Dinosaur Thunder (34 page)

“It’s half gravity,” Nick said, bouncing, remembering his time on the moon.

“Why would Jeanette come here?” Carson asked. “This is some weird damn place.”

Reverend was silent, looking at the sky, then running his hands across the golden-topped grasses. “It’s an unspoiled land,” Reverend said. “God has prepared this for us.”

“Reverend, this isn’t what you think it is,” Nick said. “Look at the sun. It’s the size of a grapefruit. Feel the gravity? It’s half of Earth’s. Take a deep breath. The air is thin. There’s enough oxygen to breathe, but it’s the equivalent of standing in La Paz, in the Andes. Or even higher. It would take some time to acclimatize to air this thin, if you can at all. Put all of that together, and what does it tell you?”

“It tells me we need to find Jeanette and get the hell out of here,” Carson said.

“God’s creation never ceases to amaze,” Reverend said.

“Reverend, this isn’t Earth,” Nick said.

Even with his eyes hidden by sunglasses, the Reverend showed surprise on his face.

“Not Earth?” Carson asked. “What the hell does that mean?”

“My best guess is that it’s Mars,” Nick said.

“Mars?” Carson said, looking around with fresh eyes. “Shouldn’t there be canals and stuff?”

“Mars is a dead world,” Reverend said. “Not a lush garden.”

“This isn’t the Mars of our time,” Nick said. “We jumped sixty-five million years into the past to find you. This may be another sixty-five million years in the past or more. Mars wasn’t always a dead world. It once had seas and an atmosphere.”

“Mars,” Reverend said, taking in the implications. “Why would God open Mars to us?”

Nick sighed. Reverend’s universe was deocentric, or more accurately, Reverend-centric.

“Look over there,” Carson said suddenly.

Following his point, Nick saw figures on a hill.

“Jeanette!” Carson began calling, over and over.

The figures ignored Carson’s yelling. Nick could see they were both women and both wore shorts and shirts pulled up and tied, leaving a bare midriff. Both women also carried rifles, coming better prepared than Nick had. They both wore packs, but there was something strange about the pack worn by one of the women. Nick looked over the landscape, seeing nothing dangerous.

“Let’s go get them,” Nick said.

Carson led the way, hurrying through the grass. Nick followed, with Reverend taking his own path, walking with his arms wide, brushing the golden tops of the grasses, leaving a yellow cloud in his wake.

“Reverend, we don’t know anything about this planet,” Nick said. “It would be better to stay close and not touch anything.”

“God is great,” Reverend said.

“Yes,” Nick said. “And he’ll still be great if you walk a little closer to me.”

Reverend smiled, and drifted closer. “Dr. Paulson, you have opened my eyes. You are an instrument of God.”

“How’s that?” Nick asked.

“Without you, my people would have fought the Inhumans to the last man, woman, and child. I knew we could not win. Every time God’s flock began to grow, the Inhumans culled the herd, and we were fewer. There were too many of them, and too few of us. That is why I thought God’s fire in the sky—the asteroid—was our last hope. If God did not help us, we would be exterminated. But it made no sense to me. I kept asking myself, why would God bring us to this primitive land, only to let us be eaten by the beasts and murdered by Satan’s two-legged demons? Thanks to you, I have an answer—this world. This virgin land is why we were brought back in time. This is where God meant us to go. I must bring my people here.”

“Reverend, you’re judging this ecosystem too quickly. Every plant here may be poisonous. What about bacteria and viruses? You could be wiped out by disease even quicker than starvation. What about water?”

“Trust God,” Reverend said. “Why would God prepare a world for us that we could not survive in?”

Nick ignored the circular argument, knowing nothing he could say would cut through Reverend’s self-assurance.

“Jeanette!” Carson yelled again, running toward the figures that had now spotted them and were waving their arms.

“Stop! Carson, stop!” Nick called.

Carson’s keen sense of survival read the danger in Nick’s tone.

“There’s something coming through the grass,” Nick said.

Reverend and Carson pulled their pistols simultaneously, Carson backing toward Nick and Reverend.

“I don’t see anything,” Carson said, still backing up.

“There!” Nick shouted.

Carson saw the movement in the grass, walking sideways now, pistol pointed. “What the hell?” Carson said, firing a shot into the grass.

