Chapter 5
A standard mission for a Quatyl patrol was 5,000 chronon in duration. This is approximately seven years. Because the length of time in space was longer than the breeding cycle of the Quatyl, a form of birth control was used to keep the females of the species from entering her breeding cycle. This was delivered into their system by a light spray over the food consumed while in the space ship. Being away from the ship had the unexpected consequence that the substance was not being administered.
The Quatyl assumed that this had invoked the mating behavior they had demonstrated outside the door of the beast's room. While the reason for their behavior was wrong, it did raise interesting concerns. In particular, the Quatyl began to get worried about the possibility of producing children.
Raising children would make their situation very dire indeed. This was because of some very unusual characteristics of the Quatyl. One of the complicating things was that while the Quatyl looked like Earth mammals, they were not. Their biology, particularly their reproduction biology, was quite different. They did not give birth to live young in the manner of most mammals; they laid eggs. An adult Quatyl would remain with the egg until it hatched. The parents would take turns staying with the egg. It took almost three months for an egg to hatch.
Despite being a space faring race, the Quatyl had never developed the concept of a school. While curled around the egg, the adults would imprint essential knowledge on the embryo while it was developing. Imprinting was enough to instill language, history, mathematics, and scientific knowledge but not skills. Once hatched, the young Quatyl would have to learn through experience since the brain was developed to the point where it resisted further imprinting.
After hatching, a young Quatyl would live for three days in the mother's pouch where it would grow to twice the birth size. In the pouch, the immature Quatyl would drink a rich milk-like substance. This was similar to nursing, but there weren't teats as would be found in the pouch of a marsupial. The entire pouch would sweat the liquid and it would form a small pool at the bottom of the pouch much as occurred in monotremes.
The Quatyl were right in having their concerns about the consequences of their actions, but for the wrong reasons. They did not recall that Quatyl females were always fertile. The five year cycle was actually nature's way of forcing copulation before the egg became too damaged to be viable. Not that there were any problems about the eggs being viable. A female Quatyl could go several cycles without having an egg get fertilized without a problem.
Atar was the first of the females to realize that something unusual was happening. She had just finished eating when the contractions necessary to lay her egg started. Looking around wildly, she was terrified that she had eaten something poisonous and was going to die. Even worse, there was no way to communicate her condition to any of the other Quatyl.
When Star, Cear, and Lear started acting strange, the males became concerned. Atar dashed off to the den she and her mate had selected. She made it just in time to lay her egg. Throughout the process, she couldn't comprehend what was happening to her. Atac arrived just in time to see the egg appear. Stunned, he stared at the sight. He was no less surprised than Atac. The other three couples were going through their own version of the crisis.
The odd behavior of the Quatyl had not gone unnoticed. Nancy had seen the females run off to various hiding places. Her curiosity drove her to look under one of the chairs to see what was happening. When she spotted the egg, she exclaimed, "They are Duck-billed Platypuses."
Hearing her exclamation, James came out to investigate. Nancy was dancing around the room thinking about baby platypuses running around the house. She really thought the little animals were the cutest things she had ever seen and just couldn't imagine how cute their babies would be. James asked, "What's up?"
"They are Platypuses."
James shook his head. He might not recognize a platypus if he were to see one, but he knew when an animal wasn't one. He said, "No they aren't."
"Yes, they are!"
"They don't have duck-bills."
"So they are bill-less duck-billed platypuses," she replied.
He asked, "Why do you think that?"
"They laid eggs," she answered pointing to the chair under which a pair of Quatyl had retreated.
"You're kidding," James said. He didn't know of any egg-laying mammals in the New World. He was convinced that she had mistaken what she had seen. The only explanation that made sense was that one of them had been playing with a ping pong ball and she had thought it was an egg. The only flaw in that logic was that he had no idea where they would have found a ping pong ball.
"Look for yourself," Nancy said pointing to the chair. She was getting a little tired of being questioned.
James squatted by the chair and looked under the skirt. He spotted Atar curled around a pale tan sphere that looked a lot like an egg. He looked a second and a third time at the egg before he said, "It sure does look like an egg."
"I told you so," Nancy said.
"I don't think there is anything called a bill-less duck-billed platypus, though," James said while sitting up. He decided that it was time to look up egg-laying mammals on the web.
