DS02 Night of the Dragonstar (19 page)

At first glance Ennis seemed fragile and delicate, but after hearing her impassioned little speech, Mishima knew she could do the job.

Colonel Kemp was smiling and nodding his head. “How can I argue with that kind of logic, Kate? Although I think you’ll find these chaps a bit different from any of your previous subjects.”

“And I don’t think you should be going by yourself,” said a young corporal wearing a tactical insignia on the shoulder of his coveralls. He turned to face and salute Kemp. “Corporal David Potlack, sir. I couldn’t help overhear the conversation, sir, and I figure if the lady here isn’t afraid to check out the lizards, then neither am I, sir.”

Kemp smiled at the young man and shook his hand. “All right, then, I guess we have a mission to plan. Ms. Ennis, meet your escort, Corporal Potlack. Now let’s sit down here and see what would be the best way to go about this.”

* * *

Christ-on-a-crutch, he never thought he’d be in a situation like this!

Dr. Robert Jakes lay sprawled on a slab of stone about two hundred meters above the jungle floor. He’d been carried there by several of the passengers from the cargo ‘thopter because he’d banged up his ankle when they first touched down. He laughed at the thought. “Touched down” isn’t exactly how he’d have described the way the ’thopter had thrashed through the tree tops and flung itself over the stone wall into the courtyard of the ruins. If it hadn’t been for the thick tangle of vines and underbrush that were slowly reclaiming the stone buildings, and which had served as a marvelous cushioning pad, the ’thopter would have had a worse time of it.

As it was, there were some cuts and bruises and a few sprains, but that was all.

Darkness had wrapped them all up more than an hour ago, and everyone was huddled about a utility lamp that Lieutenant Barkham had brought up from the ’thopter. The scene reminded Jakes of a pack of early hominids bunched about a simple campfire, listening to the horrors of the night, which seemed to caper boldly just beyond the light’s perimeter. And they represented an interesting mix of people, thought Jakes as he looked about the assembled group. Barkham and a couple of IASA staffers, two executives from World Media Corporation, several scientists from the research team, and a handful of the documentary crew.

Most of us not very well cut out for this kind of survival game, Jakes thought. A bunch of softies, he thought with a smile. Myself included. Even Lieutenant Barkham, whom everybody was kind of looking up to for advice because he represented the authority figure, the captain of the ship, and all that jazz, was not too skilled at getting by in the wilderness.

Granted, he had just gotten word that some help was on the way, but Jakes was shocked to hear that things were going so bad everywhere that everybody else was planning to come here.

He tested his ankle tentatively, twisting it slowly and finally putting some pressure on it. Felt better, no more shooting pains, just a dull throbbing. He would probably be able to get around on it by the next day, although there wasn’t much of anywhere to go when you were perched halfway up a stone ziggurat.

It was funny how the conversation would come in waves or flurries. It seemed to hit them in cycles. Everybody would be talking for a while, and then suddenly it would kind of peter out and there would be nothing but silence.

Things were in a silent phase right now, and everybody seemed to be tuned in to the symphony of night sounds that could be heard cutting through the darkness like sharp knives, or maybe sharp teeth. Jakes had spent very little time in the Mesozoic preserve, and this whole experience was starting to get to him. He had, of course, gone through the usual love affair with dinosaurs as a kid, but now that he was out among the damned things, he would just as soon not ever see one. About the closest he had come to any of them was from the air, just passing over, thank you
—
but now there was the chance that he might be meeting one of the boys close up.

His group was not terribly well armed
—
two automatic rifles and three sidearms
—
and Jakes had no idea what was needed to bring down the average predator. Every once in a while there would be some kind of hellacious scream or growl that would jump out of the forest below them, and it would seem so damned close that Jakes would swear the creatures were lurking right next to them. It was amazing how much louder everything sounded at night. It was probably the mind and the imagination up to their usual tricks, but Jakes didn’t care much about that.

A vicious snarling tore open the silence, and everybody looked at each other. Whatever had made that noise had sounded damned close and damned big.

“I wonder if they can smell us up here?” asked one of the young guys from the documentary crew.

“Not unless you’re bleedin’,” said someone else. “You gotta be bleedin’.”

“I thought that was just for sharks. These are dinosaurs, right?”

“Hey, who cares,” one of the women said. “I mean, do we really want to know if those things can smell us from down there?”

Everyone chuckled nervously and settled back into an uneasy silence. They all seemed to be studying the steady glow of the electric lantern as though it were about to dispense some important bit of Information instead of just light. Then there came a new sound, which made everyone become visibly more tense.

