by Jake Bible
She straightened back up, cleared her throat, then continued on.
“Governments struggled to figure out how areas as large as one hundred square miles could suddenly turn over and reveal scenes straight out of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Lost World. But Topside Industries, known as Thompson Investments back then, stepped in with a wealth of funds and technology at their fingertips, and some of that chaos was beaten back.”
Barbara continued walking, her arms sweeping to indicate the base.
“Systems were put in place, infrastructure built, and Topside Industries turned a nightmare into a dream as they not only built the wall to protect us from the creatures that wanted to explore beyond their time bubble, but they devised a way for the public to tour within the bubble. And for close to thirty years, those systems worked like clockwork. Despite the inherent dangers of visiting a land that was technically still in the Cretaceous Period, very few accidents or incidents occurred. In fact, Topside Industries and the Wyoming Bubble had a better safety record than Walt Disney World.”
Barbara stopped and fixed the camera with a hard, serious stare that she had perfected after years of being a reporter.
“Until last year, when a series of incidents occurred, undermining the public’s trust in how the Wyoming Bubble is being managed and run. Dozens dead and what had been a clockwork occurrence, the timing of the bubble’s turn, suddenly was off schedule and happened days earlier than it should have. Reports of severe earthquakes, as well as strange animal behavior within the bubble’s territory, were relayed to the authorities and the media by the survivors of a tour group made up of visiting teachers from school district—”
“Shit,” Zach swore as he lowered the camera. “Monitor is glitching. Stay right there.”
“Dammit, Z,” Barbara snapped as she unbuttoned the pale yellow suit jacket she wore and began to fan the opening with her hands. “What’s wrong now?”
“Don’t know,” Zach said as he knelt next to an equipment bag and started switching out the monitor on his camera for a new one. “Tech is glitching like crazy since we got here.”
“Ms. Chin? Tressa Thompson. So glad you could make it.”
Barbra turned around and came face to face with the tall and intimidatingly beautiful Tressa Thompson. Tressa’s hand was outstretched, but Barbara’s eyes strayed from the offered hand to the squad of security guards standing behind Tressa.
“The board insists I be guarded at all times ever since the death threats began last year,” Tressa said. She, in turn, glanced past Barbara at the kneeling Zach. “If you would like, we can provide you with cameras of our own design. They are better shielded and can handle the stresses of the energetic pulses the bubble puts out.”
Zach looked up at Tressa then glanced at Barbara who almost imperceptibly shook her head no.
“I prefer my own gear, but thanks,” Zach said.
“Yes, well, you’ll have to switch out anyway if you are going to be any closer to the bubble’s perimeter,” Tressa said. “Unless your equipment is fully protected, you won’t get a single image this afternoon.”
“We’ll cross that bridge later,” Barbara answered for Zach. She finally took Tressa’s hand and shook it. “Thank you for agreeing to this interview and allowing us to report directly from your base, Ms. Thompson.”
“Tressa, please,” Tressa said. “And it’s in both our interests that today go smoothly. After all, your network is owned by Topside Industries. What is good for me is good for you.”
“We’re an autonomous subsidiary,” Barbara said immediately. “Topside Industries doesn’t influence—”
“Stop,” Tressa said, holding up a hand. She looked at Zach. “Are you recording any of this?”
“Still fixing my rig,” Zach replied.
“Wrist tab?” Tressa asked.
“They took ours at the front gate,” Barbara said.
“Good,” Tressa said and her corporate demeanor disappeared. She took on a solid, hardened look and focused on Barbara. “Listen, your autonomy is an illusion. Don’t kid yourself otherwise. The only reason you are on this base is to report back with some good PR for Topside Industries. If you aren’t going to play ball, then I can have these fine, hardworking men and women behind me escort you back to the front gate to fetch your wrist tabs and you can be on your way.” She held up a finger. “And before you start arguing and getting all offended, understand that I lost good people a year ago and I do not take any of that lightly. I’m not some number crunching, cold-hearted bitch that only cares about profits. I leave the greed to my father. I actually give a shit about every soul under my care, Ms. Chin. Today is a hard day for me on a personal level, not just a professional level. Got it?”
