“You’ll all get a chance to sample the rides and see the attractions later,” Tim said. “For now, please follow me.”
The giddy reporters skipped behind Tim like a group of school children, oohing and aahing, bouncing and gesturing animatedly towards the dizzying multitude of rides and attractions. Mary tried to capture everything on her cameras, but there was just too much to film. They passed a Pterosaur Flight of Terror ride that had pictures of people flying through canyons as reptilian birds with sharp teeth chased them. There was an attraction leading to an underground grotto called Grizzly Grubs and a ride called Meateaters, but the word meat had been scratched out and the word Man was written above it in blood. Tim led the group to a towering shiny black box in a clearing, circled by tiered wooden benches.
“Take a seat,” Tim said, motioning to the benches. “This is bulletproof switchable glass. When you run a current through it, it turns opaque, black, just like now. All seated?” He asked, waiting a few more moments. “That’s fantastic, good. Eyes on the switchable glass Ladies and Gentlemen. Let me just turn off the current and… presto!” He said, pointing at the glass box with double-barrelled fingers.
The glass turned transparent, revealing a large doorless mud hut at the edge of a sandy pen. A man dressed in a Park Ranger costume stood on a gantry platform above the enclosure, where he dangled a leafy branch, which was shaking, making the leaves rustle.
“This is our newest attraction,” Tim said. “She’s only young and new to all this, so please, no flash photography, remember that. Meet our resident draconyx, or Bella as we’ve decided to call her. She’s a cutey.”
A honking sound emanated from the hut. The ranger rustled the branch more vigorously. Mary leaned forwards as a long neck emerged from darkness. The creature had a beak-like mouth at the end of a protracted snout. Its leathery green skin looked like a cracked and dry riverbed. As it moved further into the light, Mary noticed bluish stripes on its sides. She tried to spot the point where the mechanical creature was wired in or where the battery compartment was located. It was much more realistic than the animatronic dinosaurs she’d seen so far.
“Where is it?” She said. “What d’you run on?”
Now fully in the light, the robot yawned and ambled towards the shaking branch. It reared up on its hind legs, took the branch in its mouth and pounded back to the ground, stripping the branch bare. The Ranger dangled a second branch off the gantry.
Still searching the robot’s body for a control hatch, Mary blinked as a bright flash bounced off the glass. A reporter was crouched low to the ground, twisting his camera as he changed between portrait and landscape framing.
“Oi,” Tim called, running towards the man. “Stop that!”
Mary stood up as a second reporter raced forwards and began snapping away. The animatronic dinosaur’s eyes rolled. It reared up and let out a squeal that Mary was convinced sounded like panic.
“Is that thing real?” She said. “How the… time travel? No way. Did they… have they… have they actually done it?”
The creature thundered to the ground, lowered its head and charged at the glass. It crashed into the pane with force. The glass turned black as security guards raced from the trees and hauled the two reporters away. The angered animal continued to honk and hiss behind the glass, which pounded and shook.
“Show’s over for you two,” Tim growled. “Stupid people. These creatures are timid. Just ‘cause she eats leaves doesn’t mean she won’t hurt you. Why are there so many idiots in the world!”
Tim turned to the seated reporters as a barrage of questions fired his way. Mary sat down and examined the footage she’d captured. Hands shaking, she kept rewinding the part where the animal reared up and stripped the leaves from the branch. It was incredible. She could see its ribs rising and falling as it breathed. It was alive! Her skin prickled with exhilaration and she felt her mouth sag once more. She realized immediately, this facility was going to rock the world and the foundations of science. She and the reporters were witnessing the dawning of a new age. It appeared Aaditya Bashar had genuinely discovered a means to travel back in time and return. The possibilities the technology presented were immense.
“Follow me, please,” Tim said as the questions continued. “The show’s just beginning, folks. You’ll get your answers in time. Let’s move on for now.”
