Part 40 (1/2)

Frank lay writhing in the shale. Kelly's brother hadn't just been knocked off his feet. Both his legs were gone from the knees down. Blood spurted and jetted across the stones. In those few seconds, the giant jaguar had sheared off the limbs, as cleanly as a guillotine.

Kouwe fell to Frank's other side. Olin helped drag the moaning man into the cave. Kelly followed, yanking tourniquets from her pack. Plastic vials of morphine tumbled to the floor. Nate retrieved them.

Near the entrance, a shot was fired. Light burst outside. Another flare. Nate held out the vials of morphine, feeling useless, stunned.

Kouwe took them. ”Go watch our back:” He nodded to the entrance.

Olin and Kelly worked on the stricken man. Tears flowed down Kelly's cheeks, but her face was tightwith determination and concentration. She refused to lose her brother.

Nate turned with his shotgun and joined Kostos and Camera at the cave's opening. The new flare showed that the jungle still moved with shadows. The bouldered slope offered additional cover for the cats.

Manny joined them, pistol in one hand. Tor-tor sniffed at Frank's blood on the rock and growled.

”I count at least another fifteen,” Camera said, face half covered with night-vision goggles. ”They're not leaving:'

Kostos swore. ”If they rush us, we couldn't hope to stop them all. We're down to one grenade launcher, two M-16s, and a handful of pistols:'

”And my shotgun,” Nate added.

Camera spoke, ”I've fitted a new cartridge into the Bailey. But it's my last.”

Manny crouched with his pistol, ”There's some old debris blown in the back of the cave-branches, leaves, whatnot. We could light a fire at the entrance:'

”Do it;” Kostos said.

As Manny turned, a long, low growl rumbled up the slope. Everyone froze. Illuminated by the flare, a large shape revealed itself on the rocky slope. Weapons were raised.

Note recognized the shadow as the largest cat.

”A female,” Manny mumbled.

It remained in plain sight, studying them, challenging them. Behind it, the jungle churned with sleek bodies, muscled and clawed.

”What do we do?” Camera asked.

”The b.i.t.c.h is trying to psych us out,” Kostos grumbled, lowering his eye to the sight on his rifle.

”Don't fire;” Nate hissed. ”If you shoot now, you'll have the whole pack on us.

”Nate's right,” Manny said. ”Their blood l.u.s.t is up. Anything could set them off. At least wait until we have a fire going here:”

The cat seemed to hear him and let out a piercing yowl. In a surge of pure muscle, she leaped toward them, charging at an astounding speed, a precision machine.

The Rangers fired, but the she-beast was too fast, gliding with preter-natural swiftness. Bullets chewed at the rock, sparking, missing, as if she were a true phantom. A single razored disk whizzed from the Bailey and zinged off a boulder to skitter harmlessly down the slope.

Nate dropped to one knee, shotgun pointed. ”Here, kitty-kitty,” he hissed under his breath.Once she was close enough . . . Camera repositioned her weapon, but before she could fire another shot, she was b.u.mped aside.

Tor-tor lunged past her, leaping from his mas-ter's side to the slope beyond.

”Tor-tor!” Manny called.

The smaller jaguar bounded a few yards down the slope and stopped, digging in, blocking the path of the larger cat. With a sharp snarl, he crouched low, rear haunches raised and bunched to spring, tail flicking with menace. He bared his long yellow claws and sharp fangs.

The giant black jaguar rushed at him, prepared to bowl him over, but at the last moment, she pulled up and stopped in front of Tor-tor, match-ing his stance, snarling. The two cats hissed and challenged each other.

Kostos lifted his weapon. ”You're dead, b.i.t.c.h:”

Manny motioned him not to shoot. ”Wait!”

The two cats slowly padded around each other, circling, only a yard apart. At one point, the giant female's back was toward them. Nate could tell both Rangers had to restrain themselves not to fire.

”What are they doing?” Carrera asked.

Manny answered, ”She can't understand why one of her own species, even a small one like Tor-tor, is protecting us. It has her perplexed.”

By now, the two had stopped snarling. They cautiously approached one another, now almost nose to nose. Sharing some silent communication, the circling continued. Raised hackles settled back to sleek fur.

A soft chuffing sounded as the larger cat took in the scent of this strange little jaguar.

Eventually they both stopped their dance, once again back to their original positions. Tor-tor crouched between the cave and the giant cat.

With a final grunt, the large jaguar leaned forward and rubbed her jowl against the side of Tor-tor's cheek, some understanding reached, a truce. With a blur of black fur, the giant cat spun and slipped back down the slope.

Slowly Tor-tor straightened from his crouch. His eyes glowed golden. With a feline casualness, he licked a patch of ruffled fur back into perfect place and turned to them. He padded back to the entrance as if he'd just come back from a stroll.

Camera lowered her weapon and s.h.i.+fted her night-vision goggles. ”They're pulling back,” she said, amazed.

Manny hugged his pet. ”You stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d,” he mumbled.

”What just happened?” Kostos asked.

”Tor-tor's close to being s.e.xually mature,” Manny said. ”A juvenile male. The female, though huge, appears proportionally to be about the same age. And with all the blood in the air, tensions were high, including s.e.xual tension. From their actions, Tor-tor's challenge was construed as both a threat and as.e.xual display.”

Kostos scowled. ”So you're saying he was making a play for her a.s.s:”

”And she accepted,” Manny said, patting his jaguar's side proudly. ”Since Tor-tor came out and met her challenge, she probably believes him to be our pack leader. An acceptable mate:”

”What now?” Camera asked. ”They've pulled back, but haven't left. As a matter of fact, they seem to be ma.s.sing down the chasm a bit, blocking any retreat back to the swamp lake:”

Manny shook his head. ”I don't know what they're doing. But Tor-tor has bought us some time. I say we use it. Get that fire lit and keep our guard up:'

Nate watched the bulk of the pack flow down into the jungle chasm. Whatwere they doing?

”We've got company,” Camera said, voice tense again. She pointed in the opposite direction, deeper up the canyon.

Nate turned his attention. In that direction, he saw nothing but the dark jungle and the broken landscape of rock at the foot of the cliff. ”What did you-”