CHAPTER 275

Daniel felt a pair of eyes on him. His pupils darted up. Shifting his gaze from one guard to the next he saw that they remained where they were. Though their stares had been fixed on him the whole time, Daniel knew there was more to the feeling he had that he was being watched. There was another present.

Searching his gut, Daniel's eyes drifted past the fence and into the trees beyond. He searched them carefully for a time until his gaze settled upon what he knew was out there.

In the jungle there was a particularly large tree with a broad trunk and thick branches. The spacing and shape of the limbs made it the perfect kind of tree for climbing. Within the leaves Daniel saw a glimmer of two eyes that belonged to a shadowy figure.

"Hello, Skeksi," Daniel whispered with a smirk. "You wanna have a chat? You've certainly caught my attention."

Daniel noted that after a time Vulture was not moving, though the two nearest guards had backed away considerably.

Daniel believed he understood the gesture and said, "alright, fair enough," and he lowered his shotgun to the ground and placed it at his feet. When he straightened up he held out his open palms to reveal that he was no longer bearing a weapon. "Well then?"

There was a stirring among the leaves, and Vulture emerged on a limb that stretched out toward the roof of the hanger. She proceeded slowly at first, then in two powerful bounds the utahraptor leapt and vaulted herself over onto the rooftop.

Her hind limbs settled with a heavy lurch, bearing the full impact of her weight. The dinosaur's stiff tail bobbed behind her as she attained a steady balance on the outer edge of the roof. Her toes splayed, and her hind talons curled. Then she lifted her head to address Daniel.

The utahraptor's scaly skin shined with rain water, and her feathers sparkled with droplets that she shook away. Her eyes narrowed on Daniel, and she let out a vocalization that was challenging to discern between a purr and a growl.

Daniel returned Vulture's stare, and the two sized each other up for a moment. Daniel held up the lanyard and turned the ID over in his fingers again so he could see Gary's picture. He examined it thoughtfully and then looked at Vulture.

"Nothing gets past you bastards, does it?"

He turned the plastic card over in his fingers, and Vulture watched him with the same kind of intellect behind her eyes that any human would have. Daniel could see it, and it intrigued him more than anything else.

"I suppose you find this all terribly interesting, don't you? Here we are, running for our lives from you, and then one of us goes and stabs the other in the back. Now it seems you're wondering why."

Daniel grabbed the chainlink and leaned in close. "If you're thinking our world is more complex than the kill or be killed food chain you live in, it's not. I promise you that. There's just hunters and prey."

Daniel locked eyes with Vulture. He stared at the utahraptor for a while, examining every detail of her being before speaking again. His eyes narrowed. "So, what now?"

Vulture's expression changed. She was more alert and less focused on Daniel. In another moment she turned about and leapt toward the trees. With a heavy thump she was back on the branch from where she came. A few bounds later Vulture disappeared among the leaves and the darkness.

Daniel unhooked his fingers from the fence and tucked Gary's ID card away in his pocket. He looked behind him to see if anyone had been watching his interaction with Vulture. As far as he could tell they had not.

Daniel turned back toward the trees, picked up his shotgun, and whispered, "thanks for the chat."