by Dan Thomas
Table of Contents
Copyright
Foreword
Main Characters/Usernames
Transmission
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Chapter Forty-Five
Chapter Forty-Six
Chapter Forty-Seven
Chapter Forty-Eight
Chapter Forty-Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-Two
Chapter Fifty-Three
Chapter Fifty-Four
Chapter Fifty-Five
Chapter Fifty-Six
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Epilogue
Treachery
The Terra Trials
Book One
***
All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.
© 2021 Dan Thomas
Cover design by Joolz & Jarling-Julie Nicholls & Uwe Jarling
Treachery
The Terra Trials
Book One
The Terra Verse. Jump worlds to slay dragons, invent new high-tech machines, sail the deserts avoiding the monstrosities just below the sand. There are countless ways to live...and even more ways to die in a series of virtual alternate realities.
The Terra Verse is a VR game so realistic that it is indistinguishable from real life, and so ingrained in society that it affects even Wall Street.
And anything that influential is bound to draw the wrong kind of attention.
The Coprolite Crew lives for Primeva, the prehistoric world of the Terra Verse, not only for the escape it gives them from the mundanity of real life but also for the money they make from prospecting the mossy rocks to using the rare Amica plants to tame the dinosaurs.
A high Tier tame could be worth more than a month’s paycheck from a dead-end job.
But when their long-standing rivals ambush them and threaten the survival of the Crew, they must choose whether to work together or fall apart...and learn just how far they’re willing to go for revenge.
But revenge leads to treachery, which could cost them everything.
As the greatest threat to the Terra Verse begins, soon the Coprolite Crew must choose whether to Adapt or Die.
Main Characters/Usernames:
Max Harrell - Holic
Sam Booth - Ticket
Roderick Perez - Pez
Tatum Snyder - Chopsticks
Transmission
Connection: Secured
Receiving
K: Package secured?
J: In hand
K: Spotlight?
J: Avoided for now
K: Contact TV HQ?
J: Negative
K: Suspected Insider?
J: No
J: Almost certain
K: Plan?
J: Unsure yet. Going to Ground
K: Need assistance?
J: Too much risk
K: Acknowledged. Progressing slowly on my end. Stay safe
K: Eyes everywhere, be careful
Chapter One
Grunting, Holic hauled the last sack out of the mine shaft and let it drop heavily to the ground before flopping down beside it. Tilting his head back, the sun washed over his face as he tried to ignore the ache of his hands, throbbing from endless hours of gripping a pickaxe. “Phew, another weekend mining ore,” Holic tried to sound upbeat as the other members of the Coprolite Crew exited the mine. “Maybe next time we’ll get out on the raptors, get them some more hunting done instead.”
“I hope you’re not complaining about your fun-filled weekend,” Ticket brushed strands of her dirty, red-streaked hair back.
“Yeah, remember that this was your idea, Holic. Anyway, it’ll be worth it once we get to the Hub and sell it off.” Pez grabbed the pack, hooked his arms through the straps, and lifted it onto his shoulder. “That vein of flux we found was a bonus, too.”
“Yeah. We’ll actually be able to do some more metalwork.” Ticket finished hauling one of the last large ammonite shells half filled with fuel away from the mine entrance. “And just think of all the strength training we’ve just done.”
“Hey, careful, Ticket, or you’ll talk Holic into talking us into mining ore again next weekend,” Chopsticks warned her.
Ticket gave a short laugh. “Are you saying you haven’t had a great time?”
“Oh, no! The only thing I’m good for is hunting. Maybe we’ll get lucky with a new tame. Did you guys see that they’ve released new dinos into the world this week?” Chopsticks dragged one of the other packs toward the waiting dinosaurs they used to transport the heavy minerals, and just about anything else they needed moved from one place to another.
“I don’t know if you should be looking out for new dinosaurs, when you can’t look after the ones we’ve already got,” Pez growled, walking to the edge of the rocky plateau and looking into the jungle below.
“Huh?” Chopsticks peered around the stocky dino he was hauling the ore packs toward.
Holic pushed up off the ground and sat on one of the larger rocks, bracing himself for whatever Chopsticks had done now. That might be unfair, but usually, if Pez had something to complain about, it was because Chopsticks had either done something or not done something. It was about fifty-fifty as to which way it was going to go.
“What’s up?” Holic asked.
“Someone,” Pez began, and they all mentally replaced someone with Chopsticks, “didn’t keep an eye on Charlie.”
“Crap.” Holic rolled his eyes at Chopsticks. “I was just thinking we were missing someone.”
“And you all look at me?” Chopsticks looked suitably offended, even though he knew as well as the rest of them that he was responsible for securing Charlie before they entered the mine.
“You know how he likes to wander off, no matter how many times we tell him to stay put.” Ticket slapped Chopsticks on the chest as she walked past, shovel in hand.
