Frustration pushes back his curiosity and assails caution. He thrusts his arms in again, scraping the soft body, claws instinctually sinking into the skin to hold it still. Ah, it knows! He can see the knowledge in the sweet despair of its eyes! The solution is clear in his mind as he extends his tongue with its rough, rasping surface to scrape and tear a thousand small cuts across the skin and release the cherished fluids.
Excited about the prospects of again tasting the hot addictive liquid, he greedily flicks his tongue out to dart across in a blood-searing arch. Surprise throws him back as the stringent chemicals within the field burn into his tongue. A sharp, bitter infusion cascades into his being to sink down into and enflame his gut. He roars in anger and surprise as his confused brother runs to his side.
The raptor gutting claws of his feet rapple in reaction against the hard, unnaturally smooth floor and he strikes out at the prey just as a figure enters the door.
* * * * *
Doctor Ian Graeme stopped in the middle of a sentence as he was talking with Paul Wenford. A look of shock came to his face and he shouted, ‘My God, it’s Cindy. She’s going into tachycardia!’ He took off, running across the field from where they were watching the board members depart for the Argos.
‘She should be sedated and past the most critical stages. Now I have a report from the unit that her heart is beating like a wee trapped fawn and she’s in extreme duress!’ He yelled as they ran back to the infirmary. Alex and Tom came up the trail from the other side just as they approached the door.
Alex shouted over to them, ‘Doctor Graeme we just had an entry alert into your infirmary from Brian Folsome. We were already over when this med-alert was raised!’
They threw open the door, tripping over the body sprawled on the floor. Alex raced through and into the back room followed by Ian who pushed by him with a scream, ‘My God, just what do ye think yer doin’ ye heathen animal!’
The dark devil’s foot swung down, encountering the field. It penetrated the field and the raptor’s killing claw cut deeply into the supple figure in the center. The massive claw sunk deeply into the soft flesh and there it stuck. The dinosaur screamed in fury, small arms thrashing while frantically flailing at the floor with its other leg. Each unbalanced jolt of the black ghost cutting deeper, rending flesh and core of its victim. A four-inch long talon held firm, trapped within the field-enclosed flesh of the victim. One great screeching call filled the room, confusing the second dinosaur. Then, as Alex and Tom leaped in, a last frantic thrust is followed by release and the dinosaur falls free to the floor.
Pure reaction drives the second black ghost’s charge against the two humans. It strikes only to bounce from the armored, high-gravity dense bodies of the humans. The strike is enough to off balance the humans and they stagger back. Rising instantly, the dark figures take advantage of the unbalances humans and flee through the door knocking Ian to the ground. They are gone in an instant.
Paul Wenford looked around in shock. They had passed within a hair’s width of him without touching. Ian lay on the floor, holding his side. Tom and Alex sprang from the floor to run in pursuit of the attackers.
‘Come on Tom,’ Alex calls across their local net, ‘Buddy says they are headed toward the housing complex. We gotta turn them.’
Slowly Ian rises, holding his side and his breath. He looks quickly to the other end of the room and then limps outside. Paul looks across the room to see what has driven the doctor out so quickly. A six foot, tube-shaped object swirls where Cindy once floated in the air. It is dark red, almost black in color with bright red streaks churning about its surface. The floor beneath the cocoon is scattered with deep brown, long dry flakes and tenuous-black strings of matter.
Paul can hear Ian moving in the next room. He runs out to see if he can help. Ian sits stooped before him on the floor, hovering over Brian’s body. Brian moans as the doctor passes his hand gently across his scalp. Ian’s eyes are defocused as he calmly hovers over the engineer, viewing a Hive Tab display of measured internal cranial structure and brain activity carried to him from the field of the ring-sensor on his hand.
‘Ah laddie, glad to see ya comin’ around.’ Ian softly speaks in the strong brogue that rises even higher in times of stress. ‘Ye’ll be sore of head for a bit but ‘tis nothing ta fear. Sure as we have a fix fer it.’
