‘Oh hold on now Deborah. I must admit that your timing could have been better but we’ve been highly successful in our basic research. Why, with what we’ve learned…’
‘No, it isn’t safe and I want to go back up to the Essex where it’s safe.’
‘Mark and Dan are holding the Hunter Recon transports here. They are our lifeline in case something very drastic happens. Taking you back up to the ship would not only be expensive but could jeopardize the safety of the rest of the employees if an emergency occurred.
‘I want to talk with Mark.’
‘No Ms Clinow. Not now. Not until we’ve properly established a set of solutions to the problem. After all, you came here uninvited. Under most circumstances it would have been just fine but now we have a problem and your personal concerns must take second priority to the mission. Now please! Won’t you return to the group or at least to your stateroom? I only ask that you do not leave the Argos.’
‘Well I hope these new alarms work better than what we had for poor Suzan.’
‘Just stay with the group and you’ll be safe. I apologize for the condition of the lounge but most of the damage has been cleaned up. I have one of our security guards waiting outside to escort you over to the lounge or to your room if you so desire.’
Matthew watched as Deborah walked back out into the corridor. A low warbling call entered his office and he turned to look back out over the ocean. He couldn’t see anything and the sound was gone but his heart really wasn’t into finding its source. He turned back to his work, one last stray thought ran through his mind, ‘Maybe there’s something to her statement. Their adaptation rate is amazing. Thank God we’ve only encountered two of them so far. Mark’s right though, we can’t take the chance that one of them would be on the transport back up to the Essex. We need to maintain the quarantine.’
* * * * *
A bright flash of colors raced across the brush. Intense strikes of blue, red and green raced in and out of the thick undergrowth before them. They warbled with a low, hollow almost echo-like sound. Corey thought it was rather like a tin can with marbles rolling around inside. It was a truly weird set of marbles though the way the song slid up and down the scales.
‘Strange,’ he thought as he picked up another ‘sentinel and rolled it into the brush toward the nearest dinosaur. ‘Even these little velociraptors can call beyond our range of hearing. That little guy with the bright blue crest and red feathers around his eyes seems to be the most aggressive. Go away and mind your own business.’ Corey grumbled lowly as he tossed another ‘sentinel at its head.
The brightly colored velociraptor let out a shrill, barking call that climbed up the octaves beyond anything that Corey could hear. It spread out its arms and a ring of feathers stood out from its head. Then it turned and ran back into the brush with four other brightly colored friends.
Behind him, Corey could hear Anton suddenly raise his voice, ‘Molly don’t come over this way! The woods around here are filled with your blood scent by now. I don’t want you over near the dense brush. You work your way around the cliff edge and stay away from any good cover.’
‘Anton you’re a worry-wart!’ Molly quipped back but she moved back out onto the rocky outcrop.
Less than a half of an hour and the sensors were scattered across the edges of the cliff top. Anton called up a display on his Hive Tab. A portion of his mind examined an aerial map of the plateau with the location of every sensor on it. ‘A little more to your left Corey. Yeah that’s it. Throw three or more if you have them to the north-northeast. Ok, good. Just scatter any you have left and head back in here we want to get our placements set.’
Anton concentrated on the display as he walked across the rock-strewn pathway. Small bushes, struggling for life in the poor soil occasionally brushed his boots and leggings. ‘Ok, 87% of the ‘sentinels are already calibrated and all have linked into the hive-net successfully. Looks like we’re about ready …’
An alarm pulse coursed through each of their Hive Tabs. The sentinels instantly identified a Troondon approaching along the trail they had originally taken on their way to the outcrop. ‘Watch it, there’s at least four more back in there. Don’t move, just stand your ground.’ Anton called. ‘Most likely they’re from the same family outside of the Station.’
A large head emerged from the dense brush at the edge of the bare rocky hilltop. It had a coat of black, almost dark-bronze colored feathers that caught the bright sunlight and seemed to crawl with rainbow colors. A bright yellow plume crested the head, swinging back and forth with rapid, sharp movements as its yellow eyes, filled with a cold intelligence, looked across the open area.