"There has to be one because that is what we have under the chairs," Nancy said with a smile.
James spent five hours investigating the animals on the web. He found that there were five species of mammals that laid eggs. There was the platypus and four species of echidna. All of the echidna had beaks, which his animals did not possess. Not finding any information about living species that described his animals, he had spent almost five hours researching the extinct variants of the monotreme order. There was nothing that matched.
Giving up, he made his way to the living room. Sitting down on one of the few chairs under which there wasn't a Quatyl living under it, he said, "The best that I can say is that they are a new family."
"What? Of course they are a new family. They just laid eggs. They are going to be mommas and papas," Nancy said.
James laughed and said, "I didn't mean it that way. They are of class Mammalia, subclass Austrilo-something or other, Order Monotremata, and a new Family according to the scientific classification."
"You said they weren't from Australia," she said.
"I know. I'm not sure that the sub-class really means that they have to be from Australia," he said. He scratched his head and asked, "Do you think we should tell someone?"
"No way! They'll take them away and study them in some cold laboratory," Nancy said.
"We don't really know what they need to eat," James said. He wondered about their diets and if the food they were getting was sufficient to keep them in good health.
"So get a little of everything and see what they eat," Nancy said planning a trip to the grocery store.
"I guess," James said.
"I'll go up to the grocery store and load up on all kinds of foods," Nancy said.
The suggestion of going out reminded James of something. Sitting up, he said, "I forgot about my manuscript!"
Nancy looked over at the clock and said, "You've got about two hours before the overnight service closes."
James jumped up and ran into the study. He had to print out a copy of the entire manuscript and send it off. Nancy looked in the study and said, "I'm going to the grocery store. I'll be back in an hour."
"I should be done about then," James answered watching the computer slowly boot up. He growled in frustration as the machine displayed the startup screen. He swore, "Damn this computer. It's too damned slow."
Smiling at the often voiced complaint, Nancy said, "Calm down. Don't you know there is a rush sensor in all computers? The greater rush you're in, the slower it goes."
"You can say that again," James said frowning when it appeared that the computer wasn't going to start. He breathed a sigh of relief when the login screen appeared.
Atar, curled around her precious egg, was worried. The new beast kept looking into their den and it was making her nervous. The idea of having a large untamed uncontrolled beast so interested in her egg was terrifying. She knew that she was going to have to do something about the situation. Atac's solution of turning the first beast into a pet came to mind. She wondered if she should try to make a pet of the new beast.
Hunger finally drove her from her spot under the chair. She left the den with Atac curled around the egg. It was his turn to proceed with the imprinting process. She made her way to where the first beast left out food for them. She was surprised to find the new beast setting out all kinds of bowls with different foods. She sampled a few of them before selecting some pureed peas.
Nancy watched the little animal eat thinking that it was the cutest thing she had ever seen. The animal ate with such a dainty manner that all she wanted to do was to pick it up and hug it. The idea that they were having babies had kicked her mothering instinct into high drive. She sat down at the kitchen table to watch Cubby eat.
Atar finished eating and decided that it was time to put Atac's plan into operation with respect to the new beast. If Atac could have the first beast as a pet, she could have the new beast as a pet. Summoning the courage that only motherhood could provide, she approached the new beast and rubbed against its leg.
Nancy gave a little scream of happiness that Cubby had finally approached her. She leaned over and picked up the little animal. Setting it on her lap, she started to pet it. Nancy cooed and made other friendly noises while running her hand through the soft fur.
Atar could not believe the sensation of being petted. It was the warmest, nicest, and most pleasing experience of her life. Unbidden, she started purring while thinking that having a pet was much nicer than she had thought it would be. It amazed her that such a huge untamed beast could be so gentle.
Nancy said, "You're such a cutie. Your fur is so soft. I've never felt fur this soft before except on a kitten."
Atar had been learning the language used by the beast. She understood enough to know that the new beast was saying nice things about her fur, but didn't understand what a kitten was. She purred and then felt guilty about how she had treated Atac for purring when the beast had petted him. She sighed at the thought that she wouldn't be able to tell him that she was sorry.
