by Frank Cereo
Huey goes back to the camp fire and wraps and ties a blanket around a three foot piece of bamboo. He sticks the blanket into to the smothering fire trying to catch the blanket on fire. He blows into the fire trying to stoke the embers as the blanket begins to smolder. Meanwhile the Fearasaurus has reached the cave entrance and begins taking swipes at Huey whom is just out of reach. The large predator knows this will be an easy snack if it can only get to these small creatures.
“Watch it Huey.” Amanda yells from the rear of the cave.
Huey can hear the sharp razor thump scratching on the bedrock floor of the cave. It makes an eerie sound like that of fingernails scratching on a chalk board. Huey continues to blow on the embers as the smoldering blanket finally ignites. Huey runs to the back of the cave where he drops the manmade torch to the bottom of the cavern. The torch lights up the entire cave below as he looks around to make sure the coast is clear.
“Go Amanda climb down as quickly as possible.” Huey yells to Amanda as he looks back and sees the Fearasaurus starting to climb the wall into the cave.
The large dinosaur is using its powerful back legs and claws to climb. The large and strong front forearms help the Fearasaurus as it makes its way inside the cave. The large razor thumbs are being used like anchors in the rock as the Fearasaurus slams them into the rock.
Amanda slides down by wrapping her legs around the rope while using a blanket to protect her hands. When she reaches the bottom Stephanie starts her descent into the cavern. Amanda picks the torch up off of the cavern floor as it makes a brighter light for her and Stephanie.
“Come on Steph, you have to move faster. That bastard is almost in the cave.” Huey says as he begins to panic.
As Huey looked back he could see the Fearasaurus’ hind legs were almost up to the cave floor. The large carnivore was drooling for the meal to come. Its teeth were grinding as its left leg landed on the cave floor.
Meanwhile Stephanie was climbing down the rope the old fashion way, hands over hand concept.
“Steph slide down the rope now. I don’t have much time.” Huey yells down to Stephanie.
“I’m going as fast as I can.” Stephanie responds.
“Well that’s not fast enough.” Huey replies as he checks on the Fearasaurus.
The large dinosaur has now landed its right leg on the cave floor. As it leans forward to fit inside the cave, the large carnivore starts to move towards Huey. The Fearasaurus cannot run due to the confined space but it starts taking large enough steps that it will reach Huey on the fourth step.
With Stephanie only three quarters of the way down Huey lies down on his belly and maneuvers through the hole in the wall. Feet first he goes into the hole as he keeps an eye on the large predator that is moving dangerously close at ten feet away. Huey can feel the rope with his legs as he grasps the rope between both feet. The Fearasaurus is now within striking distance as Huey slides his midsection through the hole. Then the Fearasaurus attacks Huey who is only half way through the hole. Huey knows he only has one chance for survival and he takes that chance. He pushes off the rock with his arms right through the hole just as the Fearasaurus opens its mouth to bite into Huey. The Fearasaurus just misses as Huey can feel the breeze from the motion and also some saliva that lands on his face. As Huey falls through the hole the guns fall from his possession and on to the cavern floor. Both girls jump out of the way as the guns hit just to their left. Meanwhile Huey is free falling to the floor as he makes a last ditch effort to grab the rope. The rope burns his hand as he slows to a stop halfway down. Huey sits there and looks up through the hole.
“Huey don’t look up. He can’t get us down here. The hole is too small. So just finish climbing down.” Amanda yells up at him.
Huey starts to climb down when all of a sudden the rope starts to move upwards towards the ceiling.
“You have got to be kidding me. I thought Fearasaurus had a large brain for figuring out problems, but not this smart.” Huey says as he starts to slide down the rope.
Huey reaches the end of the rope but its ten feet from the ground and it keeps moving upward. Huey knows he has to let go now to have any kind of a chance for survival. So he lets go of the rope and drops eleven feet to the ground. When Huey hits he drops and rolls to help cushion the fall but he still turns his ankle on impact. Huey lies on the ground and grabs his ankle in pain as both girls come to his aid.