‘Doctor Graeme! What about Cindy? Hurry!’ Paul shouts in disbelief at the strangely calm, immobile Ian.
Ian raises his head slowly, a small tear in his eye threatening to overflow across his cheek, ‘Naw, I fear ‘tis nothin’ we can do fer ta bonnie lass. ‘Cept of course a wee prayer fer her soul.’
* * * * *
‘God damn distractions! Now we gotta go running around after these bozos. Why couldn’t they mind their own business. I catch them I’m gonna ring their necks.’ Anton Dotschkal grumbled to himself as he put on a battle helmet and shouldered his rifle. ‘At least my back doesn’t hurt quite as much. Probably all the running and jumping and climbing … I’m gonna kill them!’
Anton hurried out of the door just as Dan Drake and David Pope came jogging up the path. ‘See, told you I’d be ready. Let’s move.’
Dan didn’t even pause, ‘I want to hurry over toward the Argos. Tom reported that they were headed this way. I fear Mark and the board members are right in their path. Let’s move.’
They followed the main, stone-lined path across the open quadrangle and then cut through some bushes by a small blue, very deep pond. Tension filled the air. Most of the staff are staying indoors. Even the small Hype chicks that normally played across the plateau weren’t around. A number of the Station’s techs had volunteered to stay in the warren tunnels, guarding the entrances to the larger halls. The normal music, singing and melodious constant whistles of Cretaceous Station are all gone.
Rising to the crest of the small ridge that surrounds the pond, the team can see the Argos on its pad across the low brushland. ‘There are our visitors. I want to form in behind them to set up a perimeter, let’s go.’
They jog across the high brush-sided trail when David silently calls across the net, ‘A track! Dan, swing over this way. This looks like their trail. Hurry, they’re just ahead of us.’
A call from Alex sings in over their local net, ‘Dan, I just got an eyeball on them. Watch it! They are just ahead of you. They’re headed toward the Argos. I’m right behind you.’
David took off at a run with Anton close behind him. The tracks fled down the main trail. Unlike their previous movement, all pretense of stealth is gone as the black ghosts flee from the encounter at the infirmary. David swings around a curve to briefly see a dark shape passing around a corner. They are between him and the Argos with every chance in the world that a wild shot could strike the fleeing board members. He takes a chance and fires a single shot at the fleeing raptor. The dinosaur hears the hypervelocity crack of the slug pass by and hesitates in his flight the barest fraction of a second, but it’s enough.
David charges right into the dinosaur, knocking it to the ground from behind with the full force of his body. The dinosaur, nearly as big as David, grunts with the impact and sings a sharp warble that sounds like marbles rolling in an empty can.
David swings his rifle around with his free hand, missing the dinosaur as it twists. His rifle flies to the side but he manages to lock onto the raptor with his now free hand. His fingers blindly grab flesh and feathers and he pulls, their tips raking across the chest of the beast. As they roll to the ground, he sees the other black dinosaur flying at him.
The other black ghost, just up the path, had turned when it heard the call and now is charging back. Jaws wide open; it leaps through the air with dagger-like five inch claws on its feet extended before it. David twists to avoid the claws just as Anton’s leg strikes the side of his helmet, lights flash across his eyes but he holds on for dear life.
Combatants struggling down about his feet, Anton doesn’t even feel the blow to his knee as he
braces his legs to block the charging black ghost. His hands rise outward toward it, reaching for a grip on the end of the feather-coated legs, trying to avoid the razor-like claws. His right hand misses and swings up into its mouth but the other grabs, slips and deflects the leg, slipping to dig deep into its groin. Anton’s massive frame trembles with the impact of the charging animal. He bends his knees, shifting in response to the sudden load. His fingers dig into jaw and the tough hide inside the struggling leg. He shoulders the sudden weight and turns with a twist to pull and flip the charging raptor. The massive black figure rolls over them, stunned by the impact and fury of the hard, dense muscles gripping it like a vise. Reactions clamp down on the soft flesh of Anton’s arm in it’s mouth, dragging him along.