“Ouch.” Chopsticks rubbed the spot wher
e he’d been slapped.
“Damn it, Chopsticks. If we don’t get Charlie back, you can carry this crap back to base yourself.” Pez threw his arms into the air in despair.
“I’ll go find him,” Chopsticks announced, dropping the pack of iron ore to the ground. “How hard can it be to find a Gryposaurus? I’ll follow the path of desolation, seems all that dinosaur does is eat.” He stomped off to the edge of the ridge and sat down. “Charlie!” Chopsticks cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled into the trees before rolling onto his side and sliding down the loose gravel into the green forest below.
“And now all of Primeva knows we’re here,” Pez hissed.
“Let’s just hope he doesn’t spook anything like a Parasaur. If it spots us and does its foghorn impression, it’ll bring in every predator within a mile. We all know how common they are around here. Come on, let’s get the rest of the dinosaurs loaded up while Chopsticks finds Charlie.” Lifting the packs Chopsticks had dropped, Holic carried them to their two remaining pack dinosaurs, who stood idly in the sunlight, their bone-crested heads soaking up the warmth.
“You know we should ditch him, right? He can find his own way home.” The mutinous expression on Pez’s face wasn’t one Holic wanted to argue with. He was tired and pissed off. If Chopsticks didn’t find Charlie, this would escalate. Fast.
Holic wasn’t sure he could take another escalation, he’d been thinking for a while about moving on. But what would he do instead? Even if he did quit, he’d come back. Primeva was his escape from a mundane job in a mundane world.
It also helped pay the bills. He knew he’d struggle if he had to rely on his crappy desk job without being able to take out some of the money his Crew earned from trading resources and dinos with other players at the Hubs dotted around Primeva and the other Terra Verse worlds.
Maybe a change of scenery would help, he thought. Perhaps he’d ditch the dinosaurs and go spend some time on one of the other worlds in the Terra Verse. Maybe Aerium with its flying rocks, or Junket with vast oceans to explore and treasure to find. They were two of the many worlds he’d always thought about spending time on. He could treat it as a vacation.
However, as he breathed in the earthy humid air, with more than a hint of dino poop, Holic knew he’d always come back to Primeva. This was like a home away from home.
Although, he often wished it were his real home. He was a man out of time. He should have been born into the real prehistoric Earth. It sure beat a cramped cubicle, even if the plants were as likely to eat you as the creatures.
“Come on then.” Ticket knelt next to her little robotic companion that had been curled up in the sun on the edge of the ridge. She gently touched its head and it stirred, its short snake-like neck craning up to look at her with its blue glowing eyes. Well, visual sensors. With a soft electric whir, it got to its feet and nimbly climbed up Ticket’s arm. Settling down to a half-crouching position, TOD held itself in place with its articulated tail wrapped around the Ankylosaurus bone plate covering one of her shoulders, the chrome of its body half-hidden as her dark hair, streaked with vibrant red, fell over it.
As Ticket got back to her feet, the small dragon-like robot beat its wings, which were some half an arm’s length each in size, a couple of times to keep balance. Ticket and TOD had acquired a symmetry to their actions, woman and machine moving as one.
Pez gave a half-smile and shook his head. “I still don’t know why you keep that thing around, it spends more time recharging than doing literally anything else.”
Ticket gasped theatrically, turning her neck awkwardly to address the little machine in a voice normally saved for small children or puppies. “What’s he saying about you, hm?” She ran her hand down its spiny neck. “I think he’s jealous. He wants a nice easy life sitting in the sun all day instead of going down a mine shaft to hack away at ore.”
Pez chuckled. “You have a point. That thing does have it easy. We should get him to earn his keep more often.”
“TOD does do well for himself considering it’s in the wrong world.” Holic set the ore down at the feet of one of their pack animals.
“I’m not surprised, considering the amount of money we put into that thing.” Pez began collecting up their tools, consisting of picks, hammers, shovels, and the large metal auger they had used to drill out the rock.
“And I’m eternally grateful.” Ticket gave them a disarming smile.
Holic snorted and turned back to what he was doing. It wasn’t as if they’d had a choice about putting their money into TOD.
“Hi there, Saturn.” Holic rubbed the bony head of one of the two Centrosaurus. She was one of his favorite dinosaurs. Nowhere near as coveted as her Triceratops cousins, but Holic wouldn’t give her up. “You’re a good girl, you wouldn’t run off.” The rhinoceros-sized dino gave a low hum in response to his touch.
Damn, he needed a real life. Here he was on a Sunday afternoon, admiring the beautiful ruddy-brown bony frills that framed the head of the large female, not to mention her smooth single horn jutting out of her short snout, capable of impaling a man in one quick toss of her head.