“That was a close one, are you alright?” Stephanie asks.
“I just turned my ankle. Please help me up.” Huey says.
Both girls put their hands out to help Huey to his feet. Huey hobbles a little bit as he tries to loosen the sore ankle. Then the unexpected occurs as the Fearasaurus starts to smash the rocks to open the hole wider. With every hit rocks fall from the opening and the opening grows with every hit.
“We have to move. One thing I can say is that dinosaur is persistent.” Huey says.
The three move down the northern corridor towards the time machine. The torch is burning low but the glowing minerals have taken the light and were giving off light in the direction of the time machine. They could hear the humming sound getting louder as they neared the ship. In the background they could still also hear the Fearasaurus banging against the rocks.
“All we can do is move forward. There is no turning back.” Amanda says as she is a little out of breath.
“Man, that creature can make a lot of noise.” Stephanie says referring to the Fearasaurus smashing the rock wall.
“I would worry more when the banging sounds stop.” Huey says.
As they walked at a slow pace with Huey hobbling along, they crept a little over half way to the time machine. Then the banging stopped and the ground began to vibrate.
“Guess who has broken through and is probably headed in our direction?” Huey says as he turns to look behind him.
Just as Huey gets a glimpse of the large predator he runs right into the back of Stephanie and Amanda.
“Why have you stopped? Move it the Fearasaurus is right on our tail.” Huey says nervously.
“Because that large snake says we can’t go any further.” Amanda responds.
As Huey turns to the front, he sees a large anaconda coiled with the head standing ten feet straight up. The large green and yellow snake is hissing with poisonous venom dripping from both foot long fangs. This snake was three times the size of the one that tried to eat Jennifer.
“Move to the wall slowly. Let’s get the titan’s to fight each other.” Huey whispers in the girls ears.
The girls moved first as Huey followed them. When they hit the wall, Stephanie faced the wall trying not to see what was to come while Amanda and Huey had their backs against the wall. When the Fearasaurus arrived the large anaconda changed its focus toward the large reptile. As it turned its head to face the Fearasaurus it slowly uncoiled itself. The anaconda moved towards the large carnivore with it teeth still dripping its poisonous venom. The Fearasaurus let out a ferocious roar that basically told the anaconda that he was standing his ground. As the snake passed the three crew members to confront Fearasaurus, Huey tapped the girls on the shoulder and pointed north down the tunnel.
“Go,” Huey whispers in the girl’s ears.
They pick up their pace and run down the tunnel. The fight begins between the two large reptiles. Huey looks back as he fights to push forward. The noise begins to build as the two predators battle for supremacy. The girls reach the time machine first as they go underneath to the closed hatch. While Amanda turns and spins the handle Stephanie crouches right behind her.
“Hurry, I want to get inside as fast as I can.” Stephanie screams with fright.
“I’m going as fast as I can.” Amanda replies. “Where is Huey?”
“I can see his feet. He is just arriving at the rear of the ship.” Stephanie answers.
Huey was running backwards when he hits the back of the time machine. He is totally engrossed as the anaconda strikes at the Fearasaurus. Time an
d time again the snake keeps lunging at the large lizard until he hits it. The anaconda strikes the Fearasaurus right in the neck. The Fearasaurus staggers backwards from the poisonous venom as it penetrates its nervous system and the large reptile falls to the ground. The anaconda positions itself to crush its prey and eat it. This will be a very big meal for the snake to ingest, but it will try.
“Come on Huey, Amanda is already in the ship and I’m climbing the ladder now.” Stephanie yells.
“I’m coming.” Huey says as he passes under the ship.
Huey climbs the ladder and takes one last look as the anaconda wraps itself around the Fearasaurus. Huey closes the hatch behind him and turns the handle and locks the hatch from the inside.
