Crucible of a Species (12 page)

“Ma’am! The berm is nearly 30% complete and we haven’t started on the security fence and automated sentries. Our work at this section and down by the other dozer has stopped because of the bird attack.”

“Bird attack?” Sandra cut in. “These aren’t birds, Sergeant. They’re dinosaurs, tyrannosaurids to be exact.”

“Look like half plucked birds to me Doctor, except they are shit-fast and they’re big as hell. It’s almost impossible to see them in the brush. One of them dragged off Wiggens before we could even react.”

Brittany could see a blood trail leading off towards the mainland, “You didn’t go after him?”

“No ma’am. It took his head with the first swipe. There’s a pack of ‘em out there, don’t really know how many. There’re only five of us …. make that four of us now. Going out there is suicide. Any chance of help from the Argos?”

“No,” Brittany replied. “Looks like we’re on our own. We need this barrier erected as soon as possible. The Colonel wants it completed before the Argos gets here.”

“Yeah, if they get here.” CPL Tyree mumbled from over by the berm.

The Sergeant’s head snapped up, Sandra saw fire in his grey eyes, “I heard that Corporal and it’s not worthy of a marine. You should be listening for threats and watching the bushes.

“Sorry ma’am. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“There’s another one sneaking in by the …”

A massive head, filled with three-inch long teeth, erupted from the brush behind the corporal. Tyree dove to the side, rolled and was bringing his Pulsar up when Sgt. Marshall placed three shots into the beast. A head-piercing scream, sounding like a cross between the screech of a hawk and the sharp cackle of an angry rooster, filled the forest. Corporal Tyree ran back behind the earthen berm as three more of the dinosaurs appeared at the edge of the tree line.

“We’ve been setup, it was a diversion.” Sgt. Marshall called grabbing the corporal’s shoulder as he ran by. “Get up. You don’t have to worry about return fire, Tyree. Up! Up on top of the berm.”

Rifle shots from the direction of the other dozer team ripped through the air like a string of firecrackers. “There are only two men over there. How many of these things are there?” Brittany called out and then flinched as Sandra fired.

One of the dinosaurs paused to examine the dozer. Corporal Tyree mercilessly downed it then swiftly turned on another monster coming from his left. “We’re not high enough.” The corporal shouted, “We only made it easier for them, they don’t have to bend down to ….”

The air reverberated with a low warble that settled into the back of their skulls. As suddenly as they had appeared, the dinosaurs faded away leaving their dead behind.

“Now what?” Marshall growled.

*~~*~~*~~*

The Argos crash site
was easy to locate as Ensigns Andrew Dailey and Mark Middleton flew along the shore in their Hunter Recon. A pale section of the normally red cliffs marked the spot where the ship’s impact had cast the beach’s white sands onto them. Below this blemish lay the Argos like some huge, grey creature that had crawled from the sea.

Hundreds of ammonite, shellfish and crabs lay scattered across the area around the ship amid long strands of uprooted seaweed and kelp. Many of the shelled animals were more than three-feet across. Ensign Daily watched the crabs, they moved quickly and were large enough to make him nervous as he set the Hunter down on the sandy slope, “Better grab two pistol belts.”

Mark returned a few moments later, “Here, put on your belt and I’ll get the hatch.”

The port opened and a warm, wet breeze filled with salt entered the cabin.

“Hope we don’t have to move too quickly, sand’s soft.” Dailey commented as he looked down the steep slope to the uncovered section of the Argos, “Fortunately, it’s not far to the ship. Here goes.” They clamored down and then across to the ship’s hatch.

Daily linked back into the Hunter’s transmitter and sent the Argos a warning, “Argos be advised, Hunter Recon team #2 is attempting entry through service hatch number four.”

“Do you really think anyone heard that?” Middleton grumbled.

“We can’t simply walk in unannounced.”

Dailey took a small stick from his pocket, inserted it into the hatch and turned. The door made a clicking sound, pulled inward and moved to the side, opening in a smooth motion. “I guess that’s a good sign. The ship’s at normal atmospheric pressure.”

