by Lee Murray
“It’s true. Rawiri Temera warned us about it. It’s already killed two people,” Nathan insisted.
Te Kooti raised his gun again, pointing it first at Nathan and then at McKenna. “Good try that. You almost had me convinced, using Temera’s name,” he said, his tone sarcastic. “Well, taniwha or not, we’re going to have to detain you for trespassing on Tūhoe lands.”
Now, McKenna lifted his weapon. “Wrong. We’re going. If you want to have a gunfight, that’s up to you, but my men have your group surrounded and I think you’ll find they’re better trained.”
Te Kooti’s henchmen looked wary.
One of them whispered in their leader’s ear, so low Nathan barely caught the words. “This is stupid,” the man said. “Let them pass. They’re leaving anyway.”
* * *
“Why’d he let them go?” Te Kooti heard one of the kids ask after the soldiers had passed by.
“You want to be dead, Danny?” his friend retorted. It was the bright one. What was his name again? Jason? “The soldiers had guns. They’re trained to fight,” he explained to Danny.
“But—“
“Exactly,” Te Kooti butted in. He turned to face them. “I wasn’t prepared to have any casualties on our side. Face-to-face confrontation with the army isn’t the way.”
“So that’s it? We just let them go?” Eldridge said, and Te Kooti frowned. He was going to have to have a talk with Eldridge. Fine for his inner circle to question his decisions in private, but Te Kooti couldn’t have Eldridge nay-saying him in front of the troops. It wasn’t good for morale.
“No, we follow them,” Te Kooti said. “See where they go. They’ll have to set up camp eventually. We’ll wait until night and ambush them while they’re sleeping. Confiscate the guns. Take them hostage.”
“Hostages!” Eldridge said. Te Kooti hid his annoyance.
“Hang on.” Jason pushed to the front. “What if they really are leaving the forest, like they said?”
“They shouldn’t’ve been here in the first place. Trespassing on our land,” Eldridge said.
This time, Eldridge had the right of it. That bald guy with the big mouth and his soldier friends had no right to be here.
“But if we kidnap a government expedition and a bunch of soldiers, we’ll have half the country after us,” Jason said.
“Then we hole up where they can’t find us… in one of the caves. We’ll make some films to leak to the media, maybe threaten to kill the members of their party unless the government adheres to our demands. That ought to get us some attention.”
“We won’t actually kill them though, right?” Jason asked nervously.
Te Kooti smiled at that. Like many of his followers the boy was an idealist, so it was important he treaded carefully here. Now wasn’t the time for dissenters.
Te Kooti straightened his back. “You know I don’t condone violence, Jason,” he said, hoping he had the kid’s name correct. “I have no intention of harming anyone. Our cause has always been about protecting the people’s rights.” He paused for effect, making sure he looked the kid directly in the eye. “But let’s not forget that this is a war. In any war, collateral damage is inevitable.” He clenched his fists, for the right level of intensity. “Remember, we’re warriors, warriors fighting for the betterment of our people.” He stared past his followers into an unknown future beyond the trees.
Dropping his gaze from the horizon, Te Kooti took one look at their faces and knew he had them.
Chapter 19
Te Urewera Forest, Third Campsite
“Knock, knock,” Jules said. She ducked into the tent. “Richard, there’s something I want to ask you…”
His back to her, Richard had his shirt off, his left hand squeezed down the side of his pack, rooting around for a clean t-shirt.
“Oh,” Jules said, backing out of the cramped space.
Richard turned to face her. “Jules, it’s okay. It’s not like I’m naked.”
Jules checked herself. He was hardly about to jump her just because he had his shirt off. She crawled into the tent and sat cross-legged on Richard’s bedroll.
Abandoning his search, Richard sat opposite her. Their knees were almost touching. His skin was pale and hairless, and, while he wasn’t exactly fat, his belly was showing the first signs of softness.
“I meant to thank you for backing me up before,” she said. “You know, about Louise.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t find her.”
