuffling and noises as Ticualtzin ran out of the room with her hat in her hand. “Whoah, I was just kidding. Flirting, you know,” she sputtered. “You know I still have my….”
“Penis,” Althea finished for her. “And you do not wish to be rid of it, or you would have taken advantage of the military biomantic therapy as well, correct?”
Ticualtzin blushed red as they headed out of doors, both automatically pulling on their caps. The base sprawled out in front of them, hundreds of small, one- and two-story buildings, large hangars full of military skyships, and smaller ones for vehicles. A large pyramidal structure that housed the Gate stood alone. Large hills were to the east, including the base they named after. It looked kind of like a saddle, but Althea didn’t see the resemblance. The sidewalks around them had dried out grass and chaparral. Round liftstone fighters shot out into the sky, and boxy troop carriers ran exercises.
“Come on, moza amiga,” Ticualtzin said quietly. “That’s personal.”
Althea looked at her, and her ears turned red. “Especially if we share a bed.” She looked up and away. “I am not opposed to the idea,” she said, her blush creeping across her nose and making her patterning come on lightly.
Ticualtzin stopped in her tracks for a moment then ran to catch up. “Don’t tease me, girl. That’s mean,” she said, looking away from Althea in embarrassment.
Althea stopped and waited for the signal to change. “Techuu is techuu,” she said, looking down at the human. “I do not know how long I would be here, so a longer-term arrangement cannot be guaranteed. However, occasional techuu with you would… not … be … umm… objectionable….” Althea’s ears turned bright red and stuck out from the sides of her head as she looked at Ticualtzin, who was staring at her with a look of complete surprise.
Oh crap, I just told her we’d be techuu partners. I totally did. She’s very nice looking too. Damn, I screwed up. She probably wants children, a human-style marriage, and all those other things. I don’t know if I’ll be taken home if I get pregnant. I never heard of anyone back home actually getting married to an offworlder.
Althea coughed and looked away, “Umm, only if… you want to… I can’t promise how long it will last.” She paused and coughed, “I’ll shut up now.”
The other woman walked up to her and said, “So as long as I don’t want to get hitched and you’re around, we can….?”
The biofem nodded once and tried to suppress her feelings of embarrassment, but her cat coloring had become prominent.
“Oh girl, you’re blushing,” her companion said.
“Am not.”
“Are too. You’re embarrassed after asking me?”
Althea nodded curtly. She turned and entered the complex with their small shop, stopping to open the electronic locks with her Identity Pass around her wrist. “First time I ever asked.”
Ticualtzin looked at her, “Not your first time. I know I heard you a few times by yourself in bed.” Althea turned full leopard-colored and moved faster, making her catch up. “Hey, sorry it was cute. You mean if’s the first time you asked someone out?”
Althea opened the room for the Mechanese equipment and saw a mess before her. It looked like half the tools were out and on the floor. Accessing the room’s cameras, she saw the tell-tale spark of a spell and everything being pulled off the shelves. She sighed and said, “Someone did this with magic. Most likely as harassment. Probably our Sergeant. I must have annoyed her.” Then she said quieter, “Yes. I was always the one being asked before. I could never… ask… out… anyone… Ummm… it’s indecent.” She slowed down her words as she got more and more embarrassed.
Her companion laughed. “Dios Mio, the big scary biofem is a shy bottom,” she winked at her and bent to start helping with the tools. Then, looking at Althea moving less gracefully, she said, “It’s cute, you know.”
Althea’s embarrassment turned her a shade darker, but she swept the room, tagging all the tools as well as their relevant places. “I am not good at taking the lead in nonmilitary situations unless it is something silly like food or making jokes.”
The other woman looked at her flatly. “Jokes? You make jokes?”
Althea picked up a box of micromanipulators and placed it down. Then, she nodded, “I am the so-called ‘creche-clown,’ or so they called me.”
“Tell me one,” the other woman said.
Althea coughed and said, “I tried to requisition new camouflage the other day, but no one could find any.”
Ticualtzin stared at her. In the distance a crow cawed. Another moment later a cricket chirped.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Althea tried another one, “Why can’t a leopard hide? Because she’s always spotted.” She pointed at her own face, which patterned again.
“That was a dad joke,” Ticualtzin said incredulously. “You fucking make dad jokes.” Then, for some reason, she started laughing.
Sattelrücken Storm League Joint Forces Base
South of Annasheim Metroplex
Reality of Erde
December 15 th , 2188 ESC
The cloud of small camera drones floated between Althea, Ticualtzin, and a crowd of Search and Rescue soldiers of various species learning how to control them. The drones looked like a tiny cloud of gnats hovering in a perfectly square pattern. They were tiny robots with sand grain-sized liftstones inside each one for propulsion. She had Ticualtzin push a button on the controller, and they changed formation to spread out in the room.
