"Not sure about that," said Gary. "That male monkey thought I was female, and he was only thirty or so feet away. Don't think he could smell me over the perfume, and their eyesight's not so great at night."
"But he did notice you weren't a female at some point."
"Yeah. When I opened my big mouth. The moment I said something, my cover was blown."
"Oh. Interesting."
"If Gary could find out which tent they're in..." Laurie lowered her eyes under Diana's hard stare. "We could go get them at night. Gary could carry Donny and my mom...she can run really fast when she wants to. It might take them a while to react and by then we'd be gone."
"That seems like fairly wishful thinking to me," said Diana.
"Do you have a better idea?"
Diana acknowledged the first edge in the younger woman's voice with a weary smile. "I'm not ruling it out. I just want to be intelligent about this."
"I know they're not your family, and you've already risked so much..."
"So maybe I should go home now? If I hurry, I might make it back in time for afternoon tea?"
Diana noted the girl's stricken face and regretted being snarky with her.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Mann –"
"Diana."
"Diana. I don't mean to sound ungrateful. I'm incredibly grateful for everything you've done. It's just...what if they leave? Or take them with them into that Hub and don't come out?"
"It wouldn't take me," said Gary. They both turned to him. "I went up to the wall but no door opened for me."
"That makes sense. The only way they could recover the zoo animals is if they're chipped or tagged somehow. That means they could identify and admit only them."
"But what if a zoo animal entered with a person?" Laurie asked.
"Good question." Diana sighed. "It would be nice to know what's going on in there – it's obvious the Hub is drawing creatures here, I would guess for some kind of roundup operation – but first things first: we need to free your family."
"Your wolf around?" Gary asked. "I thought I saw him in the sky on the way back."
"No. He took off not long after you left. I thought he might be looking after you."
"He seemed to be fighting or playing or something with another winged-wolf. Too high up to be sure what was happening."
"I'm guessing 'something'," said Diana. "He's been making eyes with another flying wolf since we arrived." An undertone of sadness had entered her voice. "We might not be seeing him for a while, or maybe ever."
"You kidding me?" Gary laughed. "That big hairy bastard's got it bad for you. He ain't gonna leave you for a little wolf pussy."
While Laurie wrinkled her nose at him Diana just shook her head and made a noise halfway between a laugh and a snort.
"Thanks," Diana said. "But I would never underestimate the effect of a little pussy on a male."
"You saying men can't be loyal?" Gary bristled.
"No. I'm saying I don't know how male winged-wolves relate to their females. Could be brief trysts or a lifetime mate, depending on what Earth animal species you want to model them after."
"Well, whatever. I'm betting Zurzay will be back." Gary looked around. "The dragon took off, too, I take it?"
"Yes," said Laurie, also sounding a little sad. "Maybe he's looking for a mate, too."
Diana stirred the fire with a stick. They watched burning embers rise like fireflies into the night.
"I think the thing to do – and I realize it's the hardest thing – is to be patient and wait for the others," said Diana. "We just don't have the numbers now."
Numbers, numbers, numbers. Gary turned away with a scowl. Always we can't do shit because we don't have the numbers. Like a broken fucking record.
Diana faced Laurie. "Even if we could get your mom and Donny out, we don't have the firepower to stop a large pursuit party. With your dad, Myth, and Penny we would."
"This Penny," said Gary. "You said she's like me. A 'Adderall Redskin.'"
"That's right." Diana watched him with a hint of wariness.
"That's cool. Not to be insensitive, but is she hot?"
"She's eleven."
"Oh. Heh."
His face fell, but not quite far enough for Diana. Calculation lingered in his eyes. Penny could take care of herself, but if Gary got any ideas it was open season on her because they were both, as Dan called them, "Redskins," he would be in for a hard if not possibly fatal correction. She'd make sure of that.
"Maybe tomorrow during the day you could backtrack and see if you can locate the other group," she said to Gary. "I have no idea how far back they are, but I would assume Penny would be leading them along our same path. It would be good to know where they're at, and I'm sure they'd feel the same way about us."