Tim led the group to a train cart on a monorail. Mary played the footage of the dinosaur over and over again as the train weaved through the forest before heading up and into the mountain. She tried to send the footage to her boss, but hard as she tried, couldn’t get any reception.
“Must be jamming us,” she grumbled.
She looked up as the cart jerked to a stop in a darkened room that twinkled as though full of stars. Mary chose her footing carefully as she stepped from the train and into the darkness. She felt like, one wrong move and she’d tumble over the edge of an invisible cliff into eternity. She knelt down and brushed a hand across the smooth floor.
“Must be some kind of marble. Sparkly marble.”
Tim directed the group to a wall of dimly lit red cushioned chairs, like those in the cinema, positioned on different levels. Once everyone was seated, he resumed the show.
“Settle down now,” Tim said. “Please, give a warm welcome to my colleague, our resident genius, the Starman himself, Dr. Aaditya Bashar!”
Rapturous applause echoed through the chamber, which must have been massive to create such a booming sound. When the applause subsided, the deep sound continued to echo. This only added to the feeling that Mary was peering into the yawning expanse of eternity.
She stared into the darkness, waiting for Dr. Bashar to appear. A wave of excited murmurs moved through the reporters. Suddenly, there was an explosive bang and what little light there had been died. Mary screamed and clutched the arm of the person next to her. Beams of light sprung from the ceiling and floor. They projected a holographic image that floated in mid-air. The sparkling floor made it look like the structure was floating in outer space. Four solar wings stretched from a central ring-shaped construction, so large it had compartments with windows, like the International Space Station. Copper colored tubes wound around parts of the structure. On the inside of the main ring, prongs faced inwards. A clopping sound echoed through the chamber. A spotlight cracked on and illuminated a figure, walking across the starry floor.
“Good morning,” the man said. “I’m Dr. Bashar. Thanks for joining us today, and welcome to our facility. Who wants to know what this hologram is?”
The audience went nuts. Aaditya stood chuckling, his silver hair shining in the spotlight.
“We thought you’d like it. This,” he said, projecting his voice over the noise, “is a time portal. Six years ago we had a breakthrough. We discovered that by using a special blend of nuclear fusion technology, we could create star portals. Activate the portal, please.”
The prongs on the rotating hologram fired inwards. The resulting pink and blue flash sent out a pulse of blinding light. When Mary’s eyes readjusted she sat forwards and stared in awe. Inside the ring structure was a slowly rotating golden sun.
“These are live images,” Dr. Bashar continued. “This isn’t CGI. Our star is half a mile in diameter and too ferocious to house on Earth, so we built it in space, enclosed behind an invisible dampening field so it’s light and gravity doesn’t alter Earth’s ecological cycles. It’s positioned one-hundred thousand miles above our heads. It’s a gateway to a time one hundred and forty-eight million years ago. Its sister gate sits in the past, where she holds open a wormhole through time, which can be crossed back and forth as easily as using a tunnel through a mountain.”
The hologram disappeared and the spotlight illuminating Dr. Bashar shut off. Gasps rippled through the audience. Mary resisted the urge to grab the person next to her for a second time. A grouping of spotlights further into the chamber cracked on. Below them, a craft sat in a pool of light. It looked like a cro
ss between a cargo plane and a high-tech military Stealth fighter. It was completely black and as far as Mary could see, had no rivets or panel joints anywhere across its skin, which appeared almost organic, like the skin of a whale. It had no windows either. Not even at the front where she imagined the pilot would sit.
“The F44 starjet,” Dr. Bashar’s voice boomed through the darkness as the craft lifted up and silently hovered towards the audience. “The first re-useable ground to space craft ever built. Her fuel source? Fresh water.” The hovering craft swivelled and a ramp lowered from its underside at the back. “Her cargo? Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s time to meet the Jurassic Five.”
