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On the Rim, Ch 40: Kurta, the Veteran Veternarian

2020 copyright comidacomida

Kurta had a lot of duties in and around the cave system that the group used as their base and, out of all of them, the only one that the woman really took seriously was that of caring for the animals. She did every job required of her, but, once her assigned tasks were complete she always came back to focusing on Roscoe and Desiree. During one of her outings, however, the NHH had come across a wolf that had made a den somewhere near the valley.

Although she hadn't really planned to, a few days prior she'd stumbled across it engaged in a life-or-death struggle with a worg or, as she liked to muse, what the off-worlders kept calling a 'Wargh'. In the few seconds Kurta took to observe the scene she'd quickly realized that the wolf would die without help and, fortunately she'd had the charge rifle on her. One carefully taken shot later, and the worg was all but slain, but it still had enough energy to leap on her, giving her a nasty slash to her forearm before it finally gave in to death.

Before heading back to base she'd tried to coax the wolf out of its hiding spot but wounded and dazed, he wasn't willing to move. When Kurta had gone back to the cave system Doc had kept her in the med bay until her wounds had healed and it took awhile for her to get the chance to seek out the wolf she'd saved. Walking out into the jungle, she wondered to herself if he'd survived his wounds. It took her only a handful of minutes to find out the answer.

She caught sight of the wolf in the same area in which she'd encountered him fighting the worg. He'd obviously noticed her approach and had carefully positioned himself to make sure that she couldn't get around to his flank while simultaneously providing himself a good angle at which to flee if she came close. Kurta didn't of course; she took a seat on a large, moss-covered rock a good distance from him, and began to go through the lunch she'd brought.

Not only had the woman packed food for herself, but she'd also cut off a few chunks of frozen rodent meat that Myra kept toward the back of the food storage area. As anticipated, the wolf had taken an interest in her eating; he favored a leg and, if she wasn't mistaken, he probably hadn't eaten in a few days. It took almost an hour of slow and methodical eating before he got close enough for her to toss him a small piece of meat. From there, piece by piece, she coaxed him closer.

Another hour passed and, although she'd been long-since finished eating, she had also continued feeding him. Kurta spent the time talking to him as much as to herself, getting the wolf used to her voice and keeping her words soft and soothing. Eventually, toward the end of their second hour together, she was talking far more to him than to herself, choosing her words carefully despite his inability to understand them-- he could understand her intent and that was good enough for her.

As the day continued to drag on, Kurta came to the conclusion that she couldn't afford much more time away from the base without others coming to look for her or, worse, question her contributions to the base. Once that realization struck she slowly moved to stand. As anticipated, the wolf backpedaled but, after she made no quick moves or aggressive motions he approached again. Out of time, she took a chance, and reached out to him; he didn't pull back and, before she knew it, she was touching the fur on his shoulder.

Kurta spent a few more minutes with him, petting, stroking, and scratching him everywhere he'd let her; it was obvious as she pampered the wolf that he was likely packless and hadn't had contact of any kind for quite some time. When she finally turned to leave and the wolf moved to follow she came to the only possible solution in her mind. "You coming back to the valley with me, Ajax?"

The name had slipped out of her mouth before she even thought about it; Kurta's mind always seemed to have a way about animals that went beyond cognitive thought. It wasn't something she really had to consider since it inexplicably fit and, just like that, the wolf had a name... and a home-- assuming, of course, that he got along well with the cave system's residents of both two and four legged varieties.

Reentering the valley, Kurta kept track of Ajax, who wove in and out of the undergrowth, but always seemed to linger within sight. By the time she got back to the entrance to the cave system it was mid-afternoon. The place was usually fairly busy before dinner but, considering so many people were spending their time in the medical bay she wasn't surprised to see almost nobody outside and, the one person she DID see was the one she least expected. Approaching the man she raised a hand in greeting. "Hi, Doc... I thought you'd be inside with everyone in the med-bay."

Smiling, Dr. Zimmerman shot her one of his deadpanned humor responses. "Why would I be in there? I'm not sick."

She offered a polite smile back. "And what about everyone still in there? Did you just abandon them in their time of need?"

He actually chuckled at her response. "No... not at all. Everyone is doing much better. Myra has recovered and is back to work, and Lizzy is well enough that she's handling the little things in there until I officially release her tomorrow. As soon as Leo and Duct-Tape get better then I'll be back to being bored... but until then I need to take a few minutes when I can get them-- Vitamin D is important, so I don't want to be cooped up inside all day every day. I'm sure you can relate."

Considering she'd just spent half of the day outside it would be a hard point against which to argue. Nodding, she motioned back the way she came. "Yeah... just got back actually. I was going to check in with the--"

He interrupted her. "Oh? Who's your friend?"

Much to Kurta's surprise, Ajax didn't linger under cover, rather, he trotted right up to Doc and, as if they were old friends, immediately threw his weight against the Human, rubbing his body along the man's left side, before turning around and rubbing back the other direction across his back. As she watched, Ajax hopped up with his forepaws on Doc's sternum and began trying to lick and nibble at his face. She had trouble hiding her surprise. "Well... he certainly seems to like you."

Doc laughed, managing to balance himself to avoid being bowled over. Surprising her even more, the man didn't bother pushing Ajax off of him, scratching all over the wolf's shoulders and neck in return greeting. "Yeah... I've always had a knack for animals, Gens, and Voljoi. No idea why, to be honest."

Kurta had never had much love for the Grays, but it bemused her that, for whatever reason, they were lumped in with Gens and animals in Dr. Zimmerman's story. She overcame her surprise at Doc's positive interaction with Ajax however in favor of information. "Do you know where Missy is? I want to make sure that this guy here'll get along okay with Roscoe."

Doc motioned to the cave system. "She wet out a little while ago, but she didn't have Roscoe with her-- I think he's probably still in her room. Grizz is in there now if you want to see if you can introduce them."

She did just that. After saying farewell to Doc she headed into the cave and, surprisingly, the wolf had no reservations about following her. Although his tail was held pensively, Ajax seemed to have little issue at that point when it came to staying with her despite the surroundings. That trait continued as she went down the hall and he sat down, waiting patiently for her when she stopped at the door to Missy and Grizz's room. She gave it a gentle wrap with her knuckles. "Grizz? You in there?"

The Bear's gruff reply was straight forward. "Whadda ya want?"

Kurta kept hers the same. "I have a new wolf here and wanted to introduce him to Roscoe to make sure they get along well."

Grizz called out "Fine... but if they get into a fight you break em apart and have to clean up any blood."

It was about as blunt as a statement could be but she was willing to accept the terms. Carefully managing the access each wolf had to the other, Kurta spent the next half hour introducing them to one another. Surprised yet again, the woman found that the two wolves got along amazingly well. Was it possible that they were originally from the same pack and had been separated somehow? Perhaps they were even brothers? She didn't know for certain, but she was glad things went so smoothly.

By the time she felt confident enough that the wolves could be considered 'settled', the rest of the group was gathering in the main hall for dinner. Joining them, Kurta took her usual seat just as the Overseer began to provide a summary of information from the day for the group. According to her, a local tribe spotted another section of what was probably the Venture making planet fall; the impact site was less than a day distant, and Ms. Simpson planned on sending out a recovery team.

She and Cap'n had a brief discussion over who would go, especially considering Leo was still sick, but, in the end, they resolved to hold off doing sortie assignments until the morning. The rest of dinner was reserved for casual conversation and, from there, everyone went off to their respective rooms for the night. Kurta took Ajax back to meet Desiree; she had a feeling they would get along well. She wasn't wrong. In the scheme of things it had been a good day, and it was also a good night.