by Jake Bible
“Then that’s settled,” Raff said. “I’ll drive. Barbara will co-pilot so she can help us dial in the signal. Haskins, you’re up top. Cash and Dr. Xipan will be in the hold until we find the Russians.”
“Up top?” Haskins asked.
“Chill,” Raff said. “We haven’t seen wingers since yesterday.” Raff glanced up at the sky and frowned. “Which is weird…”
“Not even birds,” Barbara said.
“We can birdwatch later,” Cash said. “Right now, we need to consider something.”
“Such as?” Raff asked.
“What if we don’t find them?” Cash asked. “You setting a time limit on this snipe hunt?”
“Snipe hunt? What is a snipe?” Dr. Xipan asked.
“Imaginary creature used to play practical jokes on kids while camping,” Raff said.
Dr. Xipan threw her arms in the air and walked to the back of the speed roller. “Americans…”
“Let’s load up and get back rollin’,” Raff said.
“You didn’t answer my question, Raff,” Cash insisted.
“Nope. I didn’t.”
***
Wellstone felt he would go mad if the constant scratching of claws didn’t stop soon. All he could hear was the echo of the scratching bouncing off the interior walls of the speed roller’s hold. That and his bloody coughs. Coughs that were getting weaker and weaker by the minute.
“Nochez?” Wellstone called.
“Right here,” Nochez said and patted Wellstone on the chest as he lay on the floor of the hold next to a sleeping Lewis. “You thirsty? We have water to spare.”
“No, we don’t,” Wellstone replied then coughed for a couple minutes straight before he managed to stop. His lips and chin were sticky from blood and mucus. He went to wipe the gunk away, but his hand touched a soggy handkerchief instead that had been placed over his mouth to keep the spray at bay. “Can you do something about those damn dinos?”
“I tried,” Nochez said. “They don’t care about loud noises. And last time I opened the hatch, three of them tried to get inside.”
“Oh…” Wellstone struggled to take in a full breath. He gave up and only filled his lungs halfway before letting out a long, agonized wheeze.
“Antibiotics aren’t working,” Nochez said. “You’re getting worse.”
“Lewis?” Wellstone asked.
“I can’t wake her,” Nochez said and hesitated.
“What?”
“Transk is dead,” Nochez responded. “I put his body in the cab with Carter.”
“Shit,” Wellstone said. “Godspeed, mate.”
“Here. Drink,” Nochez said and moved the handkerchief so she could tip a canteen to Wellstone’s lips.
The man didn’t argue even though he knew their water supply was getting low. He drank slowly then coughed most of it back up, spraying bloody water all over Nochez.
“Sorry,” he gasped.
“It’s alright,” Nochez said. “I have Transk piss all over me already.”
Wellstone tried to study Nochez’s face, but the speed roller’s hold was too dim.
“How are you feeling?” Wellstone asked.
“Me? I’m fine,” Nochez admitted. “I don’t know why.”
“No fever? Coughing? Nothing?” Wellstone asked.
“Nothing,” Nochez answered. “If the roller worked, I’d drive us out of here.”
“Comms?”
“Dead.”
“Like Carter and Transk…”
“Yeah…”
A cracking sound came from the cab and Wellstone tried to sit up on his elbows to get a look. Nochez pushed him back flat.
“I’ll check it out,” she said.
“Careful, mate,” Wellstone warned. “That sounded like glass.”
“The glass in the cab is mesh reinforced,” Nochez replied. She opened the hatch between the hold and the cab slowly anyway.
She shut it fast.
“They can break through mesh,” Nochez announced.
“Carter and Transk?” Wellstone asked.
“Lunch,” Nochez said, her voice catching.
“Fuck…”
Nochez sat heavily on one of the benches in the hold. She held her head in her hands and sighed deeply. “How have they not found us yet?”
“You know Bloom, mate,” Wellstone said. “He doesn’t throw good operators after bad Dinoside. I mean, Flipside. Don’t know why we have to use the Yanks’ name for this place.”
