{"id":12,"date":"2007-06-17T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2007-06-17T04:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/?p=12"},"modified":"2022-11-29T11:06:07","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T16:06:07","slug":"time-of-the-grnarpart-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/time-of-the-grnarpart-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Time of the Gr&rsquo;nar&mdash;Part&nbsp;I"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">Time of the Gr&rsquo;nar&mdash;Part I<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/time-of-the-grnarpart-ii\/\" title=\"Time of the Gr&rsquo;nar&mdash;Part II\">Time of the Gr&rsquo;nar&mdash;Part II<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\">\u201c<strong>C<\/strong><\/span>ome out, come out, wherever you are. Last one to show his face today gets to be steaks and chops tomorrow!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chad Matson floated above the muddy water hole on his hovercycle, searching the horizon for the kison that had wandered off from the main herd. When herding animals that pack\u201d\u2018grazed in the tens of thousands, maintaining a head count was next to impossible. But Chad had a feel for the great dumb brutes that wore his father\u2019s brand. He could always tell when a few too many of them had strayed. And now, seeing the bottom silt of the last water hole before the vast Junsuka Desert that abutted the family farm churned and gray, he had all the proof he needed that some of them had strayed too far.<\/p>\n<p>Can\u2019t have that, he thought. Not this close to round\u201d\u2018up. Dehydration ships on their way, Earth hungry for meat\u2014no, no, you ignorant beef bags, none of you are leaving your bones in the sand on my watch.<\/p>\n<p>Chad shifted his weight, nudging his cycle closer to an outcropping of bluish rock jutting out sharply over the water hole. The strange, pancake\u201d\u2018stack formations that dotted Byanntia\u2019s equator had never ceased to amaze the young plainsman. It had been his father\u2019s generation\u2014The First, as they were known\u2014which had discovered the rocks\u2019 life\u201d\u2018saving secret decades earlier. The layered pores of the formations\u2019 surfaces absorbed water, storing it in hundreds of tiny internal pouches. Crushing a section of rock freed the trapped moisture, a trick that saved hundreds of lives when the planet was first settled. True, the result was an oily tasting moisture thick with sand, but drinking it was better than dying. Chad\u2019s father knew that fact all too well.<\/p>\n<p>The rocks were actually a cross between mineral and vegetable life. A biologist who came out from Earth to see the formations described them as being something on the order of silicon based\u201d\u2018sponges. Of course, he had not been able to explain why the rocks did what they did, or how they could be duplicated. Eventually he had left, taking whatever other diverting, but ultimately useless, knowledge he had with him, and life had gone on much as it had before his arrival.<\/p>\n<p>Chad pulled a deep breath in through his nose, releasing it again through one side of his mouth. He was just about to make a looping circular pass out over the plains when something curious below caught his eye. A touch from his left foot sent his cycle in a measured drop, hanging him a scant yard above the still thinly\u201d\u2018gray water.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGoddamn,\u201d he whispered, more from awe than a need for privacy. \u201cThat looks like bones.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A numbing roar sounded behind the young plainsman, reverberating out over the desert. Chad down\u201d\u2018thumbed his handlebar controls, sending his cycle into a reverse half spin that not only turned him around but sent him skimming rapidly backward out over the waterhole a measured thirty feet. The maneuver was a well\u201d\u2018calculated move\u2014one that allowed Chad to face whatever was behind him while instantly giving him a safe amount of distance. Or, so he had thought.<\/p>\n<p>Chad believed he caught a glimpse of some kind of movement, but he could not actually see what it was that leaped from the outcropping toward him. A shadow stretched from the rocks to the hovering cycle in a fragment of instance, knocking the plainsman out of his seat. Chad\u2019s back hit the water at the same moment his riderless vehicle crashed into the rocks. His head broke the water, his hands clawing for his sidearm.<\/p>\n<p>What in Hell have I &#8230;<\/p>\n<p>The thought died in the young man\u2019s brain as a devastatingly powerful blow smashed against his chest. Air crashed out of his body, his throat constricting, lungs flattening, their walls collapsing inward. Blood splashed out over the young rancher\u2019s shattered breastbone. His weapon fell from his suddenly useless fingers. His eyes blinked uncontrollably even as his knees buckled and his thoughts jumbled.<\/p>\n<p>Dying, he realized. I\u2019m dying. Have to warn\u2014<\/p>\n<p>A second blow collided with the back of Chad\u2019s head. Skin broke, bone snapped, blood flowed.<\/p>\n<p>Another roar sounded across the plains, followed by the sounds of a ruined hovercycle motor going into automatic shutdown, and then, a shadow pulled itself out of the water and moved toward the body floating face down in the water, its many teeth grinding in hunger.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\">\u201c<strong>T<\/strong><\/span>his world is such a halt,\u201d complained Stewart with the sneering righteousness of teenaged authority. \u201cWhat could Dad have been thinkin\u2019 when he helped settle this pit?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSeal your mush\u201d\u2018hatch, will you?\u201d snapped Stewart\u2019s older brother Joseph. \u201cMy brain\u2019s baked from having to tune your damn frequency morning, noon and night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBite one,\u201d snapped Stewart. \u201cWith all the planets in this galaxy, why\u2019d we have to get born on the most boring pukeball ever found? No double sun, no extra moons, no rings\u2014might as well be all the drok way back on Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joseph just shook his head. How many times did he have to say it? Anything extra in orbit around a planet causes changes in weather patterns. Satellites not much larger than Earth\u2019s moon had been known to virtually tear planets apart by causing endless quakes and volcanic activity, not to mention the monstrous tides such bodies could create. And that insane nonsense about double suns\u2014did the goofy kid have to spend <em>all<\/em> his time scanning those cheap pulse thrillers?