The most startling effect of the climatic changes came from the J-Stars data, however; there was hardly any sign of life outside. The plains stood empty of herds, the skies clear of flocks. Only an occasional blip moved across the landscape. Harry speculated it might be a lone, starving dinosaur, or perhaps a mammal scurrying among the innumerous carcasses dotting the smoking plains. The only places where land animals or birds had a real chance of surviving were pockets of wet terrain protected from the firestorms. Along with the occasional deep canyon or sheltered valley, these swamps and coastal lands formed havens, where even now small groups of dinosaurs wandered. Harry said scientists had speculated about this, having found fossils of dinosaurs that appeared to have lived up to several thousand years after the K/T; the most noteworthy example being in a valley located in Utah. But these remnant populations had also eventually died out, leaving empty niches for the mammals, birds, and other survivors to fill.
Gus sat at the table, activating the computer table display. Since the K/T Event, he’d occupied his time with the day-to-day running of the ship, especially now that he had the luxury of rechecking everything he and Jean-Michel had prepared for the blast-off to Mars. A little more relaxed than he’d ever been before, he was letting his hair and beard grow for the first time in years.
He rubbed his hand over his jaw, enjoying the sensation of freedom. No more military-style haircuts for him. Besides, Dawn seemed to like the way he looked now. Kind of like a hippie, she had joked, showing him an old picture of her grandfather in the Sixties. Far out, man.
Nah, he thought wryly, it’s definitely the reverse. Because of time travel... man, I’m really far out.
With a half-smile, Gus looked past the table to the window, yet his expression waned in the next moment, and he could not help but imagine what lay outside. Ruin. Utter, incalculable ruin. The devastation of an entire world.
But there were, he reminded himself, a few things to be hopeful about. Despite the destruction to the environment, the Valiant appeared to be in good shape. As far as he could tell, only a little corrosion had occurred from the acid drizzles of the last few days. In fact, there were indications the atmosphere had begun to clear enough for a launch. If that happened, he planned in the next day or so to leave the Earth and rendezvous with the Destiny. And then, after that, Mars beckoned. Whatever occurred subsequently was beyond his reckoning. He would have to take things one day at a time as they headed to the red planet.
Frowning, Gus let his anxieties take over again. They would land on a different Mars, a planet of an earlier epoch. He had to wonder if they would ever get back to the future. Time and space had conspired against him and his crew. They were as far from home as any humans had ever been.
With a slight strain to his voice, he whispered to himself, “I’m far out, all right. We all are.”
***
Dawn sat by Kris’s hospital bed. The women studied Jean-Michel’s latest weather report on the com-screen. There would be a temporary break in the cloud cover in the next twenty-four hours. It was the window Gus needed in order to launch the Valiant into orbit. If the skies cleared as expected, lift-off was set for 1100 hours the next morning.
“Mind if I interrupt?” Gus drawled as he poked his head into the infirmary.
“No,” Kris said cheerfully. “We were just finishing up. Besides, Tasha wants me to eat.” She smiled at Dawn. “Ya’all go ahead. I’ll be all right.”
“Are you sure?” Dawn asked as she indicated the dinner tray. “I could stay and help you.”
“No, go on.” Kris’s eyes sparkled. “If you see Harry, send him my way, okay? I’d like to talk to him.”
Grinning, Dawn nodded, got up, and left. She found Gus limping over to the weapons’ rack.
“Since we’re leaving tomorrow, thought you might like to look around one last time,” he said.
“How’s your ankle?” she asked.
“A little worse today. Maybe it’s the rain.”
“Do you think it’s dangerous to go outside?”
“Nope. We won’t go too far, just a little stroll around the lander. I want to check a few things out on the hull, then we can poke around some.”
After outfitting themselves with jackets, gloves, masks (to avoid breathing the ash and dust in the air), flashlights, and guns, they headed for the hatch. Dawn felt nervous as Gus held the door open for her. She looked around as she stepped into the sleet, afraid of what she might find. In her mind, Dawn visualized the clever little Troodon she’d followed at the nesting site, wondering how and when she had died.