At the sound, a dozen animals launched into the sky, flying away like giant bats, settling back into the grass a mile away. Carson tracked them with his pistol, making sure none flew toward him. Then he swept the grass again, aiming the pistol at every real and imagined movement.

“I saw something,” Carson said.

“What?” Nick asked.

“Something that could eat us,” Carson said.

Carson finished backing up, and then the three men stood back to back to back, forming a triangle, watching for movement in the grass.

“Here it comes,” Reverend said.

A hidden creature was leaving a wake as it raced toward the group. Carson fired again, a few more flying animals taking to the skies. Whatever was coming deviated, circling—now spiraling in. Nick saw a head pop up over the grass, and then just as quickly drop back down. It looked feline, with huge square jaws.

“It’s a lion,” Reverend said calmly.

“Not a lion,” Nick said, but had no idea what else to call it.

From the running women, Nick heard a musical call.

“Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti,” one of the women sang out.

Watching for the approaching creature, Nick, Carson, and Reverend ignored the inexplicable singing.

“There!” Carson yelled.

Nick had already seen it. The lion creature appeared above the grass and then ducked back down again. Carson fired his pistol three times, then clicked on an empty cylinder.

“Reload,” Reverend said.

Carson fumbled with his pistol, releasing the cylinder and trying to knock out the empty brass.

“Get ready,” Nick said.

Reverend stood coolly in his black suit and sunglasses, arm extended, pistol steady in his hand. “Movement,” Reverend said calmly.

Nick saw nothing until the lion leapt high, bounding toward them, clearing the grass, then disappearing in it, only to reappear again. Nick held his fire, the kangaroo attack made the animal impossible to hit. Reverend held his fire too. Given the animal’s size, the pistols seemed pitifully inadequate. With seconds left, Nick aimed where he thought the lion thing would land just before it leapt on Nick, and gently squeezed the trigger. Before he could fire, velociraptors ran past, one passing between Nick and Reverend, brushing their legs.

“Raptors!” Carson yelled, dropping shells as he did, then snapping the cylinder back into place only half loaded, and then waving the gun back and forth, trying to pick out a target among the velociraptors as they disappeared into the grass.

The velociraptors tore into the lion, the hidden battle taking place in the tall grass. Snarling, snapping animals tangled, velociraptors bouncing above the grass tops seemingly randomly, but always coming down with legs extended, claws dripping pink fluid.

“Don’t shoot!” the women yelled, coming fast with long leaps.

Recognizing one of the voices, Nick turned, shocked. Elizabeth was the woman with Jeanette. Arms wide, Nick caught her in a hungry embrace and then kissed her. Jeanette ran to Carson, Nick shocked to see she carried a velociraptor in a backpack like a mother would a baby. Gun still extended, Carson turned to her and then nearly jumped out of his skin when the velociraptor on her back leaned over her shoulder, sniffing at Carson.

Pointing his gun at the velociraptor, Carson said, “You’ve got a raptor on your back.”

“They’re our raptors,” Jeanette said, breathless, pushing the gun away.

“Ours?” Carson asked, confused. “They’re eggs.”

“They were eggs. You’ve been gone for months.”

“Months? What? They hatched?”

Now looking at Nick, Carson shut his mouth, turning back to the fight in the grass. Seconds later, the lion creature jumped high and then ran away with great leaps, pink blood dribbling down its sides.

“What are you doing here?” Nick asked, now angry with her.

“Looking for you, you liar,” Elizabeth said, gasping for breath. “You said no more fieldwork.”

“It was an accident,” Nick explained.

“Later,” Elizabeth said, turning Nick and pointing back at the hill. “We need to get out of here.”

Silhouetted on the hill were four of the lion creatures.

“Let’s get the ladies to safety,” Reverend said, seeing the lions.

The velociraptors appeared one at a time, flopping down, licking wounds. The one in Jeanette’s pack
awk
ed at the others, struggling to get free. Carson pointed his pistol at each arriving velociraptor, Jeanette having to reassure him over and over to keep Carson from shooting them. Elizabeth shrugged off her pack and pulled out a plastic bag of dog food, pouring a pile in front of each of the resting velociraptors. Then she took a cup, pouring water into it and offering it to each velociraptor.

“We don’t want them to become hunters,” Elizabeth explained.

“Elizabeth, what are you talking about?” Nick asked. “They are hunters!”

