Dinosaur World 8

by Jacobs, Logan

  He flung it into the air, and the device illuminated the dark doorway below us. Then we hurried down past various signs with information about the Hadron Collider, and we made our way past a rope barrier that was supposed to separate tour groups.

  I noticed a “staff only” door to our right and strode over to pull it open. Then I jumped as Mateo suddenly appeared, and he skidded to a halt like he had been running.

  “Sorry,” the engineer panted. “I thought I heard something collapse on top of the building. Is everything okay?”

  “Okay might be a strong word,” I said. “But we’ve got the dinos away from here for now.”

  “Is it ready?” Hae-won asked. “Did the reset and new part work?”

  I almost didn’t want to hear the answer. I couldn’t take another failed attempt. There couldn’t be much time left for Earth, and if we had to wait much longer, then our entire mission could be ruined.

  I felt my stomach tighten as I watched the engineer’s face.

  “It’s ready,” Mateo said with a huge grin.

  “Holy shit,” Hae-won breathed. “It’s…”

  “It’s time to travel into space,” I finished for her, and my own grin spread wide.

  Chapter 13

  “You’re sure?” Kat asked the engineer. “We can use it now?”

  “I’ll need to check that Arnie hasn’t spotted anything faulty.” Mateo nodded. “But it seems like we’ll be good to go.”

  “Finally,” Becka said. “I can’t believe this could all be over soon. No more dino fighting. No more blood-soaked clothes and running around trying to blow stuff up in the head.”

  “Aww,” Hae-won said. “Blowing stuff up in the head is fun sometimes.”

  “You would love the spaceship cannons,” Kat said. “You need to try them out--”

  “Ladies,” I interrupted. “Let’s walk while we talk. If we don’t move quickly, then we’ll be the ones getting our heads blown up with cannons.”

  There was a sudden, electronic wailing noise that seemed to come from Leo, and I jumped back as the guy sounded like he was about to explode.

  “The fuck is that?” Kat barked.

  Leo held up one finger as he hastily unzipped the top of his flight suit, and he pulled the map screen from a pocket.

  “How did that fit in there?” Becka asked.

  “Pocket,” Leo replied flatly, and he’d clearly decided he didn’t need to explain any further.

  The alien scowled down at the map screen and hit a few buttons until the alarm sound stopped, but I didn’t like the sound of that noise, and I figured it must have something to do with the fleets.

  “What does that mean?” I asked, and my blood ran cold as Leo shared a silent glance with Adhara.

  “No,” the beautiful alien breathed.

  “The fleet are here,” Leo confirmed. “They have arrived in this solar plane.”

  “Fuck,” I growled. “How long does that give us?”

  “Maybe an hour,” Adhara whispered. “It will not be any longer than that for them to reach Earth’s orbit.”

  Adrenaline and panic kicked in at the same time, and my whole body felt numb.

  We only had one hour to save the world.

  It wasn’t much time, but it would have to do.

  “Let’s go,” I said, and my throat felt dry. “There is literally no time to waste.”

  “This way,” Mateo said as he gestured for us to come through the staff door. “It’s the fastest route.”

  We followed the engineer into the staff room, and he ran into another dimly-lit corridor. It wasn’t decorated with photos and information like the tour halls were, and there was only enough room for us to hurry along in a single file line.

  There was a metal staircase at the end of the corridor, and it led down into a well-lit tunnel area with a few computers and an enormous, curved pipe which was painted blue.

  Arnie was hunched over one of the computers, and he typed furiously as he squinted down at the screen. He still had the hilt of his fire sword attached to his belt, and he quickly looked up as our footsteps rang out around the room.

  “Oh, thank goodness!” the older man gasped. “I was quite worried for a while there! How did it go outside?”

  “Well enough,” I panted as I came to a stop beside the blue pipe.

  There was a low hum that echoed through the room, and Becka gasped as she stared at the machine in front of us.

  “Is that it?” the blonde Brit asked excitedly. “The Hadron Collider?”

