Star Trek; Terror Hunter

Prologue

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Vass nodded at the High Priest. He was ready to begin the Search. Tavuss raised his staff, closed his eyes and began the piercing cry which would send Vass' mind-waves off this now used up world to find new life for their people to feed on.

Vass was a revered Searcher. He could sense new worlds and direct his people to them with far more accuracy than Ress, his predecessor, had achieved. Because of this, he had been allowed to choose a mate, and if this Search was successful, he would be given permission to breed with her.

Vass stared in to the dull red sun until he was blind to all else. As he succumbed to the magnetic pull of the light his silver eyes reflected the red light. The Searcher felt the inner membranes of his eyes shut. All parts of his conscious mind were seeped with red, the color of relaxation. He dug his claws into the soft ground as he pulled from the locked away part of his mind the image he would project.

The red color in his own mind blocked the frightful picture. This image of absolute horror caused panic in any mind it touched. That fear acted like a beacon and fixed on it, Vass would be able to guide the Mind Devourers to their next victims. Vass had never seen the image he projected, his mind protected itself and those of his species in a way they did not understand - only accept as a gift from the Great Spirit.

Tavuss changed the pitch of his scream, and all the gathered Mind Devourers screeched quietly in a lower, softer tone. Tavuss kept his eyes on the Searcher, reading his body language for the cue for his next step in the ritual. Vass stretched his neck and spread his great cream wings. He alone made no sound. The Searcher threw his head back, his curved beak opened to show his blue tongue. Tavuss cut off his cry.

The Searcher's head snapped forward and from deep in his chest a loud, shrill scream, unlike the sound any other Mind Devourer made, broke forth and swept across the attentive people. Tavuss bobbed his head in approval - the mind-waves would travel far on that cry. He gave the three-pitched screech which closed the ceremony for the onlookers. Silently they walked away, heads kept low. Not one looked back.

Tavuss settled himself on the bed of leaves that had been set up for him. He would nap now, and then later when Vass returned to himself he would be rested for the trials of moving the entire species to the next world. The High Priest tucked his nearly bald head under a wing which was loosing feathers due to old age, and slept.

Vass had thrown the Search-image as far as he could, and now he guided it in twisting turning patterns in the empty space. At the same time, he opened his mind to the reception of fear. For a long time there was nothing. Vass lost all feeling for time on a Search - he just existed in limbo, not even aware of that. To an observer he stood like a statue for as many planet cycles t took to find their next destination.

Fear hit him like a rock falling from the sky. The impact made him stagger on his cramped legs. Having regained his balance, he carefully probed for the bearing and then cawed loud and long in triumph. This was followed by the intricate navigational instructions, which he repeated five times. The fifth time he repeated them, four other voices joined in. These were the Navigators whose minds were programmed not to forget these guides. They would not speak until their destination was reached.

Tavuss herded his people onto the large vessel. The Navigators took their elevated places and in their midst, the statue-like Vass stood - still in contact with the fear that guided them. Although the navigators had the basic instructions, without the Searcher to pinpoint exactly where their new nourishment was, the Mind Devourers would perish. Vass was cared for better than most young on their flight.

The fear grew stronger and Vass called new directions as he felt them. The Searcher became agitated, as the fear was returned to his mind in ever greater waves. Whatever species lived on this world, there were many and all would feed for years to come. This information was passed to the High Priest in a number of low calls than the others did not know the meaning of. But Tavuss could not disguise his satisfaction. He strutted round the bridge of their vessel puffing his chest out, as if it were he who had led them to this abundance.

They landed safely on the new world. The Explorers were sent out. They would make sure the Mind Devourers made the physical adaptations necessary to live on this planet. Experience had told this species that anywhere sentient beings lived who responded to the Searcher was generally safe for them, but minor changes to their metabolism was usually required.

