Delta Pavonis by John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani
Authors: John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani
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flipflop adjustment of scale and she realized that it was a skeleton. The bones stretched for an amazing distance, tapering into neck and tail vertebrae, the partially-smashed ribcage arching higher than Sims's head. A smallish lump at one end, half buried in mossy soil, was the thing's skull.
"Hot damn!" Colin said. He began to scramble over the bones, checking out joints and muscle attachments while Forrest took a careful visual record with his shoulder-mounted unit. The others just stood and gawked.
Dierdre walked along the neck vertebrae until she reached the skull. It was small for so large an animal, and it wasn't the solid lump of bone she had expected. It seemed to be composed of rather delicate struts and buttresses. The bone had deteriorated more than the more massive ones, but she could see that the thing had had two eyes, and its jaws were lined with flat, peglike teeth.
"Colin," Forrest called, "isn't paleontology one of your fields?"
"More like a hobby," Colin answered, his voice a little shaky. "I never figured it'd be much use where we were going."
"Any idea what this might be?"
"Yeah, but I'm damned if I'm going to be the first to say it. They say, in the old days, skippers lost their ships for reporting sea serpents, and pilots got grounded for reporting flying saucers. I'm not about to earn a psych rating by speculating on what I'm pretty sure this is."
"Hey, Boss!" Dierdre said, triumphantly. "Remember that hallucination I had yesterday?"
"Okay, I take it back. You satisfied?" He continued taking his visual.
"No. Call the other team and tell them . . ."
"Back!" Sims barked. Something was making a lot of rustling and crunching noise at the top of the cliff. "There's something big up there! Everybody get back to the brushline."
Sims and Okamura stayed by the skeleton, kneeling, their beam rifles trained on the spot where they could see trees and brush shaking. Forrest stood behind them, leaning back, his recorder trained likewise. The other four made a hasty retreat to the brush. They gaped upward, where something huge and grayish was nearing the edge.
The cliff was about twenty meters high at this point, made up mostly of soft sandstone. Some of the overhanging vines dangled to no more than six or seven meters from their level. As the animal neared the edge, it started a minor landslide of loose rock and soil. Small creatures, startled, flew upward from the trees.
"Here he comes!" Okamura shouted excitedly.
"No shooting," Forrest ordered. "We're here for information, not trophies."
Dierdre was a little annoyed at his calmness. She suppressed a grudging admiration. She was still mad at him.
Abruptly, a head thrust through the brush. Dierdre gasped. She had been expecting something like the serpent-necked thing she had seen the day before, but this was entirely different. The head was immense, with a parrot beak surmounted by a short, upcurving horn. Above the bone-hooded eyes, two longer horns thrust forward. Behind the horns, a wide, semicircular frill spread over its back with incongruous elegance. Despite the size and the bizarre appearance, the most striking thing was the color: the horns were bright red, the beak mostly electric blue and the frill was startlingly patterned in red and yellow. What they could see of the body appeared to be slate-gray.
Its lower jaw worked methodically, gradually reducing a hanging mouthful of rough brush to swallowable pulp. The explorers all held their breath, but the thing made no sign of noticing them. The rhythmic crunching of its meal was the only noise. The last of the brush disappeared and the jaws stopped working. Now they could hear a low, continuous rumble; the sound of the beast's formidable digestive apparatus. After a last scan, its tiny eyes still showing no indication of noticing them, the head withdrew. The sounds of its leisurely regression faded away.
"Can I say it now?" Colin asked, shakily.
"I'll say it and take the risk of a psych
"Hot damn!" Colin said. He began to scramble over the bones, checking out joints and muscle attachments while Forrest took a careful visual record with his shoulder-mounted unit. The others just stood and gawked.
Dierdre walked along the neck vertebrae until she reached the skull. It was small for so large an animal, and it wasn't the solid lump of bone she had expected. It seemed to be composed of rather delicate struts and buttresses. The bone had deteriorated more than the more massive ones, but she could see that the thing had had two eyes, and its jaws were lined with flat, peglike teeth.
"Colin," Forrest called, "isn't paleontology one of your fields?"
"More like a hobby," Colin answered, his voice a little shaky. "I never figured it'd be much use where we were going."
"Any idea what this might be?"
"Yeah, but I'm damned if I'm going to be the first to say it. They say, in the old days, skippers lost their ships for reporting sea serpents, and pilots got grounded for reporting flying saucers. I'm not about to earn a psych rating by speculating on what I'm pretty sure this is."
"Hey, Boss!" Dierdre said, triumphantly. "Remember that hallucination I had yesterday?"
"Okay, I take it back. You satisfied?" He continued taking his visual.
"No. Call the other team and tell them . . ."
"Back!" Sims barked. Something was making a lot of rustling and crunching noise at the top of the cliff. "There's something big up there! Everybody get back to the brushline."
Sims and Okamura stayed by the skeleton, kneeling, their beam rifles trained on the spot where they could see trees and brush shaking. Forrest stood behind them, leaning back, his recorder trained likewise. The other four made a hasty retreat to the brush. They gaped upward, where something huge and grayish was nearing the edge.
The cliff was about twenty meters high at this point, made up mostly of soft sandstone. Some of the overhanging vines dangled to no more than six or seven meters from their level. As the animal neared the edge, it started a minor landslide of loose rock and soil. Small creatures, startled, flew upward from the trees.
"Here he comes!" Okamura shouted excitedly.
"No shooting," Forrest ordered. "We're here for information, not trophies."
Dierdre was a little annoyed at his calmness. She suppressed a grudging admiration. She was still mad at him.
Abruptly, a head thrust through the brush. Dierdre gasped. She had been expecting something like the serpent-necked thing she had seen the day before, but this was entirely different. The head was immense, with a parrot beak surmounted by a short, upcurving horn. Above the bone-hooded eyes, two longer horns thrust forward. Behind the horns, a wide, semicircular frill spread over its back with incongruous elegance. Despite the size and the bizarre appearance, the most striking thing was the color: the horns were bright red, the beak mostly electric blue and the frill was startlingly patterned in red and yellow. What they could see of the body appeared to be slate-gray.
Its lower jaw worked methodically, gradually reducing a hanging mouthful of rough brush to swallowable pulp. The explorers all held their breath, but the thing made no sign of noticing them. The rhythmic crunching of its meal was the only noise. The last of the brush disappeared and the jaws stopped working. Now they could hear a low, continuous rumble; the sound of the beast's formidable digestive apparatus. After a last scan, its tiny eyes still showing no indication of noticing them, the head withdrew. The sounds of its leisurely regression faded away.
"Can I say it now?" Colin asked, shakily.
"I'll say it and take the risk of a psych
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