The Man Hunter
By J. R. Nova
Copyright 2011 J. R. Nova
First Smashwords Edition, February 2012
Cover art by Sklmsta, Elephant Skeleton (2008), from the Wikipedia Archives.
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
The Cessna landed on a man-made runway, just smooth enough to take the plane.
Surrounding the runway was a field of deceivingly luscious grass. There was little water in this region of Africa, and though monsoon rains had come just a week before, the soil had already dried and cracked. Most of the moisture was trapped in the grass, and soon the grass would die and the heat would reign. This was the best time to catch the passing wildlife in one of the most exclusive regions of Earth.
At the end of the runway was a jeep, a man standing beside it.
The pilot turned the engine off and both he and the passenger got out. The pilot took his canteen and sat under the wing’s shade. The passenger went to the end of the runway to meet the man waiting for him.
“I’m Burk Guilders,” the passenger said. They shook hands.
“Mr. Guilders, I wasn’t expecting someone so—”
“Tall. Yes. It was a tight fit in that little plane but I made it.”
Burk looked his partner over. Out here he might as well be his doctor and his priest as well as his guide. “Pike Kennedy, is it? I’m surprised you drove here. Where did you come from?”
“A village about forty miles southeast. I’ve got plenty of gas and the jeep is well maintained.” He pointed to three full cans in the back of the jeep. They were gray and semi-transparent. Burk saw two were full and the third was nearly empty.
“It was no easy task to hire you.” Burk drew a pack of narrow cigars from his front pocket and offered one to Pike. The poacher refused.
“Times are changing. It’s as dangerous for the hunter as it for the hunted. Men are dying out here, and no one knows why. It makes us scarce, and drives up prices.”
“I don’t intend to die today,” Burk said. “I do intend to kill something.”
“Then you’re in luck,” Pike said, taking on a cheerful tone. “Today the game isn’t too far. Herds move through here with the rains. We don’t have far to go. If we don’t find elephants we’ll at least find lions chasing the wildebeest. There’s a herd, you can see their dust trail in the distance there.” He pointed a fat finger across the grassland, then waived Burk to the jeep. “Will your pilot be fine? I don’t recognize him. I hope he’s familiar with the terrain.”
Burk answered quickly, “He’s a good friend of mine, a man I trust a great deal, but he doesn’t hunt. He won’t come out into the sun with us.”
Pike seemed to nod but in the bright light it was hard to see the subtle movement. They drove quickly away and soon the airport was out of sight.
“It’s going to be a quick ride out, right?” Burk asked.
“Of course, Mr. Guilders.”
“A man of my prestige, well, if I were caught out here—arrested, let’s say—it wouldn’t look good.”
“A politician, Mr. Guilders?”
“No, nothing so lofty. A businessman. But bad press would hurt business.” He had to raise his voice to be heard and he suddenly felt self-conscious. Did he sound genuine?
There was no road, and Pike’s navigation seemed intuitive. He narrowly missed gashes in the Earth that could easily catch a wheel and flip the jeep, or throw them from the vehicle. They wore no seat belts, holding to the role cage with one hand.
Pike shifted gears and floored the accelerator. They drove for fifteen minutes, then Pike slowed to a stop and stood on his seat, measuring the landscape with his binoculars. “There they are,” he said, handing the binoculars to Burk.
Burk took lenses and, standing up, gazed across the hot grass. He saw two herds, one very large herd of wildebeest, and one small herd of elephants. The elephants’ gray skins shined in the sun, where their bodies were not covered in thick layers of dried mud.
“Is there a water hole near here?” Burk asked. “I don’t see any lions.”
“The herd animals will get water from the grass and that will sustain them until they reach the river. It’s one hundred miles from here. The lions follow them, waiting for their opportunity. They are incredibly patient beasts.”
Pike sat down and took the binoculars from Burk. He put the jeep in drive and drove carefully over jutting rocks and small, rain-washed gullies.