4:27 03/04/2587 –(8734/661/55/13)

Pista began crying out for her mother, and Nish immediately spread her wings and tried to get airborne. Even if the gravity had allowed it, Nish was stopped by several other visitors.

“Are you insane? You’ll get fried by the electrical fence,” someone said.

Nish did not care; she kept struggling and flapping her wings. All she could hear was Pista saying mummy over and over again.

At that moment, a keeper arrived, “Shit!” they exclaimed.

Nish noticed the uniform, and her attention switched to them. “Do something; get her out of there!” she ordered.

“We’ve got a team on the way,” they replied, and Nish couldn’t help but notice they seemed way out of their depth. Minagerad prided itself on its safety record, and while that was good, it sadly meant that just about everyone was inexperienced in situations like this.

“How long will that take?” demanded Nish; she looked at her daughter, who kept screaming for her, and Nish had never felt so worthless in her life.

The keeper reached for their radio and was about to ask before they paused and asked, “who are you?”

Nish was stunned by this level of stupidity, and even though she knew it was counterproductive, she was currently running on emotion, not thought. Nish just stared at them, trying her hardest to burn their eyes out with her gaze.

“You’re their parent?” asked the keeper.

“Did the wings and exoskeleton give it away? Now get my baby girl out of there!” she screamed.

The keeper began to ask, once again, when the rescue party would arrive when Pista screamed in terror.

Nish immediately looked, and she nearly screamed as well; Nish was too terrified, though.

Emerging from the foliage were a dozen Vetoru; almost half the pack had arrived. At first, the animals did nothing; they just stared at Pista, and she stared right back.

The keeper knew what they were doing; they were weighing their options. The Vetoru had never interacted with anyone but their keepers before, which had always been with thick metal barriers between them.

The Vetoru knew what it meant when something was thrown into the paddock; it meant food. This one was moving, and despite never living in the wild, they understood instinctively that prey could fight back, and they had to decide whether the benefit of food outweighed the risk of injury.

The keeper knew the answer. He just prayed that the beasts would keep themselves guessing long enough for the team to arrive, and they could tranq them all.

One of the Vetoru took a step forward, and Pista buzzed her wings in response. The animal stopped but did not retreat.

The Vetoru looked directly into Pista’s eyes before letting out a low chirp. In response, the other pack members fanned out and surrounded the little Tufanda, boxing her in against the moat.

Once again, Nish tried to fly over the fence and once again, she was stopped. She struggled as a second keeper arrived and, using all their strength, hurled a chunk of meat into the enclosure, praying that an easier meal would distract them.

The Vetoru paused and looked at the meat that had just been presented to them before turning back to Pista. Their blood was up, and they longed to sink their teeth into something that struggled.

Another call went out, and the pack began to close in around her; she had made no sudden movements, and her posture indicated Pista was weak and frightened.

“Help me, Mommy,” Pista croaked.

Nish watched on in horror, hoping that this was all just a terrible nightmare and that she would wake up soon. She knew it was not, however.

One of the beasts got ready to lunge as something else burst from the tree line, charging at the nearest Vetoru. The creature had just a moment to react and see what had disturbed them.

As its synapse fired, it was knocked to the ground; its skull shattered like an eggshell, its blood and brains oozing onto the dirt.

The rest of the pack immediately reacted with alarm calls, and one of their number, most likely the youngest, mistook this as the signal to attack.

It charged at Pista, and the little girl chirped as loud as she could.

The Vetoru had covered three-quarters of the distance before a swift kick sent it hurtling to the ground. It died instantly as its ribcage shattered, and a shower of bone perforated its heart, lungs and stomach.

***

Now Gabriel stood between the pack and Pista; the group let out a barrage of hisses and screeches. To which Gabriel responded with a scream of rage, the sound amplified by the speakers in his suit.

The Vetoru retreated, but not by much, they had no idea what Gabriel was, but they knew it was not prey. He was a rival, and he could not be scared off.

Under these circumstances, most animals would have cut their losses and given up, Gabriel had already killed two of them, and Pista was not a meal worth dying over.

Vetoru were not animals though; they were not people, but they were more than animals, and they understood the concept of revenge.

Their leader again gave out a call, and the rest of the pack regrouped. Gabriel took this moment to inspect his surroundings. There was a tree close by, and he took the opportunity to say, “Kid, we're going to walk to the tree, ok?”

Pista did not respond; she was still trembling in fear. Gabriel wasn’t even sure if she had realised he was not here to hurt her.

