The Researchers

Do stop over at Torin’s diary and check out the efforts there for the 24/7 writing month. I’m pretty much focusing on the here and now instead of worrying about whether or not I’ll get the job in the city. I’m confident that SOMETHING nifty is in the works; a change whose time is rapidly coming and I’m keen to see where I end up. One of the things I need to keep doing for myself is writing–this I’m quite sure of. I’ve missed it, and I need to keep doing it in one form or another on a daily basis. This is where 24/7 comes in.

Now on with the story.

***

"You have to come see this!" Eva’s voice held restrained excitement. Liam raised his head.

"What is it?"

"You really need to see for yourself," she said. She tapped the keyboard and made the image full-screen. When Liam joined her, she replayed the snippet of video from Australia. It bounced, then steadied.

He watched the animals’ unusual fluid movement. "Can you slow it down?" he asked. "I want to see if we can track a single animal."

Eva opened the video file with a different program, but it still proved difficult to follow the path of any given creature. "Let me play with it for a while," she said. "I’ll go through and mark one of them, change its colour to blue or something, to make it easier to follow."

"Were they able to capture one?" Liam asked. He wanted to see the video again but Eva was already working on marking one of the animals.

"Muddy said they put traps out the same day they shot this. He said they’re going back with a video camera, not just a cell phone, and they’ll check the traps. He said they followed this pack for over three kilometres and then lost them in a rocky area where their truck couldn’t follow. They didn’t want to get out and track them on foot." She raised an eyebrow and added with great irony, "I can’t imagine why."

"Me neither," said Liam. "Isn’t it everyone’s secret dream to go down in history as a victim of a new and unknown predatory creature?"

"Judging from the stupidity some people show in zoos and safari parks, I think there are far too many who’ll settle for being killed by any predatory species. How come people don’t realize we’re made of tasty meat?" She continued modifying the video.

"I think it’s some kind of denial," said Liam, returning to his own task. "If we’re higher than animals, then we can’t be mere meat. We must be some exotic composition. By the way, did I tell you I’m going back to Toronto? And that we’ve got funding to go to Australia? Both of us!" He grinned.

"What? Really? How?" She glanced up from her painstaking work.

"I’m going to Toronto to talk to the survivors of that ‘fun run’ they had where the runners were attacked in High Park. That incident was big enough for the Powers That Be to agree to send us Down Under to check out your rancher’s beasties."

Eva grinned. "I can’t believe it. So when do we go?"

"Right after I get back from T.O. Tell me your passport is up-to-date." He gave her a mock stern look.

"As a matter of fact, it is. I got it a few months ago when I thought I might have to go to the US."

Liam snorted. "I did the same thing. Never thought I’d need it so soon. Anyway, you can let Muddy know we’re coming and forward me that video without the changes. I’ll show it to the Toronto survivors and see what they say."

Eva continued her work on the video as she spoke. "The boy from Nova Scotia said the Australian ones were different from the ones he saw. You don’t suppose there are species springing up all of a sudden all over the world?"

He tapped his fingers on his desk. "I think we’re going to find a human hand behind all this. Maybe it’s a new form of terrorism, and if the attacks get bigger or more frequent, you can bet lots of people will feel pretty terrorized."

At that, Eva looked up from her work and stared at Liam. Her eyebrows lifted. "You think? Really? Terrorism? Oh my god! I never thought of that. What a horrible idea. I hope you’re wrong."

"Well it would explain why they’re turning up in so many different places." He lifted one shoulder in a brief shrug. "I spent a lot of time yesterday and last night looking over all the reports–confirmed and unconfirmed–and it occurred to me that there was no way a new species could turn up simultaneously in Australia, Canada, Indonesia, India, the US, the UK, Afghanistan and wherever the hell else accidentally. Someone must have let some go in all those places."

"More than some," Eva said. "Didn’t you see the size of this swarm?" She indicated the Australian video. "There must be hundreds of them."

"I know. And they said that the swarm that went after the runners in Toronto was pretty big. So maybe they breed fast. I don’t have all the answers, but maybe after the trip to Toronto and meeting your Ozzie rancher, we’ll have some of the pieces of the puzzle."

"Have you heard from anyone else working on this?" 

"Not yet. I’ve mentioned it on the forum I’ve been u

sing for research. No one has PMed me yet. I’m kind of surprised, to tell you the truth." He stood up. "Look, I have to get ready for my trip. You mind if I leave you on your own?"

Eva flapped her left hand at him. "Go! Have fun. I’ll have this done by the time you get back. When are you coming back?"

"I’ll be home by Sunday at the latest. Why don’t you book our trip to Australia for Wednesday?" He patted her monitor as he went past. "Or call Wanda and have her do it. That’s her forte."

"Will do. Don’t forget a camcorder for your interviews!" She called after him as he went out the door. Good point. The better the records they had of any encounter, the better their final article would be."

***

Done for another day.