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow stupid can Chad be?\u201d asked Joseph finally, hoping to change the subject. \u201cGoing out stray tracking on his own, with his comm shut down, no less. He doesn\u2019t log a direction statement &#8230; I can\u2019t believe Dad is going to let him start running the ranch next year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy you always have to ragrip everything Chad does?\u201d Stewart pulled his kisonboy hat down over his forehead. \u201cHe can take care of himself. He took his bolt thrower. He\u2019ll be back plowin\u2019 through a stack of ribs while we\u2019re still out here eatin\u2019 sand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t get mad at everything Chad does,\u201d answered Joseph, working to control his souring anger. \u201cJust the stupid things. He\u2019s too damn unreliable to run Twin Feathers and I\u2019d just like to know what makes Dad think he won\u2019t have us ass\u201d\u2018deep in ruin after six months.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Knowing there was more than a little truth to what his older brother was saying, but not knowing how to defend Chad against it, Stewart changed the subject. \u201cWhatever\u2014why don\u2019t we try the comm again?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou do it,\u201d sighed Joseph. Removing his hat, the middle son of the Matson boys let his straight, dirty blonde hair billow in the slight breeze created by his cycle\u2019s forward motion. Staring out over the horizon, he tried to think like Chad would for a moment while his younger brother continued to call into his communicator. His dark blue eyes scanning the horizon, it was when he looked off to his left and spotted the dunes of the Junsuka that inspiration hit him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFollow me, squint. I\u2019ve got an idea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah,\u201d growled Stewart under his breath, \u201cAin\u2019t that just one of the things you\u2019re full of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two slammed outward above the still, thick grasslands, the stinger trees thinning rapidly as they approached the edges of Byanntia\u2019s great desert. Nearing the water hole Joseph had remembered as one of Chad\u2019s favorite location marks, he nudged his cycle to a lower speed, his eyes sectioning off and scanning the horizon block by block. After a moment, he said, \u201cHey, over there by that stinger &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joseph gunned his engine, heading toward whatever he had spotted. Stewart followed his older brother, staring more at the dangerous plant than anything around it. Stinger leaves and the tree\u2019s younger branches made good eating while still green, but most of the planet\u2019s inhabitants avoided them. They were far too wary of the tiny, spear\u201d\u2018like barbs the plants could release at intruders to attempt to use them for even the occasional meal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGlory in the morning,\u201d mused the older brother. \u201cWhat in Hell did that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At the base of the tree lay a scatter of kison bones\u2014broken, sucked dry, blood splashed everywhere. Oddly, the bones were completely stripped\u2014every vestige of muscle, cartilage and fat removed as if boiled away. Something more disturbing caught Joseph\u2019s attention. The ground was littered with stingers. Soil, grass, even the bones had been pierced. In the center of the fallout from the tree, however, there sat a semi\u201d\u2018circle of clear ground. Untouched.<\/p>\n<p>As if, thought Joseph, part of his mind refusing the notion he already knew must be true, whatever did this just sat there feeding &#8230; like the stingers didn\u2019t bother it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, where\u2019s the rest of it?\u201d asked Stewart. \u201cJing me, I\u2019ve never seen a kill this clean. Like the meat was vacuumed off the bones. What can do that?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGet back on your bike,\u201d answered Joseph, his voice cold and low, his eyes glued to the scatter of bones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou think the Kuzzi did it?\u201d responded Stewart. \u201cDoesn\u2019t look like it. I mean, they kill a kison, they bury it\u2019s heart near the kill. Don\u2019t see any dig holes here. Maybe it\u2019s not them damn aliens\u2014maybe it\u2019s some them new settlers, tryin\u2019 to make trouble for Dad. What d\u2019ya think?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joseph whirled around, confusion doubling his anger. \u201cThe Kuzzi were here first, you little shit,\u201d he snapped. \u201cThey\u2019re not the damn aliens\u2014all right?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDrop it a notch, Joey.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShut up,\u201d barked Joseph. Climbing on his bike, the young rancher snapped a holo print of the bones and the curious stinger pattern. As the shock of what he had found began to wear off somewhat, Joseph noted several unidentifiable tracks near the vile scatter. Snapping another holo, a close\u201d\u2018up of one of the prints, he brought them to his brother\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou see those tracks, Joe?\u201d he asked. \u201cYou see how deep they are? How far apart they\u2019re spread? Does that give you some idea of how big this thing must be?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Stewart\u2019s eyes went wide as realization began to seep into his consciousness. Backing toward his hovercycle in a stumbling half\u201d\u2018shuffle, he tried to mount the bike without breaking off his gaze. When he slipped and fell, he found himself staring down the barrel of his brother\u2019s bolt gun.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSorry,\u201d said Joseph, changing the angle of his weapon but not holstering it. \u201cWhen you yelled, I &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, no,\u201d answered Stewart quietly. \u201cIt\u2019s okay. Maybe we best just hug some cloud, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah,\u201d said Joseph. As the two took their cycles quickly to a safer altitude, the older brother checked his power box. He wanted to make certain he not only got proper storage on the holograms he snapped, but that he had enough juice for a non\u201d\u2018stop flight back to the ranch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u201d\u2018I hope Chad didn\u2019t run into this thing,\u201d stammered Stewart.