THINGS TO COME (Revised on 12/19/23)

A small hole opened beneath the mercenary ship and an avalanche of loose soil sifted through it like an hour glass counting down to certain doom. As the hole widened, descended deeper, a leathery hand punched through the expanding vortex. Someone fought to dig themself out of a sandy grave. A sand encrusted figure rose out of the ground, coughing up great shotgun blasts of dirt. It stopped, waist deep, shaking off a thick layer of dust like a dog shaking off rain water.

Lockspur threw up a filthy hand, shielding his protesting pupils from the intense glare. He blinked wildly, wiped sand from his eyes with the back of his hand and simultaneously gave thanks and cursed the light. God only knew how long he'd been in the wreckage or bouncing on the back of Binky the playful raptor. His guts still twisted in his belly and his eyelids were involuntary slits poisoned by the long stay in darkness. He dragged in a deep rasping breath, glad to be free of stale stench of the rusting hulk and peered up the swirling spectacle overhead. It nolonger filled him with a sense of awe. He wanted to be anywhere but M6 fucking dash 117. He loathed thie damn moon and every creature on it.

Lockspur jammed his hands into the side of the bank and forced himself upward. The loose soil gave way and he slid down expelling a inaudible expletive. With every frantic effort thereafter, the rueful surface seemed hell bent on dragging him back into the depths below. Then, just as his clawing hand reached over the edge, the bank collapsed, gravity yanked his feet out a d he toppled downward, ending on his back at the bottom of the filling pit. "Fuck," raged, poundi g the grounx beneath him. The sinking pit shuddered, dust wafted up around him and just before being sucked down again some unseen force heaved the bottom the hole skyward. He rocketed upward, exploding from the pit like a giant cork ejected from a champagne bottle. Lockspur struck the bottom of the ship with a resonating bong and landed hard on the edge of the bank, seeing stars brighter then the two hanging in the sky overhead.

Air left from his lungs in a painful coughing grunt, and the blazing landscape dimmed around him. He gasped in great ratcheting mouthfuls of hot air as the light returned. His head pounded, his eyes stung and pain roiled in Lockspur's still healing guts. "Thanks." he said, rolling onto his belly, crawling to the edge of the hole and looking over the edge,. "That was really helpful."

A hoarse cackle like a barking hyena came out of the hole. 

"Shit," he said, rolling on his back and covering his eyes with a forearm. "There's got to be an easier way to make money."

The cackle came again.

In a few disorienting minutes Lockspur's world had gone from clammy coolness to baking heat. Even the sand beneath him burned and chafed his exposed skin. He forced himself onto his elbows, wishing he'd never met John's or Lilith Hemmingford or anybody else who bought and sold bounties. "Yep. I was right. Should have stayed home."

The large raptor Lockspur and Carolyn rode off on popped its wide head out of the hole. Its dripping teeth were inches from Lockspur's nose. He did not move away. It wouldn't attack. Carolyn had made certain of that earlier. "God, your breath wreaks."he said, covering his mouth and nose with a shaky hand. A glut of slimy bile filled his throat, and he gagged it back down.

The raptor licked Lockspur's cheek like a dog greeting a long absent master. He studied it, wiping his face and thinking the damn thing was trying to smile. It's smiling, the damn thing is actually smiling, he thought. Can it actually feel emotion? What the hell did Carolyn do to this thing? The raptor's wet lips peeled back into a toothy grin. Lockspur's head cocked to the side. Its teeth had changed. The raptor nudged Lockspur, licked his face again.and he grimaced.

"Okay," he said, patting the animal on the snout. "All right, I'm getting up. Just stop that, will you?" Christ, he thought, now you're talking to it like it understands you.

The creature barked affectionately, dropped back into the hole and left him with the strange sensation that it had tried communicating on a higher level. At the very least, it wasn't behaving like a raptor.

Carolyn poked her head out of the depression, surveyed the area through squinting eyes, and said, "Sorry. She gets excited. This is all new to her."

"It's lived here its whole life."

"It's not the place," Carolyn said, staring into the hole. "It's the feelings that are new."

