Exile

by S. M. Wilson

  He turned and walked away. Lincoln could see the wave of emotions on Storm’s face. Reban had rejoined them at the sound of Leif’s raised voice and seemed almost amused by the whole situation, and Jesa had flinched when Leif mentioned the T-rex attack.

  “Would you really refuse to kill the dinosaurs?” she asked Storm.

  “Of course not,” interrupted Reban. “That’s why she’s here. That’s why you’re all here.”

  Lincoln cringed. He knew exactly what kind of reaction that response would get.

  Storm stepped up to Reban’s face. “Always the Stipulator, eh? They dump you to die on the dinosaur continent and you still do their bidding. What’s wrong, Reban? Don’t you have a mind of your own? Can’t you think for yourself?” She looked him up and down. “Just as well not everything is inherited.”

  “Maybe I just don’t want to die,” he said back. Sarcasm dripped from every word. “And what’s a few dinosaurs between friends?”

  Storm looked disparagingly over her shoulder. “You know, I don’t like every dinosaur on this continent. Just like I don’t like every person on Earthasia. Doesn’t mean I should kill them though, does it?”

  She left the words hanging in the air, tilting her chin and walking ahead, ignoring the others. Lincoln sighed and followed behind, falling into step beside Reban.

  Reban’s senses seemed to be on overload. Every rustle near them made him jump. “You get used to it,” said Lincoln casually.

  “Is that before or after you die?” shot back Reban.

  “I hate to break it to you – but the dying thing? Here, it’s all down to luck.”

  Reban glared at him. “How can it possibly be?”

  Lincoln reached down and pulled up his trouser leg. “See this? T-rex bite. I was lucky it didn’t get infected. It could have killed me.” He gestured to his shoulder. “Same with the pterosaur wound on my shoulder.”

  Reban’s steps slowed. “So what are you saying?”

  There was something so antagonistic about the way he spoke. Even when he was asking a question.

  “I’m saying that Storm and Leif were lucky to find a tree to climb when the raptors came after them. And any one of us could have been the victim on the lake. Any one of us could have been sitting in the spot that Rune was. You’ve spent your life making plans and rules for everyone. It’s time to throw that out the window. Leave it behind. Life follows its own rules here.”

  Reban snorted. It was clear even though he’d said he wanted to learn, he didn’t really mean it.

  Lincoln felt Reban’s searing gaze on him.

  “What’s the deal with the girl?”

  “Storm? Or Jesa?”

  “Jesa. Who is she?”

  “She’s Blaine’s daughter. You know – the guy you all abandoned here nine years ago? She appeared at the dock out of nowhere. She wants to meet him. This was the only way.”

  Did he imagine it, or did Reban Don’s footsteps just falter? “I don’t imagine we’ll have time for that,” he said offhandedly.

  Lincoln stopped walking. “Actually, we will.” He wasn’t afraid to challenge Reban Don. Reban stopped next to him and raised his eyebrows.

  Lincoln continued, “Don’t kid yourself about why we’re here. You’ve asked us to test the viruses. But I work in the lab, and I don’t believe they were ready to try this. It was too swift. Lorcan Field is telling you all what you want to hear. I’m here for another reason. So’s Storm. And now, so is Leif.”

  Reban glared at him. “And what might that be?”

  “The cure. The cure for the blistering plague. I need it for my sister. Storm wants it for her too. Leif wants it for Rune’s sister and brother and Lorcan Field wants it for his daughter. If the only thing I do on this continent is find those darn leaves and take them home, I’ll be happy.”

  Reban frowned. “And the leaves. How did you know about them?”

  Lincoln shrugged. “Blaine showed us. He has a whole shack made of them. Apparently the smell masks human scent.”

  “Something else to know for my survival.” Reban noticed Lincoln raising his eyebrows at the remark. “The odds aren’t good on Piloria – or haven’t you heard? And I didn’t ask you to trial the viruses,” he went on. “I’m not part of the government any more. I’m only interested in saving myself.”