"Sure. Heck, I could run back and find them now. That way we wouldn't waste the night."
"That would be great if you feel up to it after all your misadventures tonight."
"No problem." Gary gave her his best jaunty smile. "Piece of cake."
Chapter 16
PENNY AND CURLY HEARD the approaching footfalls first – a few seconds before Gary Hanson jogged into view of their camp.
"What's up, Homeys?"
He slowed to a stop as five rifles spun and centered on him – and the biggest and meanest-looking dog he'd ever seen bounded up on one side, looking him over with the cold blue eyes of an assassin.
"Gary?" Dan called to him.
"In the flesh. Mind calling off your mutt?"
"Curly!" Penny shouted. "Don't hurt him!"
"Hurt me?" Gary snickered, touching his massive knife. "Little girl, the only thing that big-ass hound would hurt would be his head when I chop it off his shoulders."
"But then I'd blow your brains out," said Penny, her AR tilting upward.
"Okay," said Dan. "Everyone stand down. We're all on the same side."
"So what's with the zoo creature-mutt? He your new mascot?"
Dan chuckled under his breath. "You couldn't say that. He's Penny's acquisition. Rescued him from an attack by flying bat-like creatures that look like kites."
"Yeah. I've seen 'em. Nasty little pricks." Gary resumed his forward motion and his smile. "I've been looking for you dudes all night. Got off track 'cause you stopped following us a ways back and I had to double back to find your trail." He paused to scrutinize the latest member of the group. "Who's the new guy?"
"This is Gunnar Thorenson. Gunnar, this is Gary Hanson, one of the Adderall people I've told you about."
"The boy who ate his sister?"
"That's the one."
Ah, jeez. Gary fought the scowl he felt burning on his face. Were they gonna hold that against him for the rest of his life?
"Diana said the little girl ate her brother," he grumbled, nodding to Penny, whose face instantly glowed red.
"I'm not a little girl anymore!" Penny declared. "I'll bet I could kick your butt!"
"Girl, I could break you into little pieces and feed you to your dog without breaking a sweat."
"All right," Dan snapped, rising from his log near the breakfast fire. "As I said, we're all on the same side. Gunnar's former Special Forces and a great addition to our cause. So is Curly, Penny's friend. The past is the past, and we'll need to work together as a team to have a future in our brave new world."
"Special Forces, huh?" Gary looked the bearded giant over with new interest. "Is that like the SEALs?"
"Green Beret."
"Oh." Gary appeared a little disappointed. "Cool."
Dan stepped forward and offered his hand to the youth. "Welcome, Gary. We've never formally met. I'm Dan Jensen."
They shook. Dan forced himself not to wince or be too hasty about pulling out of the boy's iron vise grip.
"So you were looking for us," Dan said. "You joined up with Diana and her flying wolf?"
"Yup." He frowned. "How did you know?
"Penny and Myth smelled you and Diana in the alien landing ship a ways back. They a
lso think they smelled" – Dan hesitated, not wanting to have his hopes dashed but needing to know – "my daughter, Laurie."
"Funny how much a smell can tell you. I had no clue." Gary grinned. "Yeah, your daughter's with us now. We got her out of the monkeys' camp."
Dan startled Gary by seizing him by the arms and whooping. Gary submitted to the embrace with an awkward smile until Dan reined himself in and released the younger man.
"Sorry," he said. "But that was damn good to hear."
Dan turned away from the boy and motioned for him to join him on his log while taking a moment to stifle the tears of joy threatening to burst from his eyes. Laurie wasn't his whole family, but she was one critical piece. Her rescue proved that escape from the Nazrene was possible, and her safety was the first step in solving the horrendous, seemingly impossible puzzle his family's abduction had posed.
"So you've just come from Diana and Laurie?" Dan asked when Gary sat beside him. "How far from here are they?"
