The Lost Level (10 page)

Both opponents rose slowly, circling one another. The dinosaur
roared but sounded weaker than it had before, and it was bleeding from dozens
of wounds. It was limping, and as its backside turned toward us, I saw why. A
broken tree trunk jutted from its rump. Blood welled around the shaft, running
down the beast’s leg. The Tyrannosaurus shook its head, as if trying to clear
its vision, spraying foamy saliva all around.

The robot whirred and chugged, and a terrible grating sound came
from somewhere deep inside of it. Then, black smoke began to seep from between
its joints. It lurched forward unsteadily and then took a faltering step toward
the panting, weakened Tyrannosaurus. Despite its wounds, the dinosaur grunted
in defiance and planted its feet firmly in the mud. Its tail swept back and
forth, smashing through the undergrowth. The damaged robot plodded closer
toward it, but then a bright gout of flame erupted from the joints around its
leg, followed by more black smoke. A second later, the light in its eyes went
out, and it collapsed. The ground trembled once more at the impact. Tree limbs
and leaves fell all around us. Rocks tumbled down the hill.

Suspecting that an explosion might follow, I motioned at my
companions to get down, but they ignored me, mesmerized by the spectacle and
carnage below. The dinosaur crept cautiously toward its fallen opponent, but
the wind shifted, blowing the acrid smoke directly into the Tyrannosaurus’
face. Grunting, it turned away from the robot, lowered its head, and began to
lick its wounds. It growled in frustration, unable to reach the broken length
of tree stuck in its back. More blood flowed from around the edges of the
trunk.

“We should leave,” I whispered. “It’s distracted right now.
Injured.”

“But to reach my home,” Kasheena replied, “we must cross down
into the valley below. To go around the valley will add at least an extra sleep
to our journey and take us into regions even more dangerous than the one we
travel through.”

I wondered what could be more dangerous than a giant killer robot
and an angry, wounded Tyrannosaurus Rex, but it didn’t seem like the most
opportune moment to ask. Kasheena motioned at Bloop and me to follow her. Then,
while the dinosaur was still facing away from us and focused on its injuries,
she began crawling backward on her hands and knees, away from the edge of the cliff.
Bloop and I did the same, but at that moment, the wind shifted again. Heat
billowed up out of the ravine, along with a cloud of acrid, oily smoke.
Bothersome as it was at our location, I can only imagine how much more intense
it was for the dinosaur. The injured creature turned toward the slope, and
roared with surprise upon seeing us.

Despite its wounds, the Tyrannosaurus charged, loping toward us
with clear intent. The glare in its eyes reminded me uncomfortably of the
Anunnaki we had faced earlier. They’d had that same cold, soulless look. I
imagined it was the same expression in a shark’s eyes, right before they
attacked. Horrified, I realized that I’d become distracted, almost mesmerized
by the terror rushing toward me. It was no longer limping. Perhaps shock or
anger—or both—had enabled it to ignore its pain. Heedless of its injuries, it
was clear that the dinosaur had only one thing in mind—devouring us.

With a cry, Bloop scrambled up a nearby tree, using his tail to
clutch both of his swords and all four of his limbs to climb, and scaling it
with a speed that belied his size. Kasheena followed him, but when it became
clear that she wasn’t as agile as our furry companion, Bloop lowered his tail
like a rope, dropped the swords, and encircled her waist. Kasheena gave a
short, surprised squawk as he bore her up onto a limb. The two of them
positioned themselves and then urged me to follow. I glanced back to the
dinosaur and was dismayed to see that it had already clawed its way up the
cliff. The monstrous head was already even with the ground, and I was only a
few yards away from those snapping jaws, close enough that I could see the
drool dripping from its massive teeth. The creature’s breath was foul—a hot,
staggering miasma of rotten meat and that same reptilian musk that had clung to
the Anunnaki. I quickly calculated that the beast would reach us before I could
climb the tree. Furthermore, I was almost certain that even though it was
injured, the enraged dinosaur could almost certainly topple our shelter.

