Michael Jaquish

Time Loves a Hero Michael Jaquish

Savage yells of glee reachedtheir ears, and he poked his head up to see twenty to thirty cannibals, armedto the teeth, fording the stream unimpeded. The small bodies of half a dozenpygmies floated in the water, staining it red with their blood. A dozen morelay dead or dying on the shore between them and the water. Undoubtedly, a fewhad escaped to the forest behind them, but they were long gone now. It appearedthat only he and Eden remained alive on the bloody battleground. And they weretotally defenseless. His mouth went suddenly dry as he contemplated his owndemise. He'd imagined a lot of things in his short life, but one thing he'dnever considered before that particular moment, was the possibility of beinggutted by the spear of a cannibal in some remote jungle. His life startedflashing before his eyes, and he shook his head savagely to clear his thoughts. Suddenly, they were engulfed indarkness as a huge shadow fell over them and the gleeful shouting of thesavages stopped. The cannibals were frozen like dark statues, literally inmidstream. They stared up into the sky, gripping their spears and bowsimpotently, shared expressions of horror and amazement spreading across theirfaces. Directly overhead hovered theblack, pitted and oxidized iron body of the Atlantic Variator. As they watched,two dinner plate-sized panels slid back and the golden tips of two lasercannons emerged. Beads of sweat popped out along his hairline as the silencewas broken by an electrical crackling and the muzzles of the cannons beganrotating toward them.