Jethro Goes to War (Wandering Engineer Jethro's tale) (60 page)

The grizzly
grimaced. So much for the easy excuse. But if it wasn't Neo's and it
wasn't a local predator, what was it? Human? They'd have to find out.
He'd wanted to start at the last crime scene  but they had been
denied. “So you don't have any like us. Hmmm.”

“
Nope,”
the rancher spat. “None of them there hilgard raptor things
either. Last one was run down in my grand pappy's time.”

“
Ah.”

“
We've got
chimps and gorillas. Them are in the city, what's left of it. Got
some come by every now and again. Fewer and fewer every decade
though.”

“
They are
Neo’s as well,” Hurranna said patiently.

“
You don't
say. Huh. Well don't that beat all.” He shook his head. “You
fixin' to go huntin' this thing killing folk around here?”

“
Yes. We're
also scouting for a training base.”

“
Okay. Let
see... I tell you what. You bag what evers been killing my kin folk
and neighbors and I'll put on the biggest barbeque you ever did see.
I'll roast a couple hogs or a whole Neo buffalo,” he blinked as
Sergei stood up.

“
Someone
mention a steak?” the big Liger growled licking his lips.

“
Ah, yeah.
That'd be me partner. By the look of you, you could eat a whole side
of beef. Maybe I'd better toss two Neo buffalo on.” He shook
his head. This was getting expensive fast.

“
We'll see.
Let's not count our steaks until this thing is dead,” Valenko
said nodding. He put his cover on and then motioned to the team.

“
Nice meeting
you sir. We'll be back in a couple days.”

“
Looking
forward to it pardner.”

“
All right
people, lets' get our game faces on,” gunny Schultz growled
checking each of them over. They nodded and moved to obey.

The gunny had each
person check their gear and camouflage. Asazi rubbed her chin,
marking her face up with face paint. Hurranna stood back, rubbing her
own chin as she crossed her arms holding a can of spray paint. “I
feel like a sculpture.” Chirby chittered as Hurranna added a
few more touches here and there with the paint.

“
Better to
look like one than to be one bub,” Sergei growled. His white
fur was being tinted with a rub on dye. He shook his head as Ox
rubbed dye over his own hide. “Actually you look a bit like a
tree.”

Miles was the first
to finish painting his face and hands. He went with a simple effect,
breaking up the normal shadow lines with slashes across his face. The
gunny had him gear up and then jump in place. If anything made a
noise they identified it and locked it down with flat black zip ties
or digicam riggers tape.

Schultz glanced over
to the Liger who had taken a drink and was about to put his canteen
back on his belt. “Drink it all and then refill.”

“
Crap,”
the Liger sighed, going over to a trough. The gunny was right, the
canteen did slosh a bit when he moved. He took the cap off and dunked
the canteen. The canteen was designed to clean the water it
contained, so he wasn't worried about catching anything from the
local water supply.

“
Stow the
stethoscope doc,” Jethro pointed out.

“
Huh? Oh.
Okay,” Gusterson grimaced as he packed the stethoscope away. He
was pretty sure he was in over his head. Join the navy, see the
galaxy. When he had joined he'd figured he'd be in a nice clean, warm
sickbay somewhere on a ship. This wasn't exactly what he had in mind.
He rubbed his beaked muzzle and then tweaked his nose a little. It
was nice to be outside though. His ears flicked at the sounds of the
animals and rustling leaves.

“
Almost
finished?” ensign Valenko asked, coming over. Most of the
animal sounds quieted when he spoke.

“
Just one more
sir,” the gunny answered looking up from checking Asazi's
paint.

“
Who?”

“
You.”

“
Oh,”
Valenko sighed as the gunny ran him through the check.

“
You know the
great thing about being a Neo?”

“
Fur?”

“
Yeah. That
and our body shapes don't match normal humans. No offense,”
Sergei said, elbowing Miles.

“
Some taken,”
Miles joked, adjusting his field cap and netting. “Sucks having
to cover my neck and shoulders.”

“
Biggest thing
to give a person away is the head. Most distinctive shape,” the
gunny said as he adjusted the bear's shoulder straps and had him
bounce.

“
Done?”
the bear asked. The gunny nodded. “All right then.”
Valenko picked up his weapon and attached it to the front straps of
his outfit. “Lets move out.” He pointed in the direction
of march.

“
Head em up
and move em out,” the rancher said, waving his hat. They waved
and walked on. “Good huntin' ya'll!”

 ...*...*...*...*...

Two hours after they
were dropped off Valenko had them pause on a hill so he could get his
bearings and report in.

“
So I heard
second is going to field test the LAVs. How come we didn't get that?”

“
Cause they've
got a couple drivers. We've got the recon experts. That was the plan
the entire time,” Valenko replied absently, not looking up.

“
Oh. Still,
it'd be nice tooling around in one right about now.”

“
On this
terrain? Get real Sergei,” the grizzly said. “Besides, if
one of those break down, and I expect they might, I'd hate to have to
fix one out here.”

“
Or drive one
off a cliff or something,” Jethro said coming over to them.
“Ensign I'm getting a weird metal reading in that direction.”
He nodded his chin, suppressing the urge to point. He ended up doing
so anyway with his binoculars.

“
Eh?”
The bear said looking up and then toward where the panther was
pointing with his binoculars. “Downed air car or farm you
suppose?”

