by Pam Uphoff
"I might have known you'd manage to talk things down." Ra'd glanced at the woman. "Don't look so worried. Ebsa's good."
Ebsa spotted the huge bore of Ra'd's favorite weapon sticking up over his shoulder. Ouch! I forgot we were around dinosaurs!
The crawler inched forward.
"Ought to throw you under the wheels, save a dozen lives, most likely." The Chief let the thoroughly cowed driver slide away from him, and turned to Acty. "Let's take a look at the damage."
Pie eased hers forward and stopped again.
"Not bad, nothing functional damaged." He turned to the Docs' Inn. Glanced at the front bumper, and walked to the far side where Howl had crowded some trees. Minor scrapes. Back to the back. The Chief looked from the back bumper to the start of the bulldozed path, where the gate had been. "Shit. That was close." He looked at the tire tracks and back to the faint scrapes on the left corner of the bumper. Then he walked past the flat and looked at the back of Junkyard. "See that scorching? Who was driving?" His eyes found Ebsa's. "You had about three cems still within the gate field when you turned. And if you'd stopped, the flat would have hit you and been shredded by the gate field. Good job."
"Thank you sir." Ebsa felt faint. Swallowed. If I'd messed up I'd have killed Ra'd. He pointed at a gap between the largest trees. "Well, that's the road to the old study area. Since I'm aimed at it, shall I continue?"
"Nah." The Chief gave him an edgy smile. "Now you can back up. So let the bulldozer lead the way."
"Yes, sir, umm, warn him that there are a lot of old stumps. We just went for minimum clearance." Ebsa walked around to the far side of the crawler, gave up putting on a brave face and stepped into the brush to upchuck.
Okli thumped his shoulder. "Take your time, kid. I'll back her up."
"Thanks." Ebsa walked shakily back to where R'ad was cursing and trying to back up over the jagged stump of the tree Ebsa had crashed through.
Good thing I've been practicing slice! He leaned down and with a quick gesture, took the stump off at ground level. Ra'd waved his thanks and backed out of the way. Ebsa eyed the rest of the tree. Twenty centimeter diameter. Perfect. "We're going to need a campfire, don't care what anyone says." He sliced the trunk and largest branches into meter long sections. Filled up the last space in the container.
Ra'd joined him, grinning. "You know, those big trees we cut down two years ago should be nicely seasoned. Since I'm bringing up the rear, I'll stop and cut some so we can get a fire to actually take." His head snapped up suddenly. Thump . . thump . . thump . . .
Ebsa cast a look around, the scholars were all out of the crawlers . . . "Everyone! Load up fast! Dinosaur coming! Get in the nearest crawler!"
So of course they all started looking around . . .
"Acty! Move them! Pie! Hustle the women!" Ebsa threw himself through the door of the Junkyard. The gun safe was unlocked, and he grabbed the twelve millimeter and two magazines.
No crow's-nest, but the hatch still worked. He climbed up. Looked out cautiously, climbed up and got a good look around. Large back showing over the smaller trees, as it stomped through them, detouring only for the largest trees. A head raised up to scan for dinner. Which was reluctantly being shooed toward the crawlers.
Ebsa took a deep breath and projected his voice. "Well, folks, if you will get inside, you can safely view your first Tyrannosaurus Rex. If you do not get inside, we will have to decide whether to let it eat you, or whether to kill it. YOUR CHOICE!"
That finally got them moving.
Ebsa turned and surveyed the rest of the forest.
Ra'd was on top of the Flat's cab, doing the same. "I only see one." He looked down to check that everyone was inside, then slung the baby cannon and climbed down. Got in the cab.
Ebsa backed partway down the ladder, and watched the T-Rex stalk into the arrival area. It shoved through the smaller trees, effortlessly. Snorted and sniffed its way down the line of vehicles.
The crow's-nest popped up on the Action crawler. One of the men looked out. At this distance, Ebsa couldn't tell the caliber of his rifle. Not big enough came to mind.
Three sharp cracks. The dinosaur shook his head at the annoyance, homed in on the sound, and stalked forward. Three more shots, then the T-rex raised up and lunged for the man ducking down into the crawler. Rocked the crawler on its tires, its chest crashing down on the roof as it snapped at the crow's-nest. The crawler tipped, leaning precariously.
