Athyyah

Chapter Twenty-one Intelligent

Valerie stirred. She thought for sure she was dead. The last thing she remembered was falling from the tree with the vorlixx right beneath her. When her vision and mind cleared, she saw her surroundings. She was not in some place in the clouds with pearly gates before her, or in a black tunnel with a light at the end. Rather in the clearing where the vorlixx resided. Not particular the first place she wanted to be. Just being there, made her debate whether she would have preferred the pearly gates.

Right away she noticed how the vorlixx moved around, going about their business. They were actually doing work apposed to just lazing around like most pack hunters. A couple she could clearly see, where mending one of their huts, that must have been damaged in the skirmish earlier. The huts alone were a shock to her, though most fascinating. She could tell they were made from hide, with wood or bone supports. Everything she saw of the creatures fascinated her, what she was looking at only continued to prove that they were far smarter than they appeared.

She couldn't believe just how intelligent they were. In her consumed state of awe, it took her a moment to realize that she was tied up. They had done the same to Anthieyah. Indicating that they knew how to keep someone from escaping and that they knew how to tie knots. Despite being captive, she wanted to see more of what they did, and if they were capable of a rudimentary understanding of English or speech of any kind. Like all pack hunters they could most definitely communicate with each other, but were their minds evolved enough to learn to understand what she could say?

Her theory that they were experimented on was only increased. The odds of there being more than one intelligent race was hard enough to swallow. Two or three, that was even more unbelievable. She was certain they were made smarter, mated with the more primitive ones. Being stronger, their genes lived on. The big question, was just how advanced were they? How much of their primal nature remained?. Considering how old the notes were and from what she understood, was a good representation of them. They hadn't changed much over the last possible millions years. Interesting as history has suggested that rapid evolution would affect looks as well as intelligence.

Valerie's thoughts were interrupted when a vorlixx came up to her. It leaned forward till its head was only a foot or two away. Valerie could feel and hear it's heavy breathing as it looked at her, gagging at the foul smell that wafted up her nose. Knowing of the intelligence it obviously possessed, she wasn't afraid as much as she would have been if it were a lion. What she wondered though was if they might be what some dinosaurs might have ended up like if they didn't die out.

Her thoughts were snapped back to reality when another vorlixx snarled at the one before her. The vorlixx drew back and stepped away from her, never taking its gaze off her.

"What I wouldn't give for a notebook and free arms to catalogue this right now," Valerie muttered to herself. There was so much she was learning already just by watching them, such as their social habits and how they worked as a group. She was dying to write it all down. The scientific instinct she supposed. She wondered how people on Earth would react to all that had been discovered, specifically their traveling to another plant. Unfortunately, if they did get back, Reverstone was not likely going to let them divulge in their experience. Without the company backing their story, no one would believe them anyway.

Watching the reptilian creatures interact, she continued to wish she could write it all down and compare it to other animals on Earth. Not to mention to see just how intelligent they might be, as well what animals they might be acting like. She was starting to understand why the old race had them in the facility under study. They were absolutely fascinating. If a zoologist were here, they'd be having a field day.

One thing was for sure; they definitely had a social structure. The bigger and stronger ones appeared to be superior to the others. One big and older one seemed to be the boss of them all. Because of the size and the bronze stripes going down it's back, Valerie took that as a sign of age, like some kind of gorilla that she knew got silver on it's back with age. Because there were no others with the bronze stripes on their back, she suspected that it was the oldest and most didn't make it to its age.