Because of the prevailing atmospheric conditions, only the western sky blazed with pink fire, which faded out to a soft, purplish gray. But here, in the vicinity of the lander, there was just dim sunlight when compared to a normal day. Dawn flipped on her flashlight, illuminating the immediate area. Directly ahead, the landscape looked much as before; most of the vegetation near the lander had been well protected by the surrounding bluffs.
There were still needles on the pines and leaves on the bushes. Although covered with a fine layer of ash, the ferny groundcover looked remarkably lush and resilient.
Then Dawn’s gaze veered toward the devastated plain and she was immediately reminded of old news footage of Mt. St. Helens. Huge stands of charred timber had been flattened like matchsticks. Far beyond, the river was a churning logjam of gray mud and downed trees, a roiling torrent roaring on toward the inland sea in the middle of North America. Everywhere, the ground was covered with a thick coating of dull, gray ash. Except for the plants nearby, the environment looked lifeless.
Studying the ground, Dawn realized the sleet had dampened the earth just enough to create the perfect conditions for fossilizing animal tracks. She recalled Mary Leakey’s Laetoli prints, which had contained the jumbled tracks of dozens of species, but then she realized the ground beneath her was different, almost pristine. With the exception of her own footprints and a spattering of raindrops, there was nothing in the Cretaceous ash. More than anything, the empty landscape showed just how many creatures had died.
Gus came up and grabbed her hand. Together, they stood gazing at the barren plain.
“I’m going to check the hull,” he said. “Want to come with me or stay here?”
“I’ll stay here,” Dawn said as he squeezed her hand and set off.
She searched an area near the pine trees, looking for anything other than raindrops, when a small, shrewlike mammal darted in front of her, its dark coat gleaming against the ashy soil. It was fast, scurrying off into the brush, too swift to catch without a trap.
“Hello!” Harry said, his mask muffling his voice as he approached Dawn. He still looked funny; with the mask covering his mouth and his still-healing broken nose, his features consisted solely of two black eyes.
Stooping over, Harry used a spade to dig in the ground, taking soil samples.
“Did you see it?” Dawn asked.
Harry glanced up. “What?”
“A shrew, or maybe a mouse.”
“Yeah, thought I saw something,” Harry said. “They’re starting to leave their burrows. In the next few weeks, there will be an explosion of mammals. Same with the ferns. Fossil evidence indicated the K/T clay layer was filled with fern spores. We believe they did very well in the charred soils of the post-K/T world. In fact, I bet the whole Earth is going to be covered with fungi, ferns, and rats sometime in the near future.”
The ferns, even the fungi, sounded all right. But rats? Dawn frowned, recalling something similar was happening inside the lander. A few of the mammalian lab specimens had already produced litters. According to Tasha, this was good news. It meant there would be plenty of food for the captive dinosaurs, including the pregnant Troodon.
“Of course, it’s going to happen after we’re gone,” Harry said. “The rats are probably already starting to eat dinosaur carcasses, seeds, buried eggs – anything that’s edible. If we decided to stay, we’d be up to our ankles in them.�
��
Dawn felt a jolt of revulsion as the wind came up. Despite her mask, the sickening stench of scorched earth and rotting flesh caught in her throat. They needed to leave. And fast.
Yet, gazing out at the polluted landscape, Dawn felt sad and homesick. This was Earth, after all. She realized someday the planet would heal, but she wouldn’t be around to see it.
Where will I spend the rest of my life? On Mars? Will I ever get back to my own time? What about my family and dogs? My home in Oak Creek?
She glanced at the dismal-dark sky, feeling drained of any real hope, then watched Harry as he moved off, passing Gus, who walked toward her.
“Oh, Gus,” she said bleakly. “What’s going to happen now?”
He shrugged. “Don’t know. I hate to say this, but we’ll be in trouble if we don’t leave by tomorrow. The corrosion on the hull is worse than I thought.” He hesitated. “I’ve been thinking ‘bout something. The Keeper hasn’t appeared again, has he?”