As was the case on this world. The Explorers made the adaptations to the correct genes and then replaced the old genes with the new ones. Genetically all Mind Devourers were virtually identical because of this mass manipulation. Their minds differed according to which position they held. Once the calling had made itself known the people led predestined lives. Some were never woken to their calling. Females had no calling. Only those called could mate, and only the exceptional called could breed.

The Searcher was the last to be genetically changed. First he had to be brought out of his Seach-trance. The High-Priest chanted the wakening call quietly, walking round Vass and shaking his staff over him in intricate patterns. First Vass' head drooped to his chest, then the inner membranes slid out of sight to reveal silver eyes. The red was gone.

The Searcher asked the ritual question: „You have found them?" To which the High-Priest replied: „Your Search was true." An Explorer approached and quickly exchanged the manipulated genes. Vass flapped his wings and shook all four legs, loosening the tight muscles. His mate approached proudly, and they grappled with their front legs, being careful of the two large claws on each front paw.

The vessel was opened and the Mind Devourers emerged proudly, looking round at their new homeworld. Heads went back, scenting and calls of satisfaction soon filled the air. The Hunters were sent out and soon returned carrying various species, all showing signs of deep fear. The High-Priest called for the Great Spirit to bless the new world and then laid his front paws along the head of the first victim.

His large claws flexed wide and then curled to grip the skull. His victim cried out in fear and as the sentiment flooded over his people, the High-Priest screeched sharply and with a quick movement the claws buried themselves deep into the being's brain. The creature writhed and screamed and the Mind Devourers soaked up the fear. Later they would feast on the brans of their victims, leaving the flesh to rot. It was the fear which was their main nourishment.

After the first abundant feasting, Tavuss announced that Vass and his mate should be allowed to breed. All were in agreement and quickly a breeding place was prepared for the pair. A complicated public ritual took time which Vass suddenly felt he didn't have. All breeding instincts were usually genetically suppressed but this ritual woke them all with an urgency that almost frightened Vass.

Once he and his mate were alone in the privacy of the place prepared the Searcher lost control over his actions. He mounted his mate and driving his beak deep into her neck completed the mating in seconds. Their cries and screeches shook the trees and their flapping wings broke the lower branches off like twigs.

Dismayed Vass drew away from his bleeding mate. She clacked her beak angrily at him and wouldn't let him close, until the urge overtook them both again. The cycle repeated itself twelve times in all, and Vass' mate looked as if he had tried to kill her. He crawled away from her and huddled as miserably as she in one corner of the breeding place. Neither slept, not even resting their heads on their backs.

Vass approached his mate the next morning, crawling on his belly. She hissed and spat at him and for five days wouldn't allow him close, and then suddenly she was as playful as ever. The hunters brough food for them daily and fresh water ran next to their place. They were alone and could eat sleep and play to their heart's' content.

Vass' mate grew rounder and slower until one day she didn't want to play or eat. She lay panting, hissing at Vass whenever he approached. The young were born. Six of them. They were born with their silver eyes and beaks open, and their front claws extended. Their birth killed Vass' mate and all six turned on their mother and devoured her brain.

The Searcher watched at first with horror but then as his fathering instinct took over with detatchment as his mate's life ended. He gathered the little cannibals under his wings and protected their first sleep.

He taught them in seclusion for the first year of their lives, before presenting them to the High-Priest and the rest of his people. Three were female, three were male and all the males had a calling. There were no other young. The Searcher led a quiet life until the High-Priest informed him he was to take another mate. She was to help him with his young and once they had left the nest, then Vass should breed again.

The abundance on this world was so great, that Vass mated four times and bred four times before he needed to make another Search. Now he was older, his power was fading, and he knew this would be his last Search. He was teaching one of his first young how to control the Search-image, but the youngster, Tiss, was impatient.

Vass nodded at the High-Priest. He was ready to begin the Search. Tamuss, the new High-Priest, raised his staff, closed his eyes and began the piercing cry which would send Vass' mind-waves off this now used up world to find new life for their people to feed on. Vass projected the fearful image.

