And so they did, over the course of the next day, arriving in sight of the headquarters compound just as the Sun was starting to drop behind the nearby mountains.
“Everything looks quiet,” Kachinka observed quietly. They were crouched on a knoll, staring down into the cluster of buildings.
“Too quiet. Where is everybody?”
“Out looking for us?”
In the cramped space, it was difficult to assume skepticism-with-hope so Chirr compromised on uncertainty-with-anticipation.
“Well, we can’t wait here. Let’s go.”
Chirr led, followed by a double column of broodlings, with Kachinka following to make sure none of the young ones strayed. They crossed the cultivated grounds without incident, reached the entrance to the main hall.
“I’ll take them inside,” Kachinka offered. “You find out where everybody is.”
Chirr inclined into acceptance-of-suggestion and waited only long enough to assure himself that the last of the broodlings was accounted for before proceeding.
The estivation room was empty, the feeding hives abandoned, the centi-van nest quiet. Chirr passed them by and headed for the park control room, convinced that it would be occupied even if everyone else had been evacuated.
Grackl hailed him as he approached, rushing out into the open to embrace Chirr with intertwined antennae. “You’ve survived! And the others?”
Chirr explained quickly. “What happened?”
Grackl shifted rapidly through a number of postures, conveying confusion, anger, fear, uncertainty, and a host of other unpleasant emotional states.
“The thornbush was deactivated. We’ve just managed to get an antidote flushed through the system.”
Chirr allowed himself to relax slightly. “Then the humans are back under control?”
“Most of them.” Grackl turned an eyestalk toward the control building. “But the lawyers escaped and got into the library. They barricaded the doors, killed and ate poor Skrezzle, and it was pure luck that we were able to surround the place with revived thornfire before they broke out.”
“But they’re confined again, aren’t they? So why do you appear so distraught?”
Grackl’s body slumped into resigned-to-disaster. “They’re smart, you know, smarter than we thought. All this time we’ve been studying them, they’ve been studying us as well. It seems they’ve picked up enough of our language to use the library, and they spent the last day reading.”
“So what? They’re just animals, aren’t they? It’s not as if they can understand what they read.”
“That’s just it. They discovered an obscure law under which they are legally an endangered species, and by the provisions of that law, we can no longer confine them to a prescribed habitat. We have to let them go free.” He assumed the posture of concern-mixed-with-relief. “At least they won’t be able to breed.”
In a remote part of Thoracic Park, two ugly-faced humans closed their eyes and made love.