The Department 44 Files by Steve P Lee

Author:Steve P Lee [Lee, Steve P]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781999944544
Publisher: Green Cat Books
Published: 2018-07-31T06:00:00+00:00

Roman continued his scan to the left before swinging back to where she had identified a target. He lowered the rifle in the grip of amazement. A tall creature, over two metres at the shoulders, was visible. It was side on to their view and looked like nothing Roman had seen before. A slim, cone shaped body that tapered to the rear was supported by six legs that more resembled tentacles, two pairs quite close together at the front, a thicker, stronger pair to the rear. Prehensile and sturdy, they ended in a paddle shaped pad. At the front, a head jutted forward and upwards from the top of the circular front of the cone. The chest area looked concave from Roman’s angle of view. The head was protected to the rear by a circular shield. At the front of this, a tube emerged with six antennae above it. In overall colouration, it was grey with mottled patches of green and brown.

As Roman and Arlene watched, the front pair of legs reached high up a tree trunk and the paddle feet grasped onto it. The legs pulled the body up, the remaining legs also grasping the trunk. It rose to the top of the trunk with consummate ease, reached out with one leg and placed the pad on the lower surface of a large leaf, partially weighed down by a puddle of rainwater. The pad must have sucker like properties Roman decided. It swung the leaf around and down then extended the tube on its head to the leaf tip and trickled the water into it.

“It’s drinking,” Roman whispered.

The creature continued to drink for a minute then extended the front pair of legs to a neighbouring tree. It pulled its body across and had no sooner secured a grip on the new tree before it stretched out to the next. This process continued until it was lost to their sight. The trees were towering taller here, the slightly different species in the target area. There was no difference in the backcombed scaly trunk covering but the canopy leaves were broader, more uniformly green.

“What was that?” Roman enquired.

“I have no idea,” Arlene admitted.

“Never seen one before?”

“Not even featured in a brief by the resident scientists; I’m willing to bet we’re the first people to ever see one.”

“Does it resemble anything else?”

“Not even close.”

“Hmm,” Roman thought quickly. “We shouldn’t advance any further yet. That was probably the same type of creature picked up in infra-red as we overflew earlier. A newly discovered archaeological site, in an island of locally restricted tree types is also home to an entirely new species that resembles nothing you’ve seen here? I’m thinking that’s an awfully unlikely coincidence.”

“I agree,” Arlene said. “There were quite a few creatures in that infra-red scan if I remember right. How many would make up a viable population?”

“I can’t possibly answer that,” Roman shook his head. “It would depend on the rate of reproduction and genetic resistance to mutations from inbreeding. It didn’t look dangerous but that’s hard to tell from a brief observation.

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