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sure the others have already found him,\u201d lied Joseph. Eyeing the horizon nervously, he added, \u201cBut let\u2019s get back to the ranch anyway. It is getting dark.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\">\u201c<strong>W<\/strong><\/span>hat d\u2019ya mean, Doc?\u201d Angry denial and fear scratched at Jacob Matson, tearing at him, struggling to reduce him to the minor stature of ordinary men. \u201cYou\u2019re sayin\u2019 I got some disease forty years ago from the flight here to Byanntia that\u2019s gonna kill me now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s roughly it, Jacob,\u201d answered the doctor, unable to comprehend how circumstances could have brought him to a moment where he would need to pity a man like Jacob Matson.<\/p>\n<p>His patient fumed for a moment, lost in the struggle to understand what he had just been told. Matson was angry, yes\u2014but not with his doctor. The rancher was angry with his own mortality, with the universe\u2019s incredibly bad timing, with the fact that his unbeatable luck had finally dried up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo what\u2019s the solution?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is none, Jacob,\u201d answered the doctor in a quiet voice. \u201cThere\u2019s just nothing we can do. Medical science didn\u2019t know about the effects of wave distortions forty years ago. You were the man on monitor duty while everyone else was shielded in their cyro\u201d\u2018tubes. You took the hit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd these waves, they aged me thirty years? But I still looked &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was your organs, Jacob.\u201d The doctor wore his traditional white jumpsuit under his all\u201d\u2018weather range coat. Standing on the porch of the Twin Feathers ranch house, he tried to make his patient understand what had happened to him decades earlier. \u201cThe distortions set off chain reactions within certain nucleoids in your tissues &#8230; it caused them to burn up at twice their normal rate. Outside, yes\u2014you\u2019re still a man of ninety\u201d\u2018five &#8230; not at all old by today\u2019s standards. But internally, you\u2019re pushing a hundred and fifty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan\u2019t you fix them?\u201d asked Matson, masking his growing desperation with his usual barking voice. \u201cTransplants? Gimme a new heart, kidneys, whatever?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJacob, even if you could survive the multiple transplants, which you can\u2019t\u2014which a twenty year old couldn\u2019t\u2014where exactly am I supposed to get an entire set of adult male organs? Try to understand\u2014you\u2019re crumbling inside, Jacob. You\u2019ve got a year\u2014tops. And you\u2019re luckier than most to know about it this soon.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Well, it\u2019s good to know my luck hasn\u2019t deserted me, after all, thought the patriarch of Twin Feathers with mocking humor. Resignation dispelling his unaccustomed fear, the thin, white\u201d\u2018haired man took his doctor\u2019s hand in honest gratitude.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThanks, Doc. At least it gives me a year to get Chad squared away on runnin\u2019 the ranch\u2014and a year to make sure there\u2019s no diz\u2019n squatters on my land when I\u2019m gone.\u201d When the doctor gave his patient a stern look, Matson merely chuckled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, boohoo\u2014stare all you want. What\u2019re they gonna do, Doc? Put a dead man in the lock?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The doctor was about to answer when Matson\u2019s wife Shelby came out onto the porch. Her long straight silver hair still caught the late afternoon sun the way it did when she was a teenager, thought her husband. He looked at her intently, staring past her kison hide tunic dress and native Kuzzi jewelry, wondering for a moment how many more times he would be able to see her this way\u2014realizing his days for doing everything important were suddenly, abruptly, finite.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy, Doc Lieber,\u201d she said in a voice still rich with the twang of Earth. \u201cI didn\u2019t know you were here. And, Heavens, with a set of empty hands yet.\u201d Shooting her husband a playful frown, she added, \u201cYou must think Twin Feathers\u2019 hospitality severely lacking. What can I get you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNothing this time, Shelby, I was just leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, well then,\u201d answered the woman, understanding the looks on both men\u2019s faces, \u201cwhy don\u2019t you take just a minute to tell me what brought you all the way out here from New Dodge if it wasn\u2019t my cooking?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ll be deferring to the honorable Mr. Matson on that question, ma\u2019am,\u201d answered the doctor as he slid his wide\u201d\u2018brimmed hat back on his balding head. Buttoning his range coat, he said, \u201cBut I\u2019ll prime the pump by asking you to go easy on this old goat of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Matson\u2019s watched the doctor as he made his way down the functional, cut stone steps of the ranch house to his Terrain Hugger. The silver hovercar lifted to a standard nine meter height and then silently began the journey back to New Dodge City. Staring into her husband\u2019s eyes, Shelby Matson could see that something far worse than she could imagine was waiting for her.<\/p>\n<p>Steadying herself for the worst, she asked, \u201cAll right, what\u2019s up between you and the Doc? And don\u2019t even think of passing on some of your usual runaround. I\u2019ve been stuck with you too many years, raised too many kids and built this ranch up from nothing with you, so give it out and don\u2019t hold off on the bumpy parts of the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlain and simple, bride, I\u2019ve finally found that something I always knew was out there\u2014that something I can\u2019t bend with my own two hands or think my way around.