“Great Zeus!” Santiago shouted as he lowered his rifle and stepped back.
“Hold your ground,” Jonathan said. “Aim for the head or chest.”
The efferusaur stepped into the clearing, showing its truth girth. It was at least 20 meters in height and thick as a building. Another roar boomed in the air around them. The efferusaur lowered its head, exhaling loudly through its nostrils. It was sizing up its enemy.
“Shoot now,” Jonathan said. There was no reply. “Damn it Santiago, shoot!”
Santiago, icy fear gripping his stomach and not letting go, didn’t hear Jonathan. He just stared at the beast, reverting back to some primeval state of his species. A time when there were only two responses to every problem.
The ground shook as the efferusaur charged. Thick strands of drool sopped from its mouth as it roared in anticipation.
“Shoot!” Jonathan screamed.
Santiago was frozen. A warm stream of urine dripped down his leg as he dropped the rifle and ran.
Victoria screamed and tried to climb into the backseat as Jonathan jumped out of the rover. He picked up the ion rifle and flipped it on, aiming at the creature’s chest. The efferusaur was almost on them now, a low growl escaping its mouth as it opened to bite down on its prey.
The creature gained speed as it closed in on Jonathan. He felt the coolness of being in its shadow before he heard the small beep of the rifle, indicating it was fully charged.
He pulled the trigger, and there was silence.
The discharge of the rifle deafened him and he couldn’t hear anything. He jumped back as he saw the efferusaur above him, his shadow growing larger.
As he went to aim the rifle again, the shadow began to recede. The beast had been shot with a direct hit in the chest. It’d caused a sever burn but not gotten through his breastplate to the heart. The efferusaur, wounded and in pain, turned to run.
Jonathan, still deafened from the rifle, jumped into the rover and used a maneuvering pad to aim the harpoon. He had a target right on the creature’s back, and he grabbed the seat to steady himself, and hit the release.
The harpoon exploded out of the vessel, the recoil knocking the hover back. Jonathan felt the muscles in his arms strain to keep him where he was; it was all he could do not to go through the windshield.
When he’d steadied himself, he saw the large glimmering steel sticking out of the dinosaur’s back. It was a direct shot.
When the efferusaur had disappeared into the forest, the thick strand of fiberwire connected to the harpoon following it, Jonathan turned to Victoria who was huddled on the floor.
“You okay?” he said.
“Is it gone?”
“It’s gone. Are you hurt?”
“No,” she said, climbing up.
She was trembling, and Jonathan felt a twinge of pity for her. He took her arm and helped her up into the passenger seat.
“Stay here,” he said, “I’ll go find Santiago.”
As he hopped out, Jonathan noticed that his own hands were trembling. He could feel sweat rolling down his back and his heart felt like it was about to tear away from his chest. That was too close. Closer than he’d ever been before.
He walked over the grass awhile until he could see a dim shape walking out of the forest; it was Santiago.
“You all right?” Jonathan asked.
“Fine,” he said, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Just took me by surprise is all.”
“It happens. Come on, I hit it with the harpoon.”
“Now what?”
“Now we track it. It’s injured, it’ll either die soon or lay down to rest. If it rests, we hit it again.”
The rover sailed through the twisting forest after the beast, adeptly using its automatic monitoring to weave in and out of thick bundles of trees and shrubs. The three passengers rode in silence, Victoria not having spoken to Santiago since he returned. Jonathan felt somewhat sorry for him; to be humiliated like that in front of your wife; how could he ever overcome that?
Santiago decided to break the awkward silence. “You ever seen one take a full shot like that before?”
“Yes, but they usually die after a few hundred meters or so. I’ve never seen one go this long.”
“What do you think it means?”
“Maybe nothing, I don’t know. Maybe I didn’t get off as good a shot as I—”
The beeping of the proximity alarm interrupted Jonathan and he leaned forward to look at the flashing screen.
“It’s up ahead, twenty meters.”
The rover slowed and Jonathan looked at Santiago. Sweat was trickling down his brow and he was gripping the dash tightly to keep his hands from shaking. Victoria was looking away; he had a feeling she couldn’t stand the sight of her husband right now.
“There!” Santiago said.
Just ahead of them, nestled against some trees, the efferusaur lay on its side, gasping deep breaths. Its head jostled up as the rover braked and Santiago jumped out with the ion rifle.
He walked closer to the beast than he needed to, kneeled, and fired. The beast let out an agonizing growl as the bolt hit it in the head.
“That’s it,” Jonathan said. “It’s over.”
The efferusaur clamored to its feet, using the trees as support, let out a soft whine and disappeared again through the shrubbery. Santiago turned to Jonathan, his expression one of shock. But Jonathan had no answers for him.
“Have you ever …”
“No,” Jonathan said, “never.”
Santiago climbed back in the rover, and they began the pursuit again.
*****
They followed the trail of the creature for over three hours; daylight was beginning to fade, and the hunt was nearing an end, but the creature kept running. It wouldn’t stop long enough for them to catch up.
“How long do we chase it now?” Santiago asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen one do this. I’ve never seen one want to live so badly.”
“What do we do when night falls?”