“These Panoptes Mark 2 drones work well in realities above Tech/Magic ratios of 30/70,” Althea said in her monotone voice. “Below that, the electrical systems and control signals are fouled. At that point, using a scrying spell may work better.” The drones changed formation again, hiding in cracks in the ceiling and becoming almost invisible. “The range for these is about 20 kilometers, but weather and intervening terrain may shorten that considerably.”
She pointed to the vidscreen behind her, which showed a knitted together composite view of the room. “This is the view unaugmented troops will have from the drones.” She said, “I will now open a window into your augments to show you how it looks from my point of view.” There were some gasps. “As you can see, it looks like you are disembodied and can free look from any angle from any or all the drones.” She rapidly switched between them and then cut the feed. “These should increase recon capabilities in the future, though they do not work in areas where liftstone has been scattered. Places such as crash sites. You will still need to manually do search and rescue there.
“What good are they then if we can’t use them around a crashed skyship?” A woman asked.
“Good question, 1st Sergeant,” Ticualtzin answered. “You use them inside the ship where the liftstone isn’t.” She tapped a small thimble on her chest, and the drones returned and crowded inside the thimble, which she shut with a snap. “You can also use them to search for pinches metiches coming to get an eyeful of things they shouldn’t see.”
Althea turned to pick up a rifle. It was of a bullpup design had a short rectangular front with an integrated handgrip and foregrip. The front of the rifle had a fat barrel and a small emitter under it. “This is the new Schwarzrose Model 75. It has both lethal and non-lethal capabilities.” She tapped the top sight, “It is a smartgun, and you can slave the firing mechanism to your internals.” She gave a slight smile briefly, “For the non-augmented, the optical sights work just as well.”
She popped the fat magazine and turned to show two rows of bullets, “These 13mm bullets are of soft lead and move at lower velocity to knock down targets and incapacitate them with hydrostatic shock. It works especially well against those using body armor.” She touched the other row, “These pre fragmented bullets are lightly coated with Polytetrafluoroethylene to get through the first layer of body armor then split apart to do massive damage to your target. They do not work well in shooting through walls.”
Ticualtzin took the gun and pointed to the front. “This is a combination of Laser and Maser emitters.” She grinned whitely. “They both have multiple settings and shouldn’t run out of energy as it has Mechanese batteries.” She paused and popped out two small disks. “These cachorras can be used to drive a car for a year and can be recharged by throwing them in a fire.” She showed the side of the gun, “Using the selector and intensity wheel, you can choose how much you wanna fuck with someone.”
She flicked the selector and rolled a wheel next to it. “Lowest setting for the laser can be used to temporarily blind a target. The highest setting can be used to cut through steel to free crash victims.” She flipped the toggle again. “This is the maser. You can use it to cause pain on people at a distance for crowd control and short out electronics, including ours, so be careful. Oh, higher settings it will kill instantly by making chunks of people explode.” She sighed, “Not gonna lie, that’s real nasty. You can also use both together to drill through armor and kill.”
“Why do we need both HE and slug throwers?” a male asked.
Althea answered, “Redundancy. Because gunpowder works everywhere, the high energy consistently only works in TMR worlds of 40/60 or higher. Also, it’s cheaper to have one weapon in stock instead of two.”
“That’s the real reason! The lowest bidder,” a woman said to mixed laughter.
Althea’s eyebrows raised as she heard an opening. Then, she started, “The amounts of fire extinguishers around a base should tell you the real meaning of….”
“Althea, no, just no,” Ticualtzin said. “That one made me groan.” Then, she shrugged and said to the audience, “She thinks she’s the universe’s only biofem comedian.” That got a laugh from the crowd. Next, Althea turned darkly cat patterned with blushing ears and nose.
“Ahem, moving on….”
###
Later in a hotel room bed, Althea turned and kissed her techuu partner. True to her word, she had never penetrated one part of Althea. Still, the biofem had learned that penetration of other areas also gave much pleasure. So she smiled shyly for her, “Tiki, thank you.”
The other woman smiled and rubbed her nose on Althea’s. “We do this twice a week, babe, and you are much more relaxed.” She grinned. “I even got you making small expressions in private.” She leaned back and let out a sigh. “Damn, I’m going to miss this,” she said.
Cuddling against her lover, Althea laid her head on the woman’s breasts. “It’s only two weeks,” she said. “Edelweiss needs us to repair things at the base there.”
“Teah, that’s two weeks of us in a tiny barracks without being able to do anything,” she sighed. “Mi novia, that is torture. And you, you are my only lover that likes all of me, not just one part or another. You don’t know how many just fetishize me and just go after one bit.”