James entered the kitchen disturbing the moment. Atar wiggled a little at being surprised. Recognizing that the little animal wanted down, Nancy set her on the floor and watched her run off to her den. She grinned at the funny way that the animal ran. James sat down and said, "I got there in time to send in the manuscript."
"So tell me about the story," Nancy said.
"It is a typical piece of fun-filled garbage. The readers will love it, but it won't be reviewed as anything except as entertainment," James answered with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You're too hard on yourself. There's nothing wrong with writing things that people enjoy to read as a form of escapism," Nancy said.
"I guess. I always wanted to write something thought provoking," James said.
Having seen James in this mood on more than one occasion, Nancy knew what to do about it. She slowly stripped off her shirt and then bra. With very deliberate motions, she dropped each item on the floor as if to say that she wouldn't be wearing them anytime soon. He watched her strip with a grin that slowly increased in size. Seeing that she had his full attention, she stood and faced him. Her skirt and panties joined the pile of clothes on the floor.
James said, "You are so beautiful."
Grinning, she said, "I am, aren't I?"
"So modest, too," he said.
"You're overdressed."
"I am?"
Nancy nodded her head and said, "Yes, you are."
"What should I do about it?"
Rather than answering with words, Nancy chose to answer with actions. She reached over and unbuttoned his shirt. It wasn't long before his shirt was on the floor next to her clothes. She knelt on the floor in front of him and removed his shoes and socks. He couldn't believe how sexy she looked while watching her remove his shoes. She looked up at him and saw the expression on his face. She said, "You find it exciting to have me at your feet."
"Yes," he answered swallowing heavily. His cock strained to escape the tight confines of his pants. He stood and she attacked his belt.
"We haven't broken in the kitchen table yet," she said with a smile. She pulled down his pants and saw the unmistakable bulge in his briefs. It was obvious that he found the idea of taking her on the table to be very exciting.
"No, we haven't," he said amazed to have found a woman so wild that she'd have sex outside of the bedroom.
There followed a very passionate experience on the kitchen table. Nancy discovered to her great pleasure that she was definitely multi-orgasmic. Despite the short session, less than fifteen minutes, she had come twice. James had been very pleased by his performance. Relaxing with her on his lap, he stroked her body pleased with the satisfied expression on her face.
The mood of the Quatyl contrasted sharply with the satisfied mood of the humans. In their dens, four very shocked pairs of Quatyl found that they were mating once again. Confused, they collapsed to the floor realizing that they had mated twice in the space of fifteen minutes. It was unheard of behavior for a Quatyl. Even they recognized that they had the lowest sex drive of any space faring race.
Lear, the best linguist of the crew, knew that they would all suffer from nervous breakdowns if they didn't find some way to communicate with each other. Curled around her egg, she thought about the problem. She thought about the keyboards that were required for other races to operate the computers that controlled their spaceships. The physiology of the Quatyl didn't really support that kind of interaction. Short stubby legs did not make it easy.
Her thoughts were interrupted with the contractions that signaled she was about to lay another egg. She curled around and looked between her legs in horror. The idea that she could lay two eggs in less than two cronons shocked her to her core. If she could have screamed, she would have let loose with one that would have shaken the walls. This was a nightmare.
Her mate, Leac, stared at her wondering what her problem was. When the egg appeared, he backed out of the den as if she was some kind of monster. Leac noticed that the other males had backed out of their dens in the same manner. After sharing a look, the males returned to their dens trying to understand what was going on. Unable to believe his eyes he found that Lear was curled around two eggs.
He went over to her and rubbed his head against hers. She was shaking and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. First there had been the crash. Then there had been the death of all of their controlled servants. If that hadn't been enough, there had been the long journey through dangerous territory in which they had nearly died. The problem was that the bad news hadn't stopped there. There had been the discovery that they couldn't control the beasts that ruled this planet. On top of that, there had been the horrible flight in that flimsy aircraft.
All of those things paled compared to laying two eggs. The other things had happened to them. The frequent mating and multiple eggs was happening for reasons that none of them understood. Lear was convinced that they had died and gone to some horrible place of punishment. She couldn't imagine what they had done so wrong to deserve such a punishment.
