Blood Trail

by David Rhodes

  Finally, Danny had told her, “Lauren, we agree with you that we have to be careful. We all know what happened last time and we don’t want it to happen again. But let’s give the man a chance. Ron and Lisa seem to think he’s okay.”

  After that Lauren seemed to think it was her against everyone else and though she was friendly she seemed distant. She didn’t speak up during any of the sessions with Danny and would sometimes just walk out of a room. Charles spoke with her the night before the meeting and asked, “What do you plan on saying to these people?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You seem angry. Is it about the meeting? Danny thinks you are mad at him.”

  “What? No, I’m not mad at Danny or anyone else, I just…they are traveling in time. You know I don’t like that, I feel it’s wrong. But I don’t know what they do or are going to do. All we’ll have is what they tell us and somehow, we’re going to have to judge whether it is true or not. But, we don’t know them. I just have a bad feeling about all of it. But I’m not mad at Danny or anyone else.”

  “He’ll be glad to hear that,” Charles said as he gave Lauren a hug. “Don’t worry about tomorrow. If anything seems wrong I’ll back you and we’ll walk. Of course, we have to convince Ron.”

  “Dad,” Lauren muttered. “Sometimes I don’t know about him.”

  “Lisa is pretty smart.”

  Lauren nodded and said, “You’re right. She’s smarter than a lot of us realize. But anyone can get fooled.”

  “Hopefully, not all of us.”

  The next morning Lauren stood up at the kitchen table and announced, “I’m sorry everyone. I haven’t made the past few days very fun for any of us. I just wanted to make sure we were all thinking right about this and not getting ahead of ourselves. With that said, I’m ready to hear whoever and whatever with an open mind. I will say I’m not going on any jumps.” She looked at Ron and Lisa and continued, “But if anyone else wants to, I understand. Just think about it, that’s all I’m asking.”

  “We will,” Ron told her. “I know sometimes I jump before I look but we’re not doing that here.”

  “Then let’s go before I change my mind,” Lauren said.

  “That’s like a four-second window,” Charles said. As Lauren smacked him on the shoulder he laughed and continued, “Too late.” Everyone else laughed also and as they drove to EXENCO they talked about the New Year and finding a house for Ron and Lisa.

  Lauren stopped talking as they pulled into the EXENCO parking lot then said, “You know, I’ve driven past these buildings a million times and they’ve always interested me. Windmills all around and solar panels across the roofs, it all seemed progressive and…and…”

  “And something you would support?” Charles asked.

  “Yes, but –”

  “But now that you know about the time travel you aren’t sure.”

  Lauren nodded and replied, “Yes, that’s right. In my world those two somehow don’t go together.” She took a deep breath and continued, “But they aren’t really connected.”

  “Like paleontology and nude yoga,” Ron suggested.

  Lauren shook her head and said, “Not the image I want before this meeting. Let’s go before someone else thinks of something.”

  “I already did,” Lisa said. “You and Charles should join our yoga class.”

  “Ahhh,” Lauren mock-screamed as they got out of the car. “Not what I want to hear. Not what I want at all.”

  As they approached the main doors, Steve and Ben came out to meet them. “Ron and Lisa,” Steve said, “good to see you again.” He shook hands with them then turned to Charles and paused for a moment, then said, “Mr. Dawson, this is indeed a great pleasure. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

  Charles shook his hand and said, “Sir, the honor is mine. I can’t believe there is another time traveler, another who has figured out how to do it. Perhaps we took the same path, we should compare notes. And Steve, please, call me Charles.”

  Steve smiled and said, “Charles, that would be great. We might be able to combine our ideas and create something even better.”

  Charles shook his head as he replied, “If you come up with something better, good for you. My interest is strictly academic now, I’m just about finished with jumping. I want to spend more time with Lauren and my friends.”

