Hunter's Moon (Cretaceous Station Book 2)

by Terrence Zavecz

  Suddenly it feels like a tree-trunk fell and hit him on the side. Holding and pulling with every ounce of his strength on the beast’s neck, Corey twists and looks to the side. A second, black-feathered head pushes in and grabs his arm. The body armor hardens, fixing his arm in an embrace around the black dinosaur below him.

  The head pulls on his arm and dark-brown feathers fly into the air, ripped from the neck of the dinosaur. Corey twists around, his Ka-Bar knife suddenly in his free hand but the attacker is gone.

  Shots fire around him. They are shooting into the brush behind them. Anton!

  Corey falls to his knees and twists over, a cold fear fills his veins. Anton is lying on the ground, eyes closed. Then suddenly his eyes open, ‘I’m getting too old for this shit!’

  ‘Hold your fire! Friendlies coming in! Hold your fire!’ the call sounds across their helmet communicators.

  Dan stands up and walks over to Corey, ‘How’s Anton!’

  ‘Anton’s quite all right thank you sir! God damn it! Who the hell did they spot? Who gave us away?’ Anton sits up slowly. ‘Oh shit but that hurt. By the way, thanks Corey. It was getting a bit dicey there. Here, give me a hand my back is killing me. How do you get this god awful smell out of your head?’

  Corey helped Anton stand up and looked up at Dan for the first time, ‘Did you see that. They were under fire but the second one stopped to help his buddy. He freed his buddy and then they didn’t even hesitate and try for a kill.’

  ‘Yeah, and I saw them leap too! First time I ever got that close to anything that big that could also glide so quickly. We didn’t expect that at all.’

  The Troondon didn’t stop to see how the humans were. They pursued the beasts into the brush. ‘Won’t do them any good. Those two will get into that thick brush and they’ll never get caught.’

  Corey looked at his arm, ‘Well, it looks like we wounded them. I assume this blood is from one of them and it’s not yours Anton.’

  ‘That’s not necessarily a good thing.’ David said as he stared off into the brush. Now we have a wounded animal on our hands. I was hoping that we could at least scare them off if we didn’t kill them. Now they’ll stay around to heal and they’ll have to eat. We need to be careful.’

  ‘OK, but no more game drives. You can’t corner something that fast and agile.’ Dan said as he went back to pick up the rest of his field kit. ‘…. I won’t underestimate their speed or their intelligence again. By the way, don’t contaminate that blood sample. I want a full genetic workup run on it.’

  * * * * *

  David Pope set down his mug of coffee and stared into the black depths of the cup. ‘Well, I guess we’re a little lower on the god-scale for the troondon. They did their part and we blew it.’

  The meeting room was closed and somber. Grey walls surrounded the group; they were in no mood for the distracting vistas just outside of the main Argos meeting room.

  ‘I told you not to do this.’ Matt countered. ‘Luckily no one was hurt.’

  Anton growled under his breath as he shifted again in his seat. You can see the pain in his face as he arches and stretches, markedly quiet as he rubs his lower back.

  Matt continues, ‘You shouldn’t feel so bad, maybe some good will come out of this. From all that you described they are intelligent. They’ve seen the threat we can pose and most likely are no longer in the area. How about we try it my way now and just stay in the Station area for the next few days.’

  Dan looked at Mark and then Corey and David. He could tell that there was no agreement there. Alex on the other hand is entirely noncommittal. Yeah, he’ll go along with any decision.

  Mark took another sip from his coffee. ‘No comments Dan? Gonna sit this one out?’

  ‘It’s your call Mark. I know the board members are up there in orbit and will be here tomorrow. I don’t agree with just sitting back but right now I’m too pissed off to know if it’s logic or my emotions speaking…. and I think that’s true for a lot of us around this table.’ Dan looked over toward the others around the table.

  Marks eyes lose focus for a second as he commands his Hive Tab to activate the walldisplay, ‘Ok then, let’s look at what we have learned and apply some cold and hard logic to our decision process.’ A short segment of the first raptor as he entered into the kill zone flashed across the screen, the image halting briefly at a few of the points in his movement.

