Bootstrap Colony (37 page)

He looked up to the sky, then
back to the crowd. “We can only ask that we do our best, and support one
another,” he said, voice firm. Anne was quietly crying. “Let’s remember Mateo
best by doing our damnedest to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He waved to
Doc and Maggie. “Doc, Maggie and the medics are working on finding a better
method of treatment.” He waved to Janet and Anne.

“The ladies here are on a bug
hunt with the adults and what armadillos we have rounded up. The kids,” He
waved to them, “Are doing their best to round up more. If we have to Travis,
Gunny, Henry, Piotr and I will go cave hopping to get as many of the critters
back as we can.” He waved to Travis who nodded. “We now know what is at stake. Let’s
get to work.” He nodded as the crowd murmured and then began to disperse.

Doc came up to him and slipped
her hand around his arm and her hand into his. “Not one of your better
speeches, but it will do,” she murmured. She rested her head against his
shoulder.

He sighed. “Yeah, it will have
to. Losing a child and pointing fingers can destroy a community,” he rumbled
back softly. She shivered. He stopped and pulled his jacket off.

“You seem to always be doing
that,” she chuckled.

He shrugged. “You’re a female,
you have what? A couple ounces of fat on your entire body?” he teased. He
shrugged at her expression.

“I have plenty of muscle mass,”
he joked and then patted his belly, “and a healthy dose of insulation.”

She chuckled and poked his
midriff. “I was meaning to put you on a diet...” He gave her a horrified look.

“You wouldn’t!” She snorted as
she snuggled back into his side. He looked with approval as the kids fanned out
and began looking in nooks and crannies for armadillos. Tisha squealed and held
one up; it thrashed its arms in the air then rolled itself into a ball. Janet
took the animal and thanked Tisha. Doc sighed softly, hugged herself to him.
They walked together back into the base as the sun set.

A few days later Lisa knocked on
his office door and let him know that the rotor shaft for the second helicopter
passed muster. Jacklynn came in, and nodded. “We dug out the parts bin, you
were right, there was a spare rotor shaft, so we can replace the other in
helicopter one.”

He was tired and grumpy and
nodded. “I told you it was there, you just had to look.” Jacklynn got a look at
his face and nodded and chased Lisa out.

Travis paused as he heard the
ladies talking about Mitch’s behavior. Doc was there, listening as Lisa and
Jacklynn unload. “He bit my head off, that’s not like him.”

Travis nodded and muttered. “Ah
the loneliness of command.” Doc looked up to him with a questioning look.

He cleared his throat. “You have
to remember, although he has run his own company, and been doing well here,
Mitch was never trained for command.” He shrugged. “Losing someone is hard on
everyone, but an untrained commander it tends to hit even harder.”

Doc looked concerned. “Is he burning
out?”

Travis shrugged. “Maybe a little.
When was the last time he had a break?”

The girls looked from one to
another. “He works nineteen to twenty two hours a day; I’d say the man rarely
took a break,” Janet commented, wiping her hands on the dish towel as she
finished with the dishes.

“He needed one then. A day or two
off. Get his pipes cleaned,” Travis suggested and then shrugged.

Doc snorted. “We tried that, some
of the ladies...” She indicated a blushing Jacklynn and Hanna, “Chased the poor
guy all over the place all winter.” Travis laughed with the Janet. “That does
give me an idea though,” Doc replied thoughtfully and then walked out of the
room.

Mitch was checking a report when
Doc came in. it was late, a light rain storm outside, but Piotr said it would
be ending later in the morning. “So, I was thinking we need a break,” Doc said,
coming right to the point. He looked up at her a little bleary. “I think you
me, and Cassie deserve to play hooky tomorrow,” she said firmly. He looked at
her dubiously then sighed.

“You heard about the mess with
Candy and Bill?” She nodded. “I could have handled that better,” He muttered.
Candy and Bill wanted to go return to Copper town now.

She gave him a long look. “Yeah
you could have.” She placed her hands in her pockets, and then looked over at
the nearby wall.

“Okay, so I have been a little
pushy,” he grumbled and then shrugged wryly.

She gave him a look. “A little?
Janet is about ready to toss you out, or feed you to your precious cheetah one
bite at a time if you keep harping. I like Paul’s suggestion, dropping you butt
naked over at Mike’s.”

