The lab was dark. An owl called out from its wire cage, "Jimbo, wake up. The rat is moaning again."
A rhesus monkey in the adjacent cage stirred and mumbled.
"Wake up!" the owl insisted. "It's pathetic and it's annoying."
"Oowah. I could use some sleep too, ya know."
"Yeah, yeah. But right now you can either help us or be up the rest of the night when he starts that pitiful wailing noise."
"Right. Give me a minute to jimmy this lock, would ya? All right, which bottle?"
"The big one, the tallest one in front there."
"Got it." The monkey worked. "Now this one?"
"Is it acetylcholine?"
"Very funny, you know damn well I can't read."
"Oh, yeah," the owl chuckled, "I forgot. Bring it here then. Yeah, that's the one, you illiterate ape."
"Kiss my fur-bearing glutes, mite meat."
Using an eyedropper, the monkey dripped fluid into the powder he had already placed in the cage of a prone and shivering rat. The monkey watched.
The rat half-dragged itself across the cage to lap up the fizzing puddle. After licking it all, it stood. It sniffed around, had a drink of water then went to the corner of its cage, curled up and fell asleep with a great shuddering sigh.
"Sweet dreams, rodent," the monkey muttered as he sat watching the rat sleep soundly.
The silence was torn by a telephone's electronic chirp.
"Oncology Lab Seven. This is Don. I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message."
The amplified voice of a very excited woman filled the room. "Don? You lazy crackpot, aren't you ever there? I was there earlier this evening and you weren't there then either," she laughed. "I scanned 'em, Don. I scanned all three of them. The owl and the rhe are completely clear of any perceptible tumors or cysts. And the rat is obviously improved. I couldn't believe it! The only thing I don't understand is this - if that rat has eaten any of your magic goo, I can't find a sign of it. Your notes say you gave him 10 grams and 10 grams are still there. Is it possible that just being in proximity to it could have this effect? Could he be inhaling it? Anyhow, I'm calling Dr. Barnes right now. We'll both be in there tomorrow around 10. Ex the owl and the rhesus and we'll do a complete post mort when we get there. See you then, you brilliant, lazy jerk. If you decide to show up, that is."
A long silence ensued, broken by the monkey's uneasy cough. "D'jou hear that?"
"Yeah," the owl said quietly, "I heard it."
"Not good."
"No, definitely not good."
"We've got to leave."
The owl glanced at the rat snoring and twitching in its cage. "He's pretty heavy. Especially when he's out like that. We'd be faster if we left him."
The monkey bared his teeth at the owl. "Do you want me to leave you in *your* cage, pellet-breath?"
"Okay," the owl said slowly. "Yeah. I know. It was a stupid idea." He preened a wing.
The monkey sighed, and opened the rat's cage. It shuddered as he picked it up, but that was all. He flicked a piece of crusted dung off the rat's side absently. /He really is heavy./ He glanced at the bottle. "We'll need to take some of that with us."
The owl blinked. "Don't just stand there philosophizing. My brain is half the size of yours, if what you keep telling me is true, but at least I use all of it. Let me out."
The monkey looked shrewedly at the owl. "How long has it been since you've flown?"
"I don't know. Does it matter?"
"A walking owl isn't going to help us make good time. We need to be out of town by sunrise."
"Have you ever even seen the town?"
The monkey made no move towards the cage, and stroked the head of the shivering rat. "Can you even fly anymore?"
"Let me out!" The owl started chewing desperately at the bars of its cage, and flapping its matted wings. "Let me out, let me out, out, please... please."
The rhesus sighed. The sun would rise soon.
He walked to the cage and let the owl out.
The owl looked with its large yellow eyes at the monkey. "Let's go." He flapped his wings a few times, then flew in a pitiful wobbling circle around the room. A box of gloves fell off the stainless steel counter and hit the floor with a resounding smack. The rat stirred and mumbled. The owl skidded to a stop on the linoleum floor. "Thank you," he said.
"You can't fly right," the monkey muttered. "I don't know why I bother."
"It's not my fault," the owl muttered. "The feathers will grow back."
The monkey muttered, and opened the window. He slipped out, and was gone.
The owl followed, flapping and swearing about pinions.
The night was dark, and the sky was full of stars.
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