"I'd guess maybe fifteen or sixteen miles." Gary shot a nervous look over his back. "By the way, did you know that a group of chimp-chicks are camped, like, a football field away from here?"
"The Azrene?" Dan frowned. "Yes. We've been following them as part of an agreement. They're supposed to show us where Donny and my wife are in return for guns and some training in their use." He raised a hand in response to the shocked expression and protest forming on the youth's lips. "Don't worry, that was never going to happen. It's basically a ruse to get close to my family and avoid, or postpone, fighting the females."
"You don't need 'em," said Gary. "I already know where your peeps are. They're in the female Nazrene camp near the Hub."
"The Hub?" Gunnar asked.
"Yeah. It's like this huge building a bit north of here, plunked down in some park near Eden Prairie, I think. The zoo freaks seem to be drawn to it for some reason."
Dan glanced at Myth. "Could that be the force you've been describing – the invisible force tugging at you?"
"That could be," said Myth. "The Keepers might be calling us into a more central area."
"For what?"
"Retrieval?" Gunnar suggested.
Dan cast a hard look at the older man. "They destroy our civilization, kill billions of people, just to drop their zoo animals here for a week or two before retrieving them?"
Gunnar held up his large paws. "Who knows what their moral calculus is, if they even have one? And by the way, we don't know that billions of people have been killed. Yes, I know that's one possibility, maybe the most logical one, but it's also possible that they created a safe zone for their babies, and this is it."
"Other governments' militaries would've shown up by now."
"Not if they were stopped."
"By what?"
Gunnar shrugged. "A force field? Some kind of no-fly, no-travel barrier? Who the hell knows, Dan, with these alien pieces of shit?"
"True. Maybe they merely murdered a few hundred million?" Dan rubbed his face, noting the scarcely concealed impatience on Penny and Gary's faces. Even Curly's coiled posture suggested he was ready to get past this discussion and do something. "On the plus side, if they do retrieve their creatures that would make our lives a hell of a lot easier."
"That's the spirit," said Gunnar, his smile threadbare.
"It wouldn't be easier for me," said Myth, hints of resentment and fear in her voice. "I'm not going back if I have a choice."
"I understand, Myth. I wonder if you and the others would have a choice." Dan turned to Gary. "So Diana and my daughter are camped out near this Hub?"
"Yes, Mr. Jensen."
"That's where we'll go. The question is how to deal with the Azrene we've been following."
"At the risk of repeating myself, I recommend eliminating them the moment we get a clear field of fire," said Gunnar. "Eleven of them. Four of us with rifles. Should work."
"Plus Curly," said Penny.
"Not to mention me." Gary slapped his Bowie knife.
Gunnar raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You know how to use that thing, son?"
"Yep." Gary thrust his chest out. "Killed me an ape just yesterday. Cut his head clean off."
Gunnar's eyebrow arched another degree before his face relaxed into a smile. "Good."
"The females can spit poison," said Myth. "No one should get near them until we're sure they're dead."
"Good point," said Dan. "I hadn't forgotten you mentioning that. But I agree with Gunnar. Four rifles should do the trick. A potential problem is if one or more escapes and runs back to warn their 'sisters.'"
"We need to make damn sure that doesn't happen," said Gunnar.
"All right." Dan rose from the log. "Let's get our stuff together and get moving. We'll follow the females until we get that clear shot. Following them won't take us much off course anyway."
"Speaking of the devil – or she-demon."
Dan followed Gunnar's nod to the cluster of Azrene who'd appeared at the periphery of their campsite, a scant twenty yards from the nearest person. Penny, the closest, backed off while Curly issued a low-bass rumbling.
"Stay with me, Curly," she ordered him. "They can spit poison!"
One of the Azrene addressed them in a high-pitched scratchy sound that reminded Dan of Marge Simpson.
"They're ready to leave," said Myth.
"Tell them we're ready, too," said Dan.
