Chapter Ten
The compound was the only place within a hundred miles with electricity, indoor plumbing and full phone services. A ten-foot tall wire fence surrounded the enclosure. Inside the fence two long, twin capsule buildings faced each other, and a smaller one set near the ends of the first two, forming an open-ended box. There was a wooden house in the middle of the box. Wire runs dotted the rest of the compound, and as Raditsu looked through the mesh, he could see dozens of glowing eyes watching him from inside their sleeping boxes.
A herd of deer roamed the grounds, and they approached Raditsu, hoping he`d enter through the gate with a handout. Some were orphaned yearlings who bounded from one drift to another, enjoying their first snow, others were permanently maimed, limping or missing eyes or bearing scars. A three-legged black-maned lion crawled out of his sleeping box, moving with a slow, lunging gait. He set down by the bars of his enclosure, leaning to his good leg`s side and watched the deer play in the snow.
____________________________
The Compound, Raditsu standing in front of the gate came into Hachan`s and Suno`s view. Raditsu crossed his arms and waited impatiently for them to come closer.
"Look there," Hachan said. "How did he know where to come?"
Suno thought to tell him that he was too naive for his own good but didn`t; that would have hurt Hachan`s feelings and there was nothing in the world she wished to do less. "He just followed us until he knew where we were headed," she said. "He`s trying to scare us, "and doing a good job of it, but she didn`t say that either. "How do you know him?"
"I met him at Kentaro`s last night. He`s Son Goku`s brother."
"Really?" Suno said, studying Raditsu from the distance. "They don`t look a thing alike, do they? Was Goku there, too?"
"No, but Juunanagou was."
"Is that why you took so long?"
"Yes. We were talking," Hachan said.
"You should stay away from that guy. He`s no good."
"I know," he agreed, but didn`t say he would; there were some things real humans couldn`t understand.
They entered the compound without speaking to Raditsu, and the Saiyajin followed them inside wordlessly.
_____________________________
The lion had been moved from the sled to a gurney, and wheeled inside the clinic. They stood beside him in the hallway.
"You can`t stay with him," Suno said.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because you`re big, and you`re dirty and you`ll only be in the way."
"What about him?" Raditsu shouted indignantly. He pointed at Hachan, who was head and shoulders taller than Raditsu.
"Hachan doesn`t come in the operating room either," Suno said.
"Blood`s bad," Hachan intoned, "I don`t like it."
"I`m coming in!"
"Fine. Be my guest, but when the lion dies of infection don`t blame me."
Raditsu knew how dangerous infections could be, and he knew they were painful. He spun around and stomped out of the building, slamming the door behind him. Raditsu didn`t trust himself around Suno anymore; he`d end up doing something he`d pay for later.
___________________________
Raditsu was hungry, but he guessed if he killed one of the fenced-in deer the human would get angry. Then maybe she wouldn`t help the lion. He`d just go find something else to eat... but not until Suno was done with his lion.
The deer, eternally hopeful that his pockets held an apple or peanut or slice or bread, came up to Raditsu. He growled and waved his arms, rushing the deer. The semi-tame animals fled to the far side of the compound and watched him nervously.
Bored, he moved down the rows of animal runs. Passing other cages that held no interest to him, Raditsu walked to the front of the black mane`s enclosure and clapped his hand, thinking this had always caught his lion`s attention, so maybe it would work with this one, too.
He`d seen the black mane earlier, and believed him to be docile. Raditsu thought the lion would hobble out of his sleeping box slowly, walk to the front of the bars, maybe to beg for food like the deer had. Instead the lion rushed Raditsu, moving much faster than he had expected and threw his whole weight against the cage. He stuck a paw in-between the bars, trying to snag Raditsu.
The Saiyajin stepped out of his reach, studying the black mane. The animal had lost his rear foot somehow -- if Suno tried to hobble his lion, Raditsu decided, she`d pay.
Raditsu went back inside the clinic, leaving wet boot prints and melting snow on the clean tile floor. The door to the operating room was locked. Raditsu debated pounding on the door, or smashing it down, but decided the human might screw up if he interrupted her.
