“Must have been the drugs they put in the animal’s water supply,” Yul murmured with a sigh.
“That and the Iboron plants turned them into monsters. I had no idea they were so vicious.”
“It’s amazing what animals will do. Humans will do worse when their lives and habitat are threatened.”
A blue light winked through the trees. Yul stiffened. The glow issued from a spot where the dengal path veered far from the fence. He dropped to a crouch. Crab-walking with hunched back, he lifted his blaster and moved closer. Trixie stumbled at his heels, panting with the effort.
In a clearing, he could make out the outline of a hulking shape. The mass rose over their heads. A ship. Flush to the tangle of forest wall, shadowy vines and creepers wound up the trunks. The ground team had landed. Yul waited. Night insects chirped and buzzed. “Call the police,” he muttered.
Trixie tugged at her waist where her pocket communicator lay tucked in a belt pouch. “Faceplate’s smashed, Yul. Must have been when I fell back there. We’re out of range too.”
He sighed and shook his head. “Doesn’t look as if anybody’s aboard that ship.”
“Why don’t we break in and fly it back to the lodge?”
“Normally that’d be my impulse,” Yul mused. “But they’ve probably booby trapped the hatch. Which means we’d be dengal fodder.” He chewed on his lip. How he’d love a free ship right now. Fly away, call it a day. He needed this nightmare like he needed a blow to the head. But somewhere he balked at such an idea. He was many things but no coward. To be embroiled in this illicit racket sickened him. He turned his head and blasted out the rear thrusters in a blaze of sparks and crackles. His lips peeled back in a shit-eating grin as the ship began to smoke. “That should keep those bastards grounded long enough for the law to nab them.”
The two crept eastward toward the lodge, and many a clammy feeling tugged at Yul’s skin: a premonition that they were being stalked by some savage forest beast. Sure enough, an ugly growl echoed from behind.
Trixie’s eyes widened in alarm. “Cungas! Sounds like a full-grown male. They can take down a dengal with their eyes closed.”
“What are they?”
“Saber-toothed panthers is as close to a description as I can get.”
Yul gripped his gun. They had their rifles but one of those monsters could easily spring out of nowhere, kill them in seconds. “Let’s hope they find choicer pickings.” The moment he spoke, another lusty growl echoed from the dense trees. He ducked. A few seconds later a human scream shrilled from not sixty yards away. The shriek faded to a dying hiss through the mist-shrouded trees, leaving behind an unnerving silence. One of the poachers would not be making it to the ship tonight.
“Come on, let’s move,” Yul rasped. He grabbed Trixie’s arm. They hustled down the dengal path.
Chapter 5
Hours later they caught the first glimmers of lamplight filtering through the parasol-shaped bonderol trees. On weary legs, they crept nearer the ranch and stood crouching by the hedgerow, wispy coils of mist hugging the ground. The yard was bathed in a pale yellow glow from the standing lampposts: one by the barn, another by the lodge. Trixie gripped Yul’s arm. “Lan is back.” A single light was on in the ranch house.
Yul nodded, though a tremor of unease moved up his spine. Parked at the side of the lodge stood a red, battered dust buggy, wheels caked with dirt. It looked like one of those back at his father’s salvage yard. Odd. Yul tugged at his chin. No dengals loitered by the gate and fence. He guessed this was not their feeding time.
Yul motioned to her communicator. “Try Banzari,” he hissed. Despite the rust-tinted moonshine and the steady glow of the lampposts, her color didn’t look good.
“Thing’s broken.”
“Try anyway.”
She pulled out the damaged unit, curling her lips. The faceplate was cracked but a dim light shone on the console. She speed-dialed Banzari.
A faint jingle rang through the open window. No answer. Yul clasped the back of his neck. More weirdness.
“Go!” he pushed her back behind the hedgerow. “Call the police and hightail it out of here. Take my four-wheeler. It’s parked at the end of the driveway.”
Trixie nodded vigorously, only too happy to get out of there. Her last look back at him, licking her fleshy lips, was of gratitude, as if to say, ‘good luck’, as she scrambled ass over end to the safety of the shed en route to Yul’s vehicle.
Yul turned back to the ranch house. The kerosene light dimmed, then flickered. He moved toward the entranceway, checking his rifle. Mounting the veranda, he paused, gingerly testing the front door. The latch was open.
He let himself in, closed the door gently behind him. He poised on the balls of his feet, hardly daring to breathe. One cautious step after another, he stalked the hall.
Yul’s eyes adjusted to the dimness. Why were all the lights off? Where was Banzari?
He blinked in the moonlight streaming through the windows. Before him lay a spacious living area. High ceilings. Rustic chandelier suspended from triple iron chains over a long dining room table. Stone fireplace and hearth set to the side with stacked wood. Expensive furnishings. Smell of varnished wood and jasmine-scented candles. An eerie expectancy hung in the air, as if danger lurked in every shadow.
Yul shook off the ghostly feeling of some skullduggery at play. Stiff backed, glancing from side to side, Yul crept down the hall, his rifle in hand. He wished he had his own E1, but this was all he had.