“Yeah, or the hull is breached nearby. Let’s go, you first.”

The service hatch opened into a small, dark corridor. Lighting went on as they entered a plain vertical shaft extending several yards in. Along its walls were multiple hatches providing access to the outer hull maintenance areas, a narrow space that existed between the inner and outer hulls of the Argos. Ensign Dailey found the hatch he was looking for. It was clearly marked as ‘J’ corridor.

“Now for the moment of truth,” Ensign Dailey mumbled as he slid his access key into the frame and turned it. The hatch opened into another dimly lit, but much larger inside corridor filled with people moving quickly along it in both directions. Some of the people walked with a limp and others had small bandages or an arm in a sling. Dailey assumed they were injuries sustained during the landing. The people passed by giving little notice to the two ensigns.

The lighting went up and a cool but dank smelling breeze wafted down the corridor. Some of those in the corridor stopped briefly to look around and smile while others shouted or laughed. “It’s about time.” One of those passing by slapped the ensign on the shoulder and then stopped, “Oh, sorry sir. I didn’t notice you were an officer.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Middleton replied. “Whoa, wait a second here. What’s the ship’s status?”

“Sir? What do you … oh, you came in from outside, you’re the ones who entered through the service corridor, right? Captain had us prepared for a rough landing. Good thing, too. It was hard, a lot of guys were hurt but I think the ship’s in good shape. I gotta go, sir. They need me in the Drive Center; they say it’s a real mess in there.”

Middleton watched briefly as the specialist hurried down the corridor before giving his buddy a tap on his shoulder, “That’s where we need to be, Andy. Let’s go; to the Drive Center.”

*~~*~~*~~*

“Argos Landing, this is Argos.
Please confirm. Argos Landing ….”

“Argos, welcome back. No need to be so formal, there are four radios on this planet and I believe I can recognize you Ensign Waverly. What’s your status?”

“Sorry, Colonel, force of habit. We just restored power. We’re still assessing crew status but casualties appear to be light.

“No estimates on external damage yet. The Wave Drives are down from cause unknown. The captain is personally leading an inspection since the Chief Engineer is in sickbay.

“Captain Lee would like a few words with you over a secure channel. If you could hold on for a minute, I’ll raise him.”

“Go ahead, Ensign. I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

It took less than a minute for the captain to return to his cabin and link into the channel.

“Dan. I’m in my quarters; the channel is encrypted on this end. Can you ensure security on your transmission?”

“You can see I’m transmitting from an open area, Adrian, but there’s no one within earshot. I setup a perimeter sensor so I’ll know if anyone approaches. Switching to encryption …. now. Encryption is running. Security metrics are solid. Green to go. You first, Adrian, it’s your call.”

“Let me start off with the obvious. It’s now beyond a doubt; the saboteur survived and is among us. Argos did not have a drive failure or I wouldn’t be here talking to you. I believe a charge detonated in the Drive Capsule. We didn’t lose power, the ship lost stability. This is an indication that both drives continued to run but they were out of synch.”

Colonel Drake broke in, “Current drive status?”

The captain replied without hesitation, “The drives are shutdown and I’ve forbidden entry to the Capsule until I arrive. It’s a strange situation, Dan. We’re dead on the beach in a vessel that’s intact. Yet there’s the possibility that she may be a total loss.”

“One step at a time, Adrian. First, Hunter Two is vectored towards you and you can expect to hear from them shortly. We can see you’re embedded in the soft sand and shallow water. You were lucky; she just missed a rocky jetty.”

“We can thank Hunter One for that. We would have either been dead on the cliffs or down in deep water if they hadn’t of pulled that crazy stunt. They managed to stabilize our … you said Hunter Two was approaching. What happened to Hunter One?”

“Don’t know yet.” Drake replied, “We ran a search pattern out to sea without success. Haven’t heard from them since the crash, they may be under the Argos but our first priority is to get you out and back up here on the plateau. If you can manage to activate at least one of the drives then, between the dozers and Hunter Two, you might be able to lift. You could make it up here on one drive couldn’t you?”