Althea looked her in the eyes, her periwinkle orbs gazing into the other woman’s hazel. “It’s all part of you. Why would I reject that?”
Ticualtzin blushed, “It’s a relief you like all of me. I just wish I didn’t have to pause this for the next two weeks.”
“Well then, I’d better make this night good,” Althea said and slid down Ticualtzin’s body, kissing as she went.
“Ohhh, Teah…” she started moaning.
###
The next day they walked with their tool bags towards the Gate. They had received a request to head to the Gate for repairs the colony on the Reality of Edelweiss had requested. Something was systematically destroying the monitoring stations. Since the devices were of Mechanese design and the settlement was in this exact location in the other Reality, the two had been tapped to carry out the repairs. It was a bonus that they were also in the Rapid Deployment section. Althea was wearing a backpack and carrying the two larger bags. Ticualtzin was carrying a smaller bag and walking funny.
“Fingers? How can fingers be that strong?” the Latina was saying under her breath.
“Then the toy. You were not complaining last night,” Althea responded, her face a flat mask now she was in public. “Keep up, or I shall carry you.”
“Pendeja!” she called out with a smile. “Oh, I am gonna make you pay for that in two weeks.”
“I shall look forward to that,” the biofem replied as they reached the first Security Gate. A line of people waiting to head inside was checked through the scanners and frisked by a couple of other guards. The checkpoint became annoying when one of the female guards patted down Ticualtzin and jumped back, cursing. She demanded to see her ID again. The Latina shrugged and showed her ID again, a sour look on her face. The other woman pointed at the Gate, and Ticualtzin picked up her tool bag and walked over.
“I just filed a report against her,” Althea said quietly.
Ticualtzin growled, hunched her shoulders, and kept walking, “Thanks for that, but you know it goes in the trash folder. She’s Anglian and didn’t know about gals like me.”
Althea shook her head and said, “Yes, she did. The techniques for this have been around for almost three centuries here. Over there, it’s been known for hundreds of years using biomancy. It’s a punishment on their world.”
The other woman looked in surprise out from under her cap at her, “What? Really?”
“Yes, they change male criminals into women and sell them as slaves for some crimes,” she said. “Sometimes they make them like you and use them in brothels. Their bodies are made as beautiful as possible to fetch a higher price. One of the women in another Legion informed me of this a few years ago.” That sister had been in Stheno Legion and had told every biofem in the local battle net of the ‘wonderous’ types of recreation to be purchased on the Reality of Anglio. They had become quite annoyed with her after the first two weeks.
Whistling in response, Ticualtzin said, “¿Qué chingados esta pasando ahí? That’s really fucked up. So they still got slavery, and people like me are just sex toys there?”
Althea said, “Many places still have slavery. It is sadly common. Some think that the GmbH’s employee/citizenship is a form of slavery.” She paused to look at her partner. “You are fine as you are. However, I would not go to Anglio any time soon. They may try to clap an obedience collar on you and then try to return you to your ‘rightful owners.’”
Ticualtzin said, “Girl, you’re sick if you know shit like that.”
Althea gave her a small smile, “I am sixty-five this year. I know many things. Including how to please you.”
A blush darkened the shorter woman’s cheeks then, “Hold up, hold up, hold up.” She stopped.
Althea stopped as well and tilted her head.
“What do you mean you’re sixty-five?”
She shrugged, “I was made sixty-five years ago.”
“Oh, hell no, you’re making a joke. You’re in your twenties,” Ticualtzin said and started moving.
Althea followed her and said, “Comparatively, yes, that’s accurate.”
The other woman made a raspberry and said, “‘Comparatively’ ha. So what? You live like three times as long as a human?”
They reached the inner checkpoint, and Althea filed her orders and gate coordinates with the people there. The inner Gate was more a framework inside the pyramid. The outer shell was reinforced concrete to keep the forces inside the device contained in case of an explosion. Inside there were reinforced struts, hundreds of floating office and monitoring pods, a huge concrete and steel box in the center where a tunnel led down to the machine itself.
Althea signed the paperwork electronically and then manually. The gate technician double-checked it all and handed her a blue, thick, hard plastic card with the gate coordinates stamped on it. “Waiting room 19,” the human man said and pointed to the map. Althea showed the card to Ticualtzin and started walking.
“Hey, you didn’t answer me,” the Latina said. They walked through a gate and down into the tunnel. The reinforced concrete was now ribbed with titanium crossbars. The corridor split, and they took the right tunnel.
“Yes,” Althea said simply. She turned down the tunnel and went past a series of doors before opening the one with a huge 19 on the front. Inside was a small room three meters on a side with a series of benches around the edge. Althea sat down on one and looked at Ticualtzin.
“Yes, what? That you didn’t answer, or you live a long time?” She asked.