A clawed foot hit the side halfway up and raked down the side. Bad for the paint job but it actually pulled it back upright. It shoved the crawler a couple of more times, then turned away. It stalked down the row, then turned toward the overgrown road.
Ebsa oozed the rest of the way down and shut the hatch. Walked forward and watched the T-Rex stalk away down their road. The comm channel was carrying a background babble, no one speaking close to the console.
Okli craned his neck looking up at the underside of the Tyrannosaur's jaw as it stalked past. "You put your arm . . . "
"Well, it was dying. And I'd already sliced one side of its jaw. But yeah, it still features large in my nightmares." Ebsa leaned close to the mike. "Chief? Are you on? The road is about six kilometers long, then we'll hit the prairie. Doctor Yffi? I never actually heard where you wanted your base?"
The Chief answered first. "We'll give that fellow time to clear the area. We've got, at most, an hour of daylight. And Leader Acty? I apologize for all my bad thoughts about a man who didn't want to drive into a dark forest full of . . . critters like that! Dr. Yffi?"
Ebsa could hear the doctor swallow. "Well . . . that was educational. Our original plans were to build near the old study area, since we have such an excellent base record there, and extend the coverage into the forest on this side and out to the river to the east. So . . . " The screen lit as Yffi brought up a satellite picture. "The red square is the old study area, the green, what we are after."
Ebsa eyed the picture, and thought back . . . he touched the screen. "If I recall correctly, that is the highest hill. Build there, and you'll have a good view of what's out there."
"Good idea." The doctor sounded a bit breathless, yet.
The chief concurred. "Right. That'll be what we'll aim for, first. Once we can see everything, we may change our minds."
Chapter Three
20 Jumada 1405 yp
World EM 0925
The bulldozer was awesomely overpowered. Triple bladed—a vee-shaped front blade, and two "wings" that folded back for gate transit. A backhoe on the other end for trenching and lifting. The driver lowered the blade and drove. Nice big curves that the twelve meter long crawlers could make without any awkward maneuvering. Which in this area meant he looped to the south, then west, and crossed the entry track to line up with the old road. There were a few trees large enough that he diverted around them . . . Ebsa left the Junkyard in Acty's hands and rode with Ra'd, taking the end position.
The Flat's cab was claustrophobically short, a meter from bumper to back. Then the flat bed that gave it its name was seven meters. So the load could hang over four meters and not cause problems in transiting the gate. Their load only hung over two meters. Practically petite. They stopped once, briefly, and Ebsa whacked off two long thick branches of old deadfall and . . . "Damn it, if I throw them on top, they'll get brushed off." He cut them in half, maneuvered them to the cab and fit himself around them.
Ra'd grinned and added his 20mm to the awkward bundle Ebsa was hugging. "Don't worry. It shouldn't be more than ten kilometers over very rough ground to our tentative camp."
By the time they got there, it was dark. The chief was parking his flats in a neat row . . .
"Shall we circle up the crawlers, so we have an area the larger dinosaurs can't get into?" Ebsa covered the mike. "Ten rials says I can go another twenty-four hours before Acty tells me to shut the fuck up."
Ra'd shook his head. "He won't. The Construction crew and Action Teamers, on the other hand . . . " He parked
the flat at the end of the Chief's row, and they walked over to watch the crawlers maneuvering.
Ebsa dragged his firewood between crawlers and surveyed the space. "Let's do the camp fire centrally, and . . . "
Acty climbed down from the Junkyard. "Ebsa? More wood?" He waved his hand and knocked away an oversized mosquito. "No one is going to spend any time out here with the bugs."
Ra'd glanced at Ebsa. "We can take care of that problem."
A sniff from behind them. "Better, I hope, than you managed that Tyrannosaurus." Dr. Seuz was a heavy woman, showing her age.
Ra'd nodded, a bit stiffly. "Yes, Igne was using much too small a caliber."
Stiffened offense. "I meant that there was no reason to shoot her!"
Ra'd snorted. "Yes. That too. It's one of the reasons I've always wanted Explorer or Info Team assignments. But here, once they adjust to the project requirements, the Action Team ought to be useful."