He chuckled wryly and scrubbed at
his face to wake up a little. “Phyllis said that herd is north east of us,
about ten to fifteen kilometers off the road to Iron village. Wanna go check
them out and have a picnic?” Doc suggested slyly. He looked at her dubiously,
and then shrugged. She patted his arm, then rises he got another view of her
decorage.

“Good it’s settled then. Janet
has already packed a lunch.”

He looked at her then snorted.
“It looks like I don’t have a choice do I?” Wryly he smiled, giving in to the
inevitable.

Doc turned, at the doorway, gave
him a smile over her shoulder. “Nope.” She swaggered a little as she left. Exit
stage right he shook his head in exasperation.

“Meddling females,” he muttered.

“I heard that!” She called from
the hallway. He chuckled and sat back, pursing his lips in thought.

Dawn was a glorious sight as they
stepped into the garage. The door was open, Lisa and a few of the newbie’s had
gotten up early and were tearing into a tractor, rebuilding a ruptured fuel
tank. Doc came out wearing a sweater, cradling a cup of coffee in her hands.
Cassie yawned behind her, muttering about why she had to be dragged along. Doc
hushed her and followed Mitch to the hummer. He opened the passenger door with
a flourish; she smiled as she nodded graciously and stepped in. He closed the
door and turned to open the rear but Cassie had beaten him to it. “I can open
my own door,” she grumbled.

Doc smiled, “Cassie is always a
grump in the morning.” Mitch snorted. He stepped around the vehicle waved to
Lisa then got in.

“Bring it back in one piece!” the
girl hollered as they left.

“Wow, I never thought I would see
something like this,” Cassie murmured. Mitch flicked his eyes to the mirror.
Cassie was looking excited, watching the herd pass by. They were on a small
hill rise, out of the main path of the herd, but slightly upwind. The wind was
light, dancing the left from time to time with small gusts. Doc was watching
the herd warily.

She pointed. “Is that a rhino
covered in fur?” Disbelief warred with awe in her tone. “Is it...coming here?”
The rhino had stopped almost facing them, squinting. It tossed its head, making
its fur ripple.

They could see the steam from its
breath as the cool morning air made it visible. Its ears flicked about and then
its head lined up on the intruding Terran vehicle. It tossed its mighty head
again and then charged a sudden blur of fur and armor. Doc squealed, instinctively
moving to the center of the car as the great beast struck. The truck pitched up
and down hard, jarring them. The rhino slammed them again.

“Right, tantrum,” Mitch snorted.
A third slam jarred his teeth. “Okay, enough of this.” He flipped a switch on
the dash as Doc clutched his right arm. The fourth hit came with a sizzling
pop. The rhino moved off, dazed and staggering slightly. Doc and Cassie looked
up. The breeze ruffled its fur, changing direction slightly.

“What did you do?” Cassie asked.

“Oh, just gave it a bit of a
shock,” Mitch smiled grimly. After a moment though the damage sunk in and his
face fell into mock fear. “I know we would survive a tantrum, but getting the
dents out of this thing is a pain! Lisa will kill me!” Cassie gave a watery giggle
at his mock fear. The rhino snorted, nostrils flaring and then staggered a
little as it moved off to join the herd. They checked around, making sure
nothing in sight was in striking distance before Mitch stepped out. He gave a
low whistle of dismay at the damage. Doc looked and then asked quietly if they
were in trouble.

He tugged at the dented fender.
“Yeah, maybe with Lisa.” He looked up. “No, a little play time with the hammer
and dolly will get that out of the way.” He stepped back, surveying the damage
as Doc and Cassie looked around nervously. The herd had moved off, the rhino
was standing under a tree, ears twitching as it munched grass. “Almost as bad a
tantrum as one of Janet’s,” Mitch commented, then grinned at Doc’s mock glower.
Cassie smothered a giggle. “Almost,” Mitch said completely unrepentant under
her stern gaze and then laughed as Doc punched his arm.

“I thought you went hunting?”
Mitch teased noticing Doc was still a bit shook up. He gave Doc and Cassie a
look. Cassie was a bit hysterical too but calming faster than her mother was.

“We did, but we never went far on
foot,” Doc replied as she sighed.

“We never just looked; we were
more interested in what we could kill to eat and how fast we could get it back
home,” Cassie commented.