A low call echoed out through the brush and throbbed through the heads of the three human intruders on the plateau. It was so low in frequency that they could not even hear it but they could feel its throbbing. The dinosaur standing before them turned its head back toward the brush. It is fully grown, standing slightly taller than the humans as it sung a short series of clearly heard staccato barks that sounded to Corey very much like the start of a piece written by Mozart.
A group of seven hunters emerged from the brush. They deliberately approached the humans who stood there in the open with their backs to the open sky. Their eyes never left the three humans as they walked cautiously across the open rock path.
Molly subvocalized into her transmitter using her Hive Tab interface, ‘What are we going to do Anton? These aren’t our playful little Hypes. They’re troondon!’
‘Just stand your ground. They are probably just investigating. Aw shit! They’re following the blood scent right over to you Molly. Don’t move, stand your ground. Corey let’s start over real easy-like.’
Corey walked down the path. He stepped out purposefully, blocking the clear path of three of the visitors. They looked at him but did not show any aggression as they started to pass. Corey took another step out. Then he turned his back to them and walked over toward Molly.
The troondon closest to Molly moved in slowly. It’s nose worked and wrinkled in a very unbird-like fashion. It moved very much like a dog trying to capture a scent as it worked gently, cautiously around Molly. Finally, the nose settled a few scant inches from her neck, moving constantly but never actually touching her. Then it went down to the blood-spray bottle in her hand and returned to her neck.
Corey stood behind the troondon. Two other predators moved up beside him, their mouths open slightly and frontal canines clearly visible in the bright light of the sun. ‘Looks like you have him stumped Molly. Between your neck wound and the bottle, he can’t figure out what we are doing.’
‘Well these clowns are kinda putting a damper on our show here. Question is, how are we going to get them out of here. The Black Ghosts will never come with them clomping around the rocks.’ Anton grumbled softly into his communicator.
‘Ok, let’s approach this directly.’ Anton moved over next to Molly, brushing a troondon as he passed. The dinosaur hissed and hopped into the air twisting to face him directly. Anton froze and just looked at the troondon. He could see it relax slightly so he turned back to the troondon in front of Molly who also had turned to stare directly at him.
Anton spoke clearly and softly, ‘I know you can’t understand me but we don’t want or need your help here.’ Slowly he again began working his way over toward Molly. ‘Just take it easy, thanks for coming but you guys have gotta leave.’
Without taking his eyes off of the troondon he raised his voice, ‘Corey you work your way over here too. Be easy when you do it and no sudden movements. We need to stand shoulder to shoulder.’
The troondon backed away as Corey approached. ‘Ok, now lift your rifle and hold it crosswise in front of you like a barrier. Don’t point the muzzle at them!’
‘I get it Anton.’ Corey raised his rifle and began to whistle a low tune. He then began to push forward.
That’s it Corey! Come on Molly, you too. Let’s form a line and slowly begin pushing them back. Maybe they w
ill get the hint and …’
The troondon that Anton had bumped lowered it’s head and bristled as Corey approached. It began a low hissing sound.
Suddenly the dinosaur along side of Molly turned and barked three sharp commands. The hissing troondon stopped short and looked at the other dinosaur. Then it stepped back a few feet and turned to travel back down the path. Two others followed it and then the others also turned and left.
The troondon by Molly whistled a low, warbling melody that seemed to center around the blond girl standing there with her rifle held high. She looked him in the eye but did not show her teeth in a smile for fear that it could be interpreted as a threat stance. Then she spoke, ‘Oh, you are really quick to pick things up aren’t you. Thank you!’ and she pushed forward slightly.
The troondon turned and left the plateau. It quickly disappeared into the brush leaving the three humans alone on the rocky promontory. ‘Well don’t ever call them stupid or slow!’ Anton commented as they disappeared beyond the sensor limits. ‘Ok, now let’s get set up before we get another surprise.’
