The Emperor’s New Pet

On a day when the Empress Calala lay close to death, a misshapen creature shuffled across the floor of the throne room of the Bararvarish Empire next to Learner Tanga-Por and prostrated itself before the dais. "Raise its face," commanded Deval Ider from his throne. Without hesitation, Learner Tanga-Por grasped the creature by the hair so his ruler could study him.

The creature’s forehead was large, broad, flat, and unwrinkled. A single eyebrow was set over two dark sunken eyes. The nose was broad and flat, as were the cheeks, which appeared sunken. The jaw was square and powerful. The mouth large, with almost no upper lip, was filled with fang-like teeth.

"Does our gravity affect it?" asked Ider.

"No, my Lord," answered Tanga-Por. "It has taken on the muscle density and strength of its Tram father."

"Does it have its mother’s characteristics also?"

"Well, as you can see, the pigmentation of the skin is more like hers. If it is like the other two she bore, it will have a larger brain than a Tram. This one shows marked intelligence. He can even speak our tongue reasonably well. A Tram his age could never accomplish such verbal skills."

"Interesting," said the Emperor. "You have done your job well, Learner Tanga-Por."

"Thank you, my Lord," said Tanga-Por, obviously flattered. "It is a pity the moon woman died. She was the last of the females. The gravity of course, and giving birth to four subjects so close together were too much for her. She died trying to birth the last child. I should have allowed her more time to rest before the last insemination. I think we might have learned considerably more if she lived and could have been bred further."

"Yes," said Ider absently. He studied the creature. "Unfortunately we will not be able to raid the moon for some time to come."

Tanga-Por nodded. "I understand your position, my Lord. The war has changed our plans. Conquest of the moon will have to wait. But I hope it is still a priority?"

Ider nodded. "Have you had any luck breeding a moon man with a Tram female?"

"No, my Lord," said Tanga-Por. "There are only three males left. They refuse to touch Tram females."

"I can’t say I blame them," Ider quipped.

"With your permission, Sire, I would like to dissect the remaining males and this creature."

The mound of flesh at the foot of the dais quivered in fear. Deval Ider smiled at it from his throne. "You can dissect one moon man, Tanga-Por. I want the other two alive. If we are to learn their language, the linguist will have need of them. We have to find out what we can about their civilization. I also want to keep this creature alive."

"Lord?"

"His ugliness amuses me. I would keep him for a pet. What is his age?"

"He is nearly five years old, Sire."

"Amazing...You say he has some speech?"

"Yes, my Lord, he has some rudimentary speech. But, if I may, my Lord...I really should dissect him. I’m very interested in finding out the size of his brain. I’m also interested to know if his lung capacity is the same as the other subjects the woman bore. The information could be valuable."

Ider leaned back on his throne. "My dear, Tanga-Por, we will return to our moon one day soon. When we do you will have more than enough captives for your needs. You can continue your experiments with them. I want this creature alive. Science will not be seriously affected if he lives."

Tanga-Por knew better than to oppose his Emperor. "As you wish, my Lord," he acquiesced.

"Now, this gravity thing," said Ider, waving his hands absently. "Are you reasonably sure the moon people can overcome our gravity?"

"Yes, my Lord. We have reason to believe they will adapt in time. I should have mated two moon people to see if their offspring would overcome our heavier gravity. It was an error not to do so...In fact, before the last female died, I had planned such an experiment."

Ider made a bridge of his fingers. "It is a pity. I should have brought back more females. Still, we have learned a great deal from this batch of females. They can be successfully mated with Tram males, for instance, and their offspring will make sturdy slaves."

"Yes, my Lord," said Tanga-Por. "They might even have enough intelligence and manual dexterity to work in our factories."

Ider smiled. "Slaves like that would free more of our population for happier pursuits. Do you agree?"

"Yes, my Lord," said the Learner quickly. "Especially if second generation moon people overcome the gravitational problems as I suspect. If that happens, there will be no need to create ugly brutes like this." Tanga-Por indicated the cringing boy at the foot of the dais with a sweep of his hand.

"Does the creature have a name?" asked Ider.

Tanga-Por shrugged. "I never thought to give them names. I simply refer to this one as subject three."

"Subject three," said Ider. He rolled the syllables across his tongue. "I like that, Tanga-Por. It somehow seems like a suitable name. I will call him, Subject Three."

Ider leaned forward to get a better look at his new pet. "Creature that is your name from now on...Subject Three. You will be my pet. I am your master, and you will do exactly as I say. Do you understand what I’m saying Subject Three? If you do you may speak."

The creature turned its face toward the throne. "Y-yes...M-master," it stammered.