Star Child by Paul Alan Read Free Book Online

blaze of fiery blue splashes. The rat’s overly large eyes reflected like glass as they attacked.
     
    “What huge ivory teeth!” C 34 loudly remarked while pulling on the weapon accurately.
     
    Squeals and death groans followed with every trigger pull. The companion’s aim made quick work of the charging beasts. Burning flesh and fur created a tangy odor. The dead piled up partially blocking off the smoked filled hall.
    A loud rumble quavered the ground; debris filled the large antechamber before the Centurions entered.
     
    “Rebel Lexis, we are going to need the diggers in here. The vermin are very smart.”
    “Please specify transmission?” Lexis inquired from the vault.
    “We have cleared the upper chamber but they collapsed a tunnel behind them to conceal their escape,” Centurion 34 responded.
    “I confirm request. I will dispatch an Engineer immediately to assess the situation.”
    “Affirmative,” said Centurion 34.
     
    The Centurions killed any remaining giant rats before the day ended. Lexis then had the Engineers destroy the existing tunnel. She wanted to turn the pyramid into a livable fortress for Tiberius when he grew into adulthood.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
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    The thick grass bent below his large feet as he slowly crept through with his spear. Tiberius’s shark like skin easily fended off the early morning dew; though the air was still, making it a challenging hunt. A pocket of fog rose from the ground, helping conceal the approach. At any time, sneaking up on a herd of deer was a difficult prospect. And after singling out a large buck, Tiberius stood. The deer’s eyesight caught his movement but it was too late. In that instant he cantilevered at the waist, reeled back the spear, and the buck turned looking straight into Tiberius’s eyes when the spear flew with deadly accuracy. The ill-fated animal dropped straight away, and death gripped the groaning deer as it struggled to breathe.
    Lexis had taken Tiberius hunting nearly every day for two months, teaching him tactics. She taught him how to use any means of cover to mask or hide his presence, such as trees, tall grass, weather, and the lay of the land.
     
    “Always approach downwind so the animal won’t smell you,” instructed Lexis.
    “Yes, Lexis. I know, you told me this already,” responded Tiberius after pulling the spear out of the dying Pecora.
    “I know but I want to reiterate what you have learned.”
     
    With unpredictability, Tiberius plunged his knife into the upper abdomen, splaying open the organs. He then reached up inside the deer, and pulled out the animal’s heart. Lexis watched in silence as Tiberius ate the still beating heart. “He’s thinking for himself,” she thought.
    Observing the day’s hunt, she noticed for the first time that he had developed his own throwing technique, and displayed a primal desire to connect with the animal. “He is becoming a skilled hunter.” Dropping the deer immediately, showed his mastery. Usually, the two had to track the dying animal for some distance.
    Outside of teaching him all the sciences, history, and everything she knew about being human, she also had to prepare him for the inevitable. Soon he would want to mate. The genetically modified females would be his only option when the time came. One day he would have to challenge the Southern Clan Leader’s position, and fight him to the death. This course of action would be his only way to mate within the Clan.
    Already showing aggressive Humanoid tendencies, Tiberius was in the beginning stages of puberty. Soon he would be uncontrollable, and nothing would stop him searching out a mate. For now, all she could do was prepare him for adulthood. The Cydonian plain was where she would do it. Also, by running him all over the savanna, she hoped it would help cool off his jets until he was ready to usurp the Southern Clan Leader.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
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