Colony

by Lori Beery

  ‘I am not in a position to see it,’ Amerzan’s voice said in my head.

  ‘Sorry, I don’t know how to differentiate between what I think for you to hear and what I think to figure something out in my own head,’ I tried to explain. Amerzan didn’t reply, but there was a sense of bewilderment in my mind.

  ‘We don’t distinguish,’ he sighed into my mind a pause later.

  I turned to look at him but realized the futility of that due to the couple hundred tons of rock between us. Sighing, I refocused myself on the intruder. Its sniffing placed it slightly north of my position, still in the trench. Just as I placed it, all went quiet. Suddenly, the spinners on the plateau started screaming and abruptly went silent. I sat with my heart in my throat, straining to locate the creature.

  ‘It has gone over the ridge,’ Amerzan told me.

  Relief flooded me. My heart returned to its proper location, and I relaxed a little. ‘Amerzan, what does the imitator eat?’ I asked, knowing that the creature was now hunting the tree-dwellers.

  ‘Whatever it catches,’ he whispered into my head. ‘In that regard, it and I are alike.’

  ‘Do you hunt it?’ I thought to him.

  ‘Only when it intrudes,’ he answered. ‘Its flesh is bad. It makes my kind ill.’

  ‘When I killed the one near the bowl, we thought it would feed my people for a long time,’ I shared with him. ‘But we learned its flesh is bad for us too. How do you know where it is?’

  ‘I sense it,’ he told me. ‘I cannot see it. I smell and hear it and see signs of its passage.’

  ‘Do you ever use your mind to find it?’ I thought to him, knowing I could only use my hearing. The creature moved too fast for that to be useful. It would be an absolute miracle for me to drop one in this desolate environment. Lots of spinners might help.

  Nothing came from him for a long while. ‘I suppose I do,’ he interjected into my thoughts. ‘The creature’s thoughts are focused on its hunger and satisfying it. It is most disturbing.’ He paused before asking, ‘What are spinners?’

  ‘They are little devices that make a lot of noise when disturbed,’ I answered.

  ‘The painfully loud sound when the imitator ran across the flat space? That was the spinners being disturbed?’ he asked.

  ‘Yes,’ I told him.

  ‘They do get one’s attention,’ he said dryly. ‘Small One, we must end our communication. I fear you will have a bad headache.’

  ‘My watch is over in five minutes,’ I assured him. ‘I will be able to get some rest then.’

  ‘Good, I hope we can talk again soon,’ he whispered. ‘Be wary on your hunts.’ His presence faded from my mind. Again, I heard the wind through the trees and then silence.

  I spent the remainder of my watch listening. Except for the wind and the sleeping sounds of the camp, I detected nothing. I tried casting my focus along the tunnel. I heard what sounded like a falling rock bouncing against other rocks as it plunged to some unknown bottom, but I detected nothing coming near or repeating. My imagination conjured images of the invisocat, causing the falling stones.

  When my watch finally ended, I woke X-tee. We switched sides of the ledge. As we settled into our respective spots, he turned to me with inquiring eyes.

  “Anything to report?” he asked, giving his question an outlet.

  “Yes,” I answered. “Two things actually. First, Amerzan landed on the roof and warned me about a hunting invisocat in the area. Second, an invisocat visited our camp. It left peacefully, choosing instead to go toward that little plateau and over the ridge. It set off the spinners but only for an instant, like one sharp shriek.”

  His mouth fell open in surprised shock. After a moment, he closed his mouth, still regarding me. I got the feeling he wanted to say so many things but was struggling to decide on which to utter first. Decision made he asked, “What did you learn from Amerzan?”

  I filled him in on the bird’s visit. He made me repeat what Amerzan said about sensing the creature. Then he had me elaborate on the invisocat’s stroll below our camp. After I finished, we both sat in silence. X-tee was probably rooting through the information I had shared. I was feeling close to despair, however. The only reason I had known there was a hunter nearby on that hunting expedition so long ago was that the tree-dwellers had fled and the usually noisy forest had fallen silent. Here, there was only wind, rock, and sky. How can I track a silent, invisible hunter?

