Blood Trail

by David Rhodes

  “But we had to.”

  Major Donald smiled and said, “So do we. It’s in our DNA.”

  Ben brought up a holographic map of the beach area showing where all of the animals first appeared and where they were last seen. He discussed drone and bot deployment with Steve and asked Major Donald about equipment and personal needs. When he was satisfied he looked at Major Donald and nodded.

  She turned to the Team and asked, “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get this done.” Everyone moved quickly for the door to the hallway and then sprinted toward the Unit.

  “I think we’ll walk,” Lauren said, and Ron, Lisa, Charles and Danny quickly agreed with her.

  As Steve saw Otto join them he asked, “Are you ready?”

  “Yes, sir,” Otto replied. “And thank you again for bringing me along this time. I am looking forward to this.”

  Steve just nodded as they stepped inside the Unit. He looked closely at Danny who was sweating profusely and said, “Danny, you don’t look well but I think you will start feeling better soon enough. We have a first aid room with a couple of cots, you’re more than welcome to lay down.”

  “I will take you up on that in a few minutes,” Danny said. “I’d like to ask the Team some questions about their equipment first.”

  “Be my guest,” Steve said. “What about everyone else?”

  “I think I’ll go with Danny,” Lauren said.

  “We’re just going to sit here,” Lisa said as she took Ron’s arm.

  “Charles?” Steve asked.

  “Well…”

  “Why don’t you come up to the control room with us?” Steve asked. “I think you’ll find it interesting.”

  Charles smiled and said, “I’m on my way.”

  Danny and Lauren followed the Team into another room and Ammo asked, “What do you want to know?”

  “Has anyone given any thought to shooting a lot of these special bullets and then someone finding some of them in the future? Are you sure they are biodegradable?” Lauren immediately asked.

  “Blonk, can you explain this?” Ammo asked. “He’s better at it than I am.”

  Blonk stepped up holding some of the bullets and told Lauren, “These are made out of a synthetic polymer that immediately begins breaking down when it is exposed to air. In the factory after they are shaped they are immediately placed in vacuumed sealed pouches that keep the air from coming into contact with the polymer. When the bullet is removed from the package the countdown to the bullet turning to dust begins. They hold their shape and density for about two days then just dissolve. Just like everything else we have.”

  “Everything else?” Danny asked.

  “Sure,” Blonk replied. “What if we left a rifle behind? Not good. Everything disappears. Bullets, guns, knives–”

  “Clothes?” Danny asked.

  “No way,” Maybe said. “The guys would always want to go out for a week. They’re not going to see what’s under this uniform.”

  “I got pictures,” Whitey said.

  “We all do,” Junk said as everyone laughed.

  “So, the clothes are just normal?” Lauren asked.

  “Sure, clothing material doesn’t last long in all of the heat and humidity,” Ammo said.

  Lauren took one of the bullets and asked, “What type of material is it?”

  “You’ll have to ask Otto about that. All we know is that it works and don’t take it out of its special container until you’re ready to use it. Like I said, the countdown to needing to replace something begins as soon as you do.”

  “What about the explosive bullets?” Danny asked.

  “Same thing. I mean you have to have explosive elements of course, but they are still inside of a casing that will just dissolve. If it explodes first your hard shrapnel does its job and then it all just –”

  “Then it all just goes away,” Danny continued for him. “Pretty amazing.”

  “Hey,” Ricardo said. “Sarge, you’re going out with us, aren’t you?”

  “I hope to,” Danny said. “I wasn’t feeling too good earlier but I’m getting better now. I still might lay down for a few minutes.”

  “Okay, but let’s get you hooked up. Cat, grab the Sarge a vest, gun, some ammo and oh, you’ll need a couple of these on your belt.”

  “What are they?”

  “Grenades. Still made from the same material as everything else, still do the job.” As Cat and the others led Danny away to show him some other gear Ricardo asked Lauren, “What else do you want to see? Do you have some knowledge about guns?”

