Napoleon
()
About this ebook
She was in the habitat—actually in it, not seated at her workstation on the other side of the glass. She was standing before Napoleon in her white lab coat, which, inexplicably, she unzipped and shirked from her shoulders, allowing it to slide to the marshy floor. She didn’t know how she had gotten there or how time had rewound so that the habitat and its great glass window were still intact … she only knew she was there to take the experiment to the next level. And as Napoleon looked down at her with eyes that had become strangely human, she knew that he knew why she was there as well …
And then she was awake as fast as she’d gone out, and she was standing, slowly, amongst the trees again … wondering why she would dream such a thing. And wondering, too, about the hidden obsessions each and every human being might harbor in the darkest recesses of their subconscious. And then she scanned the trees, realizing, suddenly, that they were swaying—even though there was no wind—and saw Napoleon glaring back at her.
Wayne Kyle Spitzer
Wayne Kyle Spitzer (born July 15, 1966) is an American author and low-budget horror filmmaker from Spokane, Washington. He is the writer/director of the short horror film, Shadows in the Garden, as well as the author of Flashback, an SF/horror novel published in 1993. Spitzer's non-genre writing has appeared in subTerrain Magazine: Strong Words for a Polite Nation and Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History. His recent fiction includes The Ferryman Pentalogy, consisting of Comes a Ferryman, The Tempter and the Taker, The Pierced Veil, Black Hole, White Fountain, and To the End of Ursathrax, as well as The X-Ray Rider Trilogy and a screen adaptation of Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows.
Read more from Wayne Kyle Spitzer
Dinosaur Rampage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Hole, White Fountain: Book Four of The Ferryman Pentalogy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Once and Future Kings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Sex War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Devil's Dictionary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlashback Dawn (A Serialized Novel), Part 2: "The Devil's Shambhala" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLean Season: Contemporary Tales of Primordial Terror Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Concrete Veldt Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lean Season Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlashback Dawn: It Begins Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Fields Tinged with Red Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBehind a Pale Mask Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ghosts in Their Boroughs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDemonosaur: A Tale of Blood, the Sea, and Revenge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTales from the Flashback: "The Ank Williams Story" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Food of the Gods Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings'R' is for Revenge Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDark World: An Epic Fantasy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFlashback Dawn: The Complete Series, Illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlgernon Blackwood's "The Willows" | A Scriptment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Dinosaur Is A Man's Best Friend (A Serialized Novel), Part One: "Radio Free Montana" Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe End: Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Tempter and the Taker Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKings of the Road: The New Ank and Williams Adventure Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Midnight Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Burning Cathedral of Summer: Stories of Darkness and Youth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPaladins: A Post-apocalyptic Western Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAmerican Monsters: Horror Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRiders on the Storm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Napoleon
Related ebooks
Napoleon: A Horror Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNapoleon (Silver Edition) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNapoleon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCold Fire: the Banished Isle Quartet, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sorcerer Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Era of Darkness Book One The Acquisition Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlien 5: The Final Solution Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Pharaluen: The Chosen One Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeadly Prospects Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGhosts of Alda Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Wolf Hunters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heartstone Chronicles: Windchaser Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAQUATROPOLIS: The Two Queens Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Damsel and the Dragon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTarot of Hate, Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Awakening Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChristmas for a Goddess: Dragon Lords of Valdier Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Last Species Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEssential Novelists - Jackson Gregory: authentic western heroes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMountain Fire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStormrider Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Third Book of the Dun Cow: Peace at the Last Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5THE SHORT CUT (Western Murder Mystery) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWithout Pity (A Dakota Steele FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 4) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWilderness Double Edition 25: Wolverine / People of the Forest Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Inkwell presents: Cautionary Tails Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRoot Magic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Glittering Cage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlpha Pair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Science Fiction For You
The Silo Series Collection: Wool, Shift, Dust, and Silo Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Annihilation: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist: A Graphic Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shift: Book Two of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Contact Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Psalm for the Wild-Built Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Flowers for Algernon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wool: Book One of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rendezvous with Rama Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Who Have Never Known Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kindred: A Graphic Novel Adaptation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cryptonomicon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Brandon Sanderson: Best Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dust: Book Three of the Silo Series Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deep Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Camp Zero: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Am Legend Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Prophet Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England: Secret Projects, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Napoleon
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Napoleon - Wayne Kyle Spitzer
Copyright © 1994, 2017 Wayne Kyle Spitzer. All Rights Reserved. Published by Hobb’s End Books, a division of ACME Sprockets & Visions. Cover design Copyright © 2017 Wayne Kyle Spitzer. Please direct all inquiries to: HobbsEndBooks@yahoo.com
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this book is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Prologue | The Visitor
They lay in the still of the valley, huddled in groups against the freezing cold. A late Cretaceous dusk had fallen, forcing a respite from their grueling march south; now the hadrosaurs slept—the clouds of their breath like pulsing gray ghosts.
