Imagine That: Justice

scrutinized every patch of flowers, every tree, every half-exposed rock. Nothing passed his attention until he was satisfied the way was clear. He raised himself above the brim of purple and ran, crouching, to the shelter of the trees.

He scanned the area. No heat sources. He had come a long way, on the river. The trail was further up. He walked carefully, stopping every few paces to make sure he wasn't being watched. Nothing showed on the screens in the head-piece.

He eventually arrived back at the place where he had been ambushed. The heat trail was almost gone from the ground now. Only the faintest smudges of white showed in the scanner. Ed followed the trail into the trees and stopped at a large, natural formation of rock, which jutted out over the cliff. He checked in all directions before pausing to look down at the river. He had a clear view of the whole bend. This was where the creature had stood, watching him float away on the air-bag. It knew he was still alive. Was it watching him now?

Experience had taught Ed to take the longest way round when tracking. Some of the animals he had trailed on other planets had attacked from the rear, by circling right round. They had become the trackers and Ed had been the prey. Only quick thinking and evasive action had saved him from death on a number of occasions.

Up ahead was a clearing. It ran like a purple dagger along the side of the steep hill, with its point in the tall trees far away. The heat trail grew stronger. The creature had run along the edge of the blade, so to speak, and was probably hiding at the tip. Ed turned to the right and went up the side of the hill. He went slowly, almost enjoying the climb. He had trained, a little, in the mother ship. Now he was putting that training to work.

When he was near the summit, he stopped to catch his breath. The thin atmosphere carried less and less oxygen the higher he went, and his body was beginning to suffer.

Far below, in the rambling, rolling countryside, the dagger-shaped strip was like a needle. The two suns were dipping lower to the south now, and a third sun was beginning to rise in the west. There was no night on this planet.

Ed began to move on, but he had hardly taken three steps before he heard rocks tumbling. He looked up and saw them, bouncing and tumbling, clusters of rough, grey rocks. They smashed into the small, scrubby trees and broke into pieces, or leaped right over them, hurtling like meteorites. Two spinning missiles shot past Ed but the others crashed harmlessly by, crunching like