  “Yes, and I used one when we walked. But I don’t want to use one this time,” Lauren told him. “But tell me about those backpacks.”

  “The DOPE, Dorsal Protection Equipment. They are also biodegradable, but they are strong, very strong.” Ricardo looked around for a moment then said, “Junk, put the holo-dope on and come over here.”

  One of the women said, “Sure,” and walked over to a wall mounted workstation. “Holo-trainer, DOPE specs, Junk.” A holographic pack appeared to float in front of her and Junk turned around and seemingly put it on.

  “Okay, Junk, drop down and give Lauren a run through of what you can do.”

  Junk dropped down onto all fours and instantly the DOPE spread out over her as six sharp spikes stretched out from the top of the pack. “No commands?” Lauren asked.

  “No,” Junk answered. “It senses when you have dropped into this head down, knees on the ground, elbows tucked in, position. You may not have time to shout a command or in a stressful situation even remember to do so. I think it was influenced by the invisible bike helmet design.”

  “The what?”

  “Out of Sweden if I remember right, look it up. Now, once I am down I am perfectly safe. No amount of ripping, tearing or twisting will break through the DOPE. And, the spikes will either keep things away to begin with or give them a stick if they feel the need to bite. If they are persistent though, you can also juice them.” To emphasize the point Junk touched part of the DOPE and an electrical charge jumped briefly between two of the spikes.

  “The DOPE will withstand an external pressure of about 12,000 pounds which covers a lot of dinos but of course not the big ones if it decides to sit on you. We have communications, fresh air and we carry a small amount of food and water with us just in case a dino won’t leave for a while.” As Junk stood up the holograph disappeared. She smiled and said, “I hope that answers some of your questions.”

  “It did,” Lauren agreed. “Thanks.” She turned to Ricardo and told him, “And thanks to you too. Looks like Danny is keeping busy so I’m going to find Charles.”

  “Anytime, ma’am,” Ricardo said and walked over to Danny and asked, “Doing better?”

  “Yes and no,” Danny replied. “Everyone has been great, and I do feel better because it has taken my mind off things. But I still think I’ll lay down for a while.”

  “Understood,” Ricardo said. “Follow me.” Ricardo led him to a small room with two cots, a stainless-steel table and cabinets filled with first aid equipment. “We’ll get you when we arrive.”

  “Thanks. I don’t want to miss anything.”

  Lauren sat down beside Charles who was intently studying some holographic readouts. “Having fun?” she asked.

  “Yes, actually I am. Very interesting data.”

  “When do we leave?”

  Steve and Ben laughed, and Ben answered, “About 15 minutes ago.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  THE WESTERN INLAND SEA

  “What?” Lauren said as she glanced up at the ceiling of the Unit.

  Charles quickly told her, “I had the same reaction, looking up for the sun and moon lines. We’re totally enclosed. Some type of interesting polymer I’m learning about.”

  “I can change it, so we can see through the top,” Ben volunteered.

  “No, I think I actually like it this way better,” Lauren told him. “I was still getting used to the fac
t that we were going to jump, now I have to get used to the fact we already are.”

  “Well, just like you did with Charles, we are traveling slow,” Ben told her. “We always do. It gives everyone a chance to check all of their equipment and to get ready physically and mentally.”

  “They can’t get ready enough,” Lauren told him.

  “You’re right,” Steve said. “But they get ready enough that when they walk they handle their jobs quickly and efficiently. Will you be walking?”

  “No, I think I will stay inside with Charles.”

  “Great,” Ben said. “If you would like, I can show you how to operate a station.”

  Lauren paused, it was too much like the last time. “Maybe I’ll just watch for a while.” Ben nodded and went back to what he had been doing.

  “What are you working on?” she asked Charles.