“No. What of it?”
“Maybe he traveled back to the future, or maybe he died in the landslide. Hell, I just barely got away. I don’t see how he could’ve survived all those rocks.”
“So, you think he’s dead?”
“Who knows? If there was some sort of time portal, then it was destroyed by the cave-in. And then there’s the matter of the dinosauroid. She saved me for a reason. You know, I believe she gave her life for me.”
“Why do you think that?”
“The dinosauroid’s still back in that cave, facing certain death now, if she isn’t dead already. I bet she’s trapped. There may still be dangerous creatures in there, things that’ll eat her alive if she’s not careful. Even if she does get out of the cave, what will she find? A devastated planet? How will she survive? She wouldn’t have risked her life for me unless she believed we had a future together. I mean you and me, Dawn. We have a future now.”
As Dawn considered the possibility Gus was correct, she found herself gazing into his eyes. In the scattered light, the hazel changed and looked as deep green as springtime grass. Gus was so strong, a take-charge kind of guy. Together, she knew they’d make it out of here, no matter what.
But why had the Keeper sent them to Cretaceous Earth in the first place? Dawn stiffened as she gave in to private doubts. Gus’s arguments did not answer some basic questions. Something just didn’t add up.
“Gus, why were we sent back to this time?”
He cast a glance at the surviving pines. “I think the Keeper had some kind of plan, but it’s been changed or ruined by our actions.” His gaze veered back to her face. “Look here. We’re about to take off for Mars. Whatever he wanted us to do, it’s not going to happen. If he wanted to capture you––”
“He had me when we were on Mars. Why would he need to capture me now?”
He shrugged again. “You’ve got a point there.”
Dawn sighed. “I guess we have to hope for the best.”
“You might be right,” he said softly.
Dawn couldn’t tell if his voice had been blurred by the mask or by his emotions. “I know I am, Gus.”
He took off his mask and smiled, perhaps a little desperately, then placed his arm around her and held her close, without speaking.
“No matter what happens, Gus, we’ll be together. I’ll never leave you.”
He tilted her chin up, lowered her mask, and gently kissed her lips. “Same here, darlin’. You’ve got me ‘til the day I die.”
Drawing away from her, he turned and looked at the plain. She stared after him, seeing the devastated land, realizing it was the end of one world, and the beginning of another.
She reached out to him, her fingers searching the air, then finding his and interlocking. As he held her hand in silence, her eyes misted over. There was nothing to say, nothing more to talk about.
This instant was all they had, this flash of existence. Dawn hoped she and Gus would grow old together, yet she also knew she must cherish each moment.
But that was enough, yes, that was enough.
Chapter 26
Time goes, you say? Ah no!
Alas, Time stays, we go.
~(Henry) Austin Dobson, The Paradox of Time
The room was dark. Gus had been sound asleep in Dawn’s quarters. He opened his eyes. Had he heard something in the distance? What just woke him up?
He reached down, touched the shotgun resting on the floor, and waited. Nothing. No noises. Only the hushed sounds of a sleeping crew, a quiet ship shrouded by night.
Carefully moving away from Dawn, he sat up and looked around. He had to relieve himself, so he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, reached down, and fumbled for his shorts. On the first sweep, his hand made contact with something cottony. Bingo. He stood, stepped into his shorts, and pulled them up. For a moment, he debated about leaving his shotgun by the bed, but then instinct won out.
With a cautious air, Gus grabbed the weapon and limped toward the head. He wasn’t going to use a gun on the ship, but he felt naked without it. He closed the door behind him, used the head, and then moved over to the mirror. He studied his image. His eyes were bloodshot and his mouth tasted awful. Leaning over, he placed the gun against the wall and then passed his hands under the faucet. Water poured out, and he splashed some on his face, then took a swig from his cupped hand. After spitting it out, he toweled off his face.
He glanced at his watch. 0533. Later than he thought. He yawned and stretched. He might as well stay up now.
