by J. L. Curtis
“Okay, I’ll message back, and you can concur. Love you.”
“Oh, Holly mentioned last night that she’s been seeing tracks in the vineyard.”
“Tracks?”
“She thinks wolf and cat tracks, big tracks.”
“That’s… odd.”
“She said they apparently started right after we left.”
Fargo leaned back and looked at Canis and Cattus, “I wonder…”
Impatiently she snapped, “Wonder what?”
He leaned forward, “I’ll come down tomorrow. Can we eat dinner at the winery?”
“Sure, why?”
“I might know, but I want to… confirm something. Don’t say anything to Holly other than we’ll have dinner with her.”
“Alright. I’m going back to sleep. Goodbye.”
He went on to the next message in the cue and sighed.
F- RAGSDALE, T. PURCHASING AGENT
T- FARGO, E HUNTER, RUSHING RIVER
S- FURS?
MR FARGO, RAGSDALE HERE. WONDERING IF YOU HAVE ANY FURS. LAST BATCH VERY WELL RECEIVED. AS DISCUSSED WILL ACCEPT AT YOUR LOCATION. SAME PRICE POINT IF SAME QUALITY.
SEMPER FI/RAGSDALE
He quickly drafted a response, and vowed to get back in the Green, knowing there was money to be made, Luann’s worries or not. He also drafted a reply to Palette, saying they would be available after the funeral, and asking for Boykin and Grayson to be allowed to attend. He proposed Boykin pick them up and bring them back from White Beach the following day.
The next message brought a smile.
F- HYDERABAD, CAPTAIN JACE
T- FARGO, E
S- MCDOUGAL INVENTION
CANNOT DO PATENT, BUT DE PEREZ GALACTIC OFFERS ONE (1) MILLION CREDITS TO PURCHASE RIGHTS, PLUS ROYALTIES OF ONE (1) PERCENT. WILL YOU ACT AS LOCAL AGENT? ARRANGE MEETING WITH SENIOR SERGEANT MCDOUGAL WITHIN SEVEN (7) DAYS?
R/JACE
He quickly drafted a reply and sent it, smiling as he did so. This might work out better for Mac. I don’t know how much longer he has on this hitch, but I don’t see him staying in after this. He was really torn up by what happened. I hope he’s talking to the captains or the major.
Challenges
Fargo glanced back to see Canis sitting up, avidly staring out the side of the liteflyer, her nose pressed against the window, and Cattus curled contentedly on the seat. He smiled, remembering stories from his dad about riding in the ground car with his dog Rex sticking his head out the window and slobbering down the side of the ground car. He felt the liteflyer shift and heard both animals growling. Now what the hell got into… He banked sharply to the left, beginning to circle and the animals shifted sides quickly, steepening the bank, “Whoa! You two take it easy back there! He reached out and sensed their hate/prey/fear drives, and wondered what set it off.
As he came around, he saw a shadow moving across a small clearing, and reached out with his empathic senses. Shit, Silverbacks! Where did they come from? He spiraled lower, straining to sense whether this was a pair or a single. He reached up and dropped a mark on his nav screen and looked closer at the area, Damn, it’s a pair; they shouldn’t be this close to Rushing River.
Dropping down in altitude, he sidestepped the TBT beam to Rushing River and tried to locate the pair visually, but without success. Both Canis and Cattus continued to growl, noses pressed to the window, and he decided to try something. He reached out to them, on their ‘frequency’ so to speak, “Warn others, danger do not fight. He ‘felt’ them doing something, but he wasn’t sure what it was, as he picked back up above the beams and headed back to the cabin.
Urso was pacing the landing strip when he touched down, and she came loping up to the liteflyer as he shut it off in front of the cabin. He opened the canopy, and she reared up on the side of it, causing him to wince, as she stuck her head in, making sure Canis and Cattus were okay. He chuckled. “Girl, just because you don’t like to ride in here doesn’t mean they don’t. Now get down. He gave her a little mental push, and stepped out as Canis, then Cattus jumped clear of the back seats, and padded over to Urso. He once again ‘felt’ them communicating, and it frustrated him to be so close but not be able to fully understand them. As MobyDineah had told him, it had taken them years to get the rapport they had with animals, and he couldn’t expect to have that happen overnight.
