No Time For Dinosaurs

by John Benjamin Sciarra

  “The BBC claims it has proved that Nessie the plesiosaur does not exist. What they did was use satellite navigation technology to aim 600 separate sonar beams through Loch Ness to ensure that none of the loch was missed, and found no trace of the monster. The research team hoped their instruments would pick up the air in Nessie's lungs as it reflected a distorted signal back to the sonar sensors. The only signal they got was from their test buoy moored several meters below the surface. ‘We went from shoreline to shoreline, top to bottom on this one, we have covered everything in this loch and we saw no signs of any large living animal in the loch,’ said Ian Florence, one of the specialists who carried out the survey for the BBC. The show, called Searching for the Loch Ness Monster, was made for BBC One.”

  Kyle said aloud, “Of course they wouldn’t find Nessie in the lake!”

  “What did you say, dear?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Mom. I was just thinking out loud.”

  “Well, it’s nice to hear you thinking and not playing that—oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of your violin playing.”

  “That’s okay. I don’t think I want to work that hard to learn to play an instrument. I’m thinking of taking up the piano, though.”

  His mother cringed. “Oh? Really? But…we don’t have a piano.”

  “Teresa says she wants to learn, too.”

  “Hmmm. I better talk it over with your father. See what he says.”

  “Yeah. Ask the Commissioner.”

  “The what?”

  “Nothing. Never mind. Say, Mom. Do you know anything about the Loch Ness Monster?”

  She looked at Kyle as if he was from outer space.

  “It’s for a school project.”

  “Oh. I’m glad to hear that. Now that you’re a scholar, you do need to stay on top of things at school. But, I can’t say I know much about that sort of thing. I know they think there’s supposedly a monster in Lake Champlain. That’s a little closer.”

  “Really? Lake Champlain?” Kyle’s eyes lit up.

  “I think they call it Champ.”

  “Wow! Can we go there? That’s not all that far from Boston.”

  “Have you taken leave of your senses? It’s a good three hour drive from here!”

  “That’s not very far. Besides, it is for school?”

  “I’ll talk to your father and see what he says. Maybe your grandfather can take you. He’s into that sort of stuff. Claims he saw Bigfoot once. I’m sure you two would make a great pair.”

  ***

  Kyle hung up the phone and jumped around the kitchen excitedly.

  “He said yes! He said yes!”

  He was alone and realized he was talking to himself. He didn’t care. He couldn’t contain his excitement. His sister and Sonja were expected to arrive from school almost any minute. Sonja’s mom had reluctantly yielded and allowed her daughter to go to school instead of home schooling with prodding from the Donavan’s, particularly Teresa.

  Hours seemed like minutes and he was again reminded how strange the concept of time seemed to change depending on the circumstance. The adage that “time flies when you’re having fun” was true. And when he wasn’t having fun, or if he were waiting for dinner, it slowed down to the speed of a snail moving through cold, maple syrup.

  The sound of the screeching brakes of a school bus sent Kyle to the window. “Finally!”

  No sooner had Teresa and Sonja walked through the door, than Kyle leaped in front of them.

  Teresa looked at her older brother as if he was out of his mind. “What is your problem?”

  “I talked to Grandpa today and he says he would love to take a trip to the shore. Do you guys want to go?”

  “The shore? It’s a little cold for the beach, don’t you think?” asked Teresa.

  “It’s not to go swimming. It’s to find Nessie.”

  “Nessie? Now I know you’re out of your mind. Nessie’s in Scotland! You said so yourself.”

  “Sometimes, Teresa, I’m not sure you’re from this planet. I’m talking about the dinosaur I told you guys about. Remember? In the pond?”

  “You’re not talking about going back to…you know…the past again, are you?”

  “I’m not talking about the past. I mean right here and now.”

  “In Boston? In the filthy harbor water? No dinosaur—”

  Kyle was quick to interrupt.

  “Not here, here. I mean here, like the here and now, but not here in Boston.”

