Flytrap by Piers Anthony Page B

unusual.”
    “It is,” the elder said. “It is almost unheard of. It may be a mark of respect for some future association. They are precognitive.”
    “But I am here only for a week. Then I will exchange back to Earth, and probably not visit this world again.”
    “They know. They are sheep, not smart, but they know. Your future commands their respect.”
    “Thank you. My other question relates to the ram's island. I understand the ewes go there once a year to breed, and that they normally recruit a human couple to accompany them. But why? They don't seem to need humans for anything else; why bother with them for that?”
    “That is one of their mysteries,” the elder said. “Normally when the trip is done, the humans and animals separate from the sheep and have no further interaction with them. The several species leave each other entirely alone the rest of the time. Their bringing a lamb to be with a human is a remarkable divergence from that pattern; these are interesting times. I can only conjecture that something extraordinary is in the making. What it is, only the sheep know, if they know.”
    “ If they know?”
    “An I said, they're not smart, but they are remarkably savvy. I think they follow trails through the jungle, knowing that they go to desirable places. To them the future is a jungle, and they follow a trail. They may not know exactly where it goes, just that it's the right trail. We will surely learn where it leads in due course.”
    “That's sensible,” Elasa said, smiling prettily. “Thank you.”
    The elder shook his head. “You are lovely. I would never have taken you for a machine.”
    “You know?” Elasa asked, not thrilled.
    “I did the supply ship captain a favor, once long ago. He returned it by sending a fembot for a night. I know that body well. But I also know the difference between a program and a conscious person. You're a person.”
    Elasa laughed, relieved. “Thank you.”
    “I will not mention this aspect elsewhere.”
    “Thank you,” she repeated. Then she kissed him. He did not react, but she knew he really liked it.
    They moved on. Elasa remained troubled. What could be in her future that the sheep found so significant?
    “So it seems we'll have to work out the rationale for the human participation ourselves,” Mona said.
    “Yes, I think we'd better. Mysteries are unsafe. Meanwhile I will need a supply of flesh blood, pheromones, and poison.”
    “The local butcher should be able to help.”
    They went to the butcher, and he agreed to sell them some blood. He also had pheromones and poison, which he used to doctor bits of meat for thieving animals to find. He would have a fresh batch in the morning.
    At their house they made the animals comfortable, then settled down for a serious three way discussion. Why did the sheep require human beings along on their breeding trip? There had to be a solid reason. What could it be?
    “Something else I don't properly understand,” Elasa said. “Colony Jones has breathable atmosphere and edible plants and animals, albeit with some highly significant differences from those of Earth. Did they somehow interbreed with native species to produce things like the remarkable sheep?”
    “There are no native species,” Brian said. “Jones was colonized by Earth fifty years ago. They called the ship that brought all the animals, plants, and bacteria Noah's Ark.”
    Now Mona was surprised. “How did they diverge so widely, then? The sheep may look like Earth sheep, but they have defensive knives and precognition. And the people, Elves, for example.”
    “Humans, Elves, Ogres, Fairies, Goblins, that we know of,” Brian said. “They can all interbreed, but they are quite different.”
    “Natural evolution can hardly account for that,” Mona said. “Not in fifty years.”
    “Well, there was ExplEvo.”
    “There was what?”
    “I forgot you're not native. That's Explosion Evolution. It comes and goes like HiLo, only less often.