“Can you hear me?” he demanded, it was not the most compassionate tone, but he could not afford to be so, not now.

Pista regained control of her neck and looked up, “Ye.. Y.. Yes,” she stuttered.

“Stand up; stay behind me. We are going to back up towards that tree,” Gabriel pointed to the one he meant. “You are not going to run, and you will keep your eyes forward until you touch the trunk.”

Pista did not reply, and Gabriel again adopted a commanding tone, “Do you understand?”

The girl let out a small squeaking chirp, which Gabriel assumed was a yes, as she did indeed stand up and stood directly behind him.

Slowly the pair started to retreat; all the while, Gabriel never once took his eyes off the Vetoru. They had reformed their box, and for every step back he and Pista took, they took one forward.

After what seemed like an hour of painfully slow retreat, Pista mumbled, “here.” Gabriel knew what she meant and said, “Now up the tree, slow and steady now.”

***

Pista began to climb the tree shaking all the while, the added water weight made it difficult, but eventually, she made it; she felt safer up in the branches and looked down at the aliens.

The one that talked was standing just below her, but the others were slowly approaching them. Pista grasped the trunk with all her might and held her breath.

***

Gabriel had hoped that his mere presence and defiance would deter them long enough for the keepers to intervene. Sadly it seemed Gabriel had a fight on his hands. Something he was not relishing. He had not been in a fight since… since he turned fourteen.

What made it all the more difficult was that he had injured his leg while jumping over the fence, it was not broken, but he was suffering a mild sprain. With the Vetoru being so nimble, it might prove problematic.

Gabriel took comfort that his suit would be impenetrable to the beasts' fangs and claws, though he was not looking forwards to being enveloped in a mass of angry dinosaurs.

However, he had no more time to plan as the call was given and five Vetoru charged. They covered the distance with blinding speed and leapt on top of Gabriel. They bit and clawed at his suit, and though each Vetoru did not weigh much, together they began to drag him down.

***

Nish watched all this with awe. While she breathed easier now that Pista was in the tree and thanked any god that was listening that she had not been forced to watch her daughter being torn to shreds.

She was also terrified as the Vetoru were now mauling Pista’s saviour. It had not taken long for Nish to realise who it was, while the human was undoubtedly the best equipped to survive the encounter. Nish was beginning to doubt it would be enough.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

One of the Vetoru fell away from the mob, or rather tried to; the human was holding onto its arm with a vice grip. The human’s hand twisted violently, and the animal let out a howl of agony.

As the Vetoru screamed, the human let go, and the beast ran away, a broken arm limply flailing behind. Despite the situation, Nish could not help but be amazed at how the human had snapped it with such contemptuous ease.

The pack leader also noticed this and raised its head into the air, letting out a deep, bellowing call, utterly unlike any noise they had made before. Gabriel did hear it but paid it no mind; instead, he took advantage of the drop in weight and flung several of the Vetoru off him.

With his arms freed, he grasped the tail of the Vetrou busy clawing at his back, hurled it over his head, down onto a log, and impaled it on a broken branch. The creature let out a gurgling croak as the life poured out of it.

Gabriel had no time to savour his victory because the Vetoru immediately attacked him with a renewed fury, he had killed three of them now, and they were determined that he should die.

Their leader was still holding back, coordinating the attack, as it chirped, cawed and hissed; the other Vetoru would use faints, pincer movements and full frontal assault. The beast was undoubtedly clever, but none of this tactical genius could get around that they could not get through the suit.

Unbeknownst to anyone but Gabriel, the animals succeeded in one degree; he was already suffering some mild bruising from their bites. Nothing serious, but the longer the fight went on, the more time they had to realise that they could, in theory, choke him to death.

That did give him an idea; however, as one of the creatures latched onto his arm, he, in turn, grasped it around the neck and snapped it like a chicken bone.

Once again, their leader let out that deep bellowing call and at it, the rest of the pack backed off. Gabriel did not let down his guard and assumed it was merely a pause before a renewed assault.

“Where the hell were the other keepers?” He must have been down here for at least a quarter of an hour; you would have thought they would have gotten here by now.

The two groups stared at one another; Gabriel was so focused on the task that he had no idea how long it had gone on for. They were still surrounding him, but it was not the ridged organised box they had used before. He would swear they were.

His train of thought was broken when the entire pack, including the one with the broken arm whom the others were assisting in moving, vanished back into the brush.