A scrabbling, scratching sound.

Sharp claws on rough stone, furiously churning and scritching, growing louder and more frenzied as it continued, accompanied by ravenous snarling
—
a slavering, bubbling sound of hunger and insanity.

It was easily the most terrifying sound Bob Jakes had ever heard in his life.

Shit! Is it getting louder because it’s getting more frantic or because it’s getting closer? He kept the question to himself for two reason: one, he didn’t want to alarm the others, and two, he didn’t really want to know the answer.

Barkham and two of the tactical men moved out of the group toward the sloping edge of the pyramidal structure. One of them shone a flashlight down into the darkness.

“There he is,” Jakes heard one of them say softly.

“Jesus, he’s a pretty big one!” the other whispered, albeit loud enough for everyone to hear. “You think he could make it up here?”

“I don’t think so,” Barkham said.

“Well,” said the younger of the two troopers, taking aim with his automatic rifle, “I’m going to pop him one.”

“No!” Barkham said. “Even if you kill him. all you’d do is draw a bunch of other ones to the spot. The scent of blood draws ’em out of the fucking woodwork.”

Dropping his rifle, the trooper nodded while the other kept the light trained down toward the beast. Its crazy scratching was getting less rapid, and the message that it was too hard a climb finally starting to get to its dull, tiny brain. Good thing, too, thought Jakes. Between the noise and the trigger-happy staffers, Jakes didn’t know if he could stand this kind of tension all night long.

If he could sincerely believe they were safe up on the ruins, it wouldn’t be so bad on the nerves, but the jury was still out on that particular deal.

No one spoke for he didn’t know how long, then just as abruptly as the scrabbling had started, it ended.

“Finally gave up,” said the trooper with the flashlight. “There he goes.”

That seemed to be the signal for everyone to start talking, because suddenly there was a low murmur of conversation which gradually became louder until it seemed as if Jakes was the only one not talking. It went on like that until the earthquake started.

At least it seemed like an earthquake, and that’s what everybody started yelling when the ground shook and the very foundations of the massive stone ruins began to vibrate and tremble. People started screaming and moving closer together, away from the edge of the edifice, where pieces of cut stone were starting to flake off and fall into the darkness.

Jakes had to admit that it sure as hell felt like an earthquake, but he knew that was impossible. He also knew that there was only one thing that could cause the entire encapsulated world to vibrate and shake like tectonic plates being scraped so roughly together.

Engines starting.

THEY HAD
requested that she change clothes before going down into the city of Hakarrh, and Kate Ennis had to admit it wasn’t a bad idea. The fashionable gown she had worn to the live broadcast had long ago been ruined. So now she stepped from the temple wearing a set of IASA standard-issue coveralls that were at least two sizes too large. She looked like a mechanic in a turn-of-the-century garage.

“Not as flattering,” Phineas Kemp said when he saw her emerge. “But at least you won’t have to worry about it snagging on anything.”

“Very funny,” Kate said.

“Here, Ms. Ennis,” said Dr. Takamura, who handed her a small pendant device. “This is a digital translator. It’s been encoded for the Saurian language and English. You’ve seen how they operate, I assume.”

“Yes,” she said with a nervous smile. “I can just wear it around my neck, right?”

“That’s right,” Kemp said. “But remember that you have to wait after speaking for it to broadcast your message. Then you have to wait for it to translate whatever the Saurians say back to you.”

“It just makes the whole process of communicating a little slower, a bit more awkward, perhaps,” said Takamura. “But equally effective
—
as long as you choose the proper words.”

Kate looked at the young physicist. His oriental features were complemented by his dark eyes and thick dark hair. He was a handsome man with more dash and verve then she usually associated with scientists. He seemed to have more than his share of self-confidence and social graces, which many academic types seemed never to have learned.

She smiled at him, then cleared her throat dramatically. “Yes, Doctor, choosing the proper words has been a problem for us humans for a long time, hasn’t it?”

“Well put,” Takamura said. He performed a little mock bow, and Kate wondered if he might be making a pass at her in an offhand kind of way. He certainly could be a charmer when he wanted to be.

Just then Corporal Potlack joined them and announced that he was as ready as he’d ever be. He carried an automatic rifle with extra ammo clips hanging from his belt. His helmet visor was flipped up, revealing his lean bearded face. Despite the man’s small build and height, he appeared quite formidable. Implanted headphones and a throat mike were also visible, and Kate wondered if she would have to wear similar gear.

