Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier. by Doug Dandridge Page A

every couple of leaps to crop the
vegetation with its sharp incisors.  An herbivore, at up to eight tons it was
too much for most predators to handle.  It hopped under the murder vine, which
remained in place, knowing from the vibrations of its hops that this was
something it didn’t want to tackle.
    Far ahead on the
river the neck of a hooter stuck out of the water, its jaw working the soft
water weeds that made up a good bit of its diet.  The huge herbivores were too
large for any native life to threaten, and as he watched another of the beasts
stepped closer to the river on one of the paths they made, reaching its head on
its long neck to crop some leaves from a tree.  The one in the river looked
over at the other and hooted loudly, the sound they derived their name from.
    ‘There’s a topor
flower,” said Matthew as he spotted the bloom from ahead.
    “Why, so it is,”
agreed Timothy, smiling.  “Pull on up to it and check it out, but slowly.”
    Matthew nodded
and started the boat on its way to the valuable harvest.  His eyes were not
just focused on the bloom.  The numerous unopened buds around it that were just
as valuable.  Almost every valuable botanical on the planet had its hazards, if
not part of the plant, then creatures which called the flora home.  Valuable
animals were even worse, as Congo had more venomous creatures than any other
know planet, and the Swamp the most.
    “We’ve got some
fire lizards on the stems,” called out Matthew, spotting a dozen of the scarlet
streaked lizards hanging out on the branches of the plant.
    “Steer clear for
a moment until I can stun them,” said Timothy, setting his sonic stunner while
motioning for Jacob, who was also with them, to get the capture nets.
    Fire lizards
were not named for their color, but for the caustic venom they projected. 
Enough could kill an uninoculated human in seconds, causing so much agony that
that quarter minute would feel like hours.  Those with a full complement of
nanites would survive, but would experience the full range of pain for the time
it took the nanobots to clean out the venom, while still suffering massive
tissue damage.  But that venom was also a valuable biological resource for the
medical industry.
    While his Uncle
stunned the lizards one at a time, Jacob caught their falling bodies in the net
and secured them in a box.  Matthew kept an eye out for more of the lizards, as
well as other threats, though the probability of something else living on this
bush along with the scarlet killers was unlikely.
    “I think I’ve
got them all, dad,” said Jacob, moving the net around in the foliage.
    Matthew looked
through his heat imaging goggles and couldn’t spot anything.  He looked over at
his uncle, who was also checking out the topor bush, nodding.
    “Let’s get this
thing harvested so we can get home,” said Timothy.
    Matthew and
Jacob both grabbed the harvest poles and started to work on the plant.  The
poles had bulbs on the end that surrounded the buds and snipped them off.  With
practiced moves they dropped each bud into a container that would preserve them
and their valuable biochemicals.  There were over fifty buds, most near to
opening, each worth almost two hundred imperials on the open, legal market. 
The one that had already opened into a large bloom was not worth as much, and
Timothy decided to let it stay.  It would produce seeds and spread more of the
plant’s kind, which would be all to the good.
    “Watch out,”
yelled Jacob as a scarlet form rocketed from the bush toward Matthew, jaws wide
open and tongue pulled back, forward legs outstretched while the back four were
tucked under.  It was in its attack profile, aiming for Matthew’s eyes.
    Matthew was frozen
in place, seconds to react but unable to act.  He had a full spectrum of
nanites in his system, which would not keep the venom from destroying his eyes,
necessitating a full regrowth that would take at least a week.  At a time