Harry exchanged a concerned look with Gus.
“Ya’all can stop the macho crap now,” Kris said cheerfully. “I’d like to go on. I’ve done some caving with my buddies, even some cenote diving in Mexico, so I know what I’m doing. This is what we call a crouchway. It should be easy for me to make it through. What do you say?”
“I think it’s a big risk,” Harry said, frowning. “You’d be all alone once you get on the other side.”
“Not really. You guys will be with me because of the VR. Just tie me to the rope. I’ll be all right.”
“Let her go,” Gus said, with a degree of reluctance.
Harry felt undecided. Kris smiled at him, a determined glint in her gaze. He knew she wouldn’t give up. She was like that. Stubborn, smart, absolutely sure of herself.
And he realized he wouldn’t have her act any other way.
“The minute anything feels wrong,” Harry said, “you turn around.”
Nodding, Kris grinned as she raised her arms. Harry and Gus went to work, fixing the rope around her slender torso.
“Be careful,” Harry told her, still worried despite all the precautions.
She removed her headset and kissed him on the cheek. He swallowed, wondering why the hell he’d given in. If something happened to her, he’d be lost.
“You be careful,” he reiterated.
“Sure.” She readjusted her headset. “Hold onto the rope. Tight. In case there’s a drop, don’t let me fall.”
Without looking back, she got onto her knees, wriggled through the narrow duct, and was gone.
Harry and Gus let out the rope centimeter by centimeter as they listened to Kris’s breathing through their headsets. They would watch everything through her VR camera now. Harry held his breath. So far, everything looked okay. Just stone walls and a rocky floor.
He exhaled. Don’t let her fall, he told himself. Don’t let anything happen to her. He felt the rope move through his hands. Not anything.
***
Gus watched as Kris inched forward on her hands and knees. She muttered something about wearing shorts; the breakdown rock on the floor was razor-sharp. If she had been back home with her caver buddies, she’d be wearing thick pads called knee crawlers.
Once she moved past the worst of the rocks, she halted to catch her breath and aimed her headset at the ground. “I don’t see any tracks. I doubt the Keeper could have come this way.”
“Then where’d he go?” Gus asked. “We didn’t see any other passageways.”
“Hey, remember the doorway on Mars?” Harry said. “The one Dawn fell through when we were in the tomb? We couldn’t see a door in there until the wall opened up and Dawn disappeared.”
“Yeah,” Gus said as he recalled how helpless he’d felt afterward.
“Well, maybe there’s something similar in here,” Harry proposed. “Something we missed. It could be back by the entrance––”
“Hey! Look over there!” Kris yelled.
Through the VR, Gus saw a sudden widening of the cave. Kris moved forward, rose to her feet, and aimed her gunlight into the gloom. She stood on a ledge overlooking a vast gallery, partially inundated by an underground lake. Kris moved the light from right to left, revealing shimmering cave deposits on the opposite wall.
It was a world of sparkling, flowing shapes: mother-of-pearl stalactites and stalagmites; crystalline pillars with moon milk coatings; and frozen fountains resembling drapes, ribbons, and waves. Except for the faint drip, drip, drip of water, it seemed quiet as a tomb.
“Hello?” she asked in an awestruck voice.
“Hello? Hello? Hello?” came the echoing reply.
Gus watched as Kris reached up and touched a translucent, coral-pink disc, hanging from the ceiling above her head.
“This is gorgeous,” she said. “The calcite concretions here are very delicate, almost like porcelain. There’s even some aragonite, which is hard to find.” She pointed above her head. Pale plumes of a fragile, feathery mineral dangled from the ceiling.
She let her light trail along the ground, and Gus spotted a small, blind cricket hopping in front of her feet, the only evidence so far of any cave life. She raised her light and moved forward again, slowly, step by step, until she stood a few meters away from a cliff edge above the water. She managed to shine her light on some formations bordering the pool down below, which resembled oyster pearls and small, flowerlike buttons.
