Sarge rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the huge mostly faded letters that appeared to have been repainted a few times.
“Well now we know why there was never a trace…” he paused and looked at Wes “Which makes me wonder how many other things have been dropped here…and from when.”
“Well if that portal thing has been slipping through time that could explain why so many different dinos are here together.” Wes shrugged “I mean we’re here, and now we find this.” He looked at his friend and shrugged “At least with no openings, all we have to do is worry about those flappers being up there.”
Sarge nodded as he motioned for the rest to join them. At least from the stern, they had a view of most of the surrounding area as they tried to figure out how to get on deck. Wes looked at the ship and shook his head slowly, which drew curious looks from those that knew Wes.
“It’s like this guys, unless there is some sort of time difference like Cassy being dropped here three years ago, but being from…”
There was a noise from above them and as all eyes turned upward, they saw a dozen rifles pointed down at them and one man dressed in an old navy uniform cupping his hands to shout at them.
“You’re all welcome, but you send your weapons up first.”
Sarge started to argue, but Wes laid his hand on Sarge’s arm and nodded no.
“They could have just shot us and come down to get our weapons if they wanted them. They could be wanting to use us for sport…or food…”
“If we run, we get shot, if we stay…what?” Red muttered softly.
The man shouted down “Or you all can just leave, no difference to us.” he chuckled loud enough for them all to hear “Whatever you decide, it’d better be quick, sun’s going down and the night eaters will be out soon.”
They all looked up with puzzled stares.
“The things that prowl in the night, rexes, allosaurus, and the like.” A large box was lowered on a cable from a small winch that was out of sight and Wes nodded.
“Ok, me…uh Red, and Cord go up first.” Missy laid her hand on Wes’s arm, but he patted it and smiled.
“Sarge, if something happens…” Sarge nodded he understood.
“Captain…” Wes shouted up to the man that had been sounding a lot like he was in command.
“Captain’s dead, I’m the first mate…” he grinned “Well, guess that does make me the Captain doesn’t it, we never discussed it. Ok I can see your hesitation, why don’t a couple of you come on up and check us out and then you can decide.”
No sooner had he finished, than a long set of freshly repaired stairs were lowered as the Captain emphatically stated ‘only three’ could come aboard. So up the gangplank Wes, Red, and Cord quickly proceeded, it was indeed getting dark.
The tour was satisfying and now dusk found Wes and the others shouting down it was ok to give up the weapons. Upon doing so they were allowed up the gangplank style stairs that was lowered from the side of the main deck of the Cyclops.
Up top there were many huge cranes and two of them swung out to lower cables for the Quads to be raised to the safety of the deck. Once safely aboard the last of Sarge’s men came up and the gangplank was raised and locked into position to the side of the ship.
There were a million questions, but one particular bit of information had them all forgetting about other questions.
The Captain grinned and told them they had indeed come from the year 1918 and that they had arrived over fifty-seven years ago.
Also that one of their sister ships the Proteus was lying upside down about five miles southeast from them, but they never found survivors.
“Don’t know when they got here, but that damned portal thing looked like it dropped them from about one hundred feet or more. One of the wagons from Boulder found it about twenty years ago, back when the Captain was alive.”
Wes’s head was swimming “Wait…you said fifty years ago you arrived, and twenty years ago for your sister ship…are you all descendants of the crew?”
The Captain laughed “Descendants?” his crew laughed “Hell, we are the crew…well what’s left of us that is. We had two hundred and thirty-one passengers and crew, those of us here now…forty seven, this is our home.”
“The rest?” Missy asked.
“Dead or moved to Boulder. We get a wagon once a month with supplies, steel to keep this tub in shape, and in return we guard the northeastern section of Boulder’s territory. Send out patrols, hunt to help provide meat and hides for their city,” he smiled “and those of us that love this old bucket, get to stay.” He nodded toward a comely redhead standing in the crowd of crew.
“That there is my wife Mazy, she’s from Boulder.”
Mary moved next to the leaders and asked softly “Just how old are you all?”
The Captain grinned “The same age we were when we got here fifty-seven years ago more or less. Mazy over there arrived with some Irish peasants that were swept here over one hundred and twenty years ago.”
“Ireland?” Red asked.
“Ye best be belivin’ it dearie.” Mazy chuckled “Was on my way to the market with a group of farmers, we were. Ran into that portal thing in the fog…landed smack dab in the middle of some Indian village way west of Boulder.
“Indian?”
“They said Sioux.” she grinned “Good thing they were friendly and traded with Boulder…” she laughed and hugged her husband “Found this’un here…” she slapped her husband on his rear “…shopping about some seventy years later, the professor said I seemed to have dropped in the proper time span from when I was taken.”
“I’m confused.” Bryce mumbled.
There were many laughs “Plan on it my friends. I’m assuming that you want to continue on to Boulder like your leader…uh…” the Captain realized that they were in such a hurry to get their group aboard, no introductions had been made.
“Wes.” Missy replied.
“Yeah, Wes…he said that’s where you all were headed. Well when you get there, the professor will talk to you, best wait until you get there for your questions about this portal thing. He seems to have a handle on it, hell I’m a simple sailor, I had no idea of what he was saying or trying to say.” He grinned and patted Wes on the back “Besides he’s from a time closer to yours, I think.”
