by neetha Napew
For the ardent predator, the Rraladoon snake provided a sufficiently dangerous prey and there were many who wanted the accolade of bringing in either two live snakes or twelve intact eggs. For a Rraladoonan it was a coming of age ritual but hunter-mentalities of all ages vied to meet that challenge.
Pet ocelots, who hunted alongside their masters and mistresses, now huddled underneath horses’ bellies or sat on pillion behind their owners’ saddles. Hrriss was running a new ocelot this year, Gerrh; a cub of his two beloved pets, Preen and Mehh, who were getting too fat and lazy to run beside horses. The spotted cat sat bolt upright on the back of the shifting mare, his tail curled around his haunches much as his master’s was. Most Hrrubans tucked their long tails down inside chaps or bandaged them to one leg to prevent accidents.
As one of the Masters of the Hunt, Todd stood up in his stirrups, one hand on his Gypsy’s neck to steady him.
In a stentorian voice, he ran through his usual caveat.
“We are not here to decimate the snake population.
If that’s your intention, you can stay right here in this square when we move out,’ he announced, eyeing the crowd. “The Hunt is for the purpose of controlling the flow of the snakes, driving them back into the salt marshes after they’ve spawned. When those females come off the dunes, they’re hungry! There is plenty of food for them in their regular habitat. Our task is to prevent them from stopping off for a snack on the way.” There was appreciative laughter from the crowd.
A timid hand went up among the riders. “But what if a snake attacks me?” a young Hayuman visitor asked. Her riding coat was so new Todd fancied he could see the mark on the cuff where the bar code had been.
“If you should be so unlucky as to have a snake attack you, call in your position and then get out of the way as fast as your horse: and a snake-chased horse really moves! If flight’s not an option, shoot as straight as you know how,’ Todd said. “That one’s for the stewpot. If a snake attacks and gets a taste of blood, it’ll go for any hunter near it next year. We call them “renegades” and we kill them to prevent real trouble next year. The snakes that proceed peaceably back into the marshes are to be left alone. Don’t provoke them! You don’t know what they’re capable of. Do not mingle in the main swarm; just flank it. You don’t want a snake running up your horse’s leg to get a chunk of you!” He grinned then. “I assure you Rraladoonan horses will do their best to keep you clear all by themselves. If you hotdog, endangering yourself, your mount, or anyone else, the leader of your team has full right and responsibility to sideline you for the duration. If you don’t want to spend the rest of the day in a snake blind, listen to your leader and obey any orders.
He or she knows how to save your life. Any questions?” There were brash mutters as the inexperienced hunters mulled over Todd’s remarks.
They got louder and more intense as the Gringg, led by Kodiak, appeared on foot over the span of the Friendship Bridge.
Fifteen or twenty of the huge aliens had elected to join the teams, to the amazement and enthusiasm of some of the returning Rraladoonans, and the nervousness of others. Todd was unhappy to see that there was still some distrust among his folk for their newest allies, but he hoped the Gringg performance in the Hunt might alter diehard notions.
Since there were no horses up to the weight of an adult Gringg, they had agreed to work as assistants to the Beater Teams, whose task was to make enough noise to scare an escaping snake back into the mass.
The job was by no means a sinecure. Since the beaters drove tractors and other light farm machinery fitted with heavy snake-bars, the crews equipped with noisemakers, flails and, at the last resort, heavy calibre hand-guns, anything that could persuade a snake to return to the stream heading south towards their natural habitat.
Todd had Kodiak brief the other Gringg on the safety procedures and then pointed out which driver each Gringg would accompany. Beater Teams One and Two, stationed nearest the spawning sands, got two Gringg apiece.
“Heavy artillery,’ said a grinning Mark Dautrish, the wheelman for Beater One. He reached down to give Big Paws and Koala a hand up into the cab of the wide-bucket heavy-duty tractor, one of the largest on the planet. It was effective in blocking snakes’ escape routes among the marsh grasses and Mark was wizard in the things he could make his rig do, should push come to shove.
“Move “em out!” Todd cried as he saw all the Gringg on board their designated vehicles. He pumped a fist in the air. With a roar of engines, the Beaters departed to take up their positions, followed by the Lures, on their nippy dirt bikes that looked all too flimsy for the work they must do.