“Cave pearls and grapes are made when specks of sand or dirt fall on the flowstone,” she explained. “Over time, the dirt is covered with calcite, much like an oyster covers a grain of sand to form its own pearl.” Her light fell on the bead-encrusted flowstone. “Looks like treasure, doesn’t it? You know, I can almost believe a pirate’s chest is stashed somewhere nearby.”
Despite the fairy tale scene, Gus felt an inexplicable surge of uneasiness. “Okay, Kris. Come on back,” he ordered her.
“Yeah,” Harry echoed. “Come back right now.”
***
“Hey, guys, I hear you, but first let me try to film this in night-vision,” Kris said, fumbling with her headset as she switched on the camera.
Suddenly, something huge broke the surface of the underground lake. Oh, Lord! Kris stumbled backward, bumping the back of her head on the cave’s ceiling.
Her teeth clattered together, and the pain in her skull stunned her for a second more. Then she heard a huge splash. Whatever was out there had just returned to the water. A chill went down to her bones as she recalled the monstrous marine reptiles of the Cretaceous. Some had enormous bodies and razor-sharp teeth. Names like mosasaur and plesiosaur filled her mind.
Just then, another gigantic splash reverberated throughout the cavern. Heart racing, Kris scrambled back through the crouchway toward her crewmates.
By the time she reached Harry and Gus, they had a picture of the creature in freeze-frame.
“What was it?” Kris asked as she removed her headset and rubbed the sore spot on her head. In dismay, she looked down and saw several scrapes and bruises on her arms and legs.
“Whoa.” Gus peered at his viewing lens. “It’s the Lock Ness monster.”
He gave Kris a look as she leaned in, seeing a horselike head and long, sinuous neck––
“It’s a plesiosaur,” Harry explained. “Actually, I think it’s a long-necked elasmosaur called Alzadasaurus.”
“Elasmosaur?” Gus asked. “Aren’t they marine reptiles?”
“Uh huh.” Harry grinned. “This is kinda cool, eh? Maybe this animal left the sea and came up a tributary. Remember that in this time the Western Interior Seaway is east of here. Somehow, the elasmosaur must’ve gotten caught in the underground river system. We think all marine reptiles occasionally swam in fresh water to rid themselves of parasites.”
“Wow,” Kris said as she continued to stare at the VR image. “I was so close, I think the dang thing could’ve bitten me.”
Harry gave Kris a hug. “Elasmosaurs eat fish mostly. Anyway, thanks for the pictures, babe. You did good.”
Well, Kris thought, you know he’s just trying to make you feel better. She kissed Harry on the cheek, then glanced back at the tunnel.
Next time, she decided, I’ll have to be much more careful.
***
Gus watched Harry and Kris for a moment, realizing for the first time they were more than just friends. He thought back to the smiles between them, all the little touches. He’d been wondering.
Deciding to give them some privacy, he said, “I’ll backtrack and see if I can find the Keeper’s tracks.”
He headed toward the entrance of the cave, shining his gun light on the walls of the cave and trying to find some kind of door. He felt fairly relaxed, because the alien hadn’t shown himself. Maybe there really was a time portal somewhere in here and the Keeper had left.
Gus knew he’d better not let his guard down, however. He gripped his weapon a little tighter when something caught his attention, a weird hissing.
“Gusss! Gusss!”
Heart thumping, Gus stopped in his tracks, raised his gun, and searched. There was a sudden rush from behind and then a jolt of pain, as he was blindsided by a punch to the head, then a kick to his legs. He fell to the ground and the Keeper pounced on him. They rolled around, punching, flailing, panting, grunting, both now grasping, fighting for the gun.
“You miserable––!” Gus felt a sudden deep rumbling beneath him.
The Keeper pushed him away, then got up and ran toward the cave entrance. Gus struggled to his knees and fired the shotgun. The blast knocked him backward, flat against the ground, but he fought against the pitching earth and managed to rise again. A last glimpse of the Keeper’s back, then the alien vanished into a choking mass of dust and debris, which thundered down the passageway.
In a moment, Harry and Kris stood by Gus’s side.
“Come on! We can’t stay here,” Kris shouted as she and Harry grabbed Gus and fell back toward the relative safety of the cavern’s interior.