“What say we go get you some grub in the galley, you all look famished.”
Mary smiled “That’s an understatement Captain.”
“Jeb…call me Jeb.” he sighed sadly “George was our Captain and always will be.” And with that footnote he put his arm around the two men and headed toward the topside hatch.
“Other than that science crap, I’ll bet we have a lot to talk about.”
And talk they did; most of the night they chatted as it seemed there were questions on both sides.
Chapter 16.
Jeb informed them it was safe to walk on deck at night and that the things Cassy called flappers had learned to stay away from the steel superstructure of the overhead cranes and coal chutes or break a wing. Now and then one or two might perch above, but never did they dare dropping down through the many steel columns that could tear their wings, not even for a tasty human morsel.
Wes had said goodnight to Red and the others that had strolled the moon-washed deck. He looked up at the eight huge steel and iron loading columns and the steel framework that connected them. Jeb had warned the newcomers not to be shocked if one of the huge flappers that occasionally landed above so he looked, just in case.
“They sometimes just sit there and rest while watching for prey below on the prairie during the day.” he grinned as they headed below to the many spare rooms the Cyclops had available.
“But the biggest danger isn’t from them trying to get you, they don’t on deck.”
“Danger?” Wes asked “If they don’t attack us on deck, then…”
A wide grin appeared and Jeb chuckled “Let’s just say just don’t stand below them.�
�
Eventually he wandered off to make his final rounds of the deck watch, and reassured Wes again that flappers couldn’t get to them because of the wide wingspans and they rarely flew at night. He nodded as Wes thanked him once more for taking them in, and off he went on his rounds.
Wandering the deck Wes finally stopped mid ship and leaned over the railing. He looked to his left as something caught his eye.
Missy walked to his side and leaned over the railing and smiled as she nodded behind them. Red and Mary slowly walked hand in hand as if they didn’t have a care in the world.
“Well good for them.” Wes muttered softly as they turned to head for the far side of the ship’s main deck.
“Seems someone isn’t quite as critical of a woman’s past as others.” Missy said in her musical voice.
“About that…” Wes chuckled “I haven’t been avoiding you, it’s just that it seems every time that we’ve tried to talk…”
Missy laughed so beautifully that Wes couldn’t help but smile.
“I know, if it isn’t floods, then it’s spinosaurus pee, or…”
Wes nodded “Pretty much…but what I wanted to say that night when Spiny marked us…” Wes paused and realized that he had never really worked out what he wanted to say to her in his head. That fateful night he had just planned to wing it and as the words tumbled out, it was obvious to her as well.
“Uhhhh… Well, it’s like this…” he turned so his body faced her as he had made up his mind that this time he’d do it right.
“…I’m sorry for everything! I mean everything. About you, about your sister, about how I kept snorting at you…” he grinned sheepishly “…about getting you soaked in dino urine… everything. Jesus Missy, I was so wrong about you two.” he frowned “I mean, Christ, since we’ve arrived in this hell-hole, you two have been trying to do exactly as expected and all I’ve done is…”
Missy’s slender finger fell upon his lips as she moved closer.
“And all of us have piled a lot of responsibility on your shoulders.” She removed her finger and smiled again.
“Well, I…”
“You’ve just been worrying about the two people that you’ve perceived as the two weakest links. Naturally it’s my sister and me that you’d be the hardest on.”
Wes rubbed the back of his neck and slowly his frown turned to a sheepish grin.
“Well…thanks for the excuse, but to be honest, well…it’s really Bryce and John that I feel are the weakest links in our group.” He turned back to the rail and leaned upon it.
“Bryce and John know how to pick their fights in their world of finance, you know crap like that. But more and more, Bryce seems to be slacking off as if he’s finally discovering this is a whole new ball of wax, and he can’t control his destiny anymore.
John on the other hand has been secretly chatting up to the other guys one at a time and on the sly. Several of them have gone to Sarge or myself saying he thinks he, or his brother, should take control.”
“Why would he do that?”
“They’re used to controlling others, not the other way around.”
“They’d get us killed.” Missy looked worried.
“Relax, if they want to strike out on their own, I won’t stop them, nor will I kick them out. Anyone wants to go with them can.”
Missy leaned on the railing next to Wes so her arm softly touched his and noted that this time he didn’t move away.
“Well, if it comes to that, I’m staying with you, Sarge, and Red.”
“And you think that they’ll stay with me?”
She tittered musically “My mother didn’t raise stupid girls.” She nodded to Red and her sister strolling on the other side of the deck “And I know that Mary goes where ever Red goes from now on.”
“And you’re so sure of this how?”
Missy leaned into Wes’s ear and spoke softly to make sure no one heard her voice on the gently breezes that were wafting around them.
“Well, while we were down, getting peed on, it would seem that my younger sister was getting laid in the bushes that we had departed from.” She glanced around to make sure no one was looking…or listening. She looked at Wes with earnest.
