Friends

Posted on Sun Jun 14th, 2020 @ 5:48am by MERCHANT RANKS Jonathan Smith & MERCHANT RANKS (George) 畝を作小さくられた頭て1つ
Edited on on Sat Jun 20th, 2020 @ 9:51am

826 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: The Proving Ground
Location: Biology Lab
Timeline: MD 1, 1130

Previously, when George and Dr. Smith met, Jonathan was startled to learn the name of his new friend ...

"Lizard?" Jonathan asked, startled. "Do you like that?"

"Not really, but it works. My name is really 畝を作小さくられた頭て1つ, " the child said. "If you don't like Lizard, what would you call me?"

"How about George? Curious George," Jonathan said, smiling.

And now, the conclusion ....

"George it is," the child said solemnly. "So what are you studying today?"

Jonathan was partly amused, and partly a natural educator, so he answered the question. "I'm studying some animal bones, actually. I think the animals were similar in appearance to Earth pigs, but I'm studying the bone structures and how they go together to see if that's true. Science always starts with a question, and I have one about these animals. I have a possible answer, or something I think I'll find when I look at these different pigs. Or might find. That's called my hypothesis."

"Do you have a picture of the animals?" George wanted to know.

The scientist rolled his chair back and scrabbled through some cubes he'd stacked on a shelf earlier, to come up with one in particular. Scooting his chair toward George, he set the cube on the counter. "You know how to use this?" he asked.

"Sure. I'm not stupid," the child said. Jonathan was amused to note that though his eyes looked more like a Terran cat's and had no lashes, he could eye-roll as well as any humanoid he'd ever seen.

"Okay, then. There are pictures of several animals there - the five I'm studying." The boy operated the cube and as each picture came up, Jonathan named the animals for him. "You probably recognize the Targ, if you know any Klingons; ... that one's the Earth pig. Oh, that's an interesting animal, also from earth. It's called a javelina, family Peccary, and it reminds me of the Targ."

The child nodded in agreement. "What about this one? It looks a little different."

"It does, doesn't it? It's a Drayjin from Dakala. That last one is a pus hog, horrible name. Someone needs to give it a new one," Smith said.

"Like me," George said. "You could give it a new name."

"Maybe I could, at that. I'd have to get everyone using the new name, though, so all the scientists knew to what animal it referred. I'll give it some thought."

The child looked at the animals again, one by one. "They do kind of look alike. Is that your question? Are they all the same?"

"Kind of," Jonathan agreed. "They have similar characteristics. They're all herd animals, for example. On their home worlds, all of them are kept as pets and also eaten as food. I'd like to find out if there are genetic characteristics that link them, too."

"You mean, are they the same inside?" George asked, coming close enough to hand the cube to Jon.

"That's part of it," the scientist agreed. "For instance, do they all have one heart, and is it in the same place? Going deeper, though, I want to find out if they are made of the same, or related, microscopic building blocks. Did you ever use blocks to build ... say, a space ship?"

The child nodded. "I like the Legos the Earth children have. I've asked my parents to get some for me, but they didn't yet. I like the holo 3-D version best, but even the little blocks are fun."

"Good, perfect example. You know you can take those pieces and make a starship, but you can also use the same pieces to make other things, such as a shuttle, or a Lycothian Dragon. The pieces are the same, but what you make with them is different."

"So ... you're looking to see if there are any pieces that are the same?"

Jonathan sat back with a smile. He'd had research assistants who didn't grasp the concepts as quickly as this young creature. "Succinctly put." Seeing the child's confusion, he rephrased, "Yes, exactly right."

The child nodded and looked at Jonathan speculatively. "How come you haven't told me to go away, you have to work?"

Laughing, Smith replied, "Because you're interested. I believe a good question deserves time and a good answer. I do have to get back to work, but you are welcome to come in any time the door is open.

"Sometimes I close it, because I'm doing something that requires great concentration. At any other time, I would like you to come visit again. You have a sharp mind. As long as you're interested, I'll be happy to answer your questions." He and Maryann didn't have any children, yet, but when they did, he expected they would have a mind like George's.

Gravely, George held out his small hand, and said, "Friends?"

Jon took the hand in his and felt the surprisingly smooth scales in the thumb-and-three-fingered grasp. "Friends," he said solemnly.

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