Crucible of a Species (36 page)

Even though he stood on top of the berm, Ryan had to look up to see into the eyes of this three-ton raptor. A mountain of muscle and instant death stared back with the arrogance of knowing that the marine had never even heard it approach.

Primordial reaction whipped Tyree around as he heard nearby steps followed by a clear melodious voice call out from the peninsula’s thicket behind him, “Iree’s a yerk! Iree’s a yerk!” The corporal blanched when he realized his mistake and swung back towards the albertosaurus fully expecting to meet a gruesome fate. When he turned, the monster was no longer there. It had disappeared as silently as it had appeared.

Corporal Tyree’s hands shook as he scanned the positions of his squad. All was well. Saren and Simpson had set up their fire-team in the center of the breach in the berm. The rest of them held the top of the intact sections of the berm and the AutoSentinels were working.

Tyree heard branches rustle behind him and spun back to look over the clearing. Anger flashed through his body,
If it’s that damn little talking dinosaur again I’m going to shoot it.

A
second soft rustle of leaves told him it was coming their way. The corporal motioned to his team. Each defender shifted position. Their cover was poor and there were too few of them to defend against a determined attack from both sides.

Movement on the peninsula side stopped and Tyree realized he had been holding his breath as the distant sounds of sustained rifle fire slowed from the direction of the Argos. He could feel the tension of his men. They were on edge and that led to mistakes. When mistakes happened, people died.

“Ahead on the berm.” The cry lifted over the calls and song of the surrounding jungle and a wave of relief swept through the corporal. “We’re coming in. Hold your fire.”

“Eyes towards the mainland,” Tyree commanded his patrol before turning back. “You are cleared to advance. Corporal Tyree here and we’re sure glad to have your company.”

Colonel Drake stepped out of the thick jungle, “Who’s in charge here, Corporal? Where’s your sergeant? What the hell happened here?”

“We’re the only ones holding the line, Colonel. I apologize for not coming out to greet you but there’s too few of us. Take care as you approach, some of those beasts in front of you are still alive. We’ve managed to hold back a whole pack of these big dinos from entering the camp for now but the mainland side of the berm is bubbling over with others who want in.

“We lost contact with two of the AutoSentinels earlier this morning. When we arrived here there was a big melee going on right smack in the middle of the berm, that’s why the big gap in the wall. They flat out knocked it down. Don’t know how many managed to make it through before we could seal it off again. Lost privates Difer and deCarlos while closing this gap and we’ve been here ever since.”

“Sorry to hear about Difer and deCarlos. Good job, Corporal, looks like you had a hell of a ruckus here.”

“Thank you, sir. What’s all the firing back at the camp?”

“Those are the ones that got through. I don’t know how many are back there but it sounds like the camp needs our help more than you.”

Corporal Tyree stepped a bit closer to the colonel, lowering his voice, “Sir, we need to keep a watch on the towers. Private Bush found a nanobot case in the weeds back here. There’s reason to suspect sabotage of the defenses.”

“Thank you, Corporal.” Tyree thought the colonel was surprisingly nonchalant about the suggestion, “Continue to keep this quiet, we’ll discuss it later.

“Tyree, what happened here? Why were they fighting at the barrier?”

“Something about that barrier is drawing the carnivores. The guys think dinos somehow sense the electronics and I believe ‘em. Ever since we first arrived, we’ve seen more and more of these big guys coming and it even draws the smaller scavengers. Their numbers on the other side of the berm have been building up hour-by hour and they’re really pissed that the berm is holding ‘em back.

“Guess they ain’t any different than any other pack hunter. They’re territorial and, when so many of them pushed together crossing the barrier, well, the AutoSentinel signal was gone and they started in on each other in the jam-up.”

Alex Thrumbold broke in, “Sir, we have to help the people back at the Argos.”

“We’re going to, Lieutenant. Listen up. Take two groups and remove one AutoSentinel from each side of the barrier. Make sure you sync them out of the net properly, I want to still have communications and control across the whole line. Track the AutoSentinels back here but leave a fire team at each removal point to cover the weak position.”