They raced on, coughing and gasping, until they reached the area with the narrow duct leading to the underground lake. All three halted there, chests heaving as they listened to the dull roar of a landslide.
“That’s goin’ on outside,” Gus said as he cocked an ear toward the passageway. “Let’s hope it doesn’t get the Rover.”
Both Kris and Harry looked alarmed as they listened to Gus’s recitation of the events of the previous few minutes. As soon the dust settled, the trio picked their way forward until they could move no further. To their horror, they saw tons of rocks now blocked the entrance of the cave.
They were trapped underground. In silence, they contemplated what they would do next.
And Gus wondered how long it would be before Dawn realized what had happened.
Chapter 22
It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards.
~Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Glass
Dawn gazed at the com-screen, nervously keeping an eye on the radar data about Gus, Harry, and Kris. She rubbed her eyes. Her temples throbbed.
Tasha poked her head into the cubicle. “Would you like something to drink?”
“Sure. Make it some ice water. Thanks.”
“All right,” Tasha said, nodding. “I shall remove your cast afterward.”
Dawn raised her left arm slightly, working her hand. “Yeah. Can’t wait.”
“Valiant, do you copy?” Jean-Michel’s voice ripped through the air.
Dawn exchanged a startled look with Tasha. “This is Dawn, Destiny. What’s the matter?”
“Look at the radar. There’s been a landslide.”
Heart racing, Dawn spun back toward the com. The little blips that identified Gus, Harry, and Kris still moved through the cave, indicating they were alive, but the topography of the cavern and the surrounding hills had changed. It didn’t take a genius to realize the cave’s entrance was now blocked by tons of rocks.
“Oh, Tasha, they’re trapped!” Dawn cried out.
The physician also studied the com-screen. “Jean-Michel,” she asked, “what do you think their chances are of finding another way outside?”
“I don’t know. There is an underground river system. Perhaps it could be used as a means of escape. Perhaps not.”
“And the Rover?” Tasha asked. “Where is it?”
“It’s parked away from the cliff-face. It was not damaged by the landslide.” Jean-Michel hesitated for a moment. “There is something else.”
“What?” Dawn asked.
“I’ve been watching other areas of the cave. Do you see them? Look for a large blip in the underground lake. And there are other things, living organisms in the passageway near the right edge of your screen.”
“What the heck?” Dawn whispered, spotting them.
Tasha gasped. “Are they dinosaurs?”
“I do not know, Doctor,” Jean-Michel said, “but they are large.”
“We’ve got to go now,” Dawn said. “The E-M cannon... we’ll use it to blast away the debris.”
“Oui,” Jean-Michel agreed. “You must hurry. I don’t have any way of warning Gus about what is in the cave.”
Dawn stood up. “Let’s go.”
Tasha stared at Dawn’s arm. “I shall remove cast right away. Wait here.”
She left the room to gather her medical equipment and was back in a minute. It took only a few moments more to remove the cast. Dawn’s arm felt weak from the lack of exercise, but she reassured Tasha she was otherwise feeling okay. They hurriedly outfitted themselves with gear and weapons.
Soon after leaving the lander, they found the path with the footprints, then the Rover’s tire marks.
In silent determination, they set off for the cave.
***
They’d been moving for two hours. Dawn thought it was an easy trek, without any incidents. The only dinosaurs around were an extremely gassy ankylosaur and an old, rogue hadrosaur male, who avoided them like they were a pair of raptors.
Suddenly, Tasha stopped and pointed. Up ahead sat the Rover.
“There it is, safe and sound,” Dawn said in relief. She consulted her watch. It would be a little over three minutes before she could talk to Jean-Michel. Walking forward, she gave an audible gasp as she caught sight of the immense landslide.
Tasha had already made her way over to the Rover. She got her communicator out and waited. It seemed like eternity before Jean-Michel’s face blinked onto the screen.
“Dr. Stroganoff, do you copy?”
“Yes, Destiny. This is Dawn. We’ve reached the Rover. It looks okay.”
“Good,” Jean-Michel said. “Now we need to discuss how to save our friends.”
