1
- Jennifer -
“So everyone is leaving?”
Heidi dumps the not-sheep carcass on the ground and backs off, all the way to where I’m standing on the edge of the clearing.
I look around, feeling skittish. The jungle is dense and humid, as always. And extremely alive. There’s movement all around us. There’s rustling in the undergrowth all over the place, sniffing noises, light footsteps, the occasional leaf that flutters on the twig despite there being no wind.
The primitive, caveman-made gun in my hand should make me more confident, but I’m not too sure about it. The barrel isn’t properly machined steel, just a rolled-up sheet of thin metal. It’s probably more dangerous to the shooter than to the target.
“Everyone,” I confirm in a whisper. “Except for most of the cavemen. They’ll stay and guard the village in case some of the girls want to return to it.”
“Not a bad idea,” Heidi says and leans casually against a tree trunk. “We’ll all go to the escape ship in Bune, and only then will we have to decide who’s leaving for Earth and who’s staying here on Xren. No need to say all our goodbyes yet. You ready?”
I clumsily light the stiff wick on the gun using a thick match made from Dolly’s sulfur. The gun has a primitive mechanism with a simple pivot. If I now pull the trigger, the burning end of the wick will be plunged into a small hole in the barrel and light the gunpowder inside, causing it to fire a handful of metal scrap and gravel. In theory.
“Ready. I think. Yeah, not all the girls have seen the escape ship. We should all know what we’re entrusting our lives to before we decide. Heidi, shouldn’t we be quiet?”
There’s a weird hiss coming from the bushes in front of us, like a big animal sniffing the ground.
Heidi tenses up and hefts her crossbow. “I don’t think it matters. These guys are either totally deaf or they can’t hear the frequency of our voices. Or they can, but they just don’t care. That’s my guess, anyway. Keep ready, though. There’s one that’s close.”
I lift the gun, aiming at the spot where the creature has to emerge if it wants the rancid meat.
I was never a fan of dinosaurs, and actively going out of the village to find one is one of the more insane activities I can think of. But Heidi needed help, and I haven’t been feeling useful lately.
“Still sniffing around,” Heidi says. “This is a cautious one. That usually means it’s a mature example. The younger ones are easier to deal with, but we’ll see what we can do. If you have to shoot, aim for the middle of its chest. If it has one. Did you pack all your things?”
“Back at the village? Just about. Not that there’s a lot to pack. Some soap we made and some specimens of leaves and such. For the scientists on Earth. I suppose the more stuff we bring, the more credible our story will be when we return and the more money we can probably make from selling it. Well, we’ll see.”
“Yep. I’m thinking the same thing. Maybe you should bring some dino eggs, too. Safely, of course. The small ones, the size of footballs. We all leave tomorrow morning?”
The gun may be primitive, but it’s heavy, and I have to shift my grip on it. “At sunrise, Delyah says. So we can travel in the daytime and get there before sunset. And then… well, I don’t know. I guess takeoff time will be the next day. For those of us who are returning to Earth.”
Heidi looks away. “And you are definitely returning?”
I nod. “Definitely. You’re not, I would guess.”
She smiles tightly. “You would guess right. Probably all us married girls will stay, as far as I know. We don’t trust the government on Earth to treat us right when we arrive with alien husbands and hybrid children in tow. And even if they deal with us perfectly well, the best case scenario means endless quarantine and tests and research being done on us. Especially the kids. And that’s just one of the reasons to stay on Xren— here he comes.”
The bushes rustle and part, and then the dinosaur is standing there, eyeing the meat with three of its dinner-plate eyes. The other two are focused on me and Heidi.
The dino is the size of a bus, and clearly a predator type. It has six stubby legs with backwards-pointing knees, a