  Steve turned to Lauren and as he shook her hand he said, “I understand if you are upset with all of this. None of you have to travel, no one at all. We just want to talk to you about your experiences to gain knowledge that we don’t have. Unlike Taggit, we aren’t going to kidnap anyone. Just talk.”

  “That sounds…reasonable,” Lauren replied slowly. “I don’t want to offend you but yes, I am uncomfortable being here.”

  Steve smiled as he said, “Just let me know what I can do to help.”

  Then he turned to Danny and as they shook hands Danny said, “Steve, I hear you have great taste in books.”

  Steve smiled and said, “Danny, your book unlocked a lot of things for me. It put me in touch with Ron and Lisa of course but your narrative on the perils of time travel kept me from making some simple mistakes that I know I would have. Like going back without adequate preparation. If that had happened I may not have been as resourceful as Charles and saved myself. Plus, your bravery,” he paused and looked at everyone, “all of your bravery, was very inspirational and motivating.”

  Steve stepped back and continued, “But it’s actually ‘we’, my brother Ben is the person who gets things done around here. Without him I’d probably still be spinning on square one or like I said, taken a trip by myself and gotten into some kind of trouble. This is Ben.”

  “Hello,” Ben said. “Let me echo what Steve has said to you, what an honor this is. Very exciting too. Ron and Lisa helped us so much the other day that I just can’t imagine what we will learn by speaking to the rest of you.” He quickly turned to Lauren and said, “That is, if you want to. I understand if anyone does not want to discuss anything with me.”

  Lauren just nodded, and Steve said, “Let’s go inside and talk. I know you just ate breakfast, but we have some juice and pastry just in case.”

  “That sounds great,” Lisa said. “I am hungry again.” Ron took her arm as Charles, Lauren and Danny smiled. Steve led the way along a hallway that was lined with photos of EXENCO products. Lauren looked carefully at each one as they passed but didn’t say anything.

  Ben opened a door to a small conference room and as they sat down Steve said, “We’ll keep this brief. I don’t gloss over things or beat around the bush. I’m direct and Ben likes to tell me that sometimes I’m too blunt. But that’s me. I’m trying to devise ways to reduce injuries and deaths in our service men and women. There are some things right now, and I emphasize right now, that are beyond our capabilities to stop. But as we take these small first steps we may be able to conquer them soon.

  “Like many people I have had a life-long fascination with dinosaurs. They were the dominant species on Earth for hundreds of millions of years, defeated in the end by circumstances they couldn’t control. Their speed, weight, strength and defensive capabilities were far above what our bodies can defend against. It stood to reason then that if we could create the means to keep us safe from them we could keep our fighting forces safer. Imagine ultra-light but ultra-strong body armor that a soldier could wear.”

  “Law enforcement would be interested in that also,” Danny pointed out.

  “Yes, they would,” Steve agreed. “We are developing a line of products for them also. But Danny, you were in the military weren’t you?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Danny, what if you could enclose a foxhole, trench or even an entire camp inside of a shell that would stop bullets and rockets? What if there were smaller units that you could wear on your back that allowed you to drop down and an enemy tank could run over you without harm? What if these personalized units were equipped with communication, weapons and even camouflage
capabilities that would make a soldier, an airplane, or even a ship at sea invisible?”

  Steve spread his hands and said, “We have this and more in new weapons and recognition pattern capabilities. We –”

  “You have this already?” Danny asked.

  “Yes,” Steve said. “Through trial and error, where unfortunately some of our team lost their lives, we believe we have in-the-field equipment ready. We just need a few more tests and we’ll be ready to approach the Pentagon with our proposals.” Steve stood up and continued, “That is why we would like your help. Again, you do not have to take Walks or even go back in time. You can watch video and you will have access to all of our information generated by the Walks. All of it.”

  “This would be fantastic even if only some of what you are trying to achieve happens” Danny said. “It would be world changing.”

  “Yes, it would,” Steve agreed.

  “I have a few questions,” Lauren said quietly.

  “I was hoping you would,” Steve said. “Please, be direct.”

