What Happened to Moschops
by Adam Knight
Dobodo glided down the corridor of the science vessel Stardust. His amorphous form could bend and stretch in the tubes, but his quarry's could not. The specimen, linked to him with an electron tether, was unlike any organism they had yet encountered. Dobodo knew that his teacher, Gleet, would be impressed. Dobodo was the worst student in the class. He was always forgetting something, always giving wrong answers, always finding the dullest bit of asteroid or moon to study and looking like the class fool.
But not now. If Dobodo had had a chin, he would have held it high.
Gleet glided out of the science bay.
"What do you want" he asked as he blocked Dobodo's path. He was distracted, analyzing reports from other students, spread out over the star system.
"I have a specimen!"
"Of what?"
Dobodo beamed as much as a being made of plasma is able.
"The dominant form of life. You asked for--"
"Where are you stationed?' Gleet interrupted.
"My field work is on the third planet in this system. The one with all of the water. It supports life! I mean their atmosphere is a nasty mix of nitrogen, oxygen, and--"
"I have cautioned you not to make value judgments of other systems. What is the specimen?"
Dobodo pulled the tether, and the creature bounced forward. It was a Moschops, large and solid, with four heavy legs and broad shoulders. Its long tail would have helped it keep balance, had there been gravity. It did not struggle, but that was because Dobodo had administered a paralytic.
Gleet, horrified, shimmied backward.
"You brought it on board?"
"Well, yes, to show--"
"Is it still alive?" Gleet asked.
"Yes! It is immobile but its vital signs are all--"
"Did you touch it?"
"Well, yes, so I could place the electron tether on its neck--"
"Has it been scanned for parasites?"
Dobodo paused. Yet again, he had forgotten something.
"No."
Now Dobodo had Gleet's full, exasperated attention.
"That organism could infect everyone on this ship! You don't know what it is. You don't know if it carries disease. If it IS a disease. These are basic, basic procedures. When will you learn?"
"What should I do?" Dobodo asked, crestfallen.
"Take it back! Take it back to that puddle planet, return here, and begin disinfection protocols."