With Grizz and Eonneh riding in the farm hover truck, Kelly drove slow enough for the five children to follow on their horses. She also didn’t want to bottom the truck with all the weight it currently carried. With her huge arms folded neatly across her belly, Grizz sat with the utmost dignity in the front seat, though her bulk was crushing Kelly up against the door. Rolling the window down gave Kelly the opportunity to lean her upper torso outside. Honey, filling the rear seat, was armed with his ubiquitous pad and stylus. The youngsters were leading Kelly’s mare Calypso and Alison had a lead rein on Teddy who was mounted on Rock, the calmest horse in Hrriss’s stable. The young Gringg sat on a much more professionally modified pack saddle, cushioned by deep fleeces and surrounded by rolls of canvas that acted like a safety belt, preventing him from falling out of the saddle.
As the truck reached the square, Kelly hooted the horn to clear a space for her to manoeuvre the truck inside the crowd and waved furiously to get Todd’s attention.
Hrriss noticed her and trotted over, leaning down to the window.
“Nrrna and the farm managers are lined up at the ranch fences with heavy guns and dynamite in case of tiddlers!
Where do you want us?” she called over the din.
“You and the children go with Llywelyn Cam’s Beaters toward Boncyks’ farm,’ Hrriss said, checking them on his list, “wherrre the woods end.
“Right you are!” Kelly saluted cheerfully and set the hover truck moving in the right direction. In her rear-view mirror, she could see the youngsters urging their horses after her, east towards the river, disappearing among the houses and trees at the edge of town.
“Four zeams filled and despatched, twenz> seven to go, Hrriss informed Todd.
“There you are!” Jilamey exclaimed, forcing his horse through the crowd. The entrepreneur was clad in new and flambpyant riding gear that had nevertheless been chosen with the perils of the hunt in mind.
His handunit radio and voder were clipped to crossed bandoliers in the centre of his chest where they wouldn’t interfere with free movement.
After Todd’s initial reproof, Jilamey always wore every bit of the compulsory Hunt safety gear. He added a few pieces of equipment which he considered necessary. His saddlebow was hung with quivers, one full of short spears, another of crossbow quarrels to fit his custom-made, fast reload weapon, including some marked with the red seal for high explosive. The sedately clad Barrington followed closely behind his master in the small, but very speedy flittercar. Responding to an over-the-shoulder nod from Jilamey, he parked the vehicle beside the Assembly Hall, and disappeared inside.
“Old Overprotective’s going to help cook this time!” Jilamey said, with an impish grin that made him look like a balding faun. “Out of my way at last. I’m ready, able and oh so willing! Bring on the snakes!’ “Good to see you,’ Todd said, chuckling. “Now that you’ve arrived, our team is present and accounted for.
Take a position next to Hrrin and Errala.”
“We musst all move to our assigned places,’ Hrriss said.
“Then, my old friend, let us go!” Todd’s grin was as much for past Hunts and their success as Masters as it was for the present one. The stresses and problems of the recent past were all behind them. This Hunt was now!
A Sighter flew in overhead. The copter swooped low, facing the Hunt Masters.
Through the open hatch, Dar Kendrath waved wildly to get Todd’s attention. He pointed to his wrist and held up one finger, then five more. The main swarm would reach the dunes in about fifteen minutes.
“That’s cutting it close, Todd said to Hrriss, giving Dar the thumbs up sign that he understood the message. He stood in his stirrups, twisting around at his waist. “At the trrrrrot, forward!” he yelled, swinging his arm in an age-old gesture.
Dar veered his craft out of the way of the on-coming horses. The second Sighter chopper, a good distance from the throng, followed a moment later.
Hrrula, with Robin Reeve as his second riding behind him at the head of Team Two, wheeled his horse around.
His team was full of visiting duffers, some of whom were reasonably good riders, but Hrrula was competent in keeping team members out of grief.
“Moving out,’ the Hrruban said, his sharp teeth flashing brightly in a wide smile. “See you at ze salt mrrrshes!” Jilamey paired off with Hrrin as Team One moved out.