  “Why did people have to die? Couldn’t you have used robots or some other mechanical device?”

  Steve nodded to Ben who started, “We tried, but were unsuccessful. If a lot of animals were around, their bodies would block signals and equipment would not function correctly. They couldn’t get close enough to the ‘saurs. If there was a successful test it was sometimes hard to get the device back. There were times they couldn’t return on their own or were carried away.

  “But we needed tests involving people. The Walkers could get as close as we needed, they could deploy the spikes like they were supposed to. When the ‘saurs left they were able to simply return to the Unit.”

  “If they lived.”

  “Yes, if they lived,” Steve agreed. “Being a Walker was a dangerous job. The men knew what they were getting into and just like an astronaut or a test pilot, they did the job to the best of their ability. They weren’t just lab rats, we supplied them with the best technology available at that point in time. It’s why we wish we knew about you sooner, maybe some of them wouldn’t have died.”

  “You said being a Walker “was” a dangerous job.”

  “Yes, was. Perhaps Ron and Lisa told you we have a team of professionals now. They, and the technology we use, has taken much of the risk out of our interactions with the animals. We have had zero injuries in the field.”

  “How much money do you expect to make on this venture?” Lauren asked.

  “We hope to cover recent costs plus twenty percent.”

  “Recent costs?”

  “Just the last year’s costs,” Ben told her. “We’re eating the rest.”

  “How much are you eating?”

  “500 million or so.”

  “And last year’s?”

  “Close to 100 million, but that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the 600 billion the Department of Defense spends in a year.”

  Lisa half raised her hand and then asked, “But don’t most businesses use a markup of 50 percent?”

  Ben nodded his head and replied, “That’s true. But we have two separate plans in work here. First, we want our equipment in the hands of the military as soon as possible. Exceptional equipment at an exceptional price. This EXECON ‘saur project is being funded by our endeavors in creating new energy resources. The wind, the sea, rivers of all sizes and other areas I am not at liberty to discuss just yet. We make a lot of money on the energy side of things, a lot, so if we can have the government take over the military side of things then, well, then we can reduce energy costs too. Other companies will be forced to follow our example and suddenly cheaper energy will be available for everyone.”

  Steve broke in with, “Before you think we’re a bunch of saints, we do hope for some considerations for tax breaks.” He looked at Lauren and said, “Because we are after all, businessmen.”

  Lauren nodded and said, “I do have one more question. What do you expect us to do with all of this important scientific data you will be supplying us? I mean after we provide information to you to make your equipment better?”

  “Whatever you want to,” Steve answered. “Do you want to publish photos and papers with real information? You didn’t before but maybe you do now. It would mean letting everyone know about time travel but, well, that would be up to you.

  “Perhaps you just want to write papers with your information disguised as logical conclusions and then sit back and receive praise for your insightfulness as you are proven right. Or, just sit back and continue to watch as your fellow paleontologists continue to fumble around for answers. In short, you may do with it whatever you would like. It is part of the price we are willing to pay for your services. Along with money or jobs, whatever you want.

  “We pride ourselves in having the best when it comes to employees and consultants. We consider you the best. All of you would be valuable members of our team along with Ron and Lisa. I know you don’t think so, but we do.”

  The room was silent as Steve stood up and told them, “Well, that’s my speech. I hope it didn’t bore you and I hope you understand what we are about. If you would like a tour of the facility, Ben will be more than happy to give you one. I imagine you will also want to return home and talk among yourselves.” He shook hands with each of them again then left the room.

  Ron was smiling as he asked, “What did you think?”

  “Very interesting,” Charles said. “I especially like the part about costs being reasonable.”

  “Yes,” Danny agreed. “Can you imagine cheaper energy? It would go global.”

  “Lauren, what did you think?” Lisa asked.

  “I think I would like Ben to give us a tour and then talk about things at home.”

