To Kill a Myna Bird

By Al Horn

As the vessel emerged into real time a large object struck it dead center. The resulting static crackle resonating through the small enclosure jarred the chrononauts to the bone. "What the blazing Hell happened?" demanded one of the two travelers.

"I'm not sure, Jonah," replied the other one, his head tilted toward the ground in front of them. "It looks like the prehistoric version of a Myna bird. A dead one"

His companion chuckled as the top of their 'bubble craft' slowly began to unravel from the top as if it were made of thread. Not that either man had noticed the anomaly.  "I ask you Saul, what were the odds of that happening?"

The ten-foot orb had a small platform the two men stood upon with an operating panel on a four-foot pedestal. Saul took a few seconds to examine the cliff before them, and then hit the abort button. Again, unnoticed to the two travelers, the unraveling stopped then began to reverse itself. Muffled sounds behind them had drawn Jonah's attention. "What's so interesting?" he asked as he acknowledged the abort command. Jonah's failure to answer caused him to turn and see for himself.

"They're us," Jonah said under his breath. "They're us."

The sight before him was just as shocking for Saul. In a direct line, less than seven feet apart, were six platforms similar to the one they were standing on. On each platform laid a pair of figures covered by the 'Mynas'. The one furthest away looked as if the bodies had been picked clean. The figures on the one closest to them were still struggling.

Occasionally, as wings would flap, one could see the faces of the prey. Saul rubbed at his bare face as he noticed the 'Saul' before him had longer hair and a mustache. His jumpsuit was also a different color. Jonah's counterpart appeared to mirror him in every way. Saul's double caught sight of them and shouted, "Don't shoot them!"

Before either man could comment two of the creatures jumped onto the top of the vessel. Both stuck their beaks into the top opening just before it 'sealed'. A few seconds later, the craft flashed into the time vortex. Waves of green, yellow, and blue washed over them. Within minutes they reappeared in the trip chamber. Saul was about to hit the kill switch when Jonah cried out. "My God, they're still alive!"

Saul looked up to see the beasts flapping away. The creature's foot-long beaks were trapped in the stasis field. Their eyes were firmly fixed on the two humans inside. "Tough bugger's, aren't they?" asked Saul.

Jonah replied, "Yeah, and if you had hit the kill switch they would have landed right on top of us. They may only be half our size but I don't intend to find out who is tougher."

"I agree. What will we do now?"

"Nothing," replied a voice.

Both men turned to face the observation window. Colonel Fowler was standing on the other side with a curious look on his face. "A security detail is on it's way," boomed through the chamber. "We are going to try to take the creatures alive."

"Well, that makes sense," Jonah stated. "We could study them. Learn about their true biology as well as any parasites crawling around on them."

"If they're male and female we could mate them and release them into the wild," returned Saul. He pointed to the one directly above Jonah. "That one has larger coloring around the eyes. I would guess it to be the female."

"Maybe we should name them," said Jonah.

At that point four soldiers came into the chamber. They took up stations in each corner. Instead of standard military rifles they were each armed with stun weapons. Each gun fired a barb attached to a wire carrying ten thousand volts from the packs on each persons back.

"Take aim."

As four laser beams lanced out to mark each gun's target, Saul noticed the activation rods above each soldier begin to glow. "Jonah, are we grounded in any way?"

"Of course not. We would never leave the chamber once the rods are charged."

"Fire!"

As each wire hit it's target the charge bounced off of the beast and reflected back toward the activation rods. The chamber lit up briefly before the men noticed the familiar waves of color. "What happened?" asked Jonah.

"The lasers from those weapons reflected off of the stasis field producing a regeneration sequence into the rods. The combined voltage from the battery packs created a launch charge. The system computer was confused enough to finish the job. We're going back."

"We'll just abort as soon as we get there."

"I doubt it," said Saul pointing to a blank console.

As the craft exited the vortex the stasis field died. Saul jumped off the surface taking Jonah with him. "Get under the platform," he told his companion in a low voice. The sun was shining bright enough to completely shadow the two men from creatures on the surrounding cliffs.

"What will we do now?" asked Jonah.

"Wait."

"For what?"

"Salvation, I hope." Less than two minutes later the air in front of them began to shimmer. "Back onto the platform! Now!" Both men scrambled up and stood in crouching positions. Saul faced away from the other transport platforms. He could see through the shimmering field. A creature was in a glide pattern toward them some eighty feet away. "On my mark, jump toward that beast."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"Just do it! Ready. Set. Go!"

Both men took one step and leaped. Saul had one hand out pointing to an unknown point in space. Just before the creature reached them a stasis field formed around them. As the animal hit the field, Saul hit the abort button.

"What the blazing Hell happened?" asked two Jonah's in unison.