After Earth: A Perfect Beast (48 page)

“Yep,” Minh confirmed.

“They can also spit out that black ooze, the kind that can paralyze you.”

“Sounds messy,” Tanger said.

“More like deadly,” Minh said. “And once one gets a scent on you, it’ll hunt you until you’re dead.”

“They can smell your fear,” Tanger chimed in. “So stay frigid.”

“In this heat?” Kevin joked. But he knew what his comrade meant. Fear was an emotion with a scent, one some animals could sense, including the Ursa. He wasn’t afraid—but then again, he wasn’t facing one, either. Instead, he was anticipating finding one and engaging it, using the cutlass to slice it apart. Three cutlasses, one six-limbed beast—two apiece.

With every street crossed, there were fewer people in sight. Suddenly this had become a ghost town, and that was obviously for the best. Kevin had never experienced it so empty or so quiet. He wanted to hear something, some clue as to where they should head. Instead, they walked in the general direction of the western entry into the city.

About a kilometer before they reached their destination, the radios squawked once more, reporting additional sightings far from their position. The news also came that another Ranger had fallen.

“We’ve lost, what, six, eight men so far?” Tanger said.

“And those other bastards are still out there,” Minh answered.

“At what point do the odds turn in their favor,” the older man wondered.

“It won’t get that far,” Diaz said with a certainty he wasn’t sure he felt. He took no comfort in being accompanied by two other Rangers since regs normally called for a minimum of eight. There was something to be said
for strength in numbers, although he wasn’t entirely certain just how strong he was feeling. “Anyone call in for reinforcements yet?”

“I bow to my elder,” Minh said, literally bowing from the waist.

Tanger snarled while grinning and turned his back to the others to check in and see if more troops could be sent to back them.

“Colonel Green said more help is being dispatched, but there’s a lot of demand with a dozen of these suckers all over the city,” Tanger reported.

“Not a surprise since they can blend in with the scenery. Hunting them isn’t the same as target practice,” Diaz noted.

“Damn rude of them,” Minh said and then adjusted his cutlass in his hands.

As they rounded a corner, a moving shadow caught Minh’s eye. He held up his left hand, stopping the others. A gesture indicated the fleeting shadow but it had moved so quickly, Kevin couldn’t confirm whether it was human, animal, or Ursa that had cast the amorphous silhouette. A second gesture had them simultaneously lower their radio volumes so as not to attract attention.

With agonizing slowness, they approached the corner, all senses straining to find something to latch on to, some evidence a predator was nearby.

A shriek provided the evidence they needed.

All three broke into a dead run, cutlasses humming in the still, hot air. Boots crushed pebbles but there was no use hiding their presence. This was to be an attack, not a stealth mission. Tanger fanned out to the right to help flank whatever it was they were approaching.

Kevin was first around the corner and saw the source of the scream. An older woman lay on the street, her blood feeding the ground, the life fading rapidly from
her eyes. A leg was missing and her belly was slashed open. Bits of entrails remained visible amid the gore but the organs themselves seemed absent, no doubt taken by an Ursa for dinner. Any thoughts Kevin had of hunger were erased with that image.

While he focused on the woman, Minh was slowly swiveling about, looking for evidence of the Ursa, his cutlass gripped tightly in both hands. Tanger was similarly poised a short distance away.

“There,” he called, pointing to darkening red splotches of blood near the base of a structure. The creature had gone that way, likely into the building itself to eat.

Kevin tried to remember Ursa feeding habits, couldn’t conjure up the information; all he could think of was the dead woman.

Minh and Kevin joined Tanger, their breathing the only sound they could hear. He pointed at an open doorway, the blood and bits of bodily matter a grisly welcome mat. All checked their weapons, making certain they were fully powered. Tanger selected the sickle configuration as the metal altered its shape so the curved blade reflected the fading sunlight. Kevin briefly considered which of the dozen shapes he wanted to use but went for the basic blade. The thousands of pieces of smart metal reconfigured themselves into a sharp blade, pulsing with nuclear-fission power. Once the cutlass re-formed itself, he glanced at Minh to see that he, too, had gone for the basic blade. Nothing fancy needed: just hacking and slashing until the beast was dead.

