IN NATURA: a science fiction novel (ARZAT SERIES Book 2)

IN NATURA

a science fiction novel

By David S. Frazier

Copyright 2015

PROLOGUE

In the time the early humans called the twenty-first century, a large wayward asteroid suddenly and unexpectedly descended from the black abyss of space, impacting the earth with a force so violent and so massive that the breadth of the resultant destruction was almost unimaginable. This was certainly not the first time such a thing had happened to the Great Mother, but it was the first time that it had happened during mankind’s relatively short tenure as a species on her surface. For a time, the blue planet was transformed into a red cauldron of smoke and fire that choked the atmosphere and annihilated most of her air-breathing animals—including the bulk of humanity.

  Since the asteroid had arrived with little notice, the earth’s human population had almost no time to prepare. This was complicated by the fact that her officials—who were virtually the only ones aware of the impending catastrophe—had decided not to let them know it was coming. In truth, there just wasn’t any point.

  Just before the impact, astronomers and scientists had discovered yet
another
even larger asteroid, which was also on an orbital track to strike the earth shortly after the original. This second space rock was expected to eliminate any remaining life forms that the first might have missed. Humans, in either case, were thought to be the most vulnerable. Mass extinction of the entire species was likely with the arrival of the first asteroid and was certain with the arrival of the second.

  Only a handful of specially chosen individuals, including many of those same governmental officials, were able to take any sort of refuge before the first asteroid struck. As a last-ditch effort to save some small remnant of mankind, special underground facilities had been built just in case such a disastrous event occurred. Only four of them existed and each with only the capacity to hold two to three thousand individuals.

  But the prospects for the ultimate survival of even those lucky few were highly in doubt. Were they ever to emerge, the experts had theorized, there might be little or nothing left to emerge to. Worse yet, the larger asteroid’s arrival was going to greatly increase the time for earth to recover, perhaps by tens of thousands of years, perhaps by hundreds of thousands. Could the humans survive underground long enough? Would the world
ever
recover? No one really knew.

  Then, for some unknown reason, this second asteroid missed its projected collision with the planet by just a few hundred kilometers and quietly disappeared back into the dark bowels of the universe from whence it had come. Whether it had been an orbital nudge that had caused it—a result of the first impact—or simply a merciful last minute act of benevolence by the Great Creator, few in the world’s scientific or theological community would live to argue.

  Regardless of the reason, the earth had miraculously dodged the larger asteroid’s fatal bullet—her inevitable death once again postponed by fate. And, though sorely wounded, a select few of her living creatures—whether by natural fortitude and adaptability, geographical location, unusual circumstance, or just pure luck—somehow managed to survive.

  Within a few short millennia—aided no doubt by the disappearance of industrial mankind and a sudden lack of competition for space and resources—the earth began to heal. In the process, she had even been able to erase most of the ecological mess that the humans had once made of her. Life on the land and in the seas was once again thriving and abundant. The prevailing law of earth’s remaining inhabitants—even for those most intelligent—had returned to the one that had always been the most natural and the most certain . . .

CHAPTER 1

EAT OR BE EATEN

Za’at paused by the edge of a small hillside, flicked his tongue, and sniffed the air. There were smooth-skins close by and he was ravenous. He took another large whiff of the afternoon breeze just to be sure he wasn’t dreaming, then bent down and placed both of his palms flat to the earth to confirm with his body what he had just sensed with his extremely acute nose and tongue. If they were the rare creatures he suspected them to be, the pattern and intensity of their footfalls would be very distinct.

  Za’at held his breath and focused his attention on the ground in front of him. His long fingers quickly detected the faint ground vibrations of several slow-moving two-footed animals just over the hill.
Umans
, he thought, with no small degree of delight.
Definitely
umans.
He began to salivate almost immediately.

  Za’at rose, wiped his mouth with the back of his large reptilian hand and spat into the dirt, and then turned to the group of Arzat Hunters that had been following close behind and sent them an unspoken warning to be silent.

  Neither Za’at nor the small band of Hunters that accompanied him had eaten much of anything for several
het,
and their stomachs were all growling in protest. The hunters made it a practice never to leave home with any provisions other than their water sacks, as that would have been considered an omen of extremely bad luck. If their hunt were successful—
then
they would eat.

  But
Qu’aa
had already shown his fiery face eight and two times since they had left the caves, and so far, their efforts to find and kill anything—other than a few small, long-eared creatures and an occasional serpent—had been unsuccessful. Even those were tossed aside, killed for sport rather than consumption, as it was thought that daring to eat them would only have added to their poor luck. Now, the hunters were all famished and desperate for a legitimate kill.