She blinked back tears. “Me too. Poor Louise. It must be terrifying for her, out there in the forest with that creature.”
He leaned towards her, his hair flopping. “You’re welcome to share my tent, Jules. I’ll make some space. No one would blame you for not wanting to be alone.”
Jules gave a weak smile. He thought she was here on a pretext; afraid to sleep by herself. She was tempted to take him up on his offer. It would be nice to be able to hear someone else’s breathing and know she wasn’t entirely alone… but that wasn’t why she was here.
“Actually, I came about Taine… Sergeant McKenna.”
Richard’s brow furrowed. “Overbearing, isn’t he? Shouting orders at everyone.”
“No, no, it’s not that. It’s just that I got it so wrong when I told him the Sphenodon wouldn’t hunt during the day. And then, because of me poor Ben got…” She trailed off, shaking her head.
Putting a hand on her forearm, he said. “It’s not your fault, Jules. No one could have known.”
“I should have, though. Adult tuatara don’t hunt during the day, but juvenile tuatara do. If I’d given McKenna’s soldiers better information… Anyway, I thought you and I should discuss the creature. Maybe make some better guesses about its physiology, its behaviour.”
Abruptly, he pulled his hand back. “I see. Know thine enemy,” he said, his voice hard.
“I beg your pardon?”
Turning away, Richard resumed his tussle with the contents of his pack. “The sergeant plans to kill it, Jules.”
“That’s not true! Taine’s trying to get us out of here.”
“I don’t mean right now, but later, when we’re out of here, he and his army friends will come back. It’s all those guys ever think about: killing and butchering.” At last, he yanked out a crumpled t-shirt. He gave it a quick shake and pulled it over his head.
Jules frowned. “I don’t really think—”
“Oh, I know his type. Seen plenty,” Richard said, tugging the shirt down. “He would’ve started with picking the wings off flies then progressed to being the school bully – pinching kids’ pocket money and pushing their heads down toilet bowls. Later, he’ll have moved on to tweaking girls’ breasts…”
“Richard!”
“…and slashing the teachers’ tyres. And when persecuting school underlings wasn’t enough, that’s when his fascination with firearms will have started, leading him to the army where taking a life gets you a bunch of medals and citations.”
Richard grasped Jules’ hands with clammy fingers. “We can’t let them do it, Jules. That Sphenodon is magnificent, possibly the only specimen of its kind.”
“That specimen has killed people, Richard. Anaru was bitten in two. Severed. Only yesterday he was sitting next to me reading a book!”
Snorting, Richard shook his head. “It doesn’t kill out of malice, Jules. It’s an animal. It was simply displaying its normal predatory behaviour. Trying to stay alive.”
Now it was Jules’ turn to pull her hands from Richard’s grasp. “Yes, and somewhere out there, Richard – probably not too far from here – that predator is foraging for its next meal. This might surprise you, but I don’t like the idea of being eaten. I think we should help the sergeant. He’s trying to keep us safe!”
Richard ran his hand through his fringe, pulling it off his face. It immediately flopped back. “Look, Jules,” he said patiently. “I get McKenna’s reaction. He feels threatened. The guy knows nothing about science, so his first r
esponse is to fight back. But we’re different, you and I. We’re conservationists. That’s why we joined Landsafe, and why you were put on this Task Force in the first place. To protect and conserve New Zealand’s native species. We should be doing everything we can for that animal.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think we should capture it.”
Jules went cold.
Capture it!
Stunned, she said nothing as Richard, his eyes ablaze, went on and on about capturing the animal, the papers it could generate, the accumulated knowledge, its value to science, to humanity...
“Richard. Stop. Please. It would be great to be able to study the animal. Of course, it would. But we have to remember that it’s killed people. It could kill again.”
Richard grunted. “You’re upset about Louise. Otherwise, you wouldn’t see things this way. That Sphenodon is one of a kind.”
Jules’ ire rose. “Yes, I’m upset! Of course, I’m upset. Who wouldn’t be? But that doesn’t give you the right to flip me off as some hysterical woman who doesn’t know her own mind!”
