Free GeneStorm: City in the Sky by Paul Kidd Page A

sitting him down at night in a root bath of water and compost. His flowers sprang back to life, and he was soon grinning happily and eating countless flies.
    At night, Snapper and Kitterpokkie bedded down with Onan and Throckmorton – well back from the campfire, since Snapper preferred the shadows and Throckmorton was adverse to flames. They passed insect sticks back and forth and watched glowball rodents drift by. The mantis was fascinated by new lands and new creations: Snapper’s tales of plants, animals and creatures were absorbed with great interest.
    The seven villages all had populations of seemingly infinite variety. ‘Splicers’, animal hybrids with clear humanoid form, were so varied as to be a constant source of amazement. The GeneStorm seemed have brought a gift of sheer variety.
    Kitterpokkie lounged back against a bedroll made from old canvas sacks. Her sole remaining garments – a sort of halter top and a skirt, were hanging up to dry, and she wore a borrowed blanket that covered her from cleavage to thigh. As she watched one of the passengers – a grey, winged gentleman part cat and part dove – she curled her elegant antennae in thought.
    “I have been keeping notes upon cross-breeding, trying to determine whether some species traits are dominant or recessive. Thus far, I have found no real patterns – but there is an astonishing blend of life.” The mantis passed Snapper a strip of ‘camp snake’ – a coil of baked savoury dough that had been wrapped about a stick. “But I do find such a marvellous mesh of attitudes and abilities.”
    Snapper ate the salty dough, dunking it in a cup of brown onion gravy. "I met a toucan once. Sort of part cat, part bird.” One often wondered just what the story might be behind various hybridisations: in predator/prey hybrids, the story became less mysterious. “Now she married a guy that was a sort of strawberry-dog hybrid. Well – their kid sort of stayed a cat toucan. But his feathers were all red and green strawberry colours. Pretty striking.”
    “Indeed! The variety of life is a never ceasing wonder.” Kitterpokkie lounged back, firelight glittering off the high peaks of her eyes as she watched glowball rodents wafting through the trees. “A fascinating study in complex systems. Diversity in balance. Wealth in abundance.”
    “A new world.”
    “A new world. Filled with all the thrill of discovery. A chance to come to life – to do it right at last…”
    Snapper sighed. Above her, stars gleamed with colours too subtle to perceive. Her electrical sense felt the soft hum of nearby life. Overhead, there was the faintest glimmer of Aurora Australis – shimmering ribbons uncoiling far, far above the earth. Smoke weed stirred softly, and the world seemed a wondrous, infinite thing.
    She stretched, breathing in the soft scents of the night.
    “With all of this here… think how much more there is to see. Marvellous things just waiting to be found.” The shark put her hands beneath her head and watched the glittering bands of light rippling through the skies. “Just waiting for us. We could find places that just…. stun the soul.”
    Resting back against Onan’s warm, plush feathers, the shark quietly swirled her tail.
    “My uncle Toby – he and the old timers once found a pass up through the barrier cliffs. They said they found a city. A whole ruined city, all covered with flowers. There was a lake – a real lake, with floating plants, and huge golden creatures just cruising in the clear waters… Ancient, silent towers, shrouded by ten thousand drifting butterflies…”
    “I’d like to see that.” The mantis ordered her notebook at her side – invaluable hand made paper covered with her notes and observations. “Have you ever crossed the cliffs?”
    “Never made it. Some sort of landslide covered the route through the radiation. No one’s ever been able to reach the cliffs again. I went looking last season, but the rains came early.