  “Ky!” called X-tee. His voice was loud in the quiet of the night.

  I jerked my head up to meet his gaze. The movement caused pain to bloom from behind my eyes and engulf my head. I screamed in agony, clutching my head in my hands.

  Suddenly, X-tee was beside me. He eased me into a laying position while he soothed me with gentle words. I have no idea what he said, but it was comforting. He covered me with a blanket and told me to go to sleep. I obediently closed my eyes, deepening my breathing to relax. It must have worked because the pain behind my eyes eased and I fell asleep.

  ***

  Amerzan spiraled up into the clear, night sky. He flew eastward over the ridge. The imitator’s scent clung to the rock. It led him north along the spine, away from the tree-dweller cave Ky’s people had investigated. This course was unexpected. Surprised, he wheeled north and drifted higher to see the whole range.

  No movement caught his attention. Only the scent drew him north over barren, jumbled terrain. He noted many suitable cliffs for the hairless tree-dwellers to camp as he traveled, but he detected nothing that would sustain or draw the imitator to this desolate range. Why was it here and where was it going?

  Additional smells filled his nostrils. It was a confusing mix of aromas. Some he recognized immediately, and pictures of dense forests inhabited by tree-dwellers, tree snakes, and earthy fungi formed in his head. He picked out the scents of several berries, including his favorite, the achore. He also caught a whiff of spring water. The image in his mind shifted into one showing a school of big fish swimming in clear water.

  Scents unknow to him came too. He smelled a waxy, resinous substance unfamiliar to him. It was similar to the leaves of a type of tree that grew on the slopes of a ridge to the southeast of here. There were others that he didn’t know at all.

  It appeared the imitator was headed to the source of the smells. The creature’s trail had crossed to the west side of the ridge through a gap in the rock, and it seemed to be traveling northward again. Soon its scent was part of the mix from this hidden, life-filled place.

  Amerzan was close. The source had to be just ahead, even though he could not see it. Only rock and shadow met his gaze. Suddenly, though, his perception changed. The huge shadow was more than a depression in the rock, he realized. As he flew over it, he saw a forest canopy along the bank of a lake. The still water reflected the stars.

  Intrigued, he made several passes over the walled plateau. He knew this forest was at a higher elevation than the forest near his mountain. It did contain the trees the tree-dwellers loved. There were many other types he did not know.

  The canopy extended to the west a long way. At its furthest point, the rock walls dwindled to nothing, and the land fell to the valley floor in gradually less steep drops. On the level areas between drops, the trees began to look more like the forest around his mountain.

  Satisfied, he changed his course. He was starving. He flew northeast to the big lake where he liked to fish. When he finished his meal, he would head back to Kyrah’s camp. He hoped she had not suffered too bad a headache. He didn’t want her to stop their conversations. He still needed information from her to find a way to oust her people from his home. He still needed that sheltered roust for his offspring. Or, was there a way they could share the mountain? After all, it was nice to communicate with another species.

  Chapter 20

  When I opened my eyes, it was still dark. I knew I had been on the first watch, so it should’ve been daylight. I lay still, listening. Voices whispered around me. I recogni
zed those voices! They belonged to the remaining members of my fellow guards. None of them sounded worried.

  So why couldn’t I see? I reached my hands up to my eyes and encountered – a sleeping mask? When I went to lift it off, a hand came to rest lightly on top of mine.

  “Easy, Ky,” came Marta’s quiet voice. “It’s pretty bright out here.”

  Her voice was very concerned. I frowned until memories of last night’s debilitating headache flooded my awareness. Thankfully, that agony was a thing of the past. I pushed aside the memories and eased the mask off, blinking in the strong light. “Yes, it is very bright,” I agreed, squinting and shielding my eyes with my hands.

  “How do you feel?” asked Carl.

  “Well, I’m feeling my bruises,” I replied honestly. “I’m glad I’m not blind, but it is very bright out here,” I added, finally getting my eyes shielded with my right hand.

