by David Rhodes
Lauren looked at Charles with a what-have-we-gotten-ourselves-into expression, but he just smiled back. “Science will prevail,” he told her.
“That’s what they said about the Titanic,” she whispered.
As the Unit suddenly started forward Lauren asked, “Who’s driving, and will we come back to the same spot?”
“Otto’s computer is driving,” Ben told her, “and it will guide us back to the exact coordinates we just left. Lauren, I know you weren’t expecting this, and it sounds dangerous, but there will be no problems. Well, no problems we can’t solve.”
As the Unit got closer to the lagoon, Ron walked up behind Ben and put his hands on his chair. Lauren saw that he was shaking with excitement. As the water slowly rose higher Lauren kept expecting to at least hear water running into the Unit or at least past it. But there was no sound. Just an eerie silence as the Unit was slowly covered by water.
“What readings do we have?” Steve asked. “And can we get some lights?”
As the lights turned the dark water in front of them into a brown and yellow watercolor, Ben said, “Temperature is 73, S is just 11 at the moment. Everything else coming in as expected.”
Lauren watched as holographic numbers appeared under an ever-changing list of names. She saw temperature, salinity, halite, bromide, pH, and a long list of numbers under headings of anions and cations. Then it was all a blur as readings were coming in so fast that only the computer could handle the calculations. “You’re investigating the make-up of Inland Sea too? I thought we were just looking at the animals,” Lauren said.
“Oh no,” Ben replied as he turned to face her. “Flora, fauna, chemical balances, temperatures, stratification, the list goes on.”
“Fascinating,” Ron exclaimed. “Like Lauren I didn’t realize this would be such a comprehensive study. I’m sure it will be beneficial, answer many questions.”
“Look at this,” Lisa said excitedly, and everyone looked at the monitor.
The dirty, swirling lagoon water was disappearing and suddenly an amazing undersea panorama lay before them. “Stop here,” Steve said, and the Unit halted at the top of a long shallow slope that disappeared into a dark blue background that seemed a mile away. Between the surface and the floor of the sea there was a constantly changing kaleidoscope of blues and golds as the sun shimmered off of the waves and currents. Shafts of light highlighted and threw into shadow in the blink of an eye a multitude of creatures that moved before them.
“I didn’t know there were so many shades of blue,” Lisa whispered. “It’s like being inside a dream. And look at all of the fish.” Then she turned to Ron and asked, “What will we see here?”
“I can guess at a few things,” Ron replied, “but I specialize in land animals. Lauren?”
Before she could start, Danny spoke up, “Let me see if I can recall a few things. Let’s see, there are a few animals that are still around in our time though they might not look exactly the same, like, bony fish, cartilaginous fish, squid, lobsters, clams, sea snails, turtles – though they’re much bigger here. Uh, starfish, nautilus, crabs, coral and…oh, yeah, sponge. Got to have sponge.
“And crocodiles, sharks, jellyfish, shrimp and some sea birds including one that can’t fly. I can’t remember if it looks like a penguin though. Sorry. But there are some early birds that had teeth. I think they were sea birds.”
As Danny stopped, Charles asked, “Why do we have to have sponge?”
“Because it is our most distant cousin,” Danny answered quickly and then continued, “Now you’re also going to see things no human has ever seen. Like Mosasaurs, and those long-necked things, I can’t remember if they were Plesiosaurs, Pliosaurus or Elasmosaurus. It depends on what time period we are in. There will be Squalicorax, no wait, that’s just a type of shark. Lots of fish that are extinct and…more sharks I guess. I’m stuck on sharks. Sorry, I’m no Verne hero.”
“Who?” Charles asked.
“You know, Jules Verne? In all of his stories there is always someone who knows every fact about every country, plant and animal. I started sounding like him, I think.”
“Well, I think you did great,” Lisa said. “But how do you know all of that?”
“The ending of my book. We don’t know how Taggit died for sure, he could have just drowned. But that wasn’t very exciting, so I had him torn to bits by a lot of sharks. I had to look up a lot of information. Some I remembered, some I’ve forgotten.”
