Ultra-Fauna (© Jesus Riddle Morales)
Page 1 "I told you there would be
diversity here!" An athletic woman prodded scornfully. "Diversity, you say? My
dog was just eaten alive!? The master angler griped. Aaron Cobalt was a
middle-age fisherman with a world renowned reputation. At just five-foot seven,
he wasn’t the tallest or strongest angler of his era, but he was certainly the
most famous. He had a hit cable show that aired in seventeen nations and large
expedition funding from some of the best naturalist organizations on the
planet, which now included corporate advertising. But today, he was angered
over an extremely bizarre notification from his wealthy client. Celina Rivera was a slim
Hispanic girl from Mexico with a Bachelors Degree in biodiversity and a Masters
in evolutionary biology. As a scientific muse, she followed in the footsteps of
greats like Ward, Dawkins, Wilson, and Gould. However, a month ago, she had
stumbled upon something far more vital to the history of the planet than her
predecessors could ever imagine. Yet, for the moment, she had to explain a few
things to Aaron, being as how some unknown species of river fish had just
gulped up his prize Labrador. "I realize that your dog
has been…er, eaten, but could you calm down for a moment?" Celina asked. "I fished in this part of
the Amazon basin for years, lady," Aaron replied, while wiping the drenching
sweat from his forehead. "I have never seen a fish like that before; hell, it
just leapt on the boat and ate my damn dog!" "Okay, let me try to
explain; do you feel a little hotter than usual?" "Huh? What kind of stupid
question is that, brainy?" "It’s good one; please,
just answer me." Aaron let his thoughts
drift. It was unusually hot, even for this time of the year when the Amazon
River flooded the forest ridges. He glared out in the odd colored reddish gleam
of the sun, and then peered back towards the river’s rising tide line. The
jungle around them looked thick and unfriendly as it always did, but something
seemed particularly eerie about this afternoon. "Yes, it’s a little hotter
than normal, but I don’t see how that has anything to do with the fish I just
seen." Celina had on a thin pair
of shorts on and an even thinner white blouse that did a poor job of hiding the
sports bra that wielded her ample bosom. Aaron had to turn his face from the
smart woman to avoid being caught admiring her salacious form. Since the heat
made her sweat profusely, a sensual gleam of shining slime gave the bronze and
green-eyed woman a very lascivious glazing. Celina may have been a knock-out
physically, but her demeanor was pure nerd, she even wore the stereotypical
cat-eyed glasses that sported a bind of tape along its cracked inseam. "Look at this," Celina
said while offering the small river boat’s thermometer. "It’s 109 degrees, over
twenty degrees higher than when we first launched the boat two hours ago." "So what, we’re in a heat
wave; all that means is we should be heading back sooner. I don’t want you to
have a heat stroke; then who would sign the checks for this expedition?" "I don’t think money or
even your dog will be of much concern to you once you find out where we are." "Puh-lease, lady – can you
please make some sense already?" "Okay; look at your
compass can you tell me where we’re at?" Aaron pulled out his
compass, aiming it and three other navigational tools towards the freakishly
orange sun of the Amazon’s pink horizon. "Ah ha, here we are; were
at Tribal Tributaries, southwest of the Peruvian gulch." "I really don’t think so,
Aaron." "What the hell are you
talking about?" "Do you recall those Mayan
ruins we passed thirty minutes ago? "Do you mean the
Sun-Dials?’ "Yes; collectively they
have long been known as a primitive type of sundial structure, but I’ve
recently learned they are much more than that. [ Continue to page 2 ] |