Instead of running, I pulled the .45, remembering that I had six
bullets left. I stood my ground, with my feet shoulder–width apart, and raised
the weapon, grasping it firmly with both hands. Then, with that car–sized head
only yards away from me, I took a deep breath, exhaled, and then squeezed the
trigger. The gun bucked in my hands, but my shot was true. The dinosaur’s
rheumy left eye exploded in a shower of wet pulp and dribbled down its snout
and splattered over me and the nearby trees. The beast’s anguished cry was
terrible, washing over me like a physical force and drowning out the echoes of
the gunshot. It snorted once, swiveling its head to look at me with its one
remaining eye. I gritted my teeth, lining up a second shot and hoping my luck
would repeat itself, when, with a shudder, the creature slipped back down the
cliff before I could fire. The beast landed at the bottom, near the smoking,
red–hot remains of its former foe, sending a great cloud of dirt and debris
swirling up into the air. The tree trunk now jutted from its chest, driven
through the monster by the fall. The Tyrannosaurus breathed a few more times
and then was still.

“Holy shit!” I stood there gaping, shaking from the adrenaline
coursing through my veins. The wet remains of its eye dripped from my hair and
chin.

Kasheena cheered and Bloop made excited hooting noises as they
clambered down out of the tree. Grinning, I approached the edge with caution
and peered down into the canyon again. Immediately, another blast of heat
bathed my face. I had time for only one brief glimpse before it became too
intense to bear, but in that quick moment, I noticed two things. The first was
that the robot’s wrecked remains were glowing, lit by some raging internal
fire, and almost seemed to be turning liquid, as if it were melting. The second
thing I noticed was a fissure in the earth. I don’t know if it was caused by
the intense heat or perhaps the dinosaur’s final plunge, but inside that crack
I saw something shiny. Squinting, I peered closer. It was part of an
underground metal structure. Of that much, I was sure. Perhaps a tunnel or a
bunker, partially exposed to the surface during the ferocity of the battle.
Then, I caught a whiff of singed hair, realized that it was mine, and had to step
back from the edge.

Kasheena and Bloop approached me. I noticed that Bloop had
retrieved his weapons. Both of my companions were overjoyed and impressed by
how I’d dispatched the Tyrannosaurus. Bloop slapped me on the back, nearly
knocking the wind out of me with one of his sword hilts. He leaped up and down
in joy, and I patted his back, returning the gesture. When Kasheena hugged me,
her bare nipples rubbed against my chest like perfectly round stones. She didn’t
seem aware of it, and I certainly didn’t mind. But when I felt myself begin to
stiffen in response, I gently disengaged from her, blushing. She cocked her
head and gave me a puzzled smile.

“Sorry,” I murmured.

“You are a strange one, Aaron Pace.”

“Yeah, I’ve been hearing that my entire life.”

“Do you not like the touch of another? Or perhaps you prefer the
touch of other men? If so, it is okay. My uncle was—”

“No,” I interrupted, stammering. “I like your touch…I mean the
touch of women…just fine. Not that there’s anything wrong with the other, either.
I just…you took me by surprise is all. Where I come from, most women don’t…at
least the women I know don’t…I’m not doing a good job of explaining things, am
I?”

“You do not like me? You have another woman?”

“No! I like you very much, and I don’t have another woman. I just…I
need to catch my breath, okay? After all, I just killed a Tyrannosaurus Rex.”

“So, now you believe in the dragon,” she said. “Now you see.”

“I believe I just shot something that was extinct in my world
millions of years ago. Beyond that, I don’t know what to think. My head is
spinning. Like I said, I just need to catch my breath.”

She nodded. “We will make camp beyond the other side of the
valley. Then, you can tell me of the women in your world.”

Smiling, I holstered my .45. “That sounds good. I’d like that.
And you can tell me more of your world.”

“Come. We will have to find another way down. This area is too
hot.”

As she led us away, I tried to catch another glimpse of that
strange underground structure, but the area below was obscured in smoke. Waves
of intense heat wafted against my face. It felt like I’d stuck my head in an
oven. I smelled roasting meat, and my mouth watered, making me forget all about
the nasty Slukick I’d eaten earlier. As my stomach grumbled, I realized that
the delicious aroma belonged to the dinosaur, no doubt cooking below due to its
close proximity to the robot. I resolved to keep that in mind if I was ever
lucky enough to kill one again. Roasted dinosaur flesh seemed much more
appetizing than raw Slukick.

