Hunting - The Mounting
Posted on Thu Jan 26th, 2023 @ 11:40am by Lieutenant Commander Bonnie "Bon-Bon" Durnell & Patin & Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Commander Dean House
Mission:
Planet of the Dinosaurs
Location: Dino-pastures
Timeline: Current - Day 3
The quartet had covered good ground in the first hour, landing them over 6 kilometers from the campsite. High on the ridge they had a commanding view of the rivers and plains. Gerty pulled out her tricorders and scanned for non-humanoid lifesigns, drawing a rough map in the dirt with a stick to get a good idea of where each species was located.
"Ok here we have a herd of what look like T Rex's, they appear to be on the move in a northeasterly direction towards the campsite. Here is a herd of something that resembles a prehistoric bison, they're about 10 more kilometers from where we are. And here are a group of smaller dinosaurs that look like nothing I've ever seen" she marked another spot on her mudmap.
“Obviously we’re not going after the T-Rex’s. The bison would be the best idea probably. Smaller is best though, because we do have to carry the bodies back.” Dean pursed his lips, “Can you get a better image of the smaller ones you’re talking about?”
Gerty used her tricorder and brought up the smaller species. It resembled something like an oversized cat, but with larger back legs and a leathery skin. “ What if we herded the bison towards the camp, that’d save hauling their collective dead asses back there?” She suggested.
“We could try,” looking at the scan again. “Yep, don’t know what those are. Anyway, we could try, but if it doesn’t work right..they’ll probably stampede.”
Patin’s eyes had not left the playing field as she spoke up. “A controlled stampede is best. Having a mount would be better.” She squinted as an idea came to mind.
"We better make sure we do it right then. I think these smaller critters are gonna be way too fast and the T Rexes are way too big" Gerty looked up and across the plain "So bison it is. Just for the record, I like my steak medium rare"
“If we can determine the leader of the beasties, I can mount it. Then we can control the herd without much difficulty. And,” She smirked and her right eye twitched. “It will be one helluva ride.”
Gerty blushed until she worked out which 'mount' Patin was indeed talking about. "Oh sorry you mean mount not mount" she stammered as she blushed redder than her uniform and couldn't hold eye contact with the Bajoran survivor. "Just tell me what you need me to do"
“Yeah, of course I mean mount, not mount. How else do you expect me to show the beastie whose boss? They don’t do well with foreplay you know. We’ve gotta get up in there nice and smooth and show them we mean business.” She turned and indicated to Red and Gerty, “You two would be best served at the rear of the pack, just in case they spook, they should at least run this direction.” She eyed Dean. “Little Dean and I will come in from the sides, if that’s okay with you?” She asked merely out of courtesy.
Gerty blushed a thousand shades of red and kept her eyes on the mud map, not used to such open and unapologetic language. “ Sure, Red and I can handle that” She looked at the man who had stormed off earlier - the knife mark still evident in his shirt. ‘Yeah sure’ her inner voice retorted ‘you and mr gung ho are dino dinner’.
Dino Pack
The group moved off together in silence, their target several kilometers ahead. As they approached from down wind, they split up. Patin on the left flank, Dean on the right, Red and Gerty in a pattern that would bring them around to the rear flank. While communications were spotty, Patin had no problem gaining attention with the little pouch at her hip. Her ‘crackers’ were small but loud explosive charges that would not hurt the beasties but would scare the living souls out of them.
But first, she needed to determine which one was the leader. In many mammalian herds the leader was often in an elevated position, possibly surrounded by his local family group. They preferred to remain elevated in order to spot dangers early. In this case, Patin spotted him early. Clearly a him, he was currently ‘mounting’ one of his many female companions. Grinning, Patin commented quietly to herself, “Yee haw big boy.” Then she tapped her badge and spoke in a hushed yet crackly audio, “Spotted the leader… moving in.”
Gerty and Red held up at the rear, unmoving for fear of startling the herd or alerting them in some way that would be detrimental to the plan. Red was itching to do something, bringing his weapon around to the front and flicking it on.
"What are you doing?" Gerty hissed, pushing the nose of the weapon down so he couldn't fire.
"I'm sick of waiting, I'm hungry and I'm gonna get myself something to eat" Red retorted as he moved forward.
"You're gonna get yourself and us killed. Stand your ass down or I'll…." Her voice trailed off. What would she do? She wasn't going to shoot him, she was half his size, so she couldn't physically restrain him.
"Or you'll what?" Red taunted, turning to face her and snarling. "You can't do squat little girl"
Gerty paused, thinking long and hard about what she should do. The problem was Red was bringing his weapon up again.
Gerty flung herself at him, the surprise of the movement knocking him on his ass. Despite his size he was fairly quick but she was smaller and more determined than he was, wrenching his weapon away from him. "Stand your ass down or I swear to whatever God this planet runs under I'll stun your ass and leave you here for Dino dinner."
Patin was only a few feet from the lead stallion when she sensed movement at the back of the pack. Something was causing the pack to stir and her best guess was that the inexperienced rookies had done something stupid. She had time but she lowered on her haunches and proceeded further, faster, and as stealthily as she could.
Red was surprised, not only had Gerty knocked him on his well padded ass, but had also neatly disarmed him and now stood pointing his own weapon at him. He had two options, well three actually but the first one didn't appeal to him so he only considered the other two. Option one was to behave his hungry self and do what he was told, option two was to get his weapon back and get his lunch, and option three was to cut loose and go out on his own. The final option was more favourable to food, and would more likely not endanger anyone else too much in his opinion. He rose and spat at Gerty's feet and stalked off into the bushes.
The lead prehistoric Bison dismounted from his mare. Patin caught a glimpse of his four foot studding horn and almost blushed. Apparently there was a reason he was king of this flock. The beastie was turned the other way as she spotted a boulder nearby. Unable to spot Dean and unwilling to give up the element of surprise, she acted. Leaping up onto the boulder and then jumping up and onto the Bison, she wrapped her legs around its shoulder section, grabbed a handful of hair and prepared to hold on for dear life.
Reaching into her bag she pulled out a pair of ‘crackers’ and quickly tossed them towards the rear of the pack, in the opposite direction she wanted them to run. She could only hope now that Dean and the others would know what to do. As the ‘crackers’ popped loudly, the herd startled and the stallion she was riding suddenly bucked. He wailed a loud, deep bellow, signaling to the herd to move. Patin, using her knowledge of large creatures, guided the direction by applying pressure just behind each ear as a way to steer the beastie.
The herd quickly picked up speed. Their thundering hooves pounding into the terrain as fast as her heart was racing. They were on path, initially. But something shifted out of the corner of her eye and suddenly the herd split. Half of it was turning back. Almost one hundred Bison were now turning back to where Red and Gerty were, exposed and alone. And she had a choice to make.
TBC
