Hunter's Moon (Cretaceous Station Book 2)

by Terrence Zavecz

  Anton turns the boat and they begin to head for a part of the shoreline that is not so densely covered with brush.

  ‘Are you guys serious? We’re going on land?’

  David moved to the back of the boat and began unpacking one of the cargo bags. ‘Can’t do the job from on the boat Ed.’

  He pulls out extra clips for the Pythons and a small metal box. A second bag unloads a short tube and tripod.

  As they approach the shore a half dozen small dinos emerge from the brush. They watch, apparently fascinated by the boat coming directly at them. Two of them suddenly bristle, raise a crest of white feathers, and sing a warbled cry.

  ‘That sounds almost like he is asking us who we are.’ David commented.

  ‘Well they better move, that’s right where we’re going to beach this thing.’ Anton grumbled.

  The small dinos pulled back but didn’t run as they beached the boat. David and Ed jump out from the side as Anton flipped on the landing vibrator to help them pull it up.

  ‘That certainly got their attention.’ David nodded toward the now fleeing small dinosaurs who were screaming at the top of their lungs. ‘They certainly don’t like the Jensen’s vibrator.’

  The men unpacked a series of AutoSentinels and laid them out on the shoreline around the boat. ‘There’s nothing we can do about the back half still in the water. Ah wait, I’ll put one up on the aft section.’

  David walked back onto the shore, ‘There, that should discourage any visitors. Before I turn on the sentinels, you guys all have your call identity signals on, right?’

  Ed lifted his head, ‘I got contact with Alex. They are a half mile inland just west of that disturbance. They hunkered down for a bit. Seems they got quite a scare but everyone is ok including our two Black Ghosts.’

  ‘They said the dinos are heading right toward the river. That means the ghosts must be between us and them.’

  ‘Good, we can lay an ambush with them between us. Tell them to get up off their butts and find out just where these guys are tracking. There’s still a lot of ground to cover, they could come out anywhere along here. Are we close enough for helmet communicators yet?’

  ‘We are well within signal range but for some reason the signals keep cutting in and out.’

  ‘Nothing we can do about it. Come on, let’s finish and push out. Keep your eyes peeled. We aren’t the only ones around you know.’

  ‘One more happy thought David. Alex says the bad guys were being chased by a pack of perhaps as many as six big, green dinosaurs.’

  ‘Shit, just to make things interesting. How big?’

  ‘Big as a Hunter Recon and fast! He says they also tend to blend in well with the background.’

  ‘Ok, well these are certainly interesting times. Let’s secure the area until we return, are the sentinels on? Let’s push out.’

  * * * * *

  Alex stood and arched his back. ‘Ok, no rest for the weary. Up and at ‘em boys.’

  Tom extended a hand down to Corey, ‘Come on son, we can’t slow down now. Getting ready for the climax and we don’t want to miss the party.’

  Corey rose, his back hurt. His foot also hurt where the thing had stepped on it. He limped just a little as they moved out.

  ‘Aren’t you glad you came?’ Tom quipped.

  Corey turned and then gave Tom the biggest feral grin he could. Without a word, he turned back following Alex back down the trail.

  Alex took the team just to the south of the ambush site. He lifted his fist and they slid off to positions of cover while he scurried around the area ahead.

  A small, short air-filled whistle caught Tom’s attention. Alex was back already. He gave Corey a nudge and they moved off.

  Alex is really pushing it. No more of the cautious “move and watch” routine. Corey could see why, the tracks of the big dinos are widely spaced and deep. They are in hot pursuit and Alex must figure that everything else is gonna move out of the way. ‘Good, maybe they’ll do the job for us and we can go back with the boat.’

  They tracked the dinosaurs down through a low rain gully, which was thankfully dry, for about a quarter mile. It followed the general slope of the valley floor toward the river. The gully entered a tree-filled clearing.

  A clear trumpet call echoed through the valley followed by the low rattle of a warning. The call is close, just up ahead. ‘Hadrosaurids, I’ve been here long enough to recognize that call. They carry for miles!’ Corey thought, then he recalled their passage through the triceratops herd. ‘I bet they are going to pass right through the herd.’

