The Catherine Kimbridge Chronicles #9, Rebirth

by Andrew Beery

  Chapter 1

  I focused my attention down the game trail. Any moment the herbivores I had been waiting for would be coming along the trail toward me. My weapon, a finely crafted, replicated bow and arrow, were already in my hand. The instant I saw them, I would prepare myself to shoot.

  Moments passed. Suddenly the air was filled with the sound of thundering hooves coming my way. The animals burst from the densely packed trees onto the trail I was watching.

  They were huge beasts. Four, long, muscular legs churned up the dust as each one pushed their massive bodies toward me. The leader’s great head was crowned with branched, sharp horns. On it came, followed closely by many others.

  I brought my bow up with the arrow nocked and drawn to anchor. I would wait the few seconds for the leader to move a few more strides closer before I would let the arrow fly.

  Those few seconds dilated. My sight focused on the leader. I saw the morning sunshine lighten his sweat-drenched brown fur and glisten off the moisture. His great sides heaved. I fancied I could hear his great heart beating. I was aware that my heart beat in sync with his. My breathing fast.

  His great hooves caught the light as he churned through the space between him and me. Now! I released. My arrow flew true. Time returned to its proper pace.

  But the leader did not drop. At the last second, he had jogged to the left. His move saved him. Instead, my arrow buried itself in the large female which was running behind him. She crashed to the ground, rolling forward before skidding to a stop. The beasts behind her leaped over her fallen body in their continued flight after the leader.

  I raised my bow a second time… a new arrow notched. I let the arrow fly. This time it hit where I had intended and the animal I had targeted dropped. Then in rapid succession, I brought down two more of the great beasts. Four of these massive creatures would feed our settlement for some time.

  The herd kept to their trail. In moments, they were out of sight within the forest south of the bowl. I paused until their sounds faded away.

  I shouldered my bow and made my way from my tree perch to the rise overlooking the trail. I carefully surveyed the area; now was a dangerous time. The fresh kills would draw other predators to us. I turned from hunter to guard. My people would need my protection while they processed the beasts.

  I saw no other predators, nor did I notice any sign that there were any nearby. I hoped that the present condition would last until we were safely back at the settlement.

  Upon the rise, there was a tree with a branch jutting out over the trail. It was the only mature tree close by. Deciding that perching upon the limb would give me a better vantage point, I stepped over to the tree. Before I began climbing up to my perch, I cast spinners in a wide arc around the tree’s base. The spinners would make a noise when they were disturbed by anything. I began my climb.

  Just as I made my move to step out onto the limb, I spied a brightly colored jumper clinging to the bark. I quickly redirected my foot to miss brushing the creature with my ankle. I knew from experience that a gelatinous substance on their skin caused painful blisters on exposed human skin. I had no wish to repeat that incident.

  I managed to get out onto the branch without mishap. I settled myself into a relatively comfortable position and began my vigil. I held my bow across my lap. I kept my quiver shouldered, the arrows easily accessible.

  Below me, the bowl spread out north toward the forest and westward toward the swamp which eventually became a lake. One of my people said the bowl resembles an impact crater in which the impacting body struck and slid eastward. The idea accounts for the depression and the difference in vegetation from the surrounding land. It is a notion we have not had time to study.

  The main flora of the bowl is grass, a type that flourishes in wet conditions. Interspersed among the grass are trees that grow here and there, not in groves, but singly. They are rough barked without branches and at the top, they are crowned with large feathery leaves. Throughout the year, they produce brown spheres. These must be some kind of nut because we have seen the empty spheres scattered on the ground under the trees. Something eats them. So far we have not attempted to harvest them. The bowl is not a safe place.

  The trees do not grow in the northwestern end of the depression. Even the grass gives way to the lake. On the north side of this lake, cliffs rise. To the west of my position, the rise climbs into mountains. In the basin, the grasslands stretch clear up to the shores of the lake. It seems to be an herbivore’s paradise. But the animals don't appear to feed here. They follow their trail along the eastern rise and head into the forest away from this pasture. They too know the bowl is dangerous. We follow their lead.