  “Sure is!” Arnie called. “Welcome.”

  It was way bigger than I was expecting, and it felt weird to be finally standing next to the thing that had basically caused the whole dinosaur apocalypse. I ran a hand over the cold, blue metal, and the massive tube vibrated under my palm.

  I shivered a bit as I realized I was right in the middle of making history.

  “We’re finally here,” Hae-won whispered as she touched the blue metal. “This is what created this whole mess.”

  “And it’s now going to help put an end to it.” I nodded. “It better work quickly. The clock’s ticking.”

  “Alright,” Arnie said. “It should be all set in just a few moments, I’m only running one final test to make sure it’s one hundred percent ready to go. I don’t want to give you any more false alarms.”

  “I can’t believe we’re here,” Kat muttered. “This is really happening. Holy shit, we’re going into space.”

  “Are you only just realizing that?” Becka laughed. “That’s been the plan for a while, sweetie.”

  “I know,” the soldier said. “But so many things have gotten in the way. It just felt like we were never actually going to reach the finish line.”

  “Don’t you guys need equipment to tweak this thing so it can teleport us to the mothership?” I asked as I turned to Leo and Adhara.

  “I have equipment.” Leo tapped his chest pocket, and I raised an eyebrow as I looked at the flat material against his skin.

  “Uhhh, it doesn’t look like there’s anything in that pocket,” I said.

  “It is flat packed,” Leo replied as he wrinkled his forehead. “So it can be in clothing. Humans do not have this?”

  “Just assume we don’t have anything useful,” I sighed. “How long will it take to set up the trip?”

  “Only a few minutes,” Adhara said and began to pace back and forth. “Then we will be on board mothership. Having the ship inside this solar plane already is not ideal, but it will help us now. More chance of the travel working fast.”

  “At least that’s one upside,” Becka muttered. “I can’t fucking handle this stress of a countdown.”

  “One step at a time,” I said. “We need to stay focused.”

  “Should we plan what we are going to say?” Hae-won asked. “What are we even going to do? Are we just going to track down Adhara’s parents and show off our bellies?”

  “I don’t see what else we can do,” I replied. “If they really won’t accept anything other than visual proof, then actions are better than words.”

  “How big is the ship?” Kat asked as Arnie typed furiously beside her. “Will it be easy to navigate around?”

  “I have not been on this one,” Adhara replied. “Our motherships are very big, though. It is not like our scout ships. There will be many floors and rooms.”

  “Crap,” Becka sighed. “What if someone catches us before we can get to them?”

  “My parents will not harm me,” Adhara said firmly. “I will not let them harm my family also.”

  “What do we do whilst you’re away?” Mateo asked. “Just sit here and hope you manage to save the world in time?”

  “I guess so,” I said. “I would definitely stay down here, it’s probably the safest place you guys can be right now.”

  “Arnie has his sword,” Becka pointed out. “You guys are sorted.”

  “Hilda must be going mad over at the dome,” Mateo mumbled. “Maybe I should
go over there and--”

  “No,” I refused. “I know the herd has scattered for now, but they might get brave and come back. All it takes is one to notice you, and you’ll be dead before the world gets saved.”

  “Just a couple more minutes,” Arnie muttered as he clicked the mouse, and the Hadron Collider hummed a low note beside us.

  I felt like I couldn’t keep still, and I started to pace up and down the room as I tried to picture the way our plan would play out.

  Best-case scenario was that we found Adhara’s parents quickly, and they immediately believed our story. They would call off the fleets without any questions and then zap all the dinos back into their world.

  We would be free to live our lives together, without fear.

  I had almost forgotten what it felt like to wake up in the morning without the sound of roars in the distance.

  Of course, there were a few worse-case scenarios, too. There was still a chance we wouldn’t make it in time. Any second now, the alien fleet could descend into Earth’s atmosphere and unleash hell upon us.

  Or we could make it on board the ship, and Adhara’s parents still wouldn’t believe us.