  Lincoln kept walking. He didn’t believe it. And he was suspicious of Reban’s motives. Someone had to tell the Stipulators if they planted the viruses or not. He had the distinct impression that Reban Don might be a plant.

  But Reban’s eyes had been fixed on Storm as he said those last words. Lincoln couldn’t help but smile. “Keep telling yourself that. Maybe at some point you’ll believe it too.”

  The trek to the raptor nest site didn’t take nearly as long as Storm thought it would. By the time night was falling, the nest was only an hour away. “How far afield do they travel?” asked Jesa. “Is it really safe to make camp here tonight?”

  Storm laid out her bedroll. “Let’s build a fire. We’re far enough away.”

  Reban had hardly spoken, apart from the odd grunt. He’d filled his water bottle on four occasions already – he was obviously finding it difficult to get accustomed to the humidity on Piloria. He didn’t seem quite sure what to make of the place.

  Lincoln looked around. “At least we know where their watering hole is from last time. It shouldn’t take us long to plant the virus.” He sighed and put his hands on his hips. “We could even do it now.”

  “So we’re doing it then?” Storm felt her anger flare. “No discussion?”

  Lincoln looked up. “What is there to discuss? We were given a task to do. A dangerous task. But one we should be able to manage.” He nodded towards Reban. “I have no idea how the Stipulators will know if we’ve done it or not, but the one thing I’m absolutely sure of is that I don’t want to reach the bay with our ointment – our treatment for Arta, Cornelius and Livia – and be left behind because we haven’t done what they’ve asked.”

  Storm swallowed. That possibility had played in her mind too. Watching the ship sail off in the distance without the cure would drive her insane.

  Lincoln shrugged. “Like I’ve said before, I don’t even think the viruses will work. I don’t think they were ready.”

  “Isn’t that more dangerous? Each strain is supposed to be specific to one kind of dinosaur.” She felt a wave of panic. “Could they kill everything?”

  Lincoln took a few seconds to answer. “Honestly? I don’t know. But the truth is, I don’t think they’ll kill anything. It all just seemed so rushed.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I know what Lorcan’s motivations were for saying the T-rex virus was finished. I have no idea about the other labs. The ones that made the raptor and pterosaur viruses.” He looked up at Leif and Jesa. “But I guess we’ll find out.”

  He walked over to Leif. “How about it?”

  “In the dark?” Leif asked. “Are you crazy? We already know that they’re fast and they’re intelligent. For all we know they can see in the dark just as well as they can see in the daytime. What I definitely know for sure is that we can’t. It would be a suicide mission. No thanks.”

  “We can wait for daylight,” said Storm as she started to try to light a fire. She still wasn’t convinced about any of this. She wanted a chance to mull things over. “There’s no need to rush things.”

  “How soon do we reach my dad?” asked Jesa as she sat down at Storm’s side.

  Storm gave a half-smile. The irony of this killed her. Jesa was seeking her father out when Storm would gladly leave hers behind.

  “We’ll move as fast as we can. We’re short on time and this was the best route. Once Leif” – she glanced over – “or Lincoln, has left the virus in the watering hole, we can start out straight away.” The fire had caught now and was flickering in the dimming light.

  Jesa nodded nervously. Her wild curls seemed even more exaggerated in the humid atmosphere and she started tugging at h
er hair. Storm dug into her bag and pulled out a piece of string. “Here. Tie it up. It gets too hot around here.”

  Jesa gave a smile and took the string, tying her loose curls up in a knot on top of her head. “I can’t wait to see him,” she said quietly, as she stared into the orange flames.

  Storm said nothing as she pulled out some fruit from her backpack, then smiled as Lincoln did the same. They put the pile in the middle. “Everyone help yourself. After two days we either have to eat the ration packs or whatever we scavenge.”

  “You can eat the food here?” asked Jesa in wonder.

  Leif and Lincoln smiled. It was obvious they remembered their own surprise at the discovery. Storm nodded, conscious that Reban was suddenly looking interested. “We found a whole variety of fruits the last time. Orange, purple and red. We’ll show you if we find them again. They tasted good.” She gave a laugh. “Though we might have overdone it. They gave us a little belly-ache the next day. But yes, you can find food here to live. Your father has done it for years.”