“These are pets,” Elizabeth said, still wheezing.

Jeanette circulated, checking the condition of each velociraptor, the predators tolerating her attentions, some nuzzling her. Repressing a fountain of questions, Nick let the women work. While they tended to the velociraptors, Nick watched the creatures on the hill, the sun quite low, the lions now nothing more than black forms. They had not moved.

“They killed Sally,” Jeanette said, turning to Carson, tears starting to fall.

“The raptors killed Sally?” Carson said, hand dropping to his pistol.

“No, the lions killed Sally,” Jeanette said. “Up on the hill.”

“What?” Carson said. “Why did you bring Sally?”

Bursting into tears, Jeanette wiped her eyes, turning away from Carson. The velociraptors stopped their eating, all eyes on Carson, who had upset Jeanette.

“Sorry, Jeanette, I didn’t mean anything,” Carson said, aware of all the predators watching him.

Finished with the raptors, Elizabeth put her pack back on, then comforted Jeanette. Wiping her eyes with bare hands, Jeanette composed herself.

“Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti,” Jeanette sang, the velociraptors jumping to their feet.

“That’s what she calls them,” Elizabeth explained to Nick. “The one in the pack is Do.”

“Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,” Reverend said.

“Who are you?” Elizabeth asked.

“I’m called Reverend,” the man said, introducing himself. “I am pastor of a lost flock of sheep who are only now finding our way to the land God has prepared for us.”

“Why are you wearing a suit?” Jeanette asked.

“As I said, I’m a pastor,” Reverend said, as if that explained it.

“Let’s go,” Carson said, pulling Jeanette’s arm.

With a lunge, the velociraptor named Do snapped at Carson, and then hissed.

“No, no,” Jeanette said, scolding the velociraptor. “He’s your daddy.”

“Don’t say that, Jeanette,” Carson said, nodding toward Nick. “Dr. Paulson of the OSS might believe you.”

“Oh,” Jeanette said, now looking guilty.

Weapons ready, the group walked through the grass back toward the opening, Carson leading the way, setting a brisk pace.

“This is a good look for you,” Nick said to Elizabeth.

Suddenly aware of her bare midriff and accentuated breasts, Elizabeth untied her blouse, letting it fall. “It was hot,” she said, her breathing close to normal now. “And stop looking at Jeanette.”

Nick did not bother to protest. He was guilty of checking Jeanette out. Even with dirt smudges on her face, her hair unkempt, Jeanette looked like a
Playboy
centerfold with a few more clothes.

“Oh no,” Elizabeth said.

Nick turned to see what Elizabeth saw. The lions on the hill were coming, four shapes leaping through the grass.

“We gave you your kitten!” Jeanette shouted.

“Run!” Carson yelled, grabbing Jeanette’s arm and yanking on it until Do snapped at him.

“Wait!” Nick called, stopping Carson. “We’d never make it.”

“Re, Me, Fa, So, La, Ti,” Jeanette sang.

Without more instruction, the velociraptors ran to the front, facing the onrushing lion creatures. Clearly exhausted, and injured, the velociraptors took positions between the humans and the attackers, ready to fight for the humans. Nick was stunned but grateful.

“There are too many,” Jeanette said, rifle ready.

Jeanette and Elizabeth stood shoulder to shoulder, taking aim. Reverend and Nick stood on either side, pistols in hand. Behind them, Carson paced, unsure of whether to fight with the others or run. Then behind came a cacophony, like a symphony orchestra tuning up. The group turned to see Inhumans running through the grass, waving spears and fanning out. Fifty of them spread across the fields, continuing their earsplitting shouting. The lions stopped their charge, standing tall in the grass on bony legs, studying the mob. Then, one by one, retreating up and over the distant hill.

It was now getting dark, and the Inhumans formed two columns on either side of the humans, escorting them back to the dark shadow on a slope that was the passage back, and then letting the humans pass through first. On the other side, Nick discovered it was dawn. Passing through the hut, he led Elizabeth outside, and then looked at the sky.

“What are you looking for?” Elizabeth asked.

“The comet,” Nick said. Taking Elizabeth’s hand, Nick led Elizabeth through the village and up the hill to where the pyramid had erupted. That was the clearest view of the sky.

“What comet?” Elizabeth asked.

“That one,” Nick said, shocked at how much closer it was.

The comet was the size of the moon.