Leac was stunned at the recent developments. He didn't know whether to be proud that he was one of the first Quatyl to father two eggs in one cronon or to run away from the responsibilities that it meant. Despite not understanding how it had come to be, he decided that he was proud of the accomplishment. Looking over at Lear, it was obvious that she was upset. He wished that he could communicate, but that was impossible.
There were eight very miserable Quatyl in the house when James and Nancy went to bed. Although they celebrated his return once again, the distance was enough that the Quatyl were not affected. That was fortunate since it was highly likely that the Quatyl would not have survived another round of mating without losing their minds.
The house was dark when Lear left her den to eat something. Wandering into the kitchen, she noticed the floor tiles. They were laid out in a nice regular pattern that reminded her of something. She moved onto one of them and looked around. A dim memory from many generations ago slowly percolated through her thoughts. Inspiration struck and she raced out of the kitchen.
Outside the den of Atac and Atar, she growled to get their attention. Atac peeked out to see what the matter was. Lear danced around and moved towards the kitchen. When he didn't follow her, she moved closer to him, paused, and then moved towards the kitchen again. He finally realized that she wanted him to follow her.
Atac moved out of the den prepared to follow her to the kitchen. Rather than going to the kitchen, Lear repeated her actions outside the den of Ceac and Cear. Cear came out to investigate. Lear immediately went over to the den of Star and Stac. Stac came out to see what was happening.
Lear led them to the kitchen and, using her body to push around the other three Quatyl, managed to position them so that they could watch what she was going to do. Once everyone was in place, she moved to one of the squares and paused before moving to the next square. She repeated that action for sixteen squares trying to indicate that each square represented one letter of their alphabet.
Once she had mapped out the sixteen squares, she took a minute to form the words to convey, 'We can talk this way.'
It was a horribly awkward and inefficient way to communicate, but it did allow them to communicate and that was the important thing. In human terms, it was a lot like communicating through smoke signals. Atac was the first to recognize what she had done. He moved across the same area to answer, 'Yes.'
It took Cear and Stac watching the entire exchange to realize what Lear had been trying to tell them. Once they realized what she was showing them, the real discussion began. It was Cear who started it with, 'What is happening to me? I laid two eggs.'
Lear answered, 'So did I.'
'So did Atar.'
'Star, too.'
Relieved to know that she wasn't the only one facing such strange things, Cear asked, 'Is it something in the water or food?'
'I don't know, ' Stac answered.
The discussion raged through the night with members of each couple trading places to allow the others to get into the discussion. By the time the sun rose in the morning, they still had no idea what was causing them to mate with such frequency. They were much happier with their situation, though. Having established a fool- proof means of communication was a significant breakthrough and calmed all of them down significantly.
Waking late, Nancy came in the kitchen to find two of the Quatyl moving around on the floor. She watched them for a minute and then said, "James, you've got to see this. They're playing."
James came out and looked at the pair of animals moving around the kitchen floor. It looked like some strange kind of dance. Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "They sure are cute."
"They're darling little animals. Which ones are these?" she asked.
"That one has a scar, so I guess we can call him Scar and his mate Face. The other one has the longest fur. I guess we can call him Fuzzy," James said. Both animals turned to look at him when he suggested the names. Leac wasn't sure that he wanted to be called Scar, but there was nothing to do about it. Cear was not happy about being called a male, but didn't mind her new name. James laughed and said, "We can call Fuzzy's mate Wuzzy."
Nancy laughed at the joke and said, "Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?"
"Right," James said with a wink.
"You've got a wicked sense of humor," she said with a laugh. Her movements caused her breasts to sway in a particularly nice manner.
"That's why my books sell," James said with a shrug of his shoulders. His eyes took in the naked form of his girlfriend.
Cear wasn't sure what they were saying, but she wasn't sure that she liked it. She had come to associate the one noise they made with being an insult. It should be noted that the Quatyl had never really developed a sense of humor. Cear did recognize that there was something important about being named. It didn't help that she didn't know what the names meant.
Cear stared at the couple when they started kissing and the desire to mate rose within her. Horrified at what she was feeling, she raced off towards her den. Leac was right behind her and heading towards his den. They just made it in time. Thirty minutes later there were eight exhausted Quatyl. Two hours later, there were four more eggs.
Thus began the greatest population explosion in the entire history
of the Quatyl.