There was a faint, very faint flicker of fear which lasted just as long as it took to blink, and then there was nothing. Vass' mind probed long to recapture the fear, but unsuccessful he had to change the direction of his projection. He was not conscious of it, as much as he as not aware that Tiss was throwing his image out too. The Search was long and hard, but finally he was able to make the call of Finding.

.

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The child woke. Something has brushed his mind. He listened - with the furry receptacles on the top of his head, as well as with his mind. The whisper was faint, almost a tickling in his mind, and made the hairs on his neck stand up. He didn't recognize the thought pattern. But who other than his family would want to make contact with him?

Tense with a sudden unease he sat up on his sleeping mat. His keen, tawny eyes searched the cave. He could see the sleeping forms of his closest family, and his sharp nose told him all were alive. Carefully, because he knew now that it was the worst thing he could do now he was eight cycles of age, he reached out with his mind and brushed the sleeping minds with his in a child's greeting.

All three adult minds projected peace, safety and a faint reprimand for his intrusion. The two babies' minds were blanketed by their mother's, and his birth sibling had his shielding up even in his sleep. Two of other youngsters' minds were carefully blanked, which meant they too had felt his probing, and the other pair of twins had entwined their minds too deeply for his to intrude.

Feeling reassured against the fear which had woken him, the child lay down again. Briefly his thoughts dwelled on the punishment for his infraction of the rules. His mother's mind reached out and comforted him as she had done since his birth. He let her guide him back to sleep. He accepted her mind join with his and safe in the knowledge that she was shielding him from the unpleasantness he had felt he closed his eyes and slept.

His mother withdrew from his mind. The parting, almost as painful as the first time, woke him. His mental cry of pain woke the entire cave. The babies squealed in sympathy with his pain, and his father growled in anger. Once he had established what was happening, he soundly cuffed the child who cowered before him. Punishment meted out, he stalked out of the cave still growling.

His mother carefully washed the welts and crooned a soothing lullaby. Her son's sobs quietened and the babies also stopped crying. „Go greet the day and then return for food", she told the children. The six older ones ran out, and she carried her babies outside, held them up to the new sun and removed their soiled wrappings. They laughed as she washed them and soon all were back in the cave.

She helped her co-mate, who was the first mate of their husband and therefore the senior woman in the cave, prepare the morning gruel. Their husband strode back in and sat on his sitting stone, expecting his food to be ready. The child he had cuffed eyed him warily and the other children kept an unusual distance. They were uncharacteristically quiet.

„What is the first rule of the cave?" The man's voice rumbled. „Privacy", the boy muttered. „It is not polite to intrude in other minds, especially not during sleep." The culprit's face flushed and he studied the floor. „However your mother tells me you were frightened by something." The boy nodded. „Show me!"

The boy stared blankly at his father and opened his mind for the probing. There was none. „Show me!" the father ordered again and the child understood. He was to send to his father, something he had never done yet. He concentrated hard so as to only project the faint images to the man, and also not to succumb to the temptation to feel out for any reaction. The fear returned and at once he felt his father's comforting presence. There would be no punishment for what he'd done in the night. The cuffing was deserved for his lack of control. There was peace in the cave.

Once they had eaten the children were allowed to run free. The boy and his twin brother practiced their shielding. Together they were strong against their elder brother and sister, but alone they were too weak to withstand even their first level probing.

Children from other caves came out and soon they were playing as youngsters do without a care in the world. Lessons would continue once they had used up some of their abundant energy and childlike they drew out the moment for as long as possible.

The life of these cave dwellers was peaceful and full of harmony. They had no enemies and even bickering among each other was almost unknown. They kept herds of animals for meat, milk, and clothing. They planted crops of vegetables and corns. They gathered berries, nuts and fruits. They were skilled tool-makers and great story-tellers. And they used fire for comfort as well as for cooking.