He reached for his gun. There was a faint chill on his skin. He looked in the mirror, let his gaze go past his own image, and then checked the bathroom door. Why did he have the feeling someone’s eyes were on him now?
He went on looking around for a moment longer, then, with gun poised, he hobbled back to the door. After cracking it open, he peered outside.
Even in the dim light, he could see Dawn in her bunk, still fast asleep. He held his breath, listening. Again, there were no unusual sounds. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Why was he feeling so damned edgy?
Go make yourself some coffee. You don’t have time to be nervous today.
As quietly as possible, he slipped out of Dawn’s quarters and headed for the galley. Perhaps having some breakfast would help him feel things were back to normal.
As if any of this could be seen as normal. He smiled a little then, limped toward the counter, and started the coffeemaker.
Then he heard a high-pitched whine. No! In disbelief, he realized what was happening. He’d felt this way only once, when his body had been possessed by the Keeper.
Jesus, no! Gus grabbed hold of the counter, muscles straining as he sought to fight the alien’s power.
“No!” he yelled, grimacing. “No! No!”
Just like before, a fog whirled before his retinas and a keening noise rose in his ears. As he fell to his knees, he reached out, arms flailing. In the process, he pulled the coffee machine over on its side. Boiling liquid splashed over his face, arms, and hands, scorching him as he tumbled to the floor. His skin was on fire. Despite the shock to his body, he realized his mind was fading to a deep, dark oblivion.
Through sheer force of will, he held on long enough to shout, “No!”
He shuddered as his senses went numb. Yet, as his ears fell deaf and his gaze went blank, one last image remained.
Dawn. He could feel her presence still. She would be there, always there, reaching out to him across the vast gulf of space and time.
Gus strained one last time, trying to call to her. But his mind slipped away, down, down, down, whirling into the void.
***
Kris’s eyes flew open. There was a crash and then a shout.
“No!” someone cried. “No! No!”
Her heart beat faster. Gus?
She reached over her bed’s railing and fumbled with things on the nightstand. It took a moment to find her glasses. She looked around. Everything seemed okay. There were no other sounds. Maybe sh
e’d just had a nightmare.
“No!”
That is Gus! Legs still numb, Kris knew she was trapped in her hospital bed. Her thoughts roiled, then floundered. What could she do? What should she do?
She grabbed her communicator from the table. Fingers flying, she tried to hail Harry. No response. Tasha next. Nothing. Dawn. Jean-Michel. Nobody! Where was everyone?
Fear rising, Kris started to try Harry again, but then caught some motion out of the corner of her eye. With relief, she saw it was the commander.
“Gus, are you all right?” she asked as he started toward the lab. “I heard something weird.” Kris’s voice failed at the sight of Gus’s bearing. He wasn’t favoring his ankle now. In fact, he was moving like some kind of robot.
“Hey, what’s wrong? Say something to me!” To her horror, she saw the burns on his skin. “What happened to your face?”
He didn’t respond. Instead, he lifted his gaze, staring at her blankly. His right hand gripped one of Tasha’s hypos.
She stared at the hypo, stunned. What was he doing? Then, it hit her. Was that why no one had responded to her hails? Had Gus drugged everybody on the ship?
But why? Despite knowing beyond all doubt she was still paralyzed, Kris tested her legs anyway, but they didn’t move. She was trapped. Is that why Gus hadn’t bothered to drug her like the others?
Gus had already moved off, toward the lab. Kris opened the link to Dawn again, hoping to rouse her, but at that very moment Gus came out of the lab carrying a cage filled with several young alligators. With a steady, yet stiff-legged, gait, he walked through the infirmary and passed through the door. Was he heading for the hatch?
“Dawn!” she shouted. “Dawn, do you copy? Wake up! Something’s happened to Gus, something awful.”
Kris realized her voice had an unreal, horrified sound to it. She tried to gather her thoughts as Gus moved back into her line of sight, walking toward the lab. This time, he came out with a cage containing lizards.
What’s he doing? Is he releasing the animals outside?
Gus rounded the corner once more.
Dragon Dawn (Dinosaurian Time Travel) Page 30