“You Aussies are the only ones that call it Dinoside,” Nochez said.
“Makes more sense than Flipside.”
“Except it sounds like a kids’ petting zoo. Flipside has a more—”
“Yeah, yeah, heard it all before, mate.”
Wellstone curled up into a ball as he coughed and coughed. Nochez wet a cloth and crouched over him, wiping at his lips and chin, removing the constant splatter of blood. After several minutes, Wellstone’s body unclenched and he relaxed.
Then Lewis started to shake.
“She’s seizing,” Nochez exclaimed. “Transk didn’t do that. What do I do?”
“Fuck if I know,” Wellstone whispered. His strength was gone and he could barely breathe. “Hold her still.”
Before Nochez could do anything, Lewis went still on her own. Very still.
“Shit,” Nochez said and placed a finger to her neck. “Shit!”
Nochez began CPR by pumping Lewis’s chest. She almost started to give mouth to mouth, but stopped herself. The bloody foam bubbling from between Lewis’s lips was a bright red warning.
“Good…call…mate,” Wellstone said.
Nochez pumped Lewis’s chest a few more times then gave up. All she was doing was forcing blood to flow more quickly from Lewis’s nostrils and mouth.
“Dammit,” Nochez muttered as she fell back onto her ass, defeated.
“You…tried,” Wellstone whispered.
“What I need to try is to see if I can get this damn roller moving again,” Nochez said and got to her feet.
She hurried to the hatch, opened it, slammed it shut, then turned and put her back to the hatch.
“Jesus! How could I forget?” Nochez gasped.
“I was gonna…say something,” Wellstone said with a smirk.
“Kiss my ass,” Nochez replied and slid down the wall to the floor.
***
“Sir?” Ivy said as she knocked on Bloom’s hut’s doorframe.
“Yes, Operator Ellison?” Bloom asked. He set a ratty paperback down on the side table next to his cot.
“I’d like to speak to you about sending out another team,” Ivy said.
“Operator Bellows’ team has barely been gone twenty-four hours,” Bloom replied.
“I know, but I’d like to send a team after Lewis, sir,” Ivy said. “They’ve been gone longer and should be back by now.”
“Considering the seismic anomalies, I am not surprised they haven’t returned,” Bloom said. “Are you?”
“No, sir.”
“And you know my position on sending teams after teams after teams, correct?”
“I do, sir, but—”
“Then I’m unsure as to what we are talking about, Operator Ellison. We have limited resources. Every time we send a team out, we risk losing the resources they take with them. From equipment, to food and water. Eventually, the Russians will arrive and if they do so while I have too many operators out looking for each other then we will not have the personnel here at Flipside BOP to repel an attack.”
“I understand that, sir, but—”
“There are no buts in this scenario, operator. If you understand my position, then what are you here to discuss?”
“I was hoping to change your mind.”
Bloom chuckled. “Have you spoken to many of my operators? The ones from Australia that I have lived and fought with for years now?”
“Of course, sir. As Head of Security, it is my job to speak to every single operator.”
>
“Have any of them given you the impression that I change my mind often?”
“No, sir.”
“Have any of them given you the impression that I change my mind at all?”
“No, sir.”
“Then you are wasting both our time.”
“I don’t believe I am, sir. What you said about limited personnel is exactly why I am here. Sir, in my opinion, we cannot stand to lose a single man or woman. If Lewis’s team needs our help, then we should go help them and bring them back. Even if we save only one member of that team, that’s a member we can use here at Flipside BOP.”
“What if we lose more operators instead of saving Lewis and her team?”
“That, sir, is the risk we take. It is why we are here. As much as Tyrel Thompson, and Tressa Thompson, tried to make Flipside look like a tourist resort, it is not and never has been. This is a military installation. And I am a military operator. I am trained to be out in the field, sir, as are the rest of the operators. Send us out in the field, sir. Let us do our jobs.”
“I fear, Operator Ellison, that we are going to go round and round with this subject.”