“I got it,” Barbara replied. “My producer gave a similar speech before we left yesterday.”
“You just didn’t believe that Tressa Thompson, CEO of Topside Industries, could have a heart,” Tressa said. “Well, I do.”
“Ms. Thompson—”
“Tressa.”
“Tressa. My apologies,” Barbara said. “Could we do the interview now? I can go back and record a new lead in afterward. One that doesn’t quite point so many fingers.”
“How about not pointing any fingers?” Tressa asked.
“That’d look a little too staged,” Barbara admitted. “There needs to be some conflict or the audience won’t believe a word I’m saying.”
“That is fair,” Tressa said. “If you’ll follow me, I can take you to the building they’ve set up for…”
Tressa paused and put a finger to her ear.
“Who’s at the gate? And he brought what?” Tressa looked up at the bright blue sky and growled low. “Fine. I’ll be right there.”
***
Cash leaned against the front of the truck and ignored the glares from the gate guards. A line of vehicles was stacked up behind the truck and trailer, but Cash couldn’t have cared less. Even the constant blow of horns from the other vehicles didn’t faze him.
Olivia, on the other hand, was twitching like crazy at every blast of a horn. She sat in the passenger’s seat of the truck and watched the security guards closely. They were holding their rifles in a way that made her unbelievably nervous.
“Mr. Cash?” Olivia called as she rolled her window down and stuck her head out. “Maybe we should come back—”
“Cash. Just Cash,” Cash replied over his shoulder. “And we’re not going anywhere. They’ll let us in.”
Elvis trumpeted from the trailer, drowning out the honking horns. There was one last beep then the vehicles went silent when people realized that the occupant of the trailer wasn’t a horse. Some began to step out of their vehicles, but the guards’ shift of attention from Cash to them made everyone stay put.
“Here she comes,” Cash muttered under his breath as he pushed off from the front of the truck and walked toward the gate.
One of the guards called for him to stop
“Shut up, Vicky,” Cash snapped and kept walking.
A glorified golf cart was racing toward the gate, the driver looking harried and the passenger looking enraged.
Cash grinned.
“Sis,” Cash said when the cart stopped and Tressa stepped out. “Gonna let me in or what?”
“You are on the list, yes,” Tressa said, marching to the gate. “But whatever is inside that trailer is not.” Tressa shielded her eyes and squinted into the sunlight. “And whoever that is in your truck is not authorized either.”
“Then authorize her,” Cash said.
“Tre, you know how our protocols work,” Tressa stated. “You crafted half of them.”
“That’s Olivia Herndon,” Cash said.
Tressa froze. She glanced from Cash, to the truck, back to Cash, then shook her head.
“Have you lost your mind?” Tressa hissed. “Do you have any idea what kind of bullshit she’s been throwing at us?”
“She lost her wife, sis,” Cash said. “Have a heart.�
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“Stop calling me that,” Tressa snapped. “You know it annoys me.”
“Just making up for lost time,” Cash said. “I never got to pull your pigtails or break your Barbies when we were kids.”
“I didn’t have Barbies, Tre,” Tressa said. “I had survival training and ten mile forced marches. Then hours of spreadsheets and lectures on how to conduct negotiations.”
Despite the designer clothing she wore, and the unbelievably inappropriate shoes with four-inch heels, all it took was Tressa shifting a hip and adjusting her weight for anyone within sight to realize she was not some office weakling.
“Come here,” Tressa snapped, moving as close to the electrified gate as she could.
Cash joined her at the gate, barely a couple inches separating them.
“Yes, sis?” Cash asked.
“You’re going to push this as far as you can, aren’t you?” Tressa asked.
“You know me…” Cash shrugged.
“I do know you which is why I relieved you of your duty as Head of Security,” Tressa said. She tapped the side of her head with a finger. “You get something in here and you don’t let go. But I need you to let go, alright? I can’t have this crap today, Tre.”
