Crucible of a Species (26 page)

The ensign groaned as they manhandled him down the trail until Doctor Ian Graeme and a stretcher team met them as they entered the edge of the clearing. “Put him down, I want to start him on an IV before we move him and further. Did anyone bring back a sample of the poison?”

“Would this help, doc?” Bradley asked as he pulled a two-inch, bloody tooth from his pocket. “It’s a little souvenir I collected after our first encounter.”

“Mr. Bradley, you’re a lifesaver. There’s still some tissue on the tooth. We should be able to determine if there was anything more involved than an infection. I’ll monitor him. Let’s get him back to the Argos.”

Two dark figures watched from under a darkened section across the field as they carried the ensign back to the newly erected field hospital,. They noticed the blood, dust and mud that covered the members of the patrol from head to foot. Doctor Nolen commented quietly to the colonel, “The packs they brought back may well insure the future of our survival.”

Drake replied, “Three of the knapsacks were still operational but Ensign Petrika’s pack sustained a deep gouge where the claw of the raptor ripped through the tough outer fabric of his cooler. It probably saved his life. We don’t know if any of its contents, or any of the meat for that matter, will be edible.”

The doctor turned towards the marine, “Even if we now have a source of protein, we still need to find the other constituents of a balanced diet if we’re to survive the thime needed for repairs. I’m particularly concerned about scurvy. I doubt we’ll find any fruits as advanced as a lemon or orange in this time.”

“One crisis at a time, Doctor.” Colonel Drake commented before leaving to follow the ensign into the Argos. “I spoke briefly with Dr. Shieve. She looked like she was about to collapse but still managed to carry her load and keep up with the best of them. She’s a remarkable woman. I hear you had some early misgivings about her joining the expedition; you were wrong.

“Thrumbold mentioned that your people identified the DNA from the damaged food storage containers. Is it correct that you found nothing indicating a dinosaur might be the culprit?”

Dr. Nolen sighed before continuing, “I’m sorry to have to concede, you are correct. It appears the damage was entirely manmade and intentional.”

“Then I expect this will not be the last we hear from our saboteurs. In the mean time, I want to make sure our young officer is properly cared for. Good evening, Doctor and please, continue to keep this to yourself.”

Nolen started back to his quarters on the Argos only to be met by Specialist Tom Denon, “Dr. Nolen, Dr. Thompson asked me to find you. He’d like to speak with you on the Argos. He’s in his office.”

“Tell him I’ll be over in a little while Mr. … ah. What …”

“Denon, sir. I’m sorry but Dr. Thompson says this is important. The captain is in there with him and they would like to see you right away.”

“All right, I’ll head right over.” Dr. Nolen promised as he turned to follow the specialist across the meadow. “You know, Mr. Denon, it’s amazing how dependant we grow upon instant communications. Everything seems to take three times as long on this planet and it’s all because the predators are attracted to the emissions of the electronics.”

The specialist simply smiled at Dr. Nolen. It was easy to see he didn’t really care if things took a little longer. Nolen however missed the convenience and his thoughts were far from the path as he crossed the field,
perhaps some emission shielding and burst transmission responders would work
.
However, is it worth spending the time modifying the communications? Most likely we’ll only be here for a few weeks.

Above them, the first stars of the evening silently appeared in a cloudless sky to the west of the plateau. Spurs of rock glowed briefly in nightfire as they caught the last golden rays of the sun and the world briefly swelled with the evening song of the dinosaurs. All too soon, the soft melody of night blanketed all even the good Dr. Nolen as he continued his journey across the ancient New Mexico plateau towards his lab on the Argos ignorant of the passing beauty of the sunset.

A long rumbling growl
echoed through the twilight jungle as dark figures, huge shadowy forms glided half-seen through the foliage. The small group of humans halted their movements in fearful anticipation when a nearby copse of tree-tops shook marking the passage of the predators beneath. Moments stretched into minutes. Nothing more appeared and eventually the normal sounds of the evening returned. No one ventured to say the words aloud but it was obvious that the number of these close encounters here at the edge of the camp increased with each passing day.