“We have to leave. The species hunted most on this planet is nocturnal so all the anti-poaching patrols come out after nightfall.”
“But” Santiago whined, frustrated, “I want this damned thing!”
Jonathan thought he sounded like a child, and it disgusted him. “If you don’t get him in the next couple hours, you can’t have him.”
Santiago fumed as they continued to pursue, occasionally glancing over at his wife. He had nothing to say to her. There was nothing he could say. No matter what they did or talked about from now on, that single act would define him in her eyes.
The proximity alarm beeped again.
The creature hadn’t stopped but had instead slowed to a moderate pace. They slowed as well, just enough to catch up but keeping as silent as possible.
Soon, they saw the colossal girth of the creature hobbling along its path. It was wavering, leaning too far to the side now and then, confused from pain and exhaustion.
“What now?” Santiago said.
Jonathan didn’t reply; he just watched the beast. The efferusaur turned once and glanced at the rover, then turned back and tried to quicken its pace.
“Jonathan!”
“Yeah,” Jonathan said, distracted. “You’ll have to shoot it from the rover.”
Santiago grabbed the ion rifle out of the backseat. He leaned out of the rover, flipping on the rifle and watching the creature stumble as it charged up.
There was a matter of honor involved. The creature had shown him to be a coward in front of his wife. There would be little to make up for this act, but at least in the creature’s death Santiago would be brought a measure of revenge.
The rifle signaled it was ready to fire. Santiago took aim, purposely taking his time to get a good head shot. When he was certain the target would not be missed, he pulled the trigger.
The creature lurched forward and fell on its face, a deep laceration in the sensitive skin on the bac
k of its neck. Santiago had drawn blood; it wouldn’t be long now. He smirked to himself as he stopped the rover and looked back to Jonathan and his wife.
Jonathan and Santiago climbed out, walking cautiously toward the beast that was lying on its stomach, breathing quick shallow breaths. Santiago went back to the rover and pulled out the ion rifle.
“What are you doing? We can just wait,” Jonathan said.
“No, I want one good shot to end this.” He glanced back at Victoria who was leaning out of the rover, watching nervously. “She won’t forget this you know. Truth is, my boy, I don’t think she really loves me. I don’t think she ever really even liked me. But she tolerated me.” He glanced hatefully at the wounded creature. “I’m afraid she may not even do that now.”
He approached the beast, again getting too close, and aimed his weapon. Before he could fire, the massive head whipped around and the jaws of the efferusaur closed down not a meter from Santiago’s face, the creature’s hot breath covering him in spittle.
Santiago flew back, landing hard on the ground before scrambling to his feet and running for the apparent safety of the rover.
The efferusaur climbed to its feet, glaring pitifully at Jonathan, and hobbled away once more through the trees.
“By Zeus,” Jonathan mumbled to himself.
“Don’t just stand there!” Santiago screamed. “Let’s go kill this damned thing!” Anger had taken control of him, and he kicked the rover, banging his foot roughly against the metal siding.
Jonathan watched the spot where the creature had disappeared a moment and then headed back to the rover. He stood in front of Santiago and looked him in the eyes; the man was out of control with anger; he wouldn’t stop until this creature was dead.
“We’re turning back,” Jonathan said.
“What! Are you insane! We will do no such thing.”
“Yes, we will, Santiago.”
“How much more do you want?”
“It’s not the money,” Jonathan said, glancing behind him to the creature’s path.
“I know what you want,” Santiago said, his voice cracking with desperation. “I had you checked out before I hired you. I heard you were the best hunter on the planet, but one with problems. Problems related to the law back on earth.”
Jonathan glared at him.
“You killed a man,” Santiago said, “I know all about it. I know you can never go back to earth. But you can buy your way out of crimes there. I believe for murder it’s, ah, oh damn,” he turned to his wife, “how much for murder, Victoria?”
Victoria, still leaning out of the passenger side door watching the two men, remained silent. Staring at her husband as if he were someone else.
“Anyway,” Santiago said, “I think 5,000 denima should cover it. Think Jonathan, you could go back to earth a free man. The law would leave you alone!”
Jonathan, to his own surprise, didn’t even consider it. “No.”
“Damn it! Why not?”
“I’ve never seen anything Santiago, not man or animal, that wanted to live as much as that creature. He deserves his life.”
Santiago’s eyes widened and he went into a fury. “Damn you! You will do as I say or I will go straight to the Plutisian Criminal Authority, you hear me! I’ll tell them they have a wanted fugitive poaching in their hills. A man that—”
What sounded like an explosion rang out in the air around them, and Jonathan instinctively ducked.
He looked up and saw the efferusaur leap like a bird out of the brush and land near the rover, shaking the ground. Its massive head bit down and missed Santiago as he collapsed onto his back. Santiago, beyond fear, pointed the ion rifle and the efferusaur turned to retreat.
Santiago rose, fury gripping him, and began chasing the beast on foot, swearing with every breath. The efferusaur disappeared into the vegetation and Santiago stopped running, his lungs on fire. As he kneeled down to catch his breath the great beast emerged from the jungle and sprinted for him.
