where they are and let nature deal with them.”
The march back to the shuttle was slowed up by the wounded Marines and the need to avoid any predators. In the night sky, directly above them, hovered their UAV keeping a watch on the surrounding woods for any sign of movement. The more they trudged through the forest, the more curious Sheridan became about the dead officer. He suspected that the Kurgan was an engineer sent into Terran space to find uninhabited planets that could be exploited for their natural resources. He began to wonder if this were a sign that Kurgans were having a hard time keeping up with the voracious fuel demands of their fleet. But why send an officer from their elite Imperial Guard? His thoughts were interrupted when Lance Corporal Moore brought up a hand to stop the patrol.
“What’s up?” Sheridan asked.
“About one hundred meters shy of the shuttle craft is what looks like a family of large herbivores. I can’t tell how many of them there are from here.”
Sheridan waved for the UAV operator to move to his side. He took the controller and studied the picture on the screen for a minute. There were eight large animals with four smaller ones. His blood turned cold when he saw a small pack of predators making their way through the woods toward the plant eaters. If they spooked the larger animals and caused them to stampede, there was no way to judge the damage the tank-sized creatures could do if they struck their ship.
“That doesn’t look good,” said Cole, studying the picture over Sheridan’s shoulder.
“I’m open to suggestions.”
“Get the shuttle to take off and move to the alternate LZ to the east. It’ll add a klick to our trip, but I’d rather hike the distance than be trapped down here for who knows how long until another ship is sent down. Whatever we’re going to do, sir, we need to do it fast as the sun will be coming up in an hour or two, and that’s when the larger predators begin to stir.”
Sheridan nodded and relayed the order to the flight crew. A minute later, they all heard the sound of the shuttle’s engines as it flew over them and headed to the new pick-up point.
“Lead on and pick up the pace slightly,” Sheridan said to Moore.
They hadn’t gone more than a hundred meters when they heard a loud bellow from the direction of the herbivore pack. As one, the patrol froze in place and turned their heads to look behind them. Another creature cried out in fear, followed right away by several more.
Sheridan knew in that instant that the predators had struck. He was going to tell Moore to push on when he heard the sound of animals crashing their way through the forest. The noise grew louder by the second.
“They’re coming this way,” cried out Cole.
Sheridan took a quick look around and saw that there was no high ground around they could seek refuge on. There was only one thing they could do, he yelled, “Run!”
The patrol turned and sprinted as best they could through the woods. Uninjured Marines wrapped their arms around their injured comrades and helped them keep up. Behind them, the sound of the terrified animals charging through the underbrush filled the air.
Sheridan had an idea. He stopped in his tracks, brought up his rifle to his shoulder, took aim at a tree about fifty meters away, and fired a high explosive grenade at it. With a loud explosion, the tree split apart from the blast and toppled to the ground. If he thought the noise and light would make the animals turn and run in another direction, he was sadly mistaken. The pack was fixated on one thing—survival. He lowered his rifle and ran after the rest of the patrol. He had almost caught up with Cole when the world around Sheridan seemed to explode as a large three-horned beast burst through the forest. He glanced out of the corner of his eye as the massive creature, followed closely by a couple of smaller ones, ran straight past him. Sheridan never saw the tree root that
The march back to the shuttle was slowed up by the wounded Marines and the need to avoid any predators. In the night sky, directly above them, hovered their UAV keeping a watch on the surrounding woods for any sign of movement. The more they trudged through the forest, the more curious Sheridan became about the dead officer. He suspected that the Kurgan was an engineer sent into Terran space to find uninhabited planets that could be exploited for their natural resources. He began to wonder if this were a sign that Kurgans were having a hard time keeping up with the voracious fuel demands of their fleet. But why send an officer from their elite Imperial Guard? His thoughts were interrupted when Lance Corporal Moore brought up a hand to stop the patrol.
“What’s up?” Sheridan asked.
“About one hundred meters shy of the shuttle craft is what looks like a family of large herbivores. I can’t tell how many of them there are from here.”
Sheridan waved for the UAV operator to move to his side. He took the controller and studied the picture on the screen for a minute. There were eight large animals with four smaller ones. His blood turned cold when he saw a small pack of predators making their way through the woods toward the plant eaters. If they spooked the larger animals and caused them to stampede, there was no way to judge the damage the tank-sized creatures could do if they struck their ship.
“That doesn’t look good,” said Cole, studying the picture over Sheridan’s shoulder.
“I’m open to suggestions.”
“Get the shuttle to take off and move to the alternate LZ to the east. It’ll add a klick to our trip, but I’d rather hike the distance than be trapped down here for who knows how long until another ship is sent down. Whatever we’re going to do, sir, we need to do it fast as the sun will be coming up in an hour or two, and that’s when the larger predators begin to stir.”
Sheridan nodded and relayed the order to the flight crew. A minute later, they all heard the sound of the shuttle’s engines as it flew over them and headed to the new pick-up point.
“Lead on and pick up the pace slightly,” Sheridan said to Moore.
They hadn’t gone more than a hundred meters when they heard a loud bellow from the direction of the herbivore pack. As one, the patrol froze in place and turned their heads to look behind them. Another creature cried out in fear, followed right away by several more.
Sheridan knew in that instant that the predators had struck. He was going to tell Moore to push on when he heard the sound of animals crashing their way through the forest. The noise grew louder by the second.
“They’re coming this way,” cried out Cole.
Sheridan took a quick look around and saw that there was no high ground around they could seek refuge on. There was only one thing they could do, he yelled, “Run!”
The patrol turned and sprinted as best they could through the woods. Uninjured Marines wrapped their arms around their injured comrades and helped them keep up. Behind them, the sound of the terrified animals charging through the underbrush filled the air.
Sheridan had an idea. He stopped in his tracks, brought up his rifle to his shoulder, took aim at a tree about fifty meters away, and fired a high explosive grenade at it. With a loud explosion, the tree split apart from the blast and toppled to the ground. If he thought the noise and light would make the animals turn and run in another direction, he was sadly mistaken. The pack was fixated on one thing—survival. He lowered his rifle and ran after the rest of the patrol. He had almost caught up with Cole when the world around Sheridan seemed to explode as a large three-horned beast burst through the forest. He glanced out of the corner of his eye as the massive creature, followed closely by a couple of smaller ones, ran straight past him. Sheridan never saw the tree root that
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