Anton and the black ghost tumble across the two struggling figures below them to land in the bushes. Dan has just come up on the melee, frantically looking for a grip as the four figures roll and tumble before him. Without thinking, he see’s Anton’s arm and reaches into the jaws of the beast. He yanks, teeth cutting into his fingers and the jaws separate just enough to allow Anton’s hand to pull free.
Instead of backing off, Anton lowers his jaw, repositions his arm and legs and digs deeper into the gut of the beast below him. One of the raptor’s legs swing up between them and a sharp claw rakes down across Anton’s belly. Active armor instantly hardens in response across his chest, saving his life and trapping the claw between them. The raptor screams and, with a massive push with his leg, the black ghost lifts both Anton and Dan up, throwing them to the side. The black fury twists free, rolling in the opposite direction.
David is down at the bottom of the pounding, tangled web of thrashing bodies. Dazed, he holds on for dear life, smothered by the very weight of the struggle on top of him and frantically trying to catch a breath of fresh air. The entire area is awash with a strong acrid smell. His head begins to spin as he braces his back against the ground and pushes. Vision begins to fade as the fumes fill his head.
The dinosaur stands and turns back in to snap at Dan’s leg. It’s teeth miss the skin but grab onto the still rock-hard cloth of his armor. The second black ghost suddenly flips into the air with the force of Dan’s frantic push, knocking both of them down. They jump to their feet, the two black ghosts are suddenly free. In unison they scream, the sound rising like a steam whistle into a head thumping blast and spring off into the brush at a speed no human could hope to follow.
Dan rolls to his feet, brings his rifle up but the raptors have once again vanished. The tracks lead off across the top of the plateau, away from the Argos.
David struggles to rise from the fume laden ground, breathing in deep gasps of cleaner air. Anton drops to one knee and removes his helmet. His hair is matted with sweat as he rubs his fingers through the wet, thinning hair at the top of his head.
Dan looks over at him, small words escape from lungs frantically trying to force oxygen into his bloodstream, ‘You ok Anton?’
A low grumble is his only answer, ‘My back hurts … and my knee hurts.’
* * * * *
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, please board the Argos right now! I’ll address all of your questions after we get inside.’ Mark pushed the visitors over toward the pad holding the main ship of the research station. Three other security officers arrive as he speaks, rifles at the ready and wearing full body active-armor. They turn their backs to the guests, forming a perimeter with others as they arrive.
Never having seen a full ArmorAll suit, some of the guests turn and stare at the men, ‘Please ladies. Don’t stop! We need to board immediately.’
‘What’s that awful noise?’ One of them shouts.
‘That is a dinosaur. The predator type and he is close. Please quickly move into the Argos!’
Safely inside the Argos, Mark guides the guests into the Star Lounge followed by an out-of-breath Dan and Doctor Matt Zoeller. The walls of the lounge display the Station around it making the area appear as though the guests were seated on an open balcony. Most of the perimeter guard has already dispersed but armed men in active-armor are forming a line on a hill to the south.
Justin Rather stood by the walldisplay, looking out over the grounds, ‘How could this happen? Why don’t you simply surround and capture them?’
‘Oh my, God save us!’ Mrs. Taylor exclaimed. The information was just beginning to come across the non-employee Hive-Tab network. Since there isn’t a formal news network on the Station, all of the information and automated self-reporting of the network is open to the participants.
Mark pushed to the front of the group. ‘Please sit down and let me explain what is happening. Francis, could you bring some coffee and juice out for us. Also, bring everyone some water.’
‘Ok, how do I begin? Your timing could not be worse but I will hold nothing back. I have also instructed all of my people to answer any questions honestly and fully.’
Suzan Esque immediately stood up, ‘Honestly and fully! A lot of good that does us! We can’t even communicate back with the home office. I tried to send a message probe back this morning and they told me all communications are blocked! This is an outrage!’
‘We are far from home Suzan and message probes are too expensive for casual communications even for board members. You’ll be able to send messages when the rest of us do. Let me get back to the immediate topic.’