“That is not my intention, sir.”
Bloom chuckled again. “No, your intention is to win this argument.”
“I do like winning, sir.”
“Then let me ask you this. When you leave here without winning, will you directly disobey my orders and put together a team anyway? When I call for an evening briefing with all operators, how many will I see missing?”
“That depends on how hard you look, sir,” Ivy said, completely serious, without a single note of humor or sarcasm in her voice.
Bloom’s chuckle became a growling sigh. He rubbed at his face, looked at his dog-eared paperback, then stood up from his cot.
“If you are going to do this, then it should be official and on the books,” Bloom said. “Assemble your team and meet in the command hut in fifteen minutes. Will that be enough time for you?”
“More than enough, sir,” Ivy responded.
“You have them already assembled, don’t you?”
“They are not assembled, sir, but they are prepped to be ready at my notice.”
“Then notify them. See you in fifteen minutes.”
Ivy nodded, turned, and left. Bloom watched her go then walked to the open door and stared out at the bustle of Flipside BOP. He hoped he wasn’t making a grave mistake.
***
“Alright, dudes, here is the part of all this that is freaking me out,” Mike said as he swiveled in his chair to face the assembled operators.
Ivy was present with her team—Morgan, Canadian, male; DeLuca, American, female; Blumhouse, British, male; Cosio, American, female—as well as Commander Bloom and Tressa Thompson. They all watched Mike closely as he brought up a holo grid of Flipside. The grid extended for hundreds of miles, having been compiled on the journey from the coast back to Flipside BOP.
“This here?” Mike pointed at a red dot on the holo grid. “This is where we last heard from Lewis and her team.” The holo shifted perspectives to show a different red dot. “This is where we last heard from Raff and his team.”
“Cash would not be happy to hear it called that,” Tressa muttered and received a few quiet laughs and several nods of agreement.
“This is the thing,” Mike said. “These dots? Those are the transponders for the speed rollers.”
“Which are no longer working,” Bloom stated.
“That’s what I thought,” Mike said. “Except I’ve been studying the data for a few hours now and I don’t think they stopped working. Watch.”
Mike swiped at the holo and the Lewis dot retreated from its last known location all the way back to Flipside BOP. Then Mike swiped again and the dot moved forward at an accelerated speed then blinked off.
“Same with Raff,” Mike said and repeated the demonstration with Raff’s dot.
“Alright,” Bloom said. “We see where the signals are lost.”
“Yes, but there are no gaps, dude,” Mike said then cleared his throat. “I mean dude, sir. Sir. Just sir.”
“Move it along, Mr. DiCenzo,” Bloom said with a good amount of irritation.
“If the transponders stopped working, there should be a sign,” Mike said. “We should see intermittent signals, not a complete stop.”
“It’s like they were turned off,” Ivy said.
“Exactly,” Mike agreed. “It’s like they were turned off.”
“But that’s not your theory, is it, Mike?” Tressa asked.
“No, it’s not,” Mike said.
“What is your theory, Mr. DiCenzo?” Bloom snapped.
“I don’t think they were turned off and I don’t think the comms stopped working, either,” Mike continued. “We tested those relays over and over and at the very least, we should be in communication with Raff’s team. Lewis’ team was testing the drones, so malfunctions were expected. But the relays? No way. At least, not yet. Eventually. But for now? Not even with all the interference we’re getting from this place. The relays are working.”
“I still haven’t heard a theory,” Bloom growled.
“They turned,” Mike stated. “The transponders are gone, not off. I don’t think either team is in our time anymore. I think they are in a different time and don’t know it yet.”
Bloom took a deep breath then looked at Ivy.
“That changes things,” Bloom said.
“Sir, I still think we—” Ivy began.
Bloom held up a hand. “I’m sending you out there, Operator Ellison. Not because I want you to find Lewis and her team, although, of course, I want that, but because we need to confirm Mr. DiCenzo’s theory.” He pointed at the holo grid. “We have a start time for the Turn. I need an end time. I need to know when the bubble turns back to our present time.”