  “Something amazing,” he replied. “You’re going to have to see it to believe it. Watch.” He activated a screen with his holocontrols and she saw a Stegosaurus on it. Charles moved his hand and immediately points of light flashed on the animal’s body. Then some of its plates lit up and part of its tail and spikes. Across the image she read;

  Animal: Stegosaurus ungulatus Probability: 99.9%

  “What is this?”

  “It’s like facial recognition,” Charles told her. “The Unit’s computer has parameters in its database for many animal features like horns, skull shape, plates, spikes and many others. It compares these specifically selected landmark features to identify it.”

  “I can see it’s a Stegosaur,” Lauren scoffed.

  “I’m sure you can, but what if you didn’t know what time period you were in and you saw a much smaller Stegosaur? Would you know which one it was? Immediately? If the database has the animal then you would know.”

  “And if it doesn’t?”

  “Then EXECON needs help with identifying animals and placing the information in the database. No walking, just lab work.”

  As Lauren looked back at the screen Ben said, “And just like with facial recognition, if we had named this guy Fred it would have told us it was Fred the Stegosaurus. Pretty amazing.” As a door opened Ben continued, “And you can thank Otto here for the technology. He just updated the Unit’s computers a few days ago. Otto, say hello to everyone.”

  Otto looked at Lauren and Charles and smiled as he said, “Hello. I am so happy that you have joined us today and that you like the technology.”

  “Can you tell me how you came up with it?” Charles asked.

  “Well, facial technology is being used more and more, even with animals. You can get close to tame animals of course, but not to wild ones. They run or attack, and of course dinosaurs have their own set of problems. But with the drones we use we can take the correct type of photos, you know, from different angles. Though the side shots are the hardest.”

  “Why is that?” Lauren asked.

  “Dinosaurs react to stimulus, ready to eat it or defend themselves against it. They don’t hear or see something and casually look at it, they look to see what they need to do. Tame animals will look away from a camera or wander around, but dinosaurs will stare and then you have to be ready for the possibility of a charge. If they have seen our camera they turn and follow its every movement. But with the quieter drones we have been able to get different angle shots of every animal with 3D sensors and put together a good start on an extremely accurate database.”

  Otto smiled and continued, “I mean, it is just mathematics, really. If you create the correct algorithm it gives you what you need. Pick the landmarks then the ratios start creating information.”

  “As you can see,” Steve said, “Otto is modest. He has taken existing facial tech platforms and expanded and enhanced them to an unheard-of level.”

  “I’m picking up on that,” Charles agreed. Then he turned to Otto and asked, “Does light affect your ability to use your technology?”

  Otto shook his head and replied, “No, in addition to a combination of geometric and photometric algorithms, the 3D sensors I mentioned provides usable information that is not affected by lighting.”

  “You don’t have to tell them to not smile also,” Lauren said. When no one said anything she continued, “You know, like passport photos?” When no one said anything she added, “Okay, so what else do the cameras do?”

  “Not only does it track skin patterns but also skin texture. Different dinosaurs have different skin textures and feather placement. Oh, and heat radiation. We can differentiate dinosaurs by what areas give off the most heat. Is it a Tyrannosaurus, an Albertosaurus…you get the picture. The more factors we can associate with a certain animal the higher percentage of an identity.”

  “It’s all amazing,” Lauren agreed. “What do you call your invention? Rexignition?”

  Otto smiled as he answered, “No, I call it Woody.”

  “Woody? Too many beach films when you were younger?”

  “No, Woody Bledsoe was one of the first to use a computer for facial recognition. It just seemed like a good way to honor him.”

  “Got it,” Lauren said.

  “Wait, that’s not the best part,” Charles told her. “Otto, please explain your fascinating X-ray component. Well, not X-ray exactly, we call it DTP.”

  Otto smiled again and said, “You are being too kind, sir.”

  “I’m Charles and this is Lauren and I’m not being too kind. This is technology that is way ahead of everyone else’s. Light years.”