"Carolyn," Lockspur said. "What have you done?" Lockspur grimaced at the raptor. He shook his head as the raptor grinned up at him.

Looking past Lockspur, Carolyn gestured up at the underbelly of the ship and added, "At least she brought us out at the right spot."

He muttered to himself, trying in vain to wipe the tenacious spit off his flushed face with the back of his hand. The gritty goop clung to his skin like wallpaper paste. He wiped his hand off on his pants, shuddered and let out a stream of gagging sounds. He tried to push the raptor out of his mind, but the unusual creature refused to go. It was as if the creature was part of him.

He needed to locate the lower cargo bay access panel, get it open, and get them inside before being discovered. But the more he thought about the mission at hand, the more the creature ran through his stuttering thoughts, grinning and laughing. "How is it out here?" he asked, gesturing at the raptor.

"I dont know. I only altered its mind."

"Bullshit," he blurted. "You are the only one who interacted with her. If not you, who? It can't be out here just because you made it forget sunlight hurts it " He jammed a flattipped screwdriver into the panel seam and twisted. The panel edge bent, but refused to open. He tried again; it bent again. "I can't get it open, dammit." he raged, and punched the bent up panel repeatedly, spewing a stream of expletives. He messaged his knuckles.

Lockspur rolled over, flopped onto his back and covered his eyes. A spasm of pain rocked his blaring knuckles and the raptor handed him his glasses. He took them, slid them on his face without even considering the implications of what just happened. Or what he had just missed. Carolyn's eyes widened; her jaw dropped. He missed that, too.

The bent up glasses provided a much needed respite from the harsh glare and the sudden drop in light level eased his pounding head. Now, if he could just get a glass of cold water and a year on a secluded beach. Maybe somewhere like Phloston Paradise.

Lockspur fumbled at the flap on his weapons belt and came up with a small folding knife. He jammed the razor sharp point into the center of the panel and twisted roughly. The blade snapped, and still the panel refused to open. "It was no good," he yelled. Lockspur's strength had gone. He mumbled another stream of nearly inaudible expletives and panted breathlessly. "No damn use. This cover is screwed. The lock is seized." He slammed the knife point into the sand. The effort was a feeble defeat. "I can't get it off."

He punched the cover again and screamed in pain. The dull toothache in his already throbbing knuckles dampened his will to get it open. He grimaced as the dull pain of a recently crushed forearm came back with a vengeance. "Damn it."

An enormous grey arm reached up, jagged claws tore through the panel cover with ease and the sound of ripping metal filled the brilliant silence. The panel bounced off Lockspur's discarded knife and the raptor nudged him gently.

"Thanks." he said, offering a weak nod. He looked at the key pad. His head thudded. He couldn't recall the code. It was right on the tip of his tongue, but no matter how hard he concentrated, no numbers came out of the fog. "I don't suppose you know the code?" he asked Binky.

To his surprise, the raptor reached up, energized the panel, input the access code, and pressed the cargo bay open sequence. Lockspur's mouth fell open. The creature let out a snicker and dropped out of sight as the outer cargo bay doors cracked open, releasing a rush of cool air. Sweet relief washed over Lockspur's parched skin. He saw a beach. "If it can do that, why do you need me?"

"Because she couldn't do that without you." Carolyn yelled up from beneath the creature. She stood at the bottom of the tunnel.

Lockspur let out a sound somewhere between a sarcastic laugh and a hoarse cough. He lay there scowling at the bent up panel as if it had betrayed him. "Well, if you haven't been paying attention, she just did." he replied, peering up at the slowly opening cargo bay doors. "I didn't get us here and I certainly didn't get us in."

"Not true," she replied.

When Carolyn first found Lockspur, thinking he was about to be eaten, she could not connect with the creature standing over him. She had no way of knowing the Creature had been left there to protect him or for her to find. In a fit of desperation, Carolyn did something forbidden. She did the only thing she could. Carolyn connected their minds.

