The Huntsman (28 page)
Authors: Rafael
“She
came into the camp yesterday and stayed overnight.”
“I
know.”
“You
know? How did you know?”
“I
reached the camp yesterday afternoon. I saw her sitting among you.”
“Why
didn’t you come in?”
“She
was there to kill me. She would have cut me down before I crossed the clearing.
She might have killed you all to eliminate witnesses.” Miranda rose up on her
elbow and turned to Janesh.”
“What?”
He nodded.
“She
killed two men in Chandrapur on a contract. Killed an intelligence agent in
Chatur’s restaurant. Nicholas Koh sent her to kill me. To settle old scores and
make it easier to gain control of the device.” Miranda lay down.
“I
knew it, I knew it. Something about her just didn’t add up. She said you and
her were lovers. She made it all up.”
A
minute passed. She sprang back onto her elbow. “Oh my God. She might be back at
the camp. They might all be in danger.” Janesh said nothing. “Did you hear me?
They might be in danger. Or maybe dead.”
“She’s
not in the camp.” Miranda stared at him. A shiver ran down her spine. She knew
the answer but needed to hear him say it.”
“How
do you know that?” Janesh looked at her.
“She’s
dead. I killed her this morning.”
She
lay back down. Her lungs expelled all their air. Behind her the forest’s
denizens buzzed and chirped, flapped and flittered, bugled and honked. She
listened to a passing breeze rustle the tree leaves. Above, a late afternoon
sun prepared to end its day. Across the bank, crocodiles lazed and the river
wound its interminable way. Tomorrow the day would begin anew. And the day
after.
“Are
you okay, Miranda?” She didn’t respond. He didn’t press.
“I
had no idea how sheltered and protected my life in Ohio was. I think back and
shake my head at its naiveté. Life came to me through a communicator, a
television, a radio, a newspaper. Fashion, trends, gossip. Splashy headlines
and lead-ins. Who’s in, who’s out, who will be? Cleansed, sanitized,
airbrushed. All of it self-righteously intended to keep reality at arm’s
length. Spare me the details. Skip bitter truths. Don’t hurt or embarrass.
Above all don’t make me uncomfortable. Leave corpses sheathed until embalmers
can restore life and for heaven’s sake not during prime time. If I question too
closely they’ll ask, what of the children? It brooks no retort, leaves you
mute. Children define our made up world and no one peers out. We exist
sheltered, protected. Cocooned.”
Janesh rose, strode to the river, washed hands and face, cupped
his hands and drank. He returned, dropped to his knees, and tugged her shorts
over her hips. Leaning on one hand the other unbuttoned her top. Outlined by
the grass, he gazed over her curves and flawless skin. Lips closed around one
nipple. It swelled to greet his tongue. He kissed her belly, her thighs, stood
to unfasten his loin cloth. Miranda watched, emerald eyes afire. Ache wracked
her body, opened her legs. “I love you, Janesh McKenzie.” Ever so lightly, his
tongue brushed her woman. Miranda gasped.
Halfway across the clearing, they began waving to the waiting
scientists. Warm hugs and hearty handshakes greeted the returning duo. Gary
pulled back from an embrace to look Miranda over. “It’s been two days. We were
beginning to worry.”
“Sorry. We took a wrong turn.” Laughter re-bonded the group.
“You’re just in time.” the Israeli declared. “We’re about to sit
for breakfast.”
“C’mon Clara, I’ll help you serve it.” Janesh joined the men to
help put out the seating arrangements. Duncan and Ronan circled about sniffing
for anything new.
Inside the kitchen hut Clara winked at Miranda. “Don’t say a word.
You look happy and full of life. She leaned in conspiratorially. “I know it
sets feminists’ hair on fire but there’s nothing that ails a woman a good oomph
won’t cure.” Miranda laughed.
“Or a couple oomphs.” They paused to embrace. “Oh, Clara. It’s
good to be back. I missed you.”
“Come. Let’s get this out before we start bawling like two babies.”
With everyone seated Gary raised his tea cup. “We welcome back our
dear colleagues. We are comforted by their return.”
“Hear, hear.”
“We have good news.” the Russian declared. Janesh and Miranda
glanced around the table. Everyone wore Cheshire cat grins.
“What? What is it?”
“The wormhole device works.”
“Did you go through it?” The Russian nodded.
