by Pam Uphoff
Whti was backing up, squinting.
Ebsa raised all his shields again.
Hob walked up grinning, and handed him a bottle of booster, turned and took one to Whti.
"Ah, glucose and salts, yummy." Ebsa saluted Whti and drank. He didn't actually need it. Whti hadn't tried to attack while his shields were down, and just glowing was no big deal. So long as you had the strongest glow. Whti probably had a headache.
The other students stirred uneasily and moved off.
Paer snickered. "Well, he was just saying something about some people needing to be put in their place. I hadn't realized he was talking about himself."
A crackle, and flare of light as Ajha started his usual campfire. "Hob, I put some folding chairs and tables in the lab. Fean, there's a freeze box in hold two in the lab, bring it out and we'll eat well before we start the survey in the morning."
Excellent. Just ignore all that and get on with life.
Ebsa sauntered off to help with the chairs.
"Oh, big crocodiles with shoulder spikes. Good thing they're only four or five meters long." Ebsa eyed the small herd of . . . "What did you call them?"
"Desmatosuchus. They're herbivores." Irgo grinned, probably at his expression.
"So what are they doing so far from water?"
"Eating ginkos and pine needles and such."
Ebsa eyed him. "Something tells me I ought to have swotted up on the Triassic."
"Yep. It's a lot different from the Jurassic and Cretaceous. Much dryer, and the dinosaurs are just getting started. The Archosaurs are still dominant. We're probably a bit early for any pterosaurs, hard to say, what with the uncertainties of fossilization." He sounded hopeful.
Ebsa narrowed his eyes and looked over the critters. "Right. Herbivores. Thank the One, because we never have problems with herbivores, right?"
Alamo snickered as he walked past. "I think at least three of us have suggested that Ajha put Ra'd in the crow's nest full time."
Ufly snorted. "So you've got some good genes. Still a Closey. And your Arab buddy really ought to show some class and use his Oner name."
"Wqlw." Ebsa kept a straight face, and made sure it sound a whole lot like fuck you. "I think his arab stepmother was offended by the name. Can't imagine why."
Irgo shook his head. "We really ought to have the right to change our official designations."
Ebsa nodded. "I wouldn't mind some real names, too. And family names."
Three offended stares.
Sigh. "Right. Keep your precious Withione snugged up close to the unpronounceable code of a third of your Prophet ancestors. If only they actually knew which insertions were from which Prophets . . . "
Three glares.
"Well, that's my quota of early morning offense. I'd better go find breakfast and gear up." Ebsa ducked back into the bunkhouse crawler. Raided the tray of pastries—ick, fabbed—and grabbed backpack, water bottles, mystery bag for lunch, shotgun and stunner. He bit his lip, thinking about the size of the spiny things out there. Time to imitate Ra'd. He pulled out the 12mm and slung it over his shoulder. The shotgun he loaded with buckshot and carried.
Ajha addressed them all before they set out. "We don't want a repeat of the last world, so we've camped in the middle of one side of the study area, and then we'll take the Lab and the Electronics crawler out with us and park them strategically close to where we're working. Dan, Ra'd, and Paer will rotate the watch while the rest of us are out in the field."
Ebsa sighed in relief. And not just that there'd be someone competent with a gun within shooting range of most of the study area. He hated to admit that he was mostly relieved that Ajha realized he wasn't very good with firearms. I'll get more range time in, next year.
They did their usual survey of plants. Vids of damaged foliage. Insects eating foliage.
Hastily backing away from a critter with both tusks and a beak. Getting ready to run. Behind them, half a dozen stood up at once and they backed away further. Suspicious snorts.
"Keep backing up." Ebsa slung the shotgun over his left shoulder and shrugged down the 12mm. Chambered a round.
"They're only three or four meters long." Ufly complained.
"Built like tanks. Probably weigh a ton each and regularly intimidate predators twice their size."
"Bet they lose."
Ebsa started to relax. The critters didn't seem too inclined to start a fight. "What are they, do you know?"
