DS02 Night of the Dragonstar
Page 23
They continued to ascend toward the top and had reached the second to the last level when Cavoli paused to look down over the landscape with his flip-down telegoggles.
“Oh my God!”
“What is it?” Kate asked. “What’s the matter?”
“I just found out where everybody is,” the trooper said. He unhooked the telescopic goggles from his visor and handed them to Phineas. “Take a look, Colonel—down there to the far left. Follow the Barrier off past the second park.”
Listening to the whir of the goggles’ auto-focusing, Phineas slowly panned along the Barrier. Beyond the tree-filled park he could see a huge mob of Saurians milling about in the streets and along the elevated ramps that led up to the Barrier. There were entire battalions of warrior-class Saurians surging about on top of the Barrier, and the guard towers, which were spaced evenly along the great wall, were bristling with Saurian archers.
The cause of all this activity could be seen a bit farther down the line. Good God! thought Phineas.
Maybe it was the initial series of tremors when the Dragonstar’s engines kicked in. Or perhaps the series of vibrations and resonance factors that had pulsed through the hull had caused the problem. There was no way of knowing. But as Kemp peered through the telegoggles he knew that he was watching what must be the most primal, most terrible nightmare of all Saurians, no matter what their class—a break in the Barrier.
No wonder they had abandoned their siege on the temple steps, thought Phineas. Somebody had sounded the alarm, and now they were an scurrying about the Barrier like rats.
As he watched the activity more closely, he could see that there were several teams of workers trying desperately to repair the damage—a great rending fault that had shifted the very foundation of the Barrier, twisting it so that it actually fell in upon itself.
To compound this problem, Phineas could see that the warriors were having their hands and claws full—several large carnivores had already noticed the break in the Barrier. A very large Therodon of some kind was out there, attracting plenty of attention. It pranced and roared, occasionally running toward the opening to the wall as though taunting the Saurians, who fired squaves and arrows at it with little or no effect. It seemed to Phineas that the big meateater was not terribly serious about trying to get through the gap in the wall. He looked as though he could, but he seemed to be merely playing for the moment.
A far more serious problem for the Saurians was a pack of Saurian-sized carnivores that looked like a lean-legged, astonishingly quick version of Tyrannosaurus. There must have been seven or eight of them scampering about the rift in the Barrier, and even while Phineas watched, one of these rapacious little killers slipped through and began ripping and tearing at workers on a section of scaffolding. The warriors brought it down with a volley of arrows and spears, but not until the beast looked like a porcupine. If a whole pack of them ever got through, there would be wholesale slaughter.
He turned and handed the goggles to Kate. “Take a look at what our friends have been doing,” he said sadly.
“Oh no,” she said as soon as she focused in on the battle scene.
“I know. The poor sons of bitches are fighting for their lives down there.”
“I feel sorry for them,” Kate said.
“What?” Cavoli laughed with a hint of a sneer.
“No, really, I do,” she said with conviction. “I mean, think about it. The Saurians have had nothing but trouble since we’ve come to this place.”
“You know,” Cavoli said, “I never thought about it, but you’re right.”
“However,” Phineas said, “this may be just the kind of opportunity we need.”
“You mean to escape while they’re all occupied?”
Cavoli took back the tele-goggles and trained them on the distant Barrier.
“No, of course not. This is our chance to help them, to show them that we shouldn’t be fighting with each other and that we understand it wasn’t their fault about the riot.”
“It wasn’t?” Cavoli asked.
“No,” Kate said. “They’ve been affected by some kind of radiation leakage—we think it’s been inducing some very grave psychological damage to them.”
“I didn’t know about that.” The trooper shook his head slowly. “Poor bastards.”
“Let’s go back and get some reinforcements,” Phineas said.
Kate smiled. “Just like the old cowboy movies—here comes the cavalry at the last minute.”
Phineas grinned. “Yes, I suppose it would be something like that.”
“You want to head back now?” Cavoli asked.
Phineas nodded and gestured to begin the descent from the platform by the steps.
But as they turned to go down, a sharp series of sibilant sounds reached them. The translator around Kate’s neck announced a short message: “Wait! Please do not go away.”
The sounds had emanated from the landing above, and all three humans looked up to see an older Saurian leaning over the railing, peering down at them with large greenish eyes. He wore the traditional lemon-yellow robe of his class, cinched at the middle by a woven belt.
“Please do not go away. I must talk to you!”
“Thesaurus! Is that you?” Phineas asked.
“Indeed. Who is it that knows my human name?” The Saurian philosopher-king stepped off the landing and began slowly walking down the steps toward them. Cavoli trained his weapon on the creature, but Phineas ordered him to lower the automatic.
“Colonel Kemp. Phineas Kemp. I am a friend of Ian Coopersmith.”
The Saurian emitted a rasping sound that served his race as a signal of pleasure. “Ah yes, Ian Coopersmith. Is he well?”
“As far as I know,” Phineas said. “He will be joining us shortly.”
The Saurian approached the three of them and extended both arms in a gesture of openness. “I wish to apologize for the behavior of my people. My class is so embarrassed.”