The stench hit them before the slurping sounds. Raw organs, waste matter, and blood mingled to create a vile odor that made Kevin try to breathe only through his mouth. This was followed by the distinct sound of moist mastication as the Ursa devoured the remains of its supper. The oval maw had only sharp fangs, but they were sufficient to puncture and shred the human organs.

Kevin tightened his grip on the cutlass. The shadowy hall was a shambles thanks to the Ursa’s entry. Kevin had no idea what the building was used for, but it was
in ruins and would be worse when they finished off the creature. On the other hand, the space was confined enough to make a three-pronged attack impossible. Tanger had a year on them so Kevin deferred to the senior member of the trio. He had been intently scanning the area and gestured toward the beast, then signaled that only one could attack at a time. He was suggesting they thrust and retreat, letting the next man take a literal stab at the Ursa, until it was dead or flushed outside where all three could attack simultaneously.

Kevin wasn’t certain that was the smartest plan, but he figured a plan was better than no plan.

The sickle end of Tanger’s cutlass swung through the air as the Ranger lunged forward, hoping the element of surprise would help. Instead the sound alerted the Ursa, which swung partway around, a shortened arm pressed against its chest to avoid being cut. With an unearthly shriek, it whirled itself around on its six legs and charged.

The hallway was wide, but not wide enough to let four figures move with ease. Minh and Kevin made it through the doorway, spinning about to stand ready to attack when the creature came out. Tanger was not so lucky.

He slid on the human remains that were in the doorway, losing his balance, which slowed him just enough for the Ursa to scurry atop him.

Kevin and Minh watched, horrified, as the creature dripped the infamous black viscous liquid on Tanger, while its forward talons pierced his uniform. Their fellow Ranger was a dead man, although his cries of pain indicated he wasn’t quite gone.

Without hesitation, letting out a war cry of his own, Kevin rushed the preoccupied beast and slashed at it with his cutlass. He managed to cut deeply along a flank—or at least thought he did. There was a distinct lack of blood or scream, but he did capture the beast’s attention. Leaving the corpse beneath it, the Ursa scurried over Tanger and headed directly for Kevin. The
Ranger stood his ground, wishing there was time to reconfigure the cutlass, but there was none. Instead, he took a two-handed swing toward the Ursa, the charged hum singing through the air.

That at least caused the Ursa to stop its charge, allowing Minh to come from the side and take a stab at the beast. Instead of cutting the Ursa, the cutlass’s tip glanced off the smart metal infused into the creature’s organic structure. The Savant’s people were still trying to understand the alien metal and how it was made a part of the Ursa, but that was not an issue right now. Survival was at the top of his mind. It was just him and Minh, a pair of second-year Rangers, both hoping to make it to seventeen.

The Ursa was distracted by Minh’s attack, allowing Kevin the chance to strike a second time. With uncanny speed, the Ursa dodged the thrust and charged Minh instead, causing the Ranger to back up, seeking cover. The Ursa bellowed directly at Minh, and Kevin realized the monster must have imprinted on his fellow Ranger. Minh was effectively a dead man.

Oddly, Kevin’s mind flashed to a joke from his cadet days. How many Rangers does it take to kill an Ursa? One, but only if you’re Cypher Raige. At that time the Prime Commander was the only man known to have killed an Ursa single-handedly. Drinking beer after hours, the cadets marveled at the feat considering the beast’s specs and ferocity.

Now Kevin wished the PC were here to lend a hand.

“Oh shit!” Minh cried out, suddenly realizing what had just transpired.

The Ursa scuttled with great speed toward Minh, who was backpedaling but not fast enough, hampered by the hallway’s confines. Kevin saw that his friend was in danger and came up from the rear, swinging with all his might. The cutlass cut skin this time but it was also his turn to hit the smart metal, making the effort mostly useless although it did seem to enrage the Ursa. It stopped charging Minh to turn toward him,
much as a fly might distract a tiger hunting its dinner. Minh, to his credit, was returning the favor, coming up on the creature, his cutlass raised high for a strike.