  What lurks here we do not know. We suspect there are large snakes, other reptiles, and cats, but we have not seen them. So I watch and hope I can stop whatever predators may come before they attack my people.

  They have begun the work, separating into four groups so that all the animals are processed at the same time. When they finish, there will be very little waste. We have a use for almost all of the animals’ parts. That is, if we get the chance to complete the task and get on our way back to the settlement.

  While surveying the bowl, movement caught my attention. Something was in the grass south of the swamp moving eastward. Either it was large, or there were more than one moving close together.

  I tapped my coms device. “This is Ky,” I whispered. “I see movement coming from the southwest toward you. Whatever it is, it’s six klicks and closing.”

  “Copy that,” responded X-tee, the guard captain. “Fire on it with spinners when it closes to two klicks.”

  “Understood,” I told him.

  I silently removed five arrows. Then, I pulled out five spinners. These were different than the ones I had scattered around the tree. These were built around a ring which could be clipped onto an arrow. I clipped one to each arrow. The idea was once the arrow was stuck in the target, the spinner would whistle whenever the target moved.

  I readied myself to release. Tracking the target, I loosed my first arrow when the movement was just short of two klicks from my people. While the arrow whistled along its path, I nocked the next one. I waited, ready to draw to anchor. My heart was in my throat.

  The forward motion I had been tracking halted abruptly. It seemed the hunters didn’t enjoy the shriek of the spinner as it flew toward them. Then, just as my arrow hit home, there was a short shift to the right. Next, the animal went frantic. It whipped its body in circles. It seemed to be trying to dislodge the arrow or to escape the spinner’s scream.

  For the first time, I saw that the animal was a big striped cat. It had not been alone. While the one I hit ran in circles, the other two cats turned and ran back the way they had come.

  The wounded cat was slowing down. Its steps staggered first one way then the other. Before too long, it crashed onto its side and ceased moving.

  I released the breath I had been holding. Relief flooded me. I laid both the bow and the arrow across my lap and tapped the com badge near my left collar bone.

  “Threat neutralized,” I reported.

  “Thanks, Ky,” replied X-tee. “What was it?”

  “Cats, Sir,” I told him. “Three of them.”

  “You took them all down?” he asked.

  “No, Sir,” I answered. “Just the lead animal. The other two ran away.”

  “Understood,” he said. “Keep alert.”

  “Yes, Sir,” I responded.

  I returned to my vigil. I let my eyes scan the bowl, frequently changing my focus. In this manner, I hoped to catch any motion.

  After a while, my gaze snapped toward the swamp. Something was on its way southeast, but it didn’t seem interested in my people or our kills. Instead, it was headed toward the dead cat. It progressed slowly and steadily.

  I got a good look at it as it reached the cat. It was some sort of lizard about three meters long. It had a long snout which it used to nudge the cat. It had thre
e pairs of short thick legs and a long tail and its body looked well armored.

  It clamped its jaws on the cat’s hindquarters and started dragging it back toward the swamp. The jerky motion made the spinner emit a scream intermittent with brief periods of silence. This on-and-off wailing repeated over and over as the reptile retreated with its prize.

  Before I could tap my com, X-tee contacted me. “Ky, what’s happening?” he asked concerned.

  “A big lizard is dragging the cat I killed back to the swamp,” I told him.

  “Oh,” he said, relief coloring his voice. “See anything else?”

  “Not in the basin,” I replied, frowning as multiple cries pulled my attention west and southward from the rise. Small, humanoid tree dwellers were fleeing across the tree tops. They were moving fast, scattering in a southeasterly direction. It wouldn’t be long before they would be directly south of my position. “The little tree dwellers are on the move,” I told him.

  “OK”, he murmured. “We need you to foc –”

  “Sir,” I interrupted him. “Something spooked them.”