Ebsa stepped up close to Acty. "Do you guys have any Compass experience?"
Acty looked shocked.
"Never mind. Ra'd and I can probably do this alone." He walked back to what looked like the approximate center of the crawler circle. Took the South position.
Ra'd thumped his shoulder as he walked by, mental shields dropping, an easy merge with a friend. The lumps of Ra'd's recent practice with enemies smoothed quickly. Ebsa raised power, passed it to Ra'd on one hand while accepting power from him on the other. The power circled up, strong, powerful, and smooth. First the small light-weight telekinetic push that cleared the camp of flying insects, and then the weak physical shield that would exclude the little pests . . . so soft and weak a bird could fly through it. Small scale porous, so airflow was barely affected . . . they pushed it out and up in a dome over the entire camp and set it to hold. Relaxed and let the remaining power go.
"Huh. Now that's handy." The Chief was looking up. "I need that spell."
"It's good for maybe a week." Ebsa shrugged. "We'll bring more people in and renew it in a few days. So anyone who wants to see how it's done can see it from the inside, so to speak."
They were getting a lot of thoughtful looks from everyone. Ha! They spotted how flat out scary powerful Ra'd is.
Ra'd punched his arm. "You are pretty damned scary, yourself. So don't blame it all on me."
Ebsa concentrated on getting his mental shields back up, then turned his attention to making a campfire.
Acty stared down as they sliced the seasoned wood into smaller lengths, and reduced one chunk to splinters. "Is this actually going to help?"
"Yes. It'll get everyone out of the crawlers and interacting like a single group. And it will help avoid cabin fever, later on."
Acty sighed. "I'm no good at this leadership crap."
"Yes you are, just tell the team to fetch out the rest of the firewood. The blue coolers have dinner for fifty-eight in them. At some point, talk to the Action Leader about setting a night watch. Ask if he needs us to stand any of the watches. He'll get all bristly and take care of it himself."
Sigh. "Right."
The shish-kebabs—lots and lots of them—were delicious heated over the coals. The rice was again faked, but it came out cooked, seasoned, and hot from the fabricators. The vegetarian looked down his nose at the tofu kebabs, and then ate them all.
Mingling . . . was a bit minimal, but Chief Ignu went out of his way to compliment Acty on his organizational ability. The Construction Crew was polite, and looked like they were trying to watch their language around the ladies. The Action Teamers got a little fresh, and tried to provoke Ra'd. But he ignored them. Ebsa circulated, tried to talk to everyone.
Pressed paper trays went in the fire, forks were washed. Then everyone but the two Action Teamers on watch crawled into bed.
***
In the morning, the Chief waylaid him and hauled him off for a private chat.
"So, from things you've said, you must have been on the first expedition. Did you actually put your arm in the mouth of a T-Rex?"
"Yep. What can I do for you, Chief?" Ebsa took a quick scan around and slung the 12mm.
"Tell me what this group of naïve idiots needs, to stay alive." He shook his head. "I watched that movie, saw the scholars' reluctance to run for shelter when warned. I was sure it was staged, but yesterday . . . "
"Yeah. 'Oh goody, a T-Rex! I want to see it!' And this trip instead of an experienced Explorer Team, plus three very competent interns . . . we've got a team thrown together nine days ago. Four office workers, two experienced courier drivers, and me and Ra'd, who were two of the three interns. And there's eighteen academic types to keep alive." Ebsa shrugged. "The Action Team will probably keep the construction area dinosaur-free. Until they go home in seven days."
"Shit."
"So we need the wall fast. And frankly, like I was saying about lookout spots? That's mostly so lots of the observations can be done from here, and we can reduce the number of trips out there."
"Right. If Dr. Yffi likes this site, we'll get your wall up fast, and some berms to use for lookouts."
"Thank you."
"And your scary buddy . . . what the hell?"
"Priest gene. No castration, but he's using the Comet Fall hormone suppression spell they use for their wizard gene. He's very strong and . . . unusual."
"Understatement. Heard he was in prison. How dangerous to us is he? Truthfully." Chief Igni eyed him.