“You cannot tell another soul of this…” Wes crossed his heart and nodded as she continued “Mary and I made a pact years ago that we’d never let a man have us in the good old ‘on our back’ position until we found true love.”
“And Mary was on her...”
Missy nodded slowly “And it’s not because of this situation we’re in. Red told her he didn’t give a rip? About her past that is.”
Wes chuckled “Yeah, one of my old expressions, the ‘give a rip’ thing. Means I don’t care.”
Missy laughed and nestled herself against Wes’s arm and looked up at him.
“Silly, I figured that much out. I meant that the few times we thought maybe some guy could be ‘the one’, it seemed once we became open about our past, our lifestyle…”
“Let me guess…they became Wes’s.”
Missy laid her hand on his forearm that rested on the railing.
“Oh God no! You at least were open about your feelings toward what we were, our lifestyles. For Mary it was two, for me one. All of them got that uncertain look and said they’d call and let us know if they could get past all our, uh, boyfriends…never did call back. All except Mary’s boyfriend, the last one, looked her directly in the eyes and called her a rich spoiled whore. Took her nearly four months before she even went to another shindig.” Missy sighed sadly.
“The truth was, I guess we were just a couple of rich whores. We partied with rich men, sailed on their yachts, flew in their private jets, slept with them whenever they snapped their fingers, just so we wouldn’t have to spend what we had left of our inheritance.” she sighed sadly “Which of course we did. Oh, word got around the city and soon we were never invited to parties and Mary and I decided that it was a time for change.”
“So you stumbled into Bryce and his brother?”
“Pretty much Wes.” She looked longingly out over the moonlit prairie and sighed.
“You see we decided that we’d tease them at the party once we overheard their plans. We figured that if we dressed sexy, whisper dirty things in their ears, they’d invite us along.”
“Guess what?” Wes chuckled “It worked. And now you get to play hide and seek with a bunch of dinosaurs that are trying to eat you.” he chuckled softly “Betcha didn’t see that one coming.”
“On the other hand, Mary has found someone that she loves…and he said he loves her.” She smiled at Wes “And for me, that’s worth all of this.”
“That’s what I was apologizing for.”
“For Mary being…”
“Jesus Christ…no, because I so misjudged you two. Look Missy I don’t give a rip how many guys you’ve slept with. Caring more for your sister than yourself isn’t something an emotionless whore would do, it’s something someone with passion would do. And things like taking Cassy under your wing, trying to follow what I said about changing your clothes, getting rid of your perfume…following orders, even when you didn’t fully understand them. I could see that you were trying to impress me by doing as I asked and not complaining about it.”
“Well, what you said about scents made sense…” her smile vanished as she turned to Wes and the smile was replaced by a puzzled look.
“You noticed I was trying to impress you? But you never…”
“Look, I’m not an idiot as most would think…just a tad clumsy around women. But when you replaced that phony wiggle with your normal graceful one. When you tried to cover up the fact that you seemed to get excited around me…” Wes paused and gave her a soft, reassuring smile “To be honest I really did notice how that gown clung to every curve, I also noticed that your nipples never seemed to poke through your gown until I came around where you were.” He wiped his brow in the moonlight and laughed “In this damned heat, I sure as hell
knew it wasn’t the cold.”
Missy now had her turn to be embarrassed as she shot a glance down…and then remembered that she was wearing one of Cord’s overly large shirts and nothing showed through…even though she knew what was really happening underneath the shirt.
“Well, so I knew you were a real hottie…that changed once I got to know you. You’re tough when you need to be, but I suspect that you’re much softer inside if you ever get a chance to show it.”
“Well, I’m, glad that you no longer think I’m a hottie.” Wes smiled softly.
“Oh God no! You’re still hot, but I…” Missy went limp, her head drooped as she stared at the ground below.
“I mean…”
Wes grinned “I know what you mean Missy. I was the same way. Christ, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you…that body of yours.” he smiled and her heart skipped a beat.
“But once, I realized you weren’t the person I thought you to be, and got to know you… Well, that part I’m having a bit of a problem with.” he sighed deeply “I saw what was behind those beautiful eyes of yours when you started to take care of Cassy. There was this sadness, compassion, and intelligence…and all hiding behind that façade you tried so hard to keep going.
“Wait, you said, a problem?” she smiled softly “Seems I’ve been nothing but a problem for you since we met.”
“No…I mean I’m having a problem with my feelings…about you.”
Missy nearly jumped with glee, but restrained herself as her heart started beating wildly.
“So? I mean…what do you mean? I mean about me?” Then she cussed at herself for blasting Wes with so many questions instead of letting him speak.
Wes looked like a deer caught in headlights, he stuttered and stammered, he rubbed the back of his neck in the embarrassed fashion Missy thought was so cute, but nothing came out. Wes looked at her, the deck, and everything else that was around…and sighed deeply. Finally he patted her hand that was still perched upon his forearm.
“Uh…yeah…about that…uh…” he pulled away and looked at her from a safe distance “uh…’night. See ya in the morning.” and hurried off leaving Missy standing there with her hands on her hips. Her longing for a taste of Wes’s lips, had gone unanswered.
Last Train to Pangea: Death by Dinosaur Page 11