|
Efferus
by
Yossof Sharifi
Jonathan Mesh leaned against the wall of the hut. “Killing a dinosaur’s illegal on this planet you know.”
“I know,” Santiago said. He shifted in his chair and lit a cigar, letting the gray smoke whirl around him before speaking again. “But I’m willing to pay the going rate; 500 denima.”
“I’m taking a big risk just talking to you. With all the poachers and thrill killers the Plutisian government’s really cracking down. I think it’ll cost more.”
Santiago eyed him up and down. Jonathan was a stalky man with a serious expression always drawn on his face. But his eyes were rational; no hint of the denima fever that most guides got around a wealthy offworlder. “1500,” Santiago said. “Take it or leave it.”
“I’ll take it.”
“Good,” Santiago said as he rose. “I’ll be back in the morning.” He began to walk out of the small cluttered hut but stopped by the doorway and turned back. “When is morning around this damned place anyway?”
“It’ll be two earth hours until nightfall and then eight hours of darkness. We’ll have ten hours of daylight for the hunt as well.”
“That’s more than enough—see you then.”
As Santiago left, Jonathan walked to the door and stared out into the forest. 1500 denima was enough to pay back what he lost at the Beccani tables. He’d be even with the owners of the gambling den, who were mostly bureaucrats for the government on top of business owners, and could go about like a normal business person instead of having to resort to clandestine meetings in a shabby hut on the outskirts of town.
Jonathan got a bottle of old rum down from a cupboard and poured himself a glass before stepping outside. The forest was a cacophony of the sounds of life. High pitched chirps, rhythmic hoots … and the occasional roar. The roars were far off in the distance though, most of the larger carnivorous species liked to stay around the middle of the forest away from civilization.
The rum tasted like stale bread; he hadn’t had a good drink since leaving earth more than five years ago. Then again, who knew? Maybe this stuff was better? He’d heard people who’d never been to earth saying they couldn’t stand alcohol from there; tasted too bland, they said. Like it was made to be drunk in quantity rather than savored. Still, he missed it. You always miss what you’re used to.
Nightfall would come soon enough and Jonathan walked inside and locked the door behind him. He lay down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, listening to the sounds of the forest. Sometimes, when the animals calmed down, he could hear a waterfall in the distance.
The next day came with a bang rather than a whimper. A loud explosion shocked Jonathan out of bed. He stood up, groggy, and stumbled to the door. Santiago stood outside testing his rifle, an old model that shot hunks of iron out of the barrel at high velocities.
“What the hell is that?” Jonathan asked.
“Smith and Wesson 30/30. Big game rifle. Antique I picked up in the Canendor system.”
“It’s too loud.”
“Nonsense.”
“It’ll attract the wrong kind of attention.”
“And what attention is that?”
Jonathan took a deep breath and stepped out. He walked to Santiago and took the rifle from his hands, examining it. “You don’t know the first thing about hunting on this planet, do you?”
“Don’t you speak to me that way; I’m the customer. You’re providing a service.”
“Look, there’s a species on this planet called an efferusaur. It responds to sound.”
“Efferusaur,” Santiago said with a grin. “I’ve heard of them. I think I’d like to hunt that today.”
Jonathan shook his head in disbelief. He hated hunters who came here without any conception of what they were doing; they were a liability. “You can’t hunt an efferusaur.”
“Why not?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to.”
“Yes, I do. And if you want to keep your fee I suggest you help me.”
Jonathan mulled it over a moment and then said, “Forget it, find someone else. They’re too dangerous.”
As he started to walk away, Santiago yelled, “2500 denima.”
Jonathan stopped but didn’t look back. It was enough to pay his debts and buy him a ticket off this planet. Not enough to get passage back to earth, but enough to get closer than he was now. “All right,” he said. “But you can’t kill one with that thing.”
He walked into the hut and came back out with a Class A ion rifle. Technically, it was banned on this planet but so was hunting an efferusaur. “Use this,” he said, handing it to Santiago.
Santiago considered the weapon. It was smooth, but not metal; some sort of hard fibrous material. Though it appeared large, it weighed less than his other rifle. He grinned. “This will do fine.”
Jonathan nodded and turned to gather his things.
The rover traversed the forest landscape as if it were traveling on oiled metal; hardly any bumps or jerky movements inside the cabin. This was due to the fact that the rover rested above ground on a ferrofluid force field—an ionized column of air interacting with a magnetic fluid—essentially, a giant magnetic bubble that the vehicle could lay on. Jonathan sat in the backseat while Santiago and his wife sat up front.
