B008IFNJZM EBOK (41 page)

             
Nathan could see the males of the other pride come shooting out from below the mushrooms.

             
“Ladies either climb like hell or fly up to that ledge now!  The other pride is on the move!”

             
Quickly the girls began to climb Shawn’s hooks and line as Nathan watched the grass being parted by the beasts in their direction.

             
Hadiya and Chelsea were already moving far enough up the side that they could see the charging animals.  Four males moving as fast as they could came toward them.  The alpha male was in the lead and the first to arrive directly below the two women.  He leaped up and Chelsea pulled Hadiya up to her and the cat missed and for a moment, all four males waited to see if Hadiya could hang on to Chelsea.  Shawn helped the women up on the ledge and the two women tried to catch their breath.

             
“If this ledge was just only five or six feet lower, he would be sitting up here right now instead of us!”

             
The skin on the front of Chelsea’s legs was marked  with several scratches by the huge creature falling down against her.  Chelsea and Hadiya stood on the ledge and looked off at the far end of the valley.  This side was much darker and the tall grass tapered off toward that direction because of the lower light intensity. 

             
“Honey you Platt and Berdy are definitely going to need your night vision.”

             
Crosley looked over at the pair of mercenaries as they were checking their equipment for the next phase.

             
“Are you sure you gentlemen want to do this?”

             
“We have got to set up motion detectors near every entrance the Bunyips use to pass in or out of this valley or the girls will never be able to harvest the Dodo poop Nathan needs without the fear of being attacked.”

             
“Yes and the other end with the mushrooms and ample light will be easy compared to this side and the darkness this pride has for cover.  If we can do this side, the other side will be much easier.”

             
Crosley got back on the headset this time for Nathan.

             
“Nathan… are you sure about this as being the only way to get the seeds you need?”

             
“This species of tree does not exist.  I know that for sure.  Those trees are Tambalacoque trees.  What happens is that the Dodo eat the fruit as well as the seeds.  The only way to get germinated seeds is out their excrement.  The quotes we have received from all over the world put the value of germinated seeds per pound to be as high as a pair of the birds we just shipped.”
             

             
“Yes and even if we could get equipment down here to dig up trees, I am sure the Meeratts would not want us digging up their game preserve and leaving it full of craters.”

             
Crosley came back over the radio.

             
“Alright then let us begin phase two.  Remember, we are trying to verify first that our four comrades are dead and  then protect our future trips into this valley by setting up detection systems that will let us know when the Bunyips are on the move.”

             
Platt came over the radio.

             
“For the record, I still like my idea better.  We go into those lairs and kill all the adults and haul off the young and sell them in pairs.”

             
“Well Mr. Platt, if we can’t set up these security perimeters that is just what we might  land up doing.”

             
Platt and Berdy were impatient as they were fitted with Velcro neck and back braces.  Crosley came over as Shawn and the women finished strapping the two men into their protective equipment.

             
Berdy looked at Crosley.

             
“I don’t understand why we have to wear these things.  They restrict my ability to bend over or to turn my head from one side to the other.”

             
Crosley loosen the belt around Berdy’s waist by a notch. Shawn handed Berdy a pouch with sensors.  Platt was adjusting his night vision goggles on his helmet.  Platt was trying out the braces as well.

             
“Berdy is right.  They do restrict some of our movements.”

             
“Alright, Platt, you and Shawn are going to walk down this wall on our side of the valley and into the darkness.  Berdy you and the two women are going to walk down the far wall of the valley and into the darkness as well.  If either of you are surprised by a Bunyip, those walking with you will pull you back in a fast burst of speed.  Vampires can move so fast that whiplash is a concern.  That is why you both have on back braces and neck braces.  We don’t want to kill you while trying to pull you to safety.”

             
“Why are you loosening our belts?”

             
“They are going to pull you to safety be grabbing your belt.  If they were to grab your arm instead of your belt, they might dislocate it.”

             
The two girls nodded at each other and Chelsea grabbed Berdy’s belt and then shot Berdy to his left by about ten feet.  Berdy now realized just how fast they had pulled him.  He felt a little soreness on the right side of his hip.

             
“I see.”

             
“We are hoping that with their blinding speed they can get you back here before a charging Bunyip can catch up to you.  That’s the plan anyhow…”

             
“Nathan has studied the video movements of the cats and he calculated that they can do about eighty miles an hour in the tall grass.  That comes out to about one hundred and twenty feet a second.  The vampires can move much faster than that.  They are your safety valves.”

             
Nathan came over the headset.

             
“Yes so if the end of the dark side of the valley is two miles away from our ledge, it is only going to take them about a minute and a half to get here.  The women and Shawn are the only ones who can pull you to safety without you being ran down by the pride.”