  “What?” he asked. “Did you scatter spinners?”

  “I did,” I assured him as I crept my hand to my com badge. “Going silent.” I said and tapped the device.

  As the tree dweller cries faded away, silence fell around and over me. It seemed nothing moved. That was too much quiet. The other forest dwellers made no sound either. A big predator was on the prowl and nothing wished to attract its notice. The question was: what was it?

  I closed my eyes and sat as still as I could. Concentrating on my breathing, I drew in and pushed out slow even breaths in order to still myself. I focused on my hearing. Soon, I heard carefully placed footsteps approaching along the rise. I opened my eyes, still listening to the footfalls.

  Slowly, as quietly as I could, I turned myself around to face the tree trunk. My left hand clutched my bow and four arrows. I scanned the rise. To the west coming east, I saw branches sway as though something was brushing past them. The location matched where I was hearing the footsteps. I did not, however, see the predator.

  Just then, a spinner whistled. The creature had to be under my tree! I shifted my gaze toward the tree’s base, but saw nothing. Puzzled, I changed my focus. There was a twitch about three meters to the south. That was too far from my tree to have activated one of my spinners. I squinted and looked closer to the trunk.

  Again I saw nothing. Then the ground blurred and several of my spinners screamed. Abruptly, the sound was muffled into silence. A slight movement drew my attention to a spot half a meter down and to the left of the tree’s trunk. There was a fuzziness of the ground that lasted only a few seconds.

  Silently, I continued to watch. Slowly, I became aware that I was hearing breathing accompanied by a sniffing sound. Again the ground blurred and seemed to sink lower. Small jerky motions from two locations vied for my attention. One was near while the other was out pass where I had scattered the spinners.

  I flicked my eyes toward the nearer movement. The edges of two triangular shapes blurred, shifted, and sharpened. Sometimes the shapes went through the changes simultaneously. Other times they moved independently. But at all times, they twitched in rhythm to the noise my people were making. It seemed that this invisible creature had just crouched and was preparing to launch itself at them. I had to stop it.

  Slowly I gathered my legs beneath me and used them to push myself to my feet. I crossed the two meters to the trunk as quietly as I could. Putting my back against the tree trunk, I paused to listen. The breathing sounds of the creature hadn’t changed. Encouraged, I prepared to shoot it.

  The Teacher said it was possible to launch multiple arrows at once. I had never tried such a feat. That is, not until this moment. I nocked all four arrows to the string of my bow. Carefully following The Teacher’s instructions, I drew to anchor at my ear. But my shot was not clear; I would have to move and start again.

  After cautiously climbing around the tree, I found a perch above and behind the twitching triangular shapes. Assuming those were ears, then firing an arrow left of center about a meter behind them should hit something vital. With four arrows, I hoped to increase my chances. At this close range, I doubted the arrows would separate very much.

  I calmed myself and nocked the arrows again. Then I drew, anchored, and took aim. I loosed. The arrows screamed from the bow down toward the target. They impacted seconds after launch. In that instant, the ground blurred and heaved. An ear piercing roar burst forth to join the scream of the spinners.

  I clamped my hands to my ears having been mindful enough to slip my left arm between the bow and the bow string. The sound continued to rumble through me, gradually dying out. The screamers too went quiet. This new silence was ended by a loud, short scream of the spinners followed by a ground shaking thump. My left foot was jarred off one of the limbs that I was using to brace my torso against a higher branch. I scrambled to turn and grasp the bough that had been behind me as gravity exerted itself upon me. I could not hold on. I was falling.

  Chapter 2

  I landed in a battered heap against the tree trunk. I hurt all over. There were plenty of bruises and scrapes all over my body, but nothing seemed to be broken. That is, if you didn’t count my bow. It was smashed to pieces. So, that meant I had arrows but no way to launch them. I could use them as spears, but the shafts were too short.