“One drive might be enough but ...” Captain Lee suddenly stopped talking when he saw the colonel turn to look behind him. In one fluid motion, the marine picked up a rifle, and pivoted. A red and gold covered head magically appeared as it took a step forward, somehow, the bushes didn’t even rustle. The colonel froze as the animal silently sniffed the air.

Drake brought it down with two shots; a third to its head flipped the animal before it could even hit the ground.

The colonel looked back at his desk. “Sorry Adrian. That’s the fifth one this afternoon. These guys are sneaky as hell. You can’t see them if they just stand still or move slowly; great camouflage.

“Let’s get back to our problem. You’re not on full power yet so we need to unload some of our people or you will drain the backups. Looks like we’re going to spend the night here on the plateau and I frankly don’t believe I have enough people to maintain a secure campsite through the hours of darkness.

“When they show up, please have the two ensigns from Hunter Two shuttle some of my marines back here. A platoon should be enough. After you uncover some of the Argo’s cargo hatches, we can shuttle over more people and supplies to lighten your load.

“Our third priority is this saboteur ….” started the colonel but Lee interrupted him.

“Dan, we may have more than one saboteur. Midshipman Thornsen approached me earlier at the request of Dr. Thompson. She reported that a group of specialists were asking questions that seemed a little odd.

“They wanted to know about the possibility of our creating a time paradox by being here in the past. Apparently, there is some heated debate on the topic among the Navy ratings and specialists. Rumors travel around like this all the time on board ship and, if it weren’t for our drive problem, I would have simply shrugged them off. This time I’m concerned. Dissention may be growing in the ranks.”

*~~*~~*~~*

“I expected the ship to be pretty messed up.”
Ensign Dailey commented as they passed down the corridor. “If it wasn’t for the odd angle of the floor, I’d say things looked pretty normal. We need to be two levels lower than this, there’s a ladder just ahead.”

The Drive Center was located inside of the Control and Information Center, or CIC. This area provided the primary interface and maintenance access to the Wave Drive generators. The Argos had two Wave Drives located in an even smaller room at the center of the CIC called the Drive Capsule.

Eventually the ensigns came to a doorway marked ‘CIC Pass-through’. They passed down a windowless corridor to a door marked ‘Drive Center’. Ensign Dailey presented his ID and entered to find Captain Lee standing on the other side of the room. The captain was reviewing some data with Chief Meecham as the ensigns approached. Dailey formally saluted and reported, “Sir, Colonel Drake ordered us to report. We gained entry to the Argos using the service hatch into ‘J’ corridor.

“Most of the rest of the Argos is under sand or water. We have not located Hunter Recon #1 yet. The colonel requested we determine and return to report on your status.”

“Thank you, Ensign. I appreciate your effort but I’ve just completed a call to the colonel so he is up to date. The Wave Drive is still down and we’re just getting ready to enter the Drive Capsule. You can lend a hand.”

“Aye aye, sir.”

Lee nodded to the chief and he stepped up to the Drive Capsule hatch. Meecham’s fingers raced up and down a panel while graphs and tables of data scrolled across the framework. “We have full communications with both drives, Captain. Drives inside are on standard lockdown. System logs report they went through a normal and proper shutdown. Environment inside reads safe for entry.”

Lee turned to the specialists behind him, “Lock the entry doors. No one goes in or out from this point forward. No communications outside this room unless I first approve. Got that, people? All right, Chief. Let’s see what it looks like in there.”

“Aye aye, sir.” CPO Meecham replied. The door opened into a black, unlit cavern. The CPO entered, flashlight in hand, “We’ll need to bring in … ouch. There’s debris on the floor, watch your step.

“The walls seem to be intact although only testing will tell. Obviously, we’ll have to install new lighting. Most of the debris comes from pieces of the supports for Beta Drive. Alpha Drive appears intact except for a few superficial blemishes. Actually, Beta Drive seems to be in pretty good shape too other than the fact she’s half lying on the deck.”