“All right,” Kemp said. “Remember to stay close together and head straight for the ‘condos.’ ”

Kate smiled at the slang reference to the dwellings of the priest class, which had been cut, pueblo-style, into the face of the promontory above Hakarrh. They figured that that would be the safest place to attempt contact with the Saurians, since the lower castes were never allowed in the condos and the priest class didn’t seem to be as affected by the radiation madness that had raced through the other classes like a plague.

“Don’t worry, Colonel,” Corporal Potlack said, smacking his weapon affectionately. “I won’t let anything happen to us.”

“Okay, I guess that’s it,” Phineas said as he reached out and took Kate’s hand in both his own. “This is a courageous thing you’re doing, Kate. Good luck.”

“I’m not sure how courageous I feel,” she said softly. “I just want to do something to help.”

Kemp smiled apprehensively. “You’re doing more than anyone would ever ask of you.” Turning to Corporal Potlack, he gave the man a crisp salute.

Following the trooper’s lead, Kate walked past the barricades and began to descend the steps. Everyone on the first line of defense began to clap, and the applause was mixed with cheers. Kate felt a swelling in her chest and tears in her eyes.

They had covered perhaps one quarter of the distance down toward the boulevard when the applause died out. For a moment there was only silence. Kate scanned the area below and was pleased to see that it appeared to be deserted.

Corporal Potlack stopped abruptly. “What’s that? You feel it?”

At first Kate didn’t know what he was talking about, then she too felt a tingle of vibration in the massive stone steps. As she stood perfectly still, the vibration increased rapidly. Suddenly it was no longer a tingling in her boots but a full-fledged tremor. The immense set of steps seemed to be shifting and dipping away from her feet.

Corporal Potlack yelled something and reached out for her as she toppled outward. His hand locked upon her wrist and pulled her back as they both fell across the sharp edges of the steps. By now the stone foundation was actually heaving and shaking. All around them the air crackled with a high-pitched keening sound that continued to grow in intensity and power.

“What’s happening?” Kate cried out as the noise grew almost unbearably loud.

“I don’t know,” said the trooper, “but we’d better try to get back up.”

“What?” Kate was confused and terrified. The steps were heaving so violently now that it seemed as if they would shake themselves to pieces at any instant.

“C’mon!” Potlack screamed, pulling her back up the steps with surprising strength. She could feel her legs moving, even though she had lost all control and coordination.

“Watch out!” Potlack yelled again as he yanked her from the path of a falling rock that was tumbling down the stairs at a high, rollicking speed. There was a terrible crunching sound as a great fracture appeared in the stone steps to their left. A huge fissure opened up like a jagged mouth and raced along a fault line in the stone. Potlack moved even more quickly now, and suddenly Kate was surrounded by other people as a crowd descended on them and carried them the rest of the way to the top.

The keening had changed pitch and was now a great roaring sound. With a sudden, inertial pull, as though she were tied to the end of rope, she was pulled off her feet with the rest of the crowd, and everyone fell in a tangled mass of arms and legs. Something cataclysmic was happening, but she hadn’t the slightest idea what it might be
—
she only knew that it was very bad, and that she was probably going to die.

She rolled over and tried to get to her feet, but the tremors were so powerful now that this was impossible. Behind her, the stone columns of the Saurian temple had begun to fracture and split. Despite the chaos going on around her, she watched the massive supports flake and crumble as the temple came crashing down. As the huge pieces of stone impacted, many of them exploded, sending out smaller, deadly missiles which laced through the crowd like grapeshot. Someone grabbed her and threw her to the ground on her belly as the first volley of lethal flying debris ripped over her head.

She was shot through with pain from a hundred different cuts and bruises, but she was alive. Someone had saved her life, and she struggled to roll over against the weight of whoever was holding her down. Summoning up all her strength, she pushed up and to the left, heaving the dead weight of a body off her own. Looking at the person who had pulled her down, she recognized the face of Corporal Potlack, his open eyes already glazing over, a large sliver of stone embedded in his chest like an assassin’s knife.

* * *

The only thing he could see in the flashing light of Murphy’s flashlight was the cold, flat look of death in its eye. The carnivore had stumbled upon them quite by accident as it came crashing headlong through the forest chasing a smaller unseen prey.

Jalecki had been the one unlucky enough to be stationed closest to its point of entry into the survey camp. It had been incredibly quick and agile for its five meters of height and seven thousand-plus kilograms. Although Ian had not gotten a good look at it, it was a typical theropod predator
—
huge, pile-driving hindlegs; thick, powerful tail; absurdly small fore claws on a tapering body that expanded into an oversized head that was three-quarters jaws and the rest eyes.