“Then let us in,” Cash said. “Elvis is in the trailer. I brought him because he hasn’t seen Raff and Lakshmi in almost two years. A year of regular duty and a year of—”
“I understand the timeline, Tre,” Tressa snapped.
“It’s good optics, sis,” Cash said. “A real, live dinosaur that is so excited to see his people? Kind of helps fight the image of tourists getting eaten by wingers, don’t you think?”
Cash nodded at the base far behind Tressa.
“Father ordered a news crew to be in there with full access, yes? That’s part of his playbook,” Cash continued. “Show them Elvis and it’ll go a long way to helping Topside Industries’ image. I think you know that.”
Tressa sighed. “And her?”
“Even better optics,” Cash replied. “I told her the score and she knows to be cool or she gets booted. I’m helping, sis. Trust me.”
Tressa rolled her eyes then looked up at the bright blue sky.
“You don’t talk to the reporter,” Tressa said, still looking up at the sky. “You leave that to me and you keep the Herndon woman on a very tight leash. Her behavior is your responsibility. And I spoke to Father earlier; he is not in a forgiving mood today.”
Cash jerked back like he had been shocked.
“Wait, what?” he asked. “He’s not here yet?”
“On his way,” Tressa said, looking back at Cash. A sad small smile played at her lips. “He’ll be here before the turn. Flying in after a meeting.” She nodded at the truck and trailer. “That’s why I’m letting you in with that thing. It’ll help ease his mood after not being here all day to control things. Takes the focus off my ass.”
“No shit,” Cash mumbled. “Okay. Fine. Let us in and I’ll make sure nothing goes south with either Elvis or the Herndon woman.”
“I’m going to hold you to that, Tre,” Tressa said. “I mean it. You screw this up for me today and you are through with TI. I am not kidding around. One mistake and I’ll have you escorted off the base and the last communication you ever get from me will be my signature on your termination papers from HR.”
“Should make for a fun Christmas,” Cash said and frowned. “Tell them to open the gates, will ya?”
He walked back to the truck and hopped in. Tressa watched him go then gestured for the guards to open the gate.
***
“Brother, am I glad to see you,” Amanda Koppel said as she strode toward Cash. He was barely out of the truck before she grabbed him up in a bear hug despite being nearly half his size. “Shit be crazy around here, man.”
“Hey, Mandy,” Cash said as he pulled back and gave her a big smile. “How’s the new gig treating you?”
“How’d it treat you when you had the job?” Amanda replied.
“Like I was dog shit on the bottom of someone’s boot,” Cash said.
“Then you got lucky,” Amanda said. There was a quiet bleat from the trailer. “Is that Elvis? The comms started squawking that you’d brought him with.”
“Yeah, he’s anxious to see Raff and Lakshmi,” Cash said.
“He’s not the only one,” Amanda replied. “Don’t think anyone has been more anxious about a turn since this whole mess started.”
“You happen to have a comm for me?” Cash asked. “I know I’m technically only a security consultant now, but—”
“Right here, brother,” Amanda said, holding out her hand.
Cash took the tiny earpiece and inserted it into his left ear.
“Testing comm, one two,” Cash said.
He started laughing when he heard all the voices respond, all welcoming him back.
“You only have access to open channels and general security,” Amanda said with a shrug. “Sorry. Your sister wouldn’t allow any admin access.”
“Not surprised,” Cash said.
Amanda glanced down at Cash’s knees. “How are the exo-braces treating you?”
Cash followed her gaze and stared at the joints that required mechanized structures to keep him mobile. He stretched his left leg out and rolled his eyes at the whirring sound the exo-braces’ servos made.
“Wish I wasn’t allergic to implants,” Cash said. “But these do the trick. Stronger than my real knees ever were, I can say that.”
“Great. We’ll skip rope later so you can show me.” Amanda leaned to the side and glanced at the truck. “Who’s that with you? She looks familiar, but it’s hard to see.”