Anton and Corey settled into the rocks on opposite ends of the clearing. Slowly the day crept onward towards its end with only small animals and lizards running across the open rock. The sun pushed its way down the river valley toward the mountains in the west and a broad, pale moon rose in the darkened sky to the east. Corey turned his eyes away from watching the two green and yellow dinosaurs chasing lizards around the rocks and looked up at the moon rising just above the cliffs to the east. ‘You’re supposed to be bigger now because you are nearer to the earth but I can’t tell the difference. Except for the lack of a few obviously large craters that should be there, you look the same to me.’
‘Shh, Corey that was a little loud.’ Anton’s voice came quietly into Corey’s ear. ‘Molly, it might be a good idea if you made a little noise and showed some movement. After all you are the bait.’
Molly stood up and began humming a tune as she walked around the cliff edge. This was the first time in months that she had nothing immediate to do. She began to relax as she watched the peacefulness of the world around her and in the valley below. ‘Up until the last few days, this was like living in a park! It’s beautiful here and there is so much life! It’s strange how far away our old world seems, how alien. Only a few months here and it already feels like home.’
Molly stood and watched a mosasaur gracefully push upriver as it fed on anything in its path. Strangely, it reminded her of dolphins she had seen when she was a young girl. Two smaller ones follow close behind, playing in the ripples of the river, skirting around its rocks and the clumps of floating logs.
A silent signal from the StrobeSentinels caught her attention. Something tripped the northeast perimeter setting off two silent alarm detections. A few moments passed and then Anton’s voice came over their communicators, ‘May have been nothing. It was too brief an encounter anyways. The algorithms could not even identify the source of the signal.’
‘Oh great!’ Corey commented, ‘Are we gonna have false detections all day. Maybe I can …’
He was interrupted by a second, brief alarm to the North. ‘Again, no confirmation. Two times and in separate areas is one too many for a glitch. Get ready!’
The intrusions eventually stopped without a single identification. Anton sat on the warm rocks trying to think about what he may have done wrong during the setup of the ‘sentinels. Were they working properly or not? The sun continued to crawl slowly down toward the western mountains. ‘There’s another one. Well, finally! I got an ID on that one, it’s only a small ricardoestesia.’
‘Yeah, those annoying things follow us all the time squawking and screeching whenever we’re digging or removing brush. I remember them.’ Corey grumbled. He was getting quite bored and a little cranky from the waiting.
‘Hey look at that, we have three, no four more. The system identifies them all as small predators and there were also two more that are those pterosaurs. The ones that seem to like climbing in the trees more than flying.’
‘Yeah, but look. They’re all moving in the same direction. Something’s driving them!’
‘Hey Anton, we have something coming from the northeast path. No ID on it yet but I can see the brush and trees shaking. Much too big to be our bad guys!’
‘Shit! Get down under cover you guys. I just got an ID on them, they’re Albertosaurs. Same type as the ones that rampaged over the Station the other month!’ Anton called over the communicator as he nestled down into the clump of boulders.
They could feel their approach through the vibrations in the hard rock. The bushes began to shake less than fifty yards from Corey’s left side and a low warble carried across the rocky prominence. Multiple low chirps, almost barking sounds from further back in the brush, immediately answered it. Then a head emerged from out of the tops of the trees. Bright blue eyes in a black, densely feathered head with a red comb on top pushed through the green leaf cover. It stood and stared out over the barren rock shelf as if looking for something.
A second black and gold mountain of feathers over muscle pushed through the thick undergrowth further down the tree line. It stopped and screeched a trilling cry that flowed down into a low warble as it pushed through and into the clear rock area. Finally out into the open, the giant predator stretched its head up a full twenty feet and gave out a second bellow that rampaged through the skulls of the humans. As if in reply, three other predators emerged from the dense brush, out onto the rocky shelf.
‘These are clearly juveniles. Most likely they are scouts moving ahead of a larger pack of the hunters just like when they overran the Station.’ Anton’s calm voice called over the communicators.
‘Well they can’t fit too many of them out here. My God, look at their size.’ Molly commented from her secure position down in the crevasse.