  “Okay, are you going to stop talking in riddles? I don’t have a clue what you mean. Do you know what he’s talking about, Sonja?”

  “No, but I will go.” Sonja’s fondness for Kyle was growing, ever since the first trip into the past—to the time of the dinosaurs.

  “Okay, let me slow down a little. I guess I’m kind of excited.”

  “Kind of? If you were a balloon, you would have burst by now!”

  “I’m talking about taking a trip to Lake Champlain. I’m positive that Nessie is there. At least a descendant of the creature I saw in the past. I did research.”

  “Oh. Now that is a little more logical. My brother’s out of his mind today, Sonja. Just ignore him. He’ll go away.”

  “I want to go. I believe him.”

  “Oh come on. Am I the only one whose brain still works around here?”

  “Now that’s something I’d need to do a lot more research on,” quipped Kyle. “Besides, I told Mom and Dad it was for a school project.”

  “Yeah, like they believed you,” Teresa retorted.

  Sonja, on the other hand, was more than willing. “I will have to ask my parents, but I do not think they will object. As Kyle said, it is for his school project. How can my parents refuse a learning opportunity such as this?”

  “But what do you hope to find? It’s a very big lake! How can you even be sure the thing is in there?”

  “It’s 120 miles long, about 12 miles wide and 400 feet deep at its deepest. I just read that on the Internet. I know that sounds like a lot, but I think I narrowed the search down to one possible location. Let me get my map.”

  Kyle pulled out a large Atlas and after a minor mauling the thing finally opened. He pointed to a lake and then to a small town on the lake.

  “Right here. Port Henry. That’s where most of the sightings of a creature people call Champ have occurred. It has to be Nessie…I mean, a creature like Nessie. Remember I told you I heard the sound of the harmonies on that television show, don’t you?”

  “Let’s say that it is true. How do you plan to find her?”

  “I have an idea.” Kyle said as he winked. “But…it means another trip back in the capsule.”

  Both girls cringed. “I knew it was too good to be true!”

  “Uh, there’s only one little problem. We have to leave tonight.”

  “What? I can’t leave tonight! It’s a school night. I have an exam tomorrow!” yelled Teresa in a panic.

  “The nice thing about the capsule is it always resets the present to the same exact moment when Dad and Dr. Bashan first launched. If you don’t go, you won’t remember anything about what I just told you except for the one trip you both took with me. You have to go.”

  The truth was, Kyle was afraid to go alone again. He actually wanted the girls with him. Seeing them older in the future frightened him. He had to admit he missed them.

  Sonja and Teresa looked at one another fearfully. Sonja grabbed Teresa’s hand. “We have to go. I could not stand the thought of Kyle going alone, can you? Remember, he did save your life. You owe him.”

  “I know I’m going to regret this.”

  ***

  That evening at dinner, Kyle fidgeted with his food.

  “Aren’t you hungry, dear?” asked his mother.

  “No. Not really.”

  “Are you ill?” His mother put her hand against his forehead and Teresa giggled.

  “What are you laughing at, butt head?”

  “Kyle! Don’t be mean
to your sister,” said his mom. “Why don’t you say something, dear? He’s your son.”

  Kyle’s father put his fork down and looked at Kyle. “Leave the boy alone, Medina. Can’t you see he’s not hungry?”

  Shocked, his mom’s mouth fell open. She had never heard her husband defend Kyle before and wasn’t sure what to make of it.

  “Dad?” said Kyle.

  “What?”

  “I…I…never mind. I guess I’m not myself tonight. My mind is elsewhere.”

  Kyle knew his father and Dr. Bashan were planning to re-launch the capsule tomorrow. He quickly dismissed his father’s actions.

  “Can I go to bed early? I’m really tired.”

  “I…guess so,” responded his mother looking at her husband.

  “Let him go, Medina. I’ll finish his plate. I’m famished.”

  ***

  Kyle left the table and went up the stairs. Teresa excused herself and followed her brother. He went into his room and closed the door. Teresa knocked.