“That wasn’t what I meant, Jules, and you know it. I only meant that you’re frightened.”
“You’re damned right I’m frightened. Your precious Sphenodon killed Anaru and Ben, and now you want to go after it?”
“Some things are worth the risk.”
“Yes, but not for you. Not for us! You helped Jug Singh with his report. You know what it can do. We can’t capture it. Not without getting ourselves killed.”
“I wasn’t proposing that we go looking for it ourselves.” He laughed heartily. “Against that thing? No, thank you. I was talking about sending in a team later. When we’re out of here. It’s the right thing to do. The only living specimen of its kind, it has to be saved.”
Jules could have sworn his eyes narrowed, but the next minute he smiled, his hair flopping forward, and she wasn’t sure if she’d imagined it or not.
* * *
Hamish Miller leaned in the lee of an ancient beech waiting for his watch to be over. His parents warned him army life would involve a lot of waiting round. Fucking oath, they were right. One training exercise had him and three other guys doing surveillance on an imaginary guard post. The guys up the line fucking left them out there, bivvied up, watching a concrete bunker for an entire week! In those kinds of conditions you’re likely to shoot each other out of boredom. Up until now he’d never really regretted enlisting. It saved him listening to more of his parents’ speeches about how the decisions he made now would affect his entire future. They weren’t wrong. There weren’t too many jobs on civvie street for a guy whose best subjects at school were playing X-Box and chasing girls. Not paying as much as NZDF and with six weeks paid holiday. For bugger-all work, too. But now, with Winters and that Australian consultant dead, he wasn’t so sure. Maybe he should have focussed more on graphics and he might not be sitting in a goddamn forest while a fucking velociraptor fancied them as hors d’oeuvres.
Shit.
This waiting was deadly. He was too freaked to put his gun down. His knuckles had gone white from holding it so tight. Nothing in the training prepared you for looking death in the eye. All the psychological tests, all the situational training… in the end whether you fought or fled came down to character and balls. Hamish wasn’t too proud to admit that he wasn’t the natural hero he imagined he might be. In fact, he was so jittery, Coolie had made him switch the Steyr to safety, scared he might pop one of the others by accident. He’d made an ulcer on the end of his tongue from rubbing it over his teeth. His gut was dodgy. He was close to nausea.
He could take a little something to soften the edges. He brought his hand to his chest, where in his vest pocket, carefully wrapped in a tiny piece of kitchen foil and sealed in a plastic bag, was his first ever dose of meth. One hundred milligrams of pure white crystalline powder – the recommended starting dose. And for the last wretched hour that little packet had been calling him.
Fucking nerves!
Hamish knew other guys who’d taken meth. His mate Chris had been taking it on and off for months now. Chris reckoned all the hype about it being addictive was crap. Use it sensibly and you can take it or leave it, was what Chris said. Sure, you crave it while you’re tweaking, so it was important not to have any more available nearby – in the house or anything – otherwise you’d be crawling on the floor like a cockroach, trying to hoover up the crumbs. Chris was convinced that was how he got those sores on his lip and around his mouth. Hamish reckoned Chris probably shouldn’t pick at them. It’d made them worse. Weepy and shit. Anyway, it was just another reason why it was a good time for him to try it now because where was he going to get hold of more out here? But mostly Chris said being on meth was like a total mind-fuck. Said you felt like a giant: ten foot tall, productive, creative, and full of confidence. Pure energy was how he’d described it. A 12-hour rush of pure positivity.
A damn sight better than sitting here twiddling his thumbs and waiting on a monster that’d taken a shine to human meat. Hell, if he took it, Hamish might even be able to come up with a decent strategy for getting them out of this shit. But meth could be dangerous. Not everyone reacted like Chris. You heard stories. He’d wait until tomorrow. If he wanted it tomorrow, he’d take it then.
* * *
Jason was lightheaded with excitement.
They were doing it. Actually doing it! So radical!