Lieutenant Thrumbold turned, calling out as he left, “Aye aye, Sir. Sergeant, you heard the orders. Take four men and bring back Station #3.

“You four, come with me.”

The firing back at camp was increasing in intensity and Tom Bradley couldn’t decide whether to go with the marines or stay by the colonel. The journalist turned and saw Drake heading down the backside of the berm with Lieutenant Esperanza. He hustled to catch up.

“Lieutenant, I want a control perimeter pushed forward from this breach onto the mainland. Extend it out to the edge of the defensive clearing. You’re going to have to hold it for a few minutes while we set up. Use that fire-team in the breach as support.

“We’re going to stick two AutoSentinels out there. After they’re installed, sync them back into the net but wait before activating their nodes. Then immediately pull both teams back and take positions up on top of the berm. Split your men up evenly on each side of the breach. No one stays out there after that.”

Esperanza looked up at the corporal standing on the top of the berm. A simple hand signal and he gave her the “all clear”. The line of marines moved to spread evenly across the open breach. Moving cautiously, they pushed outward with Esperanza in the center of the line.

A flurry of movement erupted in the jungle but nothing emerged to challenge their advance. Low rumbling growls let the marines know the dinos were there and they were waiting if the humans decided to push inland. The line of marines formed a rough semicircle centered on the breach of the berm.

It took twenty precious minutes before the AutoSentinels arrived, firing from the Argos camp was continuous. “Place the towers back at the far edge of the clearing but keep them together and centered on the opening.” Colonel Drake called as he crossed.

“Hold one moment, Lieutenant. These two towers are special. We don’t want to fully sync them back into the net quite yet. Set them up as a separate cell, I want their control to remain autonomous from the others. Point them back across the plateau and angle them back a bit. Their central scans should cross as they pass through the breach and then spread wide across the plateau.

“Good enough, lock them in place and let’s move on top the berm. Thrumbold, where did your people put the controller?”

“It’s up here, Sir. What’s the plan?”

The colonel called out to the entire group, “With the exception of the two towers down in the breach, the AutoSentinels are going to form a one-way barrier allowing passage back out onto the mainland. When I give the go-ahead, we’re going to reset all the towers from scanning the mainland to full three-hundred and sixty degree coverage. I want anything on both sides of this berm scanned and covered.

“As we block the mainland approach, we’ll also be scanning onto the plateau and back towards our camp. Since the AutoSentinel defenses drew these predators to the peninsula, we’re going to try and call those dinosaurs back here, right into our laps. While we are doing this, anything coming from the mainland is fair game, drive it off or down it.

“When these dinos begin to arrive, they are going to be moving fast and furious. When I signal, I want all the towers to stop scanning the plateau area. These two AutoSentinels are our bait so they will be the exception. We’ve placed them outside, on the other side of the berm so their emissions will draw the dinos back to this spot and out through the breach. You are not to fire on any of the dinos attempting to pass back out to the mainland unless they attack the towers themselves.

“Everyone move down onto the mainland side of the berm but stay near the top and try to keep out of sight from the plateau. I don’t want any dinos trying to leave to be distracted. Let them leave but let no one back in.”

The intensity of firing from the camp died as did the cries of the albertosaurs while the colonel spoke. The entire jungle seemed to sit in tense, silent anticipation.

The anxious silence lasted but a few minutes. It was broken by a horrific screech and rumbling that shook the jungle. Once again, desperate rifle fire arose. Then the low thump and crunch of heavy weaponry filled the air and with this Drake knew that Gunnery Sergeant Frank Marshall and his team, armed with the SMGs, had finally arrived at the camp.

“All towers, switch over to include scanning of the peninsula. Esperanza, how are the bait-towers working?”

“Functioning five-by-five, sir.”

“Very good. I’m gonna let these guys get pretty close to the berm. Pray they follow the signal back through the breach.”