“I would have had a Mosasaur get him,” Lauren said quietly. “And he would have died screaming.”
As the room got quiet Lisa looked at Steve and Ben and asked, “Is Danny right?”
“He is,” Ben replied. “Look at the screen now.” He had activated the DTP and now animals were tagged either to their species or as unknown. Some of the unknown animals had bones highlighted that tied them to a specific taxon but provided no other information.
“Look at all the ‘unknowns’”, Lisa said.
“Not surprising,” Ron told her. “At best, we have found 50 percent of all the dinosaurs that lived. But I seriously doubt we have uncovered that many. An animal, or even a plant, has to die in the right place, at the right time and under the right conditions. Then the fossil has to withstand normal Earth movements and forces along with man’s interference through construction and carelessness. I would think aquatic creatures would be even harder to find. What those ‘unknowns’ out there represent are gaps in our knowledge about extinct species.”
“And this knowledge will soon be yours,” Steve said. “All of you.”
Lauren started to say something to Charles, but he was using his work station to follow around a large blue fish with pale yellow stripes running horizontally along its sides. He glanced up and asked, “What is this? Some kind of oversized piranha?”
“There’s only a few sea animals I know,” Lauren said. “But you did find one. That is Xiphatinus. It’s not a piranha but as you can see by the teeth it is a hunter.”
“That is one ugly fish,” Ben remarked.
“Something big coming in,” Ben said suddenly. The room grew quiet again as a dark shadow appeared on the right side of the screen and slowly started getting bigger as it approached the Unit. “It’s the big boy from the other day. It’s coming back to the beach.”
“We’re in its way,” Lauren said. “Are we camouflaged?”
“No,” Ben shook his head. “We look like a big dark rock. We don’t want it running into us by accident.” Then he touched a hologram in front of him and asked, “Is the bubble ready?”
“It is,” Major Donald answered.
“Who won?”
“Lost is the lucky one.”
Another screen appeared in the upper left corner of the larger view screen showing a large plastic-looking bubble. The blurry form of a person could be seen moving around inside it and as Ben asked, “Can you show me phase 3?” the outside of the bubble seemed to disappear and Lost could be seen sitting inside.
“Great. Phase 1?” And the bubble completely disappeared. “Good, now back to 3 and how are you feeling?”
“Ready for a bite, Paycheck.”
Lauren jumped up from her chair and shouted, “What? You’re going to have this animal attack her? Didn’t you just lose a person doing that?”
“And that’s why we won’t lose her,” Steve said. “This new sphere can take the bite of two of these things at the same time. There will be no problems.”
“I just can’t believe it. Why does a person have to be inside it?”
“Remember, we have to be able to show our military contacts that a person can actually live in this. It can’t be theoretical. They want proof.”
“Don’t worry,” Lost called out. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day.”
In a flurry of bubbles, Lost moved away from the Unit and out over the coral reef in front of them. Fish scattered in all directions in a frenzy of color and even the dark shadow, which was beginning t
o take the shape of an extremely large crocodile, turned slowly away from them. “Try the lights,” Ben said. As Lost activated a series of flashing lights on the sphere the giant animal turned around and in just a few seconds bumped the sphere.
As she was bumped, Lost said, “Well hello to you too, big boy. Come back and let’s get acquainted.” As if on cue the animal turned suddenly and snapped at the sphere. But its jaws didn’t close around it. It shook from side to side and clamped down again, but the sphere held its shape.
“We’re good,” Steve said. “Go ahead and juice it.”
Immediately the animal let go of the sphere and recoiled backwards. It shook its massive head and then turned and swam back toward the deep-water shadows. As Ben and Steve shook hands and patted Otto on the back, the sound of the Team cheering could be heard.
The sphere returned quickly and after it docked Ben said, “Let’s go see Lost.”