"He will beat the crap out of anyone who threatens the women. If they manage to rape or injure one of them I won't rule out him killing the perpetrator. Otherwise he's absolutely trustworthy. And probably the best shot you'll ever see."
"You shot that T-Rex, on the vid, not him."
"There were trees and the third crawler in the way, else Whti would never have been hurt. Please note that even I can hit a huge dinosaur from four meters away."
The Chief snorted and marched off. "Right. Well, let's see what the Doctor wants."
Ebsa looked around and spotted the scholars up on the Inn. Pointing stuff out to each other and chattering away. A couple of Action Teamers were kicking at the dead ashes of the fire. Ignoring everything else. At least they had weapons, larger bore than yesterday.
The Chief headed for the Inn, Ebsa took a turn around the outside of the crawler circle. Several clusters of moving dots out on the plains, no sign of the T-Rex. He met Ra'd coming the other direction.
"So, got the Chief wrapped around your little finger yet?"
Ebsa snickered. "Nah, he just wondered whether he could safely turn his back on a Demon from Beyond. I told him you didn't swing that way."
Ra'd snorted. "You are an idiot. I have no idea why I like you." He walked on.
Ebsa stopped beside the Inn and caught Dr. Yffi's voice.
". . . can't stay cooped up in the middle of a construction zone . . . "
He cut back into the camp and found Acty, dropped some suggestions . . . then walked back around to listen in again.
"Doctor Yffi?" Acty was getting good at projecting confidence. "If you would like, we could take a couple of the crawlers out onto the plains and get a first look at the vegetation patterns, and the most obvious animals. Maybe place some remote vidcams."
"What an excellent idea!" Yffi's voice was accompanied by lots of other enthusiastic approvals.
And Acty didn't even have to be prompted to nab Pie and Howl as drivers, and get the rest of them armed to the teeth. They left the Action team grumbling about guard duty.
Note to self. Put another 20mm on the first resupply list. Maybe two. One for the away group and one here at the base, minimum.
First stop was the old study area.
And the placement of multiple vidcams in a small grove of trees. Ebsa slung the 12mm, and loaded a shotgun. Ra'd stayed in the Ladies Room crow's-nest, Ijdu in the Inn's.
"The first vids are such a valuable resource! Probably hundreds of papers about small dinosaur and early avian behavior have been written just on this single grove!
" Dr. Seuz was, at a guess, well over a hundred, and starting to show her age. Hadn't lost any enthusiasm, and she eyed the grove as if it was her personal Makkah. "And now we'll extend that record!"
Ebsa placed the vidcams as close as possible to his recollection from two years prior, then chivvied the scientists back aboard.
Then on to the east over generally rolling terrain, dropping more steeply the last two kilometers to the river. They stopped to watch a grazing herd of triceratops form up a defensive perimeter with the largest of them eyeing the crawlers suspiciously. Everyone got out to get a good look at them, and Ebsa joined the bunch on top of the crawler, keeping his eyes on everything. Movement behind and to the right . . . "There's the T-Rex. Or a T-Rex. At a safe distance, now." Ebsa kept a close watch, but this one appeared to be a loner. Could be Paer's mount. It's the right size, with a modest crest, no striping. It eyed them, and the Triceratops, then turned and walked south.
Acty bit his lip. "Let's head north for a bit, before we head downhill again." They cut a trampled path leading into the woods along the river and turned east onto it. It led to a long narrow lake, or perhaps a wide spot in the river.
"Howl? Look left. See the tree sticking out? I think a vidcam up in that tree would be excellent." Ebsa looked back to the nodding scientists. Doctor . . . Oldo, was it? Grabbed one of the larger units.
"It's got a solar cell to charge the battery, so with luck we won't have to keep disturbing the site."
Ebsa checked the mount while Howl maneuvered. Ebsa could reach a substantial branch from the top of the crawler, and climbed higher and removed some obstructing branches. The scientists had him shift the aim, then he climbed down. And watched rustling in the brush, but never spotted what was there. They watched Maiasaura across the lake, nesting on a high spot out on the swampy flats where perhaps the T-Rex feared to tread on the marshy ground. Planted three cams.
"Over a hundred of them." One of the scholars muttered. "Fossils of the nesting areas in Montana have had thousands."
