by Logan Jacobs
“The CO wants to meet us,” I said. “So, come down.”
“But--” Becka started to protest.
“It was either the meeting or a shootout,” I replied. “And I’m pretty sure the shootout would have been a no-win for both of us.”
Becka started to say something else, but Hae-won grabbed an arm and started to pull her back along the roof. A few minutes later, the pair appeared in the door, and after looking uncertainly at the military vehicles, slowly crossed the parking lot toward me and the bikes.
“Jason,” Becka said, “are you sure about this?”
“I like our odds of getting out alive a lot better,” I admitted. “Let’s just hear what this guy has to say, and then we can leave.”
“You with the motorbikes,” the lieutenant boomed through the mic on top of the carrier. “It’s time to leave.”
I nodded to the girls, and we climbed back onto the motorbikes. The lead carrier drove across the parking lot, and the driver in the next carrier signalled for me to fall in behind. I did, though I felt a twinge of reluctance. I was sure I’d made the right choice, though I didn’t like the idea of driving into some sort of military encampment. Who knew what type of protection they might have thrown up, and I wondered if one of Hae-won’s many mysterious skills including crawling under barbed wire.
We pulled back onto Broadway and turned east, through the heart of Yaxley. Despite the smoke near the London Road, the town itself seemed almost unscathed. There was none of the destruction we had seen near the exit ramp, and the storefronts we passed were largely intact. We passed a small square where a group of people were cutting up the remains of a large dinosaur, and they turned and waved to our convoy as we drove by.
Just past Yaxley, we crossed a set of railroad tracks and passed a large park. We passed through an even smaller town that looked like one of those places that are always the setting for a murder mystery on the BBC, and crossed over a major highway and into the much larger town of Peterborough. We were in an area of nice homes, probably filled with nice middle-class families. There were a few signs of life here, including a child’s ball in a yard and a dog that barked at us from an upstairs window.
We left the residential area and cut across a nice patch of grass to bump onto another highway. This led into the industrial part of the city, filled with small factories, hardware stores, and a movie theater. We took another shortcut off the highway, this time across a small road and the backlot of a recycling facility, before we turned onto Fengate Road and followed it along a long curve past a food store, a shoe store, and a building supplies store to the front gate of the Peterborough Power Station.
It was hard to miss the military presence at the station. The simple guard shack and gate that stood behind the office section of the station was useless now, since the army had set up its more substantial guard house and gate right along the main road. Fencing had gone up around the entire area, and I spotted three guard towers as well. I was starting to doubt whether I should have agreed to this, but a quick look over my shoulder showed that the last two carriers had us boxed in, and I knew any escape we attempted at that point would be messy if not deadly.
The lead vehicle stopped by the sandbagged guard station and the driver had a long conversation with the soldiers on duty. Eventually, salutes were exchanged and the tall metal gate with barbed wire rolled back. The carrier in front of us rolled forward, and as we followed in its wake, the guards in the station watched us pass by with their own weapons at the ready.
The power station itself wasn’t much to look at, aside from the strange architecture. There was a simple one-story building just in front of us that had to be the offices, and even featured a welcome sign that assured us that the good people of Centrica Energy were happy to see us. Just behind the one story office building were two, large square towers topped with the bottom half of an a-line roof and a steel smokestack. Beyond that were two more smokestacks, a large, windowless building that looked vaguely like an arena, and finally, at the back, another large box shaped building with an array of pipes leading into the arena.
It was all a bit strange looking, though I’m sure anyone familiar with the science of power production would have been able to identify all the various pieces and explain the purpose of all the weird shapes. There were a few scorch marks on one of the smokestacks that looked like the result of a Difo attack, but otherwise, the place looked pristine. The air, however, carried a hint of rotten eggs and something that I could only describe as chemicals. I couldn’t see anyone else other than the soldiers who nudged us to the offices, though there was a steady hum that meant the plant was still running.
“Well, so much for avoiding the power plant,” Becka said as we switched off the bikes.
“Maybe we should have stayed on the London Road,” Hae-won sighed.
“I don’t know,” I replied as I looked around. “I suspect they would have tracked us down no matter which road we took.”
The soldiers poured out of the carriers again, and though they didn’t point their weapons at us, they kept their rifles ready. The lieutenant emerged last from the second vehicle and marched toward the door to the offices. He stopped when he realized that the three of us were still standing by the bikes and waved us over.
“In here,” the lieutenant ordered as he marched past a soldier holding the door.
The lieutenant marched through a small reception area, currently manned by a bored female soldier, and led us into a small maze of cubicles and offices. He stopped at the door to a corner office, and after politely knocking, stepped inside. When we didn’t follow him right away, he scowled and pointed to the floor next to him, like we were dogs he was calling to heel. I felt myself bristle at his attitude, and would have happily plopped into one of the cubicle chairs instead, but the soldiers who had followed us from the parking lot nudged us inside.
We found ourselves in a pleasant space filled with sunlight, ferns, and a desk crowded with several computers and screens. There were two guest chairs in front of the desk, an ancient filing cabinet collecting dust pushed against one wall, and a man with dark hair and a full mustache ensconced in the only comfortable looking chair in the room, behind the desk.
