"Madre de Dios," she breathed, staring at what she'd revealed. The boy had the head, arms, and chest of a little boy, but from the waist down he was all pony, right up to the tail.
Another one of Dressler's experiments, she thought grimly, brushing the tips of her fingers lightly over one of his legs to feel the coarse horse hair. The boy moaned and shifted restlessly, and Sarita glanced back to his face and frowned. He didn't look well at all.
Sighing, she covered him again, and then brushed the human hair back from his face and peered at him sadly as she asked, "What's the matter with him?"
"He is dying," Victor said solemnly.
"What from?" Sarita asked, glancing around at the man and noting the compassion on his face as he looked at the boy.
"I cannot be sure, but judging by the rapid heartbeat, his shortness of breath, and the blue of his lips and ears, I would guess that he is not taking in enough oxygen to support his body so it is failing."
Sarita glanced back to the boy and thought that was a pretty good assessment of the situation. At least it did match the symptoms. "Do you think it's pneumonia or something? Shouldn't Dressler be giving him antibiotics or other meds?"
"I suspect if that were the case he would," Victor said solemnly. "Since he is not, I would guess the problem has more to do with the boy's physiology than illness."
"His physiology?" she asked, with a frown, lifting the blanket again, a horse's body to the neck where a human upper body began. A whole human torso, head, and arms rather than just a horse head.
"It could be anything," Victor said sounding weary. "Perhaps he was born with only human lungs. They would not be able to supply enough oxygen for the body he has. Or perhaps it has something to do with the fact that he has a human nose and sinuses. Horses have much bigger nostrils and their sinuses run the length of their head. Human sinuses may not be large enough to accommodate his body's needs." He shrugged. "I do not know."
"But if it was physiological rather than an illness, wouldn't he have died shortly after being born?" Sarita asked, not wanting to believe the boy couldn't be saved.
"Perhaps," Victor said. "But from the boy's memories it would seem he has always been weak and gasping for breath. He could manage a sprint for a brief distance, but had no endurance so was unable to run and play with the others. And then as he aged he could no longer sprint or even walk far, and then not at all without losing his breath. He has apparently grown weaker over time as his body grew."
"You can read him?" Sarita asked glancing over with surprise.
"Yes."
"Domitian couldn't read the gilled man we encountered. I thought perhaps they were all unreadable."
"Most of them are," Victor said with a shrug. "I haven't been able to read or control any of the other hybrids we've encountered. Just this boy, which is what made me wonder if from the waist up he is not completely human."
Sarita turned to look back at the boy. He was lying on hard concrete with just the thin blanket beneath him. It didn't look comfortable, she thought. Sitting down, she drew his head into her lap and brushed the hair back from the boy's face as she silently cursed Dr. Dressler to hell.
Knowing that was a waste of time, Sarita glanced to Victor and the other two men in the cell across from her, noting that they'd all moved to the front of the cage and were now leaning against it, watching her. This time when she looked them over, she noted that they not only looked similar to each other, but that many of their features, especially their eyes, were very similar to Domitian's.
"So?" she asked, zeroing in on the larger man in the middle. "You're Victor Argenis? Domitian's uncle?"
"I am Domitian's uncle Victor," he acknowledged, but then added, "However, it is Argeneau, not Argenis."
That made Sarita frown. "But Domitian's last name is Argenis not Argeneau."
"Both are just a variation on our ancient name Argentum," Victor explained. "In old times there were not really last names. It was basically Bob the baker or Jim the smithy. For us it was a first name plus silver, because of the silver in our eyes. As the family grew and spread, different variations of Argentum occurred, Argenis in Spain, Argeneau in France, and so on."
"I see," Sarita murmured, but wasn't sure she did. Whoever heard of someone changing their name to match the country they lived in or moved to? And just what kind of person did that?
"Someone who wishes to not draw attention to themselves," Victor said quietly, obviously reading her thoughts.
Sarita bit her tongue to keep from snapping at him for obviously piddling about in her thoughts again. Though, judging by the amusement that suddenly curved Victor's lips, she suspected he knew she was peeved. Sighing, she shifted her gaze to Biker #1.