             
After a quick equipment check, Berdy and the two females went down the wall first as Platt and Shawn covered their movements from the ledge along with Crosley.  They waited until Berdy crossed to the other wall directly across from their location.  When both teams were finally in position, they began to move toward the dark side of the valley.  Berdy and Platt had their night vision equipment on and kept scanning for any sign of the Bunyip lair.  Both men kept scanning the area above them for caves or ledges as well as scanning the ground separating the two teams.
             
Neither team found anything that resembled a hiding area for the large animals.   It took about two hours for the teams to travel all the way back to the far wall.

             
The teams  didn’t find an opening in the walls above them or some kind of ledge the cats could be using as their base of operations on the back wall near their positions either.  The two men talked in very low volume to each other.

             
“See anything?”

             
“Nothing… Maybe there is a tunnel going down somewhere between us.”

             
“Hear that?  Sounds like flowing water.”

             
“I see it!  There is water flowing down the back wall here into a small pond.  Maybe their den is behind it like the stairs in the big valley… I am going to check it out.”

             
“Copy that.  I am going to start moving down the rear wall toward you.”

             
Crosley was up on the ledge and he saw something that frightened him off in the distance.

             
“Gentlemen … that drugged female cat is trying to stand up.  I can see its tail moving.”

             
“Platt get some wall behind you and let’s see where she goes.”

             
“Yes.  She will show us the way.”

             
Everyone could hear the cat moaning and coming closer to the back wall of the valley.

             
“The tracking sensor on her is working fine.  We got her location.  She seems to be staggering like a drunk…  She is moving right down the middle of the valley… I lost the visual on her but she is moving slowly like she is still heavily drugged right down the middle.”

             
“Copy that… still can’t see her.”

             
The two women were holding tightly to Berdy’s belt ready to pull him away if needed.  The cat was now visible and Berdy could confirm that it was still heavily sedated.  It was coming closer to his side of the rear wall.  The girls were tensing up.

             
“No ladies, not yet…”

             
Berdy and the two women looked up at the cat as it continued to the back wall.  It was taller than even Berdy.  It kept staggering as the female moved.  It stopped at the pond and began to lick the water.  It even put its head under water for a second and pulled it back out swinging its head from side to side growling.  Everyone continued to be frozen in their positions.  No one was sure how good it could see in the dark and if it could spot the slightest movement.  Finally, the big cat dived into the water and appeared to swim under the back wall.

             
“I think we found it.  There is either a cave or another large valley on the other side of this wall behind the pond.”

             
“Copy that.  Let’s plant these motion sensors and get out of here.
             
Both teams moved slowly down the wall and pushed the spikes with the devices mounted on top into the ground on both sides of the pool as water continued to run down the far wall.  Then in unison, both teams moved to the leading edge of the pond and planted the other pair.  All four of the units came on and the detectors were now covering the water’s surface as well as the front shore of the area.  Both men slowly moved back to the rear wall and then moved farther away from the pond until they reached the far corners of the dark area.  Just then, a large male cat came out of the water and placed its front paws on the muddy bank.  The men froze and the vampires were ready to run.  This male was followed by a second male.  Neither of the big cats noticed the intruders of their domain and both shot out into the tall grass.

             
“Now what Platt?”

             
“Just stay where you are at.  Going farther down the walls and into the light will expose us and make us visible to them.  The darkness here is helping us to be concealed and unnoticed by them.”

             
“Crosley can you see them?”

             
“Yes they are in the center of the valley and moving this way… I can see the Dodo birds getting out of their way…

             
“Are they attacking the birds?”

             
“No… now they are stopped and doing something but I can only see their tails… Okay, get ready they are both coming your way side by side and not very fast.”

             
Both teams hugged the walls on each side of the dark end of the valley.  Berdy and Platt had their high powered rifles ready and all it would take is a word from either mercenary to make their vampire escorts pull them out at blinding speed.  Both teams could hear the males coming closer and they were moving slowly.

             
Berdy came over the headset.

             
“They may not be able to see us but do you think they can smell us?”

             
“Shhh...”

             
Berdy could see the males first and he was surprised.  They were dragging the dead female by its paws in their mouths.  The cats came to the water’s edge and dove in still pulling the female.  They swam under the wall with the remains of the dead cat still tightly in their grasp.

             
“I wonder if the Bunyips are smart enough to figure out that she didn’t die by natural causes.”

             
“If they are, every male cat on the other side of that wall is going to be out here trying to figure out who attacked her.  It’s time to leave my friend.”

             
With a nod, Shawn shot Platt back toward the safety of the ledge and stopped about fifty feet away from the lift.  He had to stop there because of several boulders prevented him from going all the way back.  Shawn looked at Platt.

             
“Are you okay?’