Corporal Ryan Tyree picked up his stick and stirred the coals of the fire back to life. He spoke in a half whisper, “Shit, I hate it when the big ones pass so close. Even with the security fencing, I don’t think we could hold ‘em off if several decided to charge the berm at the same time.”

Tyree turned, hesitating briefly to check the rock that he had been sitting on. They had all learned to look first before resting on something even if you had just been sitting on it. With that, he resumed his thought, “The millipedes are the worst. The one that bit me yesterday hurt like hell and it was small compared to some of the big browns ones… like that one. He stomped on a bug that resembled a nine-inch long piece of segmented, armored cable thicker than his thumb. He ground his boot down as hard as he could, trying to smear it across the ground but the expected crunch didn’t happen. Cautiously he lifted his boot. The millipede jumped out, skittering off to the safety of a nearby clump of ground moss and ferns.

“Cheez, what’s the matter with you Tyree? Can’t you even sit without over-reacting? Cut your worrying and fork over that slab of rico-whatever-it-is.” Calm as ever, Private Sara Hsu threw another stick on the fire, “No real need to sweat those big guys anyway. I don’t think they’re that close, the AutoSentinels on the berm didn’t even go off.”

“Well if they were further off than the last ones then they must be even bigger to make that much of a commotion.” Ensign Mary Li, the Argo’s communications officer whined as she turned the crude spit balanced over the flames. The evening’s dinner sizzled with an aroma that made their mouths water. “You’d think the fire or the smell of cooking would draw them right to us.”

“Naw,” Hsu replied. “If anything, they avoid the fire and the smell of cooked meat means nothing good to them. The only familiarity these guys have with flames is one of wildfire pain and death; burnt flesh is something to head away from. On the other hand, if we were in the middle of butchering something then the blood-smell would be an entirely different story.”

Tyree leaned forward and cut off another chunk of meat for himself, “Damn but Cookie was right. These skinny little dino’s are good. I think it’s kinda funny in a weird sort of way. I always liked dinosaurs when I was a kid but I never thought I’d get to see one. I guess sometimes I thought about getting eaten by one but never thought I’d actually be eating one of them.”

“For the benefit of you uneducated goons, that thing you’re eating is a Ricardoestesia.” Corporal Ryan Tyree said as he bent forward to cut off a slice of white breast meat for Ed Saren and turned to hand it to him, “… and stop feeding those guys. There ain’t that much meat here that we can afford to waste it. Didn’t you hear Cookie, this meat’s special. It’s like having a prime cut of steak.

“Remember Cookie’s warning. There’s four hundred and eighty of us in camp. If word of this gets around, there’s no way we could hunt enough for everyone. There’s not enough game on this plateau. You want to keep eating good then keep your mouth shut and stop feeding those beggars.”

Private Ed Saren didn’t look up at the corporal speaking to him as he held out the slab of raw meat between his fingers, “Birds gotta eat too and look how tame they are. Come-on guy, say it again, ‘Tyree’s a jerk’.”

Three heads appeared out of the darkness of the surrounding bushes followed by a fourth, braver animal who strode cautiously into the campfire’s light, twisting its head from side to side. “Irees a yerk”, it called, trying to imitate the words of the human. The bird-like animal stood more than knee high and had a long, blunt snout filled with a carnivore’s teeth. Dark green and black feathers covered it from head to ankle and it had a nervous habit of tapping the three-inch long, sickle shaped claw on each foot against the ground as it nervously stretched out for the piece of meat. A muzzle full of sharp teeth whipped out, deftly grabbing the tidbit before running back off into the safety of the surrounding brush.

“Cut the crap, Saren, and those aren’t birds. They’re dinosaurs. Dromaeosauria to be exact and they ain’t tame.” Corporal Tyree grumbled.

