[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

now than a few seconds ago. He sat up but the sudden change in position made his
head swim and his stomach cramp.
 Lie back, man. You ve got enough sedatives pumping through your system right
now to knock out a rhino.
 And yet I m still awake. Just barely. But he would take that right now since it
meant he was also alive.
 He s about as smart as a rhino as well.
He needed to keep talking if he had any chance of staying conscious.  Rhinos were
smart. He wasn t sure where he d heard it but he was fairly certain he had.
 Sure they were. Strong hands lifted him up and then gripped him around the
waist to support him as he stood. His stomach rebelled against the movement, causing
him to dry heave in response.  I m sure it was their intelligence that caused them to go
extinct.
 We ve got everybody. Let s get the fuck out of here before they start waking up.
Julian looked up to see the remaining three soldiers each had a hostile restrained
and thrown over his shoulder.  What are they? His voice was thick and the words
slow.
Haddisher steadied Julian as he wobbled before answering.  Looks like more of the
reptile men. Only these seem more advanced than the first one we encountered.
That they were dressed in primitive clothing and could set traps with weapons
went a long way to proving Haddisher s assessment.
 We ll know more once we get them back to camp though, one of the other men
said. Impatience was clear in his tone and the tense lines of his body.
Haddisher nodded and the ripple of movement made Julian heave again.  Yeah.
You guys had better go on ahead of us. I m going to set an easy pace for the rhino here.
Make sure that he doesn t puke on me.
Julian would ve laughed if it didn t take all of his concentration to keep his knees
from buckling.  Sorry, man.
 Nothing for you to apologize for. It was my dart that hit you. With Haddisher s
arm wrapped around his waist and his hand gripping Julian tightly, they started the
walk back to camp.
Each step was tortuously slow and the night refused to stop spinning around him.
He finally took off his night-vision visor because the black void caused less strain on his
eyes and helped him relax. Haddisher was leading the way anyway. As long as he
could guide them around any potential obstacles they d be all right.
When the lights of the camp came into view he nearly sighed in relief. He needed to
crawl into his tent and sleep off the rest of the tranquilizer dose. And some bandages for
his arm would probably be a good idea. The wet stickiness of his blood had seeped
through what was left of his uniform sleeve and made the material adhere to his skin. It
didn t hurt as bad as he thought it should but wasn t exactly a comfortable feeling. But
even though it was only mildly painful it still needed to be looked at.
The camp was buzzing with action as they entered. So much so that it took a
moment for anyone to notice their return. Not that he could blame them. With three
hostages to secure, everybody was busy. After Haddisher guided him over to a fallen
branch, Julian gratefully sat down on it and took a deep breath.  Thanks. There s no
way I could ve done that hike on my own.
Haddisher nodded.  You re on our team. You don t get to do things on your own
anymore. Might as well get used to it. I ve gotta go report in but I ll send Homer this
way.
Julian nodded absently before leaning back on a tree trunk and closing his eyes.
Now that they were safely back at camp and the adrenaline was starting to disappear
from his system it was getting harder for him to ignore the pull of the tranquilizer. He
just felt so wonderfully relaxed and fuzzy right now.
But a sharp jab woke him from the light sleep he d apparently slipped into some
time later.  Good morning to you too. His voice was still rough but his words were no
longer slow. That had to be an improvement.
 Still night. Just gave you something to counteract the sedative.
Julian opened one eye just a crack so he could see Homer.  Guess it d be asking too
much to just let me sleep it off.
 Well, it certainly is now. Homer grabbed another syringe from his bag.  But in
my defense, I didn t think you d want to wake up with a stiff neck and back from
sleeping propped up against a tree.
The world around him was already starting to come into a sharper focus. Whatever [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]