Free The Mendel Experiment by Susan Kite

suggested.
    “But we were the ones made to adapt,” Lenden protested.
    “Could the scientists have created other animals?” Breeann asked.
    “I don’t think so. I didn’t see anything in the memories,” Corree said. “Besides, it would be stupid to have other predatory creations here when they want us to make colonies and get resources from Mendel.” Corree paused, thinking. “I just think the sea snakes are smarter than the scientists thought they were, if they even knew they were here. You said you haven’t lost any members since you developed the ability to ‘hear’ each other,” Corree said. “How long ago was that?”
    “About thirty tide cycles,” Lenden replied.
    That translated to about three years. The sea groups had been forced to outguess their enemies for a little less than half of the time they had lived on Mendel. She did some more math. The number of deaths was staggering. Corree had changed as soon as she came to her new habitat. What if some of their changes were meant to come later? For the sea people it had been disastrous. Why would the old ones—the scientists—want to do that? What was worse was the nagging thought that they were all experiments. Was that why she changed so quickly? Did they try something different with her?
    The others were gazing at her questioningly. Were they listening to her thoughts? If they did, they chose not to say anything.
    The journey to the mainland was without incident. Corree felt her gliding flaps undulate as she swam. She adjusted the motion of her arms to accommodate this new change. It made swimming much easier.
    Despite her pleasure with her new abilities, Corree stepped on shore with a sense of profound relief. The forest giants sat quiet and dark several body lengths ahead of them, their limbs held out like welcoming arms. It was all she could do to keep from running to the nearest tree and climbing into the canopy to watch the moons rise in the velvet sky. The sea people gathered around her, Matak hanging on her arm.
    “The pod is that way.” Corree pointed. She broke into a trot, then slowed. The others weren’t used to running. They weren’t used to being on the land much at all. “The first moon will set soon, then the second one not far behind. If we hurry, we might make it to the pod before the sun rises.”
    Lenden just nodded as Corree led the way. When they reached the river, everyone dived in and swam as far as they could before the rapids forced them out again. It took longer than she expected since they were swimming against a strong current. They found a cave just above the water line and rested during the day.
    At sunset, Corree showed Lenden the path that would take them to the teaching pod. She would have preferred going all the way with them, but she didn’t want the holo-man to see that she had sought out the sea people, even if she thought that was what they had in mind. She also didn’t want to meet the rest of her family the way she was right now. It wasn’t that she thought Tana or any of the others would freak out. She didn’t want to go back now. She wanted to find the other groups as well as test Lenden’s theory that she would be able to change back to her forest form.
    In order to get to the caves, she’d have to go into the mountains. She wondered why Riss hadn’t volunteered to contact the cave dwellers; they were closer to him. Maybe he was afraid of caves, even though he didn’t seem like the type to be afraid of anything. Still, there was something foreboding about going to see these people.
    As the first moon rose, Corree found a narrow pass into the mountains. The height of the peaks kept everything in twilight. She was leery about going on, but even more leery about waiting here until the moonlight reached all the way into the pass. Corree sniffed the cool air blowing from the mountains. No indication of any predators. She detected no movement other than the waving of wind-whipped grasses and