Looking at the sun, he decided there wasn’t time to go hunt the Silverbacks today, as the closest place to land he’d found was at least a mile away. He wanted to do another airborne scout tomorrow, maybe two, one on his way to Rushing River, and a second coming home. And he needed to let somebody know where he would be, remembering the incident at the feeder site. After putting the liteflyer away, he quickly called up the mail component of the TBT, posting a notification to the GalPat reps, Sergeant Omar, Nicole, and Luann to spread around Rushing River.
Luann and Nicole both answered immediately, and both asked if he was coming to town tomorrow. Shaking his head and laughing, he replied he would be there for lunch, telling Luann he would be bringing Nicole with him. Running through the rest of the messages, he groaned when he got to the messages from Horse and Jiri, and glanced at the data comp, That time of the damn month. Why oh why did I let myself get volunteered for the militia, much less put in charge? Three divs later, he’d finished signing off on the monthly reports, forwarded them to Colonel Eads, and let the animals out.
He pulled the bead rifle out, tore it down, cleaned it, reassembling it and checking the charge on the power pack. It was at 80%, so he pulled the spare out, put it on, verified it at 100%, and put the original power pack on the charger. That done, he allowed himself a real cup of brewed coffee.
Once the brewing was finished, he poured a cup, then went onto the front porch and settled into the chair as the sun descended in the east. He looked to the west, watching the dual moons rising, and thought about the information both he and Jace had passed up the chain about the ice mining on Eros, Endine’s moon. I wonder who they’re going to send to take care of that little problem.
He finished his coffee as George and Celeste rose in sequence, and Canis, Cattus, and Urso came around the corner of the cabin. Canis and Cattus made for the door, while Urso padded over to him. Fargo scratched around her ears, and Urso moaned contentedly, until he picked up his cup and stood. “Enough.” He pushed a thought of contentment at her, and she sighed, sprawling in her accustomed place on the porch. I’m glad she hates being closed in, having her in the cabin wouldn’t be good. Not good at all. Of course Canis and Cattus aren’t much better, but at least they don’t weigh 300 plus pounds. Guess I should be thankful for that.
He opened the door and Canis and Cattus stampeded by him, heading for their respective feed bowls. “I’m coming, I’m coming, you two. Just calm down.” Putting his cup in the fresher, he opened the refrigerator and pulled out four nearrabbits he’d gotten yesterday up by the waterfall, “Dinner is served. Sit.” He reinforced the words with a mental push, and both sat, staring avidly at the food in his hands. Dropping two in each pan, he said, “Okay. Eat,” as he stepped out of the way.
He sat in the living room and turned the e-tainment unit on, then decided to send a message to Mikhail that he would be hunting the Silverbacks tomorrow, and when and where he would be. Better safe than sorry. And Mikhail won’t tell Luann, which is good. I want to get there early, so… He ended up eating a quick bite and headed for bed. Three was going to come early.
***
Fargo moved as quietly as he could, hoping to get to the small meadow he’d observed yesterday before the Silverbacks became active. He could distantly sense them, and they seemed to be close together, so they must have a den in the area. Another hundred yards, that’s all I need. The sun is rising and I need to make sure I’m positioned so I’m not going to have to look into it. He extended his empath senses, and felt the wolves and mountain lions in the distance, and a couple of bears at his liteflyer, Helluva backup. Not that anybody would
believe it. And if they come in… it’ll probably be too late.
He found a spot he liked, checked the footing, and tramped down some of the grass, making sure there wasn’t anything to trip him up if he had to move fast. Now it was a waiting game, depending on the Silverbacks to come out of their den, wherever it was. He sensed it wasn’t far, and he scanned the ridge ahead of him, figuring it was somewhere up there. The other Silverbacks he’d taken had all denned up as high as possible. His empath sense picked up separation of the Silverbacks, and he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Bringing the rifle up, the ridge jumped into focus and he saw a Silverback disappearing behind some boulders. Well, at least one of them is up and moving.