His wife was something of an enigma. He hadn’t introduced her and not once had he mentioned her beforehand, but there she was. Slim and with dark red hair, she was attractive for a woman her age, but distant. Not really present in the moment she was in.
“We’ve been sailing for hours,” Santiago said, “and all I’ve seen is a herd of decapods and some mansueti.”
“Stop here,” Jonathan said, “we’re close enough.”
They stopped in a large grassy clearing. In the distance was Mount Flynn, named after the first explorer to climb to its snow covered peak. Above that, taking up the view of most of the sky, was Juno, a nearby planet with no inhabitants. It was over ninety percent water and appeared like a sparkling blue gem in the sky.
The air smelled of wild grass and the warmth of daylight was comforting. But the serenity of this moment came at a price; they were in one of the most dangerous spots on Plutus—in the center of a forest filled with herbivores. Wherever there were groups of herbivores, there were carnivores. And none came as ferocious as an efferusaur.
“Hand me your rifle,” Jonathan said. “The antique.”
Jonathan pointed the weapon up in the air and fired, the loud crackle scattering flocks of winged rodents and insects. He fired again, and again, then waited. “Are you sure that will attract one?” Santiago asked.
Jonathan didn’t respond. He was busy focusing on the tremors in the ground and a nearby rustling of trees. Something was approaching. “Get out of the rover,” he said.
Santiago jumped out, nearly falling flat on his face. Adrenaline was coursing through him, and it flushed his face red and quickened his breath. He aimed the ion rifle in front of him. “Where is it?”
Jonathan pointed to a cluster of trees on the edge of the clearing. “He’s coming from there,” he whispered. “Aim for the chest or head, anywhere else will just anger him.”
“You sure this gun’s powerful enough?”
“Yes,” Jonathan lied. In truth, the ion was a laser diode gun. It operated at a wavelength that caused the oxygen rich atmosphere around it to change into a plasma state. Using a laser induced plasma channel, an electric current is shot down the ionized plasma and out the barrel. It was the most powerful rifle available, but a particularly thick hide or too great a distance could negate its effects.
Jonathan hopped into the driver’s seat of the rover, glancing at Santiago’s wife. She was applying makeup to her face and watching a holovid on a small monitor in the dashboard.
“He’s quite the fool, isn’t he?” she said, turning to him and smiling. “I’m Victoria.”
“Jonathan, nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
Jonathan pulled a lever that opened the harpoon gun on the bow of the rover. He scanned the edge of the clearing; there was still some rustling here and there, but nothing concrete. “How long you guys been together?”
“I’d rather not talk about him right now,” Victoria said, leaning back in her chair.
“He doesn’t seem so bad.”
“He’s an oaf. I only married him because my parents forced me; he’s wealthy, they’re wealthy … they thought social etiquette demanded it.” She glanced at him. “It’s amazing what you can get used to.”
“What’d you mean?”
“He … he beats me sometimes.”
“Why?”
“For his pleasure.” She chuckled softly. “He told me on our wedding night of all times that he’ll have to hit me sometimes, not because he hates me but because it’s arousing for him.” She looked off into the jungle for a moment and then back to Jonathan. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“No mate in your life?”
Jonathan shook his head. “Not with the kind of life I lead.”
“And what kind of life is that?”
He looked at her. She was wearing a tight beige uniform that exposed the soft, silky flesh of her legs. “An unstable one.”
Suddenly a thunderous roar tore through the air and whipped their heads around. It was followed by the crunching of tree branches and a bassed, rhythmic pounding—footsteps on the soft forest floor.
At first all they saw was a mass pushing aside the canopy of vegetation. Then, the mass took shape. A triangular head covered with gray flesh, a solid muscular body and two massive hind legs. The efferusaur’s lip quivered as it stared at its peculiar prey, its red eyes glinting in the daylight. It opened its gargantuan mouth, revealing row after row of serrated teeth, and let out a deafening roar that caused the rover to tremble with its pitch.
“Good god!” 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 caused his ears to ring and he couldn’t hear anything. He jumped back, gripping the side of the rover 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 into 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.”
Jonathan nodded. “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. It’s 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,” Jonathan said, obviously shaken up himself. “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 back 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 laying 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.
“My god,” Jonathan said 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 20,000 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.”
“God 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, tears beginning to well up in her eyes.
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, panic rising in her voice. 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’d started crying, he thought, but she’d stopped just as 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.”
______
|
 |
______
|
|