“Yes, to both,” Althea said and looked up at a camera in the corner of the room. She looked back to Ticualtzin and pointed to the camera. Then, she looked back straight forward. “My people theoretically live a long time. We die mostly in fighting or on crusades. I am on my own, so I do not know how long I will live. I am Ventricorum d’Argus.”
The Latina looked her over, “Ok, so you’re really like sixty-five?”
“Yes,” she replied.
Ticualtzin whistled, “Are you a grandma?”
“No, I have never had children,” Althea said, turning to give a tiny wink to her.
The other woman relaxed and smiled. “So why do you have that name? I mean, you’re the only Biofem I know that has that. Most are like ‘Judy bot 9000’ or some shit.”
Althea colored darkly, “It means heart’s blood. I am from the Argus Legion. The last of a creche standing is its heart’s blood. My siblings all died fighting the Sidhe. There were five-thousand of us in the Argus Legion. Four-thousand nine-hundred and ninety-nine of them are dead.”
Her companion paled, “Dios Mio, I didn’t mean to… that’s really….”
“Room 19 Proceed to the Gate!” a loudspeaker blared.
Althea got up and headed to the door. Ticualtzin blushed and followed her a little slower. Suddenly Althea stopped and turned to kiss Ticualtzin on the lips. She winked and said, “No camera here.” She turned and continued walking.
Blushing furiously, the Latina said, “Hey, no fair!” Goddammit, she moves like a fucking cat, Ticualtzin thought as she watched the woman’s shapely hips move as she walked. And she’s older than my Abuela?
They followed a series of turns and went through a large door made of two meters of metal. Stopping, Althea presented the plastic card. A small woman with red curly hair and a figure that made her jealous, only about three feet tall, took the card. She was dressed in the grey coveralls of a Gate technician. She pointed towards a large spherical chamber in the middle of the room. The sphere was suspended over a pit with hydraulics to reposition it. If Ticualtzin had to guess, she was a halfling from Anglio. At least she wasn’t judging her as well. They walked over a catwalk to a hatch with caution labels all over it.
The hatch popped open, revealing a 28-meter circular room with a flat surface to stand on. Walking in, Althea hitched up her bags off the floor, motioning for Ticualtzin to do the same. The chamber closed, and the room pressurized with a hiss. The room began to rise as it was brought up to the ground level in their target Reality. A low hum started somewhere in the building; the reactor fed the Gate the tremendous energy needed. A green mist began to pour into the room from somewhere else as the room itself seemed to twist and turn before their eyes. A sharp yank and a rushing of air were suddenly accompanied by a flash of green light.
Blinking, they looked around themselves. It appeared they were now in a rather large concrete building that looked like it was newly constructed of poured slab walls held together with metal fittings. There was a spray of water around them and just out of the range of the spherical room they had been in. Around it, there was a circle on the floor painted in red and yellow caution lines. A few gate technicians were working on a clunky version of signaling and beacon equipment just out of range of the ring.
They were accompanied by a dark-skinned soldier. Dressed in a cold-weather uniform, he had a small, black military-style mustache and slightly grown-out hair. He was looking relatively relaxed, sipping on a coffee. “Are you the two repair techs we sent for?”
They saluted him, and he saluted back casually with his coffee cup. Ticualtzin nodded, “Yes, I’m first Corporal del Valle. This is second Corporal d’Argus. Are you second Lieutenant el-Siddiqui?” They saw that their breath was starting to make small clouds in the air.
He grinned. “Yep. Welcome to the cold hell of Edelweiss.” He grinned. “Let’s get you two outfitted for the weather. We just had snowfall, and the critters are a bit restless.”
“Critters, sir?” Ticualtzin asked, tilting her head.
He grinned, “You’ll see. They get a bit cranky when it snows.”
“Megafauna,” Althea said as she headed over towards him.
“Oh, don’t spoil it! This is my favorite part!”
Althea nodded and said, “Of course, sir. We shall have you show us the proverbial ‘elephant.’”
He blinked and looked at Ticualtzin. She shrugged. “She thinks she’s a comedian.”
He smiled, “Yeah, I can see that.”
After being given some heavy jackets to wear a few minutes later, he led them out of the building. The scenery looked very similar to where they just were, except it was snowing. Fat six-pointed flower-shaped snowflakes fell from the sky to land on the ground, where they quickly melted. The local mountains were covered in snow, and the soil was muddy except where it was paved. There were many more trees, and nearby, a group of large brown-furred creatures with four legs, long curling tusks, and trunks were busily eating from bales of hay.
Ticualtzin looked at Althea, who looked away and made a little tuneless whistle. Second Lieutenant el-Siddiqui started laughing. “Yeah, yeah, I see the fucking wooly mammoths,” she said and socked Althea in the shoulder.