  There were some scattered chuckles. “How’s your head?” questioned X-tee.

  “It doesn’t hurt,” I said happily.

  “Sit up,” he challenged. “Slowly.” The last word sounded like a warning.

  I complied. I moved slowly and felt no pain. “I’m good,” I remarked once I achieved a sitting position. “So, what’s for breakfast?”

  My fellow guards laughed and made a few jokes about my loud stomach rumbles. It was all good fun, but I certainly appreciated the plate of food that Marta handed me. Eggs and bacon, some of my favorite breakfast foods – imitation though they be. I dug in with gusto.

  “So, did any of our visitors return?” I asked between bites of food.

  “No, everything was nice and quiet once the scream stopped echoing around,” Carl told me.

  “Oh,” I grimaced. “Sorry for the rude awakening.”

  “It was pretty scary,” replied Marta shivering. “But we’re glad you’re okay.”

  “Me too,” I agreed. “Captain, how are we going to defend against the invisocat?”

  “That is a real concern,” he stated. “We can start by scattering spinners around our camp. Beyond that, I’m open to suggestions.”

  “Were you able to find any physical trace of it being here?” I asked curiously.

  “We found some distorted tracks in several of the sand traps,” answered Carl. “Not enough to be certain.”

  “Some of the spinners were smashed,” supplied Marta.

  “It moved wickedly fast,” I remarked. “One instant it was right below me and the next the spinners squawked over on the plateau.”

  “We need a way to see and hear it,” said Carl.

  “Yes, Mr. Obvious, we do,” remarked Marta.

  “Could we mark it somehow, cover it with berry juice or sand?” I suggested. “Something that would allow us to see it.”

  “How?” asked X-tee. “It’s not something we could just walk up to with a paintbrush.”

  “Maybe, Amerzan can help,” I said, going out on a limb. Marta and Carl frowned as they glanced between X-tee and me.

  “We don’t know when we’ll see him,” answered X-tee. “The scientists will be ready to go looking for more tree-dwellers very soon.”

  “I could try calling him,” I said helpfully. “He may be near enough for me to reach him.”

  “Give it a try,” he told me. “Marta, you stay with her while Carl and I go brief the scientists about the invisocat.”

  “Who is Amerzan?” she asked when X-tee and Carl were gone.

  “He’s the huge, telepathic eagle,” I answered.

  She swallowed hard and fixed me with a shocked look. “I didn’t know you were telepathic,” she breathed.

  “Marta, I’m not telepathic,” I responded with a little heat. “The bird is! I’ve had a couple ‘conversations’ with him. That’s what’s been causing my headaches.”

  “Oh, well, you better get started,” she murmured, edging away slightly.

  I frowned and grabbed her wrist to get her to look at me. When she did, I released her. “Want to help?” I invited quietly.

  “I can?” she asked, surprised.

  “Of course,” I announced confidently. “With both of us, Amerzan is more likely to hear.”

  “What do I do?” she asked, settling into a more comfortable position facing me.

  I filled her in on my technique. I focused on my image of the bird and pushed it out as I called, ‘Amerzan, can you hear me? Please find me.’ The hardest part of the process was trying to listen for his response. We stopped after about three minutes of strenuous listening.

  “I feel silly,” she confided to me.

  “Welcome to the club,” I told her. “Man, do I feel grubby. I could do with a bath and change of clothing.”

  “Thought so,” she said, indicating a vessel of water and some towels. “It was warm when I brought it up. Please keep the safety line attached to you. I don’t want to scrape you up off the rocks.” She made her last statements while she was disappearing on the lift seat. Her voice sounded a bit chiding.

  “Yes, Mother,” I called after her. Her laughter floated up to me.

  Twenty minutes later, I was on the ground ready to go, feeling clean and wonderful. I joined the rest of the expedition gathered around X-tee and Derrick.

  “Perhaps it would be best if we talked with the one communicating with the bird,” suggested X-tee in a stern voice. The group parted to allow me a clear path to Derrick.

  “What would you like to know?” I asked in a cheery voice.