The cave-dwellers walked on two legs. They stood at full maturity five feet and six inches tall. Children grew rapidly to four feet in their first three cycles and then stayed that height until they became adults when they shot up within three months. They spoke with a complex language, accompanied by a full sign language for hunting and play. And they communicated from mind to mind.

Their legs were sinuous and covered in a fine pelt. Their feet were flat, elongated, covered in sparse hair and flexible. The toenails of the big toes were thick and strong and grew into a long point which was used as a climbing aid. The torso was slim and sinuous and could be contorted into almost any angle. It too was covered in hair, not close enough to hide the brown skin completely. The neck was short, not very muscular but flexible, turning 270 degrees with ease. The head was round with two pointed and again flexible furry ears mounted on the top. Hair grew abundantly from the head and hung in a thick curled mass halfway between the shoulders and the waist.

The face and was clear of hair growth and the features were heavy. Large tawny eyes with slit pupils were covered by an inner and an outer eyelid which moved independently of each other. The nose was hardly raised from the face and the tip pushed up to form a flat snout, the nostrils of which could be flared or closed completely as needed. The mouth was small. The six front middle teeth, top and bottom were small and sharply pointed. Then there were three large jagged teeth on either side and at the back of the jaw each person had four molars to each side, top and bottom.

The shoulders were narrow and the arms short in comparison to the rest of the body. At the end of the arms there were hands which had three fingers and a fourth opposing digit, enabling the people to grasp and manipulate. The fingers were protected by short, pointed nails which could be extended to become claws to aid in climbing or slitting something open. These people did not have much use for knives. The arms were covered in the same pelt at the legs and the hands had sparse, wiry hair.

The hair growth was the same on the children and adults, the main variation being the length of the head hair and the coloring which ranged from white over silver to black, including many shaded of reds, yellows and browns. Some were striped; some had patches of one or more colors. Also the children had the full set of teeth and the strong climbing claw.

All the adults wore simple tunics of finely cured leather, the children ran round naked as long as the warm season lasted. When the snows came they too were kept warm by thick tunics which still had the fur worn on the inside. The people slept on woven grass mats laid over piles of springy roots. They had pelts on each sleeping place which could either be used as covers or as in most cases to make a soft, warm nest.

Each cave was excavated into the ground. This group of dwellings was relatively new. This group had split off from their larger communities and formed one of their own, as there had been no more room to build more caves. Contact between the new village and their origins were frequent, and both parties monitored each other by means of mental projections.

The family units consisted of a male and one to four females and their offspring. Children were born in pairs, more usual was a female and a male child together, but it sometimes happened that two of the same sex were born at the same time. This was regarded as a good omen, especially if the babies were male. A female gave birth perhaps four times in her life, rarely five, as each pair of babies was intensely cared for during their first six cycles and at eight cycles the mental protection was slowly withdrawn, finally at fourteen cycles the people were adult.

The people called themselves Peace-Lovers. They knew from their story-tellers that there was such a thing as battle and bloodshed but not one of those living at this time had seen it with their own eyes. It was their second greatest nightmare. The greatest being mind influence - and this they feared even from their cave-mates.

The day passed in its usual way - and as the sun went down they gathered round the cooking fires and shared in the hot loaves and broiled meat. In the hot ash, wrapped in large leaves, edible roots baked and there were basketfuls of berries and nuts. They drank clear water. A scuffle amongst the children broke out. Adults hastened to break it up before they drew blood with their sharp claws and teeth.

The eldest female called all the children round her and they settled cracking nuts and listening to her stories. One by one they fell asleep, curled up together in a muddle of arms and legs. Once the children slept, the eldest man told the adults the stories of warning - about distance worlds and peoples who hunted the Peace-Lovers, killing for the manes and the foot-claws.

The father of the child who had felt the fear told his clan about what he had read in his child's mind. The elder invited him to share the image and after some hesitation he did. It struck a chord of instinctive memory in the elder and he shuddered. „I must go to the conference of elders and tell them about this. I must share directly with the second child of your second mate. Will you allow this?" Both mother and father nodded, serious.