***

Now everything was quiet; the human stood alone in the clearing, Pista was still safe in the tree. Nish let out a sigh of relief and nearly collapsed to her knees. All around came cheers; it had been quite the spectacle, all the more breathtaking as no one had died or even been injured.

Nish finally pulled her eyes away and looked at the keeper, and she tried to ask when they would get the two of them out. It hit her like a truck; the two keepers were not cheering, hooting or making any noise whatsoever.

Feeling the horror rise once more made all the more unbearable because she had believed it was over. Nish turned her head back just in time to hear her daughter scream and the human being knocked to the ground by a towering behemoth.

***

Gabriel had the wind knocked out of him, but this had happened many times, too many to count, and he instinctively took a large breath to inflate his lungs. Dragging himself out of the dirt, he felt a stinging sensation in his chest. Gabriel remembered it well; he would get a nice big bruise there.

The Carnedon was an entirely different beast from the Vetoru, and not just in morphology. Whereas they would have taken a moment to plan their next attack, the Carnedon simply charged.

Gabriel knew that the Carnedon was not as heavy as it appeared. It was roughly as big as an Asian elephant yet was only a fourth of the weight. However, that meant it still massively outweighed him, and he wisely jumped out of the way rather than take it on.

His plan for this was outlasting it, bank on what he assumed was his superior stamina until the beast could no longer move and hope that the rescue effort would arrive and either shoot it or tranq it.

The Carnedon took a swipe at him, and Gabriel deftly dodged it, though as he did, he was reminded of his injured leg. The adrenaline pumping through his system was doing much to dull the pain, but it was still there, and it gave him a handicap Gabriel could do without.

Fate decided at that moment that his situation was not complicated enough. Pista, who was presently in awe of what she saw, forgot what danger she was in. Attempting to get a better look at the action, she stepped too far on a thin branch in a repeat of what got her into this mess.

However, this time, she reacted fast enough to cling to the trunk. As the branch snapped and fell to the ground with a thud, the Carnedon looked straight at her.

The creature decided she would be a far easier meal, charging the tree.

Now forced to act, Gabriel charged the beast, put all his strength into a punch, and clocked it straight in the temple.

Everyone, the onlookers, Nish, Pista, the keepers and even Gabriel himself, were utterly astounded as the beast tumbled down from the force of his blow. His hand stung as it absorbed the recoil.

At that precise moment, Gabriel felt like a demigod, but the moment was just that, a moment, and as the Carnedon got to its feet, he realised that he had just given himself no room to manoeuvre.

It pounced on top of him, and Gabriel could feel the beast's weight; it mauled him, clawing and biting at every spot it could get to. Like for the Vetoru, the suit proved impenetrable, but unlike them, this animal was far more effective.

Gabriel felt a sharp pain, and he was sure it was caused by a broken bone, though he was too disorientated to determine where it was. All he could see were teeth trying their hardest to crack his skull, that and the whiskers.

Whiskers!

Filled with focus, Gabriel grabbed as many as he could and yanked them from the Carnedon’s face using all his strength.

As the hair and the deep nerves they were attached to were wrenched from its body, the Carnedon stopped its attack, yelped like a dog and used its four arms to try to ease the burning pain it now felt.

As the animal whined, something snapped in him, and Gabriel roared once more. Unlike the last time, this was not the theatrics of someone playing a part but rather the pure emotion of rage. Once again, he struck the beast; this time, he felt nothing.

The Carnedon staggered, his punch having disorientated the animal, and Gabriel did not let up for a moment; he wanted this thing dead.

Gabriel punched it for a third time, this time on the forehead, and the beast fell to its knees; as it did so, he stuck his feet in its mouth, several of the teeth snapping as he did so and grabbed the animal's jaw.

Heaving with all his might, he lifted the beast's mouth, it gave some resistance, but it was pointless.

There was a sickening crack as the jaw was dislocated and nearly torn from the skull.

The Carnedon fell to the ground; whether it was dead or had been knocked unconscious by the pain, Gabriel did not know and did not care.

Gabriel collapsed to his knees, panting heavily. Now that the source of his rage was gone, the sensations the state had suppressed were starting to come back. He so dearly wanted to collapse in a heap, he had done enough, but Gabriel knew he could not; while the Tufanda girl was in the enclosure, she was still in danger.

Grasping the ground in a death grip, he hauled himself back to his feet, pulling up clumps of dirt and plant matter as he did.

Gabriel trudged back to the tree, panting heavily; he said, “you can come down now.”