"Raditsu?" Hachan called from an adjoining room. Having nothing better to do and hoping to kill some time, Raditsu followed the voice.
Hachan was sitting at an over sized desk. A lamp, its neck craned downward, shone on his broken hand and wrist, the artificial skin rolled back from the damaged area, like the sleeve of a tight fitting sweater. The lamp was the only light in the otherwise dim room. A small toolbox sat on the desk by Hachan`s arm.
Hachan was using a small blowtorch, no bigger than a man`s finger, to weld the cables that worked as his muscles back into place. He finished with the torch and put it back in the toolbox, then rolled the skin back into place, and taking out a thin needle began to sew the artificial skin back together with small, even stitches.
"What`s taking her so long?" Raditsu demand.
"Gun shots are hard to fix," Hachan said. There was a clear seam were the skin had been torn which would always be there, but other than that Hachan thought there was no permanent damage. He put his tools away, stood, and headed out of the room. "I have to go feed the animals. You can come, if you like...?"
"As if I had nothing better to do!"
"What else are you going to do?" Hachan asked, not making fun, just curious.
"You don`t need to worry about it," Raditsu said, annoyed that he didn`t have anything better to do.
Hachan left the clinic building and headed for the storehouse.
Raditsu believed he had slept through the night, but he felt tired. He sat down against the far wall, folding his legs, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, and after a while, slept.
_____________________________
"Raditsu?" Suno called uncertainly from the hallway. She had heard him come in but not leave, and so knew him to be somewhere in the building. The surgery had been simple. It was funny, the lion had seemed more severally injured in the field. In fact, when Suno really thought about it, she was sure the golden mane had had spinal damage, but she wasn`t going to argue with a gift of Providence (which was exactly what it was).
Now, while peeking into one darkened room after another looking for Raditsu, she thought of going to get Hachan, but then decided it was stupid; this Raditsu fellow had shown himself to be strong and mean, but it wasn`t like he was a murdered. Besides, supposing he /was/ dangerous, there was no reason to put Hachan in harm`s way.
"Raditsu?" she called again, opening another door and looking inside. She heard someone breathing and reaching along the wall, flipped the light switch on.
Stepping inside as the room brightened, Suno saw Raditsu asleep in the counter, his back against the wall. His tail laid across his lap, its tip twitching from time to time as though in dream.
"Raditsu?"
"What?" he said without lifting his head or opening his eyes. His voice didn`t sound slurred by sleep, but Suno couldn`t tell if he was awake or not.
"I just thought you`d like to know; I can`t be sure yet, but I think the lion will live. He`ll most likely be crippled for the rest of his life, though."
"You don`t know what you`re talking about. He`ll be fine. The Namekjin promised." His tail began to lash against the floor, smashing porcelain title to dust with every stroke as he continued to sleep talk, completely unaware of what he was saying. "I don`t want to go back there. A Kami can`t lie, don`t you think?"
"I-I don`t know," Suno said, backing out of the room slowly. She`d been a little frightened before, but only because it was natural when only in a large building with a stranger, but the way he was talking now scared her.
She closed the door as quietly as possible and, trying not to run, wheeled the lion out of the clinic.
All and all the rest of the day went normally. Suno put the lion in one of the indoor enclosures and, though he seemed fine, watched him carefully. Around noon one of the woodsmen brought an injured rabbit in. Its front paw had been caught in a leghold trap intended for larger, much more valuable animals.
Instead of treating the rabbit in the clinic where Raditsu was (as far as Suno could tell) she took it to the nursery, which was empty this time of year but just as well equipped to treat small animals as the clinic. It died a few hours later, as rabbits with even less extensive injures almost always did. This was one of the only two changes Raditsu caused in Suno`s routine.
She spent the rest of the day cleaning enclosures along with Hachan, stopping often to check on the lion, which was doing better than she ever would have dreamed. When it became dark, she and Hachan went in the house that stood in the center of the other three buildings and Suno cooked dinner.
Before going to bed, Suno did something she`d never done in the twenty-one years she`d spent in the house; she locked the doors.
