Jeff Rovin - Fatalis

He glanced at Douglass. His friend was keeping his head entirely above water, which was an awkward way to swim, with his eyes fixed on the shore. His strokes were stiff and the muscles of his shoulders were tight; he looked like he wanted to erupt But he was keeping it in check.

Another wave caught them, hoisting them up and ahead. Vlaskovitz rode it on his belly. The moonlit beach was reassuringly close, just twenty or so feet away. He wasn't even sure the water was deep enough here for a shark large enough to have done what this one did to the boat.

They were going to make it.

Vlaskovitz let his legs drop. They touched sand before they were fully extended. He stood. The water was up to his waist.

"Yes!"

He shuffled forward, the water sloshing against his backside, the cold grains of sand sliding from under his toes with the backwash. Douglass was beside him and then in front of him and then running way in front of him. The lanky man reached the deserted beach and simply dropped, facedown. He was lifted by an incoming breaker that plopped him down a few feet ahead. He crawled forward and turned his face to the heavens.

"I made it!" he cried. "You gray killing bastard, I made it!"

Vlaskovitz staggered to shore seconds later. He was breathing hard but remained standing. Shivering with relief, he stopped beyond the breakers and turned to look back at the sea.

"What do you see?" Douglass yelled over.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Nada." Vlaskovitz scowled across the moon-sprinkled sea. He watched the wave crests for flotsam from the Hobie as he looked north along the shore. "It's weird, man. I don't see anything ."

Douglass sat, flopped his wrists across his knees, and shook his head. "Pancho. Man, he can't be gone."

Vlaskovitz didn't want to believe it either and kept searching.

"Where the hell are we?" Douglass asked, looking around.

"Loon Point," Vlaskovitz said.

"Right, right," Douglass said. "I see that now." He got to his feet. "Hey, I'm going to find a phone and call for help."

"Solid. There should be one-"

Vlaskovitz stopped suddenly. He squinted to the right as something moved offshore. It was about thirty feet out and to the north.

"Hold on," Vlaskovitz said.

"What's up?" Douglass said.

"I see something!" he said. "Check it out!"

"Where, man?"

Vlaskovitz pointed and Douglass looked.

The twisted body of the Hobie Cat was coming ashore- in pieces. Both pontoons spearing through the water, the trampoline being dragged behind one. The mast and sail rolled in separately, the sail apparently perforated in spots.

But that wasn't all. There was something in the water, just beyond the wreckage. Something alive.

"Hey, I see it too!" Douglass said. "It's moving." He started running toward it. " Pancho ! Yo, Panch!"

Vlaskovitz ran toward it as well. It was moving, a shape outlined by moonglow. As it came nearer the young man thought it might be Pancho crawling, since the shape was longer than it was tall. Then he realized that it wasn't Pancho d'Escoto at all. It had fur, enormous paws, and a short, slender tail.

"What the hell-?" he muttered.

From where he was standing it looked like a large dog with its head hung low. But it didn't walk like a dog. Its movements were slow and low and steady, oblivious to the waves and shifting sands.

Tim had reached the surf, nearly in front of the thing. He stopped. The thing turned its head toward him, which was also toward Vlaskovitz. Ten feet of water separated the animal and Douglass.

The pieces of the shattered Hobie Cat came to rest on the beach. After its spiraling, disjointed arrival, the scene seemed suddenly serene. But only for a moment.

What happened next came so quickly that it didn't register on Vlaskovitz until it was over. The dog-or whatever it was-continued to look toward them and also continued walking slowly. It was a soft-angled creature with a bright white outline and a perfectly balanced gait.

Then, suddenly, something flew at Douglass from the crest of the next falling wave. It was almost as though the plume itself had taken form and broke off, like a cell dividing. The shape shot forward so fast that it was on him before he had even turned to look at it. Douglass was driven back hard. He landed on the sand about four feet from where he'd been standing, his arms flying up as the thing's massive front paws struck his shoulders. As the young man's arms fell back down, the creature's head went up. Its jaw opened ninety degrees, silhouetting a pair of long, hooked fangs against the brilliant moon. Then the animal's head dropped hard and swift between its forelegs. There was a pop, and while Douglass shuddered on the beach, the beast raised its head and rushed back toward the sea.

Douglass's body went with the beast's head, stuck to it. The young man hung limp and uncomplaining.

The attack on Douglass took only a second or two. By the time Vlaskovitz looked back at the other creature, the one that had been walking ashore slowly, there was nothing he could do but that.

Look at it.

The animal had turned while Vlaskovitz had watched Douglass die. It was now racing at him so fast that he only had a moment to observe it in the bright moonlight. He could see now that the thing wasn't a dog. It was a cat-a monstrously large one. Just how large Vlaskovitz couldn't be sure, since it was moving and there wasn't enough light to tell for certain. But two things definitely stood out. One was its large, deepset eyes. They were dark and reflective on the surface with a gleaming white-amber core. The other was its teeth. Up close, in the brief snapshot view he got of them, Vlaskovitz saw that the sleek, ivory fangs were larger than butcher knives and as glistening-sharp.

A wave broke, or was it a roar? There was warm sea wind on his cheeks, or was it angry breath? He couldn't be sure, it was happening too fast-

An instant later Vlaskovitz flew back.

He felt the sand on his palms.

He saw the stars.

He saw three moons in the sky. And then two of the moons moved.

The great head went up and came down. Vlaskovitz experienced two hard, sharp punches just below each shoulder. He felt the air leave him, though not through his wide and silent mouth. His hot breath puffed up at him from where he'd been struck in the chest.

He felt something wet under both arms. He closed his eyes and felt himself being jerked up.

And then he felt nothing.

Hannah and Grand looked at the side-by-side DNA maps on the computer monitor. "This has got to be a joke," Hannah said. "Maybe not your guys pulling it, but someone."

"No," Grand said. "The computer did the analysis. It's working fine."

"But it can't be right," she said. "How long have saber-toothed tigers been extinct?"

"Eight thousand years," Grand said. "This particular species has been extinct for nearly eleven thousand years."

"There can't be an animal that old eating people in Santa Barbara."

"I agree."

"But there has to be an answer to the missing people and strange fur," Hannah said.

Grand had to agree with that. And yet , he thought.

The sun had set and it was getting cold. Grand stood, closed the window, and looked out at the sea.

What if the answer was Haphap ? Joseph Tumamait didn't just believe the demon was near. He said that he knew it, absolutely. The Chumash elder had become more spiritual over the past few years but he hadn't lost his mind or his empirical judgment.

"Maybe this isn't a joke but an accident," Hannah said. "Someone in the lab could have run a test on a saber-tooth fur sample and sent you the results by mistake."