"Placerias. Plah CER e uhs. Of some sort. Back in Paris, I was so busy getting the tanks set up . . . damn I hope those critters are all right. That was a damned good idea, bringing back a bunch of aquatic specimens." Ufly snickered. "I heard Ecco getting politely reamed, by the department head about not sticking to his specialty."
"Land plants?"
"Exactly. By the time we get back, all the critters will probably have been claimed by other paleontologists." Ufly shrugged. "Anyhow, I didn't have time to swot up on Triassic fossils, for exact identification. Tonight I'll pin these guys down."
"Right." Ebsa glanced at the map. "Let's lay out markers to the north, first."
"Good plan." Ufly looked back at the plasawhatevers. "Although personally I'd love to be able to study their behavior for a whole twelve days."
"Eight days. It took so long to drive here, we'll need to leave early."
"Damn."
Ebsa took a scan around for other critters, then got on the comm and told the other groups. "Just avoid the area for now. If they don't move on, we might manage some useful observations."
"Quickly." The professor snapped. "I can't believe we took most of two days to get here!"
They all stayed out late to finish all the flora mapping, except around what looked like the placerias' wallow.
Ebsa pulled first watch again. It was a little overcast and he closed his eyes to check out the fauna . . . lots of critters out there. A whole herd moving in from the north. Ebsa waited until they were close, then aimed light and vid recorder at where he thought they were. Started recording, flipped on the searchlight.
A slender little dinosaur froze. Bipedal, two long, strong back legs, strong claws on the front. Very long neck. Ebsa shifted the light. Quick movement to avoid it, but there were a lot more of them out there. He made a slow traverse, trying to count the quick, darting forms.
"Trouble?" Ajha's voice from below.
"I think we have a whole hunting pack of See low whatevers out there."
"Coelophysis." A rattle and thump below. Ajha handed up a gun . . .
"Holy One. Is this a machine gun?"
Ajha laughed. "Yep. Just in case."
"I'm surprised Ra'd hasn't been toting it around." Ebsa supported the weapon while Ajha settled the tripod on holes that were obviously designed for this.
The older man chuckled. "He admired it, but said he preferred that cannon of his."
He leaned over and spot lit a few of the dinos. "Hmm." He clicked on his comm. "Fiend? Nasty beasties outside, small enough to get inside our ring. You and Paer load up but stay inside. Dan, are you awake?"
"Ra'd here. Do you need me up top?"
"At this point, I just want to make sure no one goes wandering around."
"Yes, sir."
The military address. Interesting.
"Let's dim the light and see what they do." Ajha acted as he spoke, leaving a dim circle on the brush. "I can't see if they're scaly or have hair or feathers."
"Nothing very long." Ebsa turned a hand light on low and lifted one foot over the wall of the crow's nest and leaned so that he could shine it straight down. This time, instead of freezing, the Coelophysis leaped. Straight at him. He flinched back as the dino got his front claws around the rail and the toothy maw at the end of the long neck snapped out and teeth closed on the light.
The shotgun roared and the Coelophysis disappeared. Ebsa heard the body hit the ground, but the curve of the crawler kept him from seeing anything. The beam of his flash, now down on the ground, showe
d darting shapes rushing forward.
Rushing to support a wounded pack mate?
"Ah ha!" The professor's gleeful voice from below. "The most prevalent theory about them is that they are cannibals. That certainly seems to be the case."
Ebsa was suddenly glad he couldn't see.
Ajha was back on the comm. "They can jump high enough to get on top of the crawlers, so keep the hatches closed." He looked out at the pack and shook his head. "Let's just seal up and hunker down. We'll keep an eye on them from inside, and hopefully they'll move on."
Ebsa nodded toward the machinegun.
"Leave it. In case they don't move on. Leave the searchlight on so we can watch them. We can cut the power off from below, whenever we want."
He dropped down the hatch, and Ebsa handed down his two weapons and followed. He closed the hatch and dogged it down. In the lowered light of the searchlight, the Coelophysis were disturbingly snake-like, their necks snapping out to grab the insects that were attracted to the light.