Soon, they were following the Azrene troop through a fairly dense portion of woods. Dan was feeling fully back to normal for the first time since his battle with the Nazrene, and with each step came the restless urge to push the pace, to kill their simian escorts now rather than wait, and to run like hell to be reunited with his daughter and to begin preparations to rescue his wife and son. What had seemed a near-impossible goal a million miles away was now so close he could grasp it. The silky smooth feel of his daughter's face, the piercing intelligence in his son's eyes, the taste of his wife's lips. Let me just be there, damn it.
Dan pushed back his impatience with a sharp shake of his head and responded to Gunnar's knowing smile with a sparse smile of his own when he noticed the big man looking at him.
"You're aching to get this done, aren't you?" he asked.
"How did you guess?"
"How could I not? Everything you love most in life is practically within spitting distance."
"Also within spitting distance of the Azrene, I assume."
"Not for long, if the fates don't fuck with us. But I don't have to tell you – you gotta keep your head, my friend. I can't believe I'm saying this but stay frosty."
Dan chuckled. "You're right – I want to be there so bad it does ache. But I won't let that interfere with what needs to be done."
"Speaking of which" – Gunnar nodded ahead of them – "we're coming up on what looks like a large clearing. This could be the moment we're waiting for."
Dan stopped himself from shifting his rifle into a more ready position as he watched the Azrene leave the woods and move into the open. The Azrene were also watching them with frequent backward glances, perhaps aware of the danger.
"Keep it cool, everyone," said Dan in a barely raised voice. "This could be it, Myth and Penny. Stay relaxed and easy, as if the last thing on our minds is shooting anyone. Wait for my cue."
"Roger that," said Gary.
They were approaching the clearing. Dan couldn't make out how far it extended yet.
"Okay," said Dan. "Let's move abreast. No sudden movement, keep it casual. Gunnar and I will take the left half of their ranks. Myth and Penny, take the right. Start on the right flank and close toward the center as they drop. Not sure if this is the right moment but be ready."
They were at the clearing. The Azrene had spread out many meters, their outer members not more than twenty or thirty meters from cover on either side. They had fifty, maybe sixty, meters before they reached the next patch of woods. Not ideal – definitely pushing it – but how did they know a better opportunity waited?
&n
bsp; "Let's do this," Dan rasped. "Right now!"
He and Gunnar dropped on one knee and opened fire almost as one. Penny and Myth were not more than a second or two behind. The initial short bursts merged into a fusillade. The Azrene that didn't fall – mostly the center of their group – burst into a sprint. They were fast. Faster than the males, Dan guessed. He focused on the task at hand, methodically targeting the outer ranks and working his way inward while Gunnar, Penny, and Myth did the same. He was homing in on the remaining two or three when they reached the woods.
Two stumbled but dropped. One made it into the trees, perhaps unscathed, perhaps not.
"Let's move!" said Dan. "Watch their heads! Shoot them again when we get closer whether they move or not to make sure."
They closed in from either side on the bodies scattered in a broken line over fifty yards of meadow, Dan counting them out loud between bursts of gunfire as they placed additional rounds in their heads. Three had been alive and, judging by the vigor of their movement – two sitting up, one nearly reaching her feet – had plenty of life remaining until it was snuffed permanently. Seeing their pretty outfits speckled with blood, Dan felt something approaching remorse. They were two adversaries pitted artificially against one another. The blood was firmly on the Keepers' hands.
"That's eight," Dan announced, working to keep anxiety out of his voice.
They continued to the forest, picking up two more. Cautiously working their way into the trees, they found no sign of further blood or the missing eleventh Azrene.
"Shit," Gunnar grumbled.
"We need to track her down," said Dan. "Right the fuck now."
"I got 'er," said Gary, bounding up bearing one of the Azrene stone-headed spears. "No problem."
"Curly and I can catch her," said Penny. "I'll keep him back when we catch up to her and shoot her from a distance."
"Go for it you three. We'll be right behind you."
They didn't need any encouragement. Gary launched into the forest like a heat-seeking missile, already out of sight before Penny and her bear-dog began their pursuit.
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