"Is everyone ok?", asked captain Maguire raising his voice just above a whisper as he crouched in the dark amid the fading light.
"Yes captain", replied captain Lucinda urgently whispering back while crouching beside him in the long grass. "I did a head count, everyone is fine, there are no reported injuries.
"Good, it's time to get the hell out of here", whispered captain Maguire, wiping out his communicator from his utility belt.
"Shuttle return!", ordered captain Maguire raising his voice just above a whisper.
"Sorry captain, I am currently unable to comply with that order", came the prompt response over the communicator.
"What do you mean, you are unable to comply!?", asked captain Maguire whispering urgently into the communicator.
"I am attempting to lose a pursuing flock of angry terraductus. I 'm afraid I can not turn back to your position at present", explained the shuttle pilot.
"Ok do you best to shirk them off and return to pick up the research team as soon as you can", whispered captain Maguire calming down.
"Bad news, he whispered", he said turning to captain Lucinda as he returned the communicator onto his utility belt. "But why would terraductus suddenly want to attack the shuttle?", captain posed the question whispering urgently. "They seemed to have no problem with the shuttle earlier when we first arrived?"
"Maybe they felt threatened. Primal instinct is to attack prey or an assumed threat. In the case of the shuttle I think it's the latter", whispered back captain Lucinda.
"But what caused the stampede to begin with is what I want to know", remarked captain Maguire whispering below his breath.
"You remember when I told you I had to collect another specimen?", asked captain Lucinda whispering with a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"Yes", replied captain Maguire"... don't tell me you had something to do with it said captain Maguire whispering urgently, noting the discomfort registering on her face.
"I made a mistake while trying to draw a specimen when I injected a dinosaur", she whispered".
"You did what...!?, captain Maguire almost shouted but managed to keep his voice just above a whisper.
"I had already assigned someone else to collect a plant specimen. We just needed one specimen for our research purposes", explained captain Lucinda with urgently whispered statements.
"An animal specimen", captain Maguire whispered.
"Yes but I miscalculated and struck the animal's jugular vein. The process was supposed to be quick and painless. The animal was not supposed to feel a thing", captain Lucinda whispered.
"Shhh! I hear something", a male member of the research team whispered urgently gesturing with a finger across his lips for silence.
Everyone fell silent and began looking around into the forest around them.
"There!", a female member whispered of the team pointed out to where there was a brief rustling of grass indicating that something had just passed that way. All eyes were cast in the indicated direction.
"There!", another team member pointed out in a whispering with urgency. "There!, another member pointed out. "There!", another pointed also pointed out.
Then another, then another, until it became a chorus. There was increased and more frequent rustling of the grass around them giving an impression of something running very fast encircling the group, throwing them into a panic. They stood together in back to back facing the forest around in them.
"We are surrounded", whispered captain Lucinda.
"Draw your blasters and set them to stun!, captain Maguire ordered speaking quickly.
Just they reached for the energy weapons on their utility belts several figures leapt at them f out of the grass. There were screams of fear from the female members of the research team. There was a brief attempt at resistance before the research team was quickly overwhelmed by the leaping figures wielding primitive hand held weapons.
Captain Maguire revived with his head throbbing as though he had struck with a blunt object. He was aware of a sense of motion. Looking up he saw his wrists were bound around one end of a pole from which he was dangling. His feet were similarly bound around the other end of the same same pole. He could feel moisture flowing on the part of his head where the throbbing was coming from which he quickly realised it was his own blood.
In the darkness, he could see a two scantily clad figures with only the area around their private parts adequately concealed. One was at his head and the other at his feet. Forcing his head to turn around he saw they were part of a column with similarly clad figures carrying burdens in similar fashion to him, two to a burden.
He realised with a sinking feeling that the burdens they were carrying were members of the research team.
The column was moving quickly and without any sound without except for the rustling of the grass.Captain Maguire tried to undo the bindings on his hands. If only he could just get to the blaster secured on his utility belt. They might yer have a chance at survival. He would be able to put on an impressive demonstration for them. One which unfortunately would make a lasting impression in their collective primitive memory for all time.
It was one shot he regretted he would have to take but there was no other way. Their captors for all he knew could be cannibals.
Scaring their captors seemed the only option he had to rescue the research team without having to harm anyone. He would just hurt their pride a little and bring them several billion years forward into the future but they would live.
More importantly the research team would live to show the results of the work to their world and posterity. The thought have him a surge of hope and he struggled spiritedly against his bindings. If he could wriggle even one hand free it would be enough.
He was an excellent shot with either hand. Just one chance to grab his blaster was all he needed, but the more he struggled the more the futility of the effort dawned on him. The bindings were just too tight.