No one said anything for several moments as we waited for the man behind the desk to acknowledge our arrival. It was hard to judge his height as he sat in the chair and studied something on one of the screens, but he had a trim figure and dark skin that hinted at an African ancestor. I put him in his early fifties, which would match with the rank insignia on his uniform. He was a brigadier, though I couldn’t decide if that was good news or bad news for us.
“These are the thieves you found in Yaxley?” the brigadier said without looking at us.
“Yes, sir,” the lieutenant replied.
“Here, we’re not thieves,” Becka protested at the same moment.
The brigadier finally looked at us, and cocked his head at Becka.
“You were found with military equipment,” he said. “And motorbikes that belong to the Cambridge police. Are you going to tell me that you’re soldiers assigned to the police? Or police who have been drafted to help the military?”
Becka scowled and shook her head.
“No, I didn’t think so,” the brigadier noted.
“None of it was stolen,” I said. “I mean, it was, I guess, but we didn’t hurt anyone or kill anyone. We found a military position that had been overrun and the guns were still in one of the armored carriers. The bikes we found abandoned in an alley.”
“Why did you take them?” the brigadier demanded.
“We needed them to survive,” I said. “There were too many dinosaurs on the campus for us to keep stabbing them with whatever we could find. And then the dinosaurs kept getting bigger and faster. A Pterodactyl showed up and started roosting on the library. We couldn’t even cross the quad without worrying about what kind of dinosaur might show up and try to eat us. That’s why we have the armor.”
I don’t know why I had said so much, but the tension I had felt during the showdown was giving way to frustration. I could understand the military’s perspective, and yes, technically, we had stolen the gear. But we’d only taken what we needed to survive, and I wouldn’t second guess our choices now.
“Don’t forget the Difo,” Becka added when the brigadier only raised an eyebrow. “That thing spits acid.”
“We’ve run into a few of those,” I agreed. “And we wouldn’t have survived without the guns.”
“And all the raptors we’ve seen,” Hae-won said. “Like the one that grabbed your ankle, and the ones that followed us on our way here.”
“You were followed here?” the brigadier demanded as he looked at the lieutenant.
“We killed them,” I said. “Because we had the guns.”
The brigadier absorbed that for a moment, and then nodded toward the other soldiers in the room.
“Go ahead and take some tea,” the brigadier said. “We’re still waiting for word from the other patrol.”
“Sir,” the lieutenant started to protest, “They’re armed.”
“It’s fine, Lieutenant Stafford,” the brigadier replied. “Post a guard outside if you must, but I’d rather settle this now than have to play gaoler on top of everything else.”
Stafford shot us a dark look, but he motioned to the other soldiers. The small group left the office and the door closed softly behind them. It was quiet again after they left, and the brigadier turned to study the computer screen again while the three of us stood in front of the desk, uncertain what to do next.
“You might as well sit,” the brigadier finally said. “There’s some folding chairs behind that filing cabinet.”
While the girls took the guest chairs, I walked over to the filing cabinet and saw a pair of folding chairs tucked in between the side of the cabinet and the wall. I pulled one out, returned to the desk, and set up next to the girls.
“I really should hold you until the proper authorities can deal with you,” the brigadier said as I sat down. “But I’ve got my hands rather full at the moment, and I don’t know if there is such a thing as ‘proper’ authorities anymore.”
“We saw reports that the military was being assigned to protect things like power plants and cell phone towers,” I replied. “I guess you’re here to protect this station.”
The brigadier nodded and studied us for a moment.
“I don’t know your names,” the brigadier noted.
“I’m Jason, and these are my fellow students, Becka and Hae-won,” I replied.
“Students?” the brigadier chuckled. “I thought the campus was shut for the Easter holiday when all this started.”
“It was,” Becka agreed. “But we all stayed.”
“A week isn’t long enough to go home and then come back,” Hae-won added. “It was easier to stay.”
“Right. So, the three of you were running around the campus, fighting off dinosaurs were you?” the brigadier asked.
“We were,” I agreed. “Brigadier?”
“Brigadier Walston,” the man replied. “Tell me about the dinosaurs you’ve encountered so far.”
“All of them?” Becka asked. “There have been a lot.”
“I’m curious to compare what you’ve seen with what we’ve seen,” he explained. “We’ve been trying to track this information.”
“Ah, yes,” Hae-won agreed. “We saw that they were trying to work out patterns. We tried to do that as well.”
“Well,” I said. “The first dinos we encountered were in the library. They ate the librarian before we even knew what was going on. We finally killed them by toppling some of the bookcases on top of them.”
“And then we made those spears,” Becka added. “Which weren’t that great, but at least we managed to kill that next dino.”
“Don’t forget all the ones in the quad,” Hae-won added.
“One at a time,” the brigadier said as he held up a hand. “Let’s start with the library. And don’t forget to describe the dinosaurs as well.”