  “Great,” Ben said. “Let’s go.” He led them straight to a large room and told them, “I will take you anyplace else you want to go, but I imagine this is high on your list.” He pointed to the time travel Unit and said, “This is what we travel in. It’s -”

  “It’s so different,” Charles interrupted. “Mine was just a cage, something to get there and back. It had a few work stations but this…this looks like it could do much more.”

  “It can,” Ben agreed. “But Steve’s first Units were small also. This is an end product of probably something similar to what you started with. I’m sure Steve will be glad to -”

  “No,” Charles shook his head. “No. I did what I did and if time travel has passed on to someone else then so be it. I don’t need to know anything, I’m not traveling anymore.”

  “I understand,” Ben said. “Does anyone else want to go inside?”

  After a moment of silence Danny spoke up, “Not really. Even if I went inside I wouldn’t understand what I was looking at. If Charles thinks it looks impressive, that’s enough for me.”

  Ben looked at Lauren for a moment then shrugged his shoulders and said, “Okay, there is more to see.” As they started down a hallway they passed a door and could hear loud shouting and laughing. “The Team,” Ben told them.

  “What team?” Lauren asked.

  “The group that replaced the Walkers. The men and women who test the equipment for us.”

  Lauren stopped and asked, “Can we meet them?”

  Surprised Ben said, “Sure, well I think. Let me check with Major Donald.” He was back in the hallway in about a minute and smiled and told them, “Come right in.”

  They filed into a large locker room and saw men and women dressed in light green and gray uniforms. They were joking with each other but when they noticed Ben and his group they quieted down. A woman stepped from the group and commanded, “Team, atten-hut!” The men and women immediately snapped to attention and the woman continued, “Team, this is the group I told you about. The other group of time travelers who defended themselves against the dinos with rifles, smoke grenades and even an electronic stun device. They were up close and personal with them and have the scars and lost team members to prove it.” She turned back
and said, “I’m Major Donald and we are honored you are here.”

  Danny stepped forward and said, “Major Donald, I’m –”

  “Sergeant Daniel Jameston,” the Major interrupted. “The recipient of two purple hearts and many other commendations.” She saluted him and then shook his hand. Then she continued talking to the Team, “This is Charles Dawson, the original time traveler and his wife Lauren and her father, Dr. Ron Fontana. Lauren and Ron are accomplished paleontologists and Ron may become a member of EXECON. And this is Lisa who is, and yes, I’m including you Sinewave,” the Major said loudly, “the smartest person in the room. She may become a part of EXECON too.”

  “She’s smarter than me?” one of the men asked.

  “Prettier too,” someone added.

  “You know us,” Danny said. “So, who are all of you?”

  Major Donald turned to the group and as she said their name each one nodded. “The men are Ricardo, Cat, Whitey, Stork, Ammo, Sinewave, Blonk and Chesky. The women are Junk, Maybe, Rover, Stoney and Lost. We are The Team. We have better equipment than you did and more firepower, but just like you, we walk up to the dinos and take the bite.”

  “We didn’t exactly walk up to them,” Lauren said. “But I understand what you’re saying. How many times?”

  “Twenty walks, ma’am,” Major Donald replied.

  “Are you training today?” Danny asked.

  “Yes, sir. We’re walking tomorrow so we wanted to get one last time in today with some new equipment.”

  “Can we watch?” Lauren asked. As Ron and Charles looked at her she added, “I want to see what they do.”

  “Yes, ma’am, you can watch,” Major Donald told her. “Team gear up and let’s go.”

  Immediately Ben said, “Come with me.” They followed him out and he quickly took them through a large room filled with various crates and tarp covered objects. Then he led them up a staircase and into a long, rectangular room with a large window facing out over an open space, about 50 yards wide and 25 yards deep. The space was thickly filled with various long grasses, ferns and trees. It looked like a jungle and there was a small stream winding near the far edge. They could hear various animal and insect noises and when they looked up they could see flying shapes that appeared to be high in a blue sky.