Chapter Nine Index Home Chapter Eleven
The compound was the only place within a hundred miles with electricity, indoor plumbing and full phone services. A ten-foot tall wire fence surrounded the enclosure. Inside the fence two long, twin capsule buildings faced each other, and a smaller one set near the ends of the first two, forming an open-ended box. There was a wooden house in the middle of the box. Wire runs dotted the rest of the compound, and as Raditsu looked through the mesh, he could see dozens of glowing eyes watching him from inside their sleeping boxes.
A herd of deer roamed the grounds, and they approached Raditsu, hoping he`d enter through the gate with a handout. Some were orphaned yearlings who bounded from one drift to another, enjoying their first snow, others were permanently maimed, limping or missing eyes or bearing scars. A three-legged black-maned lion crawled out of his sleeping box, moving with a slow, lunging gait. He set down by the bars of his enclosure, leaning to his good leg`s side and watched the deer play in the snow.
____________________________
The Compound, Raditsu standing in front of the gate came into Hachan`s and Suno`s view. Raditsu crossed his arms and waited impatiently for them to come closer.
"Look there," Hachan said. "How did he know where to come?"
Suno thought to tell him that he was too naive for his own good but didn`t; that would have hurt Hachan`s feelings and there was nothing in the world she wished to do less. "He just followed us until he knew where we were headed," she said. "He`s trying to scare us, "and doing a good job of it, but she didn`t say that either. "How do you know him?"
"I met him at Kentaro`s last night. He`s Son Goku`s brother."
"Really?" Suno said, studying Raditsu from the distance. "They don`t look a thing alike, do they? Was Goku there, too?"
"No, but Juunanagou was."
"Is that why you took so long?"
"Yes. We were talking," Hachan said.
"You should stay away from that guy. He`s no good."
"I know," he agreed, but didn`t say he would; there were some things real humans couldn`t understand.
They entered the compound without speaking to Raditsu, and the Saiyajin followed them inside wordlessly.
_____________________________
The lion had been moved from the sled to a gurney, and wheeled inside the clinic. They stood beside him in the hallway.
"You can`t stay with him," Suno said.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because you`re big, and you`re dirty and you`ll only be in the way."
"What about him?" Raditsu shouted indignantly. He pointed at Hachan, who was head and shoulders taller than Raditsu.
"Hachan doesn`t come in the operating room either," Suno said.
"Blood`s bad," Hachan intoned, "I don`t like it."
"I`m coming in!"
"Fine. Be my guest, but when the lion dies of infection don`t blame me."
Raditsu knew how dangerous infections could be, and he knew they were painful. He spun around and stomped out of the building, slamming the door behind him. Raditsu didn`t trust himself around Suno anymore; he`d end up doing something he`d pay for later.
___________________________
Raditsu was hungry, but he guessed if he killed one of the fenced-in deer the human would get angry. Then maybe she wouldn`t help the lion. He`d just go find something else to eat... but not until Suno was done with his lion.
The deer, eternally hopeful that his pockets held an apple or peanut or slice or bread, came up to Raditsu. He growled and waved his arms, rushing the deer. The semi-tame animals fled to the far side of the compound and watched him nervously.
Bored, he moved down the rows of animal runs. Passing other cages that held no interest to him, Raditsu walked to the front of the black mane`s enclosure and clapped his hand, thinking this had always caught his lion`s attention, so maybe it would work with this one, too.
He`d seen the black mane earlier, and believed him to be docile. Raditsu thought the lion would hobble out of his sleeping box slowly, walk to the front of the bars, maybe to beg for food like the deer had. Instead the lion rushed Raditsu, moving much faster than he had expected and threw his whole weight against the cage. He stuck a paw in-between the bars, trying to snag Raditsu.
The Saiyajin stepped out of his reach, studying the black mane. The animal had lost his rear foot somehow -- if Suno tried to hobble his lion, Raditsu decided, she`d pay.
Raditsu went back inside the clinic, leaving wet boot prints and melting snow on the clean tile floor. The door to the operating room was locked. Raditsu debated pounding on the door, or smashing it down, but decided the human might screw up if he interrupted her.
