Alarm of War, Book II: The Other Side of Fear by Kennedy Hudner Page B

large rock outcropping.  We’ll use that as our anchor.  Move!”
    They dashed recklessly back down the trail, heedless of roots that might trip the horses and the countless branches that whipped their faces, skidding to a stop when they reached the outcrop.  About forty feet wide, it rose about fifteen feet to a narrow shelf, then another thirty feet to the top.  Rafael leapt off his mount and ran to the pack horse, slashing at the straps with his knife rather than take the time to untie them.  The pylons for the power fence tumbled to the ground and he snatched them up, throwing one to Emily.  “Set it up as close to the face of the rock as you can get it!” he ordered, quickly extending one of the other pylons to its ten foot height.  Emily did as she was told, telescoping out the plastic rods to their full length and locking them, then extending the wide base so the pylon would stand erect.  There were three wide, dish-shaped cones fastened to the side of the pylon and she positioned them to point at the next set of pylons Rafael was erecting.
    The grunting and wailing noise grew in volume and pitch as it moved closer.  “Secure the horses!” Rafael told her as he extended the third pylon.  Emily snatched the reins for Rosie and the gelding and pulled them as close to the rock as she could, then tied them to the trunk of a small tree.  Rosie’s eyes were rolling in her head and she was snorting and rearing, but there was nothing to do for it now.  Emily wheeled on the pack horse, reaching for the reins, but the animal suddenly shied away from her grasp and bolted down the path the sambar had taken.
    Rafael looked horrified.  “It’s still got the plasma rifle and the spare energy packs for the fence!”  Emily started to chase after it, but then the first grogon came barreling through the undergrowth and stopped about one hundred feet in front of them.
    It was an ugly beast, more like an Old Earth hyena than a wolf, with high muscular shoulders, long, powerful legs, a wide chest that tapered to narrow haunches and black fur streaked with lines of scarlet along its flanks.  But the most arresting thing was its face.  A bulging, knobby forehead fell to a long, pointed snout that was presently showing a lot of teeth as the grogon snarled at them.  Its eyes were black, all black with no change in color from the eyeball to the pupil.  The first grogon was soon joined by four more and they stood shoulder to shoulder, eyeing the two humans warily, but inching forward nonetheless.
    Rafael was still struggling to get the pylons assembled.  “Don’t let them get any closer!” he warned, snapping together the last pylon and anchoring it near the wall.  He frantically backtracked, moving from pylon to pylon and adjusting the cones.  Behind them, Emily could hear the horses’ frantic whinnies and in front of them two more grogin joined the first four.  As one they moved forward.
    “Emily!” Rafael shouted.
    Emily raised the sonic rifle, centered it on the middle two grogin and fired.  There was a loud WHAPPA! snap and three of the grogin tumbled backwards as if hit with a mighty hand.  Two groggily regained their feet, but the third stayed down.  Emily tightened the cone settings.  She’d have to aim more carefully, but the impact would be that much more lethal for those she shot.  Five more quick shots and another two grogin were down.  The three survivors backed away grudgingly, calling out to their pack in the eerie, undulating wail that was their trademark.
    Then from the undergrowth burst ten, then twenty, then thirty grogin, a tsunami of black fur and snarling teeth.  They paused for a moment to take in the scene, then sprang to the attack.
    One of the annoying limitations of sonic rifles is that due to the need to recharge they cannot be set on automatic.  Wishing fervently that she was in a space ship instead of high on some damn mountain, Emily went to one knee and shot as rapidly