  Jesa’s eyes narrowed as if she’d just thought of something. She turned to Reban. He was sitting on the very edge of their circle. As if he wasn’t keen to be part of the conversation. “Reban.” She said his name warily, as if she were just trying it out for size. He had been the Chief Stipulator for her city. Even being in the same place as him was intimidating. “You must have known my father. He would have been a Stipulator at the same time as you. Do you think he’ll recognize you? Were you friends?”

  Reban shifted uncomfortably on the wet grass. He looked as if he were searching for the right words. Storm recognized the signs. She’d done it herself with Jesa, when answering her questions about Blaine. “I wouldn’t say we were exactly friends,” said Reban. It was the first time she’d actually seen him look nervous in any way.

  And that made her curious.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  Reban raised his eyebrows. She’d never really initiated a proper conversation with him before. She didn’t really want to. But there was only five of them now. It made him pretty hard to ignore. And it was only for another few days. Even she could last that long.

  After that she’d be free and clear of Reban Don – probably for ever. He was banished, just like Blaine had been. And who knew if he’d learn to survive or not. Her stomach squeezed. She wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that.

  Reban gave a sort of sigh. “Blaine and I didn’t exactly see eye to eye on things. He was bright, smart. But he knew it.” Reban glanced at Jesa. Storm could see he was picking his words carefully. “I’m quite sure the man I knew won’t exist any more. It’s been nine years. And a whole lifetime ago.”

  Leif gave a wry laugh. “You hated each other, didn’t you?”

  Reban leaned back on his hands. “Some people might say that.”

  Leif stood up, grabbed a piece of fruit and walked over to his bedroll. “I’m tired. And it seems like this place is every bit as bad as I remember.” He gave an ironic kind of smile. “If Blaine is still in the same mood as he was the last time we saw him, then watch out,” he said, nodding his head to Reban. “Because he’ll kill you on sight.”

  She was dreaming. For some reason she was back in the pale-grey room of the Shelter. Her tiny room was even smaller than she remembered and the walls seemed to be closing in around her. There was a constant banging at the door. One huge thud after another. It made her whole room shake. The walls still closing, the place getting claustrophobic. She couldn’t move her arms and something was tangled around her legs. She was tied up. Tied up in something. Her breath caught in her throat. Panic spread in her chest.

  A voice shouted at the door. “Storm! Storm!” The banging was even worse. Her whole room shook. Her bed was lifting off the ground.

  “Storm!” This time the jolt was enough to make her eyes spring open. There were hands on her. Someone was picking her up. Daylight. Bright sun.

  Thud. The whole ground shook. The trees next to them visibly shuddered. Fear tore through her. Last time she’d felt the ground shake, a T-rex had been on its way.

  But there was something else that shocked her. The person who had her in their arms was Reban Don.

  Her view was suddenly obstructed by something grey. And huge. Reban was flung off his feet, sending Storm crashing to the ground. She didn’t move, watching in horror as a massive foot made contact with her bed mat, crushing it completely.

  A blanket. That’s what was impeding her legs. She reached down to untangle it and set her feet free. If Reban hadn’t picked her up and moved her, she would be dead now.

  The enormous dinosaur continued to move. It was slow. Ambling forward, each footprint leaving a huge imprint in the ground.

  “Stay down,” hissed Lincoln.

  He was hidden in the trees. Leif was nearby, with his arm around Jesa, who was crying and shaking. “Watch out for the tail!” yelled Lincoln.

  Storm pressed her face against the ground just as a giant tail swept past. It was a momentous structure. With one slow-motion sweep it wiped out the trees Leif, Lincoln and Jesa were cowering in, ripping them from the ground as if they were pieces of paper. Dirt showered over them all.

  Every muscle in Storm’s body tensed as the huge tail swept only millisectars above her head. She cringed, remembering when Kronar had been struck by the tail of the T-rex. The sound of his bones crunching. The impact of him hitting the ground, and the gurgling sound of his lungs filling up with blood. But the T-rex tail was nothing compared to this. One swipe of this would kill you before you even hit the ground.