  They pushed hard for a short distance and then he saw the first ones. Sure enough, they are going right through a herd of the duck-bills and the herd looks upset. The dinos are strangely silent but Corey can see a pocket of about a dozen in his limited vision over the edges of the ditch. One group of duck-bills formed into a defensive circle with several small ones in the center. ‘Holy Crap, they’re looking just ahead of us! The raptors must be just around this next corner or so.’

  They pass around a small bend and then he can see two green tails flicking in the air ahead. They appear and then are gone, replaced by three others and the quick bobbing of a head further down the gully.

  ‘Holy Crap, we’re heading right up their ….’

  A massive, dark orange head lifted out of the brush alongside the trail fifty feet ahead. Bright white teeth flash and the head is gone, replaced by a spray of black blood that lifted high into the air covering the trees and grass around it. The humans are close enough to smell the blood and stink of the wound and hear the cracking of the neck bones.

  Four dark orange bodies lifted out of the brush along the edges further down the gully, their dark red and orange tint clearly identifying them as T-rex. All stealth gone from their movements, the predators charged through the trees of the forest, pushing them over as though they were nothing more than stalks in a cornfield. A cry rises from the gully and three of the green dinosaurs jump in to meet the attackers. The air is mixed with the smell of blood and feces mixed with screams and deep growling sounds that penetrate, rattling the very bones of the humans.

  Alex pulled them off to the side, ‘I half anticipated this. Almost every duck-bill herd I’ve run across has a family of T-rexs staking claim to the herd. Actually, I thought they’d get hit further down the trail. Come on, if we sit here we’re gonna lose the Ghosts, this is just what they wanted to happen.’

  Alex poked his head up above the edge of the ditch, looked around for a second and then jump up onto the high ground. Tom immediately followed.

  ‘We gotta be outa our minds.’ Corey thought as he hopped up to the top of the ditch. ‘Even if we don’t meet up with one of these cat-fight goons then one of those hadrosaurids, who are already agitated, could do us in easily enough. Oh shit, not that way Alex…’

  Alex turned in, right toward the worst of the fighting. Not worried about any noise they might make, he pushed from bush to bush, staying as much as possible in the cover. The trees around them seemed to shake with the fury of the nearby fight and their ears rang in spite of the protection of their battle helmets. Alex pushed through a set of bushes and then suddenly backpedaled, knocking Tom off balance and to the ground. He didn’t say a word but shifted his path around the bush.

  Corey watched as he passed by the bush, two T-Rex’s are up and attacking one of the smaller green dinosaurs. A second green raptor is running around the three, snapping at their heels and looking for a chance to get a good bite in. Corey’s passage across the clear area took only a second but as he watched one of the T-rexs kicked out with a massive foot while holding onto the throat of the fallen green raptor. The sharp claws of the powerful leg struck the green raptor on the side. His side split open and white bones of the rib cage are pulled out and broken. The blow flings the smaller raptor into the air but Corey doesn’t stay around long enough to see where it landed.

  Alex scurries further into the bushes and then pushes
back in toward the trail. He pushes into another clearing and within feet of a pod of fifteen or so hadrosaurids bunched into a defensive circle. ‘Wow, I never thought I’d see that.’ Corey watches as they pass close to the group of duck-billed dinosaurs. ‘They stand shoulder to shoulder in the circle with young ones in the center, circle the wagons huh? Man, I wish they’d stop the painful low whistles and horn-like calls, can’t wait to get outta… shit, get back in the group you son of a gun. I’m not gonna bother you.’ Corey slapped one of the beasts with the barrel of his rifle as it lunged out after him. The flattened jaws of the animal hardly moved from the blow but it flinched and pulled back into the circle. ‘Come on Tom, push ahead we’re too close to these guys.’

  The noise and fighting fades into the background as they pull back into the forest. ‘Got it! We’re back on their trail. Those sons of guns set us all up. Come on.’ Alex called back, all pretense of stealth now gone.