"Raditsu?" Hachan called from an adjoining room. Having nothing better to do and hoping to kill some time, Raditsu followed the voice.
Hachan was sitting at an over sized desk. A lamp, its neck craned downward, shone on his broken hand and wrist, the artificial skin rolled back from the damaged area, like the sleeve of a tight fitting sweater. The lamp was the only light in the otherwise dim room. A small toolbox sat on the desk by Hachan`s arm.
Hachan was using a small blowtorch, no bigger than a man`s finger, to weld the cables that worked as his muscles back into place. He finished with the torch and put it back in the toolbox, then rolled the skin back into place, and taking out a thin needle began to sew the artificial skin back together with small, even stitches.
"What`s taking her so long?" Raditsu demand.
"Gun shots are hard to fix," Hachan said. There was a clear seam were the skin had been torn which would always be there, but other than that Hachan thought there was no permanent damage. He put his tools away, stood, and headed out of the room. "I have to go feed the animals. You can come, if you like...?"
"As if I had nothing better to do!"
"What else are you going to do?" Hachan asked, not making fun, just curious.
"You don`t need to worry about it," Raditsu said, annoyed that he didn`t have anything better to do.
Hachan left the clinic building and headed for the storehouse.
Raditsu believed he had slept through the night, but he felt tired. He sat down against the far wall, folding his legs, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, and after a while, slept.
_____________________________
"Raditsu?" Suno called uncertainly from the hallway. She had heard him come in but not leave, and so knew him to be somewhere in the building. The surgery had been simple. It was funny, the lion had seemed more severally injured in the field. In fact, when Suno really thought about it, she was sure the golden mane had had spinal damage, but she wasn`t going to argue with a gift of Providence (which was exactly what it was).
Now, while peeking into one darkened room after another looking for Raditsu, she thought of going to get Hachan, but then decided it was stupid; this Raditsu fellow had shown himself to be strong and mean, but it wasn`t like he was a murdered. Besides, supposing he /was/ dangerous, there was no reason to put Hachan in harm`s way.
"Raditsu?" she called again, opening another door and looking inside. She heard someone breathing and reaching along the wall, flipped the light switch on.
Stepping inside as the room brightened, Suno saw Raditsu asleep in the counter, his back against the wall. His tail laid across his lap, its tip twitching from time to time as though in dream.
"Raditsu?"
"What?" he said without lifting his head or opening his eyes. His voice didn`t sound slurred by sleep, but Suno couldn`t tell if he was awake or not.
"I just thought you`d like to know; I can`t be sure yet, but I think the lion will live. He`ll most likely be crippled for the rest of his life, though."
"You don`t know what you`re talking about. He`ll be fine. The Namekjin promised." His tail began to lash against the floor, smashing porcelain title to dust with every stroke as he continued to sleep talk, completely unaware of what he was saying. "I don`t want to go back there. A Kami can`t lie, don`t you think?"
"I-I don`t know," Suno said, backing out of the room slowly. She`d been a little frightened before, but only because it was natural when only in a large building with a stranger, but the way he was talking now scared her.
She closed the door as quietly as possible and, trying not to run, wheeled the lion out of the clinic.
All and all the rest of the day went normally. Suno put the lion in one of the indoor enclosures and, though he seemed fine, watched him carefully. Around noon one of the woodsmen brought an injured rabbit in. Its front paw had been caught in a leghold trap intended for larger, much more valuable animals.
Instead of treating the rabbit in the clinic where Raditsu was (as far as Suno could tell) she took it to the nursery, which was empty this time of year but just as well equipped to treat small animals as the clinic. It died a few hours later, as rabbits with even less extensive injures almost always did. This was one of the only two changes Raditsu caused in Suno`s routine.
She spent the rest of the day cleaning enclosures along with Hachan, stopping often to check on the lion, which was doing better than she ever would have dreamed. When it became dark, she and Hachan went in the house that stood in the center of the other three buildings and Suno cooked dinner.
Before going to bed, Suno did something she`d never done in the twenty-one years she`d spent in the house; she locked the doors.
Chapter Nine Index Home Chapter Eleven