Project Hannibal by Kathryn Hoff (books suggested by elon musk .txt) 📕

needed the generator, that wasn’t negotiable. He’d leave the solar charger for Kanut. Water—he’d leave Kanut one of the filter bottles. He’d leave his sleeping bag with the old lady and take Kanut’s crinkly blanket and the sleeping mat—that should keep him warm enough. With a tarp and some rope he could improvise shelter if he needed it. At least he wouldn’t have to put up with Kanut’s snoring anymore. He’d take the camp stove: Kanut was an Alaska Native, surely he could figure out how to make a fire.

Food. There had been plenty when he and Brandon started—how could there be so little left? The pot growers had taken one of the saddlebags. Brandon and Luis had shared a meal with those homesteaders. Brandon had taken some with him when he left, not knowing that Luis would be burdened with a pot-bellied, snoring, lying mouth to feed.

To be on the safe side, Luis figured he needed supplies for five days. He counted out a bare minimum of food packets.

What was left wouldn’t feed Kanut and the women for more than two days.

Reluctantly, he moved another half-day’s rations for four people over to Kanut’s pile. That left Luis with only three days of food for himself.

Three days. Time enough to move the herd to someplace safe and for the plane to pick him up? Maybe.

And the alternative?

Release the herd here, now. Give them the scatter call and let them wander at will. Take up Kanut’s offer to share with his bunch of misfits. Ride out on the chopper, a good Samaritan who just happened to be in the right place at the right time to help the poor stranded crash victims. Use Kanut’s story about abandoning an ATV at the river to explain how they got here.

Why not? It wasn’t where he’d planned to go, but the area was remote enough. It was the right type of environment—the edge of the permafrost, barren enough to be unattractive even to the hardiest of homesteaders. The grass would give out at the first frost, and the herd would move on, as it should, seeking out young trees at the edge of the tundra to feed on.

All very feasible—and completely unappealing. Kanut, the smug bastard, would gloat for days, thinking he’d talked Luis into choosing humanity over the herd.

Forget it. Luis would rather starve for a day or two than give Kanut the satisfaction. As soon as the mammoths were rested, he’d take them north.

Luis walked down the hill toward the mammoths congregating among the meadow flowers. Socializing and vocalizing, their trumpets and squeals wafted up the valley.

Just a few days left until he had to say goodbye to his best friends. God, he was going to miss them. Especially Ruby. He felt like he was sending his children off to school. Or, more accurately, to boot camp. Nature was a war zone: eat or be eaten, spot the predator before it spots you, fight or die. He could only hope he’d prepared his mammoth family to survive.

The teenage girl was seated on a boulder, wide-eyed, arms around her knees, watching the mammoths.

She grinned up at him. “I love the little one—he’s so cute!”

“Don’t get close to them,” Luis said. “They’re not really tame.”

“They sound like a Mardi Gras party. I’m Sera, by the way. Are they really part of a secret government experiment?”

“Um, yes. I’ll have to ask you to keep quiet about them when you get home, at least until the official announcement.”

“Oh, I promise.”

Some hope. She’d probably upload photos onto her social media account before she even took off her shoes. Well, maybe it wouldn’t matter once Ginger started her news-leak campaign.

The girl chattered away, something about a party and a costume in the last carnival. Luis counted heads. The whole herd was there, even Diamond. The big bull stood close beside Pearl, touching and smelling her. When she backed toward him, Diamond mounted her, resting his front feet on her back.

“Omigod,” Sera breathed. “Talk about a party—are they doing what I think they’re doing?”

“Oh, yes. Making the next generation.” One more sign the herd was ready to manage on its own.

The rest of the herd was very interested, rumbling and squealing in excitement until Diamond withdrew, trumpeting and slashing his tusks through the air.

“I think it’s sweet,” Sera said. “Like having your honeymoon in the middle of your wedding reception: no privacy but everyone’s enjoying the spectacle. How come he chose her?”

“She’s the only one in estrus. The other females are already pregnant.” Especially Opal.

Opal stood apart from the others. Not checking out the action, not exchanging touches with the girls, not eating, not walking, not enjoying the party. Head down, trunk limp.

As he watched, Opal shifted to an awkward half crouch, stood, pivoted in circles—all with head drooped low. Not good.

Kanut and the woman doctor walked up from the camp.

“Aunt Estelle,” Sera called. “Aren’t they incredible? You won’t believe what we just saw!”

Kanut shuffled to a stop. “I was just telling Doc Dupris here that you had to leave, to carry on with your government project and all.”

Sera looked up, alarm in her eyes. “You’re leaving?”

The doctor laid a fond hand on her shoulder. “Trooper Kanut has explained how important your work is, Mr. Cortez. Your arrival with mammoths instead of something more practical . . .” She paused as if biting her tongue. “Well, in any case, thank you for going out of your way to find us, and for sharing your supplies. I’m not sure Annie would have made it through another day without food and shelter. I wish you weren’t going, but . . .”

Luis tore his eyes away from the herd. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not leaving.”

Kanut beamed. “Great! I knew you’d decide to stay.”

Luis’s teeth gritted. “I don’t have a choice. Dr. Dupris,