  They are running now and Corey’s foot hurts even more. They pushed on, expecting to see one of the black demons any second. Corey watches ahead as they run, ‘Remember to look behind you.’ He chides himself. ‘Never realized the feeling of this position at the back of the group since Tom always took it. God but my backside feels exposed. Don’t stumble, makes too much …’

  A silent blackness suddenly filled the sky above him, Corey lifted his foot to brace for the impact but his feet are swept out from under him. Corey falls hard on his side and a hard black body lands on top of him. He lifts his rifle up to push it away but it skids out and a broad jaw filled with teeth reaches in toward his throat. He can feel claws ripping at his side, trying to get under his armpit to the soft, unguarded area of his instantly hardened ArmorAll.

  Time seems to slow as he clamps his arm down in reaction, losing the balance of his rifle against the throat of his attacker. His universe fills with a pungent, awful ammonia like-scent leaving him gasping for air. Anger flies through him and the world around him turns red with the tinges of his fury. With a vicious thrust of his arms he pushes and at the same time tries to kick at the attacker holding his legs. He just can’t get a grip. A sudden blow hits him taking the air from his lungs and the black demon on top of him falls to the side. It scrambles off delivering one last vicious kick to Corey’s side. The blow knocks him to the side and he’s rolled over again as the body below him pushes.

  A second blow fills the air, snapping his head back with the onrush of its passage and then he settles to the ground. Something grabs him from behind, he twists and swings the butt of his rifle. A hand suddenly grips the stock and holds him back. Then he realizes his eyes are closed and he opens them to see Alex.

  ‘Alex? What happened?’ His body collapses in relief.

  ‘You’re ok! You’re ok! Settle down now, relax. They’re gone, that’s it, ease up. Easy, ok Tom, I think he’s ok.’

  ‘Wha… what happened?’ Corey stammered. ‘Oh, shit! Did we get them? Ah, am I ok?’

  ‘Easy now. Come on, we gotta move. I want to put some distance between us and this place.’ They propped him up. ‘You gonna be able to keep up…. Watch it!’

  A rock flew out from the brush at them. Alex and Tom both turned and a Black Ghost suddenly flew out behind them. It passed so quickly across the small clearing in front of the three that Alex barely caught a brief glimpse of the creature. Tom is down on the ground! ‘Tom, Tom are you ok?’

  ‘Yeah, shit let’s move.’ He growled as he turned on his side and fired three shots into the bush where the charging Black Ghost had passed, ‘If I hadn’t of had this armor on I’d be dead. We gotta push ahead. Gotta move, into the brush!’

  They ran down through the forest, all thoughts of the trail forgotten. Corey could hear branches and twigs crashing in the woods behind and around them. The dinos knew they had them on the run but the humans managed to pull ahead ever so slightly. ‘Quick!’ Alex shouted as he turned around some boulders.

  The sounds of the pursuit passed by. ‘Here, back this way. Towards the ambush site.’

  A low singing scream comes through the jungle ahead of them and then the sounds of their pursuit return. ‘Next gully, ambush setup!’ Alex called.

  Corey ran with Tom pushing him from behind. He saw Alex suddenly turn ahead on the trail and followed. They fell into a wet bog, and scurried behind some of the low brush at its center.

  The two Black Ghosts appear from the brush right behind them. ‘Now!’ Alex raises and fires full automatic. Tom’s rifle is firing and Corey is just bringing his up but their attackers are gone.

  ‘Shit but they are fast!’ Alex grumbles and turns, scanning the edge of the clearing behind him.

  ‘Didn’t even see them leave. How did we miss? They just disappeared!’ Tom griped.

  ‘Just watch the edge. Listen!’

  ‘They’re waiting! I can feel it. They’re still there.’

  ‘Hang on, calm down and think.’

  Corey rubbed his head and eyes, ‘I still can’t see straight. What the heck happened back there?’

  ‘You’ll come around. Both of them jumped you and tried to do you in real quick.’

  ‘You’re telling me? I’ve got news for you guys, they seem to know just where the weak spots in the armor is. They went right for them, it was everything I could do to fend them off.’

  ‘Well you were doing pretty good until they gassed you.’ Tom commented as he scanned around them.

  ‘Yeah, but something hit me like a baseball bat. I just couldn’t see what.’

  Alex spoke up, ‘That’s my fault. I couldn’t fire for fear of hitting you and I couldn’t reach you in time so I tried to graze the one on top. What you felt was the concussion of the hypersonic slug as it passed by. Seems like it worked so say “thank you”.’