  ‘Did you see the way he entered the ambush? They were already on the run but they stopped before entering the clearing. Watch this, we’ve enhanced their images here in the shadows. See that? Their head movements changed pattern. They’ve gone from threat scanning to a sequence of movements that indicate there were looking for something.’

  ‘Pretty obvious, they suspected a trap even before entering a clearing. Some movement, smell or instinct warned him at this point. He may have even seen the small movement of the trigger pull. This should put aside any thoughts you may have of someone queering the ambush. It didn’t happen, we underestimated them.’

  ‘These are the Hunter images taken after they ran off. Toshi and Seth were able to track them across the edge of the swamp and over an open field. See how they stay on the dense edges of the clearing. Now watch this, movement sensors and infra-red do quite nicely until we get to this point.’

  ‘Here’s where the troondon begin to close in. All of a sudden our infra-red heat signature is gone. How did they do that Matt? David? Think that’s strange, here we lost their movement signatures. They simply disappeared like a ghost into the darkness of the swamps.’

  ‘Gentlemen, I believe we have a most formidable adversary here and we have been grossly underestimating them. We’ve underestimated both their physical prowess as well as their intelligence. We have a few more items to show you.’

  ‘We’ve modeled their path of travel. They’ve maintained a clear vector toward the coastal swamp ever since the drive began. The bad news is that puts them in easy striking position for a visit of us here on the plateau. They may have changed this at the last minute but unfortunately, we lost track of them. We’ll have to assume they are not leaving the area.’

  ‘You’ve all reported the smell that seems to rise when these animals are agitated. Samples from the helmet sensors as well as the blood sample on Corey’s shirtsleeve suggest that the smell is a defensive mechanism that is also used to subdue their prey. I won’t bore you with the chemical compound but what we have here is unique to any animal this size.’

  ‘The chemical can be delivered by a bite or through the olfactory glands. That is, you can smell it. You would need a lot of the compound to produce a reaction from contact with your skin. I don’t think you have to worry about getting a few drops of blood on your skin.’

  ‘Apparently, this is, in large part, what was responsible for Mister Luti’s gruesome death. The chemical induces a drugged and partial paralysis if it enters the blood stream in sufficient strength. This allowed the dinosaurs to keep Sotak’s heart pumping; holding him unable to move as they drained his blood.’

  ‘We haven’t been able to identify them from the images we managed to capture. Sara’s actually quite puzzled by the images she’s seen so far. There’s no question about their pelvic structure though, they are dinosaurs. That’s about the total sum of what we know of them.’

  Alex spoke up for the first time, ‘I think you hit it right on the head Mister Nolen. They move swift and can appear or disappear with an uncanny ease. Just like a black ghost.’

  ‘Oh, now let’s not start that. Spirits are bad enough in the camp. Ah… no pun intended.’

  ‘Dan, is everyone back safely behind the security perimeter of the Station now?’

  ‘Yes sir. We’ve bottled the whole plateau up tight with extra sensors and even human guards.’

  ‘All right, let’s think on it and meet in the morning, say around five AM.’

  A deep blanket of stars filled the night as they left the Argos to travel back to their rooms. An
ton moved over to Alex as they walked the pebble-strewn pathway.

  ‘You should watch where you’re walking Alex instead of stargazing. Are you looking for the orbiter?’

  ‘Hi Anton. No, I was thinking about the beauty of this place and wondering if I’m making the right choice. I’ve been thinking about asking for permanent assignment here. I’d like to retire in a couple of years…. Yes I know you are going to tell me it’s too early. I’d still like to retire and move up around Blackbird Valley.’

  ‘These Black Ghosts put a whole new perspective on those plans though. This is just the latest surprise that we’ve come across. New surprises just seem to pop up, one right after another around here. Maybe moving off on my own is not a good idea.’

  Anton walked a few steps, ‘I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself. They may seem really bad right now but that’s only because we don’t know enough about them. They’ve got to have a weakness we can take advantage of. Look at it this way, with any luck that will be the last we see of them. Give it a few days.’