He and Danny walked a few steps behind Te Kooti and his right hand men – Eldridge and Smith – as their band of fifteen crept through the gloom, approaching the edge of the soldiers’ encampment.
Jason plucked a frond away from his leg, ignoring the niggle low in his gut, the voice telling him that this was wrong, that people could get hurt. Well, if they do, it’ll be the government’s fault. They should’ve thought harder before sending the army into the Ureweras, before sending a mineral team to steal the Tūhoe treasure from under their feet. Te Kooti was right; their actions tonight would teach those suits in the Beehive not to mess with the Tūhoe. And it’d show people that when they banded together with their neighbours, they could be a force to be reckoned with.
In the grey light, Danny stumbled forward a few steps, bumping Jason’s shoulder with his gun.
“Careful! You want that thing to go off? You could kill someone!” Jason hissed.
“Sorry.”
The men around them glowered.
“Keep it down you two,” someone muttered.
Jason clamped his mouth shut. They were counting on the element of surprise to capture the government party. There’d be sentries, of course. But with only eleven in the expedition group, it was likely they’d only post one or two and let the others sleep. That sergeant was pushing them pretty hard. By now they’d be well into the Land of Nod. Jason chuckled.
Just two sentries.
Easy enough for Te Kooti’s guerrillas to overcome. Once they’d been taken down. The whole operation should only take a few minutes.
The man in front of Jason put a hand in the air, causing the line behind to slow and halt.
“What?” Danny asked. Jason shook his head at him, reminding him to keep quiet. They’d find out soon enough.
There was some jostling at the front.
Next thing, the leaders – Te Kooti included – were pushing between them, heading back the way they’d come.
What’s going on?
Eldridge motioned with his hand to indicate they should follow. The leaders were withdrawing! Eldridge’s eyes darted about nervously, perspiration making a glossy patch on his forehead. Jason heard the word ‘taniwha’ whispered as Eldridge passed.
Taniwha? What was all this bullshit about taniwha? Jason swivelled. He jogged forward a few paces towards the soldiers’ camp.
“Jason! Where are you going?” Danny said.
“Don’t wait. Go with the others. I’ll be there in just a sec,” Jason replied. “I just want to take a look, see what’s happened.
”
He crept forward the last few metres, careful not to kick up stones or break twigs. He dropped to his belly. What could have sent Te Kooti running like that? Jason raised his head above the ground cover and took a look.
There were five tents in a cluster. Two sentries on either side, one of the soldiers tucked behind a tree-trunk where the other man couldn’t see him, taking time out to suck on a fag, the tiny red bead signalling each intake of breath. Idiot. Even if his colleague couldn’t see the fag he could surely smell it. What the hell is he smoking? It stunk of the abattoir Jason worked in over the varsity holidays.
But then Jason caught a glint of light. Someone else watching? A possum high up in the trees, its eyes gleaming? Jason strained to see.
It can’t be. Now he understood what made Te Kooti run. He closed his eyes, opened them again.
It was a fucking taniwha.
Its elongated snout and crest of spines protruded from the bush. It was watching the campsite, so motionless that Jason wouldn’t have picked it out had it not been for the glint of its eye, and that horrendous smell. This was not a story-book taniwha. This was real. Flesh and blood and nail. A living breathing monster. Downwind from the soldiers, they had no idea it was there. How long had it been there? A chilling thought struck him. Had that thing been following them? They’d been quiet, trying not to be heard, running hard to keep up with the soldiers. If the creature had been following them, it had been silent and swift.
Right now though, it stood on the edge of the camp, watching the humans, stalking them, like a big cat creeping slowly, slowly across the plains, keeping to the grasses, barely visible, ready to pounce. Jason raised his head and decided he was being paranoid, the beast was only being inquisitive. It didn’t look like it was about to attack.
The taniwha moved off, slipping slowly through the shadows, staying upwind of the campsite, and coming towards Jason. Not about to attack? Now, that it was heading his way, Jason wasn’t so sure.