  ‘Ok, thank you for getting them off but you almost snapped my neck. Cheeze, I can’t get that damn smell out of my nose, it’s making me sick to my stomach and my ears hurt.’

  ‘The chemicals probably on your clothes. It’ll pass. Keep watching and stay downwind.’

  ‘Yep, I’m feeling a little better already but I’m gonna be sore tomorrow. Wanna push them now? I’m ready for it.’

  ‘Yeah, time to try it again. Thank God they don’t have weapons or our ass would be grass.’ Tom started getting up.

  ‘Didn’t you see that rock fly by when they hit you? They may be learning from our encounter. Keep on your toes.’ Alex pushed up to one knee. ‘Ok, we’ve gotta get the advantage back. Here’s what we …’

  A rock the size of a softball flew into the bush missing Alex’s head by less than a yard. Then another sailed into the brush.

  ‘They’re trying to flush us out! Let’s go along with it. I’ll sprint across the swamp and stop at the edge. I’m gonna fire into those bushes over there and leave my back open. You guys get set and wait for it. One of them has gotta come around and hit me from behind. You just make sure you get him before he hits me I don’t want to rely on body armor for protection.’

  ‘Why that the goddamn craziest thing I ever ….no, no.’

  ‘Tom, that’s an order. Just do it and no lip. Now get ready.’

  ‘Ok, here I go.’ Alex ran at a low, crawl, sprinting across the bog at half the speed he could normally expect while dodging to avoid any more thrown rocks. Mud and sticks pull at every step as he high-stepped and slipped over to his firing point. He goes down on one knee at the edge of the solid ground breathing so heavily that he can barely steady his rifle. ‘Single shots into the trees. Spread them out.’

  Corey sees a shadow slip through the trees behind Alex. He doesn’t wait to identify it but draws a quick bead on the target. His finger tightens on the trigger and he can suddenly see yellow eyes in a black head snap up and look directly at him. His finger tightens the last fraction of an inch and he can already see the demon dropping to the side. The rifle seems to fire on its own surprising him and he can see the air distort from the passage of the hypersonic round as it flies across the narrow
open swamp. His mind instantly knows that he missed!

  The Black Ghost dives down and, in a perfect graceful swoop, hits Alex in the small of his back with the razor sharp talons of its foreclaws while passing behind him. Alex flies into the brush, directly into the arms of the second raptor.

  Tom is already half way across the moss-covered marsh. The wet peat of the bog rises up to his knees with every step as he watches the Black Ghosts grab Alex and start dragging him off. He screams as he approaches and it startles one of the raptors. Just enough time for Tom to fall forward, one hand grabbing Alex’s leg. Tom pulls from his off-balanced position, hanging on for dear life.

  A black body falls on top of him. Tom hangs onto Alex’s leg like a bulldog with a bone. The raptor seems to slide to the side and Tom can see a hand around it’s stomach. ‘It isn’t attacking! That’s Alex!’

  A black tail sails across his face, stunning Tom into releasing his grip.

  Corey has just arrived and he swings around to get an advantage. He swings up his rifle directing the muzzle into the thrashing Black Ghost not more than three feet away when a green mountain seems to rise up along side of him. Instinctively he drops to the side, twisting the rifle. He fires at a head savagely thrusting down to gulp Tom up with a single savage snap of a mouth full of teeth, each one the size of his forearm. The hypersonic slug’s passage in the close space of the thicket buffets all of them with the impact of the air blast as it rips up through the open mouth of the giant green-feathered raptor. The two-ton beast falls, just missing the twisted mass of bodies at the edge of the clearing. A sudden scramble and strange mix of savage, feral screams mixes with the growling hiss of the Black Ghosts.

  Corey spots two more of the giant raptors coming at them through the undergrowth. One slips on the soft peat bog as it plants its foot tripping the animal following right behind it. Corey reaches down and yanks Alex up and onto his feet. The Black Ghosts are just managing to pull themselves out from under the bloody remains of the shredded head of the green raptor shot by Corey. Alex turns and grabs his gun. He starts back toward the Black Ghosts but Tom pulls him back.