So I told our story, with input from the girls. I described every dinosaur we had encountered and how we had defended ourselves. I explained our search for supplies, and how that had led us across the campus and into the city itself. I described the search for contraceptives as simply a need for medicines, which led Becka into a long description of our hunt for tetanus shots. We didn’t mention Timothy, though we did talk about the tow truck and how useful it had been. Hae-won was more than happy to talk about finding the motorbikes and how we’d only taken three, and left the rest. And at the end, I explained how we had decided to head north, to find Becka’s mum and maybe find someplace safer than Cambridge was at the moment.
When we finished, Walston appeared lost in thought, and he tapped a pen against the top of his desk for several minutes. I glanced at the girls, but they both shrugged, and I wondered if the brigadier had even heard our entire story. Admittedly, as I was telling it, I realized that in normal times our tale would sound outlandish, but these were far from normal times as the army well knew.
“Quite an interesting mix of dinosaurs you’ve encountered,” Walston finally said. “We’ve had some of the same ones around here, but there have been others as well. I’d like you to sit down with one of my men and describe each of the dinosaurs again. That way we’ll have a permanent record.”
“Are we under arrest?” I asked since I wasn’t at all sure whether hanging around the power plant to talk to someone about dinosaurs was voluntary. I also wanted to know what had happened to our bikes and our gear, and whether we’d be allowed to reclaim it for our trip north.
“That is the question, isn’t it,” the brigadier mused. “I’ll admit, I’m impressed with what you three have accomplished so far. Even if only half of it is true, you’ve done quite well for yourselves.”
“It’s all true,” Becka insisted.
“We have been fierce,” Hae-won declared. “We are a strong family.”
Walson smiled for just a moment, before he turned his serious face on us. My father has a similar look he uses when dealing with stubborn clients, or a son who has somehow managed to embarrass the family name.
“As you heard me mention earlier, I’d prefer not to waste time corralling criminals while I still have a power plant to protect from roaming dinosaurs,” Walston began. “But, perhaps there’s a way you can earn your stripes, as they say.”
“I think we’ve already done that,” Becka muttered.
“And now you get to do it for me,” Walston replied.
“Doing what?” I asked as I pictured the three of us being dragged into the power station and being put to work doing… something.
“As you know, the government has put a priority on protecting certain infrastructures,” Walston said. “My men and I were tasked with keeping this station running, down to the last man. We’ve done a fair job of it, though I’ve lost some good soldiers along the way.”
We all nodded and took a moment of silence to acknowledge the loss.
“That being said, my soldiers are not engineers,” Walson continued. “We’ve learned to do some of the basics necessary to keep the plant running from the staff that were here, but what we really need is the chief engineer.”
“Who’s he?” Becka asked.
“A man named Brills,” Walston replied. “Knows this place better than anyone. The thing is, he and a large number of the staff went to a nearby town called Coates on the day this all started. They were there for a conference, which I’d probably think is a right term for ‘getting sloshed at the pub,’ and then they were going to stay the night and have a retirement party for one of the floor managers. A skeleton crew of mostly junior members of the staff were left behind, and that’s all I’ve had to work with since we arrived.”
“You weren’t able to reach them by phone?” I asked.
“In the early days, the staff here were able to make some calls,” Walston s
aid. “But we haven’t been able to reach anyone from the team in some time. I sent two soldiers to Coates to at least get a report, but they never returned.”
“Why not send more soldiers in one of those big trucks?” Becka asked.
“I don’t have enough men right now,” Walston replied. “The patrol you encountered today was the first one I’ve sent out in days, and it was only a scouting mission to track down a dinosaur we spotted yesterday.”
“Still, if this Brills is that important,” Hae-won said.
“I happen to agree with you,” Walston admitted. “But HQ does not. I’ve been told not to waste any more time on the search for Brills and to work with the staff I have. But my job would be much easier, and I could free up more soldiers for hunting dinosaurs, if I could find Brills and some of the others.”
“So what are you proposing?” I asked.
Walston rubbed his forehand with the tips of his fingers while he closed his eyes. He seemed to weigh what he was about to stay, and then opened his eyes to study us.
“I can’t believe I’m even about to suggest this,” he said. “I’ve been hoping the government would send me James Bond, but it seems I’ll have to make do with John McClane.”
“Who is John McClane?” Hae-won asked in confusion.
“Die Hard,” I replied.
“Oh, yes, I know that movie,” the Korean replied. “But, he did what the police could not.”
“Mmm, yes, he did,” Walston mused. “Survived against the odds, even.”
“You want us to hunt dinosaurs for you?” Becka asked.
“No,” I guessed. “He wants us to go to Coates and find Brills.”
“Exactly,” Walston agreed.
“Well, that sounds easy enough,” Becka replied. “It’s not that far, right?”
“It isn’t,” Walston said. “But, as I mentioned, we don’t have any real idea of what’s going on around there. I haven’t received any information from the government, and we haven’t had any word from anyone in the town itself.”
“There could be many dinosaurs there, then,” Hae-won noted.
“Could be,” Walston said. “But I can’t afford to send any more soldiers to find out.”