The Gate Hopper Series

Chapter 1

A gunshot rang out in the forest startling a flock of red breasted birds from their roosts in the large evergreen trees. The birds flew up into the air filled with the orange light of the afternoon star that had started its decline from its zenith only a few hours ago. Mountains filled the horizon covered in trees ranging from knee high to giant, nearly 200-meter-tall evergreens. Each mountain resembled a sharp knife jutting into the sky as if to pierce it, unlike the more rounded mountains of other planets.

The bullet shot into the air making a whizzing noise as it flew over 100 meters across a small valley between two hills. It was a common bronze bullet made with a steel core to increase its penetration power for some of the larger and tougher animals that planet Elkhorn was so known for. Flying in the air, the bullet approached a dull white colored animal that had stopped when it heard distant footsteps mere moments ago.

It was an elsine, white fur nearly two inches thick combined with one of the toughest hides of all land animals on the planet rendered regular bullets mostly ineffective. Its body structure and shape resembled the elk of old on Earth except it had permanent sideways growing antlers. Elsine grew a new branch every year to signify their age, most lived under 30 years. This one had 20, uncommon but not impossible to find. Although it resembled an elk there was one major difference that made hunting it a challenge. They were ridiculously small. Elsine were around the size of a rabbit, this one was no exception.

Having finally reached its target, the bullet punctured through the side of the elsine's head causing blood to shoot outwards in a cone where the bullet exited the hide. The elsine flew almost half a meter in the direction the bullet flew before stopping on the low-cut grass mixed with small branches and brown evergreen needles. The hunt was successful.

A minute later two pairs of footsteps approached the slain elsine. One, an older gentleman in his early fifties had a rifle slung over his should and had a mild but determined expression on his face. It was a common hunting rifle around a meter in length made of steel with a black scope and wooden stock. Wood had long been replaced in all factory produced weapons with much more durable material indicating that this was a custom product used mostly by those who took hunting as more than a mere sport. His hair was a lighter shade of black was accented by green eyes. Standing at almost 6 feet tall, he wore camouflaged pants, a backpack, jacket and what looked like patterned ball-cap with the brim angling slightly downwards.

The younger of the two was a young adult around 5'11" with similar facial features and clothes to his father. Unlike his father, he had blue eyes and a black almost brown shade of hair that was kept around an inch long. Rifle held in front, he wore the diminutive smile of a hunter successfully snatching his prey.

Approaching the elsine, the elder hunter crouched near the elsine to examine their hunt. Turning towards the one who had killed the animal while still crouching he spoke in a slightly husky voice.

"Right through the head, guess someone's taken shooting practice to heart. And with only a few seconds to aim." he turned his head towards his son and grinned "Well done Osmet, as per our deal the money from the kill is yours."

Osmet returned his father's grin, both from the promise of money and the successful hunt, replied "Thanks dad, a 20-point elsine should sell for a hefty sum to those off world. Still can't say I fully understand why people are so eager to spend more for medicine made from animals verses the ones produced in production plants, works us though."

Osmet crouched down and removed a two-inch serrated knife from his backpack for removing the antlers and head of the elsine. Since elsine never shed their antlers, mold grew over and inside them throughout the years changing their color from a skin like tan color to a mossy green. The mold fed on the antlers causing them to become hollow while also producing penicillin inside of the antlers. This symbiotic relation between the two was not natural but was instead caused an unintended byproduct of genetic modification during terraforming operations on Elkhorn.