‘This series of attacks are unprecedented and, as fate would have it, they started coincidentally with your arrival. To answer your question Justin, we can’t track them. The line-up you see on the hill is beginning a drive that will either eliminate the threat or at least drive them from the plateau.’
‘One problem with the Hive-Tabs is that there is so much information on the network that sometimes you need to be pointed to the right information. If you look at Anton Dotschkal’s reports from three days ago you’ll see our first extended contact. Apparently, these particular dinosaurs are extremely adaptive, and yes, they are dinosaurs and not “big birds” ladies.’
‘Paul Wenford has been studying them rather closely and he has noticed a measured ability to not only camouflage themselves from our visual sensors but even those devices using the higher frequency bandwidths of the AutoSentinels. We have been able to determine that they actively tuned their stealth capability to evade the AutoSentinel systems and attack Anton’s encampment.’
‘Doctor Graeme has confirmed that they tracked Doctor Cindy Decker, who was injured last night, into the infirmary and killed her while she was unconscious and undergoing medical treatment for an earlier attack. This tells us a lot about the intelligence and habits of these dinosaurs.’
Deborah Clinow spoke up, ‘How can we hope to establish a starport or more importantly a resort here if we can’t even protect ourselves?’
‘We are making progress on this Deborah. This is the first time we’ve encountered such a creature in our seven months on station. There can’t be very many of them in the area since we’ve seen only two so far. Please keep in mind that by coming here without invitation you have placed yourselves in a very risky position. This is not a research park in some civilized industrial zone. You are in a wilderness, a very wild environment the likes of which we cannot experience on our home world. We experience surprises on a daily basis here. Thankfully most have not been as serious as the problems these two visitors have given us.’
‘When we solve this immediate problem. When the resort is finally completed. Then there will be sufficient security at the resort to allow us to bring in colonists and tourists. Until then I welcome you to the frontiers of science. As you see, true research goes way beyond the safe, protected halls of the university.’
* * * * *
They feel very uncomfortable. This is not the proper way to hunt. The prey should not be tracking you and attacking without fear. The prey should not even know that you are around. It’s time to leave.
They had always felt pride in their hunting. A feeling of power and accomplishment that
made the chase and the kill taste ever so much better. Now, for the first time, they experience a new feeling, revenge. They will return.
Carefully they move across the camp. Stopping to drink at a small blue pond, they hear sounds above them. Now is not the time for hunting, there is too much tension in the area. Do not use the trail, danger stalks the trail. They swing over toward the sound of the ocean, an area where the trees and brush are thicker providing cover and the ocean will protect them on one side. Carefully and silently moving westward along the edge of the plateau toward the safety of the mainland.
Suddenly, ahead of them the strange sounds made by this new prey fill the air. Curiosity overcomes their anxious flight and they swing over. A mixed group stands peacefully in the sun, unworried and oh so tempting. This is worthy of examination.
* * * * *
Brittany Wenford gazed out over the ocean from the foot of her patio. She never grows tired of the view. For one thing, it’s always changing. Today the rich, vibrant blues of the sky and sea are met with the contrasting bright colors of animals all around them. Some are common and beautiful like the long-necked plesiosaurs playing across the top of the water. Numerous water-birds and the small lizard-like pterosaurs dive for the fish and small animals that flee before these rapid, graceful reptiles. One of her favorite visitors comes by a little less often, gliding gracefully overhead, exhibiting beautiful forty foot wide and colorful wingspans as they glide high above the plateau, passing inland to follow the long course of the river. Her mother called them pteranodon.
A low wall surrounds the sandstone surface of the patio on which she stands. Their home sits on a mound overlooking the vast, wild panorama of sea, river, sky and the plains and mountains of the west. An excellent view for a beautiful SilFuse constructed home. The structure is made of enriched and matrixed silicon drawn from the surrounding sands of the beach. It is designed to blend into the surroundings so well that it can barely be seen from fifty yards away.
Hunter's Moon (Cretaceous Station Book 2) Page 20