'Thank God,' Kostos sighed.
Kelly's reaction wasn't as relieved. 'Damn it!' She pounced on his form, checking his neck for a pulse, then pushed the soldiers aside as she began CPR on his chest. 'Someone start mouth-to-mouth:'
The Rangers were too stunned for a moment to move.
Nathan bumped Kostos aside, wiped the bloody froth from Conger's mouth, then began to breathe in sync with Kelly's labors. Nate's focus narrowed down to the rhythm of their work. He vaguely heard the concerned chatter of the others.
'Some damn frog thing or fish,' Kostos explained. 'It hopped out and bit Conger on the leg:'
'Poisoned!' Kelly huffed as she worked. 'It must have been venomous:'
'I've never heard of such a creature,' Kouwe said.
Nathan wanted to agree, but was too busy breathing for the dying soldier.
'There were thousands,' Kostos continued, 'chewing their way downstream toward here.'
'What are we going to do?' Zane asked.
Captain Waxman's voice drowned everyone else out. 'First of all, we're not going to panic. Corporal Graves and Private Jones . . . join Camera in securing the perimeter:'
'Wait!' Nate gasped between breaths.
Waxman turned on him. 'What?'
Nate spoke in stilted breaths between attempts to resuscitate Conger. 'We're too close to the stream. It runs right past the shabano:'
So.
'They'll come for us from the stream . . . like the Indians:' Nate was dizzy from hyperventilating. He breathed into Corporal Conger's mouth, then was up again. 'We have to get away. Away from the waterways until daybreak. Nocturnal. . :' Down he went to breathe.
'What do you mean?'
Professor Kouwe answered. 'The Indians were attacked at night. Now this assault. Nathan believes these creatures may be nocturnal. If we could avoid their path until sunrise, we should be safe:'
'But we have shelter and a secure area here. They're just fish or frogs or something.'
Nate remembered the black-and-white view through the night-vision goggles: the creatures leaping from the river, bounding high into the trees. 'We're not secure here!' he gasped out. He bent down again, but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
'It's useless,' Kelly said, pulling him up. 'He's gone:' She faced the others. 'I'm sorry. The poison spread too quickly. Without an antivenom . . .' She shook her head sadly.
Nate stared at the still form of the young Texan. 'Damn it. . :' He stood up. 'We have to get away. Far away from the waters. I don't know how far from the streams and rivers these creatures can travel, but the one I saw had gills. They probably can't stay out of the water for long:'
'What do you suggest?' Frank asked.
'We travel to higher ground. Avoid the river and the little stream. I think the Indians believed it was just the river they needed to fear, but the predators followed the stream and ambushed them:'
'You're speaking as if the creatures are intelligent.'
'No, I can't imagine they are:' Nate remembered the way the dolphins were fleeing, while none of the larger river fish were bothered. He pictured the attack on the pig and the capybara. A theory slowly jelled. 'Maybe they're simply focused on warm-blooded creatures. I don't know . . . maybe they can zone in on body heat or something, scouring both the water and the river's edges for prey.'
Frank turned to Waxman. 'I say we heed Dr. Rand.'
'So do I,' Kelly said, standing. She pointed to Corporal Conger. 'If a single bite can do this, we can't take the risk:'
Waxman turned on Frank. 'You may be the head of operations, but in matters of security, my word is law:'
Private Camera ducked her head through the roundhouse's doorway. 'Something's happening out here. The river is frothing something fierce. One of the boats' pontoons just blew.'
Beyond the walls of the shabano, the jungle awoke with monkey howls and screeching birds.
'We're running out of options,' Nate said fiercely. 'If they come up the stream and flank us, cutting us off from higher ground, many more will die like Conger . . . like the Indians:'
Nate found support in the most unlikely of places. 'The doctor's right,' Sergeant Kostos said. 'I saw those buggers. Nothing'll stop them from attacking:' He waved an arm. 'Definitely not this flimsy place. We're sitting ducks in here, sir.'
After a pause, Waxman nodded. 'Load up the gear.'
'What about the motion sensors outside?' Kostos asked.
'Leave 'em. Right now, I don't want anyone out there:'
Kostos nodded and turned to obey.
In short order, everyone was shouldering packs. Two Rangers dug a shallow grave for Corporal Conger's body.
Camera stood crouched by the doorway. She wore night-vision goggles and stared out toward the river and jungle. 'The commotion by the river's died down, but I hear rustling in the brush:'
Beyond the walls, the jungle had grown silent.
Nate crossed to the door and knelt on one knee beside Camera. He was already packed and ready, his stubby-nosed shotgun clutched in his right hand. 'What do you see?'
Camera adjusted her goggles. 'Nothing. But the jungle is too dense to see far:'
Nate leaned out the door. He heard a branch snap. Then a small forest deer, a spotted fawn, shot out of the jungle and dashed past where Nate and the Ranger crouched. Both gasped and ducked inside before realizing there was no danger.
'Christ;' Camera said with a choked laugh.
The deer paused near the edge of the roundhouse, ears pricked.
'Shoo!' the Ranger called, waving her M-16 threateningly.
Then something dropped out of the trees and landed on the fawn's back. The deer suddenly squealed in pain and terror.
'Get inside!' Nate ordered Camera.
As she rolled through the door, Nate covered her with his shotgun. Another creature pounced from the jungle's edge toward the deer. A third leaped from the underbrush. The fawn skittered a few steps, then fell on its side, legs kicking.
A single motion sensor blared from the direction of the side stream.
'They're here,' Nathan mumbled.
By his side, Camera had torn off her night-vision goggles and clicked on her flashlight. The brightness spread down the jungle trail to the river. The jungle to either side remained dark, blocking the light. 'I don't see-'
Something plopped into the trail, only a few yards away.
From this angle, the creature appeared to be all legs with a long finned tail dragging behind it. It took a small hop toward them. From under two globular black eyes, its mouth gaped open. Teeth glinted in the bright light, like some cross between a tadpole and a piranha.
'What the hell is it?' Camera whispered.
It leaped toward her voice.
Nate pulled the trigger of his shotgun. The spray of pellets shredded the creature, blowing it backward. That's what Nate appreciated about a shotgun in the jungle. It didn't require precision aim. Perfect for small threats-poisonous snakes, scorpions, spiders-and apparently against venomous amphibians, too.
'Get back,' he said and swung the small door shut. It was no more than a woven flap of banana leaves, but it would temporarily block the creatures.
'Thai's the only way out,' Camera said.
Nate stood and unhooked his machete with his left hand. 'Not in a shabano:' He pointed the blade toward the far wall, the side opposite both river and stream. 'You can make a doorway wherever you want:'
Frank and Captain Waxman joined him as he crossed to the central yard. Waxman was folding a field