“Olivia Herndon,” Cash said.
“Are you shitting me, man?” Amanda snapped. “She’s been nothing but a thorn in our collective ass for a year now!”
“She’s just worried about her wife,” Cash said then leaned close. “And now that she’s on base and under our watch, she can’t exactly go crying to the press if things don’t turn out her way.”
“Like, what are you thinking? We’re gonna lock her up if she throws a hissy fit when we find her wife’s body? Great plan, brother, just fucking great,” Amanda said.
“We’re not locking her up. In fact, she’ll have access to info that she wouldn’t on the outside,” Cash said. “That access might help her see what we’re up against with this shit.” Cash pointed to the far-off fence line of the base. “No one outside the perimeter knows a tenth of what it takes to keep all this shit from falling apart. Tourists come here thinking this is Six Flags when they don’t realize it’s Thunderdome half the time.”
“Thunderdome? That’s a little much, man,” Amanda said and laughed. “But you’ve never been one to go for the huggy-feely descriptions.”
“Can I get out of the truck?” Olivia asked as she leaned out her window. “It’s warm in here with the motor off.”
“Come on down,” Amanda said, moving past Cash. “I’m Amanda Koppel, Head of Security for Topside Command. I took Cash’s job because he screwed up and got a lot of people killed.”
“Jesus Christ, Mandy…” Cash shook his head. “Really?”
Olivia opened the truck door and hopped down. She took Amanda’s offered hand.
“Olivia Herndon. Mr. Cash wasn’t responsible for anyone dying,” Olivia said. “I was there. The ground just…opened up.”
“Yeah, I know, I watched the footage,” Amanda said. “I just like busting Cash’s balls on anything and everything. Especially now that I have his job and know how much it sucks. So, I plan on blaming him for everything miserable in my life.”
Olivia looked from Amanda to Cash. “You two are friends.”
“The very best of,” Amanda said. She put an arm around Olivia’s shoulders and steered her away from the truck. “How about I show you the command center? I’ll fill you in on everything we know so far and also what we hope to know by the end of the day. I can’t answer questions, so do not ask.
Also, we’ve got a mountain of paperwork for you to fill out before you’re allowed to even fart on this base. Let’s get started on that paperwork while Cash goes and takes care of some unfinished business.”
Cash glared. “What unfinished business?”
“Huh? You don’t know?” Amanda asked. “Guess you’re about to find out.”
“Mandy? What are you talking about?” Cash asked as Amanda, with her arm still around Olivia’s shoulders, quickly walked away toward the large building that constituted most of the base’s command center. “Mandy! What are you talking about?”
Amanda only waved. Olivia glanced back over her shoulder, but Amanda kept them both moving until they were inside the command center building.
Cash looked around the base as if he was being hunted.
Then he heard it. The laugh. Somewhere behind one of the buildings in front of the truck was that unmistakable laugh.
“God dammit,” he mumbled as he walked the length of the trailer. “I swear, Mandy, I’m going to kick your ass.”
“Open comm, man,” Amanda’s voice echoed in Cash’s ear. “I can hear everything—”
Her voice cut off as Cash pressed a finger into his left ear.
He composed himself then opened the rear of the trailer and began pressing buttons. The ramp lowered to the dirt and Elvis cautiously stuck his snout out, his rear-facing nostrils going wide as he huffed the air. The creature grunted at Cash.
“Sorry, they aren’t here yet,” Cash said in response to the grunt. “But they’ll be here soon.”
Elvis grunted again then slowly lumbered his way to the bottom of the ramp. His tail thwacked against the ramp’s metal in irritation. Cash knew the gesture well.
“Let’s get you to the pen, okay? Tressa will throw a fit if I let you wander,” Cash said. Elvis grunted then let a low, slow rumble build in his throat before bleating. “Shut up. You like the pen. All the food you can eat, remember?”
That perked Elvis up and his huge beak clacked together in anticipation of feeding time.
“Come on,” Cash said and started walking Elvis away from the trailer.
