by J.C. Hay
Bringing Goanna to Life
Goanna are a
relatively new introduction to the TriSystems books – they were referenced in a
couple of places before now as an aside, but Heart of the Spider’s Web marks
the first time I’ve spent any significant time with them. To understand Darcy
and goanna in general I must dive into a bit of history.
The first thing
to remember is that they have only a passing resemblance to the Terran goanna
(a catch-all for several species of monitor lizard in Australia) – the original
colonists from Earth found an indigenous reptile-analogue on Farhope when they
landed and saddled it with the first name that came to mind (and over looked
that these goanna had two pairs of eyes). Because they’re omnivorous, easy to
keep, and come in a variety of bright colors, goanna flourished as domestic
pets (especially given that cats and most dog breeds had limited genetic stock
and are expensive both to purchase and own.)
The behavior of
my hero Rayan Barr’s goanna, Darcy, is patterned after a green iguana I kept
for many years. This iguana (and most of them, I’ve since learned) was often
described as acting like a big, scaly cat, and I tried to carry that through to
how Darcy responds to attention, especially massages. He’s also a big,
insistent goof, and a bit of a food-hound, much to the delight of the ship’s
crew. Bringing Darcy into this story was an important gesture for me, first to
explore some decidedly non-terrestrial biology, but more importantly to pay
homage to the other Herps I’ve been lucky enough to share my life with. While a
certain green iguana may be gone, in many ways he lives on in this story.
This excerpt
marks Darcy’s first appearance in Heart of the Spider’s Web, as the feisty
goanna renews his acquaintance with our heroine, Sheri Tyler. Enjoy!
JC Hay writes about
heroic hearts, both human, canine, and reptilian, in a fantastic future
Heart of the Spider’s Web - Excerpt
“Showtime,
Dockrat. You ready?” Rayan Barr’s voice was as heavy as his physique, and his
build surprised her every time she saw him. The gym facilities on the ship had
to be amazing to keep his musculature so well defined despite the
oft-fluctuating gravity of space travel. Where most people lost mass on
extended trips, Barr never seemed to have that problem.
Sheri scoffed.
“Couldn’t you find a shirt in your size?” If she was honest, the black
pseudocotton stretched across his ample shoulders looked pretty fine. She
wouldn’t say it out loud, though. The man had an ego to match his size.
“Just doing my
part to make the ship visually appealing.” He grinned and shrugged in a way
that hinted he knew exactly how tight his shirt was and how the gesture would
translate.
She swallowed,
rolling her eyes elaborately to show how unimpressive the entire display was
despite her suddenly dry mouth. “Are you leading me somewhere? Or are you my
new replacement door?”
“I don’t know.
The latter might be fun.”
“I agree,” she
said. “I like throwing knives at my door.”
A red-black
shape moved across the floor, deceptively quick for its size. The goanna
clambered up onto the reclamation unit and lapped at the few droplets clinging
to the edge of the bowl. He puffed his chest up, proud of the accomplishment,
and let out a shrill, trilling call.
Sheri responded
in kind, mimicking the sound as well as she was able. The lizard shifted to
focus on her as he had every time she’d seen him in Nobu Station’s dockyards.
He blinked his four eyes in alternating pairs, head tilted to watch her as he
trilled again.
She answered
once more, and Barr strode into the room to retrieve the goanna. “That’s enough
out of you, Darcy.” The meter and a half lizard climbed to his shoulder and
pushed the top of his flat head into Barr’s cheek. He reached up and stroked
the lizard’s throat gently.
“That’s a
shame,” Sheri said. “You just ended the most intelligent conversation I’ve had
since I arrived.”
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