Lysar's Report

It has been thirty-five years since the Pulverteains invaded and attempted to wipe out the whole human race. Their attack was swift and precise. Their reason for doing so was based on observations over the centuries of watching them evolve and concluding that humans were too violent and destructive to indulge in space travel.  So the Pulverteains decided to stop them from ever leaving the planet. The Pulverteains resembled humans in many ways, except for some internal organs and outward appearances. They tend to be very fair-skinned with heavily hooded eyes that slant upward in the corners, plus they all have black hair.

           After the invasion, they began transforming Earth to their liking by tearing down all that was human and replacing them with their cities and factories.  They also created large areas for agriculture where they cultivated crops suitable for Pulverteains.

           The Pulverteains are what you might call an eco-friendly race so that in terraforming Earth, they could reverse the damage done by humans and thus stop the effects of climate change. Soon the oceans, air, lakes, and streams reverted to their pre-human state.  As a result, wildlife and forests grew and flourished, with many near-extinct species multiplying.

           There is still much work to make the planet safe again, such as cleaning up old toxic waste dumps and safely closing and removing nuclear power plants and atomic weapons depots. The Pulverteains have built a recycling factory on the moon to reclaim much of the reusable materials.

           Their attempt to eradicate the human race was not as successful as they had hoped. There are several pockets of them hidden in remote locations around the world. These survivors refer to themselves as survivalists or underground resistance, attacking Pulverteain outposts and disrupting power plants. The Pulverteains view all such renegades as a nuisance they will soon crush into oblivion. Consequently, a specially trained group of troopers led by Lt.Lysar has received a deployment notice to the Pacific Northwest. There is a disturbance in the lush rainforest of what used to be British Columbia.

           Their destination is in the area formally known as Tumbler Ridge. It is a geo-park of sights to behold.  So many waterfalls, unique rock formations, alpine meadows, lakes, canyons, and caves fill the area. The raw beauty of the overflow of wilderness takes back Lt. Lyzar.  Black bears and grizzlies call the rainforest home among other wildlife sheltering in the two-thousand-year-old giant trees. Bald eagles soar in the clear blue skies and hunt fish in the pristine lakes. They build their nests on the mountain cliffs. The troop’s objective is to reach a stone outcropping that contains a few caves that could shelter the renegades.

           Lyzar’s unit consists of himself and four other highly trained scouts. They enter the rainforest by traveling through a lush moss-covered grove and marsh, looking for signs of humans. There is an outpost just south of this area where the confrontation has occurred. They entered the forest around noon and traveled for several hours before coming to a small vale with a stream running through it.

           Lt. Lyzar is a highly focused leader that stands about six feet tall, is slightly balding, and sports a pencil-style mustache. His men are entirely devoted to him and trust him explicitly. Lysar’s unit consists of three privates, Manama, Thais, and Usir. The remaining trooper is Sargent Oloo, the unit’s tracker and sharp-shooter. Following procedure, Lyzar orders to set up camp and make it secure. Manama is sent to dig a latrine by the forest’s edge. Private Thais is the communications officer and establishes contact with HQ.  Usir assembles the portable stove to prepare the evening meal as Sargent Oloo and Lt. Lyzar study the terrain map to seek the best way to the stone outcropping. Pvt. Thea knocks on the tent post, and Lyzar tells him to enter.

           “Sorry to interrupt, Sir, but I’m ready to turn on the alarm sensors, but Manama hasn’t returned from digging the latrine. When I went to tell him, he wasn’t there, just his shovel sticking out of the ground.”

           It is already growing dark as Lyzar and Thea go to the site to look for Manama and shine their flashlights on the half-dug hole.

           “It doesn’t look like there has been a struggle.” Lyzar comments.

           ”Look here, Sir!”  Thea points to Manama’s crushed, bloody helmet lying a few feet away. Upon further inspection, they can see marks in the wet leaves where Manama was dragged away. Lyzar notices that there aren’t any footprints accompanying them, just sizable, deep impressions. Starting to feel vulnerable to attack, they return to camp.

           Lyzar informs his men upon his return, “We’ll search for Manama in the morning as it is too dark and the forest is too dense.” Then, turning to Thea, he commands, “I want you to inform HQ what happened and notify them of our plan. Meanwhile, let’s reinforce our security boundaries, say about another fifty feet further out. Set them to alarm us if anything weighing about one hundred and fifty pounds crosses their beams.”

           At about four a.m.the shrill sound of the alarm has everyone leaping from their sleeping sacks to rush to the monitor to see what’s going on. Unfortunately, the monitor does not have a video screen but instead shows a white dot like a radar monitor.

           “ It’s probably a grizzly bear,” Lysar says while indicating where the monitor shows the weight to be over eight hundred pounds. No sooner has he said this than the dot disappears from the screen.

           Pvt Thea announces in a controlled and professional manner, “The intruder has destroyed marker seven and is approaching marker three. It appears to be heading our way, Sir.”

