What trick? I described a Bird of Prey!
CH. 4
The boat gouged a slight skid into the smoothness of the sand at the water’s edge. Noah Smith carefully maneuvered to disembark the canoe and stepped a few paces inland. There were a few trees here, the only the lieutenant had yet seen. Twenty or so blocked the officer’s view of what lay beyond.
Noah was sweaty for the first time since his last fever. He and the old guy had shared the load of paddling the way up here. The old man had taken the time away from paddling to drag his line from the back of the boat. His catch was flapping around at the side of the craft even now.
“Ya’ know, son.” The old man was saying with quiet gratitude. “I’m gonna have to make you paddle for me more often. Never caught so much as we did today, just draggin’ the line b’hind us.”
Noah glanced back. He was nervous as to what lay ahead of him. He focussed on breathing and tried to remember all his training. The Academy seemed so buried in the past, now.
“Your welcome, sir. Any idea where this troll of yours lives, exactly?”
“Inside the Buzzard so far as anybody knows. It’s said he comes out from there, kills folk then eats the corpses raw.”
Smith shuddered and looked down mournfully at his grass-reinforced, sock-clad feet. He shook his head and looked around for a suitable weapon. The trees were spindly and tall, offering no branches. The rocks here about were too large to wield.
“Know of any weapons to be had, old man?”
The old guy pushed off from the shore with a sorrowful grin. “They say there’s plenty…inside the Buzzard.”
And the old man paddled away. If Noah was successful, it was their agreement to meet again in the morning. If not…the old man would be paddling home alone again anyway.
Noah focussed on the task ahead and tried to maintain a hopeful outlook. He could take any one being in an out and out fight. Starfleet had trained him to fight and handle himself well. He’d even had opportunity to show such since being assigned aboard Endeavour.
The young officer pushed his way through wispy limbs and foliage and made his way up a none too gentle rise in the land. More trees abounded here. They grew thickly together. A branch slapped back suddenly…
Noah shouted involuntarily at the sight of the humanoid skull tied up to a tree trunk before him. His cry echoed out into the twilight, scared up a flight of small birds. Damn! The lieutenant stared hatefully at the stupid scare token. It had done its job well enough, and now the whole countryside knew he was here.
Smith hurried along, ducking low to avoid making a trail of motion through the foliage. It was good that he did.
The first disruptor bolt sizzled past over head and blew a tree in half behind the comm officer. This quickened the boy’s pace to a mad dash and drew even more fire. A hail of energy fire was burning down trees left and right.
Noah could feel the shots drawing closer and closer to home. His bare ankles took a pelting from burning splinters propelled by an exploding charge. Noah leapt for the first cover offered him.
A final shot sizzled by overhead as Smith rolled down a small gully inset into the hillock. It was rocky and lined with old bones from various species. Perhaps the troll really did eat folk! Noah fought the unsteady slope of the depression for stable purchase and grabbed up the only weapon to be had…a smooth stone.
“Are you dead yet, targ?” Came a gruff bellow from above and out of sight. Noah could hear cautious crunching on the stone lined ground above his vantage. There would be no way to climb out of here quickly…
Noah took a firm grip on his chosen missile.
The top of a knobby, tousle-haired head came bobbling slowly into view. Its owner was craning to look down into the gully Noah had jumped into.
“Decided to cut to it and dump yourself into my trash heap, eh?” There troll laughed in the manner of his race. Even without his language intact, there was no mistaking his kind. “That’s very considerate of you…but not very sanitary!”
When enough of the forehead showed itself, Noah hurled his weapon with all his might! The smooth white stone flashed out and hit the knobby cranium with a hollow ‘thock!’
The head’s owner fell back with a crash.
“OW!!”
Noah looked frantically about and grabbed up another two stones to throw. There was scrambling and cursing from above. Pebbles rained down the slope of the dry gully.
“You hit me with a ROCK!”
Noah waited as an eerie, angry silence issued from above. At last there came a guffawing laughter. “A ROCK!”
At last the Klingon showed himself fully at the pinnacle of the depression Smith had jumped inside. His grizzly, dirty face was broken open with a jagged, brown toothed smile of wide humor. He looked down at Noah, and his disruptor was down at his side.
“And a human, too!”
The Klingon hooked his massive hands on the remnants of his belt and leaned back guffawing. His laugh echoed out into the breeze. At last he looked down, eyes moist with mirth.
“Go ahead, human! Throw your rocks!”
Noah shrugged and reared back. The Klingon did nothing as the lieutenant took aim and pelted off both his weapons. The first hit it’s target between the legs. The warrior growled out between clenched teeth and bent low. The next rock struck him betwixt his eyes.
The Troll rolled senselessly into the heap with Lieutenant Smith.
***
---thu guv!!
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