The next several minutes—or were they seconds?—were a fast mix of thrusts, parries, retreats, and alien shrieking that hurt Kevin’s ears. He took several glancing blows from arms or legs, leaving him bruised and in pain. It felt like a stalemate—but one thing Kevin knew was that Ursa endurance was easily superior to a human’s. It could wear them down, then just strike.

It became apparent the rampaging creature had the advantage in the tight space; in addition, everyone who lived in the area was endangered. Diaz wondered if they could survive a jump from the window at the hall’s end; they were up just a floor.

“Window!” he shouted.

“Are you crazy?” Minh shouted back to be heard above the creature.

“Desperate to survive and keep that bastard away from people,” Diaz replied. “Look, I’ll go first, it’ll follow you out, and maybe the fall will slow it.”

“And kill me first,” Minh added. “Go!”

Diaz turned and ran, ignored by the Ursa, which was solely focused on Minh, who continued to swing wildly in the hope of slicing the forelimbs to ribbons. Kevin stopped to look down, saw there was a drainpipe, and reached out for it so he could shimmy down.

The next sounds he heard, as he leaped the final few feet to the ground, were the Ursa’s cry and the crashing of building materials. He spotted Minh’s head peek out the window; Diaz gestured for him to jump toward the left. Without hesitation, the Ranger came hurtling out the window and tumbled on the ground, his cutlass flying free. Diaz ran to retrieve it just as the Ursa burst through the window, shattering the frame and raining debris over the area.

Minh had already gotten to his feet and looked about, figuring out a route to lead the Ursa away from the area. Diaz tossed him the weapon and watched as his partner
darted between two buildings, too tight a fit for the Ursa. It continued to ignore him as it sniffed the air and leaped to its right, in search of its prey.

Diaz noticed the air had finally begun to cool as one of the two suns had slipped below the horizon. The creature was poised to win but Kevin didn’t want to die. Not yet.

“Minh, where are you?”

“This structure is empty,”
Minh radioed back.
“I can try to contain it until help comes. Might be a good time for you to get us some.”

“Roger that,” Diaz said, and switched controls, calling in his status to Commander Isinbaeva.

He heard the Ursa break through a door—or wall, or something—and enter the building in search of Minh. Diaz would follow, holding out hope Minh would survive this.

Breathing hard, Kevin approached from the right, certain he alone could not kill the beast, even as it ignored him and focused solely on ripping a wider opening into the building.

He found a spot out of sight of the Ursa, which continued to pound away at the building. Minh had radioed that he was actually moving through the interior, hoping to find a way out that might confuse the creature. All he had to do was remain a moving target, keeping the building as a barrier between him and the Ursa.

“I would, though, appreciate it if the backup would hurry,”
he told Diaz.

The Ursa forced its way into the building, roaring and leaving behind an obvious trail of destruction. Whoever lived here would have quite a bit of cleanup work to do, Diaz mused, as he carefully stalked from the creature’s rear.

In less than a quarter hour three other Rangers arrived: Carla Macionis, a ten-year veteran Kevin had never met before; David Telgemeier, a swarthy hulk of a Ranger; and Donald Varley, a lean, always angry man just a few years older than he was. After a brief round
of introductions, Kevin met them by the ripped-open entrance into the building. Minh had successfully made it up two levels with the beast on his tail.

The second sun was now halfway down the horizon and the skies were rapidly dimming, which would only complicate the hunt should the Ursa escape the structure.

“How many entrances?” Macionis asked. Varley consulted his screen and held up two fingers.

“Telgemeier, take the other entry.” They nodded and began to move before Diaz interrupted.

“That thing’s imprinted on Minh,” he said.

Macionis’s eyes widened at the news, and one of the men cursed out loud.

“Okay, the priority remains containing then killing that thing. We may need Minh as bait once I figure out a plan.”

She grabbed her radio and clicked it on. “Minh, it’s Macionis. You okay?” She carefully walked up a stairway, leaving Telgemeier on the first landing as backup.

“A hot shower would be nice. That thing’s getting closer and I’m beat.”

“I have a plan but need you to be swift.”

“Like a rabbit,”
he replied.

“I need you to expose yourself, make certain the Ursa is locked on to your position, and then lead it away from the building to the granary half a klick behind your position.”

“Is that all? I can run pretty fast. Why not finish it here?”