“Well they sure ain’t afraid o’me and they’re smart. Didn’t you hear that? They’re getting better at imitating anything I say.” Saren replied and then quickly looked up as a set of bushes on the edge of the fire-light trembled with the raucous squawking of three dinosaurs fighting over the tidbit.

Ed Saren stretched forward and used his Ka-Bar knife to skewer an orange colored root from a pot of boiling water. “This place ain’t so bad, not if you like to live outdoors. Shit, this is worlds better than sitting inside the Argos for weeks on end waiting for something to happen.

“We know there’s a lot of food around here, it’s just all new to us so we have to learn what’s good and what isn’t. Take these things, they taste kinda like sweet potatoes. I’m sure we’d have no problem living off the land around here and I’m just itchen to try some fishin’ down along that shoreline.

“Yeah? Well, you may like it here but it’s not going to last.” Ensign Li replied. “I expect we’re going to be leaving here just as soon as we can get the ship fixed up.

“Personally, I don’t like any of the alternatives. Right now setting down roots seems pretty good. I know I particularly don’t like the idea of risking my neck on Nolen’s hairy idea. He keeps talking about going back home through that thing on Jupiter that brought us here. I don’t think we have an ice cube’s chance in hell of the Argos surviving another trip through that thing and making it all the way back to Earth again. Who knows where or even when we’ll come out if we come out.”

The corporal threw the scrapings from his plate into the bushes. The branches shook and a muffled squawk followed. He looked over at the ensign as she removed the cap from her canteen to take a drink, “Yeah, we were lucky last time. I hear we managed to get through by no more than a hair and a wiggle. I don’t know about you guys but my luck ain’t so good that I’m ready to tease ol’mother nature again.

“Tell the guys to hang in there a while, Mary. Let’s just see what happens over the next few weeks. Things may look a lot different by then. In the mean time, I’ll have a talk with some of the others and see if they have any ideas. Look, let’s not say a word of this to Meecham, especially about our dinner here. He’ll go right back to the colonel with it and you can kiss this good food goodbye. Agreed?”

“Agreed,” they all responded.

*~~*~~*~~*

Thousands of multi-colored points
of light twinkled from a pollution-free sky. Their glory blazed undiminished by the reactive glow strips of the Argos that bathed the surrounding grass in their cool light. The ship took up most of the cleared field and construction around it pushed the open meadow back further every day. Soon the soft illumination would fill not only the area around the ship but also the rest of the plateau with special engineered Tesla Lighting that didn’t interfere with the night vision of the humans working outside.

The beauty of the evening was lost on Dr. Phillip Nolen as he read the latest research reports while walking across the darkened field down the path leading to one of the ship’s smaller airlocks. He approached the security sensor strip and, with the unconscious motion of habit, briefly gazed at the frame of the door. Sensors scanned his eyes then, with recognition, turned and performed a perimeter scan of the area around the airlock. The sensors confirmed that there were no unauthorized personnel or animals in the vicinity before opening the airlock. The doctor never even noticed the rapid security check as he walked without hesitation onto the ship.

*~~*~~*~~*

Large, yellow eyes had followed
Doctor Nolen as he walked alone through the low grass thinking of him only as a strange new animal. This animal didn’t smell right and it didn’t look like prey but its unguarded movement screamed it was prey. The prey passed close by the predator with its head bent down, unaware of its surroundings as it approached the smooth wall. This was strange and tempting behavior suggesting the animal might be sick or injured and easily taken.

The stalking dromaeosaur, or dromo, moved upright on two legs as did most meat-eating theropods. It traveled silently, approaching the unfamiliar animal with a strong, almost flitting gait and abrupt head movements that mimicked a bird more than a reptile. A coat of small, coarse light-brown feathers covered its arms and body allowing it to blend perfectly into the surrounding grass. Stiff, boney rods reinforced its long tail, holding it straight out and parallel to the ground to provide a counterbalance when running or making rapid, swift turns. Feathers tightly covered the tail but broadened out to end in a white fan with a black oval spot at its tip that resembled the eye of a much larger monster.