\u201d When white fire danced across Shelby\u2019s eyes, Matson told her, \u201cLet\u2019s go inside &#8230; we need to talk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The two moved as one, the door closing silently behind them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>B<\/strong><\/span>y the time Joseph and Stewart returned to Twin Feathers, the darkness outside matched the black moods in their young hearts. They were half caught up in worry over their older brother, half awash in terror that they might already know what had happened to him. The pair found their parents sitting on the sandboard couch in the den of the ranch\u2019s central house. Joseph noted that his mother had been crying.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou guys are pretty worried about Chad, aren\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah,\u201d answered their father, agreeing with the minor truth in order to keep his larger one concealed for the moment. \u201cI take it you two didn\u2019t have any luck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, sir,\u201d responded Joseph. \u201cAnd it\u2019s too dark now to keep looking. You still didn\u2019t find anyone who\u2019s seen him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot yet,\u201d said Shelby as she rose from the couch, straightening her dress. \u201cBut I still think he\u2019s just wandered into Dodge to see his new girlfriend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGirlfriend?\u201d exploded Stewart. \u201cDon\u2019t tell me he\u2019s gone loopey over some squatter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell,\u201d admitted their mother, \u201cI don\u2019t think she\u2019s the daughter of any of the First\u2014Chad said her name is Delilah Carter, which is not a name I remember from the <em>Triumphant\u2019s<\/em> logs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJing me,\u201d sneered Stewart. \u201cChad dancin\u2019 dizzy over some tramp freighter whore &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cStew &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re gonna defend him, Joey?\u201d snapped Stewart. \u201cFor dinkin\u2019 with some runaway who jinked her family back on Earth. That\u2019s just what we need for Chad to bring home, some selfabsorb who\u2019s only claim to glory is deserting her own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCool down, runt, we got more important business right now.\u201d Turning back to his father, Joseph said, \u201cDad, Stew and I found a fresh kison kill on the south range I think you\u2019d better take a look at.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSon,\u201d responded Matson with a edgy weariness, \u201cI got a little more on my mind that &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019re going to have to trust me on this,\u201d interrupted Joseph as he inserted the holo he had shot out on the plains into the computer console there in the den. With the tabbing of a few commands, Joseph filled the center of the den with a three\u201d\u2018dimensional image of the grizzly scene.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat in the world &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Matson\u2019s voice trailed off as he studied the image in the middle of the room. He scratched his head with wonder, his illness suddenly completely forgotten. Joseph tabbed for a new image, telling his father, \u201cThere\u2019s more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A second holo he had shot of one of the footprints came into focus next to the first image. Matson sat back on his haunches, studying the image before him as closely as he would if he were in the presence of the real thing. His left hand strayed to his face, pulling at his clean\u201d\u2018shaven chin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI helped map this world, catalog its life forms,\u201d he mused, his eyes never leaving the monstrously large track. \u201cThere\u2019s nothin\u2019 here anywhere near big enough to have done this to a full grown kison\u2014nothing that leaves tracks like this.\u201d The patriarch turned to his wife.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot even a pack of yappers could\u2019ve done this. Nothing cleans bones like this &#8230; you know the Kuzzi better\u2019n anyone, sweetheart. Could they have done this\u2014maybe for one\u2019a their ceremonies or somethin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot that I know of,\u201d Shelby told her husband. \u201cThey only eat meat once a month\u2014and that\u2019s just for religious observance. Besides, they don\u2019t have the technology to strip bone that clean. Jing, I\u2019m not certain even we actually can do such things\u2014out in the middle of nowhere I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah,\u201d grumbled Matson. \u201cAnd even if they did, they didn\u2019t leave that barkin\u2019 track. Did they?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No one argued with the patriarch. Standing slowly, his eyes not leaving the holograms, Matson started giving orders. As was expected, everyone listened.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoe, alert the hands. Play \u2018em the holos. Then tell \u2018em we\u2019ll be standin\u2019 watch tonight. Get \u2018em to throw up the perimeter shields, too. Just a ten klik relay, for now\u2014let\u2019s not start throwin\u2019 money away by the bushelful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, sir,\u201d answered Matson\u2019s oldest surviving son. As Joseph headed out of the room, his father turned to his mother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShelby,\u201d Matson ordered, \u201cyou call Sheriff Duncan. Let him know what\u2019s going on. Flash him a copy of the holos. Make sure he throws the image out onto the landholder relay, too\u2014this is not the kind of thing we\u2019d want to be keeping a secret. And see if he\u2019s got any word on Chad yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As she moved to the ranch\u2019s comm center, Matson told Stewart, \u201cBoy, you make certain every man standin\u2019 watch has some iron to fill their fist. Pass out the repeller rifles\u2014make those mushheads depo a thumbprint for \u2018em\u2014and if those run out, break out whatever bolt throwers we have crated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, sir,\u201d answered Stewart leaving the room at a run. Turning back to his wife, Matson told her,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll form up search parties in the morning. We\u2019ll find Chad. And, if there\u2019s some thing out there, we\u2019ll find it, too. And we\u2019ll deal with it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shelby nodded in her husband\u2019s direction as she waited for the line to the Sheriff\u2019s office to clear. Staring at Matson, she could not help but be impressed anew with his grace under pressure. Never in the military nor ever elected to any kind of official office, still he was the kind of man who could think on his feet, who when he gave a command did not think twice about its being carried out. Shelby Matson knew the pressures tearing at her husband\u2014concern about Twin Feathers, about Chad, about his failing health, and now this new mystery\u2014and she marveled at how he could put his mind so coldly in order.