The magnetic light blue protection nets stirred in the early morning breeze, their strands stretching out high over the colony rooftops. We installed the nets a week earlier expecting this year's migration of the flock to pass overhead any day now.
Life on planet Casper was mundane all year long. The weather almost never changed as the planet's slow rotation took 15 Earth years to fully rotate, turning seasons last so long, you forgot they ever change. Yet every 90 days like clockwork, the massive flock of the Pearl Eagle would buzz overhead as they circle the planet searching for prey.
We never found a way to hunt the majestic birds and it took us generations to figure out the flock could manipulate time to avoid capture. If you ever had a chance to confront the Eagles, you will never forget the moment it vanishes in front of your eyes as reality around you fragments into shards of lights and sound. The bird, once felt threatened or when hunting for prey, can somehow tilt time 15 seconds backward and disappear if threatened or grab its prey if hunting before the time distortion effect dissolves back into linear time.
Our only protection from the flock was the magnetic nets stretched overhead preventing the birds from approaching the colony and our livestock. Far on the horizon, I could see the dark cloud of the flock approach with a halo of sparks and flickers around it as the birds maneuver back and forth in time, approaching the colony.
My heart started pounding faster, the spectacle was breathtaking.
