“Troodon,” he said. “We captured one. A female.”
“Troodon?”
“She’s a small meat-eater. Harry thinks she’s pregnant. How’d he put it? She’s gravid. That’s it. Said she’s gravid.” He motioned Dawn outside. “She’s a feisty little sucker. Looks like she’s itchin’ to attack. Remember how the other dino reacted when we put her in the cage? Well, she’s nothing compared to this one. Troodon has a bunch of these tiny, pointy teeth. Harry says they’re sharp as hell. They’ll take a chunk out of you if you aren’t careful.”
Dawn poked her head out of the hatch. Harry, Tasha, and Kris stood by the Rover, flashlights shining on the caged animal. She followed Gus outside.
Looking at the sky, Dawn caught sight of the comet. She frowned, recalling how it had appeared only a few hours before. Was it her imagination, or did it now seem a lot larger?
Squinting, she spotted the faint, blue fluorescence of electrically charged molecules, the ion tail of the comet.
Just then, Harry said, “Gus told you about our little Troodon, eh?”
When Dawn realized Harry was speaking to her, she dropped her gaze and nodded.
“I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t seen it,” Harry went on. “We put some bait in the cage and waited a few minutes. She walked inside like she was invited. Boy, was she mad when she realized she couldn’t escape.”
Half-listening to Harry’s excited talk, Dawn watched the creature. One of the birdlike dinosaurs, she was somewhat bigger than the other species they’d encountered. She did a quick mental calculation, estimating the Troodon measured around one and a half meters from snout to tail tip, about the same size as an average adult human female. She had large, green eyes with catlike pupils, green skin, and bright, peacock feathers on her head.
Hang on! Dawn thought. It looks something like the thing I saw yesterday.
Upon closer inspection, she knew the comparison was ridiculous. The Troodon did not have a humanoid shape. If anything, it resembled a small ostrich.
“Troodon means wounding teeth,” Harry said. “And it’s true. Watch out for her if you go near the cage.”
“Okay,” Dawn said. “I believe you. She must be a formidable predator.”
Harry nodded, chest thrust out like a proud father. “Her species has the largest brain-to-body ratio of any dinosaur; in fact, in the Cretaceous, it was probably smarter than anything else, including all contemporary dinosaurs, mammals, and birds. We can tell this by casts made of the interiors of troodontid craniums. The skulls show brain folding, which allows more surface area for the development of cells in the cerebral cortex, a prerequisite for the evolution of higher intelligence.”
Dawn stared into the animal’s eyes. “I wonder what she’s thinking about? Poor thing must be scared out of her wits.”
As if to render an opposite opinion, the female Troodon puffed up her feathers, drew back her head, exposed her little sharklike teeth, and leapt against the cage, flailing against the metal bars and sputtering like a demon.
Dawn jumped back, startled. Her glance met Gus’s as an unspoken thought raced between them – what had they gotten themselves into?
“Troodon has been called the ‘coyote’ of the Cretaceous.” Harry grinned. “Damn, she’s beautiful!”
Gus rubbed his stubbly chin as he shot Dawn a look filled with humor. “I don’t think so,” he told her. “She’s ugly, if you ask me.”
But Dawn didn’t answer him. Instead, she stared off, remembering the humanoid dinosaur from the day before and wondering if there could be some kind of connection.
***
Since it was still so early – around 0400 – the crew had secured the Troodon with the rest of the specimens and then gone off to bed.
Dawn was just drifting off when she heard, “Wake up.”
Her eyes opened wide and she stared into the shadows, her pulse pounding in her ears.
“Dawn Ssstroganoff.”
Gasping, she sat bolt upright in bed and a hand immediately clamped over her mouth, stifling her scream.
“I senssse your fear,” the voice whispered into her ear. “Calm yourssself. I will not harm you.”
Now she discerned the reptilian hisses mingled with the words. It could mean only one thing!
“I will releassse you if you promissse to be quiet, Dawn.”
