Our sixth mesh install is the last location in this direction that Argus has given us for the morning. “Right, we’re leaving the riverbank for another day, let’s turn more inland and then we’ll quarter back towards the ship,” I tell Andy, as we start off again.

We are leaving a small area of denser tree-cover and moving out into what appears to be a bigger open section than any we have seen so far this morning. There are still scattered trees, but they are well spaced across the open savannah. The vegetation makes driving pretty difficult, little holes and ruts only appear at the last moment and Andy has to work to avoid the worst of them. I’m pretty sure the buggy can handle them, but we don’t want to end the day covered in bruises.

“Movement up ahead,” Andy tells me while I’m looking down and studying my notes.

My head snaps up and scans the horizon in front of us. Sure enough, there is what appears to be a herd of herbivores about 200m in front of us across the plain.

“Close in slowly and we’ll see what they do. I’d love to dart one, but we’ll not try it if they run first.” Andy closes in until we are within about thirty metres of the group. There are maybe thirty or so of them and the herd is a mixture of males, females and what appear to be last year’s calves. I can’t tell if the females are pregnant, but it’s a fair assumption.

“What’s the plan, Peter?”

“Well, ideally, I’d like to dart one of the bulls. It sounds counter-intuitive, but the others are less likely to be protective of a dominant male. They are at the upper limit of the dart, though.”

They are big, particularly the big males. They aren’t as solidly built as an earthly buffalo, but they might mass close to one. They are a vaguely deer or antelope shape, taller than cattle or buffalo with longer and differently proportioned legs. The biggest difference is the fact that they don’t have hooves, being firmly stood on almost symmetrical four-toed feet.

While I’ve been studying them and using the main camera to good effect, Andy has managed to creep us another ten metres closer. The younger males – possibly acting as sentries – are starting to take an interest in us now and are stepping about warily. “It’s now or never,” I tell Andy as I reach for the rifle and raise it to my shoulder. “When I fire, drive forward a few metres and that should start them running.”

My black-ringed dart hits true, high in the front quarter of a large bull and I’m thrown back in my seat as Andy blips the throttle and we lurch forward. It has the desired effect. The already startled creature was beginning to move anyway and our sudden speed forces the entire herd to turn from us and move away with surprising speed.

Within seconds, however, the darted bull begins to slow down and falls away from the back of the herd. Andy keeps us moving along behind them and the rest are happy to keep on moving. The big bull staggers to a stop, looks around in bewilderment and then slowly drops down onto folded legs and falls onto his side. Andy pulls us to a stop within a few metres and watches the herd as they slow to a stop just a couple of hundred metres away from us.

“Okay, Andy. Keep the main camera on me and get out of your seat to get a better view all around. I don’t want any surprises when I get out here.”

“No problem. Can I help in any other way?”

“I don’t think so. Samples will only take a minute or two. Just keep your eyes peeled for any movement. Oh, not just from the herd!”

I leave the gun behind and grab the sample kit. It really does only take me a minute to jab our prize with a couple of needles, pull a few hairs, take a temperature and sample some saliva with a small swab. The kit also contains a measuring tape and I manage to get a couple of key measurements that might be useful. The animal is warm to the touch, but not perhaps as warm as a similar mammal on Earth would be and feels incredibly firmly built.

“Fuck!” Andy calls as I am finishing up. “We have company. Get back here, now!”

I grab the samples and the kit and take a few quick strides back to the buggy, tossing the kit into the back and grabbing the gun again.

“Ten o’clock and about a hundred metres,” Andy tells me with a look of apprehension.

I link to the camera feed and take a look at what has him so spooked. Fuck was the right expletive. I hate being right. There had to be predators with all this potential prey. Generally, big prey calls for equally big predators and this seems to be no exception.

What is approaching us – or more precisely approaching our unconscious specimen – is more than a little cat-like. It is long and sleek, with a long tail and a big head that sits on massively muscular shoulders. The head isn’t very cat-like, with a longer muzzle and generally narrower profile. The huge, front-facing eyes are a deep blue and looking right at us and the recumbent herbivore.