As Todd and Hrriss led them along the well-worn river trail, they could hear the two of them shouting excitedly to each other about grids and ships. That left the one recently promoted hunter, a man named Harris, riding beside Hrrin’s mate Errala, with Jan and Don, Team One’s own Wrangler and sharpshooter, bringing up the rear. Team One was lighter in personnel than most of the other groups of hunters, but as the team that took responsibility for steering the lead snakes, they needed to be able to peel away and move faster than any other.
Todd held the fast trot pace to the head of the desert where the snakes lay their eggs. The weather was slightly overcast which was a minor blessing. Bright sunshine meant hours of hot riding. Gerrh twitched nervously on his pillion, reacting to the strong odour of snake which a slight breeze wafted down the river path. Errala covered her sensitive nose with a citrus-scented cloth, and coughed. Team One cut along the trail past the other teams in place. As Todd and Hrriss passed, each leader acknowledged their readiness.
The radio crackled on Todd’s hip.
“They’re swarming!” Leah Kalman’s shout came through clearly.
“Teams Six and Seven spreading out.” Todd squeezed his legs into Gypsy’s sides and lifted him into a gallop, heard his team follow his lead. They arrived at the edge of the marsh in time to see Mark Dautrish rolling up his big tractor with its wide bucket inches above the ground. No snake could squirm through that space.
Several young tiddlers, none more than four metres long, broke in that direction. At the sight of the sharp metal, they thought better of it and cut away towards Todd. Hrrula’s team was circling around to the north.
“Yaw!” Todd exclaimed, his gaze sweeping the heaving multitude of snakes.
“Numbers have increased beyond estimate,’ Hrriss called in Low Hrruban. “More must have survived zan usual. Good for us that we can trade the excess to the Gringg now they’ve got a taste for the flavour.
“This swarm s going to take real handling, partner,’ Todd called back and then began shouting orders to the other riders. “Spread out!
Contain them. We’ve got to keep them rolling or they’ll stack up here and we’ll have the devil’s own time!” Big Paws, his powerful body crouched low to the ground, was almost on all fours. But his fangs and claws were bared and the small snakes that had tried to scoot out past him reversed, and he herded them back to the marked route. When a three-metre tiddler made a hasty break to dive between his legs, he seized it at the back of the neck, and flung it bodily into the main stream of snakes leaving the dunes. He glanced up and waved at Todd.
“Fun!” he cried.
The subsonics in his voice, which tended only to disconcert or annoy the Hayumans and Hrrubans, seemed to cause a violent reaction among the reptiles. At the sound of his rumbling roar, several that were headed in that direction stopped where they were and doubled back on their own lengths.
“Look at zat!” Hrriss said, gleefully. “A new deterrent!
Zey must dislike Gringg vibrrations!” Todd, vigorously applying his quarterstaff to curtail breakouts, grinned back. “Keep up the good work, Big Paws!”
“Reh!” the Gringg chortled, flinging another four-metre snake overhand. It struck the ground on its nose and hastily sought refuge among its fellows, slithering away as quickly as it could from the gigantic black-and-white terror.
Todd wheeled to follow the vanguard of the reptiles through the woods. The snakes were relatively placid up near the dunes, in strong contrast to the way they would act later on, when they were tired and the clutching hunger had fully kicked in. Then they became dangerously cunning. Any breath of air which carried rumours of a quick meal caused them to take any reasonable chance to avoid the hunters and find food.
“Ware!” Todd cried, pointing at a pair of very small snakes, probably at the dunes for their first clutches, that zipped around the front of the tractor.
“I’ll get the one of the right!” Jilamey shouted, waving his crossbow over his head and spurring his horse through the marsh waters after the snake. He aimed and pulled the trigger, but the quarrel struck mud, missing the tiddler completely. His horse slipped, nearly precipitating him into the fetid waters. Jilamey was improving but he would never be a match for Kelly and he missed her support on the team.
She certainly wouldn’t have missed an easy shot like that but she had offered to cart the captain around.
A roar sounded from behind the farm machine, and one of the young snakes came sailing over the top of the tractor to land in a heap on the path. Todd jumped. Don swore.
“Fardle it, I didn’t think they could fly!”
“Compliments of Koala,’ Dautrish called to the team.
