The Dominant Species E-Book

A.j. Mitar

• Herausgeber: Tektime
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 37

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

In a future without Man... someone else will strive for dominance of Earth...

In a future without Man... someone else will strive for dominance of Earth. A war fought by all means, with the most sophisticated mechanical devices and weapons. The mystery of the genesis of new a species will rekindle interest in the ancient people of the Earthlings. What will be the disturbing discoveries? Will the resolution of the mystery decide the fate of the conflict?

Leseprobe

A.J. Mitar

The Dominant Species

© 2023 - A.J. Mitar

Translated by Maria Burnett

Contenuti

First Page Header

The dominant species

Guide

Contents

Start of Content

I could hear the agonizing screams of the Sindabe militia leader as mighty claws dismembered his flesh.

The prince of the underworld himself had wrapped himself around the militia leader.

A...a te-earth...Fear blocked my thoughts.

I met angry eyes for a moment, shining with harsh glares. They looked vaguely familiar.

The wind swept across the cloaked earth, and the air had armed itself with icy blades that crept beneath my uniform.

I drew my weapon to point it at that cyanotic being by instinct. My hands trembled, perhaps from the weight of the energy rifle or the great cold, but there was no more time; the screams and poor Sindabe's life had ceased.

Quickly, the alien hurled himself at the next prey, the militant Razhio, who had intervened in defense of his superior. It happened in the same manner. The sturdy claws penetrated the limbs effortlessly, and gushing blood smeared that demon. The clawed hand clutched Razhio's heart as it throbbed and was ripped from his abdomen. Beastly violence continued to rage against the body until darkness fell.

My weapon reacted to the pressure on the trigger; the fire muzzle radiated wildly, but no shot went off. The alien had projected itself into the dark vegetation.

I risked hitting my militiamen. I gave up.

A lingering screech vibrated through the air, reflecting like a chill on my skin, a devilish shriek of defiance that echoed and reverberated through the valley. That creature was out there somewhere.

"Disperse into the bush!" I shouted.

I knew the effects of being attacked by those beings, the violent death, the torn bodies. We could not compete in hand-to-hand combat because of the difference in VFV (speed of life flow). They could move as fast as meteors hurled toward the Sun and advance a hundred steps in a heart cycle.

Gusts of air laden with their stench and echoes of belligerent screams testified to their presence—otherwise, a thousand distant hisses, piercing and bleak sounds.

A whole bloodthirsty horde is hunting us, I thought, as I struggled to locate the sources of those sounds. But the bio-scanner revealed there were only three.

The spirit of my illustrious ancestor, the Magnificent Shkelq, rose from beyond the grave because I took refuge in an environmental monitoring turret twenty paces away; I hoped the solid woody structure would be impenetrable to their claws.

In the shelter of a secure location, I could take advantage of the rifle's targeting technology, I justified myself.

I lurched in anticipation of firing, but numb arms eluded my control. The fear of being discovered dominated me; I dared not breathe. The darkness of the hiding place was my only comfort.

The moon traveled its predetermined path illuminating the peripheral paths of Leevanie; visibility was good, I deluded myself that I could hit my target.

Damn, how to hit something faster than my reflexes? Helpless, I had to be content to follow the red trails on the arm visor, observable for as long as the enemy remained on the surface.

Little experience taught us that the only way to flush them out was to use explosive weapons so disruptive that great speed was useless.

Damn...the bio-electrochemical network, I thought back to all the efforts to balance the cycle of bacteria and bio-electrochemical agents in the underground and undergrowth, Leevanie could be without power for months.

The scattered houses camouflaged themselves among the vegetation. Revealing their presence was only the discreet luminescence leaking through the portholes.

If we kept the fire levels low...the risk of hitting homes was negligible, and I estimated that at least those were far enough away to act safely.

Doubt gripped me.

For a few moments, I heard only the murmurs of the bush; the ambush seemed to be over, but the first aider Kuzho shouted:

"Watch out...take cover; they're coming back!"

My visor also displayed three rapidly approaching tracks.

Suddenly, noises and shouts resumed raging all around, carried by the wind. The battle became invigorating.

The technology of my eyepiece system aided me in widening my field of vision for observation over long distances or to distinguish a target at night.

I must be alert to catch the slightest hint of movement. My eyes contracted; my upper limbs clenched the rifle. I needed time to lock onto a moving target with the weapon's aiming system.