He felt the wind shift, and sighed, Well, the game’s on now. I’m betting they’ll come after me as soon as they get the scent. He heard a coughing roar, and saw movement about the same place he’d seen the other Silverback, That’s got to be their den. Not that it’ll do me any good right now. Maybe later.
He turned to keep their mental presence in front of him, and smiled as they came down off the ridge together. Come on, stay together, please give me a shot! He was disappointed when they split, and both of them stayed downwind of him, which lessened his worry. He finally saw one, pacing just inside the tree line, and he turned toward it, honoring the immediate threat.
He felt the other Silverback moving away from its mate, while not quite getting directly behind him, but it had done the same thing he’d seen before. He glanced over and didn’t see the second one, and turned back to the one that was visible, and saw it turn its back on him. Oh please, please. Do that again! He brought the rifle up, making sure the safety was off, and watched as the holo sight popped on as soon as it touched his cheek. The Silverback gave another coughing roar, and turned to pace the other way, and Fargo put two beads into its hindquarters, dropping it in its tracks.
The second Silverback, now broadcasting hatred charged out of the woods as he pivoted, and he started shooting. Left, right, left, right, then three centered as the Silverback launched itself at him. He went to dodge, and his foot slipped, dropping him to his knees. He threw up the rifle in front of him, and it landed between the Silverback’s jaws as it bowled him over.
Time seemed to slow as, he managed to get one hand free, pulling his vibro knife. He stabbed up into the belly of the Silverback and ripped down, when he finally realized that it wasn’t moving. He squirmed out from underneath it, grunting and pushing, and doing his best to stay clear of the claws. Gotta get out, not sure if the other one is dead, Deity this sumbitch is heavy!
With a final panicked heave, he got clear, vibro knife in his hand and he pulled frantically at the rifle. He managed to pry it out of the Silverback’s mouth, and saw that the holoscope was destroyed. Dammit! That is… inconvenient. He cycled the action, stepped back and fired a round into the ground. The rifle cycled, and he limped over to the first Silverback, pumping two more beads into it from behind. That one never moved, and he grunted in relief.
He turned off the vibro knife, sheathed it, and started limping back to where he’d left the lightflyer, At least I survived that. And those two pelts are going to be worth something. They look heavier than the other ones. I’ll bring the flyer back up, skin them out, and… He sensed other presences, and felt the wolves, mountain lions and bears moving in. Maybe get it done before they tear the hell out of the pelts. He picked up the pace and made it back to the lightflyer, climbed painfully in, and quickly flew it back to the meadow. There were animals around both carcasses, but thankfully hadn’t torn into them yet. He landed and stepped out of the liteflyer, then walked slowly toward the first carcass. The animals opened a path for him, and sniffed at him as he walked by, radiating as much peace as he could.
The female wolf he thought of as the matriarch walked up stiff legged, and licked his hand before she squatted and peed on the carcass, followed by a mountain lion, and then the female bear he recognized from the waterfall. He thought she might also be Urso’s mother, but he wasn’t sure. After she’d finished, they all sat off to the side, looking intently at him.
Figuring that was his cue, he started skinning out the male Silverback, and cutting chunks of meat. He made three separate stacks, about ten feet apart as he skinned it, and was about 2/3 of the way through, when he felt a gentle push “Captain? Are you alright?”
Confused, he stood, looking around. “MobyDineah? Where are you?”
“We are south of you. We can feel you are surrounded by animals and slightly wounded?”
Fargo laughed, looking around he saw about fifty animals, “I’m fine. I took out a couple of Silverbacks, and one of them landed on me. Twisted my knee a little bit. There are a few animals waiting patiently for me to feed them.”
“Can we help?”
Fargo looked around and found the female wolf, he shut off the vibro knife and limped over to her, then reached out, remembering MobyDineah and doing his best to send a picture of them from his memory. He sent what he hoped was the right direction, thinking of downwind, but was stumped on how to send a distance. The matriarch cocked her head, barked once, and trotted off in the right direction, “Um, if a big female wolf comes up to you in the next few segs, I think she’ll bring you back here. If not, stay away until I get these damn things skinned out.”