An animal cried out from somewhere behind them. Seeker raised her head; to her—youngest of all the calves—the call sounded like another duckbill. She looked about, blinking. The snow had stopped. The moon shone; all was silent. She lay her head down.
The call sounded again, closer, followed by a dry rustling and breaking of branches. Seeker mewed and rose with a start. She shuffled around, her back to the herd, and stared into the night with her cow-brown eyes.
Moonlight lay pale and cold across the life-giving cattail marsh; nothing moved. She reared up on her hind-legs for a better view. Still nothing. She dropped onto all fours. Then the lost animal cried out from the trees on the far side of the water—but this time, its voice sounded strained, almost sickly.
Seeker hesitated. She glanced at the herd, then back to the trees. (Something was urging her to investigate: perhaps just the herding instinct intrinsic to all her kind, perhaps just curiosity—her own particular quirk.) Head bobbing, she waddled forward.
She splashed through the shallow water, its ice broken earlier by the thirsty bills of the herd, and entered the trees, dripping. The moon was swallowed by a canopy of needles. Pausing in the darkness, she sniffed the crisp air; the calf detected nothing but the pine’s bitter fragrance. She mewed nervously.
There was a fleet-footed thud-thud-thud-thud, which blew through the trees and was gone. It was followed by a series of gentle clicks and splashes, as if pine-cones had shaken free of the branches, falling onto the ice and into the water. But there was no wind, and all was still.
Seeker whimpered. Water coalesced along her underbelly, pattering against the ground. She shifted her meaty bulk and turned toward the herd, began walking ...
And froze.
Her path was blocked by a lithe, pale shape—alone in the moonlight at the center of the marsh. It stood poised on two powerful hind-legs, its knees and ankles flexed like a bird’s. Its neck curved in an S from the razor-toothed head to its upper body, which lay nearly horizontal, and its tail was held high and rigid as a lance. The forelimbs were bent as if held up in prayer, and from them dangled smart little hands, long delicate fingers, curved talons. The thing was four feet tall from its long wolfish snout to its narrow feet, and each of those feet bore a unique and wicked killing tool: a glinting, sickled, triple-sized claw.
It was a bird of prey in no need of wings. (Sixty-five-million years later, men would rightly call it, Velociraptor: the Speedy Hunter.
)
Seeker had no name for it, only a profound, instinctual terror, and backed away farther among the trees.
The raptor crept toward her across the ice, moon-glow flashing off its killer spurs and ashen hide, its black stripes, its red eyes.
Seeker turned—and bolted. Her heart thumped as she raced through the shadows. Listening, she heard the raptor bounding after her, gaining fast. Its hot breath fell on her shoulders—and was gone, suddenly.
She broke from blackness into a moonlit glade, which she cut across without pause. Breathing heavily, she began to falter. Her mouth hung wide; her tongue lolled out streaming ropy strands of saliva. Finally she could maintain the sprint no more, and galloped to a halt in the middle of the glade.
Panting and drooling, she looked behind her; the raptor had come to a stop, as well. It stood perched on one leg at the edge of the glade, balanced like a flamingo, its tail straight out.
The tortured call came again, now from the dark woods opposite the glade. Seeker faced forward and bleated a response.
Nothing came back. She shifted her feet and looked to the raptor. It remained poised, its raised leg folded beneath its belly.
At last the invisible hadrosaur answered, and Seeker turned.
This time the cry did not end, but quavered like moonlight on water. She tilted her head, and her brown eyes rolled. Dim recognition warmed her walnut-sized brain. It was another juvenile.
She hooted back, making a baying sound which rolled over the trees and was gone. Then she started trotting toward the northern edge of the glade, toward the sound’s origin, pausing once to glance at the raptor.
Its blood-red eyes appraised her: huge, round, cold. It didn’t follow.
The sickly call grew stronger as Seeker neared the trees, and something stirred deep in the shadows. Eagerly, the calf moved toward it.
Abruptly, the strange cry stopped. There was another blurred thudding among the trees.
Seeker took a single step past the tree-line ... and paused. She tested the