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Since time eternal, the universe, well certainly EARTH, old, present and future had RATS, otherwise known on other worlds by many other names but the most common of those is the name 'Rait'!
Survivors of plagues, holocausts and more, if any creature deserved recognition for the tenacity to improvise, adapt and overcome, be it so respected or hated, abhorred as being nothing less than a total pest!
There were, other creatures, from other worlds, that too had the, or shared the same strengths, as this creature.
Those were rarely seen within the Humana colonies, mainly because the Rait dominated and if required, eliminated its competition.
Eggs or young eaten by them to the point where their rivals moved elsewhere or ceased to exist. Sometimes if the opposition was as strong or fierce, the only alternative was cleverly fostered by the Rait. It co-existed, inter breeding, and breeding at a far quicker 'rate' than most of its rivals.
The huge space craft built to carry colonists and others, had living areas that provided food in many ways. The main cargo bays with the sealed food packs that could be split open, by the Rait with ease. Their razor sharp teeth? As for those claws!
True, there were other less palatable, (even to a Rait!) things, they could chew on! If pushed to the point, where it was eat whatever, or starve to death? The Rait on its journey into hyperspace? Of course it survived!
Most long hauls, had maintenance drones without crew that were looking after the craft for a set period.
Programmed to detect Raits and deal with them appropiately.
To insult the Rait as being anything less than intelligent or to underestimate its capabilities as a resourceful creature, resulted in the inevitable disasters, on early ventures.
Navigational systems could be impaired or fail to function at all! If they got to the core components to run their razor sharp teeth over them or claws tearing them apart?! Critical like life support?
Hence most of the secure systems had a residual energy field, the Raits didn’t like to get close to. If you were able to ask them, understood Rait language! They’d probably tell you it gave them the jitters, fur on end? Exactly what, the high frequency sonic deterrent was supposed to achieve.
That did not stop them getting to certain items such as kit, if those aboard the craft failed to store or secure the items properly. Including clothing and similar.
Thus it would not be strange, to find them on planets and true to form, the miners had, on ocassion; encouraged the critters. Making pets of them. Spoiling them by feedind them, even racing them? Ah yes, the smell of food wafting in the air?
Potent smells OTHER than the Kets themselves!
See a Rait does have some level of intelligence! To be able to tell the difference between a what we would know as jam sandwich and a smelly sweaty Ket! Which is where we come to the part where the Kets are eating their snacks.
Aniette had placed her food down momentarily on the ground. She did not see the Rait stick its head out, its nose up and sniffing. Ah! Treats! Nor did she see it move like greased lightning, if at all lightning can be greased, lets say pretty darn quick!
To retrieve at least two reasonable items from her, as we would call it, plate. To scoot back into the crevice that it had appeared from. Aniette had finished what she was doing, which involved talking to Claria. She watched Aniette pick up her plate and stare! The look on her face? She glared at them all.
A few seconds earlier certain members of the other team, had joined them. That gave rise to suspicion on Aniette’s part that perhaps one of them might be the culprit for her shortage of refreshments! Lets not forget that she still retained some residual rage at someone having taken her clothing and worn it! NOW?!
She slapped the plate down and screeched at them all. The others, more than aware of her somewhat lack of composure!
“Might as well have the rest of it!“ She threw the plate towards them and stormed off. Claria ran after her! “NOW what!“ Squealed Ameryst. “Is up with her.“ The others, seemed to agree with her remarks. “She was acting that way with us earlier, in the tunnels, really strange.”
“Do you think she’s ill?” Coleja looked at Soniette as he said it, but she was staring at them, the look on her face, an almost perfect mimic, to Aniette’s former expression! It was as much a look of being puzzled, let alone perplexed, by what had been said!
The peanut rattling around behind the eyes to settle. Soniette realised, what was bothering her.
What Ameryst had said? It didn't make sense!
“What do you mean in the tunnels earlier?” She paused, to add. “Aniette’s been with us all day today! Perfectly normal, until she got back to find someone had been wearing her clothes!” Claria had reappeared to look at Soniette, then at them.
“Steal her food!“ There was a murmur of voices almost at the same time! “UHHH?” Coleja with Cxan managed to provide Aniette with some food. Persuaded by others, she now rejoined them to munch at it. Careful, NOT to place her plate down!
“I reckon.“ There was a pause, silence! “It was Raits.“ There was a murmur of disagreement with some of the Kets.
"Haven't seen any since we've been down here!" “Well you must be wearing blinders, the tunnels are full of them!”
“How horrid! Just the thought of them makes me queasy!“ “I don’t like them either.“ "Well at least they're not Skeets."
Ameryst glared at Torvan. "Don't you dare ask what a Skeet is!" Becci grinned. Eula was scowling. She leaned in close to Torvan to whisper as he smiles, nods his head. "Legend, nothing else! Stuff of folk tales."
Ameryst stared at Eula about to say something and changed her mind.
It was a scowl on Soniette's face that didn’t need too many words to express her opinion further.
“Still we haven’t come across any face to face.“ Cxan grinned. “Elder Frexis says the ones usually found here are quite big. From his description I doubt you'd miss one of those face to face!“
More glares from Becci who had joined them. Aniette scrunched her lips, as his voice tailed off, the smile from his lips vanishing. “I just hope YOU are the first to find em!“ “Find what?”