This dromo was very nervous tonight. The top of this plateau had been its hunting grounds for many years but it had never seen creatures as strange as these. They were new and new things were to be either feared or eaten. The chance to come upon one of them travelling alone and in such a careless manner was too much to resist.

As the predator watched, its prey unexpectedly lifted its head causing the dromo to crouch in reflex. A thin beam of light suddenly shot out of the smooth wall and across the head of this strange prey. In the flick of an eye, the light broadened to shine and shimmer across the entire body of the creature as though it were something alive. Suddenly, the bright light flashed across the field, briefly illuminating the surrounding grassland and just missing the hiding predator.

A light as bright as the day burst from the wall, the predator jumped in reaction, stumbling over its own feet. When it finally stood upright, its nervousness turned to fear for the lights were gone and the prey was no longer there. The dromo never saw the door in the smooth wall open allowing Dr. Phillip Nolen to nonchalantly step inside the ship on his way to conference with the captain and Dr. Thompson.

After waiting a while, the dromo moved in to the spot where it had last seen the prey. There was no scent trail showing where the thing might have gone. The only thing remaining was the odd smelling wall, glowing strangely in the light of the evening.

The predator stood motionless for a time. Waiting, listening and taking in the strange new scents riding on the breeze. Curiosity eventually urged the little predator to head down the path travelled by the prey and discover where this strange creature had been.

*~~*~~*~~*

Dr. Nolen passed through ship’s security
into the main corridor, adding his easy pace to the slowly moving outer webway tributary that came to life as it sensed his arrival. The webway accelerated as it carried him along the outer edge of the ship and up a level where he transferred onto a wide platform. A pair of simulated wood doors graced the painted bulkhead on the opposite side. Phillip entered and noticed that there were only a few people in the galley at this early evening hour and wondered why. After all, this was the shift change and it was customary for crewmembers to stop by for a snack and a chance to relax for a short while. He walked over to the snack island and was reaching for a tea cup when he heard the cook’s voice behind him.

“Good evening Dr. Nolen. Anything special I could get for you?”

Phillip turned, “Chief Slap, you startled me.”

The CPO gave him a broad smile, “Once again, no need to be so formal, Doctor. Just call me ‘Cookie’. We’re on restricted rations but I may be able to find a piece of the blueberry pie in the back or perhaps a few cookies?”

Dr. Nolen appeared a bit confused, “No, ah … well alright ‘Cookie’, if you insist. However, no thank you. I’m not hungry, I simply wanted a cup of tea to take with me. Say, I thought you said we were on restricted rations? What are these things in the bowl, I’ve never seen anything like them.”

“They don’t count for the rationing,” Cookie said as he reached over to pick up some, deeply colored, small red berries. “We used to have something like them where I grew up. Called ‘em ‘Fox Cherries’. They’re wild cherries that some of the marines found. I sent out a squad to pick a bunch for evening snack. Here, try one but be careful. They have a very big stone and there’s not a lot of meat around it but they do taste good.”

“And these other things?”

“That’s guava and I have some honest-to-god sweet potatoes we found over in the softer marsh area. These are all a godsend, sir. Scurvy ain’t a pretty thing to see aboard ship and these all provide the vitamin C we need to fight it.”

“So, do you think it is possible to survive here without supplies?” Phillip asked.

“Yes, to a certain extent. These will help but I don’t believe we could support a crew as large as we have here on the Argos with the foodstuffs we can find on the plateau. We’d have to spread out a bit if we needed to live off the land.”

Dr. Nolen stared at the serving table for a few minutes as Cookie watched. It wasn’t unusual for the scientist to drift off into his own thoughts for a few minutes. The habit was the butt of more than a few jokes quietly delivered outside the hearing of management or the officers. Phillip suddenly smiled and turned back towards the chief, “Thank you, Cookie. This has been a very interesting discussion but I have to run.” Phillip said as he filled his teacup, sealed it and left the galley.