Imagine That: Justice

The scanner captured the object on screen with a matrix grid and altered the contrast to gain an outline. Ed waited. Thirty seconds passed and the results finally appeared.

"Object: unidentified.

Nature: animal.

Thermal reading: 72 degrees.

Approximate size: 2. 3 metres.

Quadruped.'"

"It's an animal all right," said Ed "This should be interesting." A criminal by nature, the idea of killing something appealed to him.

He went quickly to a box and began to pull out all the hunting equipment. Snapping on goggles he pushed them up to his forehead, slipped into a pair of black gloves, added several weapons to his back holster, looped a steelite rope onto the hook on his belt, attached several telescoping rods and other tools. His nearest medical aid was on his mother ship far above him and he had no other way to it other than his landing craft. He would have to be careful.

Setting out on foot, he headed directly for the place where the life-form had been detected. His stride was longer than on earth, due to the low gravity, so he made quick progress. He was not even breathing hard when he arrived at the edge of the valley, where the precipitous side rose up to the sky, all carpeted with purple.

Using the infra red viewers, he detected a trail of heat on the ground, which started near to where he stood, and passed almost straight up the valley wall.

"Strange way to go?" thought Ed as he began to climb, then he reconsidered. If the creature had gone either left or right, it would have been in full view for a long time. Far better to go up and hide in less than two minutes, than to be easy to spot for five or more. Ed began to admire the intelligence of whatever it was. It would be a worthy opponent to rip apart with bullets.

He cleared the top of the hill and looked about. Before him spread a scene of hills and gorges, scrub-covered rocks and dark ravines. The planet was relatively young, but it had been ravaged by floods and earthquakes in the not too distant past.

"Now where's he gone?" thought Ed as he scanned for the trail. He found it and went on down the hill. The purple flowers grabbed at his boots and sent a beautiful