Ebsa moved forward and settled in the driver's seat. He powered up the comm and found the others conversing.
" . . . see anyone up there." Paer sounded worried.
Ebsa tried to sound casual, not elated. "Nah, we decided to just dog down the hatch and sit it out. Hopefully they'll go away."
"Don't bet on it."Irgo's drawl. "They're all around your crawler, catching bugs. Ha! One made it to the top. He's chowing down big time. On bugs."
"Huh." Ebsa flinched back as a leaping dinosaur smacked into the window and slid out of sight. "Maybe leaving the light on up top was a bad idea. I guess they aren't really dangerous to things our size."
"Don't bet on it. They might swarm larger prey. There must be forty or fifty of them. And they aren't that small."
Ebsa eyed them. Hard to think a critter that ate insects would tackle one of those Placerias or the spiky crocodileish herbivore they'd seen yesterday. Except those spikes would be a pretty good defense against these things. He flinched back as one leaped past, snapping something out of the air.
"Crank back the seat and sleep if you can." Ajha walked up the steps. "Tomorrow's going to be busy." He leaned over the other front seat and clicked controls. The spotlight died. "Feast is over. Move on, little dinos."
In the morning, the Coelophysis found the Placerias. The Palacies forted up, little ones in the middle, big ones threatening the Coelophysis with their tusks. The small predators prowled a circuit around them, then moved on further south.
Ufly grinned from the top of the bunkhouse. "Well they intimidate smaller predators. I've got the big cam recording all of that, and maybe we can watch their grazing habits."
Irgo sighed. "I'd rather be watching insects."
Ajha nodded. "Ebsa? Take the electronics crawler north and stay close to it. Shift the crawler regularly so it's always close to whoever is on the ground."
"That'll mess up the plants!" Alamo glanced south. No Coelophysis in sight. Ten big Placerias and twice that number of smaller ones very obvious. "But not that bad."
Alamo opted to work with Irgo. The lab trailer shadowed Ufly and Witty. Who retreated inside at the sight of a large predator.
"Looks like someone crossed a crocodile with a mastiff and got the head too big. What the heck?"
"Postosuchus."
"Gotta hand it to dinosaurs. They not only know how to do scary, they occasionally have hysterically funny names." Dan sounded like he was having fun. Probably the opportunity to irritate the academic types.
The Fiend sighed. "Such, not suck, Dan. Grow up."
Innocent snicker. "I didn't say that, you're the one who leaped to that interpretation."
The Placerias spotted the predator and decamped in a hurry. No forting up, this time. The Postosuchus pursued them out of sight.
Ufly complained about losing his study subjects but no one complained about the lack of predators. They all hastily filled in the map around the Placerias' haunts and they worked late again.
Nothing disturbed the night watch.
The next day they worked dawn to dusk then Ajha made them drive all night. "I want to cross the river first thing in the morning and then get up the slope. The satellite is showing a strong storm front heading this way."
They stopped at the river bank and caught a few hours of sleep.
The dawn light showed the gravelly shoals and winding channels they had driven over four days ago. The water level was noticeably higher.
"And it's only going to get worse." Ajha nudged Ebsa out of the driver's seat. "Sleep. I'll take the lead this time."
It was hard to sleep, with the sliding and occasional spinning tires. Once they were up out of the river bed, he slept. Woke up to find the others repairing their route up the escarpment.
This time Hob drove the lab up first, with half the people. It slid a few times, but crawled over the rim.
"Dan? Squeeze the cliffs in those spots. Right?" Ajha was down in the electronics crawler.
"Right."
Ebsa strapped himself in next to Dan. Watched the more experienced driver hug the steep side, gunned it when the ground sagged beneath the crawler, cursed when the right side fell abruptly. The whole slope started moving.
"Grab ahold, strap in if you caaaaan!" The crawler rolled onto its side, slid downhill, rolled to the roof, hung up on the crow's nest for a long moment, then rolled to the other side, thumped back onto its wheels.
Ebsa reached across and threw the left wheels into reverse. "Give it just a touch of power."