She nodded and the hand withdrew. Despite her fear, she had to see him. Fumbling at her nightstand, she managed to flip on the light switch. She blinked against the light, then stared in shock. A strapping, man-sized alien stood there, copper-skinned with ice-blue eyes and a headful of golden feathers. And he was definitely a male; beneath his genital pouch, he swelled with potency.
This must be a nightmare.
“I am the Keeper.”
She looked into his eyes, willing herself to hold his gaze. He must have realized she was frightened, because he sat on the edge of the bed and made a soft, cooing sound as he reached out and gently touched her good arm.
“I will not harm you,” he said as he slowly drew his hand away. “Do not be afraid of me.”
“Wh – why are you here?” Dawn stammered. “This doesn’t make any sense.”
“I do not understand.”
“But before, when you spoke to me in that contraption on Mars, you said you were already dead. You told me your mind had been preserved, but that you didn’t have a body.”
“I sssee.” He gave her a look that resembled a frown as he rubbed his chin. “Apparently, your experiences indicate I am alssso the Keeper of a parallel universsse. Or... it could be you ssspoke with my future ssself, after thisss body,” he touched his chest, “hasss died.”
“Oh.” Dawn shook her head. The idea of time paradoxes was going to drive her nuts. She had to think of something else, anything else to talk about. “Wh – when are we going home?”
“Sssoon.”
“Then we’re definitely going to leave the Cretaceous?”
There was a long pause. “Yesss. You are.”
“And what has been the purpose of all this?”
“I cannot reveal that to you, not at thisss time.”
“Why not?”
“You mussst be patient.”
“Patient?” Dawn asked, her anger flaring. “It’s a little too late for patience, don’t you think? Do you have real answers for me, or are we going to play godlike alien versus cowering, awestruck mortal again? I refuse to jump through any more hoops for you.”
“What?”
“Just why did you come here? Why? Did you know I almost died last week? Do you care what happens to my crewmates? Lex is dead because of you! And why was another one of your kind standing outside the lander yesterday?”
The Keeper stood up. “There wasss another?” He glanced back at the closed door.
Now Dawn saw his long tail. When he turned back to face her, she noticed that his claws had sprung from their sheaths. Devil. She shuddered, but fought her fear.
He stared at her, his eyes narrowed and questing.
“Why does the fact that someone else was here surprise you?” she asked, mulling this over. Then it hit her. “Of course,” she exclaimed, “you told me you were the last of your kind. So, what did I see? Who was outside the lander?”
He walked over to the bed, carefully retracted his claws, and took her hand again. “You,” he replied.
“Me?”
“Yes, I believe it wasss you.”
“How could that be? You’re not making any sense.”
He leaned over, touched his forehead to hers and looked deeply into her eyes.
His presence was overpowering, hypnotic.
“Yesss, Dawn, it wasss you.” With a deep moan, he lowered himself onto her body. “It wasss alwaysss you.”
***
It took Dawn a moment to realize she’d been dreaming. She was on her back, luxuriating under the covers as she opened her eyes.
Wow, that was totally weird, she thought, mi
ldly embarrassed by her erotic dream. The more she thought about it, the more she realized the dream had been utterly provocative, as if the Keeper – she’d made him an alien stud, hadn’t she? – had been interested in her in a sexual way.
Suddenly, she felt someone move against her. She jumped, almost falling from bed.
On the verge of screaming, the sound of light snoring caused her to turn and stare. Blond hair poked out from beneath the covers. Gus? She glanced around, realizing she was in his cubicle, sharing his bed.
What the hell...?
Her heart pounded. She closed her eyes and breathed, in and out, in and out. It’s the meds, she thought. I must’ve taken way too many yesterday. That’s why I don’t remember anything about coming into Gus’s room.
She rose from the bed, taking pains not to disturb him, and tiptoed across the room, only daring to glance back when she reached the door. Gus was still dead out.
Did anything happen between us? Why can’t I remember?
Except, except...