“She missed the other one, though!”
“I’ll call ahead!” Todd said, and thumbed the switch on his handset.
“One escapee, heading west from the dunes.”
“Got it, Todd,’ replied Leah Kalman and broke the contact.
The river road became a living, writhing sea of reptilian bodies.
Todd kneed Gypsy to the edge of the marsh grasses, loping alongside the leading snakes and keeping the foot of his quarterstaff poised for use.
His team fanned out in single file behind him, riding hard.
A flashgun popped to one side of the path. Todd caught the glare out of the corner of one eye. A margin hunter, turning back a tiddler that had strayed between the cordon of horses. They entered the woods.
The terrain here favoured the snakes, who could disappear without trace into the undergrowth by virtue of their natural protective patterning. It took quick eyes to make sure none of the leaders strayed, encouraging others to follow. Not for the first time, he was grateful to the river for bordering one side of the snake run, keeping the hunters from having to double up teams along this section.
A low ridge of rock rose up in the middle of his path.
Avoiding the obstacle, Todd hugged the opposite side and came out ten feet behind the lead snakes. He urged Gypsy forward. Once they came level again, the experienced horse dropped back to a trot.
From behind him came the racuous snarl that told him that Gerrh had joined the hunt. He risked a quick glance over his shoulder. The young ocelot had leaped from his perch and was after a three-metre-long tiddler that was attempting to go the wrong way around the rocky upthrust. Hrriss cantered by his pet and administered a thwack with the butt end of his spear to the snake’s head. It coiled up and headed into the stream without further hesitation. Gerrh galloped after his master and leaped neatly back on to Rihee’s back.
The ridge had provided one of the only breathing points the hunters got on the trail, where geography did their work for them in keeping the snakes from straying.
After that, the long, hot ride was made dangerous by low branches which knocked against Todd’s helmet and shoulders while he tracked the swift-moving snakes along their way He passed the first of the snake blinds: one of the small, well-sealed rla-wood cottages smeared with
the citrus perfume that deterred snakes from smelling the contents.
The broad window at trailside was filled with spectators staring out at him through field glasses.
“Todd, I’ve got a lively one here,’ Don called through the handset. “Could use your help.” With one hand, he laid the reins along Gypsy’s neck and turned him around, while he lifted the small communications unit to his mouth.
“Hrriss, take point. I’m circling back to help Don.”
“Ruight!’ The friends passed in mid gallop, Hrriss spurring Rrhee to catch up with the lead snakes.
Far back along the line, Jan was over-stretched, herding much more of the cordon of young reptiles than she could really handle as Don went in pursuit. The sharpshooter waved to Todd as he approached, and pointed at the five-and-a-half-metre snake he was pacing. As steady as if he was sitting on still ground, Don’s rifle aimed at the back of the reptile’s head.
“The damned thing won’t go back in line!” Don called.
He ducked a branch. “I’ve got a bead on it, but I don’t want to kill it if it’s just ornery.
“Crank a ground shot next to its head on the right, Todd said, unlimbering his quarterstaff to help prod.
He called for a Lure to come and assist. Nodding, Don squeezed the trigger, and a puff of dust kicked up on the right of the snake’s nose. With a violent check, the snake turned a sharp corner and veered towards the stream, but five metres of body was a lot to manoeuvre.
The tail whipped around and struck Don’s galloping horse, knocking it off its feet.
“Wheeeee-e!” the gelding screamed, falling on to its side. Don jumped off and, cursing, rolled into a stand of bushes. He emerged, brushing himself off. Todd raised his flashgun and reined Gypsy to a stop between the fallen horse and rider, standing guard.
The incident attracted the attention of more tiddlers.
Todd shot off flash after flash of brain-searing light to divert the predatory snakes while Don helped the gelding to its feet and regained his saddle. Suddenly, a leather-clad Lure on a cycle burst out from among the trees and began riding a serpentine trail between Todd and the mass of snakes. Across his shoulders, inside out was a fresh sheep hide. The heavy scent of blood got the slow-witted attention of the stray snakes. They followed the Lure who led them to the main stream. The bike tilted to an angle and roared down the riverbank, out of the snakes’ reach.