“The next stop is home.” Huey says with a big smile on his face.
Chapter 23 – The Journey Home
The three remaining survivors of the space craft Evolution who have been trapped for four months on Earth during the Cretaceous Period finally have a chance to go home. Huey, the paleontologist got to live his dream of seeing dinosaurs in the flesh. Stephanie, the geologist, got to see rock formations of the past that no one in her field had ever done. Amanda, the doctor, got to discover new species not yet discovered in Earth’s history. It was like going on safari without any guides or protection. The expedition cost the lives of six crew members that would be sadly missed.
The three sat in their assigned positions in a triangle shape aboard the time machine. Huey sat in the front with Stephanie to his left and Amanda to his right. Each person had their tasks that were assigned during re-entry back to Earth’s current time. So Amanda set the date into the computer database.
“January 26, 2264.” Amanda says aloud as she types the date on the keyboard.
“No Amanda we need to enter the date we were returning back from Jupiter.” Stephanie replies.
“I think we need to enter a date before we left.” Huey adds.
“Won’t that put us back into our bodies before we launch for Jupiter.” Amanda responds.
“Hypothetically if we jump through time we should remain separated from our real selves until time catches up to us.” Huey says.
“Well what is it, before we depart or when we are to return from Jupiter.” Amanda says with a nervous voice.
“You know as much as I do when it comes to this machine. The only living person that survived the trip back in time was Captain Bridges and he is deader than dead.” Huey adds.
“The only way of knowing what’s going to happen is pick a time before we were born and see what happens. So pick a time just before the eldest of us was born to see what happens.”Stephanie says.
“I think that sounds logical.” Huey says.
Huey took a quick look at his watch as the alarm starts beeping.
“Why do you have an alarm set on your watch?” Amanda asks with a puzzled look.
“You know when you asked how pretty the meteorite looked this morning with the tail and sparkles.” Huey says.
“Yes,” Stephanie and Amanda respond simultaneously.
“Well today is the day the dinosaurs die and if we don’t get our act together we will go with them. My timer gives me an idea of an impact time. If it’s above us were dead instantaneously but if its somewhere else we have a few more minutes for the pulse wave to reach here.” Huey explains.
“How bad of an explosion are we looking at?” Stephanie asks.
“It will be thousands of times greater than a nuclear bomb.” Huey says
“What are we waiting for? Just enter a date in the twentieth century.” Stephanie says.
Amanda just enters a date out of the blue that is in the twentieth century. At that point a large vibration is felt inside the tunnel and the time machine begins to shake.
“We haven’t even pushed the travel button yet and were vibrating like this.” Amanda says.
“That’s not the time machine it’s the meteorite and it has hit. Push the button now.” Huey says.
As Amanda pushes the ignition key, the shock wave is in progress and moving towards them. The large engines in the rear of the ship begin to rev and the turbines begin turning. The noise inside the time machine is deafening. The power boost level is building as the ship prepares to travel in a hyperspace warp. The time machine continues to shake as the Earth above ground is being devastated from the planet-destroying meteorite. The power reaches the half way point in sixty seconds as the lights turn on for every percentage point of power built up inside the engine. Huey is the first to hook his safety harness as Stephanie and Amanda follow suit.
“When do we go,” Stephanie yells.
“I have to presume we need one hundred percent power to launch.” Amanda yells back over the loud engines.
The power boost reaches sixty-two percent as the ship begins shaking uncontrollably and Stephanie begins to panic. She unhooks her safety harness and starts to run for the hatch. Before she reaches the hatch Huey tackles her on the steel decking. The impact from the hit cuts Stephanie’s arm and knocks her out cold as her head hits like a ton of bricks on the galvanized steel deck.
“Get her into her seat. We are at eighty-eight percent power.” Amanda yells.