  “Kyle? Can I talk to you?”

  “Come on in.”

  Kyle was examining the violin lying in his bed. Teresa came in and plopped down on the floor next to him.

  “You’re not going to play that, are you?” she asked with mock fear in her eyes.

  “Nah. I’m never going to play this thing. I can’t even stand the sound of me playing it. It hurts my ears. What a’ ya want, anyway?”

  “I’m scared about going back.”

  “I’ve been back three times now. You think I’d go back if I wasn’t sure?”

  “But…what about the raptors? And the T-rex? They’ll still be there, won’t they?”

  “I’m going to change the program so we don’t go back to the same spot for one thing. I also have an idea. I think I can control the raptors. In fact, I think I can control any dinosaur.”

  “You’re not thinking of building the distortion device you told us about, are you?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m thinking of doing. For some reason I seem to just know how to do it. It has to do with the harmonics. It’s kind of like someone who sits down at the piano and plays Bach or Beethoven without ever taking a lesson. And it’s how I knew the answer to Mr. White’s equation. I just knew. I can see the answers in my mind.”

  “Why do you want to go back anyway? We can’t bring Priti back.” Tears welled up in Teresa’s eyes. “I don’t think I can stand the thought of seeing her again and not being able to rescue her.”

  “My plan is to go back and get a recording of Nessie and bring it with us to Lake Champlain.”

  “Why?”

  “I think the sounds of the other creatures will bring Champ, the monster in the lake, to us.”

  “And why would we want to do that? I don’t want to see any monster!”

  “It’s not really a monster, Teresa. That animal…or one like it, saved my life—twice. I don’t think it will hurt us. I think I can talk to it.”

  “Oh, I see. Now you’re the Doctor Doolittle of the dinosaur world. Of course! That makes perfect sense. I don’t see what on earth Sonja…uh, what are you going to do if you get this Champ to come to you? Tell it that the other animal said to say hi?”

  “What about Sonja!” Kyle demanded.

  “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking of something…else. So, what are you going to say, Doctor Doolittle?”

  “It’s not like that. They communicate through whistling.”

  Teresa started whistling, “If I only Had A Brain” from the Wizard of Oz.

  “Knock it off and get serious.”

  “Since when did you get serious?”

  “Since I had to leave Priti behind,” said Kyle softly. There were tears in his eyes and it touched Teresa deeply. She hugged her brother.

  “Okay. Okay. Let’s not get mushy, for crying out loud.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Nine o’clock that evening, Kyle snuck over to Teresa’s room and knocked lightly on the door. Teresa peeked through a crack and then came out of her room, shut the door as quietly as she could and followed Kyle down the stairs. He was carrying a backpack.

  Kyle disarmed the front door, opened it, closed it and rearmed it. They had 30 seconds to leave and shut the door. It went without incident.

  Godzilla, the neighbor’s Rottweiler began barking and growling, but Kyle called out and gave him his favorite treat. Godzilla nuzzled up to Kyle and then licked Teresa in the face. He was almost as tall as she was.

  “Ich! Get away from me.”

  “Shhhhhh!” Kyle whispered. “You want to wake the neighbors?”

  “Sorry. He’s got such a wet tongue!” Teresa whispered back.

  “Come on. We have to move fast. I have a lot to do before we can launch.”

  Sonja was nervously pacing by the front door. She saw Kyle and Teresa coming across the street and immediately felt better.

  “I thought you were not coming! My mother almost caught me when she got up to use the bathroom. I nearly passed out, I was so scared.”

  “Sorry. Let me deactivate the door,” said Kyle.

  He typed in the code, the lock clicked open and they all went in hunched over. The lights were on already. Kyle was concerned, but didn’t say anything.

  “Is there someone here?” asked Sonja fearfully.

  “I don’t think so. Who would be here at night? There wasn’t anyone here the last time I went back. Things shouldn’t be any different.”

  Teresa asked, “Are you sure?”