“I did last night. I needed three steps to go from here to the
street outside my laboratories at the Malenkov Institute in St. Petersburg. I
walked up to the building and pressed my hand against the wall just to confirm
the reality of it. Only a few others were about at that hour. No one noticed I
popped out of thin air. Three more steps returned me here.” Janesh shook his
head.
“The world is inside out and doesn’t know yet.”
“What’s next?” Miranda asked. The Russian turned to the Israeli.
“I’ve been studying Professor Ang’s coordinate tables since
accessing them. I’ve made adjustments we will test after breakfast. I think we
will be able to position and time termination points with greater precision
than Professor Ang did.”
“Who will test it?” Janesh asked.
“I will.” the Israeli answered. “They are my calculations.”
“How safe is it?”
“It is a mathematical certainty. Still, I’ll be nervous. It won’t
stop me but I’ll be nervous.”
“And don’t forget”, the Russian resumed, “this is a prototype, a
proof-of-concept model. Once the industrialists and engineers obtain the
design, rapid advancement in terms of power up, positioning, speed, and
functionality will follow. We are, after all, the descendants of homo habilis.”
“Any reason not to get started?”
“Yes.” Clara called out. “Finish your food.”
Three hours later the solar batteries finally held a full charge.
“Is this what you mean by power up advancements?” Janesh asked the Russian.
“Exactly. We have to make sure everything is set correctly. The
power needed to fire the lasers will drain the batteries. It then takes hours
to wait for a recharge. Once the wormhole unlocks, negative energy will keep it
open. But if anything happens, the person on the other end is stuck. It’s why
during the testing phase we are choosing very neutral destinations.” Janesh
turned to the Israeli.
“Where are you going?”
“To the one place I can be certain where I am: home. My family
owns a farm in the town of
Petach Tikvah in Israel’s center. I go often to
clear my thoughts. If I arrive there, I will know it. Unless something is very
wrong, at this moment my son will be working the north field.”
The Russian looked up from a panel. “It’s charged.”
Everyone gathered by the rectangular gate propped on a foundation
built from the wooden crate it shipped in. One by one they hugged Ariel until
only Dimitrov remained. The Russian smiled. “Good luck, my friend. I’ll be
waiting.” Ariel stepped before the gate then turned around to take in the
motley group’s grim expressions. He smiled.
“Did you learn nothing from Miranda? Relax. I can do this.” Janesh
shot her a curious look.
“I’ll explain later.”
The gate’s surrounding air began to shimmer and glow in undulating
waves. Ariel stepped through, disappeared from India, and emerged in Israel.
Behind him, as planned, the gate closed. Behind it, as he had calculated, stood
the north field entrance. Ahead, a tractor jerked to a stop. A man stood to
place a hand over his eyes. He jumped down and broke into a run. He stopped,
confused and confounded.
“Papa. I saw you appear from nowhere.” Ariel turned to look behind
himself then back.
“How long have you been working, Aaron?”
“But I saw it. You just appeared.” Ariel grabbed him by the
shoulders.
“Aaron. You know that’s not possible. Is there water in the cab?”
“Yes.” he nodded still looking about. Ariel wrapped an arm around
his shoulders.
“Come. You’ve been in the sun too long.”
“How did you get here?” Ariel smiled.
“I walked.” Aaron looked behind them, gave his head a shake.
“What brings you?”
“I need a reason to see my son?”
“No, no. It’s good to see you, Papa. It’s always good to see you.”
“How are things?”
“The harvest will be a good one. Prices are stable. The children
are healthy. I love my wife. I have a good father, a good mother. I am a
wealthy man.”
“Good, good. But don’t you forget to be a good father. And a good
husband.”
They reached the tractor. Ariel removed a water bottle from the
cooler. “Drink. Water is your friend. Don’t give it all to the fields. Without
you the fields are nothing. Don’t drive me back. I want to walk. The smell of
the soil cleanses my soul. I’ll see you at home.”
At the north entrance, Ariel heard children at play. He stepped
quietly to the house and peered around the corner. His grandson and
granddaughter kicked a soccer ball. Their future would not be his. They would
grow up in a world of instant travel, galactic civilizations, alien beings. How
safe could he make it for them? What did safe mean? He stepped clear. They made
to shout but he placed a finger to his lips and closed the distance. He bent on
one knee.
“Can you both keep a magic secret” Wide-eyed, they nodded
solemnly.
“Don’t tell anyone you saw me. I’m not sure when but if you don’t,
you’ll both receive a magic gift.” He shushed them again when they gasped with
delight. “Now, give your grandfather a hug and a kiss. I love you both very,
very much.” He rose and bent down with an extended forefinger. “Now remember.
