Jack and his patrol started off to the north, the same direction the creature had come from. The rain forest made for easy travel, sparse tree trunks dotting the landscape under the high, interlocking canopy of foliage. It was quiet, peaceful, and it gave Jack the creeps.
"You looking for anything in particular, Major?" asked Jabari.
"Yeah," Jack said. "Whatever made that brand. If there's another sentient species on this planet, I want to make sure they're friendly."
"We didn't see any signs of settlement from orbit," Shimura said, "or on the way down. What makes you think they're still here, sir?"
"I don't, necessarily. It's possible they just left that creature behind by accident. But I have to be sure."
They continued on for a few hours, moving at a slow enough speed not to overlook anything, and keeping chatter to a minimum. This was no nature hike and they all knew it. If they didn't find anything within fifty klicks, Jack had decided to turn around, and they were fast approaching that boundary.
"Sir?" Shimura said.
"Yes, Corporal?"
"I'm reading several heat sources two klicks north by northeast, in a small valley. A few of them look"
"Look what?"
"Artificial."
Jack didn't see anything on his own sensors, but he probably wouldn't. Since their original scout got eaten, Shimura had drawn scout duty. His suit was lighter than the others but it had greater range and a better sensor array. The heat sources he saw were beyond the preset range for this patrol, but they were exactly what Jack was looking for. "We check it out. Carefully. This may be a first contact situation. We go in stealth, and try not to startle them."
"Aye, sir," the two Marines answered in unison. They all turned and began walking the direction Shimura advised, but they began walking slowly, taking great care not to make any excess noise.
Not long after they came upon the source of the heat readings. It was another base camp, but nothing like Jack or his Marines had ever seen. The artificial heat sources were machines, hulking bipedal walkers with reversearticulated legs. The lines of the walkers were sleek and curved, and they appeared to be made a dull pewter metal. There were five of the walkers, two small ones and three that were much larger, the big ones dotted with menacing arms and what Jack presumed were weapons pods. Jack thought they were not unlike the legged, allterrain tanks the Terran military sometimes used on rough worlds like Mars or Europa.
As interesting as the walkers were, they were nothing compared to the natural heat sources in the valley.
The creatures were also bipedal, and demonstrated a mix of avian and reptilian characteristics. They each had two arms and legs, horizontal spines, long tails and long necks that ended with heads featuring huge braincases and large eyes. Their mouths were long and filled with sharp, curved teeth, except at the end, where the mouth terminated with a bony protobeak. They had three digits on each limb, each ending with a sharp and hooked claw. Their skin was smooth on the back and sides, with a thin layer of down along the underside. Wattles hung from their necks, reminding Jack of Terran turkeys.
The larger type was red in color with yellow stripes and a thick crest of white feathers running from the top of the head down to the shoulders. They also wore gleaming body armor and carried rifles of some kind in addition to vicious bladed weapons.
The smaller type, and the type apparently in charge based on their actions, was dull green with red stripes and no crest. They wore no armor or clothing, but each had some kind of necklace bearing a metallic symbol, which Jack thought had to be some kind of rank insignia. Some of these green aliens were piloting the walkers while the others busied themselves with complex electronic equipment or ordered the red aliens around. Their vocalizations consisted of screeches and twitters, similar to Terran tropical birds, only much deeper in tone.
Jack and his men crouched down, doing their best to remain undetected.
"What do we do now, sir?" Shimura asked.
Damn good question, Jack thought. "We make note of this location and return to camp. The next step is Chenzokov's call, not mine."
Slowly, carefully, Jack and his Marines retreated the way they came.
)