  ‘No, I think I’ve already made up my mind. We need to hunt them down. If they left, then that’s just fine too. However, we can’t afford to wait for them to make the next move. So as far as I’m concerned, the only question now is how do we do it?’

  The group walked back along the cliff trail, dropping Corey and David off to the safety of their homes. Then the remainder of the group returned to the dormitories used by those who preferred the community atmosphere.

  Two sets of eyes silently watched them enter the buildings. They waited and watched the lights, listening to the sounds of the community for a little while. Then two shadows moved silently back down the path toward the sea cliffs. Carefully moving from shadow to shadow.

  * * * * *

  ‘Gee, thanks Eric but you don’t have to escort me home. It’s still light out and I’m only going to the dorms.’ Cindy Decker pushed Eric away but she was actually quite pleased he asked. The lab had been working really late these last few days and it would be nice to have someone to walk home with. Someone she didn’t have to talk shop to.

  Eric Beadler’s been with Blackwave Security for a year and a quarter now. It had been his first time off planet, first time at Jupiter and now he’s back at Earth again. He liked to kid the others, ‘Is that progress or is that progress?’

  Eric isn’t particularly interested in Cindy but it was better than his usual chores at network tuning for the Hive Tab interface with the security net. A good chance to get some easy exercise without someone calling you every minute. Yeah, there were a lot worse assignments than walking a girl back to her room.

  The skies around are filled with low flying birds and some other down-covered, skinny things that Dan keeps calling reptiles. The cry and song that they raise is almost deafening at sunset. He turned over to Cindy, ‘Ok, here’s the ridge line path. Quite a view from up here, heh?’

  ‘Yeah, it’s pretty but I’ve seen it every evening for the last seven months. Come on, I want to get home before the Hypes start coming out for evening song.’

  ‘Yeah, I understand. I kinda agree with you. Why all the fuss here on base? I can see it if we’re outside.’ Eric mumbles but a strange thought passes through the back of his mind, ‘She has the worst perfume on. Let’s get this over with.’

  ‘There’s a really strange odor out here tonight.’ Cindy commented as if on cue. ‘Have you ever seen any skunks around?’

  ‘No can’t …’

  ‘Eric, I just saw something over there ahead of us.’

  ‘Come on Cindy. It’s nothing but some Hype late for choir practice.’

  ‘No, I don’t want to go up that way. Come on, this way.’ She hurries down a side path.

  ‘I think it’s following us Eric.’

  ‘Now your’re startin’ to spook me. I can’t see a thing.’ Eric says as he pulls his pistol. ‘You’d better get your pistol out too.’

  Eric hears a small whimper as she unholsters her Python. ‘Oh, come on now. It’s probably nothing at all.’

  ‘Ok, now I hear something too. Come on let’s move a little faster. I’ll keep one eye on the trail behind us. You watch where we’re going. We’re almost at the dorm anyway.’

  ‘It’s so thick through here can barely see the trail ahead.’

  Cindy pushes down the side trail, travelling a little harder than normal. She’d been this way many times before. Through the bushes ahead and then over that little gully. ‘Ow!’ Cindy cried as she brushed by the low palm scrub.

  Eric was up to her in a second. ‘What’s the matter?’

  Cindy was holding her arm. She pulled her hand away and it had some blood on it.

  ‘I must have scraped my arm on that bush. Oh man that hurts!’

  ‘Palmettos have sharp leaves. On second thought, just what did you brush against. That isn’t a scratch, it’s more like a brush burn. Come on, let’s get moving, that sun’s going down too fast.’

  Eric didn’t even want to look for the bush she bumped into. He could feel something. ‘Humph, more likely I’m just spooking myself. Just a little further and I’ll go in with her.’

  They push on a little further, then into the low field. The dorm is just over the big group of bushes.

  ‘Eric, I just heard something again. Behind us!’

  ‘We’re almost there.’

  ‘Maybe we should have stayed on the ridge trail.’

  ‘Cindy, cut it out. I can see … Ow!’ Eric collapsed to the ground. ‘God damn it, my leg!’ He cried as he spun around and grabbed below his knee. His hands are covered in blood. ‘I think I was knifed below the armor! I can’t use my leg!’

