The Descent

'I  didn't  mean  to  suggest  it  was  hadals  who  did  this  to  her.  We  typed  the  sperm.  It was all  human.  The  injuries  were  very  recent.  We  contacted  the  sheriff's  department in  Bartlesville,  and  they  suggested  we  talk  to  the  male  attendants  at  the  nursing home.  The  attendants  denied  it.  We  could  take  samples  from  them,  but  it  wouldn't change  anything.  This  kind  of  thing's  not  a  crime.  One  group  or  another   helped themselves  to  her.  They  had  her  locked  in  a  refrigerated  meat  locker  for  several days.'

Again, Branch had seen worse.

'What  a  remarkable  conceit  civilization  is,'  said  Thomas.  His  face  looked  neither angry  nor  sad,  but  seasoned.  'This  child's  suffering  is  ended.  Yet,  even  as  we  speak, similar  evil  plays  out  in  a  hundred  different  places,  ours  upon  them,  theirs  upon  us. Until we can bring some sense  of  order  to  bear,  the  evil  will  continue  to  have  a  hiding place.'

He was speaking to the child's body, it seemed, perhaps reminding himself.

'What  else?'  Yamamoto  asked  herself  aloud.  She  looked  around  at  the  body  parts. They  were  at the abdominal quadrant. 'Her stool,' Yamamoto  started  again,  'was  hard and dark and rank-smelling. A typical carnivore's stool.'

'What was her diet then?'

'In the last month before death?' said Yamamoto.

'I would have  thought oat-bran  muffins and fruit juices and whatever  else  one  might scavenge   in  a  geriatric   kitchen.   Foods  with  fiber   and  roughage,   easy   to   digest,' suggested Vera.

'Not  this  gal.  She  was  a  meat-eater,  no  two  ways  about  it.  The  police  report  was clear. The  stool sample only confirmed it. Exclusively  meat.'

'But where  –'

'Mostly from the feet  and  calves,'  said  Yamamoto.  'That's  how  she  went  undetected for so long. The  staff thought it was  rats  or  a  feral  cat,  and  just  applied  ointments  and bandages. Then Dawn would come back the next  night and feed some more.'

Vera  was silent. Yamamoto's little 'gal' had not exactly  lent herself to cuddling.

'Not pretty,  I know,' Yamamoto continued. 'But then she didn't have  a pretty  life.' The  blade hissed, the block moved imperceptibly.'

'Don't  get  me  wrong.  I'm  not  justifying  predation.  I'm  just  not  condemning  it.  Some people  call  it  cannibalism.  But  if  we're   going  to  insist  they're   not  sapiens,  then technically  it's  no  different  from  what  mountain  lions  do  to  us.  But  these  incidents  do help explain why  people are so scared. Which makes good, undamaged specimens  that much harder to obtain. And deadlines impossible to meet. We're way  behind.'

'Way behind whom?' asked Vera.

'Ourselves,'  said  Yamamoto.  'We've  been  handed  deadlines.  And  we  haven't  made one yet.'

'Who's setting your  deadlines?'

'That's  the  grand  mystery.  At  first  we  thought  it  was  the  military.  We  kept  getting raw  computer  models  for  developing  new  weapons.  We  were  supposed  to  fill  in  the blanks  –  you  know,  tissue  density,  positions  of  organs.  Generally  provide  distinctions between  our  species  and  theirs.  Then  we  started  getting  memos  from  corporations. But  the  corporations  keep  changing.  Now  we're  not  even  sure  about  them.  For  our purposes, it really  doesn't matter.  The  light bill's getting paid.'

'I  have  a  question,'  Thomas  said.  'You  sound  a  little  uncertain  about  whether  Dawn and her kind are really  a separate  species. What did Spurrier  have  to say?'

'He  was   adamant   that   hadals   are   a   different   species,   some   kind   of   primate. Taxonomy's  a sensitive subject. Right now Dawn is classified as Homo  erectus  hadalis

. He got upset when I mentioned the move to rename  them  Homo  sapiens  hadalis. In other  words,  an  evolutionary  branch  of  us.  He  said  the  erectus  taxon  is  wastebasket

science. Like I said, there's  a lot of fear out there.'

'Fear of what?'

'It  runs  against  the  current  orthodoxy.  You  could  get  your  funding  cut.  Lose  your tenure. Not get hired or published. It's  subtle. Everyone's  playing it very  safe for now.'

'What about you?' Thomas  asked.  'You've  handled  this  girl.  Followed  her  dissection. What do you think?'

'That's  not  fair,'  Vera  scolded  Thomas.  'She  just  got  through  saying  how  dangerous the times are.'

'It's okay,' Yamamoto  said  to  Vera.  She  looked  at  Thomas.  'Erectus  or sapiens?  Let me put  it  this  way.  If  this  were  a  live  subject,  if  this  were  a  vivisection,  I  wouldn't  do it.'

'So you're saying she's human?' asked Foley.

'No. I'm saying she's similar enough, perhaps, not to be erectus .'

'Call  me  a  devil's  advocate,  certainly  a  layman,'  Foley  said.  'But  she  doesn't  look similar to me.'