* * * * * *
Ash sucked in a lungful of air. He shook his arms and bounced on the spot. He was dreading being presented to the reporters for the first time since the accident. He knew he didn’t have to speak, simply wave and walk up a ramp into the starjet, but still, tingling adrenaline pumped through his body. It felt like he’d drunk a billion cups of coffee, strong enough to dissolve a spoon.
Everything had been so manic since his arrival at the facility, he’d barely had a chance to meet the other competition winners. He’d bumped into an American boy and a Brazilian girl in the corridors of the flight preparations complex, but there hadn’t been time to chat at length. He vaguely remembered the American boy was called Harper. That was about it. Throughout the days of preparations, he’d fully expected someone to pop their head around the corner and announce they’d made a mistake, that they’d awarded the prize to the wrong Ashley Cooper.
Ever since that fateful encounter with Fedex on the ninth floor balcony of his housing estate, the twists and turns his life had followed hadn’t seemed real. It was like he’d been cast into an alternate reality, or was watching a film about someone that simply looked and sounded like him. After all, how could any of this be happening to him? Things like this just didn’t happen to Coopers.
But the surreal feeling was fading now he was standing in a room with the other winners, only minutes from launch. Everything was starting to feel disturbingly real and his stomach was twisting into knots. How did the others look so calm? They stood either side of him, wearing identical cream suits, made out of a woven material that was both tough and lightweight. The suits were adorned with embroidered mission patches on their shoulders. It displayed an emblem of the starjet hovering over planet Earth. The emblem was underscored with the words ‘The Jurassic Five.’
“Smile, Mr Cooper,” Greenwall, the pre-flight co-ordinator said. “This is supposed to be fun. It’s a once in a lifetime trip, remember?”
“I know,” Ash said. “It’s just… uh… just starting to hit me. It’s not every day I get blasted into space.”
“Es ist alles gut,” the German girl next to him said. “It’s no worse than the simulator, except when this ride stops we’ll be in paradise.”
“Yeah, hopefully not the dead kind of paradise,” Ash said, eyeing her name tag. “Nice to meet you, Barbara.”
“Babs,” she corrected, smiling warmly, “call me Babs.”
“Okay,” Greenwall bellowed, “huddle in. A few refreshers before your flight. The tops and bottoms of your suits may feel like woven rubber, but they’re made of nano fibres that react according to the principles of non-Newtonian fluids so…”
In a flash the boy to Ash’s right raised his arm and swung it hard into Ash’s back. The moment he connected, Ash’s suit became rigid, like steel. He barely felt the impact at all.
“Very good, Harper,” Greenwall said. “Just because you can resist impact forces doesn’t mean you should. The suit’s useful lifespans are not infinite. The suits are essentially lightweight bullet proof armor. They must be worn at all times when not at the Jura base. I don’t care if they offend your fashion sensibilities. You’re wearing them, end of. No ifs no buts no coconuts. They’re a vital safety precaution. In the confines of basecamp, you can wear your leisure clothes. Do as you wish.”
“Maybe I should have asked for a bigger size,” Ash said, tugging at the material around his neck. In the last few minutes his body seemed to have forgotten how to breathe and he was beginning to wonder if he’d ever be able to do it again. Apparently, everyone thought he was joking.
“Very good, Cooper,” Greenwall said, grinning as the others laughed. “Good humor is important to your success as a team. Having gotten to know you all, I believe you’ll have an amazing adventure and come back as friends for life. Keep an eye on each other. Always remember, you’re a team, not individuals. Any final questions?”
“Come on guys. Hands in the middle,” the Brazilian girl said, holding her flattened hand out in front of the group.
Ash couldn’t see her name tag fully. It started with an M. Her name was on the tip of his tongue. It kept flashing to the front of his mind, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.
“Uh… hashtag, cheesy,” Harper, the American boy, said.
“Uh… hashtag, who brought the hipster to the party,” the boy with two prosthetic legs said, before planting a hand on the Brazilian girl’s.