  “Well, again, thank you…Charles,” Otto said as he dropped his head slightly. “I am quite flattered you find it so interesting.” He reached into some holocontrols and the Stegosaurus was turned into a skeleton. “Lauren, this is what Charles was talking about. I created a dynamic Deep Tissue Program that allows continuous extrapolation of measurements from the dinosaur.”

  “Deep Tissue Program, DTP. Got it. How does it help?”

  “Well, many dinosaurs have been visualized and created from a single bone. A toe bone can tell a learned scientist like yourself if it came from a tyrannosaur or a Hadrosaurus. But many bones can only provide generalities. If an animal was a theropod or a sauropod for instance. The size of the bone gives you other dimensions based on previous skeletons that have been found. Of course, it doesn’t give you exact features, but enough to speculate. I didn’t want to speculate anymore. I wanted to be able to see a skeleton; the bones, their size and shape, how they connected, and where they were located with precision measurements.

  “Now you can go into any museum that has a box of unknown dinosaur fossils and if it is in our database know exactly what type of dinosaur it came from. No more sudden realizations by frustrated paleontologists that they have the same bone fragment in their box as they do in another country. No more generalities, now there will be precision.”

  Lauren watched the skeleton slowly walk across the screen and nodded her head, “I have to admit this is unbelievable. A step I never even considered. Congratulations, Otto.”

  “Again, thank you. I always hope my little experiments and inventions are worthwhile.”

  Steve turned and said, “Otto, I’ve never met anyone quite like you. Everything you have done for EXECON has been more than worthwhile. You are worth your weight in gold.” As Otto smiled, Steve continued, “Okay, we’re here. Solar panels, windmills are functioning. Let’s deploy air and ground and get the satellite up. Ben, I want image for 200 yards in all directions to begin with and then bump it out 100 yards at a time until we find something interesting.”

  “Already on it,” Ben replied. “Also, I’m going to check the lagoon this time, let’s see if the big boy is around. Maybe we can get it out of the water for Ron.”

  Ron walked into the control room at that moment and asked, “Did I hear someone say my name?”

  “Yes, you did,” Lauren said as she sat down. Then she turned to Charles and asked, “Now how do I work these controls?”

  Steve smiled at Ben and
as Lisa joined Ron they watched as Steve moved some holocontrols. They could hear things locking into place outside of the unit and suddenly there was a loud whooshing sound and Ron asked, “What was that?”

  “A small satellite,” Ben answered. “Gives us a forty-mile radius of observation for anything that looks interesting. Say there is a herd moving, we may want to stay here for a couple of days and see if it gets close enough for an out and back.

  “Air and ground drones are out to see what is really close. We want to see if Ron’s animal is a regular here and what about those juvenile Rexes, are they still close by?”

  “So, we returned to where your men were killed? How many days later?” Ron asked.

  “Three days,” Ben said. “Seemed like a good number.”

  “Why?” Lauren asked.

  Ben grimaced and replied, “Well, not to be too graphic about it, we hope the animals are still in the area…but the bodies are not.”

  Lauren just nodded. She didn’t want to see any bodies or body parts or anything else. Then she took a deep breath and asked, “What’s first?”

  “An actual first,” Steve said. “The Unit is going to take a Walk.”

  “What?” Ron asked. “I thought Ben said we were going to lure the animal out of the lagoon first.”

  Ben spoke up, “No, I said we were going to look for the sea monster. We’re going into the lagoon and maybe even further out into this ocean. It’s the Inland Sea, right?”

  “Western Inland Sea, right,” Ron said. “But, this thing can go into the water?”

  “Sure can,” Ben replied.

  “But you said this was going to be a first,” Lauren said.

  “Yes,” Steve agreed. “The first real time we’ve gone into water. But we’ve run hundreds of simulations and there has never been a problem. Right, Otto?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Simulations?” Lauren and Ron said at the same time.

  Steve and Ben laughed, and Ben told them, “Don’t worry, we’ll be just fine. It has withstood hurricane force winds and once a Triceratops even ran into it by accident. It will hold up.”