Evolver: Apex Predator (6 page)

The other animals of the area made way for the bear, sensing his torpor. The rule of prey was to first avoid all predators, even those who were basically sleepwalking.

It was a straight ridge that led the bear to the trail that went down to the stream on this side. Most of the woodland creatures at the base of the mountain knew the bear, most of them stayed on the far side of the stream in case he came hungry. There was almost never any bloodshed at the stream, as though there were an unspoken agreement between predator and prey.

The bear dipped his snout in the cold stream and lapped at the water. He drank a deep draught without noticing the man on the opposite bank. It had seen humans before, even charged at them when they had invaded his territory. This human wasn't moving, was, in fact, staring at the bear, studying it. The bear took a step out into the rushing water and roared.

It sounded lazy, even to the bear, not at all fearsome. It took another step into the stream and gave a stronger accounting of itself, a bigger roar. The human didn't move.

Instead, the human did something the bear had never seen before. It grew fur like a bear, its scent changed to something much more bear like, it was colored like a bear. When it stood, it was taller than the bear in the stream, its roar was deafening and the sleepy bear decided the human wasn't worth the trouble, took another drink from the stream and then turned to make its way back up the bank on its side.

Jackson watched the bear go and felt a little bad about it. He changed back to himself and looked at his hand. He brought it up to his nose and sniffed then ducked his head to his armpit. He whiffed of bear. It wasn't as bad as the yeti scent, but it wasn't good, either. He waded out into the stream and lay down, let the current wash him clean.

Laurie would be anxious to get on with today's testing if he didn't hurry up. She'd been a real friend through all of this and he had told her so often over the last few weeks on the run. His mother had taken everything pretty well when he'd called to explain, but she wanted him to go to the police to clear his name. She yelled at him over the phone when he said he couldn't and tried to reassure her that he was doing the right thing. Eventually she listened and he hung up knowing that even though she was angry with him, she knew he was alive if not exactly her little boy any more.

He was something else: a new apex predator the like of which the planet had never seen; a single organism with the ability to adapt and learn as environments changed around him. If he was anything, Jackson Savage was an evolver.

The End.