The Tufanda did not move immediately, and Gabriel was already trying to figure out how he could convince her. Then the alien moved; slowly, she clambered down the tree trunk with a surprising amount of grace, Gabriel noted.

As the child came within arms reach, Gabriel held his arms out, and without wasting a beat, the little Tufanda jumped into them and held Gabriel tight, grunting as the girl held on as tightly as she could, and the added pressure played havoc on his wounds.

Though perhaps little was not the right word, judging from her behaviour, she was at the developmental stage of a five to six-year-old human. But she was as large as a human teenager. Even by human standards, Gabriel was not a tall man, and he imagined that if the scenario were not so dire, the whole situation would be somewhat comical.

The child made faint buzzing noises which Gabriel guessed were the Tufanda’s equivalent of sniffles.

Despite their size, they weighed next to nothing, which Gabriel was thankful for; he was just about ready to collapse. Gabriel followed the moat; he recalled seeing a staff path to the west, and if he followed the water, eventually, he would reach the gate.

The enclosure had to have a gate; the habitat needed maintenance, and drones could only do so much.

Gabriel saw something move out of the corner of his eye; the Vetoru were back, but unlike last time they made no move to attack or box them in. They had witnessed what Gabriel had done, something not even the entire pack would have been capable of, and they knew better than to pick another fight.

They still hated him for what he had done, hated him even more now that they had killed their partner. Survival instincts took over, though; the pack would escort him out of their territory and, if they were capable of it, pray they never met again.

Glancing up, Gabriel saw the child's mother following them, along with the two keepers and a small crowd of interested onlookers. As he did, Gabriel saw a small group of keepers arrive equipped with guns, ropes, and other equipment.

“Now you show up,” Gabriel mumbled with a sigh.

***

Pista heard what the alien said but could not be bothered to look up; they were warm and soft, and she just wanted to see mommy and go to sleep. Each step they took lulled Pista further and further into dreamland.

When they reached the gate, the keepers opened it. The grating sound of metal on metal was enough to pull her head off the alien's shoulder. Looking right at her was the wonderful face of her mother, nothing but relief in her posture.

“Mommy!” Pista yelled and nearly flung herself into Nish’s arms.

Holding her daughter as tightly as she could, Nish spent a few minutes just rocking her daughter back and forth before opening her eyes to find that the human was still there.

The debt of gratitude she owed this person was incalculable, but for now, all she could offer was, “thank you for saving my daughter.”

The human nodded its head and replied, “you are welcome.”

***

The ambulances arrived a few minutes after Gabriel sat down on a bench and tried his hardest to relax. Even as his wounds were tended, he focused on the child. In doing so, he leant she was a girl and both her name and her mother's name.

Pista seemed fine, just a few minor scrapes; the paramedics had given her some plasters and “medicine”, just some coloured sugar water, to make the pain disappear.

Gabriel, however, was in far worse shape; he had a lot of severe bruising on just about every part of his body, he had torn several muscles in his exertions, and three of his ribs were cracked.

What made it all the more troubling was, one, the paramedics could not remove his suit to treat him, and secondly, even if they could, none of them were qualified to do it. It seemed whoever had made the call had left out that little nugget of information and had to watch as the paramedics asked him for a fifth time if morphine was indeed a pain killer and not a euthanasia drug for humans.

“In large enough doses, yes; just don’t give me the ambulance's entire supply,” explained Gabriel. While the suit might seem to make the administration of morphine impossible, the engineers who designed it had thought of this.

Located on the back of the hands were two small pads allowing a needle to be inserted to administer medicine. The paramedics hooked the suit up to the ambulance's computer, and the suit responded by seizing his hand and massaging it until a vein was found.

Gabriel was not afraid of needles; quite the opposite, he actively looked forward to his vaccinations, and the idea of being near enough immune to the deadliest killers Earth had to offer was appealing to him.

Regardless, something about having something punctured his hand left him squeamish. He was a big boy, though, and he let the medics get to work.

Gabriel felt the needle and then what felt like someone grasping his hand; this was another of the suit's functions, preventing large amounts of blood from pooling inside.

“Now, Mr Ratlu, we just need you to lie down on the stretcher, and we will take you to Foruthio hospital,” explained the paramedic.

Gabriel did as instructed, eager to rest after the ordeal. He winced and sucked in air through his teeth as his ribs complained. The paramedics asked if he was okay, but he dispelled their worries and simply asked for some help getting onto his back.

As the ambulance started to move, he closed his eyes and said, “haven’t even been here a week, and I’ve already needed a trip to the doctors."