‘Yeah, but how long will they stay? They seem to be looking for something! Oh shit! They’re sniffing the air right around where we sprayed the blood. Cheez Molly, it’s going to lead them right over toward you!’
Corey popped his head up to get a better look at the edge of the clearing, ‘The sensors say that there’s at least three smaller ones in the brushline. If they’re small enough they may be able to get down into the crevasse that you’re hiding in Molly. Keep alert! I’ll call over if they head your way.’
‘I think I can shimmy over near the edge of the cliff and still keep out of their reach Corey.’ Anton grunted shifted his position over towards the edge of the cliff. ‘Maybe I can pick them off as they approach her position.’
‘Yeah Anton, maybe. That’s going to ruin all we set up for the trap though.’
‘Well, I’ll hold off as much as possible. Maybe … what the hell are they chasing in there!’ Anton called.
‘I don’t know but they are really raising a ruckus back in there! Sure looks like they’re chasing something. Aw shit! Here they come right toward us! Watch it Anton. They’re running the edges of the cliff like they’re looking for something. They’re going to get to you first.’
‘…. Mmph, well … mmph … I hope they give me enough time to get over to that next set of boulders. Hold on, gotta catch my breath. Wouldn’t you know I’m hung out here between secure positions for all the world to see. Oh shoot, I can see two of them coming up along the cliff’s sensors. Think I can beat them over to those boulders ahead.’
Molly’s hushed voice carried across their Hive Tabs, ‘There’s two of them not four feet away from me. They can’t get at me but they obviously got my scent and are trying to scramble down toward me. I’m pulling back, further down towards the outside edge. I may lose contact because of the rock between us.’
‘I can’t move an inch. There’s three smaller ones that have me hemmed in here.’ Corey called. ‘I’m gonna sit tight unless you call for help Molly. Look, on second thought, we can always do this again later….’
‘No we can’t Corey, we won’t be able to use this position
again if you go and start shooting. They’ll never come out here after us. They’ve got a great sense of smell!’
‘Yeah, I’m ok so far. They can’t get all the way down. I’m going to just stay right here until they get tired of it.’ Molly called but Corey could hear the fear in her voice.
Small pebbles and sand are flying around Molly as she clings to the edge of the thin ledge down in the crevasse. She can almost reach across to the other rocky face from this position. Maybe if she could swing her foot across she can catch on those rocks sticking out.
She reaches out with her hand and a chill runs down her spine as she looks down. The rocky crevasse she’s in is an overhang and she can see the far off boulders and tops of the trees almost directly below her. ‘Maybe I’ll wait here just a little longer.’
Her eye suddenly catches a movement above her. One of the smaller raptors has managed to swing down into the crevasse. ‘Guess I don’t wait.’ Molly steels herself and swings her foot out over the open crevasse. Her fingers scrape across the rough rock and catch. If she can push with both hands on either side of the crevasse then just lift her foot.
Molly lifts her head to look out over the valley as she pulls in a frantic large breath of air. The sun is setting over the far western edge of the valley and thin, sharp rays of gold trace from it across a blood red landscape. Long shadows begin to creep into crevasse but she can still see a good foothold over there.
It takes every ounce of her courage to lift her foot from the safety of the ledge that held her. A little push off and then she frantically grabs for a hold on the loose rocks. Her hand slips and scrambles over the sharp rocks. Finally it catches and she swings her foot onto the small ledge. ‘Yes, I can see you quite clearly!’ She quietly says as she looks over toward the small raptor pushing its way down the crevasse. Her hand moves back to bring her Python pistol out. ‘Heck, no room to grip it properly with my right hand. Should I try a left handed shot?’
Molly lifts the pistol and her eyes meet those of the small Albertosaurus. It’s only a foot or so taller than her and must be very young…. and very crazy. The dinosaur has a poor grip in the tight rocky face but it continues pushing directly down toward her. Molly can see that blood is in it’s eyes as it struggles toward her. ‘Oh, you’re only a baby! I really hate to …’
Hunter's Moon (Cretaceous Station Book 2) Page 40