"How could a raptor do that?" Lockspur asked himself, knowing what had just happened was impossible. Raptors are apex hunters. Highly developed killing machines devoid of thought or reason. They survive on instinct alone. But not this one. It's a problem solver. A thinker. He heard its cackling laugh welling up from down below and thought, it has feelings. And this one knows my ship.

"She only knows the code, because you know the code." Carolyn said, seeing his confusion.

"And how is that possible?" Lockspur asked, looking like he wanted to grab Carolyn and shake her. She didn't flinch. She already knew he would never put his hands on a woman. Not even a bounty. "What did you do to her?" he demanded.

"Her... Not it?" Carolyn replied, when he didn't answer. "When I finally found you, I thought she was about to..."

"Eat me?" he finished, and Carolyn nodded.

"By the time I realized the raptor was guarding you- not getting ready to eat you. I had already linked your minds. In hind sight. I have too admit that was a bad choice on my part. But I couldn't reach her and I had to act quickly."

"For what's it's worth. Thank you."

"Had I had any other-"Lockspur held up a hand and said, "Thank you."

"I was trying to save you."

"Maybe it would help us both to understand if you explain why you think she was guarding me? That's not what I'd call typical raptor behavior. " He stared through Carolyn, mind embellishing the tiny details of her story. "You said... finally found me." He paused, thoughts coalescing. "You knew I would be there.. But how could anyone have known where to find me? No one knew we were here."

"The queen's thoughts were primal. All i could pickup was raw intent."

"And now she's a queen."

"Out of control." Carolyn continued, ignoring Lockspur's inference. "I wasn't supposed to link you. That was never the mission. I made changes I wasn't supposed to. And now..." Carolyn paused. "There's no way to undo it."

"You know chica, the more you talk, the less I like anything you have to say."

"Then you'll love this."

Lockspur laughed and said, "No doubt."

"The most important thing to understand is that I was sent here to get you on your feet. That, and I was ordered to save you by whatever means necessary."

"No one sends anyone out on a mission with orders to do whatever is necessary. Bad shit happens that way, wouldn't you say?"

"You were unresponsive and she looked like she was going to kill you." Carolyn continued with an agreeing shrug. "So, to help me connect with her, I connected her primal impulse center directly to your higher brain functions. Call it a sort of telepathic teether from her brainstem to your memory centers. It did the trick. But I'm second guessing the longterm effects."

"Have you had trouble connecting with any other raptors?" he asked. 

"No. I've never had trouble connecting with anyone, or anything, before" she answered, face squinching up.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't realize it then. But I think someone may have placed a block in her mind. I may not have been the first one to reach her."

"Do you trust the person who sent you?"

"What?" 

"Does any of this seem suspicious to you?" Lockspur asked. "You were sent here with vague instructions to save me and when you finally reach me, you find a giant raptor standing over me. A raptor you can't connect with. A raptor you now believe, meant me no harm. Coincidence or set up?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting you were sent here for an ulterior reason you don't know."

"It trust the person who sent me." Carolyn snapped angrily.

"Do you really?"

"Until the effects of my temporary linkage wears off, you will feel all the savage impulses the raptor queen does."

Lockspur picked up his screwdriver and said, ""At any point during your little mind fuck session, did you even stop to consider I might not want this?"

She smiled weakly and said, "Like I said. I thought she was going to kill you." Somewhere down below, the raptor let out an all too human laugh that sent a shiver up Lockspur's spine. It didnt sound animal anymore. She was changing. Carolyn looked at the mouth of the hole and Lockspur saw an expression of concern grow on her face. She was worried. No. She was genuinely afraid.

He stuffed the screwdriver back in his bag. "Can you even conttol it anymore?" he asked, gesturing at the hole. When she wouldn't look at him, it was obvious something had gone very wrong with the merger. "Out with it." he demanded, like a father who had just caught his child with her hand in the cookie jar. He wanted an explanation.

"I didn't exactly link your minds." she began, with a frown. "Tether may have been an over simplification. When I tried to tether your thoughts, she resisted and during the struggle, I... " she hesitated.

"You what?"

"Improvised."