<\/p>\n<p>Then, Sheriff Duncan\u2019s rough, but smiling face suddenly filled the comm screen. Shelby Matson fought back the tears she knew would return soon enough, and quietly began letting the lawman know what had happened.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\">\u201c<strong>N<\/strong><\/span>ope,\u201d said Sheriff Duncan into his commlink, \u201cPete hasn\u2019t seen Chad today, Mrs. Matson, nor anyone else, neither. I put the word out on the relay, but no one\u2019s called in. I\u2019ll put another pass on the system, though, make sure everyone on the vine keeps a scan out for him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you, Sheriff,\u201d came Shelby\u2019s delicate twang over the lawman\u2019s office link.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, ma\u2019am, our thanks to you and Mr. Matson for word on what your boys found. You\u2019ll pardon me, but I\u2019m afraid this might be serious. I\u2019d best be about getting busy and letting folks know about this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Duncan and Shelby made their goodbye and then the lawman shut down his connection to Twin Feathers while keeping his link open. Turning to his second\u201d\u2018in\u201d\u2018command, Pete Dawson, a large man with a thick, black beard, the sheriff told him, \u201cWell, you saw the same holos I did, let\u2019s get moving. We\u2019ve got to put the town on alert\u2014and the outlying spreads, too. Probably even more important they all understand what we know so far. Tell Bennie to find that hunter that checked into town last night\u2014Sanders, in the Naha Palace\u2014get him over here to look at this track.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSure, chief,\u201d responded Pete. \u201cBut why don\u2019t I just relay it over to him?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause if he looks at it in his hotel room, then I don\u2019t get to study him while he studies it. Comprende, He\u201d\u2018Who\u201d\u2018Needlessly\u201d\u2018Questions\u201d\u2018Authority?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The deputy nodded. The big man had to admit that the Sheriff was always one step ahead of him, if not two. His hand on the doorknob, he stopped to ask one extra question.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChief, it\u2019s just a thought, but isn\u2019t Matson in a land dispute with some new immigrants right now?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI see where you\u2019re going and it\u2019s a good point,\u201d admitted the sheriff, \u201cbut that\u2019s not Jacob\u2019s style.\u201d Pete pulled at his chin a moment, then agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s true, I guess. If Jacob Matson wanted to put a scare into a bunch of tent squatters, he wouldn\u2019t have to invent no mystery critter. He\u2019s scary enough for that all on his own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The sheriff laughed. His deputy smiled with deserved pride. It was not often he was that quick with his wits.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah,\u201d Duncan nodded, then paused to think. Turning back to Pete, he said quietly, \u201cOf course, that means then that we\u2019re dealing with something weird enough to scare Jacob Matson.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pete\u2019s eyes grew a touch larger. Duncan knew how he felt. Cutting off their conversation before more time was wasted, the sheriff ordered, \u201cBetter set up a perimeter curfew for the entire town. Let everyone know we\u2019ll be activating the shields at eleven.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His second\u201d\u2018in\u201d\u2018command nodded, his evening suddenly becoming something in danger of spinning beyond his control. Grabbing desperately at his imagination, Pete managed to get it under control enough to keep himself from shaking. Then, the sheriff added, \u201cAnd Pete, before you go outside, strap on a repeller.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The bearded man nodded, shoving his hands deep within his pockets to stifle their vibrations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>D<\/strong><\/span>im lights still glowed inside most of the tents, creating a rough circle of illumination in the vast blackness of the open range. Stars only vaguely dotted the night sky, most of those usually visible hidden along with the moon by an ever\u201d\u2018thickening cloud cover. Still, the air was warm and sweet enough to make it a beautiful night\u2014the kind that could make dreamers out of cynics, or lovers out of friends.<\/p>\n<p>Delilah Carter stroked a comb through her golden hair as she sat on a folded blanket before the encampment\u2019s central fire. A small bolter strapped to her ankle broke the innocent beauty of her pose. Her friend, Lina Dotson, sat next to her on the blanket. The only other person still at the central fire was Joel Goldstein, a young man who had come out on the same freighter as the two women. The trio soaked in the warmth of the fire, dreaming of the land they had come so far to conquer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish we could\u2019ve brought a dog with us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA dog?\u201d asked Joel. \u201cWhat for?