Jalecki had managed to get off a single burst, a warning shot at best, before the monster’s tail lashed out and flicked him like a fly at the end of a snapping bath towel. The man was thrown headlong into the thick trunk of a ginkgo, striking it with bone-crushing impact.

In an instant, the dinosaur leaped to the base of the tree and snapped up Jalecki’s broken body in its jaws. The only consolation was that he was already dead.

By this time Murphy was firing at its thick hide, at the same time trying to get a light on it. Ian could see that this one had more subdued markings than some of the others
—
muted grays and greens
—
which tended to make the beast less visible, especially at night.

Becky had picked up a flashlight and was shining it into the bastard’s big yellow eye, hoping to keep it blinded, even for a few moments. Ian had ripped a clip of slugs through its neck, and Murphy had come up from the rear and filled its flanks with dumdums. As it thrashed about on the edge of the forest, Ian could see glimpses of dark, syrupy blood glistening on its hide, and he knew that it was a goner.

It was just a question of how long it would take to die.

The carnivore emitted one last screeching, wailing song of pain and agony. It belched up gobbets of undigested flesh, mixed with a bubbling froth of its own blood, and tottered forward. When it fell, it barely missed the geodesic OTV hangar.

“Son of a bitch!” yelled Murphy, who was running on all cylinders, fired by a maximum shot of adrenaline. “Jesus, did you see that bastard. Oh, John, John.”

“Coopersmith moved over to the trooper and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I know how you feel, Murphy, but we’ve got to get out of here. Our shots and the blood are going to draw a crowd fast.”

Murphy looked up and forced a panicky smile to his face. “I know, I know. But John was my buddy.”

“He was dead as soon as he hit the tree,” Ian said. “Now let’s put a move on.”

Becky had already alerted the four scientists in the hangar, and everyone was ready.

“We’ve got to change positions fast,” Ian said. “I suggest we move to the building that’s farthest away from this point.”

“That would be the physical plant,” said one of the paleontologists. “This way. Hurry!”

As they followed him through the darkness, Ian could already hear the sounds of approaching scavengers and other predators. The foliage seemed alive with rustling motion as the hungry creatures careened in toward the camp. A chorus of screeching and roaring was building to a feverish level. What a place to raise a family, thought Ian. I’m sure glad I’m no dinosaur.

Reaching the physical plant dome, Ian directed the four civilians inside, instructing them to take cover behind the heaviest machinery they could find. He gave John Jalecki’s automatic rifle to Becky and positioned her and Murphy at points equidistant around the dome.

“That ’thopter should be back soon,” Becky said. “Yes, but I hope it doesn’t come down at the wrong moment.”

Beyond them, back where the first attack had come, Ian could hear the first sounds of the scavengers’ feast. Low-pitched growling. The ripping and sucking of a carcass being pulled apart.

“I don’t like this,” Becky said. “I feel like we’re too vulnerable.”

“We can’t leave the camp,” Ian said. “The ’thopter would never find us in the dark. We’ve got to stay here.”

“Maybe we should get into some trees,” she suggested.

“Only if we could get everyone high enough,” Ian said. “Somehow, I can’t imagine our scientists being too good at shinnying up a ginkgo.”

It was only a matter of time before another big predator was attracted by the scent of freshly killed meat. A young and feisty Tyrannosaurus lumbered into the camp clearing like the king that he was, calmly surveying his domain. Thankfully, it was a very young rex
—
only about half its eventual adult size
—
because a really big one could take a lot of slugs before you could bring him down.

Even though the rex was closest to Ian and wasn’t acting like he was taking much notice of them, Murphy let go with a wild burst from his automatic rifle. He must have had it cranked up to the maximum, because four hundred rounds screamed from the barrel in two and a half seconds, missing the beast entirely but managing to neatly saw down a nearby redwood sapling about two meters from the earth.

Even a beast with so dim a brain as the rex could not help but take notice of such a disturbance, and slowly its awareness and attention were shifted away from the pack of scavengers. It turned its ugly head like a gun turret and tilted down a cold, moonish eye at Murphy.

Ian could hear his gunner fumbling for a new clip from his belt pack, and he wondered if Murphy wasn’t already too panicked to be any more good.

“Ian, he’s coming this way,” Becky said.

Looking up, Ian watched the rex flare his nostrils and get a good scent on them. It moved forward several steps, leaping from foot to foot with great ease and strength. The creature was apparently confused by the mixture of fresh raw meat and the strange, enticing smell of human flesh, because it suddenly stopped and raised its snout to get a second sniff.