* * *

At first light, they had finally located a herd of the giant buffalo that were their normal prey. The Arzat Hunters had been following them for the better part of the morning, but they had been unable to get close enough to strike for some reason. Za’at had been perplexed, for he knew of no other predators that were as silent and stealthy as a band of Arzat Hunters. Normally, they had very little problem stalking the hairy beasts, getting close, and culling out one or two of them for slaughter.

  The Arzats called them
ungos,
a word—like many Arzat words—that their more recent ancestors had been forced to invent or repurpose to describe the new world they had been rebirthed into just a few short generations ago. In the ancient Arzats’ world, the word
ungo
had been used to describe an entirely different beast.

  Regarding these
ungos,
the hunters knew they had to be careful. The animals were skittish and had noses almost as sensitive to danger as the noses of the Arzats themselves. If the hunters approached too swiftly or from the wrong direction and spooked the beasts prematurely, they were likely to stampede and disappear farther and farther into the vast wilderness. This would not only delay the Arzats’ hunt and their eventual return home but, more importantly, dinner too.

  During the entire morning, just when they had been within reach, the herd had inexplicably become nervous and had moved on, as if the creatures were somehow aware of the Arzats’ silent pursuit. Now Za’at knew why. The
umans,
as the smooth-skins apparently liked to refer to themselves, had obviously been moving on a parallel track just ahead of them, thus alarming the larger animals and thereby spoiling the Arzats’ hunt.

  No matter now,
he thought.
My hunting party and I will be just as happy to dine on the smaller two-footed animals.
Za’at unconsciously rubbed his hands together as he pondered his sudden good fortune.

  While the
umans
did not carry anywhere near the same weight as the much larger four-footed beasts, their meat was considered an Arzat delicacy and rarely obtained. So rare, in fact, that Za’at had only eaten a small portion of their flesh once or twice in all of his life.
Uman
populations were sparse, so the hunters almost never encountered them. When they did, the Arzats generally considered them too unpredictable, too few in number, and too skinny to bother with. But despite their small size, Za’at imagined that one or two of them could still amount to a very nice dinner.

  Perhaps,
he thought,
if we are lucky, there might even be a sufficient number of them to conclude the hunt and head for home.

* * *

He could feel his heartbeat quicken. Za’at was not only very hungry but also anxious to return to the caves. Several other Arzat hunting parties had been sent out concurrent with Za’at’s, and he was determined to be the first to return to his clan with the spoils of a successful hunt.
Yes,
he thought hopefully,
perhaps there will be enough of them. If not, at least we will have a good meal and eliminate our competition for the ungos at the same time.

  The Elders had entrusted Za’at with the responsibility of leading the hunting group, and this was yet another opportunity to prove himself worthy of their decision. While Za’at had led many hunting forays before, the position and prestige of being in command was never permanent. An Arzat placed in charge of a hunting party was only as good as his last outing. Za’at considered that returning to the caves with
uman
kills would only add to his reputation as a great hunter and capable leader. Returning
first—
particularly with the unusual bounty—would add even more.

  He signaled the other hunters to stay put and keep silent once again, then crept up to the top of a short rise and carefully peered over. On the other side, just as he had already surmised, he spied a small group of
umans
slowly moving single file down a small riverbed.

   Za’at carefully counted them and was happy to discover that there were eight and six, but only four looked to be full-grown males. With so few adult males, the risk of attacking would be minimal, yet it looked as if there would be plenty of meat to feed the ravenous band of hunters he had brought with him and more than enough to warrant an immediate return home.

  He watched the
uman
males closely looking for weaponry and noted that they did not appear to have the strange, curved sticks they sometimes carried—only long, thin spears that were quite similar to the Arzats’ own killing sticks.

  The
umans
, unlike any of the other normal Arzat prey, were known for not only having mastered the creation of weapons but also for their cleverness. The curved sticks they had invented were tightly strung with animal guts and
were reported to mysteriously hurl small barbed shafts with much greater range than even their own
uman
spears. Za’at was well aware of their potential danger from the stories he had heard, although no Arzat had ever managed to create one and Za’at himself had never actually seen one used. A part of him was disappointed. This situation would have presented an excellent opportunity to capture one of the strange weapons so he could thoroughly examine it.

  There were other, even more unbelievable stories about the smooth-skinned creatures. Rumors circulated that they
had successfully enslaved horses—which the Arzats called
arsas
—and had somehow managed to train the skittish beasts to allow the smooth-skins to actually ride on their backs. This particular group did not appear to have any such animals.
Too bad,
he thought,
I would have liked to witness them riding one.

