Chapter 10
Ezra blinked at the expanse of brown as he blearily opened his eyes. The whole horizon was dark, bark brown – and rising up and down slightly. His head felt like the aftermath of a Rolling Stones concert and his hand was twitching like –
Whoa.
His hand?
Yes. Present and correct, one human hand, protruding from the sleeve of a familiar red jacket sleeve. Memory came rushing back and Ezra sat upright, clamping his lips together as the room spun sickeningly. Opening his eyes he caught sight of Holbachstein and his stomach again rebelled violently – snapping them shut once more, Ezra turned his head away from the sight and re-opened them.
The machine stood innocuously in the corner, the dead militiaman still draped over it. Behind it in the corner was a coat rack with a couple of shabby white 'lab' coats hanging from it – presumably Holbachstein had tried to insist on a level of scientific decorum and had probably been ignored. Resolutely ignoring the rest of the room, Ezra focussed on the coats, walked shakily to them, removed them, walked more steadily back, and dropped them over Holbachstein's remains, careful not to look at what he was doing. From scalp to shoulders, Holbachstein was Holbachstein; from there down was a nightmarish mish-mash of feathers, fur, scales and a raw pink gelatinous substance that Ezra knew would haunt him forever and would ensure he could never eat blancmange again.
Taking a deep breath, Ezra looked about him. The 'brown horizon', which did indeed take up a goodly proportion of the ex-bedroom, was a bear. Ezra crouched down beside it, relieved to see that it was fully formed and apart from apparent unconsciousness, appeared fine.
He studied it for several minutes before he realised what it was. Much larger than even a grizzly – colossal was a suitable word - with dapple-grey 'spots' on its snout, Ezra realised with a thrill of shock that the creature was a Cave Bear…Ursus Spelaeus. Memory came clearly back to him – a school outing from one of his many exclusive boarding schools to a zoo.
The most interesting feature of the playground for rich kids had been the 'interactive' Extinct Zoo, which displayed creatures such as T-Rex and others. Amongst the many exhibits had been all seven species of elephant – of which only three now remained – that Ezra had been genuinely interested in, but next to that was the North America section – Cave Bears, Cave Lions, giant horses and camels had once roamed the Midwest.
Ezra laid a hand on the thick, warm pelt. The Cave Bear had been a giant amongst its species and was unique amongst all the ursine species. Unlike all currently existing species of bear which would attack Man – even actively hunt humans in the case of the Polar Bear – Cave Bears were almost completely herbivorous and consistently easy for humans to domesticate and make pets due to a placid nature. Evidence of Cave Bears as pets abounded in many North American and European archaeological sites. Ezra knew that the bear had to be Josiah.
"Oh mah lord." Ezra looked around him.
Crumpled near the bear was a panther whose ebony fur was as black as midnight. A large, full grown timber wolf with an impressive ruff lay prone on its side against the wall, next to it was a dog-fox whose fur was a deep, rich russet that many a redhead would die for.
"Mr Tanner? Mr Larabee?" Ezra looked around anxiously with a hint of panic and then blinked in amazement and despite the surreal nature of the situation, smiled: "How apropos."
Also crumpled on the floor were two birds. The smaller was a medium sized hawk whose feathers were a rich bronze, and next to it was the symbol of America, the Bald Eagle. This one's feathers were much blacker coloured than usual for the species and even comatose it exuded viciousness. Ezra looked around him, his keen intellect fitting the pieces together. The machine's field of fire was a narrow diagonal beam – the militia man's collapse must have sent the beam to 'broad disperse', but it wasn't wide enough to blast the whole room. Everything within the beam had been… 'transmogrified'…
"Holbachstein was partly out of the field of the beam, and it killed him trying to change him."
Hearing the words from his own mouth brought Ezra back to the present and the need to act quickly. Orrin Travis had arranged for back up to arrive thirty minutes after Team 7 began their assault, which meant in six minutes seven seconds the cavalry were going to charge the front gate.
"Josiah! Nathan!"
It took four precious minutes to revive his six teammates and calm down the growling, yipping, squawking sextet.
"QUIET!" Ezra was perversely pleased when total silence instantly descended. "In two minutes the rest of the good guys are going to be here. Now, Holbachstein is dead and this machine is clearly on life support. All I can do is set it to go one more time and hope it reverses the process – I could kill you all, or you could all end up staying like that for eternity. Are you sure you want me to proceed?" He winced at the cacophony of growls and screeches.
Ezra went behind the machine and carefully lifted off the stiffening corpse, licking his lips as he saw the damage wrought. The two birds, bear, panther, wolf and fox huddled together in the centre of the room, all wobbly and ungainly. The wolf's ears twitched back and forth and Ezra realised that the ATF and FBI must be approaching in the distance. It was now or never.
Perhaps because of his failing mind, Holbachstein's creation was easy to use. You pressed the large green button to start, the red one to stop. Hoping it still had enough juice for one more blast, Ezra slapped his hand down on green – then ducked reflexively as the machine's circuits blew in a shower of sparks.
Continued in Chapter 11…
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