***
Out of breath and streaked with sweat and dirt, Gus, Kris, and Harry stood high above the underground lake. It had taken them longer than expected to widen the narrow crouchway, but eventually the men had been able to follow Kris and crawl through.
Surrounded by gloom, they aimed their lights at the darkness below. Because of the immensity of the chamber, the beams barely reached the surface of the water. The lake stood there, smooth and black, like a mirror made of polished obsidian.
Gus swept his gun light about, spotlighting the sides of the cavern. “See that?” he asked as a narrow ledge caught the beam. “I think it’s wide enough for us to use as a footpath. We can make it down to the water and then find a way out of here.”
Gus watched as Harry and Kris regarded the sliver of rock, jutting tenuously from the cavern wall.
“I don’t think I can go down there,” Kris said in a nervous voice. “I told you I’ve done some caving, but nothing like this. I hate to admit this, but I have a touch of vertigo in really steep places. I know it seems weird, being a caver and all. I fight it all the time and make myself do it, and with the plesiosaur around...”
Gus noticed her trembling hands. Where was the bravado she had exhibited, when she protested against his macho crap? He hid his concern. “It’ll be all right,” he said, using a careful tone. “We’ll use the rope and keep each other safe.”
Harry stared at the thin shelf of stone. “Who goes first?”
“I’ll go,” volunteered Gus.
After they linked themselves with the rope, Gus moved off, inching his way onto the ledge. “Take it one step at a time.” He concentrated on his feet, moving slowly. Seconds passed. By the time he glanced back, Kris had begun her descent, followed by a watchful Harry.
“So, who’s gonna tell me about... what’d you call it? Converging evolution?” Gus asked. Maybe a scientific lecture would capture Kris’s attention long enough for her to make it to the water’s edge without incident.
“Convergent evolution,” Harry corrected him. Then Gus heard Harry add, “Go ahead, Kris. You tell him.”
Gus smiled to himself. Ol’ Harry had read his mind. Maybe the guy had some common sense, after all.
“Okay, okay.” Kris still sounded nerv
ous. “Convergent evolution happens when two different species develop equivalent body forms because they live in a comparable environment and interact with organisms in a similar way.”
“Come again?” Gus asked.
“Hmm, maybe some examples would help. Ichthyosaurs, which died out around 30 million years before the end of the Cretaceous, looked a lot like modern-day dolphins, even though the former were marine reptiles and the latter are marine mammals – and their existences were separated by 90 million years. Another example is the Tasmanian wolf. Although it was a pouch-bearing marsupial, it looked remarkably like a mammalian wolf. So, similar environmental pressures contribute to similar body forms. In other words, if you live the same, perhaps over time, you’ll look the same.”
“That might be true,” Gus observed. “As the years go by, my parents are lookin’ more and more alike.”
Gus heard Kris laugh as he glanced below; to his relief, he could see they were more than halfway down. So far, so good. “How does this convergent evolution theory tie into Harry’s ideas about the dinosauroid?” he called out.
“Well,” Kris went on, “I believe what the Keeper told Dawn is essentially true; that his species evolved on a terrestrial planet in another solar system. The Keeper’s kind appears to have been ‘quasi-dinosaurs’, perhaps living in ecosystems not too different from those found on Earth. They went on to develop body forms not unlike the dinosauroid – or us, for that matter. Upright posture, major sense organs in the head, extremities with opposable digits, like our thumbs. It makes sense for sentient beings to have these things. Remember Dale Russell’s thought experiment? He believed there was a possibility that Troodon would have evolved into a contemplative being – the dinosauroid – if the K/T Event had not occurred. The Keeper is also a kind of dinosauroid, although his genetic structure is different from every living thing on Earth.”
“I can believe that, all right,” Gus said as he reached the bottom of the ledge. It ended about a meter above the ground, so he jumped down, then held out his hands to Kris. “See? We made it,” he said, breaking her fall as she leapt into his arms.
When Harry’s feet hit the dirt, they untied themselves. Gus shone his light on the water. No hint of a sea monster or any other kind of beast. Next, he illuminated the ground. To his surprise, he found some big, three-toed dinosaur footprints in the clay.
Dragon Dawn (Dinosaurian Time Travel) Page 25
