“I saw those tracks myself,” Iron Wolf stated. “They were the most bizarre tracks I’ve ever laid eyes on. We found them along the shore of Lower Red Rock Lake.”
“Hmmmm,” Plato commented, scratching his beard. “Did you ever find footprints made by the missing people?”
“No.”
“Which would indicate the victims were carried away from their homes by the creatures,” Plato noted.
“That’s our guess,” Iron Wolf agreed.
“Was Lakeview the last community to fall prey to these creatures?”
“Yes,” Star replied. “Lakeview was attacked back in June. Since then there has been no word of the Bear People— until two weeks ago, that is.”
“What happened?” Plato inquired.
“Something unexpected. We had already detected a pattern in the attacks. They all took place near the Bitterroot Range, and each one was farther south than the one before it. We alerted every town and community in the region, but it did no good. When Lakeview was hit, we knew the creatures were moving eastward. We expected them to show up at the town of West Yellowstone or even Gardiner, but they never did.”
“What happened two weeks ago?”
“A Flathead by the name of Eagle Feather took his family on a trip into the region once known as Yellowstone National Park. His wife and boys were abducted, and he was able to get close enough to the abductors to determine they weren’t exactly human. They tried to lure him into a trap and almost killed him in a rock slide, but he got away and returned to our territory for help,” Star said.
Plato suddenly halted. “Yellowstone National Park? But that’s in the Civilized Zone.”
“Technically, although no one lives there now. Both our people and theirs go there occasionally on family outings or whatever. The geysers and hot springs are quite an attraction.”
“I can imagine,” Plato said absently. “But the critical information is that these creatures have now entered the Civilized Zone. If they continue to head to the east or the south they’ll encounter more and more inhabited towns. There’s no telling how many lives will be lost.”
“My sentiments exactly.” Star declared. “Which is why I came to see you. So long as the attacks took place within our boundaries, I was content to view this as a Flathead matter. I mentioned the trouble we were having to a few of the other leaders at the Federation summit in Anaheim a while back, but I saw no need to enlist their aid.” She frowned. “Perhaps I made a mistake in waiting so long. Now these creatures have entered the northwestern corner of the Civilized Zone. More than one Federation member is at risk. This is no longer just a Flathead affair.”
“You acted wisely by coming to see us,” Plato said in praise.
“I would have been wiser to have come sooner. Now I must contact President Toland of the Civilized Zone and inform him. Captain Laslo will fly me directly to Denver from here.”
“I still say our warriors will find the creatures and dispose of them,” Iron Wolf said. “We’ve been able to eradicate mutations in the past with no great difficulty.”
“But these Bear People do not impress me as being typical mutations,” Plato pointed out. “Normal mutations are a fact of life in the postwar era, and everyone knows that genetically altered animals must be dealt with on a continual basis. Such typical mutations, however, do not attack settlements. They don’t abduct the entire population of a town and vanish in the forest. In short, they’re nothing more than deformed beasts of the wild.” He idly tugged on his beard. “These new creatures are different.
They’re obviously endowed with a higher, devious intelligence. And they may be operating according to a master plan currently beyond our comprehension.”
Iron Wolf shook his head. “They’re simple mutations, nothing more.”
Blade stared at the ground, depressed, knowing the course of actionhe must take. Plato was right. These creatures weren’t your average mutations, and they had to be stopped before they reached the more heavily populated regions of the Civilized Zone. He thought about the three types of mutations he had encountered over the years and wondered if the Bear People might be a new kind.
The term mutation applied to any and all forms of genetic deviation, a word that required further defining when alluding to a specific type.
Ordinary mutants were animals born with their genetic code scrambled, and their condition was attributed to the incalculable amounts of radiation unleashed during the war, radiation that had saturated the environment and produced animals with extra legs or eyes or some other quirky combination.
Another variety of mutation were those known as mutates.
These resulted from the chemical weapons employed during World War Three, and they were radically different from ordinary mutants. Once a mammal, reptile, or amphibian was infected, they transformed into bloodthirsty monstrosities possessing insatiable appetites. Their bodies would become covered with pus-filled, rank sores, and they would mindlessly attack any living thing they met.
The third and final category of mutation, so far as was known, were the hybrids. They were the genetically engineered beings created in test tubes.
Prior to the holocaust, genetic engineering had been the rage among the top scientists in the developed countries. They’d competed with one another to develop new species or improve existing ones. Patents had even been granted and huge amounts of money had changed hands. A nefarious scientist called the Doktor had created a legion of hybrid assassins to do his bidding only a few decades ago, and some of those mutations were still alive.
As if the matter wasn’t complicated enough, new strains had begun to appear, hybrids spawned when their human parents gave birth to hideous creatures after the mother or father had ingested a toxic substance, whether radioactive or chemical in nature, subsequently resulting in bizarre embryos endowed with bestial, almost alien trails.
So which were these Bear People? Blade wondered, and gazed at Star.
“I wish you had informed us more fully about these creatures sooner. You’re right. This is now a Federation matter, and as the head of the Force, and acting under the authority bestowed on me by all of the Federation leaders, I’ll be taking charge of the hunt for the things.”
“Now wait a minute,” Iron Wolf began.
Blade spun toward the War Chief. “Pay attention because I’m only going to say this once. I’ve been empowered to deal with any threats to the Federation as I see fit, and these creatures, these Bear People, definitely qualify. I have a job to do, and I’m going to do it whether you agree or not. I don’t care what you mink. And if you give me any grief, Star will be taking you back on a stretcher.”
Iron Wolf glowered and clenched his hands. “I won’t tolerate such talk from any man.”
“Oh?” Blade responded, and stepped to within an inch of the Flathead.
“Don’t do something you’ll regret later.”
Iron Wolfs lips twitched and his features contorted in a mask of anger.
He was compelled to gaze straight up at the giant, a position he found extremely uncomfortable. If he made a move, he knew the Warrior would flatten him in an instant.
“Enough of this!” Star snapped, speaking to the War Chief. “We’re guests here, remember? Why must you antagonize everyone you meet?”
“They started it,” Iron Wolf said defiantly.
“I think both of you are behaving like petulant children,” Plato interjected. “This petty hostility must cease.”
“Fine by me,” Blade said. “Just so Iron Wolf realizes that I’m now in charge of the search for the Bear People, and that what I say goes.”
“Blade is right,” Star confirmed. “He was granted unlimited authority by the Federation leaders. We must do as he wishes.”