By Melissa Schrock

Teegan squinted as he shielded his eyes from the mid day suns. Circon was a mostly uninhabited planet and the one spaceport that served its only large city was always congested and filled with the exhaust of hundreds of ships as they came and went with their live cargo. Two suns burned brightly in the sky making Teegan’s job even hotter.

“Get that Jargel onboard” called one of the senior officers from the platform below the ship.” Teegan pulled the rope looped around the neck of a large lumbering creature that wobbled slightly as it loped up the gangplank.

“We don’t have all day” Kane snapped next as he thread his way between squawking crates, “I want those crates of bird looking things loaded next.”

Circon had only began to attract merchant traffic after its one small sentient race gave permission for hunting and trapping of its native species. Since then many would-be game hunters and explorers set out to make a buck by exploiting the local wildlife, many species of which were never before seen in other parts of the galaxy.

Teegan had fallen into a job aboard one such merchant ship run by a captain named Kane who was motivated by nothing but his bottom line. Teegan rather liked traveling all over the galaxy and seeing the many merchant ships and their exotic wares and catching snippets of conversations between the seasoned officers as they bartered or traded stories.

Today Teegan choked on exhaust and dust as he loaded various animals, most of which he had never seen before, onto the ship. He pulled the various large brutes, most of them still stunned from being snared or tranquilized, into pens in the cargo hold and he stacked small cages along the walls that held creatures that reminded him of birds and rabbits from home.

As Teegan struggled up the gang plank with a large smelly animal that was rather unremarkable Kane stopped him.

“What’s this ugly thing called?” Kane asked as he brushed past Teegan on his way to the ship.

“I think it’s called a Jargel” Teegan replied looking into the creature’s moist beady eyes.

Kane poked at the animal’s soft flank and it gurgled turning slightly toward him on

wobbly feet. It had a round body that was undefined and covered with patches of coarse hair. Its short legs which ended abruptly in crude hooves looked like they would bow under the weight at any moment.

“So that’s the Jargel, Kane remarked mostly to himself with a chuckle as he continued up the gangplank, “I hope it’s good to eat.” Teegan was busy trying to persuade the creature to move the final few feet into the ship and didn’t give his comment much thought.

They had been in flight for less than an hour when Teegan heard his name over the intercom being paged to the main deck. Kane was waiting for him but the other officers moved around their computer terminals taking little notice of his presence. The cook stood beside Kane and the two wore smug smiles and they conversed.

“Yes Captain?” Teegan asked wearily.

“I need you to bring that Jargel animal to the kitchen so it can be prepared for tonight’s meal.” Kane began to chuckle, “I got a great deal for it from the chief back on Circon, the whole stupid lot on that planet can’t make a deal to save their lives.”

“Yes sir” Teegan answered and started down the hall to the cargo hold.

When he arrived at the cargo area the dank smell of animals hit him as the doors slid open and he had to stop to catch his breath. He picked up a rope and looped it around the Jargel’s neck. The creature snuffled and snorted as Teegan guided it through the gate of the pen.

Teegan looked at the creature’s short thick snout and wide mouth and thought to himself that it was a bit unnerving to eat an animal that was so ugly. As they passed through the cargo bay doors Teegan froze.

“Don’t eat me.” Came a despondent voice from the direction of the Jargel.

Teegan spun around looking for another crew member playing a joke on him.

“I know you are planning on eating me. You should not eat me.” Said the voice again and this time although its mouth stayed still the Jargel looked at Teegan with its small moist eyes.

Teegan stood there for a moment more looking stupidly at the Jargel until he finally stammered “You can talk?”

“No,” came a slow reply “but I can communicate with you like this.”

Teegan wasn’t sure what the Jargel meant but he was so unnerved by the ominous warning that he wasn’t worried how the Jargel had spoke.

“My orders come from Kane” Teegan stammered “I would have to ask him directly.” His voice tailed off because he knew that Kane would not be pleased if he paraded a large smelly animal on the deck because it asked not to be eaten.

“I’ll take you” Teegan said to the Jargel “Kane will have to believe me if he hears you talk with his own ears.”

Teegan started down the hall hurrying the Jargel along. It snuffled and snorted as it was urged on and off two elevators and down hundreds of yards of hallways to the main deck. It remained silent the whole way except for the constant snorting as it heaved its large body along. The warning still resonated in Teegan’s head, however, and the Jargel’s pleads stayed fresh in his mind.

The pair burst through the doors of the deck and all the senior officers looked up at them from their computer screens. Kane who was seated in the captain’s chair had a look of disgust as he eyed the Jargel. Teegan almost wished hadn’t brought the Jargel but then it’s words flashed through his mind again.

“Did you get lost you stupid cretin?” Kane demanded “The kitchen is two decks below. Get that disgusting thing out of here.”

“Sir,” Teegan began breathless from urging the Jargel all the way to the deck from the cargo hold “You can’t eat this animal”

“Why not?” Kane demanded not even trying to hide the anger in his voice.

“He said we should not eat him.” Teegan panted.

“Who said that?” Kane snapped

“The Jargel said it, he can talk” Teegan replied quickly. Kane and all the senior officers instantly erupted in laughter.

“Say something!” Teegan pleaded but the Jargel only stood there dumbly, seemingly resolved to his fate.

“You can’t eat him” Teegan said “this animal can talk.”

Kane stopped laughing and his gaze once again turned angry. “I don’t hear anything” he growled “and besides, I conned the chief of Circon out of this animal and now I am going to eat it. It is supposedly the beast meat on this side of the galaxy.”

Kane motioned for one of the other officers to take the Jargel away and he turned to Teegan “You are lucky your little stunt was so funny, I should leave you on the next barren rock we pass because of your insubordination.”

The Jargel noisily snuffled out of the room turning only once to gaze back at Teegan. He looked on helplessly as the Jargel left and quickly returned to his cabin.

Teegan spent the rest of the day in his cabin and when the bell sounded for dinner he sulked down to the mess hall. He walked slowly not looking forward to the meal and when he arrived most of the crew was already seated.

Kane and the rest of the senior crew were seated at the large table at the front of the room. Teegan could see Kane’s face clearly from where he sat and he thought Kane looked even more self-righteous than usual. Teegan stared down at the pink meat on his plate and wished Kane had saved all the meat from the Jargel for himself. He had no doubt that Kane allowed it to be served to the rest of the crew just to mortify him.

Just as Teegan began to shovel a forkful of potatoes into his mouth he dropped his utensil and it clattered to the floor. He looked up at the officers table where Kane and the senior crew had already finished their plates of warm pink Jargel meat and Teegan was horrified by what he saw.

Kane had dropped his fork as well but it was because he could no longer hold it. His hands were thickening into crude hooves and his mouth was stretching out wider until it seemed to cover his whole face. His nose flattened into a short snout and his body became round and plump. The rest of the senior crew seemed to be similarly afflicted and a chorus of snorts and snuffles erupted form the table.

Teegan glanced down once more at the pink meat on his plate and pushed it away stumbling back from the table. He was glad the Jargel had warned him and as he ran towards his cabin he felt no sorrow for Kane.

3 Comments »

1. http://www.shortstory-blog.com; You saved my day again.

   Comment by Free international call — February 16, 2010 @ 9:09 pm

2. I am not going to be original this time, so all I am going to say that your blog rocks, sad that I don’t have suck a writing skills

   Comment by Exodus — April 18, 2010 @ 1:09 am

3. I love O Henry endings. Good story.

   Comment by Sue O'Brien — April 23, 2010 @ 6:15 pm

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.