           Oloo grabs his rifle and attaches a night vision scope to it. “I’ll see if I can spot it and drive it away.”

           Oloo appears as a white dot near the bottom of the screen, and everyone watches with anticipation as the bear approaches. Usir, sitting on his cot by the side of the tent, jumps a little when the first report of the rifle sounds, bumping his head against the canvas. Oloo fires twice more, and the dot representing the bear disappears.

           “Was it a grizzle?” Lysar asks as Oloo reenters the tent. Oloo seems confused and replies, “I don’t think so, Sir.”

           “What do you mean you don’t think so? Explain yourself.” Lysar commands.

           “It was standing on its hind legs when I saw it through my scope. It looked covered in fur, so I thought it was a bear. But then I noticed that its face was all wrong, the shape of its eyes, and it didn’t have a muzzle. Also, the shape of its body, a bear’s body is thick, but this one seemed to taper in, like a waist.  Finally, it didn’t drop down to all fours after firing my shots but ran away like a man, Sir.” While Lysar contemplates this news, everyone is startled by the sound of ripping canvas and Usir’s scream of pain.  A large and bloody bolder rolls to Lysar’s feet. Thea presses two fingers to Usir’s neck and then reports to the lieutenant, “He’s dead, Sir.”

           Oloo roars. “What in the blue blazers is going on here? Are they using catapults now?”

Lysar tells Thais to grab his handheld communication device and for everyone to go outside. “I don’t like being a sitting duck.”

           Once out in the open, he tells Thais to contact HQ and inform them that they are under attack and will need reinforcements and immediate extraction from this location. The forest at night is pitch black due to the thick canopy overhead. The group can’t see a thing without their flashlights, and Lysar notices it is unusually quiet. Having reached HQ, Thais continues to explain their situation.

           “That’s correct, Sir. We’re under attack and have already lost two troopers, Manama and Usir.  I’m sorry, but I can’t describe the attackers, but Sargent Oloo has seen one through his night vision telescope. I’ll hand you over to him, Sir. Sgt. Oloo, it’s Post Commander Mead.” Thea informs Oloo as he hands him the communicator.

           “Oloo here, Sir,” he says as he turns to face Lt Laysar. “I could only see what appeared to be some creature through the night vision scope. That’s correct, Sir.  I said, a creature.  I determined that it stands at least nine feet tall and is covered in hair. The creature looks humanoid in stature and has intelligent-looking eyes. It also has a strong musky smell as well. I truly don’t know what to make of it, Sir, except that I’m positive it is out to kill us all.”

           The commander responds, “Thank you, Sargent. I’ll have someone investigate our data resources to see if there is any information on this beast. In the meantime, the gyrocopter should be arriving in about fifteen minutes. Set out some flares for it so they can find you faster. I’ll get back to you with any information I find as soon as possible.” 

           Hearing the snapping of a twig, Laysar and Oloo turn just in time to see Thea being lifted off his feet by a big hairy hand and then rushed off into the woods. Oloo raised his rifle but didn’t dare to shoot for fear of hitting Thea. The last thing he saw through his scope was Thea’s terrified eyes, and then he was gone. A few moments later, the forest was full of Thea’s screams of agony and horror. A pale Oloo turns to his leader as to what to do.

           “Let’s quickly get those flares going and stand back to back in the middle of the circle.  Then, we can look in all directions until the copter arrives.”

            Standing at the ready, Lysar responds to the communicator that has just cracked to life.

           “Lysar,” Mead announces, “We’ve found some interesting facts about that thing you’ve encountered. Going back to the area’s first people, they had a folk tale about an apelike being living in those woods. Since then, other adventurers have been trying to capture or at least get a good picture of it as proof of its existence.  But unfortunately, the creature appears to be very elusive. The Native Americans called it, let’s see if I can pronounce it, Sa-Sasquatch, meaning wild man.”

           Without warning, a stone about the size of a baseball comes hurling at high speed from the woods, hitting Oloo in the face. Oloo crumbles to the ground, dead.

           A startled Lysar drops the communicator and slowly retreats from the center of the flares. Standing just opposite him is the giant beast he now knows as Sasquatch. Its fierce eyes flash in the light of the flickering flames as saliva drips from his gaping mouth, revealing two prominent canine teeth. Lysar’s head is filled with Thea’s terrified and tortured screams, and he lifts the pistol to his temple as the communicator continues to bark out Post Commander Mead’s demands.

           “Lysar, are you there? Report! Lysar, what is happening? For God’s sake, man, report!”  The only sound heard through the speaker is the sharp report of a pistol being fired.

           The sasquatch steps forward, looks down on the communicator, and then crushes it beneath his huge foot.   The sound of the gyrocopter gets his attention as it approaches from the west. What passes for a smile appears on his gruesome face as he slowly backs into the dark forest to wait.