He felt Dineah’s ‘softer’ mind touch, and her humor, “Sounds like you’ve been working with the animals.”
“I think this one is Canis’ mother. I think… I’m roughly in the center of the meadow, about twenty yards west of the liteflyer.” He went back to skinning and cutting meat, making bigger piles and marveling at the intermixed animals sitting patiently, except for one lion cub, who dared to dart forward and try to grab a chunk of meat. It got smacked down, picked up by the nape of the neck, and carried back to the pack.
A couple of segs later, MobyDineah sent, “Yes, the wolf found us, sniffed us, and is now looking at us.”
“Okay, start walking this way, and let’s see what happens.” Maybe five segs later, just as he finished up the first carcass, he saw them walking slowly behind the matriarch, looking around in wonder.
“We have never seen anything like this. We cannot believe these animals have not attacked you or the carcasses. Amazing. And they truly do intermix. What can we do?”
Fargo hoisted the hide up on his shoulder, carrying it slowly to the liteflyer, “First thing is to get this one loaded, then I’m going to skin the other one do the same piles on the meat. Let me walk to you, and lead you to the other carcass, it’s in the edge of the woods.”
They stopped where they were, and Fargo limped over to them, shook hands and said, “You are braver than I would be. If I’d sensed this many animals, I’d have been gone in the opposite direction in a hurry.”
Dineah trilled a laugh, “We were watched from the time we cleared the settlement and got in the woods. But they never tried to charge us or anything else. We heard the shots, and stopped. That’s when we reached out, not realizing it was you.”
Fargo smiled. “So you were just out for another little stroll?” He started leading them through the animals, then changed directions, “Might as well introduce you to the other matriarchs. I think I told you the hierarchy is backward, with females in charge?”
Moby nodded. “You did.” They stopped in front of the mountain lion, and they both held out their hands. She sniffed both of them, then licked their hands, “She just sent something. Maybe a scent and taste for us?”
Fargo shook his head. “I didn’t catch anything.” He led them to the bear, and she did the same thing. This time he concentrated, and felt something, “I felt something that time, but nothing… specific.”
Dineah replied, “I think scents. Didn’t you say they all smelled you?”
He nodded as he led off toward the tree line. “Every one of them did. I was scared spitless.”
Moby grinned as Dineah trilled another laugh. Some of the animals followed them, led
by the matriarchs while the others separated by species and began eating the mounds of meat Fargo had carved. Fargo laughed. “I think there is one cub that’s in serious trouble, it tried to grab some meat earlier, and now it’s being herded over here with us. That’s gotta be frustrating.”
Dineah said, “I think it’s called a learning experience.” Moby and Fargo laughed as she said, “Can we help with the skinning?”
“If you want to. If you do, this will go quicker and the sooner we’re away from them, the better, before they get frustrated. I know if I was hungry and there was fresh meat, I wouldn’t want to be sitting around waiting.”
They got to the carcass and Moby said, “Only two rounds? I thought you said it takes a lot more.”
They flipped the carcass over, and Fargo quickly slit the skin down the belly of the female, then split the gut, showing them the hearts and lungs, “A couple of shots from the rear can get to the hearts and lungs without having to break the pelvic bones. She turned far enough away to give me a decent shot and I took it before they got their attack set up.”
Moby and Dineah quickly took over the skinning, leaving Fargo amazed at not only their quickness, but how precisely they took the hide off. He was cutting and carrying meat as quickly as he could, and there was soon another three piles of meat spaced out just outside the woods.
Once they’d finished, Moby deftly folded the hide, picking it up like it weighed nothing, and they headed back to the liteflyer. He sent what he thought of as gift to the matriarchs as they cleared the meat piles, and the animals fell to with a vengeance, with the little cub leading the way. All three of them smiled at that, and once they were back at the liteflyer, Moby easily hoisted it into the cargo area.
“Are you going back to your cabin?”
Fargo looked down at himself, “Yes. It wouldn’t be a good idea for me to show up at the spaceport looking like this, and my sister would probably kill me on general principles.” He looked around, “Um, I can reconfigure the liteflyer, and you can ride with me, if you want.”