She recalled another dream. She was back in the chamber on Mars in the strange chair. Through the alien VR, she watched herself watching herself, like one of those strange infinity pictures of a person in a mirror, the image recurring again and again within itself, smaller and smaller, forever repeating.
With a frown, Dawn tried to put it out of her mind as she slipped into her cubicle and crawled into bed. She looked at the clock. 0642. Everyone was sleeping in after last night.
Last night?
What happened to me? Dawn closed her eyes, waiting for sleep to take her, wondering what was real, and what wasn’t.
***
There was a knock at the door. “Mind if I come in?”
Dawn’s eyes flew open, and she was instantly terrified. The Keeper?
But it was Kris. Smiling, she stood in the doorway.
“Tasha asked me to wake you. It’s after noon.”
Dawn glanced at the clock, surprised she’d overslept.
“Tasha said she wants to take a look at your arm,” Kris went on. “She thinks the cast can come off soon, maybe today.” She glanced down. “Hey, what’s this?” she asked as she picked something off the floor. She held out a golden feather.
Dawn felt a chill rush down her spine as she swung her feet over the side of the bed and grabbed it.
Kris gave her a quizzical look. “How’d that get in here?”
Dawn studied the feather. It looked like... her thoughts faltered as she remembered the Keeper. “I need to talk to Gus. Where is he?”
“Last I saw, he was eating.” Kris made a move to go. “I’ll tell him you’re looking for him. Give me a holla if you need anything else––”
“No. Wait.”
Kris turned back.
“Tell everyone to meet me in the main room in a few minutes,” Dawn said. “They need to hear this, too.”
“Are you all right? What happened last night?”
“You won’t believe it when I tell you,” Dawn said. “I almost can’t believe it myself.”
***
Tasha frowned. “How many painkillers did you take before going to sleep?”
Dawn hesitated, mentally counting. “I took two after dinner, then two more a few hours later, and then another one. I know I shouldn’t have, but I couldn’t sleep.”
“I see.” Tasha nodded. “And do you actually believe you had sex with alien Keeper?”
“I don’t know.” Blushing, Dawn looked around. Gus was staring out the window, avoiding her eyes, while Harry and Kris sat gaping at her.
“Dawn, tell us what happened,” Tasha said.
“Until Kris found the feather it seemed like a crazy dream. But now, I think the Keeper hypnotized me somehow.”
Kris nodded. “Talk about crazy! What I’m intrigued with is the part about time paradox, where the Keeper has his body now. If I’m getting this right, he speculated his future preserved mind had communicated with Dawn. Also, I’m interested in what he said about Dawn being the creature outside. What do you suppose he meant by that?”
“We will speak about that later,” Tasha said. “I should examine Dawn immediately. There could be traces of semen––”
“This is bull!” Gus’s gaze veered from face to face until he zeroed in on Dawn. “Did you tell her?” he asked. “Did you tell Tasha about us? Well, did you?”
“Gus, I...” Dawn didn’t have the guts to tell him she couldn’t recall anything about him. Only, perhaps, her time with the Keeper.
She closed her eyes against his heated stare, wishing she could remember what had happened between her and Gus.
And only Gus.
***
Gus had rarely felt such blind hatred. If what Dawn said was true, if that alien bastard had actually raped her.
No, it had to be a nightmare.
He fought his feelings as he studied the pale cast of Dawn’s skin. “Go on,” he told her more evenly, “tell them we slept together last night. My semen must still be in you.”
There was dead silence in the room.
“Let me speak to Dawn and Gus alone,” Tasha told Harry and Kris.
They rose. Harry gave Gus a small nod, then followed Kris outside.
Once they were gone, Tasha sighed. “We should discuss everything that happened, but I believe I can prove whether incident occurred with alien Keeper. It will be like rape exam.”
Fucking unbelievable! Gus’s anger surged again and he looked out the window. He needed to get the hell out of here.
Tasha was still jabbering, “... human sperm is different in appearance from sperm of other species. I would assume similar situation happens with aliens, so if I do get sample of unusual-looking sperm––”
“Enough,” Gus cut in. “Just do what you have to do.”