The cries of the albertosaurs dropped to those from a few individuals. Firing from the camp slowed and then halted. The marines waited.

Long, slow minutes passed in silence then AutoSentinel discharges rose from down the berm. The predator packs were returning. It took a few minutes before the first of the albertosaurs and smaller dinos arrived at the area of the breach. Here they hesitated before entering the clearing. The packs obviously felt the strong call of the towers but they also remembered the deadly AutoSentinels. Then, three albertosaurs appeared and boldly walked just inside the clearing as they followed some unseen line over which they would not cross.

“Alex, watch these three.” The colonel said as he pointed over towards the group of mature albertosaurs. These ancestors of the famous T-Rex travelled with a cautious, fluid stride as they moved along a line parallel to the berm with many smaller scavengers trailing in their footsteps, scurrying around them just out of reach. As they approached the breach, their path turned inward towards the hole in the barrier and here they stopped.

Lieutenant Thumbold’s hushed voice lifted next to the colonel, “They’re following at a fixed distance from the AutoSentinels. That means they aren’t using the physical berm as a warning, they’re using the strength of the sentinel’s beam.”

As the marines watched, a small scavenger thoughtlessly ran around the leading albertosaurs and into the clearing. The AutoSentinels fired warning shots. This confused the small predator. It stopped and stood there for a moment before continuing. Unfortunately, it started in the wrong direction. The firing that ended the scavenger’s life caused the albertosaurs to backstep in surprise.

Others pushed from behind the three large predators, one of the smaller newcomers let out a low-rolling growl while snapping at the dinosaur in front of him. That predator immediately struck out with its leg, catching the others just below its chest. The two-ton dinosaur staggered back against the unprotected slope of the damaged breach and spotted the marines up on the berm.

The height of the broken berm was less in this area because of the damage it had sustained during the initial breach. The monster leaped up to the top of the berm and the marines recoiled from their positions. Three marines on the opposite side of the breach began firing, their actions drew the attention of the densely pack group of predators.

“Esperanza, raise the signal on the two bait towers,” shouted the colonel. “Quickly!”.

The predators stopped to stare at the two towers. Slowly, cautiously they moved across the damaged berm and out onto the mainland followed by the wayward albertosaurus.

“Good, good, now I want you to unbalance the field pattern. I want a weak signal going towards the breach in the path immediately in front of the two towers. Then increase the scan to full strength across the mainland side of the berm on each of the bait towers.”

The albertosaurs moved with caution towards the open breach. As they crossed to the other side of the berm, there was little or no electronic signal coming at them. At the edge of the zone they ran into a full strength search signal coming from the mainland-pointing towers. Frantically they pushed away from the strong waves they had learned to associate with death. Off they ran, away from the outer face of the berm and into the dense jungle of the mainland.

Like water passing through a funnel, the maze of sensor waves gradually drew the predator packs through the breach and back onto the mainland. The marines watched in thankful amazement as the fierce dinosaurs followed the invisible signals of the towers. Eventually the flow of giant beasts and smaller scavengers ebbed to nothing. Pfc Ed Saren’s slow southern drawl cut though the silence of the clearing, “Shit, that was easy.”

*~~*~~*~~*

Sergeant Martel
couldn’t remember where he was. Something was wrong, he was soaking wet and exhausted. A hollow throbbing raged through his head and his back ached as though he was lying on a bed of rocks. The marine reached over, groping for his kit. It wasn’t there. His entire body was bruised and sore, as sore as he had been after that first week in the martial arts instructor school at Quantico.

The sergeant forced open swollen eyes, only vague shapes in the low lighting were visible. Painfully, he rolled to his other side and noticed a dim light in the distance. He was in a rocky chamber with only a single shaft of light piercing the darkness through a hole in the roof. The beam sparkled through dust and vapor droplets in its path before illuminating the side of a cliff. Gradually his eyes adjusted to the bright apparition,
No, that’s not a cliff, it’s a wall of falling water.