  “I’m never really sure of anything with this time capsule stuff. I know Dad is all excited about launching again tomorrow, so it should be the same. But there don’t seem to be any rules about time that have to be followed. Events can change. They don’t always have to be the same.”

  “But, if that’s true, how do you know we can get back to the same time period as the dinosaur?”

  “We’ll get back. I’ve been back three times. As long as we have the shoestring in place, we’ll be okay.”

  Teresa and Sonja looked at one another with a frightened look on their faces.

  “It’ll be okay. Trust me.”

  “I trust you,” said Sonja.

  “I don’t,” responded Teresa. “But…I guess I’m going whether like it or not.”

  “We have to go up the elevator and into the computer room first. I need to set the program so we’ll be ready to launch the minute I have the distortion device ready to go. Almost everything I need is in this bag,” said Kyle pointing to the backpack on his back. “I just need to get a couple of things on the way out.”

  They walked past all the now familiar banks of tubing and computers that ran the length of the laboratory. They were still filled with a sense of awe. That a mysterious green fluid was responsible for going back in time was beyond their comprehension.

  Even Kyle, with his elevated sense of knowledge about science and time travel, didn’t understand how the green gel affected the harmonics and influenced string theory. He knew it had something to do with focusing the harmonics, the synchronous wavelengths of sound. Precise, complex combinations of sound waves vibrated minute strings of energy inside all subatomic particles in all matter and inexplicably caused the transformation of matter to shift through time and space at speeds that made the speed of light stand still. Whenever Kyle tried too hard to understand it all, his head would hurt. It was hurting now. He forced his mind to stop thinking about the science and focus on the task. However, something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

  In the shadows, something was moving. Someone watched them from behind a lab bench.

  ***

  The three emerged from the elevator with Kyle leading the way.

  “Oh my god! What an incredible room!” exclaimed Teresa.

  “Look at all these computers! They must cost a fortune,” added Sonja.

  Kyle walked over to the main computer terminal and started typing rapidly; his fingers flew across the keys like dancing ants.
<
br />   “Do you know what you’re doing?” asked Teresa horrified.

  Kyle stopped and looked her square in the eyes. “No. I’m just randomly pressing these here keys to see what will happen.”

  Teresa looked aghast. Sonja giggled with her hand over her mouth.

  “I’ve done this before ya know.”

  “I’ve never see you type that fast. Mom can’t type that fast and she’s a secretary! Do you actually know what you are typing?”

  To even Kyle’s surprise, the data on the screen looked like sheet music. “Huh?”

  “Wow…” said Sonja. “That is…unbelievable. I do not think even my father can do that.”

  “I can’t explain it,” said Kyle forcefully. “But it’s just…I don’t know. It’s as if I just know what to do. Now, don’t interrupt me.” Kyle continued typing with a clicking noise that blended into a single sound. He typed for about fifteen minutes as the girls watched—mesmerized. Finally, Kyle stopped typing, looked at the screen for a moment, and then pressed, “Enter.”

  All of the computers came on at once. The sounds of whirring noises indicated they were processing the information Kyle had just imputed. It went on for about ten minutes and then stopped. The screen flashed, “SYSTEM IDLED.”

  “Okay. We’re all set to go. I just need to get a couple of items from the lab downstairs to finish the distortion device.”

  Teresa and Sonja obediently followed without a word. Teresa was wondering if this boy really was her brother. Sonja was thinking that she’d like to marry Kyle someday.

  They stood in front of the elevator and Kyle was about to enter the code, when the elevator suddenly came on.

  “What are you, telapathetic, too?” asked Teresa.

  “That’s telepathic, you moron. I didn’t do that.”

  Sonja was wide eyed. “Someone is coming!”

  “Get behind the computers and don’t say a word. Quick!”

  Kyle and the girls scrambled behind the computer desk. They heard the door slide open. Someone stepped into the room.

  ***

  The phone rang and Dr. Donavan flailed around trying to turn off the alarm clock. He was unsuccessful. The ringing continued.