“
No. No farms
in that area. It's too big to be an air car. Very big. And I noticed
something.” He motioned for them to follow. He went over to the
tallest tree and scaled it quickly. When he got as high as he could
he cleared the brush around him so he could see.

“
If you think
I'm going up there you're nuts,” the bear growled, looking up
from the base of the tree.

“
Wouldn't
dream of it. At least while I'm up here too,” Jethro said
lifting the binoculars to his eyes and then scanning the line. “Yeah.
Thought so,” he breathed, seeing what he'd expected. He climbed
down and then handed the grizzly the binoculars. “Scar. Looks
like a crash scar. A big one. Too big for an air car.”

“
Oh?”
The bear played back the recording and then grunted. “And from
the look of it, it's not that old. I don't see much growth. From the
looks of things there was a fire centered right where that metal is.
Good call.”

“
Could it be
an old crash?” Sergei asked.

“
No. All the
signs are fresh,” the bear said handing the binoculars back.
“No it's recent all right. A year or so at any rate. I think we
need to detour to check it out.”

“
Great. Thanks
a heap ole buddy, ole pal, ole friend,” Sergei said
sarcastically as he slapped the panther on his ruck.

“
Sure. But I
think you’re not going to complain when you see what I think
we'll see.”

“
And what's
that?” the Liger asked as the moved out.

“
You'll see,”
Jethro said with an ear flick of humor. “I don't wan to spoil
the surprise.”

“
Veeeeryyy
funny. Regular laugh a minute,” the Liger grumbled.

...*...*...*...*...

Valenko pulled a
branch to one side and then grunted. Slowly he let the branch fall
back. “You knew it was there,” Jethro breathed.

“
Yeah, but I
had to see it with my own eyes,” the grizzly said shaking his
head. “Sensors can be fooled.”

“
Yeah I know.
I remember what gunny said. Trust your eyes above all else. So what
now? Knock and see if someone's home?”

“
Maybe,”
the bear grunted. He personally didn't like that idea. “You're
right, it's definitely fresh. Which means within a year or two. Maybe
two and a half or three but that's pushing it. The only ships to have
visited in that time are the pirates, Destiny, and us.”

“
And since
Destiny didn't lose a shuttle...”

“
Yeah I know.
Let me think,” the bear sighed softly. After a moment he shook
his massive head back and forth. “Every time I think about it,
I keep thinking they'd have been picked up. The pirates had plenty of
time.”

“
If they knew
they went down in one piece. If the shuttle radioed a mayday.”

“
And if they
care about their people like we do,” Hurranna said sniffing the
air.

“
Got
something?” Jethro asked. He started taking his gear off.

“
Old. Not
enough to go off though,” she said.

“
What are you
up to?” the bear asked.

“
Someone's got
to check it out. I can do it cloaked.”

“
Yeah. But...”

“
Got a better
idea?” Jethro asked, still pulling his boots off.

“
Actually, I
do,” Hurranna said. She dropped her ruck and looked up. She
gathered herself and sprang into the trees.

“
What is she
doing?” Jethro asked, pausing. He saw her move from one tree to
the next, pausing to check the shuttle for signs of life.

“
Playing
Tarzan,” Valenko sighed shaking his head.

“
Oh.”

They watched as the
lynx made her way along the trees. She crept across a vine bridge,
then when she was on the other side paused and half crawled downward.
She took a long look at something then came back up to where she
could see them. She motioned with her hands, object and then motioned
explosion. Valenko grimly nodded.

“
Traps.”

“
Yeah. I'd
have passed that spot,” Jethro breathed. It was the easiest way
to the fallen shuttle craft. He remembered what he'd been taught in
sniper school, easy paths are likely booby trapped.

“
And you'd
have set the thing off,” the bear growled. He watched as the
lynx took it even slower, making sure of her every move and
surroundings before moving on.

When the local birds
were scared into flight she froze. She paused looking around, eyes
wide. Jethro caught sight of a local predator chasing a deer creature
and pointed. She looked over her shoulder to him. He pointed to his
eyes and then teeth and then to the predator. She looked, then he saw
her body relax almost explosively. She nodded and continued.

As she moved out of
sight they carefully moved the screening branch again. “Can't
use the radio or sensors. I don't want to let them know,” the
bear breathed.

“
Exactly,”
the leopard said, resting on a limb above them. Jethro looked up to
see the sniper watching the lynx through his scope. He was covering
his team mate. He should have thought of that.

“
She's about
run out of high road,” Letanga breathed. “No, no don't do
it girl.” He grimaced as she tugged on a vine and then swung
out. When the vine reached it's apex she dropped onto the roof of the
shuttle.

“
Sure. Smart.
But how do you get back? Did you stop to think of that?” the
bear growled shaking his head.

“
She'll think
of something. Or one of us can go,” Letanga said. He watched as
she peeked in the windows and then looked up and shook her head. She
went to the open hatch and flipped down from above and in. She
crouched in the doorway, pulling her pistol, and then moving inside.

“
I've got a
funny feeling no one is home,” Jethro said watching things.

“
Yeah, I'd say
you're right. Which makes me wonder. Are they dead or...”

“
Someone
survived. The trap,” Jethro pointed out.

“
Ah yes,”
the bear nodded. “Yes. Interesting that.” He watched the
shuttle intently.

“
What the
hell’s going on?” Sergei said from the base of the tree.
The bear grimaced but didn't look down.