The Mystery of Ireta_ Dinosaur Planet & Dinosaur Planet Survivors - Anne McCaffrey [67]
“Trizein’s out of his lab? What happened?”
“I’ll let him tell you. It’s his surprise, not mine.”
“Surprise?”
“Here, Bonnard, take the power pack from Varian and put it where it belongs . . .”
Varian indicated the shuttle to Bonnard, a gesture which brought a surprised glance from Lunzie.
“Well, then,” she said, “in the shuttle and come straight back. You’ll want to hear about the probable ancestry of your pet, too.”
“Huh?” Bonnard was startled.
“Quick, to the shuttle with the pack.” Lunzie shooed him off with both hands. “The power pack leads, Varian? That’s a bit lame, isn’t it?”
“Varian! Has Lunzie told you?” Trizein had looked away from Dandy and seen her. “Why didn’t anyone tell me? I mean, I can speculate possibilities from disembodied tissues, but this . . . this creature from our prehistoric past . . .”
His words were diversion enough, but the ringing tone in which he spoke made Varian move more quickly to him.
“Prehistoric past? What do you mean, Trizein?”
“Why, this little specimen is an excellent example of a primitive herbivore . . .”
“I know that . . .”
“No, no, my dear Varian, not just a primitive herbivore of this planet, but an Earth-type herbivore, of the group perissodactyl.”
“Yes, I know it’s perissodactyl. The axis of the foot is through the middle toe.”
“Varian, are you being dense on purpose to tease me? This,” and Trizein gestured dramatically to Dandy, “is the first step in the genotype of the horse. He’s a genuine hyracotherium, Earth type!”
The significance of Trizein’s point gradually dawned on Varian. “You’re trying to tell me that this is not similar to an Earth-type horse, it is the lineal ancestor of an Earth-type horse?”
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Not trying. Telling!”
“It isn’t possible.” Varian said that flatly, and her expression accused Trizein of teasing her.
Trizein chuckled, preening himself by straightening his shoulders as he beamed at each member of his small audience.
“I may seem to be the original absent-minded analytical chemist, but my conclusions are always provable: my experiments conducted efficiently and as expeditiously as equipment and circumstance allow. Lately I’ve been wondering if someone has been trying to fool me, to test my ability or my tendency to digress. I assure you that I do know when two totally different life forms are presented to me as coexisting on this planet. It is too bad of someone. And I inform you right now that I am aware of this subterfuge. All the tissues you and your teams have been giving me suggest a sufficient variety of creatures to populate several planets, not just one. Didn’t the Ryxi bring their own technicians? Is there life on the Thek planet that I’m being given such diverse . . .”
“What about that animal tissue the Bakkun gave you about a week ago?” It was a chance, but she wasn’t surprised when Trizein answered her.
“Oh, yes, the cellular level is remarkably comparable. A vertebrate, of course, which checks to ten decimal places, mitotic spindle, mitochondria all quite ordinary in a hemoglobin-based species. Like that fellow there!” And he jerked his thumb at Dandy. “Ah, Bonnard,” he said as the boy approached them. “I understand from Lunzie that you rescued the little fellow?”
“Yes, sir, I did. But what is he?”
“A hyracotherium, or I miss my guess,” said Trizein with the forced joviality an adult often displayed for the unknown quantity of a youngster.
“Does that make Dandy special?” asked Bonnard of Varian.
“If he is a genuine hyracotherium, unusually special,” said Varian in a strangled voice.
“You doubt me,” Trizein said, aggrieved. “You doubt me! But I can prove it.” He grabbed Varian by the elbow and Lunzie by the shoulder and marched them toward the shuttle. “One is not allowed to bring much of a personal nature on a