A shot rang in the air but Jonathan saw that Santiago had not raised his rifle. He was face down on the grass, a large gaping wound in the back of his head. The efferusaur clamped his teeth around the man’s carcass and swallowed it in one bite. It looked at the rover, panting, and then turned and lumbered away.
Jonathan looked at Victoria. She was standing up in the rover, the antique rifle in her hands. She was trembling.
“It was an accident,” she said.
Jonathan glanced to where Santiago’s body had been and then back at Victoria. “You could’ve just left him.”
“I didn’t mean it,” she said. She threw the rifle to the ground.
“Most women that want their husbands dead hire someone else to do it.”
“No! I didn’t want to kill him.”
“Yeah,” he said in a flat voice. “You know, I was just starting to like him.”
“But I didn’t mean it.”
“Don’t worry, I know it was an accident. That’s what I’ll tell the Criminal Authority. They’ll have to believe me; there’s no one else.”
Jonathan took a deep breath and walked to the rover. She started to cry but stopped suddenly. Crying on command certainly was a gift of the feminine gender.
“You’ve murdered,” she said. “What gives you the right to judge?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“Santiago said you did.”
“No, I was a soldier doing the job I was told to do. Because politicians later decided they didn’t want to be responsible for what they ordered, we took the blame. It’s different.” He started the rover. “But like I said, I know it was an accident.”
“Yes,” she said. “It was.”
HATSHEPSUT
Dr. Malcolm David sat in front of Deir el-Bahri, holding his brimmed hat to his head as the desert winds howled. Many temples in Egypt came with ghosts and this was no different. Built by a queen 2500 years ago, it still appeared as if it could’ve been built recently. As if there were a royal family that inhabited its walls. Many workers at the dig site had told stories of seeing the ghosts of the queen roaming among the ruins. Though these were stories; stories that could be found at any ancient site in the world, they still sent a shiver down the back.
Even in paleontologists as well traveled as Malcolm.
He sat down in the soft sand in front of the structure, his bare legs sun-burnt and peeling. The sun had painted the sky violet as it began its descent back into the earth and the workers had gone home for the day. His staff—primarily graduate students—had gone into the nearby town of Gurnah for a night of dining and drinking. But not Malcolm.
He preferred these moments alone when he was on a dig. The temple guarded the entrance to the Valley of the Kings and the wind was blowing through it, causing a faint whistling sound. The relics made him feel that he was back in the time of the New Kingdom, when life was short and brutish, but full of wonder and mystery. The mighty God “Science” had killed off most of the wonder and mystery in his world. Man was now the cousin of the ape and consciousness the by-product of eating meat; bipedalism the result of needing both our hands to murder our fellow brothers. No, that was not the world or the time Malcolm belonged to. His was of a different era. The Germans had a word for it; someone born in the wrong century, but Malcolm couldn’t remember for the life of him what that word was now.
He took a deep breath, and stood.
The camp had been set up at the base of a small sand dune and as he walked toward it he took off his hat and ran his hand through his hair, his fingers coming away slick with sweat. The camp was empty but a small fire burned in front of the tents; a courtesy from the workers so that he wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of making one himself.
Malcolm went to his tent and came back out with a small canvas knapsack. He sat down by the fire and took a can of beef stew out of the knapsack, opening it with a can opener he had on a set of keys.
Some paleontologists went into town at night, leaving the
dig site unattended. But Malcolm thought this separated the paleontologist from the digging. It turned it into a job rather than a passion and a job was something Malcolm had never liked.
He pulled out a small metal spoon from his breast pocket and began to eat. He thought about the worker that’d been killed today; a young man of eighteen that he’d spoken to a few times. If Malcolm remembered correctly, he’d said that he wanted to attend college and become a doctor one day. His brother had died of cancer and it had inspired him to devote his life to medicine.
Malcolm would have to go into town tomorrow and tell the boy’s parents that he was dead.
The workers would only occasionally sleep at the camp and the night of his death the boy was restless, out wandering around the camp at all hours, drinking warm goat’s milk as a sleep aid.
Malcolm was also keenly aware that they didn’t have a body, so the parents might cling to a modicum of hope that their boy was still alive. But the evidence was clear; bits of ragged flesh had been found in his tent, the tent itself spattered with small droplets of blood. Another worker nearby said he heard a high-pitched laughter before a scream. Though rare in Egypt, hyenas were not unheard of. Malcolm had seen them kill before.
He was on a dig in central Kenya ten years ago, a small project funded by his university, when a couple of workers disappeared. Some of the men heard laughter the night they died too. Nearly a week later, fragments of human skull and teeth were found in a pile of hyena dung. When a hyena killed it ate the entire body; teeth and hair included.
Malcolm finished his beef stew and threw the can into the fire. It was twilight now and the shimmering blanket of stars was beginning to make itself known. He decided to sleep outside.
He brought out his sleeping bag with a pillow and took off his boots. The air was hot and the wind had died down so he just lay on top of his sleeping bag, staring at the sky. As the violet sky turned to gray and then black, he slowly slipped off to sleep.
Star Dreamer: The Early Short Stories of Victor Methos Page 4
