Dave Freedman - Natural Selection

“There’s an even bigger problem anyway.” Craig turned to Jason. “Even if you could knock it out, what would you do with it when it woke up? You have any thoughts on that?”

Jason exhaled. He’d agonized over this scenario, too. Even if they could catch the creature, what would they do with it then? Put it in a cage? What cage? A cage didn’t exist that could contain an animal like that. The notion of constructing one was laughable. It could take months, even years, and would have to be the size of a small city. Where would they keep the animal in the interim? Could they really “keep” an animal like that anywhere?

“It’s got to die.” Darryl eyed Jason with chilling coldness. “You know that, don’t you?”

Jason let out a deep breath. “Yeah, I guess I do.” So how are we going to study it, then? he thought.

Darryl read his mind. “If you’re wondering how we’re going to study it, there’s only one way. To hunt it. Because while we’re hunting it, I guarantee it’s gonna be hunting us, too.”

Jason eyed Lisa, Darryl nodded. “Like I said, you’re in charge.”

Darryl scanned the room. “Everybody else on board?”

They all nodded. Then Craig stood. “So what do we want to call this thing anyway?”

Darryl gave him a look. “What do you mean?”

“We discovered this species, Hoss. Now we get to name it. I tried coming up with a few myself but couldn’t get anything good. Anyone have any ideas?”

There were shrugs. No one had even considered it.

Craig turned suspiciously to Jason. “Come on, you must have thought of something.”

Jason smiled. “It’s in the laptop if you want to take a look.” The machine was sequestered under lock and key in Craig’s room.

Craig exited, returned with the computer, then put it on the table. Jason pulled up the right document, then pushed the laptop away so the others could see. “What do you think?…”

Lisa was closest, so she read aloud the title page of Jason’s report to the Species Council. “’Dissertation and Analysis, Previously Unknown New Species, Likely New Order, Predatory Cousin of Common Mantis birostris … Tentatively Named… ‘” She smiled. “Ooh, I like that, Jason. I like that a lot.”

Darryl leaned over, trying to see the Latin. “What is it?”

“ Demonray,” Jason said. “ The Clarita Demonray.”

“Ooh, that is good.”

Craig smiled devilishly. “Perfect.”

“Yeah, great name.” Jason went to the window. “Now we just have to go out there and kill it.” Killing had never been Jason’s way, of course, but if the rule of the universe was that the fit survived, then so be it. The very first Demonray to reach the land had killed a human being, and now it, too, had to die. Spotting stars through the treetops, Jason realized the fog had disappeared. As his soul darkened a shade, he wondered when it would return. Then he noticed Craig opening a park map suddenly, as if he’d just been struck by a brilliant idea. “What are you doing, Craig?”

Summers barely glanced at him. “I just figured out how we’re going to find this thing.”

IT WAS a cold night, forty-five degrees, with a glowing half-moon lighting up the forest. A large black bear lumbering on all fours didn’t notice the white orb, but the moon was watching it. The moon was watching everything. Nothing could escape its gaze. Floating silently in the blackened skies, neither judging nor sympathizing, neither protecting nor threatening, it simply watched—coldly and without emotion.

THE PREDATOR glided just above the treetops. Already locked onto the bear’s signal, it found a hole in the canopy, then dove through it. It leveled off just above the dark soil then, carried by momentum, hurtled forward, the bear’s heartbeat and its scent rapidly closing.

THE BEAR halted. It sensed something. It turned left, right, and behind, but all it saw were redwoods, ferns, and broken strands of moonlight. But still, it knew something was near. It reared back on its hind legs, lifting its entire big-bellied body into the air. Nearly ten feet high, it scanned anew, but even from here, saw nothing.

Still, the forest was whispering to the animal. Something was coming.

THE RUSTLING of pine needles, a trickling stream, the creaking trees. The predator ignored every sound except one: the bear’s beating heart.

Rushing past redwoods and speckled shafts of moonlight, it saw the fur-covered mammal from several hundred feet. The bear was just standing there.

THE BEAR spotted it zooming closer and immediately roared, producing a sound that normally scared away anything and everything.

The creature flew straight for it. And began making its own sound. A series of low deep rumbles.

Barely hearing them, the bear roared again, louder, convinced its intimidation was working.

The creature’s rumbles erupted into a shattering roar so loud that it actually hurt the bear’s eardrums.

Confused, the bear instinctively swung its arms. Then, as if struck by a freight train, its nine-hundred-pound frame was suddenly flying backward. It was carried a hundred feet, then slammed violently to the dark soil. It desperately tried to escape but couldn’t move.

The winged creature was on top of it, and it was relentless, tearing away at it, large portions of the bear’s neck and upper body already gone. The bear’s horrific, desperate screams echoed everywhere. To the ferns. To the redwoods. Even into the sky. Cold and knowing, the moon just watched.

ABOVE THE treetops, the Demonray flew toward the ocean. Visible against the moon’s whiteness, the top half of the bear carcass dangled from its mouth.

It flew beyond the trees, passed the churning shoreline, and continued out to sea. It found the spot it was looking for, then released the carcass. It watched as the chunk of ragged meat splashed in and submerged. Then it banked and flew back to the land.

“ Four DATA points?” Jason walked toward Craig. “How do you figure four?”

Craig pointed to the map spread out on the living-room table. “One, where the jogger disappeared. Two, where the body was found. Three, where we got the radar readings. And four, where we actually saw it.” He drew four big X s. “All four are in the same vicinity. Darryl, you talk about territoriality… well, this looks like a classic case of it to me.”

Darryl shook his head. “This equipment of yours will not help us find that thing.”

“Why not?”

“Because this animal detects things electronically, Craig. It will know that equipment’s out there and stay the hell away from it.”

“It didn’t stay away from it today.”

“That had nothing to do with us finding it.”

“Of course it did. It confirmed it was out there. It will help us even more going forward.” Craig returned to the map. “We should rejigger the equipment to cover as much of this area as we can. That Demonray will keep coming back, you watch. Then we’ll be able to figure out exactly where it is.”

Jason studied the four X s then turned at Darryl. “It’s not a bad idea.”

“Maybe theoretically, but Darryl’s right, Jason, it will be a waste of time.” Lisa eyed the two lifeless monitors on the hearth. “That thing will definitely detect the equipment.”

Craig turned angrily. “Says who? Bandar Vishakeratne? What the hell does he know?”

“The number one brain expert in the world? Oh, nothing, Craig, I’m sure.”

“Lisa, I’m not questioning the guy’s analysis of neurons, but even he doesn’t know what this Demonray will detect out there. The bottom line is that this animal hasn’t stayed away from our equipment yet, and we should use that to our advantage. Jason, we should reconfigure the layout.”