Specimen Days

"Yep. Modified. Engine's atomic, and the wheelbase has been hydraulicked. It's modeled on what they used to call tanks."

"I know what a tank is," Simon said.

"Then you know we can go just about anywhere in this thing."

At that, Catareen turned off the road and extinguished the headlights. The Winnebago's tires held on the uneven ground. Catareen drove into the grass, which was restless and silvered under the moon.

"So," Luke said. "Where are you headed?" "We're going to Denver." "Looking for Emory Lowell?" "How did you know that?"

"When somebody says he's going to Denver, the name Lowell naturally arises. I mean, you wouldn't be going all that way for the rattlesnake festival."

"You've heard of Lowell, then." "I've met him." "You have?"

"Sure. I lived in Denver for a few years, when I was younger. My mother and I traveled a lot."

"Military?" "No. Just poor."

They drove across the grassy flats. Every so often the lights of a compound flickered in the distance. Every so often there was a shooting star.

After they had covered more than a hundred miles, they agreed that they should stop for the rest of the night. Catareen said, "We must to eat."

"Love to," Simon answered. "If you happen to see a cafe out here"

"I find," she said.

"What do you expect to find, exactly?" "Animals here, yes?"

"Some. Maybe. They say some of the hardier specimens are still around. Rats. Squirrels. Raccoons."

She said, "I go. I look."

"You're telling me you think you can catch something out there?"

"I look."

"By all means."

Catareen slipped out of the truck's cab and seemed to vanish instantly among the trees. Simon and Luke got out, too. They strolled, stretching their limbs. Overhead, among the branches, stars were manifest.

Luke said, "She's probably a good hunter."

Simon thought of her talons. He thought of her teeth. "Who knows?"

"I seem to remember," Luke said, "when I was little, there was a vid on Nadian customs."

"That must have been an old one."

"I remember some rodent thing they were fond of."

"I have vague recollections. A gray hairless thing about the size of a gopher. Long tail. Very long tail."

"Right. They cooked it with some sort of hairy brown vegetable."

"Like a pinecone with fur. If you stewed one of those rodents with the hairy vegetable for five or six hours, you could eat it."

"It was one of their delicacies."

"Right."

Luke said, "They do have souls, you know."

"I'm not all that big on the whole soul concept, frankly."

"Because you're biomechanical?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Your eyes. It's subtle, but I can always spot it."

"What about my eyes?"

"Hard to explain. There's nothing technically wrong with them."

"They're biological" Simon said.

"I know that. Like I said, it's subtle. There's just a certain sense of two camera apertures expanding and contracting. Something lensish. The eyes of biological humans are sort of juicier. Or more skittish or something. It's not a question of the visual apparatus, more like what's behind it. Anyway, I can tell."

"You're a smart kid, huh? How old are you anyway?"

"I'm around eleven. Maybe twelve. Does it matter? I've always had this heightened perception thing."

"Through me many long dumb voices," Simon said.

"The business with the poetry is interesting."

"I hate it."

"You dream, right?"

"In my way."

"Do you like being alive?"

"Let's say I feel attached to it."

"Do you worry about dying?"

"Programmed to. There's a survival chip."

"Well, we're all programmed, don't you think? By our makers?"

"I'm not feeling all that philosophical at the moment. So, you're Exedrol?"

"Yep. When my mother got pregnant with me, she took a few handfuls."

"Deliberately?"

"She thought Exedrol had some kind of program. Monthly reparation checks. I don't know who told her that."

"She intentionally took a drug that would deform her child?"

"What can I say? She was always looking for a scam. She was that kind of person. I don't blame her."

"Come on."

"She gave me life. Gratitude is the only appropriate response to everything that happens."

"Biologicals are mysterious."

"A couple of years ago she and I joined this group that called themselves Holy Fire. Creepy bunch, really. Those were a few of the more intelligent specimens you met back there."

"She was a Christian."

"She was whatever it took to get set up for a while. The Christians will feed you if you take the vows."

"Is your mother still with them?"

"Naw. She met a guy. A roofer the tabernacle had leaks. I haven't heard from her in almost a year."

"She left you behind?"

"Roofer wasn't interested in fatherhood. She figured the Christians would take better care of me than she could. They're the ones that named me Luke. Biblical, you know."

"Your real name being?"

"My real name is Luke. My old name was Blitzen. Like one of Santa's reindeer? Mom was… never mind what Mom was."

"And you pretended to believe in their god."

"Oh, I do believe in their god. I just don't like their methods."

"Seriously."

"I couldn't be more serious. I've had the Holy Spirit in me for almost a year now."