Ash chuckled and put his hand in, as did the German girl. Harper rolled his eyes and slapped his hand on top.
“One, two, three… Jurassic Five!” The Brazilian girl yelled.
“Jurassic Five!” They all chimed.
“Good. Team work is your friend,” Greenwall said. A look of concentration crossed his face as he pressed a finger to his earpiece. “Gottcha. We’re go for boarding, people. Stand on your platforms and keep your arms in. Remember, have a great time. In a week you can tell me all about it. Maybe someday they’ll let me go myself. Man, I envy you guys.”
* * * * * *
“Please give it up for our first member of the Jurassic Five,” Aaditya boomed. “From Brazil, Marissa Rodriguez. She founded the FeedMe app. It enables users to share food and meals that may have gone to waste, with struggling families in their communities. It started as a local outreach project to help socially vulnerable people, but quickly spread into a global movement. In the fight against malnutrition and food poverty, this hero fights on the front line.”
Mary Ellis stood and clapped with the crowd as a spotlight shone on a platform rising from the floor. A long-haired brunette appeared. She smiled and curtsied.
“Our second champion,” Aaditya said. “Barbara Wielens, originally from Germany, but she now lives in Hawaii. She adapted the technology used by deep space imaging satellites to detect elements in the atmospheres of planets surrounding distant stars. A girl after my own heart. She’s created an incredible, affordable, portable device that shines light through a patient’s finger, enabling doctors to quickly and cheaply detect blood borne pathogens and diseases. It’s now used as a first line of defense against illnesses across the world. She’s already saved millions of lives.”
The cheers became louder as Barbara rose through the floor, waving.
“Thirdly. Struck down by illness at the age of three, Marteen Veenhof from Holland was forced to undergo emergency surgery to save his life. He lost both legs as a result. As a message to us all, that anything is possible, Marteen went on to conquer not only Mount Everest, but K2, which is widely considered to be the most treacherous ascent in the world.”
Mary felt herself becoming emotional as Marteen appeared. He cheered and bounced into the air on his blade attachment prosthetic legs, like the ones used by para-athletes in the Olympics.
“Fourth, Harper Goldman from the United States of America. At the age of seven, he developed an App called Planet Publishare, to allow his friends to swap homemade videos and music. Through the power of social networking, his App not only made him the youngest self-made billionaire in history, but has also launched the careers of innumerable dancers, writers, singers and artists across all genres and disciplines throughout the world. It’s been a true equalizer for the media industry.”
The cheering died ever so slightly as Harper rose through the floor with his back to the crowd. He pla
ced a hand on his hip, turned his upper body and winked cockily. Mary felt awkward just watching and willed proceedings to continue to end her discomfort.
“And, finally, our most recent addition, Ashley Cooper from the United Kingdom. He needs no introduction as his act of heroism is still hot on the lips of the world. Please give it up for, The Hero of Christmas!”
Mary clapped and cheered as Ashley Cooper rose through the floor. The boy was obviously terrified as he tried to stick his hands into pockets on his flight suit, but there were none, so he nervously fumbled to tuck them behind his back. He smiled tensely before raising a hand in thanks.
“The time has come to wish our winners bon voyage,” Dr. Bashar said. “In one week from today, they’ll furnish us with the details of their amazing adventure.” Aaditya turned to the Jurassic Five and waited for the applause to die down. “As you five young pioneers travel into the past, it gives us all hope of a better future. You are the brightest of our stars. You will light the way and guide us always…”
One by one the contestants filtered into the starjet, amidst rapturous applause. A few minutes after boarding, the loading ramp closed and the ship swivelled so that its engines faced the crowd. A crack of light appeared on the far wall of the chamber, which began to peel apart. The starjet’s afterburners glowed blue. Mary couldn’t smell jet fuel, only something similar to rain. The craft edged forwards, then its engines flashed bright, blowing Mary’s hair back. The unbelievable machine raced through the mountain portal and arced upwards, towards the heavens.
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