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just seems like there should be dogs here,\u201d answered Delilah as she stared past the lonely camp fire to the stinger grove beyond. \u201cWith the prairies so wide and open and all\u2014this place just looks like it was built for dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cContradict,\u201d said Lina. \u201cif there were dogs here, they\u2019d be barking at every little noise in the night. You ask me, no yapping dogs was one of the few things this place got right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat and the opportunity for unlimited wealth,\u201d piped in a smiling Joel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJoel wouldn\u2019t care if we were ass\u201d\u2018deep in wolves, as long as there was a credit to be made,\u201d teased Delilah. \u201cWould you?\u201d<br \/>\n&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; \u201cI\u2019m sure some use could be made of the little puppies,\u201d answered the girl\u2019s fellow squatter. \u201cIt just takes a bit of entrepreneurial vision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUh\u201d\u2018huh,\u201d said Lina. \u201cSo, what\u2019re you going to call your big ranch when it finally gets built? Something native sounding?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNative, huh?\u201d answered Joel with mock seriousness, as if actually considering the woman\u2019s words. \u201cGuess I\u2019ll have to go ask the Kuzzi what a good name for my camp would be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOh, sure,\u201d snickered Delilah. \u201cYou do that. I hear they\u2019re all nice and tucked away in their summer lodge now, up on the Northwestern side of Twin Feathers. Chief Bollatu\u2019s sure to help you. I hear he\u2019s real nice\u2014for an alien, that is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave you seen them?\u201d asked Lina with a shiver. \u201cThe Kuzzi, I mean? What do they even look like?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joel interrupted. Folding his arms across his chest, puffing himself up like a family elder about to explain the secrets of the ages, he said, \u201cThe shopkeeps in Dodge say they look like a cross between Earth tigers and Barovian Arctic shamblers.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd what,\u201d asked Delilah with a frown, \u201care Barovian Arctic shamblers?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWell, Barovia\u2019s an ice planet\u2014I mean a real ice planet. Only life on it keeps to a pretty small band that runs around the planet at the equator. Which makes \u2018Arctic\u2019 something of a misnomer, I guess. Anyway, they\u2019re pretty ugly devils\u2014sorta like gorillas, \u2018cept they\u2019re all white and completely covered with fur. Got like a dog snout \u2018stead of a mouth, good sense of smell, omnivorous &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOhh, big word,\u201d teased Lina.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAin\u2019t the only thing that\u2019s big about me,\u201d bragged Joel. Delilah gave him a rough push toward the fire that let him know his humor was not appreciated. Pretending not to notice, the young man continued with his semi\u201d\u2018lecture.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re pretty intelligent, too. Level Two, on the Mondervian scale, really just one step beneath humans. They\u2019re tool\u201d\u2018users\u2014even actually construct temporary dwellings out of pack snow. They make domes out of it, then they burrow down into the soil underneath. It\u2019s how they hunt for tubers, small animals, that kind of thing. Supposedly they maintain pretty strict family units and even proper communities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCan you imagine being the explorer who first lived with those things to catalogue their biology and culture and the such?\u201d asked Delilah with a laugh.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot for me,\u201d answered Joel. \u201cI\u2019ll pass on livin\u2019 with overgrown albino monkeys.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMe, too,\u201d agreed Lina. \u201cWith my luck they\u2019d want to cross\u201d\u2018breed and start a new species.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike you wouldn\u2019t cross mate with anything that had the right equipment and the price of a hot meal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lina turned her back on Joel. She was about to throw a playful insult back at him when she noticed the look on Delilah\u2019s face. Her friend was staring at the commlink on her wrist, lost in thought. Hoping to pull her back into the conversation, she guessed,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWaiting for Chad to call?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI haven\u2019t heard from him all day. I hope he\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbably lost track of the time, sitting up in his ranch counting all of Daddy\u2019s credits.\u201d Breaking out his cigarettes, Joel reassured his friend, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about that nabob. He\u2019s got it bad for you. He\u2019ll be &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joel went quiet as a strong, unknown scent wafted into camp. It was a pungent smell, a gagging cross between cinnamon and rotting meat. Joel held off lighting his cigarette, squinting his eyes as he tested the air, trying to catch another whiff of the odd aroma.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Joel?\u201d asked Lina.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot sure,\u201d answered the young man as he strained to see through the darkness beyond the ring of tent and campfire light. \u201cJust a smell, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joel turned back toward the two women. Lifting his cigarette once more to his still smiling mouth, he struck his lighter, saying, \u201cThought I saw a some kinda shadow moving out beyond the tents, but I guess\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Words stopped. Joel\u2019s cigarette shot forward out of his mouth, propelled by a stream of blood and darker fluids. His eyes bulged, his voice spasmed a short scream, and then his chest erupted in three spots, more blood and bits of bone spraying across Lina and Delilah. The two women screamed at the scarlet touch.<\/p>\n<p>Heads poked out of tents. The muzzles of bolt guns followed. As people watched in disbelief, Joel\u2019s body lifted off the ground and flew through the air, landing in the fire. The impact extinguished half the blaze instantly. In the remaining light, Delilah saw uniform, advancing puffs of dust rising from the trampled ground as if something were approaching her. The young woman stood frozen, even as two men ran up to her, demanding an explanation, intersecting the path of the oncoming billows.