"How?" he asked, waiting for the really bad news. She was hiding something, and he knew it.

Carolyn turned to him, their eyes met and Lockspur saw the worry on her face. "I employed a Waylan Yutani trick. I imprinted a copy of your experiences on top her mind. The more, the better."

"How much more?"

"Everything."

"That's why she knew the entry code and the imput sequence." Lockspur said as the raptor poked its head out of the hole and Lockspur asked, "And how is that working out?"

"Unexpectedly," Carolyn replied, patting the raptor on the snout. It cooed and laid its enormous head on Carolyn's shoulder. She nearly fell over. "What I did to you will fade in time. But what I did to her is irreversible. This is just the beginning of her cognitive transformation. She is assimilating your life experiences at an astonishing rate. In the last hour and a half alone, her cognitive functions have advanced from a primitive beast to that of an 8-year-old child. In another few hours, she will have all the cognitive functions of a teenager. And there is no telling what she may become in a few days."

"Let's pretend I'm no mind reader. That way, you can cut to the part of the story you're trying not tell me. "

"I'm not-"

"You are," he said, throwing up a hand to cut her off before she went on. "So, just take a breath and tell me everything you did and how we can fix it."

"I told you. There's no fixing this," Carolyn explained. "Your brain is the size of a melon and hers was the size of a walnut. When I merged them, I thought her mind may leak. But it isn't. In fact, her brain has started growing."

"How is that possible?"

"It's not." Carolyn said. "I can't bring about physical changes." Carolyn could tell by his twisted expression, Lockspur didn't understand what she was getting at. "To get around that limitation, I forced an evolutionary shift in brain function that should have taken millions of years. It has made her a self-aware, sentient being. But that doesn't explain the physical changes she's undergoing."

"Where's that leave us? Is she dangerous?"

"In a couple of days she's going to wake up a woman trapped in a body she no longer recognizes and she's pregnant with as many as 20 offspring. Worse yet, raptors pass on life experience and evolutionary changes to their young. There's no telling what her offspring may become."

"So what if you created a few smart raptors? They can't go anywhere. They're trapped here."

"Her children will not only think like humans, they may look like humans, and thanks to what's in your head, they will understand space travel. So, do you actually think living here will satisfy them? Would it satisfy you? I didnt just alter the future of a species. I just created a species that in a few generations could replace humanity as the dominant lifeform in this galaxy. And if they are anything like the raptors here, they will be aggressive on a level we can't comprehend or hope to control."

"I'm really starting to hate this place," Lockspur said, concentrating hard as he tried to push his thoughts into Carolyn's mind. He didnt want the raptor to hear. Fine, he thought. Before we leave, we erase your mistake. The raptor let out a sound somewhere between an angry grunt and growl of shocked disbelief. It threw up several unflattering hand gestures. "Great," Lockspur said, rubbing the bridge of his nose as if he had a migraine. "And you you taught her how to read minds."

"No. But it has a pretty good road map to how you think." As Carolyn watched the creature, her eyes widened in disbelief.

The raptor's hand gestures changed and epeated. Sign language, he thought. The raptor is speaking in sign language. That's when half a lifetime of loss crashed down on him. An inescapable blanket of guilt, pressing down on his chest and robbing his breath. He remembered the doctors telling him and his wife their precious baby girl was deaf. That she would always be different and the lesson they would all need to take if they wanted to talk. And then he saw the hand gestures for what they really were, and tears streamed down his dirty cheeks. The raptor sat there, repeating over and over, "No kill. No kill. No kill." And what he saw was not a raptor, but his baby girl sitting in her crib, begging for her life and a decade of guilt shattered his heart into a million tiny little pieces.

Lockspur covered his face in shame and, to their surprise, the raptor hugged him more gently than any creature that size should be able to. He looked up, and it signed, "No feel bad. I keep safe."

"If we survive, you're coming with us." he said. "All of you."

Carolyn and the raptor made identical choking sounds. "And where do you think she can go?" Carolyn asked.

"I have no idea," he said. "But she's coming with us."