  She choked back the dirt in her mouth as the tail swung slowly the other way, lifting her eyes fractionally to be sure the creature had continued to move.

  Every step it took made the ground shake violently. When she was sure it was safe, Storm pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, coughing and spluttering the dirt from her mouth.

  “Are you okay?” Lincoln was at her side in an instant. There was blood running down the side of his head.

  She couldn’t stop wheezing. She must have inhaled some of the dirt. She shook her head as she stayed on all fours for a few seconds, watching the dinosaur walking away from them.

  “What is it?” she gasped as she watched its colossal frame.

  Leif appeared at her other side and held out his hand to help her up. “It has to be a titanosaurus. What else is that size?” He shook his head as he watched it continue across the land. Every footprint that it left was huge – big enough for a human to lie down in. He turned to face her. “Don’t you remember we saw footprints like that before? We just didn’t know where they had come from.”

  Lincoln lifted his hand. “I guess we know now.” He wrinkled his nose as he continued to stare. “Maybe it’s a new kind. I didn’t actually think they were that big. It’s as big as a tower block.”

  “A tower block pushed on its side,” murmured Leif as he continued to watch.

  There was an angry yelp to her left and Storm turned in time to see Reban push himself to his feet while clutching one side of his chest. “Are you okay?” The words were out of her mouth before she even thought about them.

  Jesa shot her a look as she moved to Lincoln’s side and pressed something against his forehead.

  Reban’s face was pale, the veins under his skin clearly visible. “Knocked by a flying tree,” he muttered. He looked stunned. He kept one arm on his ribs as he stepped over to where Storm had been lying. Her bedroll was compressed against the ground, thinner than a leaf. It lay perfectly inside an entire footprint.

  Reban didn’t speak. He just stood for a few seconds, obviously contemplating where they all were, what could have happened.

  Storm’s hands were shaking. She could have been killed. In an instant. Just like that. Because of a beast that wasn’t even known to be ferocious. It was a plant eater.

  They all stood and watched. The titanosaurus – if that’s what it was – was in no hurry. It seemed to am
ble along. Occasionally it stopped to munch at the top of a tree that hadn’t been felled by either its feet or its tail. It seemed oblivious to its surroundings and definitely had no concept of the destruction it was wreaking.

  “Just think,” breathed Jesa. “If we lived here – one of these could just walk through your compound in the middle of the night. Wipe you all out. You might hear it coming – but you’d never be able to stop it.”

  Storm flinched. It was crazy. But those kinds of thoughts had filled her head at times. Not about being felled by a giant dinosaur. But about what the human compounds might eventually look like here.

  In her mind, even if they managed to wipe out the most predatory dinosaurs, the humans would still need somewhere secure to stay. Her dreams had morphed the current parliament building, built on the trees on Earthasia, into something similar over here. A compound built on land, but made entirely of trees, with a defence wall of trees circling it. She hadn’t figured on a titanosaurus, though. The creature could flatten such a compound with a few sweeps of its tail.

  Storm shook her head. “We should move. The titanosaurus might wake up some less friendly creatures around here. We can reach the watering hole this morning. Let’s do it,” she said, squeezing Jesa’s hand. “Then we can look for Blaine.”

  Her stomach gave a little flip-flop as she said the words. She took a step towards Lincoln. “Is your head okay?”

  He nodded and moved what he was pressing against his head. “I think it’s stopped. I must just have been caught by one of the tree branches.”

  Storm paused, then turned back to Reban. “Are you ready to go?” she asked tentatively. She winced as she glanced at her bed mat, then walked over and rolled it back up. The stress of the weight had crushed it, and parts of it cracked as she rolled it, but she ignored this, attaching it to her backpack as before. “I might still need this,” she said.

  Reban was pale but he picked up his bag and slung it over his uninjured side. “Let’s go.”

  Storm pointed to some hills in the distance. “It’s this way,” she said as she started striding in that direction.