<\/p>\n<p>The first man crumpled, his sides pushing inward, his head flying away from his body. As his mate turned toward the horrible sight, invisible blades seemed to pierce him with violent force. His body flew apart in huge bloody slices, his spine lifted out of his body then catapulted into the air.<\/p>\n<p>Delilah ran. A terrible roar split the night behind her, followed by scream after scream that she recognized, all of them silenced abruptly one by one. Gun shots exploded. Children wailed. Then, before she had gone twenty yards, Delilah was hit in the side of the head by something flying through the air.<\/p>\n<p>She did not know what it was\u2014just something small but heavy that stunned her so violently she could not keep her feet. Stumbling into the torn remains of someone\u2019s tent, she floundered in the canvas rags, then stumbled off into the darkness. She wandered dazed into the night, then finally succumbed to the throbbing pain in her temple.<\/p>\n<p>At the edge of an embankment the young woman fell in a sad tangle, blackness sliding over her mind. Sliding down the gentle slope, all she heard as she slipped into unconsciousness were more gun shots, and the pitiful screams of the dying. Before she passed out, though, even those had faded, replaced by the rhythmic snorting of something large\u2014something that slurped and belched and chewed far too loudly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>S<\/strong><\/span>unrise was still several minutes away as the Matson\u2019s ate breakfast. Eggs, bacon, biscuits thick with honey and butter and crisp potatoes spiced with sliced peppers and onions sat in platters spread across the synthetic oak table there in the kitchen. Twin Feathers was a working ranch, a place that demanded a full day\u2019s work from everyone\u2014hard work that required full loads of calories. None of the Matson\u2019s seemed to be able to work up their regular appetites, however.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sure the sheriff will send some men to search the squatter\u2019s camps for Chad at first light, sweetheart,\u201d said the elder Matson, trying to cheer his worried wife.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019d better,\u201d answered Shelby, her jaw muscles tense, taunt. \u201cI\u2019m worried about my boy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s no boy, anymore,\u201d said Matson softly, encircling her left hand with his right. \u201cHe\u2019s twenty\u201d\u2018one and growin\u2019 bigger every day and he\u2019s bustin\u2019 to let the world know who he is. He\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The elder Matson tried to sound reassuring, but the effort was telling. The lines in his old face were deeper that morning than ever. It was obvious he had not slept well. Attempting to put his wife at ease, he told her,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt worst he had some trouble with his hovercycle &#8230; had to spend the night using his range coat as a tent. Hell, why not? That\u2019s what the things are for\u2014right? Do him some good, toughin\u2019 him up some more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd a range coat is going to protect Chad against that thing that\u2019s out there?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNow,\u201d answered Matson, cautiously, not wanting to upset his wife but seeing no logical way around doing so, \u201cwe don\u2019t know what\u2019s out there. All we have is a footprint and some skinned bones that could\u2019ve &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy boy is in danger,\u201d shouted Shelby, her normally sweet voice suddenly thin and ugly. \u201cAnd all you want to do is waste time feeding your face.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jacob Matson\u2019s head moved back as if stung. Coldly, he dropped his knife and fork onto his plate as he rose and headed for the door without a word. Scrambling up from the table, Joseph and Stewart hurried after their father.<\/p>\n<p>Grabbing up his kisonboy hat, Joseph said, \u201cThis is just typical Chad behavior, Dad. Impulsive, self\u201d\u2018centered\u2014it\u2019s why he\u2019ll never be able to run Twin Feathers. He\u2019s got no sense of responsibility\u2014not to mention the fact the range hands won\u2019t ever respect a word he says.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen they can find somewhere else to work if they don\u2019t like who I put in charge of my ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat about Stew and me?\u201d asked Joseph. \u201cWe have to live here, too.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matson stopped in his tracks, his head sinking to his chest. Stifling the boil of rage festering within him, he turned slowly toward his son. His eyes hard slits, he growled his words in a low, dark voice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll get your share of Twin Feathers when you\u2019re of age. \u2018Til you\u2019re twenty\u201d\u2018one, you\u2019ll be Chad\u2019s responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChad\u2019s gonna be the boss of me?\u201d exploded Stewart. \u201cI got no bang with Chad, but what\u2019s the deal? Why would I have to take orders from him? What are you gonna do, Dad, whittle a rocker and just go dreamy on the front porch or somethin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matson ground his teeth for a half a moment, anger pounding the inside of his skull. He was worried about his son, worried about his wife and what her fears were doing to her, worried about how Twin Feathers would survive with him dead. Now his other boys wanted to give him something else to worry about. Putting his hand on the front door\u2019s bolt, he drew it and opened the door full as he said,<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou two go back and talk with your mother. Let her tell you where I\u2019ll be when you\u2019re ungrateful asses turn twenty\u201d\u2018one!