Holic quickly dismissed the idea of sending Saturn out to hunt down Chopsticks and spike him on that same impressive horn. Instead, he focused on loading the big saddlebags with the packs of iron ore and stone they had dug out of the new mine shaft they’d sunk last night.
Yep, Friday night spent finding a new place for a mine, Saturday and Sunday spent digging it out. He sure knew how to party.
“Want to go keep Chopsticks out of trouble?” Ticket asked as she helped Holic secure the packs evenly. “There you go, girl, don’t want you falling over to one side.” They all had a soft spot for Saturn. She had been with them for a long time, and was pretty affectionate toward the group, as opposed to their other Centrosaurus, Jupiter, who could be stubborn as an ass sometimes.
“Yeah. I guess.” Turning away from the Centrosaurus, Holic trudged to the edge of the ridge, scanning the dense undergrowth for his teammate. There was no sign of Chopsticks. Only the plethora of lush green, huge spear-like leaves, smaller ferns, and a dash of bright color from berry bushes and flowers mixed in between various shades of green trees as far as the eye could see. Maybe Chopsticks had run off after something shiny or chased some little critter through the undergrowth and got lost.
Holic took a moment to listen to the sounds of the forest: whoops and screeches filled the heavy air as weird and often dangerous beasts ate, slept, or hunted in an attempt to stay alive in the prehistoric world.
From his vantage point on the ridge, Holic was almost level with the tops of some of the smaller trees. He felt the hairs along his arms stand up as bright flashes of movement sparked across the canopy in the form of small birds and pterosaurs. When he’d first explored the world of Primeva, the sounds of unknown creatures crying out of sight seemed eerie, now he could match each screech, each squawk, or blood-curdling roar to its prehistoric owner. They were still the reason that Primeva was his favorite. For Holic, it was the jewel among the other worlds of the Terra Verse, and even now watching the world go by sparked something inside him. Sometimes he couldn’t believe this wasn’t the real world.
“Holic,” Chopsticks hissed from some twenty feet below. Holic squinted, able to make out the shape of his friend crouched in a bush. He was pointing farther into the jungle, but Holic could not see what had caught Chopsticks’ attention.
Reluctantly, Holic sat back on his haunches and began to lower himself down the rocky slope. He was always wary about entering the dense foliage. Holic had lost count of how many times he’d been eaten or poisoned by what lurked unseen. No matter how many times he’d ventured into the wilderness, he never lost that thrill of knowing there could be a raptor behind every tree. Yeah, you could keep your tech worlds or your ice-cold tundra. Gyromeda and Svelkif had nothing on the prehistoric world of Primeva.
He reached the base of the slope, making as little noise as possible on the loose stone
s. Crouching below the undergrowth, he crept toward his friend.
“What is it?” Holic asked as he snuck up behind Chopsticks, keeping his head down and his voice low, just loud enough to be heard over the hum of insects that filled the air.
“A Mononykus.” Chopsticks wore an expression that convinced Holic this wasn’t one of his jokes.
“A Mononykus? Are you sure?” Holic rose up just enough to look over the leafy shrub they were hiding behind, but he couldn’t see anything moving in the dense undergrowth, aside from their Gryposaurus, Charlie.
Still, with his saddle and saddlebags on, Charlie was smaller, yet stockier than his Iguanodon relatives, and lacked their subtlety as he leaned down on his forelegs, demolishing ferns and any reachable leaves with his broad bill. As Charlie pulled off a chunk of rotten wood in his pursuit of leaves, he disturbed a nest of flying insects that buzzed furiously around the dinosaur’s head. In typical Charlie manner, the Gryposaurus munched his leaves, oblivious to the angry insects. That dino sure had his priorities straight.
“Yes, a Mononykus. Definitely.” Chopsticks stayed low, parting the fronds of the fern to look through. “It was chilling with Charlie in the clearing, I think it moved off that way when Charlie disturbed the swarm of bugs.”
“I’ll go look for tracks.” Holic went to stand up, but his friend grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, putting his finger to his lips.
“Wait, it’s back, look over there.” Chopsticks pointed to the other side of the clearing.
Holic peered through the fern fronds as a small, bird-like dinosaur stepped gingerly out into the open on slender, chicken-like legs. Its brown, lightly feathered body looked out of place in the colorful jungle.
“I thought they were plains animals, what’s it doing here?” Holic hissed.
Chopsticks shrugged. “The Kaolin Lowlands are only a little west of here, might have got lost? It’s hungry though, look.”
They watched as the small-framed Mononykus moved past Charlie, who didn’t seem to even notice it, and over to the rotten tree that had been pulled apart. With its long, beak-like snout, it began snapping up round-bodied insects within, using the large, singular claws on each of its arms to tear apart the punk wood.