Mitch turned and looked up… and
up. “Everyone back into the car,” he ordered, tone changing to full command
mode. He never took his eyes off the lumbering beasts coming closer. Doc
followed his gaze looked up and squeaked. Cassie did too, then they jumped and
all piled back into the truck.

The hammerheads strolled casually
by, one even stepped over the truck. Its body threw the entire truck in shadow.
The feet land with thumps that made the car jolt. “If the truck is rocking
don’t come a knocking,” Mitch commented softly grabbing the oh shit bar, and
then gave a soft owe as Doc punched his arm again. The hammerhead over head
stopped... And then let off a blast of sound that nearly deafened them. They
held their hands over their ears and opened their mouths, feeling the
vibrations shake the truck almost as much as the mighty feet around them did.

“I think you made it mad with
your bad pun,” Cassie muttered when they could hear again. The hammerhead gave
off a multi tone trumpet sound, almost like the sounds of a humpback whale, and
then lumbered off.

“Well! That was fun! It looks
like I need a new pair of shorts though,” Mitch said dryly. He looked down
feeling the warmth.

“You’re not the only one,” Cassie
replied with a shaky voice in the back seat.

“Me three,” Doc sighed never
taking her eyes off the herd as it lumbered off into the distance.

“We three went wee wee!” Cassie
giggled. The giggles were infectious; the others joined in relieving the
hysteria in a blast of humor.

Watching the hammerheads feed and
play was interesting. The ceretops seemed to form a perimeter around the outer
herd, with their young mixing with the greater hammerheads young near the rear.
The adult giants would tear at the tops of trees, bushes and the strange giant
alien plants, making the occasional trumpeting sound as plant matter dripped
down. The juveniles would eat the left overs, but they of course had to play
with their food and each other. “What is that?” Doc asked, looking though her
binoculars.

“What?” Cassie asked.

“Up there, behind the head, there
are...I dunno barnacles?” Doc murmured. Mitch took a look with his own glasses
while Doc handed hers to Cassie and pointed.

“Yeah, I see them. Hmmm...” Mitch
said, watching and puzzling over the sight of them. There was a cloud of things
floating around them. “I think my glasses are messed up, there is some sort of
fog,” he commented, as he looked at the controls.

“No. No, I see it too. Like a
cloud of specks. Maybe flies?” Cassie observed.

He looked up, and then handed his
binoculars to Doc. “Parasites Doc?”

Doc grunted. “No idea.”

He tightened in as close as the
zoom will permit, then pulled back, the image blurred as the system tried to
autofocus before he realized it was refocusing each time the animal moved.
“Wait, upper ridge line, just on the seam of the top and bottom...look
there...something is coming out.”

Cassie looked. “Yeah I got it.
Wait... Oh gross!” She reeled back repulsed.

“What? What did you see?” her
mother asked, not sure she wanted the answer.

“The barnacles are homes for the
flies I guess,” Cassie replied as she shivered. Doc hummed in thoughtful
agreement.

One of the giants dropped a load
of excrement which splashed all over a ceratopsian passing underneath. The
smaller animal gave an indignant squeal, shaking to and fro to get the crap
off. “Oh yuck!” Cassie murmured disgusted. The flies hovering around suddenly
swarmed all over the unfortunate creature who umbeled in distress, tossing its
head about. The standing giant gave a rumble of its own.

“I thought that was the front end
therefore a minute,” Doc murmured.

Mitch snorted. “That little one
probably did too,” Mitch couldn't resist saying. Cassie snorted as they watch
it make a beeline for the pond and a much needed bath.

After a while they turned and
watched the animals near the pond, drinking from the watering hole. The giant
hammerheads were rolling in the mud, as were the juveniles and ceratopsian
hammerheads. Mitch’s quiet “Uh oh,” made Doc looked up from her binoculars.

“What, what do you see?”

“On the edge of the mud in the
water,” Mitch said softly. Doc turned her attention to it.

Cassie pulled on the back of
their seats to pull herself forward, “What, what do you see?”

“There,” Mitch pointed. A slow
giant object floated closer and closer to a juvenile.

Cassie quietly hissed. ”That’s a
log right?”

“No, I am betting it is a...”
Just as he is about to finish the croc flashed out of the water, slamming its
massive jaws around the juvenile hammerhead. It let out a terrifying bawl,
thrashing as the croc tossed it from side to side and then began scotching back
to the water, dragging its prey to its doom. The adults were bawling now,
thrashing their great heads and trying to stomp on the croc. The mud sucked
their stomping feet down, spraying mud all around, but minimizing the impact.