“I beg your pardon?” Tasha asked.
The cold knot of fury in Gus’s guts threatened to interfere with his judgment. When he realized this, he made an effort to calm himself. “Sorry,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Gus, it’s okay. Go outside and cool down.” Dawn gave him a pleading look as she reached for his hand.
He grabbed a shotgun off the rack and stormed through the hatch.
The comet blazed in the southeastern sky. He raised his gun and aimed, wishing it was the Keeper’s head.
In the next moment, he lowered his weapon. Waste of ammo. He spit on the ground, then started walking away from the lander.
What should have been the best day of his life had just turned into a pile of crap.
***
“What is his problem?” Tasha asked.
Dawn ignored her. “It couldn’t be true, could it? I mean... how could the Keeper come here?”
Tasha patted Dawn’s hand, her Russian accent soft and soothing to her ears. “There, there, my dear. I am sure we will find nothing sinister. It was dream, only terrible dream.”
Dawn followed Tasha to the infirmary. The examination was thorough, yet efficient – Tasha’s usual style – and the results were clear in a matter of minutes.
“Only traces of human sperm,” Tasha said as she reexamined the results under the microscope. “I was not even sure if alien would have sperm, but I do not see anything unusual here.”
Despite the reassurances, Dawn still felt spooked about not recalling anything about Gus. She wondered if she should tell Tasha.
No, she decided. Tasha was right. It was the meds. She’d taken too many last night.
But I do need to see Gus, to try to explain.
A few minutes later, Dawn came down the steps of the Valiant, gaze fixed on Gus’s back. “Hey,” she called out.
He turned. Dawn didn’t like the look in his eyes. She hesitated. What could she say to him? “We need to talk,” she managed.
He nodded, his lips a tight, grim line, obviously bracing himself for some bad news.
“Let’s go inside,” Dawn said, tilting her head toward the lander.
“No, you tell me out h
ere.” He looked off into the distance.
She came over to his side and grabbed his hand. Her gaze followed his stare. Dark gray clouds had formed over the Rockies. It was raining somewhere on the mountains.
“The test was negative,” she said. “There’s no evidence of an alien. So, it must’ve been a dream or hallucination, probably from too many painkillers.”
“I see.”
She squeezed his hand.
“Then what about the feather?” he asked impassively.
“I have no idea. Maybe it’s one of the feathers you guys found the other day outside the lander. Somehow, it got into my room.” Smiling, she indicated the Valiant with a tilt of her head. “You know how messy things can get in that tin can.”
He didn’t smile back.
Okay, okay. Gus has a right to feel the way he does. Again, Dawn regarded him, saw the determined cut of his jaw, sensed his tough, yet down-to-earth and at times vulnerable, nature. He’d always be there for her. She had no doubt about that. And there’d be other times between them, times she would remember.
“Gus, about last night...”
He closed his eyes for a moment, then dropped her hand and walked away.
She stood there without moving, dazed by his seeming rejection.
As he neared the bushes, he turned and said, “I’ll be back, but there’s somethin’ I’ve got to do first.”
“Oh, Gus, don’t leave me.” She looked up at the sky. “We’ve got to get out of here soon. Jean-Michel said it’s less than two days ‘til the comet strikes.”
“I’ll be back in plenty of time. I’m not leavin’ you, darlin’. No way. But you stay put. Stay with Tasha and the others now. Remember what I told you last night. I meant every word.”
Before she could react, he gave her a big smile, then slipped into the brush.
What did you tell me? Dawn stared after him, wild with frustration. What in God’s name did you say?
***
Head down, Gus ran alongside the trail. Because he had hunted for most of his youth, he was a good tracker. The two sets of three-toed prints – one man-sized and the other half again as large – were clear and easy to follow. He’d spotted the tracks just before Dawn started to talk about last night. And he had no doubt the bigger prints were made by the Keeper, no doubt at all.
Dragon Dawn (Dinosaurian Time Travel) Page 23