“It’s all right, Thesaurus.” Kate Ennis introduced herself and then went on. “We understand the problem your people have been undergoing. We know that it’s not the fault of the warrior class.”
“No,” said Thesaurus. “In fact, I spoke with Mishima Takamura about the fears I had. About the possibility that there might be trouble. And yet there was the large gathering, the killing. It is a very sad occasion for my people. I am humiliated for all of us.”
Phineas could almost see the pain in the Saurian’s eyes, and as much as it bothered him to touch the flesh of the creature, he reached out and took Thesaurus’s hand. “Please,” Phineas said, “do not worry. We want our two races to remain friends. I hope that you realize and that your people understand that we only fired upon them in self-defense.”
Thesaurus hissed and barked. The translator untangled his speech: “Those of my class certainly understand. However, the agrarians are having difficulty doing so, and of course the warriors only wish to fight you now.”
“Can you make them understand?” Kate asked.
“It is possible, but the warriors do not have much patience for speech, for learning. They much prefer action over words.”
“Yes,” Kate said. “I know a few men like that.”
“What was that you said?”
Smiling gently, Kate touched Thesaurus on the forearm. “Oh, nothing. I was just making a small joke.”
“I fear that I do not comprehend the humor of humans yet.”
Kate chuckled. “That’s okay. There are many humans who don’t understand my sense of humor either.”
The Saurian nodded his head, and Phineas wondered if it was a natural gesture or if he had learned it from being around the humans so much.
“Tell me, Phineas Kemp, why did you come here? And where do you now plan to go?”
“We came looking for you and your class
,” Phineas said. “We wanted to make peace so that we can solve our problems together.”
“It seems to me a necessity that our peoples work together,” Thesaurus said. “I am very happy to see you making the effort.”
“We have discovered the problem you are having at the Barrier,” Kate said. “Is it very serious?”
“Yes, Kate Ennis, it is very serious. The whole city is employed in defense of the rift in the wall. I also would go, but I am like many of my class: too old, and not enough strength.”
“We were wondering why we could see none of your people from our place in front of the temple,” Phineas said.
“The ground tremors caused the fracture,” Thesaurus said. “My people believed that you humans caused the tremors to punish them for their behavior. Did you cause this to happen?”
“Oh no,” Kate said. “The tremors were caused by the engines of the ship starting up.”
“What is this you say?” Thesaurus sounded thoroughly confused.
Phineas attempted to explain what she had meant. Luckily, Thesaurus was one of the few members of his race who understood completely the physical setup of the Saurians’ encapsulated world. Phineas recalled how, many months back, Thesaurus and several other high-priests had been taken out through the airlock-hatch down by the paleo survey camp and given a tour of one of the shuttles and a short flight around the bulk of the Dragonstar itself. It had been a strangely beautiful moment to see the Saurian priests’ collective expression when they first gazed upon the stars, upon the infinite magic of space. Phineas recalled that it had been difficult to explain astronomy and cosmology, even to the philosophers of the Saurian race, but in the end the priests did seem to grasp many of the basics. But perhaps the most difficult thing for them to believe concerned the Dragonstar itself—that it was actually a giant spaceship, a vehicle designed to travel among the stars.
Phineas decided it would be enough merely to tell Thesaurus that the ship was changing position in the sky, but not that it was actually moving toward another star system. In fact, he doubted whether that would make much difference to Thesaurus. Just knowing that their entire world was picking itself up and going somewhere was enough of a shock. Especially when the priest learned that the humans had no control over it whatsoever.
Thesaurus nodded slowly. “Do you find this last piece of news alarming?” he asked.
“Alarming?” Phineas said. “Well, yes, I would have to say we’re not dancing in the streets about it.”
“What?”
“Yes, Thesaurus, it is alarming,” Kate said. “But we’re trying to deal with the problems as best we can.”
“Where is the ship moving? Away from your world? Away from the Earth?”
“Yes,” Phineas said, trying to tell Kate with a meaningful look that he didn’t want her to give the Saurian too much information. “The ship is moving away from the Earth, but we haven’t learned where it is going yet.”
Thesaurus nodded, “I see that this is a bad thing.”
“Bad for now, yes. But it is only a temporary problem. Our scientists are working on it,” Phineas said.
“Very well, Colonel Kemp,” the Saurian said. “I must leave such matters to your people. In the meantime, we have a more immediate problem. Do you think your armies could help us to defend the Barrier while we repair it?”
“That is exactly what I had in mind,” Phineas said. “I will contact them immediately.”
The Saurian whistled and hissed appreciatively, and again reached out to grasp Phineas’s hand. As he felt the cold, scaly flesh enclose his own, he felt a bit ill. Never knew he had such a bad case of xenophobia before. And there was no reason for it, really—Thesaurus was a very decent sort.
“We must go back to our people and get things organized, “ Phineas said. “There will be much to do.”
“I understand,” Thesaurus said. “Goodbye for now, Colonel Kemp.”
“Won’t you come with us?” Kate asked.