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJezz, Dad &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t &#8230;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJacob, don\u2019t\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matson put his head up, the burning glare in his eyes silencing his family. Staring at his wife, he told her cruelly, \u201cSorry, Shelby, I\u2019d love to tell them all about the Doc\u2019s visit, but I wouldn\u2019t want to waste any more time while your boy might be in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Matson stormed out of the ranch house slamming the door behind him. Both Joseph and Stewart were hesitant to follow him. Turning to their mother for some kind of answer, both stared at her while Joseph asked, \u201cWhat did he mean, Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shelby Matson tried to contain herself as her sons approached. She looked from them to the table, her gaze resting on her husband\u2019s plate. She stared at his half\u201d\u2018eaten breakfast, at the knife and fork tossed carelessly into the cooling food, and then she noticed his biscuit.<\/p>\n<p>She had made his favorite type that morning\u2014standard white flour pan\u201d\u2018biscuits with a slice of cheese melted in the center. Matson\u2019s mother had made them for him when he was a boy back on Earth. Every few weeks, Shelby surprised her husband with a pan of them. He always lathered one with butter and jelly and then let it sit on his plate until he was finished with everything else.<\/p>\n<p>The biscuits were his special treats, and he enjoyed them like nothing else. Shelby Matson looked at the biscuit there on her husband\u2019s plate, smeared with butter and jelly\u2014cold and untouched. Then, while her sons watched in confusion, the woman raised her hands to her face and began to cry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>S<\/strong><\/span>heriff Duncan and Alan Sanders led the lawman\u2019s five deputies out onto the range, leaving the familiar surroundings of New Dodge City behind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll check all the most likely places the squatters might have set up shop for the night,\u201d said the sheriff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood thing about lots of people,\u201d answered the hunter, \u201cthey leave lots of tracks. Should make things easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think so,\u201d agreed Duncan. \u201cWe\u2019ll find \u2018em before noon\u2014guaranteed. Now, maybe Chad tried to go out and give them a little trouble and got in over his head. Most likely, what with the rumors about a certain blonde in this new batch in from Earth, he\u2019s probably gotten himself mixed up in something, but it\u2019s probably nothing we have to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNaw,\u201d added Pete Dawson, \u201cnot until Chad\u2019s a daddy and his mom starts screaming about whoretrash being shipped out on the next freighter.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDon\u2019t see why we gotta babysit some rich snot brat, anyway,\u201d added Ben Fogerty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBen,\u201d the sheriff said quietly to his youngest deputy, \u201cthe Matson\u2019s pay their taxes, and therefore your salary, just like everyone else. They file a missing persons report, we follow up on it. You got a problem with doing your job all of a sudden?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, sir,\u201d answered Ben with a hasty gulp.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFine.\u201d The sheriff kicked his hovercycle into a low gear and headed upward to a standard cruising elevation. As the others rose up beside and behind him, he added, \u201cWell, with no further debate being necessary, let\u2019s see if we can\u2019t get this over with clean and fast and easy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>All seven of the men rode in silence after that, each of them scanning the grasslands around them in all directions. None of them said anything further about Chad Matson. None of them mentioned the holograms they had studied before leaving, either. They all kept their eyes peeled, though. And one hand on their weapons.<\/p>\n<p class=\"section\"><span class=\"dc\"><strong>S<\/strong><\/span>helby Matson pulled her dark brown range coat tightly around herself as she stepped from the ranch house porch. Her hovercycle was waiting at the bottom of the steps along with two others. Joseph and Stewart stood alongside, waiting for their mother.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAre you sure we should be doin\u2019 this, mom?\u201d asked Joseph.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYes, son. I do. I\u2019ve studied the Kuzzi since your father and I first got to this planet. Chief Bollatu is a friend of mine. Maybe he\u2019ll have some idea about where Chad is. Maybe he\u2019ll know something about those bones and that track you found. And if they don\u2019t know anything, well &#8230;\u201d Shelby took a deep breath as she slung her left leg up over her hovercycle\u2019s seat, \u201cif nothing else at least we\u2019ll be doing something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Shelby\u2019s foot came down with practiced ease, kicking her cycle into gear. Elevating quickly, she shouted, \u201cYou two coming or not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Then she leaned into a curve, spinning herself smoothly around the side of the ranch house, heading for the Northwestern boundary of the ranch. Whether her boys were following or not, she really did not care. Right then all she wanted was the feel of air rushing against her face and body. And to see her eldest son. She would never stop wanting her son to come home. Despite the fact that she was already certain he would never come home again.<\/p>\n<div id=\"serial-posts-wrapper\">\n<h3 class=\"serial-posts-heading\"><span class=\"serial-post-text\">Read more from this serial.<\/span><\/h3>\n<ul class=\"serial-posts\">\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item current-inactive\">Time of the Gr&rsquo;nar&mdash;Part I<\/li>\n<li class=\"serial-posts-list-item\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/articles\/time-of-the-grnarpart-ii\/\" title=\"Time of the Gr&rsquo;nar&mdash;Part II\">Time of the Gr&rsquo;nar&mdash;Part II<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Part 1 of the two part story, Bruce Gehweiler &amp; C.J. Henderson bring us a shared-world of Byanntia. &mdash;<em>ed. N.E. Lilly<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,5],"tags":[18,16,19,17],"media":[299],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1216,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12\/revisions\/1216"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12"},{"taxonomy":"media","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacewesterns.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?post=12"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}