Two figures appeared in the hatchway, one of them, Eula recognised as Ceila. (c-la) “Raits.“ “Plenty of them in these tunnels.“
She paused “Miners kept them as pets, plus they served their purpose they warned the miners of Perotox3 gases, let alone Trimixiode At6, now that, is nasty! Novyran 4 in the walls acted as a catalyst. Produces the gas." Torvan glanced at Eula then at Becci.
"Oh great! The Opticon uses the Novyran 4 to carry a signal and it acts as catalyst to.." He looked at Ceila.
"Trimixiode At6, but you are OK! Rarely found now, in the mines here, so the Novyran 4 is pretty harmless." Eula glanced around to make sure Claria was not too close to hear her!
“Novyran 4 is worse than Trexl! Well almost! Blow your head off in a flash. It mixes with the TX24 found embedded in the rock face and that seeps a gas. Usually settles bout head height, virtually unnoticeable to us, smell wise. Right temperature and it flashes across the Novyran 4 to ignite and kaboom! To a Rait? Watch em turn tail and run!“
"So that's why, we didn't see any Raits in those tunnels!" Ceila smiled. “The Opticons, have sensors built in. If they detect it they release a neutralizing gas.“ Cxan looked at them, as Ceila moved the other female following. “If its thin enough and its not picked up by the sensors in time before you hit the main cloud, the results can be kaboom! Too late.
Not to alarm you all!" A Rait can smell an extremely low amount, sends it nuts! Kinda apparent! Which allows those watching, to realise, BEFORE its too late and disperse, neutralise the gas manually.
As Corky tells us all the time! Technology is good but its not fail proof and don’t expect it to give you 100% protection.
Nothing better than having one of the galaxies best survivors on your side.“ She pulled out of her pocket, a small package, unfolded it and placed it on the ground before stepping back?
Eyes had been on the odd shaped piece of, strong smelling, absolutely delicious?
Suddenly there was a movement in the corner of the compartment. A head appeared then the rest of the body?
“Its a Rait!“ Hisses Coleja, gripping Cxan, as it moved towards the food, haunched on its hind legs, its paws now reaching out, picking up the food, munched at it. Its eyes moving, glancing at them, rather one might have said ‘shiftily’
It’s teeth, at the front jutting out, two long incisors. Distinctive trait of a male Rait. The female had slightly smaller incisors.
Aniette, took a step back, as it swallowed the last bit, to wipe its mouth. Running one of its paws, across its closed mouth, cleaning the two incisors? It laid back, slumped on its hind legs, as it SCRATCHED! The expression on its face, could well have been a look of ecstasy!
Suddenly it sprung forward haunched on its hind legs, as before to move its head glancing side to side. its eyes fixed on Celia, who had removed, another piece of whatever it was, that it had already savoured. She had placed it, in the palm of her hand. Offering it to the Rait?
Its paws moved again, this time to take the treat, raising it in its paws, to munch again, until it was gone! What happened next, took them all by surprise! It turned and vanished back into the shadows.
“There.“ Muttered Celia. “I wanted to show you all that they are not so hideous as a lot of Kets make them out to be!“
“That.“ Murmurs Aniette, still not convinced. “Is one weird critter!“
It would be some time later when they were sat down talking when a Rait returned.
Some reckoned it was the same Rait, but Raits look like Raits, well bar the male female differences re the incisors.
The color of their skin seldom ever varies from the rustic brown, so never mind the twin dilemma, out of a pack of ten you could seldom tell one from the other! It dragged something into the middle of the room left it then headed over to Celia?
It stood in front of her, turned, was it pointing, to whatever it was, in the middle of the compartment? Cxan went over picked it up “Well I’ll.“ He moved back showed it to Becci. "Its a Shelde slite.“ She moved over to the unit, picked out a small square tablet, into which she plugged the slite.
The screen illuminated. The Shelde, displayed the contents of the slite, as a few of them gathered round Cxan noticed the Rait, getting another treat from Celia, it did not leave! Sat next to her. Watching the Kets. “This details an Embryonic unit.!”
“What is an Embryonic unit “ asks Torvan. Eyes looked over to Celia. She seemed to know, judging by the expression on her face, the answer to that. To her, apparently those present did not know. None of them had ever heard of such.
“Its also known as a cloning unit. Pettifer, the originator of the Petties? Needed to produce them in bulk so he designed, had made the units to manufacture a large number of them at any given time.
The Petty is created within the cloning, or Embryonic unit, from an egg shape that contains a unique DNA fluid.
In the beginning, they all looked the same.
As time went on, he could alter with little variations on skin tone, eye color and body shape plus what the individual ones looked like, making it much harder to spot one.
When facilities on off worlds were discovered that had been installed and automatically produced Petty clones, other races began to experiment on using the Embryonic devices to produce their own, note NOT Petties! Clones.
Those units could make money for big corporations, the work on the design and similar, all done by Pettifer. I'm not going into any more detail, look up, 'Embrion, Pettifer' in the great library!
Those produced for the mining corporations meant they could clone a miner or miners, thus if there was a risk of getting blown up, it would be the clone not the miner! Not I should add as sophisticated as were the Petties. But adequate.
Miners get bored off world, seek companionship. So some of them bribed certain Scieste working with the miners. Adaptation of the Embryonic units. The clone produced could be a mirror image of the one who had submitted DNA to the unit?
Like for like. So take your female's DNA throw that into the unit and? The basic Embrion or Embryonic unit, becomes a very sophisticated cloning unit.
If we suspected there might be one or two here, so far we haven’t come across any.“ Ameryst looked at Anniette then at Soniette. She was NOT alone in her thoughts. A clone? Uhh?! "Aniette."
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