  Derrick’s expression was stormy as he turned and locked eyes with me. I met them steadily. “You’ve been talking with the bird?” he asked in a voice that made the question into an accusation.

  “Not precisely,” I answered. “I have been communicating with the bird. He is the telepath, and his name is Amerzan.”

  “How long have you been in contact with it?” inquired Raymond in a voice that dripped with interest.

  “I’ve been trying to reach him for several weeks, but we have only communicated since the first night away from the settlement,” I replied.

  “That would be twice,” interjected Marta helpfully.

  “What have you learned from him?” asked Ezra earnestly.

  “He recognizes the differences between individuals,” I began. “He warned me that an invisocat was in the neighborhood. He helped me track it through our camp. He seems concerned about my discomfort. He has stopped both our sessions in hopes of sparing me from debilitating headaches.”

  “Does he speak in words or pictures?” Ezra wanted to know.

  “Both,” I told him. “Mostly, he sends messages with words, but he uses pictures to explain things sometimes. For instance, he showed me an image of when we set up the video imagers. He asked if I was in the picture and, then, which individual I was. Apparently, he has a name for each guard.”

  “Why only the guard?” asked Derrick curiously.

  “Because the guards are the only ones consistently outside the settlement,” answered X-tee reasonably. Derrick’s face turned thoughtful.

  “So, where are we exploring today?” I asked once the silence had stretched long enough that I figured the questions were over.

  “Since you discovered those youngsters, we want to check out the west side of that mountain,” Derrick replied.

  X-tee nodded his understanding. “Derrick, Ezra, your guard is Ky,” he told them. “Please stick near her. She is our rear guard. I’ll be in the lead. Guards, stay to the outside and scatter your spinners per your earlier instructions. Ready?”

  As he spoke, I nocked an arrow and loosened the drawstring on my pouch of spinners. The plan was to throw a handful of them behind me every third step of my left foot. Marta would toss hers every second step while Carl would fling his every first step. X-tee would signal us when to begin.

  “Ready,” we chorused.

  X-tee moved out. Almost immediately, he signaled for us to begin distributing the spinners. Every other step was accompanied by spinner screams that cut off when t
hey landed. It was obvious that some of them slid to the trough below our cliff, leaving an uncovered hole around our camp. Sadly, it couldn’t be helped with gravity being what it is.

  After hiking for over an hour, we were within sight of the west side of the tree-dweller cave we had investigated the day before. I could easily make out the hole in the cavern’s roof about a kilometer away and down about fifty meters. However, a steep-sided valley lay between us and the west face of the mountain.

  I stared at the valley in amazement. The bottom was green. I fumbled to pull my binoculars out of my shoulder pocket. When I looked through them, the green resolved into leaves. Trees grew down there!

  “An oasis nestled in the rock,” murmured Ezra in an awed voice.

  I turned to look at him and froze. I heard a very, faint shriek – the cut-off cry of a spinner. At the same time, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

  “Shh! Listen!” I hissed.

  I stepped quietly away from the edge of the valley and turned to stare down the rise we had just climbed. My eyes detected nothing, but I heard faint spinner screams. Each one was louder, closer than the last. Something was following us. Instantly, my imagination produced an invisocat on the prowl.

  I sank into a squat, resting my bow across my knees. I pulled three additional arrows from my quiver and four spinner rings. As quickly as I could, I snapped the spinner rings to each arrow and laid them across my lap. I nocked two arrows and waited, straining to hear. Maybe I could get lucky again.

  Behind me, I heard hurrying footsteps moving off to the north. I knew there was more cover over in that direction. Hopefully, X-tee and Marta would find a narrow crevice big enough for the group but too small for the invisocat. Such a place would give them the best chance for survival.

  I swallowed hard, realizing I might not come out of this alive if indeed an invisocat was tracking us. I pushed my fear away and focused on what I could hear. Amidst the nearing shrieks from the spinners, I heard slight steps going south, which was to my left. When I glanced toward where I thought the steps had stopped, I found Carl kneeling with his bow at the ready. Yes, I can track by sound!