  “Will the black hole thing definitely work?” Becka asked. “Have you done it before?”

  “Black holes?” Mateo stared at us with a severely furrowed brow. “You can’t be serious. It is entirely impossible to--”

  “You know nothing,” Leo flatly informed the engineer.

  “But--” Mateo started to argue, but he clamped his mouth shut as Leo turned to face him head on.

  “I wouldn’t argue with Leo,” Becka whispered out of the side of her mouth.

  The buff alien man crossed his arms and stared down his lilac-colored nose at the engineer with narrowed eyes. He didn’t say a word for several seconds, and Mateo slowly shrank back as the moments passed.

  “I know infinite more than you,” Leo stated at last.

  “Yes, of course,” Mateo instantly agreed.

  “Do not interrupt with primitive questions,” the alien demanded. “I do not like it.”

  “Understood.” The engineer promptly nodded, and he straightened his glasses without another word.

  Leo kept his eyes locked on the man for another silent moment, but then he gestured for us to continue our conversation.

  “Yes, the black holes will work,” Adhara assured me. “This will not be a problem.”

  “Do we jump through it?” Kat asked as she tilted her head to the side. “How do we actually use them to travel?”

  “There is no jumping,” Adhara said and shook her head. “We just need to be holding onto equipment when the time is right.”

  Leo unzipped his chest pocket and pulled out a flat, silver pouch. Then he shook it, and as it suddenly started to expand before our eyes, the alien set the pouch down on the floor.

  Mateo gasped as it quickly quadrupled in size.

  The pouch kept growing until it sat at about two feet long, and Leo crouched down to unzip the bag.

  “Bloody hell,” Arnie whispered from the computer. “It really is astonishing how little humans have achieved, isn’t it?”

  “At least we have this.” I shrugged as I gestured to the Hadron Collider, but Arnie couldn’t take his eyes off the silver bag.

  Leo began taking out various items, and Adhara knelt beside him as they spoke quickly in their native tongue. They examined the items closely and set them on the floor carefully, and I got on my knees beside them to have a look.

  As expected, everything looked highly futuristic and shiny, and I tentatively held up a long, thin rod made of a glistening pearl-colored metal.

  “You know how to use these?” Leo asked, and I smiled at his impressed tone.

  “I’m afraid that part is up to you guys,” I said as I put the rod back down. “How are we looking, Arnie?”

  The old scientist clicked several things on his screen before he replied. Then he turned to us as he stroked his beard, and his pale blue eyes were open wide.

  “I think it’s time,” he said, and a chill ran down my spine.

  I got to my feet and looked over at the girls.

  Becka had her hands clutched to her belly, and she swayed gently from side to side. Her deep-brown eyes were fixed on Arnie, and a determined scowl was plastered on her face.

  Hae-won was perfectly still, and she had her hands resting on her sharp gun as she looked over at the Hadron Collider.

  Kat had her arms folded tight across her chest, and she glanced at me with half a smile.

  I got the impression they were all feeling the same sickening combination of nerves and adrenaline as I was. Everything we had fought for came down to this moment. The trip to Ravenscar, and then to Jeju Island. Every dino fight we nearly didn’t escape. Each night we’d huddled together as close as we could be.

  It had been a hell of a ride, and we had gotten through all of it as a family.

  It was all to get us into the basement at CERN, next to one of the biggest scientific achievements mankind had ever made.

  Then out into fucking space.

  “Let’s do this,” I said. “Everyone ready to save the planet?”

  “Fuck yes,” Adhara said, and the group erupted into laughter at her serious and perfect pronunciation.

  “What do you need from us?” Mateo asked. “I’m not very well-versed in my alien travel science, I’m afraid.”

  “You have done all you need,” Leo said with an approving nod. “We will do travel from here.”

  “Is it okay if we stay and watch?” Arnie asked eagerly. “Even if the world does end, I would like to take in as much of this alien technology as I can. It’s simply fascinating.”