  Cindy’s first reaction is to bend down and stop the bleeding. The entire back of his ankle is ripped open. Eric roughly pushes her away, ‘No, damn it. Run, get out of here and bring help! I told you I was attacked.’

  One look into his eyes and Cindy’s heart skipped a beat. She could feel the blood drain from her face as she turned to run. Blindly she runs off in the general direction of the safety of the dormitory.

  Every bush and stick seems to scratch her. Every clump of grass, pulls at her feet but she can see the lights of the building clearly now. Suddenly a pain shoots up her leg and she tumbles to the ground.

  Her leg burns. The skin is ripped down her calf. She looks around frantically! Nothing! A loud whimper leaves her throat but fear drives her to rise and run. Then a cry rises from the brush behind her. ‘Eric? No, that sounded like an animal in pain. So close! What is happening.’

  Suddenly her other arm is ripped open and she’s twisted to the ground again. He mind races with the pain, ‘What is going on, I can’t see anything …’ She lands on a clump of palm scrub, the wind knocked out of her. Then the sky darkens and she can see white teeth before her face. She reaches out to push it away, the mouth opens and a tongue flips out. It wraps around her arm and then flicks back and she screams in pain. Blood is flowing down her arm.

  The face comes down to her again. Cindy thrashes and suddenly her neck is burning and wet. She can hardly breathe. The stinging stench is suffocating her and it’s getting darker. Her thoughts flitter in fear, ‘so close! So .. close! So….. clo..’.

  A red haze of pain covers her eyes. Every inch of her body ripples with waves of fire! Someone is screaming! Eric? Does it really… matter. Waves of pain wash over her and… she can’t breathe. ‘Stop.. it! Please someone …’

  * * * * *

  This evening is different. The sun never sets behind the red-rimmed peaks in the west. Dark, threatening billows of vapor begin to fill the distant skyline, backlit by the bright flashes. The black clouds grow, covering the plains, moving east toward the shallow sea bringing an early darkness.

  Streaks of lighting ripple among the threatening grey towers of moisture, moving from back-lit cloud top to cloud top. None strike toward the ground. The sea echo’s the clap of thunder. Faint balls of green-bright luminescence race across the palm
etto swamps and the Hypes sing as the humans have never heard before.

  Then large drops of rain fall, thrusting dry dust into the air. Harder and harder, the rain descends in ever stronger waves. People move into their shelters and the Hypes are no longer to be heard.

  Six men trample out through the rough scrub fields. They walk through the lightning streaked landscape with impunity or disdain. Water streams across their scalps to flow in torrents down their face and back. Still they push on, calling to each other.

  ‘The cries came from this area.’

  ‘What would they have been doing so far off the trail? The general order was for all to be back inside …’

  ‘There’s a lot of trampled brush here sir. Here, I found a pistol.’

  ‘Query it, see who it belongs to!’

  ‘Eric Beadler sir. Something happened, the bushes are broken over this way.’

  ‘Well that’s one of them. Get back here and stay with the group!’

  ‘Scraps of cloth over here. Wow what a mess. There’s … bring a light.’

  David bent down to examine the mass of raw meat on the ground. Water poured across his eyes. ‘Everyone! Form a perimeter. This is a body and it’s still warm and breathing. We must have chased them off.’

  ‘Oh no. Not right here on the Station.’ Dan bent down to examine the mass closely. ‘Where do you even touch it to help?’

  ‘We need to call in, get a medical team out here right now. Tell Doctor Graeme he is not to come. Got that! I am not risking losing him on top of all this mess.’

  ‘I’ve already called it in. We’re tightening the security net also.’

  ‘We need to get her into a zero gravity, high oxygen field. Where are they?’

  ‘Her? Ok then that’s Ms. Decker. Where the hell is Eric?’

  ‘There’s marks in the ground over here sir. Looks like something beging drug across the trail.’

  Dan wiped the rain from his face as he walked over toward Tom, ‘Well, the rain hides most everything but it’s good for leaving mud trails.’