The Saurian paused before speaking, as though considering his reply. “Kate Ennis, I am old for my race. I have suffered from diseases and many battles in my time. I am not certain I could live through another—that is why the elders have allowed me to remain in my quarters, even in this time of great emergency.”
“Thesaurus, if you are ill, our doctors can give you help,” Phineas said. “You know that.”
“That is very kind, Colonel. I would very much like to accompany you, but I fear I would slow down your progress. I do not move very well anymore.”
Cavoli smiled and patted the Saurian gently on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about that, sir. I can help you along.”
“Again, you are most kind,” Thesaurus said. He paused to consider. “Very well, I will go with you.”
Kate smiled and reached out to hold the old creature’s hand as everyone turned to begin the descent. Phineas led the way, followed by Kate and Cavoli on either side of Thesaurus.
“Do you know,” asked the Saurian, pausing on the steps and looking very seriously into Kate’s eyes, “if I might get the chance to see my first human friend, Ian Coopersmith?”
“WHAT’S THAT?” Murphy cried. “Do you hear it, Captain?”
The trooper yelled across the treetops to a spindly redwood into which Ian Coopersmith had hoisted himself while it had still been dark. He had actually managed to doze off for an hour or so, before Murphy woke him up. There was the droning sound of an engine in the distance, punctuated by the telltale whoomp-whoomp of airfoils beating the moist air.
Opening his eyes with great difficulty, Ian looked across to the next tree, where Becky still slept, trussed up by the hammock he’d fashioned by the light of a flashlight.
“Captain, do you hear it?”
“Damnit, Murphy,” he said harshly. “I bloody well hear it, and it sounds like the ’thopter, all right.”
“Yes, sir,” said the trooper. “Sorry, sir.”
Ian waved him off and tried to collect himself. His exposed skin was welted with insect bites, and he was covered with a thick coating of sweat and dirt. He wanted a shower so bad he could scream, and he imagined that he smelled so awful that he must be projecting about a two-meter kill-radius. All around him the Mesozoic forest was waking up, and the air was filled with the screeching of Pteranodons and the skittering noises of the little scavenger dinosaurs that ran through the undergrowth with the speed of jackrabbits.
The sound of the ’thopter was indeed growing close, and they would have to be getting down from their perches. Looking across at Becky, hoisted up in her own tree, he smiled. Even in the severe conditions of the last twenty-four hours, she still maintained her innate ability to look good to him. Sure, she was sweaty and smelly and dirty, but she didn’t seem to wear it as badly as he did. Her long dark hair framed her face like a high-contrast photograph, and she looked sexy as hell dangling from the redwood limbs.
“Rise and shine!” he yelled out to her. “Time to go home, Miss Rebecca!”
Opening her eyes with a start, Becky seemed to suddenly remember where she had spent the night.
“Up and at ‘em, lady,” Ian shouted. “There’s beasties about, and we’ve got a ’thopter to catch.”
“Hey, Captain,” Murphy shouted. “Is it okay to get down from here?”
Ian was getting annoyed with Murphy. The man acted like a child who needed to be told every single thing. Of course, there was a theory that any kind of military or quasi-military service attracted a certain personality type who enjoyed being told what to do and was thus relieved of the burden of doing his own thinking. Murphy was definitely that type of fellow.
“Yes,” Ian said in an even voice. “We’re all getting down now. I don’t see any reason why you should remain hanging, Murphy, unless it might be by your neck.”
“Aw, c’mon, Captain, I ain’t that bad, am I?”
The sound of the ornithopter was growing very loud now, and Ian fully expected it to be overhead at any moment.
“You’re very handsome when you get mad,” Becky shouted over the din of the ’thopter. She had unhitched herself and was beginning to lower herself, mountaineer-style, to the earth. Ian smiled as he unsnapped his own harness and began to descend.
“I’m not mad,” he said, walking up to her once they had both touched down. “I guess I’m just getting a little tangy.”
Becky looked at him and giggled. “Getting a little ‘tangy’?”
“Oh, you know, I’m feeling a little ripe around the edges, and that kind of bugs me. I’m sure I’m starting to smell like it too.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Becky said. “We’re all getting on toward the ripe side.”
Ian smiled and tapped her lovingly on the arm. The two of them had been through plenty of scrapes together, and this one had the feeling of finally winding down.
Turning, Ian saw Murphy move out into the clearing at the edge of the paleo survey camp and commence a dance of some sort, which presumably would attract the attention of Zabriski better than the homing beacon that was bleating out its low-megahertz message.
The craft swooped down over the clearing and pulled up in a semi-stall, coming in for a landing. Its graceful, gull-like airfoils beat the air as it touched down. Murphy moved quickly to the equipment bay and took up a position guarding the craft’s flank. Ian and Becky broke into a trot and approached the command cabin.
The hatch swung open and the haggard face of Sergeant Zabriskie greeted them. The woman’s eyes seemed to have sunk deep into their sockets. Her cheeks were drawn and sallow. The pilot was a portrait of exhaustion.
“Before we go any further, Captain, let me go on record as saying I’m so tired I know I can’t make another flight, okay?”
“You didn’t have to tell me that,” Ian said. “I’d say it’s rather obvious at this point.”