The crawler slewed around, the back swinging around down hill, the nose more or less uphill. Ebsa flipped all wheels forward, low range. Pointed. "Hard ground over there. Keep it in low until we're out of the slide."
Dan sweated and edged carefully onto hard ground.
"Good, now up there . . . "
They hadn’t rolled too far, and got back on the path fairly easily . . . Ebsa turned and looked at the students. Ufly rubbing his shoulder, Alamo pale.
"Umm, I hate to say this, but I don't think anyone had better go in the lav until we've cleaned it up." He relaxed a little as that got a few sniggers. Right. No panicky passengers. And I'm only not panicking because that was more of a slump than a full blown landslide. Rock and mudslide.
They made it to the top without further disasters.
Ajha drove the last crawler up, squeezing across the top of the slide with a nasty slew as he cleared it.
"Was that a flash of power? What did he just do?"
"Fast freeze, probably." Dan sighed. "Wish I could pull heat from so far away. And he does it through the crawler undercarriage."
Ebsa blinked. Most magical effects, even the advanced ones were mostly close range. Three or four meters. With no obstructions. If Ajha'd frozen the ground under the wheels, and deep enough on the path ahead to stabilize the mushy road . . . I have a lot to learn.
Ajha parked the Electronics crawler beside them and hopped out.
"Right. Let's take a quick look for damage, then hit the road."
"How does he manage to sound so cheerful?" Paer sounded appalled.
"Hysterics, I figure." Dan grinned.
"Relief, you idiot." Fean on the comm.
"You're just jealous because you haven't trained your crawler to roll over."
"Men. One save me from men."
The outside of the bunkhouse had a few dents and scratches. The rails up top and the crow's nest were too twisted and crushed to retract. They unbolted them and shoved them into the lab.
"Some people get testy when we litter pristine worlds." Dan shrugged. The clouds were thick enough that Ajha broke out the lights for the job. The lav's seals had held, so a quick wash of the undersides of the lids were all it needed. They climbed back inside as the rain started. And drove through driving rain, thunder and lightning. Speed did not happen. Every declivity flooded, every dry streambed was a raging torrent. Only the computer kept them to their path, let them know how deep each stream crossing was.<
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At one stream, Ajha demonstrated a handy harpoon thrower, that carried the winch cable across a torrent and into the brush on the far side. They linked the other two crawlers, and Ajha took the first one through. The winch was definitely needed. The second crawler came through easily, stabilized both fore and aft. The already damaged bunkhouse brought up the rear, and was towed up the far bank on its side. Flipped upright. Then the experienced hands drove as fast as the ground allowed.
They got to the gate with five minutes to spare.
"If we'd have missed it, the gate controllers would have opened another in six hours or so, whenever they had an opening in the schedule. Rescue parties generally don't get sent for two days, although with Paer missing that might have happened a whole lot sooner." Dan sounded perfectly cheerful.
"How often do you miss gates?" Ebsa eyed the concrete buildings with relief.
"Oh . . . hmm, I've missed one. That might well be the only one Ajha's ever missed. I mean, he's good."
"Yeah, I noticed that. Not to mention unflappable." Please, please, get me on a Team like this one!
They squeezed the crawlers into their bay, and collapsed in their chairs. Ajha looked at the afternoon sun outside and shook his head. Summoned transportation. "Tomorrow we clean up. Today and tonight, rest and eat. You all deserve it. Damn good job."
Back to the wonderful hot showers at the Director's Residence. Ebsa eyed the soft bed, then walked out to see if any of the others were around. A maid pointed him toward a door. "The teams mostly go out there."
Around a pool. Paer was there, arms crossed and back stiff. Facing a half dozen men with the unmistakable air of Action Teamers.
Ebsa sauntered up, trying for casual body language. "Now that's some pool. I mean, cupids and fountains?"
Paer looked around, shoulders relaxing. "The, umm, ornamentation does seem to be a bit overdone, here and there."
"Yeah." He strolled closer to the pool, but not so close as to invite a push.
Paer walked beside him. "And anyway, I don't think those are cupids. Naiads or something, maybe?"
