Suffer the Valor of Youth

SUFFER THE VALOR OF YOUTH

Bart sat wagging his tail, his head tipped slightly to one side. The expression on his black and white canine face could only be described as amused. Ace Baxter, his new friend and partner, was trying calmly and persistently to coax some sort of multi-colored rodent out of the gravity sled. Ace’s other partner, a tall and rather excitable human, was back at the shuttle where they were keeping an assortment of exotic animals in captivity.

You see, Ace and Pax were a licensed exploration team. The Gypsy Camp Explorers had acquired Bart, a puppy of border collie and terrier extraction, just before they had been contracted to serve as animal brokers in an expedition to Megrim.

Bart was already fond of the quiet one, Ace. Not only was he nice and gentle, he was very entertaining. Like right now. The intruder that had taken custody of the sled was just a small nuisance that could easily be dispatched by just running at it and barking a few times. Maybe a tiny nip would be necessary to hurry it on it’s way, surely nothing more. With the body the size and shape of a slightly over-large squirrel, the head of a possum, and a luxuriously furred, raccoon-like tail, this screwy looking creature had successfully bluffed Ace into accepting it as dangerous. How anyone could be daunted by such a prissy looking fuzz ball was beyond Bart.

Bart stamped his forepaws as he gave an encouraging puppy-like bark, “Get him, Ace!”

Ace was completely unaware of Bart’s scrutiny. His entire concentration was directed toward getting Megrim’s equivalent of a polecat out of the sled without unpleasant incident. Bart’s criticism went entirely unnoticed and his encouragement unheard.

Megrim’s polecat, on the other hand, had found the ideal location to set up housekeeping. Although the sled had not been here when she had last crossed the trail, she decided that the sled’s cockpit had the warm and homey feeling that she desired for her litter’s impending inception. This unintelligent looking creature was going to be sorry if it continued to press for her eviction.

Ace had managed to lay a rigid section of tree bark into the sled seat, leaning it through the pilot’s side exit. Then, moving around to the passenger side of the vehicle, lightly rapped on its side while waving his other arm wildly to encourage the odious intruder to leave.

Ms. Polecat would have none of that! Boldly, with as much indignation as she could muster, she faced Ace squarely and stamped her disapproval of his boorish behavior. Then, turning her back on him, lifting her tail high, she prepared to deliver the object lesson.

It was at that point that Bart decided to take charge of the situation. With a ferocious puppy growl and a high pitched battle cry, “Yap!”, Bart sprang into the cockpit. With complete lack of fear, valiant young Bart came nose to nose with Ms. Polecat and delivered the demand for the complete surrender of their ride.

As she reacted to this ridiculous new annoyance by turning her weaponry on the impetuous young hero, Bart plunged in with his needle sharp puppy teeth, firmly grabbing Ms. Polecat by the scruff of the neck and jerking her toward the provided exit.

By this point in time, Ace had prudently moved several yards away from the sled and was waiting for the inevitable outcome. As he waited he called Pax on his communicator and requested that he bring the sterilization kit, designed for just such unavoidable emergencies.
It took but a few moments for Bart to realize his predicament. The nauseating spray seeped into his nostrils and his eyes became blurry with tears. But, though he was just a young pup, he was filled with the responsibility of fulfilling his duty. Though Ms. Polecat befouled the air, as well as inflicting numerous painful bites and scratches, Bart prevailed by giving almost as well as he got.

Ms. Polecat made an indignant retreat as Bart leaped onto the side of the sled, hurling the vilest insults his small puppy vocabulary could provide. Then, proudly, the victorious hero threw out his chest and barked out an invitation for Ace to come and claim his liberated vehicle.
In the days to come, Bart had much to think about. It seemed that his new friends, the ones whom he sought to defend, had little appreciation for his bravery. But, being a wise and extraordinarily intelligent canine, Bart forced himself to see the situation in the light of what had occurred through his actions.

In retrospect, it seemed that Ace had known what to expect from Ms. Polecat and had been dealing with the situation in a competent manner. In his eagerness to help, Bart had acted without instruction and had, indeed, got the job done. But the results had been unnecessarily unpleasant for all.

Still, it was hard to endure the fact that every time that he came near to either Pax or Ace they would move away or tell him to get down wind. He knew that they still liked him, and they were no longer angry for being inconvenienced, but, just the same, he was going to have some lonely times to contemplate on the proper occasion for exercising bravery.
Thus was the not so glorious beginning of Bart's interplanetary adventures with the Gypsy Camp Explorers.