3012: The Artifact
Page 45
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The next morning, they had a quick breakfast of the giant fruit Janet had found. Afterward, they loaded the hovercraft onto the roof again, securing it as best they could, then prepared themselves for the crash that might come again if Paul was wrong and they were still 65 million years in the past.
With his finger poised over the controls, Jack said “Here goes nothing!” and pushed the button that directed the time circuits to take them back to the date they left. He avoided the auto return function this time since it said 65 million years and Paul was pretty sure it was only six thousand, like the display indicated.
They saw the usual flash and immediately landed in some of the most violent seas Jack had ever encountered. He shouted “We must have landed in a hurricane!” but no one heard him. Paul staggered his way over to the time circuits and pointed to the display. They were still short by forty-four hundred years. Paul yelled into Jack’s ear “Great Flood!!!” and indicated, using his hands that they should jump again.
The three of them were getting violently ill from the tossing and Jack was seriously worried that they would capsize and drown. The boat was tossed about like a child’s toy in a pail of water that had just been thrown off a cliff. Jack was slammed bodily into the cabinets behind him. Grabbing the handle of the nearest door, he managed to remain standing. The cabinet door swung open and Jack nearly lost his footing again. Paul and Janet were thrown about like rag dolls.
Jack glanced into the cabinet he was hanging onto and saw some rope. He tossed it to Paul and yelled “Lash yourselves to something!” Paul indicated that he heard him by nodding his head. He tied both himself and Janet to the nearest solid post he could find and they hung onto each other.
Suzie stayed on the boat, but kept drifting into and out of everything. It was very obvious that she was a hologram this day. Jack lurched himself back to the control board and managed to hang on with one hand.