  “You can stay.” Adhara nodded. “When we finish saving of the world, you can have as much of our tools as you want. To say thank you.”

  The old scientist smiled almost deliriously and rubbed his hands together as he stepped back from his computer.

  “What do you want us to do?” I asked the two aliens. “Do we just stand next to you and wait?”

  “I can’t believe we’re going to see a black hole,” Becka squealed. “This is going to be so cool, do they look like the portals?”

  Adhara and Leo stared at the blonde blankly, and then Adhara shook her head.

  “You will not see it,” Adhara replied. “It is very small. Too small for human eye.”

  “Oh,” Becka said as her shoulders slumped. “That’s no fun.”

  “But you will see the tear,” Adhara continued. “Tear is much like the portals. This, you will pass through.”

  “Okay,” Kat said. “So we see the actual portal-tear thing, but the black hole just helps to create it?”

  “This is correct.” Leo nodded, and the soldier looked pleased with herself.

  “A quantum black hole?” Mateo asked. “You’re going to use that? I can’t believe this. Maybe when all this is over we can get some alien staff down here?”

  Adhara smiled as she walked over to the thick blue pipe and held out a device which was about the size of a smartphone. It had a small screen with characters I didn’t understand, and a low beep echoed from it every few seconds.

  Leo picked up the pearlescent rod and stood next to Adhara as they watched her screen.

  “So, how does it even work?” I asked. “How do you just make a black hole?”

  “It’s all about the particles produced when protons collide,” Arnie said excitedly. “I cannot believe I’m here for this!”

  “Protons, particles, got it,” Becka said as she twirled a strand of hair. “How long will it take?”

  “We need to help by sending this interference signal into the collider,” Adhara explained as she waved the hand-held device. “This is what will guarantee the black holes to appear.”

  I glanced at Arnie who was rocking back and forth on his feet, and I just knew he was dying to have a go at the alien science equipment.

  The small device continued to beep, and the alie
ns talked quietly to each other for a minute.

  “Some assistance may be needed,” Leo said. “To know when particle collisions will occur.”

  “You can control this, yes?” Adhara asked Arnie, and the scientist nodded.

  “Absolutely,” he replied. “Why don’t I show you the sequence required on the computer, it really is quite simple. I assure you, it is nothing compared to your own technology.”

  Leo strode over to the computer, and Arnie pointed at a graph on the screen.

  “When you wish the collision to happen,” he explained, “you simply click here to release the particles, and you’ll hear a change in the sound.”

  The low hum in the tunnel became a higher note, and it echoed around the walls as the Hadron Collider vibrated.

  Leo checked the screen of his device and nodded.

  “This can track the exact moment of collision,” the alien said. “So we know when to bring black hole out of machine.”

  “Right out here?” Hae-won’s blue eyes widened.

  “Yes, good spot to travel,” Adhara replied.

  “That’s safe?” Becka checked as she eyed the area. “Just… putting a fucking black hole in the middle of the room?”

  Leo sighed and leveled the blonde Brit with a stern look that was easy to read by now.

  “Yeah, fine,” Becka muttered. “Primitive question. I get it.”

  “I feel like I’m in an episode of Doctor Who,” Kat said. “Six year old me would be losing her mind.”

  “Aww,” Becka pouted. “You little nerd. Good thing you grew up to be hot.”

  “This is incredible,” Mateo muttered as he leaned over to see Leo’s device. “I’ve been an engineer my whole adult life, and everything I’ve ever worked on is crap compared to this stuff.”

  There was a distant rumble aboveground, and I hoped the dinosaurs hadn’t started to come back already. Surely we had scared them enough to leave the building alone for a while?

  I glanced at Mateo and Arnie, and I suddenly felt uneasy leaving them in the building.

  Arnie had the fire sword, but that wouldn’t be much use if a herd descended upon the research center.

  I was about to ask if they wanted to stay in the ships, when there was a rattle upstairs. We all grabbed our sharp guns instinctively, and I took a step toward the staircase.