Then, taking us completely out of the realms of earthly comparisons, is the size. This specimen might mass as much as 500kg and is clearly probably twice as big as any lion or tiger on Earth. It’s maybe 1.4m at the shoulder and 3m in body length alone.

“Well, we won’t scare it off, I don’t think. Only one option,” I tell Andy. “Move towards it a bit to make a gap while this one comes round and gets up.”

As Andy does what I ask, I select a different, slightly lower-dosed dart and prepare for another shot. The predator stops as we approach, sniffing the air in confusion at our odd silhouette. When it momentarily turns its great head away from us, I take a shot. The dart hits it high, but squarely in the meat of the shoulder and the great beast, startled by the impact, bursts into a charging, flat out run towards us. The acceleration it generates is nothing short of incredible in this gravity, moving from almost zero to probably 30kph in maybe six huge bounding strides. Andy is quick to slam us into reverse and backs away as best he can, but luckily the drugs work quickly on the predator’s faster metabolism and it drops before it can close the gap.

“We’d better tell everyone else to be careful,” I suggest as we both catch our breath.

“Yeah, sounds like good advice,” Andy murmurs. He’s sitting very upright and holding the wheel in a very tight grip.

“Andy, relax. We’ve dealt with it now. Well, unless they are pack hunters!”

“Fuck. Don’t even suggest such a possibility.”

“Don’t worry. It looks too big in comparison to the size of the prey for that to be likely. Anyway, if there were more of them about, the herbivores would have made a run for it by now.”

“Are you going to get samples?”

“Yes, but I’ll take the loaded gun with me this time. Probably a good idea to get someone to give you a lesson with it when we get back to the ship.

I reload and get out once more, grabbing the sample kit again. Up close, the creature is even more impressive. I take my standard samples and then hold my hand alongside the jaws to show that the main canines are as big and long as my fingers.

By the time I make it back into my seat, the herbivore bull is getting groggily to his feet and shaking his head from side to side in a daze. He can clearly smell the predator’s scent in the air and after one more shake of the head begins to canter off towards the waiting herd.

“We should put some distance between us,” I suggest. “When this one comes round, it might be pissed.”

“Yeah,” Andy agrees. “I don’t think I want to be around when she wakes up, either. The buggy really won’t protect us from that thing. How fast do you think they can run?”

“Well, probably not as fast as the buggy, but I would not want to be on the ground on foot with one about. That charge must have been considerably faster than I could run, in any gravity, never mind down here. We will have to keep an eye out to see if we can get one on video during a hunt.”

“Okay, let’s continue the pattern,” Andy suggests as he pulls away from the still sleeping beast. He has a kind of tiredness to his voice that’s a little unsettling.

“Andy, are you okay? That shook you up a bit, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. A little bit of shock, I think. Never been charged by a massive predator before!”

“Well, me neither. You did really well, all things considered. I wouldn’t have got us moving so quickly. Now we know what’s out here, we can make sure we are better prepared in the future.”

“Really, I’ll be fine. Let’s head back down this next leg of mesh points and then maybe break for lunch and shooting lessons?”

“Yeah, it’s been quite a morning so far.”

 

Thankfully, the rest of the morning passes without any more drama. We manage to get another eight mesh transceivers installed and working and I also manage to dart and sample another herbivore, this time something a lot smaller and easier to deal with.

By the time we actually get back to the ship, I’ve a few things on my mind that need to be implemented as soon as practical.

When I notice that Nicki hasn’t left for a break yet, I call her over to us. “Nicki, do you have a minute before lunch?”

“Sure, boss. What’s on your mind.”

“Well, here are some samples for you. These are both herbivores.”

“And that third one?”

“That was this little lady,” I tell her as I fire some video to her Nexima implant. Her eyes growing wide enough to see the whites all round tell me that she’s getting the full picture.

“Shit, that’s big!” She suggests after the clip finishes. “And it just charged you as soon as you fired?”

“Yep. It is used to getting its own way, clearly. We need to make some plans. Have lunch and then meet me in my office?”