It’s a magic secret.” He rounded the corner and walked toward the north
entrance. Right on schedule the wormhole opened. He disappeared.
At dinnertime Aaron entered the kitchen. “Where’s Papa’s car? His
wife looked up from the stove, confused. “Where’s Papa’s car?”
“Why would his car be here?”
“Where is Papa? Isn’t he here?”
“No. He’s not here.”
“What do you mean he’s not here? I saw him today in the north
field. Spoke to him. Where is he?”
His wife rushed over to grasp his face between her hands. Rotated
his head, pulled the eyelids down, checked his pupils. “Aaron, are you
alright?”
“Of course I’m alright.” She led him to the table.
“Aaron, sit down. No one has been here all day. Not your father
not anyone.”
She removed ice water from the refrigerator, soaked a hand towel,
placed it on his head. You might have heat exhaustion. Sit quietly.” Confused,
Aaron wondered if he might have imagined it. He glanced at the children. Smug
expressions plastered their faces.
Kreetor gabbled clacks, clicks, and hisses without letup. The Seer
waited. It did not know impatience. “Galactic history has never recorded such a
phenomenon.”
“Nonetheless, Grand Dominant, it is a certainty.”
Frustration ruffled Kreetor’s feathers. Unlike every known
biosphere in the galaxy, the High Council had sent her to the singular planet
where intelligence had arisen in only one species. Worlds evolved two or three,
many five and six. Nowhere did it exist in just one. Had the Council known
this? She did not understand. Could not understand. Priestesses guarded, acted,
fought. Knowledge and thought belonged to the Unwinged.
“And these, what are they called?”
“Dogs, Grand Dominant.”
“These dogs are not intelligent?”
“I have monitored them closely. I have scanned every frequency
mode near them. I have analyzed the history and records of this planet. Dogs
are ruled and subjugated by the inhabitants as are many other life forms. The
rest are eaten or geographically restrained. The inhabitants do the same to one
another. No, they are not intelligent.”
“And the inhabitants eat one another?”
“They must. Otherwise what purpose does killing serve?”
“Truly, they are a mighty race. The Council is wise to fear them.
I understand now, Seer. The Unwinged sent me to destroy their gate and all associated
with it that the Subjugators may not ignite a conflagration on sacred Sorke.
Our duty is clear. Have you located the gate?”
“It has been active. I know its precise location.
*
* *
“We don’t have the means to test radiation levels around the gate
when activated and what health risks they might pose. Or even what the exposure
is during the brief traversal within. I and Clara’s examinations and
observations of Dimitrov and Ariel can discern no ill effects. Much study
remains. Nonetheless we stand at a momentous precipice. The human race is
poised to expand beyond the planet that birthed it.”
“Let me add to Gary’s point.” Ariel said. “Within Professor Ang’s
original destination tables were seventeen entries beyond the Solar System.
Attached notes to the tables indicated he had devised some type of wheeled,
tethered robot he would send through the gate to take air samples. Six times
Professor Ang stepped onto an alien world. The last time something grabbed the
robot and bit through the tether. Realizing the danger of possibly dragging
something back through, he stopped the extraterrestrial visits.”
“So the question is no longer abstract. What do we do next?” Clara
asked.
Silence descended around the table. The raucous, free-wheeling
after dinner debates had taken a sober, intense tone. Clara had injected focus.
Idle speculation now required concrete decision. Thirty feet beyond sat a
device that would be at the center of mankind’s future history. Narsimha
lightened the mood.
“It’d be great if we could speak to the person who launched the
first boat.” Everyone smiled.
“I doubt he subjected himself to all the navel gazing.” Gary said.
“Agreed.” Miranda said. “He put it in the water and sailed off.
Let the chips fall where they may. The original plan may be best. Release the
design to the world simultaneously. Let the chips fall where they may.”
“Perhaps we should…” Duncan and Ronan began a furious bark, stared
into the night sky. Janesh made the instant connection.
“Everyone under the table. Now!”
Ariel could not bend down fast enough. Janesh stood over him spear
at the ready. Above, a dark mass soared by. It flapped once, twice, and
disappeared into the gloom. An eerie, piercing screech crossed the distance. He
scanned the overcast night but saw nothing. Ears strained for the slightest
sound. The dogs had quieted. He could not leave everyone under a table.
“Okay everyone. We’re going to the kitchen hut. Stay together.