  But while Za’at was certainly interested in the stories of the
arsas
and would have liked to have been able to see one of the
umans’
curved weapons up close, as far as he was concerned, there was nothing better than a finely crafted hunting stick for killing and nothing better than a very swift and highly skilled Arzat to carry that killing out. Nonetheless, the hunter in him reminded him to be cautious.

  The Arzat Elders had always deemed any confrontation with the
umans
unwise, even foolish. In fact, they had often counseled other Arzats to avoid the smooth-skinned creatures whenever possible. The Elders insisted that the
umans
were so few in numbers and so vastly inferior to the Arzats that they were simply not worth bothering with. With so much better prey to be had, pursuing
umans—
especially given their unpredictable and sometimes dangerous nature—was deemed a waste of time.

  But this small band is an exception,
Za’at thought as he watched them from the hilltop with great delight. Za’at planned to capitalize on it
. No,
he reasoned,
even the Elders would not argue against such an unusual opportunity.

  From his crouched position on the hill, he dug his long fingernails into the earth and once again scanned the area with all of his senses just to be sure there were no more smooth-skins lurking in the area than he could see with his eyes. Satisfied, he looked to the sky. The fiery disc of
Qu’aa
was swiftly moving toward the horizon, and soon its light would vanish.

  Despite his overwhelming hunger and his strong desire to return home, Za’at suspected that the smooth-skins would stop soon and camp for the night. This would be a much safer time to move in and attack. From what little he knew of
umans
, he was aware that they
were generally not nocturnal and had great difficulty seeing in the dark.

  We will wait until nightfall,
Za’at decided. He took another deep breath, knowing that he would be met with opposition to this tactic, and carefully crept back down the hill to huddle with the seven other males in his group.

  “How many?” one of the hunters asked upon Za’at’s return.

  “Eight and six but only four are mature males,” he replied, using only the strength of his mind to communicate.

  “Ah, that is nothing,” Baa, another of the hunters said aloud, waving his hand dismissively and already preparing to move.

  “The
umans
will stop for the night and sleep—
then
we will attack,” Za’at silently told Baa and the rest of the Arzats gathered around him.

  “I say we should take them
now
,” Ack, another member of the hunting party hissed while trying to whisper and failing, almost choking on his own saliva.

  While Ack was one of the biggest and swiftest of the party, he was also the youngest and least bright. To Za’at’s further embarrassment, he was also Za’at’s younger sibling. This was Ack’s first significant hunting foray and Za’at had only allowed him along at the insistence of their mother. As far as Za’at was concerned, regardless of his common lineage, Ack should have been consigned only to the more menial tasks within the caves long ago. For in his opinion, his sibling had no real skill as a hunter. But Za’at revered his mother and her wishes, as was the right and proper conduct of any good Arzat son, so Ack had been allowed to join the hunt as a trial. As leader, the final decision was Za’at’s , though his mother’s request had strongly influenced it.

  “No, we will wait,” Za’at countered. “Attacking after dark will be much safer.” He looked directly into Ack’s crimson eyes and prepared to pounce on him if necessary. “And speak only with your mind, younger brother, or perhaps we shall have
you
for dinner instead!” Za’at cocked his head at an angle as a further threat, willing his younger sibling to surrender to his authority.

  Ack looked back at his elder brother then quickly averted his own eyes as an act of submission. For if Ack had maintained direct eye contact with Za’at for a moment longer, it might have been construed as a challenge. Brother or not, Za’at was most senior, and therefore was to be obeyed fully. That Ack was related to him had no bearing on that fact.

  Ack’s only other option would be to directly challenge Za’at and fight him to the death. As dim as he might be, even Ack knew that defeating Za’at in hand-to-hand combat was a very unlikely prospect. Za’at could be vicious and was a superb fighter. Ack could only hear his stomach growling, his own hunger paramount. With the delicious smell of the
umans
so close by, it was almost too much to bear.

  Za’at was relieved. If Ack were to openly challenge him, he would have no choice but to fight and potentially kill him. He wasn’t necessarily worried about that. He had never been overly fond of anyone, least of all, his obnoxious younger sibling.
With the proper witnesses,
he thought mischievously
, I might even be able to justify such an event to mother.

  But Za’at also knew that any skirmish this close to the smooth-skins was sure to alert them to the Arzats’ presence. This would almost certainly delay dinner even further, and Za’at was too hungry to allow even his brother’s stupid behavior to get in the way of their unique opportunity to hunt
uman
. He resolved to deal with him later.