  Remembering the invisible predator, I held myself still. I listened but heard neither spinner scream nor creature breathe. The jungle animals had resumed their noises. It seemed the predator was gone.

  Are you kidding? Did I kill it?

  Using the tree, I pulled myself to my feet. I scanned my vicinity. All I could see was the expected ground cover with a hill near the edge of the rise. The hill was a new addition. It had not been here when I had climbed the rise earlier today. My eyes were drawn to the top of it. My arrows stuck out of the hill top.

  Mystified, I stepped cautiously to the mound. Laying near the drop off of the rise, I discovered the creatures face. Its eyes were open and insects had already began to gather. The ears, the triangular shapes no longer twitched. The massive body was still.

  I tapped my com badge. “X-tee, this is Ky,” I told him.

  “Are you alright?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” I replied. “Somehow I got the predator. You’ve got to see it. Please bring Dr. Locus with you.”

  “Copy that,” he said.

  As I tapped the com badge, I turned toward the bowl. X-tee and Dr. Locus were making their way over to me. They were moving at a brisk pace. I relaxed knowing they would soon be joining me.

  While I waited, I moved nearer to the dead predator. I reached out to touch it. My fingers didn’t encounter fur. Instead I felt bumpy, hairless skin. The color changing mechanism seemed to be imbedded in it. I was astonished that the effects were so complete. Motion was the only thing that caused any distortion and, then, only briefly. Clearly this creature was an apex predator.

  Hearing panting breathe and rustling vegetation, I turned to the rise in time to see X-tee assist Dr. Locus onto the summit. The Doctor bent over while he sought to calm his ragged breathing. X-tee hovered nearby concerned for the older man. As the Doctor straightened, they both turned toward me.

  “What did you – Ky, are you alright?” asked X-tee interrupting himself worriedly.

  “I’m battered and I hurt,” I told him. “But I wanted both of you to see this.”

  “A hill?” asked Dr. Locus.

  “A hill with eyes and four arrows stuck in it,” I said as I gestured to each item.

  Both men gapped at the creature. Dr. Locus brought out his imager and began recording video as he felt his way around the creature. He muttered notes as he went.

  “This is amazing!” he exclaimed in awe. “This is a vertebrate with color based camouflage. The only animals I have ever heard about with this degree of ability are invertebrates. This is truly amazing.�
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  As the Doctor continued his examination, X-tee turned to me. “What happened?” he asked.

  “This is the creature that spooked the tree dwellers,” I told him. “It came along the ridgeline to this tree. Then it crouched next to the tree trunk and studied our people. – It got here unseen! I looked straight at it and saw ground cover with a little fuzziness at the edges when it moved.

  “I tried a multi-arrow shot from up in the tree. And – I got lucky and hit something vital. The next thing I knew, it fell over. When it hit the ground, it shook me out of the tree and I – fell.” My words rushed out of me. I ended felling embarrassed and out of breath. Pain emanated from my chest registered on my adrenaline hyped brain.

  X-tee stared at me. “I think you better sit down,” he said urgently.

  He helped me to move back to the tree. I slid down the trunk feeling very woozy and fighting for air. I let my head rest against the tree.

  “Where’s your bow?” he asked.

  “Smashed,” I replied pointing to its remains laying a meter from me to the right.

  “Good thing you weren’t,” he murmured. “You stay here,” he said more forcibly.

  He rose and walked over to Dr. Locus. As they whispered together, my eyes drifted closed. Next thing I knew, Dr. Locus was kneeling beside me.

  “Ky, open your eyes,” he ordered. Even though I knew he was next to me, his voice sounded far away. I struggled to comply.

  “That’s it,” he encouraged. “Focus on my face. That’s a good girl.”

  I met his eyes. They were a striking shade of blue. Had I ever noticed how blue they were before now?

  “Ok,” he said. I’m going to feel your head. Let me know if it hurts.”

  His hands moved along my skull and neck. I winced several times as he brushed scrapes and bumps. He stopped and looked at me.