There’s no need to run but move quickly. Let’s go.” Once inside Janesh cycled
options. “Leave the two bunks for Ariel and Dimitrov. Sleeping on the floor
won’t kill the rest of us. We’re sheltered, out of the elements with food and
water but have sacrificed mobility. The creature has the initiative to attack
at its choosing and leisure. Make yourselves as comfortable as possible. It may
be a long night. I’ll use the time to figure out something better. I’m open to
any suggestions.”
Kreetor left them no time to make any. With a loud thump that
shook the roof, it landed. Scrapes and scuffs caused dust to float down. Sharp,
wicked claws punctured through followed by a jarring, tearing sound. It flew
off, a thatched section hooked to its talons.
Moments later it returned. A beak poked through. Underneath a pink
tube wriggled, targeted. “Look out!” Janesh yanked Narsimha off his feet. A
gelatinous, viscous mass splattered on the spot he had occupied. More scrapes
and tears. Another roof section flew off. Janesh raced through options.
The woods offered sanctuary but they’d have to cross the clearing.
Keeping everyone close would make them easier targets. Spreading out would make
it impossible to defend everyone. Ariel and Dimitrov could not keep up if they
ran. If they stayed the Sorken would tear the roof off piece by piece.
Eventually someone would fall victim to its adhesive paste. Janesh imagined the
creature might also drop rocks from unseen heights. Primitive but effective. He
had to find a way to make the roof untenable and make the alien know if it
wanted to kill the others it would have to kill him first.
His eyes darted about, searched for anything that might make a
weapon. Pots, pans, plates...knives. He jerked the drawer open. Fruit slicers
and too unbalanced for throwing. His head snapped upward. One spear good, many
spears better. He made to run out then stopped. The dogs could be useful but he
needed Miranda safe. He pointed to her. “Guard.”
Outside, he hurried to pull down the bamboo rods used to hold
intertwined thatch. Two sharp, angled blows with his knife lopped off the ends
leaving razor points that could puncture feather and flesh. He circled the hut
until six interspersed spears leaned around the structure. Kreetor did not keep
him waiting.
It landed and Janesh rushed to a spear. Nimble hops evaded upward
stabs as it flapped and screeched. Thrust, miss. Thrust, miss. Thrust, miss.
But not the fourth. He caught a leg and tore open a long gash. An ear-piercing
shriek and it took off. “Everyone stay inside. Don’t go near the openings.”
Janesh moved away from the hut, daring it to return. Kreetor did.
He ran in spear at the ready and the bird took off. The pattern repeated twice
more. Stalemate. Good, Janesh thought. It’ll have to change tactics.
Behind him, Kreetor landed in the clearing, screeched a challenge.
Janesh turned. Spear leveled, he charged. Before he could close, the beast
launched with a mighty flap. Janesh watched it fly past him back to the hut.
His heart sank when it touched down atop the roof and flew away with another
torn-off section. He walked back, cycling through options. Behind him, the
alien landed and screeched another challenge.
Janesh turned, crouched low, spear ready to throw. He stalked
forward. Kreetor waited, wings open, ready to fly. Muscles tensed, Janesh
crossed into range, ready to track its launch. Kreetor remained on the ground.
Janesh smiled. Two more steps and the alien could not evade the spear’s flight.
Its black beak opened. Janesh let fly. The spear passed through it. Behind him
he heard wings flap. He turned to watch the monster land and poke its head into
a roof hole. Janesh raced back, prayed for time.
It jerked its head back out, feathers steaming. Water flecked off
as it launched away shrieking its rage. Janesh howled his defiance. The
scientists had joined the battle. Someone had put water to boil.
He ran back for his spear then to the hut. Inside no one
celebrated. “Everybody stay alert. That thing is smart. I can’t anticipate
everything and it might succeed tearing off the entire roof. Listen for my
command. When you hear it, run to the next hut. Understand?” Their wide-eyed
faces, both fearful and determined, nodded in disjointed unison. Janesh glanced
at Miranda then the group. “Steady, everyone. We can do this.”
He remained nearby but long minutes passed and Kreetor did not
reappear. He dismissed any notion the scalding water had disabled the alien.
Its effortless flight had indicated nothing such. He welcomed the respite
though. All the running had left him flagged. Perhaps it too rested. And
calculated.