The mother went and sought out the child, waking him gently through their mind-link. He crawled out of the tangle of children and asked what she wanted through the open mind-channel. Using her voice, she told him that the elder wanted to speak with him.

Subdued the child followed his mother back to the adults. The elder explained what he wanted and the child opened his mind. The elder was skilled at this, far more practiced than the child's father, and he saw the full image that the child had not even grasped. The elder recoiled and the child whimpered as the full extent of the terrible fear engulfed him.

For many years to come the male child, second of two, would be disturbed by dark dreams that none of his clan had. He was more skilled at fading into the undergrowth, he walked the most silent, he was an exceptional hunter with the keenest eyes, nose and ears of all the people. His shielding was stronger than even the elders' - to the extent that he could shut off even his life-vibrations. And he was jumpy. If somebody did surprise him he would attack, spitting and snarling, his claws extended to do real damage. It took three to subdue him and only his birth mate could reach him through the strong shield at those times.

They had used this world up. The High-Priest called the Searcher. Tiss was sure of himself. He had kept the direction of that faint whisper of the last Search in his mind. He was sure he was a stronger Searcher that Vass had been. Vass had lost that flicker of fear, but Tiss hadn't. It had been suddenly cut off, but over the first planet cycles here, he had felt it every now and again.

Tiss nodded to Tamuss who raised his staff. The High Priest closed his eyes and began the piercing cry which started the Search. Tiss projected the image in the direction the whispers had come from. He sought the familiar thought pattern of the one who had received the image before. Other mind received him and sent the beacon of terror back to him, but he continued to search for that one mind.

He was about to give up - he had had many answers and they would feed well for many years to come - when the scream of terror echoed in his mind. Tiss sent a stronger signal while at the same time he compared the thought patterns to those in his memory. Yes, they were the same. He threw his head back and let forth the cry of the successful Search.

The Mind-Devourers readied themselves for departure. The Searcher sent wave after wave towards the source of this great fear and felt a distinct pleasure in the returning fear. It was such a strong guiding beam that when it was cut off abruptly he felt the traces in his mind and finally brought his people to their new homeworld.

He was sixteen cycles and had found no mate. He slept still in his parents' cave. In sleep even his barrier was up at its strongest. But this night he was suffering from fever caused by a deep cut he received when he had misjudged the distance between two branches and fallen to the ground, cutting his leg on a broken and protruding branch. He had been given a sleeping medicine. He slept deeply and all his mind-barriers were down.

The terror struck hard. The sleeping medicine made it impossible for him to wake up or regain control of his shielding. The fear kept his heartbeat and temperature high and the elder did not dare to give less of the medicine out of the need to protect the rest of the people from the uncontrolled thoughts projected during fever.

His mother had recently given birth to her fourth pair of babies but she still found the strength to monitor her grown son every once in a while, because she always worried about him after his childhood experience. On his fifth day of unbroken fever she woke suddenly, feeling his call. Carefully shielding the babies, she reached out. She felt the effort with which her son fought against the influence of the medicine and the overwhelming fear to request that the drug no longer be given to him. The elder took a lot of persuading and it was only after seeking the request in her mind that he agreed. The adults built up a shield for all the young and by the evening they were exhausted fighting off the fear, until then unknown to their entire people.

Suddenly the battering stopped. The mother and his birth-mate felt the wrench as his shielding went up and the male ceased to exist in their conscience once again. Gently the shielding round the young was lifted and it seemed as if life went on as normal.

Only the male was changed. His fever left and his leg healed. He prowled the edge of the village ceaselessly, as time progressed night and day. He left his home for days, no one seeing him at all. When he returned he was agitated and asked for a gathering.

He told them strange beings had come from the sky and were killing the Peace-Lovers. That these beings were the source of his terror. That they could project images from far distances. That the images caused fear and that the fear was used to hunt down the people and feed off them.