Huey drags her by her arms and throws her into her seat. The power boost is now at ninety-two percent and building as he looks at Amanda. Her face is a blur due to the ship shaking in a rapid motion. Huey pulls the safety harness over Stephanie’s shoulder and hooks her in. The power boost increases to ninety-seven percent when Huey is finished with Stephanie. Huey turns and plops himself into his seat as the power boost reaches ninety-nine percent. With a last desperate reach Huey grabs his harness from over his head and pulls it down and into the clasp just as the power boost turns red. At that point, the loud engine revving goes silent and the ship pushes forward with such a force that it pins all three crew members against their seats. With no windows, nothing can be seen, but the momentum feels like the ship is moving at ten G’s.
“Look at the calendar.” Amanda says to Huey.
It shows fifty-seven millions years BC as it rapidly picks up speed. Every thirty seconds they are traveling one million years in the future. With the clock moving forward it figures to be a thirty minute ride.
“Do you think we will land in Montana?” Amanda asks Huey.
“We should. That is how they got to us by knowing where the gun was found. I have to presume we will still be in Montana.” Huey replies.
The ship begins to slow down as the clock turns to 1900. The clicks slowly move one year every second until it stops at May 15, 1943. Stephanie remains knocked out and fast asleep in her seat.
“Shall we see what the twentieth century is like?” Amanda asks.
“Sure thing! What about Steph?” Huey replies.
“Let her be.” Amanda responds.
Both Huey and Amanda unclasp their safety harnesses. They move towards the hatch with curiosity to Montana during a simpler time. Huey unlocked and spun the hatch open. As the hatch dropped down it was dark outside. It was quiet and nothing could be heard. Huey was the first to exit the ship thinking he was still inside the tunnel. He climbed down the two step ladder and felt a cool breeze against his face. Huey walked out from the bottom of the time traveler to see what was out there. It was hard for his eyes to adjust because the only light was coming from the open hatch. Amanda exited the ship next as she slowly came down the ladder. She noticed Huey off to the side as she crouched under the ship and stood by his side.
“Where are we?” Amanda says in soft voice.
“No clue. Let’s looks around.” Huey adds.
With Stephanie still sleeping, they left her a note to stand by and wait for their return. They closed the hatch to avoid the light from shinning. They walked in an eastern direction looking for people.
“Something tells me were not in Montana anymore.” Amanda says.
“What makes you say that?” Huey says.
“No mountains.” Amanda answers.
“Let’s check it out.” Huey asks.
The sky was dark with clouds. There was no moon or stars to help illuminate the ground. Just before they reached a fence Amanda tripped over something large on the ground. She falls on her and she gets up she is totally soaked and wet.
“Are you alright?” Huey asks.
“I’m fine, just a little wet.” Amanda responds.
They climb under the fence and make their way to the house. The house is an old unpainted wooden home. It looks very drab as they take the first step onto the porch. The wood creaks as they proceed to the second step.
“Halt,” a male voice says from inside the house.
“Hello, we are just trying to get directions” Huey responds.
“Amerikaner” the male voice says with a German accent.
“Why yes.” Huey says just before a gunshot fires right through the door.
The shot rips right through Huey’s right hand as the gun jams. Both Amanda and Huey turn and run in the same direction they came from. The door to the house opens just as Huey and Amanda dive under the three log wooden fence.
“Halt!” The male voice yells wearing a gray Nazi uniform
But both Huey and Amanda run at full speed as Huey held his right hand carefully inside his shirt with his left hand. You can see the blood begin to turn Huey’s shirt red as the blood infiltrates the white material.
“I thought we were in Montana, not Germany during the middle of World War II.” Huey says to Amanda.
“We need to get the hell out of here immediately.” Amanda responds.
You could hear the German soldier yelling something in the back- ground as he tries to un-jam his gun. Then there is the sound of a diesel engine starting up.
“I hope we are running in the right direction.” Amanda says to Huey as she starts becoming winded from the run.
“Turn left at this tree.” Huey says to Amanda.