Ahead a screech filled the clearing. Two aliens appeared. Janesh
assumed a casual, un-aggressive stance and strode toward them. Twenty yards
away he slowed, leveled the spear. One slow step then another he closed to
fifteen. One bird winked out. Janesh smiled. “Too late. You can’t fly back fast
enough.” He inhaled. “Ruuun!” The bird winked out. Janesh paled. Winked out not
flew out. Wormhole!
He turned to see the scientists halfway there. Miranda passed
Ariel to Clara then ran back. “Noooo!” Janesh took off, his legs pistons
thumping across the grassy glen. Miranda gathered the bamboo spears. Turned to
join the others. Kreetor winked in. Shocked and frightened, Miranda slowly
backed up. Run Janesh, he commanded himself. Run like you’ve never run in your
life.
From the shadows Duncan and Ronan leaped. Iron jaws clamped on a
wing. It leaped about, one wing flapping, shrieking its pain. Janesh closed in.
Miranda dropped the others and stabbed with one spear missing again and again
the whirling mass of fur and feathers. With a powerful twist it smashed dogs
and wing against a hut wall knocking the wind from its tormentors and
dislodging them. It leaped once, twice but its lame wing would not lift. Janesh
leveled his spear center mass. It winked out.
Janesh pulled up. Duncan and Ronan scrambled to their feet in full
blood rage, their well-muscled frames no worse for wear. Janesh pivoted toward
Miranda, wanting to scream at her. She stood her ground, evaded the point. “I
couldn’t let it hurt them.” They glared at one another. Miranda’s face
softened. “With the spears we can poke through the roof when it lands.” Janesh
nodded but wouldn’t relent. The syllables marched out slow and deliberate. His
tone brooked no refusal.
“Stay inside.” She gathered the spears. The dogs looked at him
expectantly. “Guard.” They trotted after her.
Halfway to the tree line, Janesh squatted down with the spear
vertical. If not reckless, Miranda had aided his strategy. If it could not land
on the roof it would have to come through him. He doubted a winged creature
would wink into the hut. In such confined quarters odds for serious injury
surged. Think, Janesh, think. There has to be a way to defeat this thing. Based
on Miranda’s telling of the Seer’s healing abilities, it’d be back soon enough.
Abilities.
He rose and turned back to the hut. He began to run, faster and
faster. His entrance startled everyone. “Give me all your blankets. The wool
ones.”
“There’s only four.” Clara called out.
“That will do.”
He paused to turn back in the entrance. The night sky framed his
powerful body. His chest heaved and expanded from exertion. “No matter what you
see, do not shout, do not make a sound. Silence is life.”
Deep in the clearing Janesh looked about. He searched not for a
place but a sense. One grass blade rose above the rest. With unhurried care he
tamped down the surrounding grass then positioned it between him and the hut.
Knife firm between his teeth, he squatted before it and pulled the blanket up
his back to hold over his head. Just enough flap hung over the top that his
field of vision became the lone blade.
The forest’s sounds swirled around the blade: buzz, chitter,
squeaks, grunts, chirps, clucks. He stared at the blade. Descent began. One by
one the sounds faded. Breathing slowed, became a whisper. He descended. The
heart arrived, thumping, pulsing, whooshing through veins and arteries and out
to the blade. He descended. Cells vibrated, palpitated, hummed and thrummed.
They swirled into the blade. Descent slowed.
His life force swelled and oozed, dampening, stifling, muffling
sound. He plunged deeper,
to the sam dhi, to the sound emitted at the
beginning of time, the silence of the divine whole. Janesh arrived.
He
did not wait. That presumed time’s passage and for him it had stopped. In the
stillness of one, in the silence of union, he listened and heard all.
Behind
him a feather alit. Disturbed air swirled and eddied then floated again. The
wind curved around a body, edging it, framing it. A beak opened. Heat expelled.
Clarified gel sliced the air. It struck the blanket, useless and spent. Grass
folded. Again. Then again. Closer, closer. It stopped, assessed. Air swirls
bent back, back, back. The beak tensed for its downward plunge.
Janesh
did not move, did not rise. He flowed. With a flick, the blanket whisked away
like Aladdin’s carpet. He spun to his right as the beak pierced the air toward
the spot his head had just occupied. His left hand closed around Kreetor’s
right, crushed the fingers to useless pulp. His right held the knife that
entered the Sorken’s gut, slicing back to the throat as downward momentum caused
the creature to eviscerate itself. He grabbed the back of its neck lifting it
straight to shear back down through bone and viscera. Disemboweled, the alien’s
guts plopped to the ground. A moment later so did the carcass.