“Yes, Boss.”

Andy and I head into the ship and I only stop long enough to also tell Mary that we need to have a meeting after lunch. Apparently, Toby is too far away to return for lunch, but I’ll message him after we meet.

Once we are both sitting at a canteen table and getting some food, Andy asks if he needs to be at the meeting or not.

“No, Andy, I don’t think so. I may need you to pitch in with some manual labour this afternoon, though. I don’t think we are going out on patrol until we get everything else sorted out. Actually, you know Simon, don’t you?”

“Nicki’s intern?”

“Yeah. He should be with the ship all day. Pop through after lunch and ask him to give you the quick introduction to the dart gun. I’ll join you after the meeting and we’ll work around the base for the rest of the day.”

He still looks a little apprehensive, but eventually he nods and starts to tidy his tray and make a move. I reach across and place my hand on top of his, holding him back for a moment. “Chill, Andy. You did really well this morning. It won’t always be this exciting. Well, let’s hope not at any rate.”

“I know. I’m just a little shaken by it all. I really will be fine. Maybe I’ll feel better when I’ve shot up a few targets. I guess I just need a little time to digest the events of the morning. I’ll see you a bit later.”

I reluctantly let his hand free and concentrate on the rest of my lunch before heading back to my office. Mary is already waiting for me and Nicki is right behind me.

“Argus, Axios? Can we have your presence too please?” I ask as I take my seat behind my desk. Two virtual avatars quickly appear against the back wall of the office.

“Okay,” I begin. “I assume you’ve all seen the predator video that Andy and I recorded this morning?”

<Yes, an interesting development, but not entirely unexpected,> Argus offers.

<A nasty-looking big thing,> Axios adds. <Glad I’m not a puny human.>

“Indeed. It’s the rest of us puny humans that I’m concerned about now,” I tell them all. “Argus, do we have enough power to energise a barrier?”

<Sure. An electric fence doesn’t really use much power and we have spare feed outlets. What do you have in mind?>

“We have those 2.5m upright units on inventory. The ones that have cameras on the top. I want to build a fence right around the landing site.”

<It will take some time to put it up,> Axios adds. <But I don’t honestly think that you really have any choice.>

“No,” Mary adds. “The mesh units we are putting up now don’t have good enough surveillance equipment to give a good enough warning. We need the extra cameras and thermal sensors.”

“Axios, how many do we have in storage here?”

<About 200. It should be more than enough. They only need to be at 10m spacings. I think we have a couple of gate assemblies as well.>

“Well, I don’t think we need that many. I was thinking of a roughly square compound about 100m on a side. Two gates do make a lot of sense though. Can we get some help on the Earth side to get the equipment to the gateway?”

<Yes. I can get some of the other team staff to help out for the rest of today and tomorrow if needed.>

“Well, that’s the priority plan then. We all work on putting up the fence. Until it is finished, nobody goes anywhere outside the ship on their own. Argus, can we also quickly augment your surveillance capabilities?”

<Possibly. It might be better to just run the cables to the first four fence posts and worry about the signal wires before the high-power ones as we work out from them?>

“Okay. So, we work out from the corners first?”

<Yes, or modify your plans slightly and go for a compound that’s a bit more octagonal. Put eight corners in place and then fill the sides out.>

“Agreed. Make sure we all have a map available on our implants and it should go fairly quickly. If I remember right, the posts dig their own holes, don’t they?”

“Yes,” Nicki tells me. “They vibrate and twist into the ground and automatically level themselves.”

“Great. Andy and I will work the post planting along with half the crew. Nicki will do the wire running with the other half and we’ll assign anybody who knows how to shoot to carry a gun and be ready to dart anything that we don’t like the look of. If we don’t finish by dusk then nobody stays on the ground tonight.”

<Peter,> Axios adds as we are wrapping up. <Jack wants to know if you need any other equipment. Weapons or such?>

“I’ll stop by his office now and have a quick word if he’s free?”

<Yes, he is. He’ll be expecting you.>