One of the adults tried to get
close, but stepped in a bog hole and failed. Another croc came up, then
another, lining up along the shoreline. Warily the adult Hammerheads back up,
pushing at the surviving young to follow them.

 The first croc snapped its teeth
around the doomed baby, setting it to bawl again, this time weaker. Another
croc moved in and almost gently snatched at a dangling leg. The baby bawled,
but it turned to a weak scream as the croc clamped down and began to twist.
Cassie coughed. “Oh my god I think I am going to be sick!” She turned away.

Doc gulped. “Damn, guess we
aren’t going skinny dipping!”

Mitch looked at her shaken face
then snorted. “DARN!” He gave an oaf as she punched his arm again.

“Something told me we are going
to have the picnic IN the car,” Cassie observed dryly.

Mitch snorted and glanced back at
her. “Yeah, that would be the safe thing to do,” he replied then he smirked.
“Pity, I don’t think we can spread the blanket in here though,” he finished
only slightly facetious.

“We could always eat on the
roof,” Doc suggested, and then shook her head, answering her own suggestion.
Cassie handed out the sandwiches from the cooler.

During the heat of the day, Doc
dozed slightly in the car. Cassie spotted movement in the herd, something near
the edge in the tall grass. She murmured an alert to the others. Doc looked up
from her snooze sleepily, and then shrugged it off. Mitch however pulled up the
binoculars, and flipped on the built in recorder. Cassie pointed him in the
right direction and he panned the field watching a pair of juvenile giant
hammerheads toying with a ceratopsian hammerhead. The ceratopsian thrashed its
great frill back and forth, but it only took a moment to realize they were
playing. Paws dug at the ground as they romped and sparred, while one of the
juveniles mockingly stomped and rumbled. One of the adults turned its head to
them, giving a low bleat of sound and then soft chuffing. They paused for a
minute, and then began again when the adult returned to eating.

Cassie poked his arm, “Not there,
beyond them, I thought I saw something in the grass!”

He turned back to the scene, and
then panned out. At first he didn’t see anything, so he flipped to IR. The
binoculars went out of focus and then adjust to the environment. He caught a
glimpse of something in the grass beyond and upwind of the juveniles. “Hmm...
Yeah, something is stalking them.” He flipped back to normal mode. A few
moments later he caught sight of a raptor in a break in the grass. “Raptors,”
he quietly observed.

Doc woke with a start. “Raptors? Where?”
Alarmed she reached for a gun.

Cassie grabbed her arm and then
pointed. “There mom, in the brush.” Doc fumbled with her glasses then and then
pulled them up to her eyes to look.

The action started as the wind
shifted, bringing the scent of the stalking raptors to the herd. Suddenly all
eating activity stopped, as the herbivores blanted and trumpeted in alarm and
tossed their heads and tails, trying to lock onto the predators scent. The
raptors froze as a nearby adult began to stomp in agitation. The ceratopsian
moved off, the juveniles stopped playing, looked around in interest but did not
move off to the safety of the herd.

Doc gasped as suddenly out of the
grass one of the raptors leapt out, slashing at the closest juvenile with tooth
and talons. Squealing in terror the juveniles turned, exposing their flanks to
the attacker, who raked one and then latched on. The baby tossed its head,
trying to shake it's attacker off but claws dug into the body, tearing at it.
It stumbled and went down, blood and blubber gushing.

A bite to the throat administered
the coup de grace. Bawling in terror its former playmate made a run for the
herd, which had moved off a hundred meters away. The rest of the pack rushed
out of the grass, one paused at the first kill but then turned and joined the
others in pursuit. The juvenile tossed its head and tail, bawling in terror as its
legs ran for its life. One of the adults turned its head, then turned around
and thrashed its head and stomped. Cassie’s breath was fast as she clutched at
Mitch’s arm, he tried to ignore the sudden clamp.

“Ease up Cassie,” Mitch growled.
She was grabbing the bruise her mother had inflicted on that arm and it hurt.
The girl however didn’t even hear him. The juvenile rushed past the adult just
as the raptors got within striking range. The adult dropped its head, trying to
strike at one of the raptors but in a sudden burst of agility the predator
climbed the slopping head like a ramp, and then jumped off flaring its arms and
legs wide in a hissing strike onto the back of the juvenile.