“Sir, that could be weeks or months or…” Ivy nodded. “We’ll gear up appropriately.”
“Good,” Bloom said. “We only have so much ammunition to spare, so take only what you absolutely need. Load up on water mostly; you can forage for food in the field. At the least, you’ll have plenty of dino steaks to eat considering the herds we’ve seen out there.”
“Yes, sir,” Ivy said and nodded to her team. “You heard the commander. Let’s load up and get out there.”
Ivy and her operators left the command hut quickly, leaving Tressa and Bloom with Mike. Mike shifted uncomfortably in his chair.
“I could be wrong,” Mike said.
“Oh?” Bloom replied. “Should I call Operator Ellison back?”
Mike shook his head.
“Because you don’t think you are wrong, do you, Mr. DiCenzo?” Bloom continued.
“No, Commander, I don’t. I’ve had a lot of time to go over the data and my theory is the only one that makes sense.”
“Speaking of having a lot of time,” Tressa said. “When was the last time you slept, Mike?”
“Oh, I slept last night,” Mike said then cocked his head. “Or was it the night before…? Doesn’t matter. I’m good to go.”
“Mr. DiCenzo? Go get some sleep,” Bloom ordered.
“Mike, do as he says,” Tressa added before Mike could argue.
“Okay, sure, I will,” Mike said and turned back to the console. “Just a few more minutes as I try to dial in the exact coordinates of the last—”
“Now,” Bloom said in a tone that could not be argued with.
Mike jumped in his seat then nodded and stood. He would have fallen flat on his face if Tressa hadn’t caught him by the arm.
“Uh… My legs are asleep,” Mike said to Tressa. “A little help to my cot?”
“Gladly,” Tressa said.
Five
“Uh, is it me or is the sky turning violet as the sun rises?” Raff asked as he drove the speed roller across the landscape. A landscape that was still made up of a vast savannah of long grass and the occasional hill, but with a sky above that was a much different color th
an they were used to. “Would you call that violet?”
“It’s not blue, that’s for sure,” Barbara said as she tilted her camera up to capture the sky outside the speed roller’s windshield.
“Why is the sky violet will now be the go-to question those kids ask Liv in her classes,” Raff said. He grinned and nodded, but the grin slipped away fast. “Try the comms again. Let’s see if the signal is any closer.”
Barbara switched the comms back on and the Russian voice was much stronger. While still filled with static, the signal was no longer fading in and out as it had been before. Raff reached back and pounded on the hatch. A second later, the hatch slid open and Cash’s face appeared.
“Ask Dr. Xipan if this guy is saying the same thing,” Raff said.
Dr. Xipan’s face replaced Cash’s and she listened intently.
“It is slightly different, but the same call for help,” Dr. Xipan said then she narrowed her eyes. “And that is a different person.”
“Is it?” Raff asked.
Barbara leaned closer to the speaker and nodded. “Yeah, it is. He sounds older.”
“Good,” Raff said. “Not the older part. I don’t give a shit about that. But a different person’s voice means this isn’t a recording being looped. Makes me feel better about us not driving into a trap.”
“Or the looped recording includes multiple voices,” Dr. Xipan said and withdrew from the hatch.
Cash reappeared. “The sky looks funny.”
“Right?” Raff said.
“And still no birds,” Barbara said.
“Or wingers,” Cash added. “All that open sky and nothing up there.”
Raff slammed on the brakes and held the wheel tight in his hands. “But we got those. Doc!”
Dr. Xipan’s head pushed up next to Cash’s in the hatch.
“What?” she asked then saw what they were all watching. “Oh…”
About thirty meters ahead, the grass was undulating as something very large slithered past. Every few seconds, the sight of dark green and beige scales could be seen. It took a full five minutes for the prehistoric snake to clear the path.
“Doc?” Raff asked.
“I am neither a paleontologist nor a zoologist,” Dr. Xipan said. “As I have told you many times. I do not know what type of snake that is.”
