Shepherd (10 page)

The day came. Each passing hour made them more nervous.

The news media didn't help. “Too bad Moncho Maverick, once a highly respected high-power lawyer, has chosen to throw away his credibility on this fantasy. He must be feeling pretty sheepish now.” “Brace yourselves; this is a ba-a-a-ad day. The everglades are going to erupt. We have this on the ultimate authority: Colony sheep.” “And that sexy exchange student, Elen with the missing L, is going for her sheepskin in math. Maybe she is calculating on something we aren't.”

This was cruel. Shep turned it off; he could see that Elen was hurting. She had spoken so feelingly of the sheep, only to be ridiculed.

“Trust the sheep,” she said bravely.

“I do. But I fear their range may not extend to another planet.”

Elasa came over with her baby to lend moral support. “I know the media can be savagely cruel. But they can also help significantly. There was one cartoonist who truly made my case, when I thought my suit for personhood was lost. I'm glad that he has not participated in the bloodletting.”

“Thank you,” Elen said, hugging her around the baby. Shep could see that the two were now solid friends, as Elasa and Mona had been.

They tried the news again, unable to stay away lest they miss the key announcement. It remained awful, with actors dressed like sheep and subtitles. “How did the Shepherd propose to his lady love? ‘I love ewe, lambie-pie. Please let me ram my crook into your fold.’”

“The background music is
Sheep May Safely Graze
,” Elasa said.

Then there was a picture from the archives of Elasa and Mona, both standing nude, with new dialogue attached: “In real life I'm really a machine.” “That's nothing. I'm really a pregnant ewe.”

Shep turned it off again.

Then, about mid morning, it came. “Turn on the news!” Zandra called excitedly. Shep hurried to comply.

“Scientist have discovered a new species of freshwater squid,” the newscaster said. “It is small, but is remarkable in that it is able to breathe air.” He took a breath. “It seems the skeptics are being confounded. A prophecy is coming true.”

Shep and Elen found themselves in each other's arms. It was happening!

Moncho called. “Get over to my office,” he said. “We are in sudden demand by the Committee.” He chuckled. “They are concluding that there is more money to be made in prophecy than in hunting sheep.”

By the time they got there, meeting Elasa on the way, the second prophecy came true: a small volcanic vent opened in the Everglades. It was not impressive as such things went, except for its location, and the fact that it had been predicted by the sheep. Scientists were astonished; they had never known of this geological aspect. News-folk were ruefully apologetic. They had laughed all morning, and now had to eat their words. One was even eating a cake in the shape of a laughing sheep.

“There's my cartoonist,” Elasa said. In the foreground was a stand-up comedian in tropical clothes beside a palm tree. “This Vulture, a Python, and a lovely nude Elf girl walk into a bar...” In the background was an erupting volcano, about to blast him away.

“I like your cartoonist,” Elen said, laughing.

The sheep had proven themselves, and would be saved. Shep did not care to admit how surprised and gratified he was. Officially, he had always known.

By the end of the day, not only had the Committee declared Planet Jones to be a protected refuge, banned for hunting, it had appointed Shep as administrator of that protectorate; colony governance was after all his major. He would approve or disapprove all scientific investigations. He knew he should be able to handle any legal complications, with Moncho's advice. This also meant that he now had the rank to guarantee Elen's continued visits to Earth, so she could remain with him and complete her math major. He knew that his new position would be a considerable challenge, but he also knew that the sheep would help him handle it.

Meanwhile Shep and Elen had become instant celebrities. But all they really cared about was the fact that the sheep had proven themselves. In the process, they had given the two of them love and an illustrious future life together.

It paid to trust the sheep.

Author's Note:

This is a sort of sequel to my prior novella,
To Be A Woman
. I thought of it just after I finished writing
Woman
, in January 20122 and it quickly blossomed into its own novella written in February 2012. Ideas are like that; some founder unborn, some remain minor, some become stories, and some whole series of novels. I have a massive file containing summaries of my notions, and I draw on those notions at need, or when they simply will not be denied. This one started with the sheep who could stab an attacker to death without moving.

Actually, I am more of a goat person than a sheep person. I was raised on a goat farm, and later had two goats of my own. Goats seem smarter and more individual, being ever curious about things. Sheep in contrast simply fall into line. The word “capricious” derives from an ancient word for goat. Goats speak by saying a friendly maaaa while sheep utter a stupid baaaa. So you can see I have my prejudice. But there is a different kind of sheep, called the Jacob Sheep, which seems goat-like and has four horns. My daughter kept some of those for a while, in part because my legal surname is Jacob, as was hers. Maybe that memory influenced my subconscious, encouraging me to come up with another different kind of sheep. So you won't hear me badmouthing sheep; they have their points too, even those without telepathy or precognition.

I say “sort of sequel” because this started out as an independent novella, but when I needed an Earth planet host for Elen, Mona volunteered. So she and Elasa and Moncho stepped into this story and really helped out, displacing the Jacob Sheep farm girl I originally had in mind. Will there be other sequels? I doubt it, though there may be other novellas. I find I rather like this intermediate length, long enough to fashion a good story, short enough to write in a month. Still, I find myself wondering what Mona will find, there in the body of a pregnant woman, accompanied by a vulture and a python. Why are those two animals still there, if not to keep an eye on things? Does that mean that the sheep aren't finished here? Will she pin down precognition and set up the story of the century? If so, it probably deserves its own novella. So we'll see.

This novella, like the prior one, does have its thoughtful aspects. If it is controversial to have a conscious robot marry a living man, how about interplanetary marriage, where one partner must always be in a body not his or her own? Can love exist in such manner? Would the law recognize such a union? What about children: whose are they, the genetic parent's or the love parent's? I assume in the novella that such things can be worked out, but it might be more complicated in reality. There is also the lighter side, such as the snarky media humorists portrayed here, and their come-uppance. I remember when there was a cartoon series
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
, about man-sized turtles doing heroic deeds. In real life at that time fishing boats were killing rare turtles by illegal net fishing that trapped turtles as well as fish. Then a political cartoon showed the Ninja Turtles quietly boarding a fishing boat...

For this novella, also, my thanks to Rudy Reyes, who proofread it. I carefully edit all my fiction, but always miss some things, maybe because I tend to see what should be there rather than what is there. It takes an independent reader to catch that kind of error.

Readers interested in my works are welcome to visit my website
www.hipiers.com
or blogspot at
http://piersanthonyblog.blogspot.com
. Currently I do a monthly column about anything that interests me, and a story told entirely in tweets. I don't claim that my life is exciting; my wife and I are old and tend to stay at home when not in some doctor's office. We did, however, trade in our 2005 Prius car for a 2012 Prius V during the writing of this novella. Maybe that can pass for excitement.

-Piers Anthony, April 2012.

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Piers Anthony Jacob

ISBN: 978-1-4976-5823-3

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