Then I did my best to wipe the gore from my head and face and
considered that luck would indeed be involved if I ever killed another.

WE FOLLOWED
THE CLIFF’S EDGE
, walking until the heat and smoke faded. As I’ve said,
it is hard to tell time here accurately, but I would guess that after another
half hour we came to a place where we could climb down. A cove of massive trees
resembling the Redwoods of my world clung perilously close to the precipice,
and some of their thick roots dangled over the side, forming a natural network
of ropes for us to use in our descent. The roots were sticky with some sort of
odd sap, and I was worried that—much like most of the things I had so far
encountered here—the secretion might be dangerous, but Kasheena assured me it
was not. Indeed, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it had a pine–like
aroma, a nice change after smelling dinosaur shit and burning metal for so
long. She told me that her people used the sap for a number of different applications,
including, I was amused to learn, a form of primitive cologne.

Once we reached the bottom of the canyon, our trek across the
valley floor was uneventful. The air was noticeably warmer, due to the close
proximity of the fire, but not intolerable. Bloop took the lead, again.
Kasheena followed him. A few Slukicks chattered in the tree limbs far over our
heads, but none of us bothered to shoot at any of them. As I brought up the
rear, I kept glancing in the direction of the robot, expecting a blast of
extreme heat or clouds of smoke to round the bend and reach us at any moment,
or to see flames racing toward us. Thankfully, none did.

I was still concerned about the robot, though. It had been
melting from within. What if it started a fire? Then, it occurred to me that
perhaps the robot had been nuclear–powered. If so, there was the potential for
a much worse environmental disaster than just a forest fire. But neither
Kasheena nor Bloop had seemed concerned.

“That robot was melting,” I said, finally.

“You mean the metal giant?” Kasheena asked.

“Yes. In my world, they are called robots. They’re
machines—artificial constructs. Just like the airplanes I mentioned earlier.” I
couldn’t tell from her expression whether she understood me or not, so I pressed
on. “The robot was burning from the inside and melting. I can’t help but wonder
if we should have done something about that. What if it starts a fire or
something? We’re in the middle of a forest. That’s a bad spot to be if a fire
breaks out.”

“It will rain soon,” Kasheena said. “So, even if a fire should
start, the rains will extinguish it.”

I glanced up at the clear sky. “How do you know it will rain
soon?”

“Do you see that moss?” She pointed to a cluster of blue–tinged
moss growing on a nearby boulder. “Normally, it is red. Its coloration changes
to that shade of blue when rain is certain. That is another reason why we must
find shelter soon.”

“Interesting,” I murmured, and stopped to inspect the moss. “Some
sort of chemical reaction, maybe? In response to the humidity or change in
barometric pressure?”

I was trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about, but
the truth was, I knew absolutely nothing about meteorology or botany. Even if I
had, I soon realized that neither of my companions were impressed by my
scientific method. I was still bent over, studying the moss, when Kasheena and
Bloop hurried me along.

“The morning our paths crossed,” I said as we continued on, “I
thought I heard thunder. But no rain followed it, and there were no clouds in the
sky. Does that happen often?”

Kasheena nodded. “My people have heard it before, too, but we do
not know what causes it or why.”

“I’m still concerned that robot may have been nuclear powered.”

“I do not know what that means.”

“Well, it’s a type of energy. In truth, I’d do a bad job of
explaining it properly, but it is definitely something to be worried about.”

“You worry too much about what is behind, Aaron. Instead, worry
about what is ahead.”

There was a small footpath on the other side of the valley. It
wound up through boulders and crevices and crooked trees. As we began our
ascent up the trail, I asked Kasheena about the strange metal structure I’d
spotted beneath the valley floor, but she had no knowledge of what it could be.

“There are caves below the surface,” she said, “and many
different tribes live in them, along with other things—creatures it is better
not to speak of. And as I mentioned before, there are some who believe the
Anunnaki live beneath the ground, as well. But I have never heard of a cave
fashioned from metal. Perhaps it was related to the giant who fought the
dragon. Perhaps the giant lived there.”