Steve and Otto stayed in their chairs and as everyone else left the control room Ron stepped forward and asked, “Can you show me a video of that animal using the Deep Tissue Scan analysis?”
“Ron, it would be my pleasure,” Steve replied and as the display came back in the lower right corner of the screen he continued, “Sorry, doesn’t look like there’s much there.”
“But there is, there is,” Ron told him. “The animal itself is not identified but some of its bones are linked to other animals. I was right in my guess that it might have something to do with Sarcosuchus, but not much. No bulla tells me that. But see how there is a vertebra associated with Sarcosuchus and an ankle bone and cranial bones associated with Deinosuchus? What can’t nature and evolution do?”
“So, what will you name it?” Steve asked.
Ron shook his head and replied, “No, I won’t name it. But hopefully someday in Texas, Oklahoma, maybe even Kansas, they’ll dig this up.”
“Anything else you want to see?”
“No, but I do have a question. Just a few days ago you told me you didn’t have anything that could withstand the bite of this animal. But today you do. What happened?”
“Otto,” Steve said emphatically. “Anything else?”
“No. I’m just going to look for a while.”
As Lost walked into the locker room the Team crowded around her. As they slapped her on the back and hugged her she couldn’t stop smiling. “You did it,” Ricardo told her. “Good job.”
Lost just kept nodding her head and just laughed when Lauren asked her, “Why? Are you crazy?”
“A little bit,” Lost replied. “But it’s like landing on the moon. No one else has ever done it. Even though others will, I’m the first and that can’t be taken away. Also, it’s science. All of it. And if you believe in science then you know everything is going to work like it should. And now we have you guys.”
“Us?”
“Yeah. As you put the science into the animals we’ll have a better understanding of what to expect. That means fewer surprises and that means fewer problems. Science.”
Before Lauren could reply, Steve was on the speaker saying, “We’re getting ready to move back on shore. Better have a seat.”
Ben, Lisa, Lauren and Charles returned to the control room and watched the view screen as the coral reef disappeared and the water turned brown and black again. The dark water ran down the Unit as it moved slowly up onto the beach and back toward its starting point. There were some clicks as the Unit settled into place and Ben turned to Lauren and said, “Like I said, no problems.”
Lauren nodded her head and replied, “I have to admit it, the whole thing went off without a hitch.”
“Can I take that as a compliment?” Ben asked.
Lauren laughed and said, “Yes, that was a compliment.”
“But, you are still worried about things, right?” Steve asked.
“Yes. I guess deep down inside there is still the doubt. Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I asked that you be completely truthful with me and I meant it.” Steve paused for a moment then asked, “What if we do another short Walk right here? There are possibly three T-rex juveniles in the area and also a T-rex adult. We can do a quick information gathering and you will have seen us in action twice.”
“Doesn’t everyone want to go home?”
“Well, if you are asking,” Ron jumped in, “no, I don’t want to. This is fascinating.”
When she looked at Charles he just shrugged and said, “I’m in no hurry.”
“I could go or stay,” Lisa added.
Ben asked the Team, “Anyone want to go home?” After a few shouts of “No” came over his speaker he looked at Lauren and shrugged his shoulders.
Danny walked into the control room with a smile on his face and said, “You know, I don’t feel so bad now. That was quite a show. Is it okay if I join the Team?”
“Me too,” Ron said quickly.
“Is everyone losing their minds?” Lauren asked.
“Well, if Ron is going I want to go with him,” Lisa said.
Lauren turned to Charles who said, “If Danny is going I think I should too. He isn’t feeling well, he just thinks he is.”
Lauren let out a sigh and told everyone, “Okay, you can all go but I am staying here.” She asked Ben, “I can watch them, right? And, see what else is going on around them?”
“Yes, you can. In fact, if you are staying here you could help direct the Team. Let them know what you want them to do and why.”
“Your expertise would be invaluable,” Steve added.
Lauren sighed again and said, “All right, but I want everyone geared up just like the Team.”
“They will be,” Ben assured her. “But first I want to take about an hour to let the Team eat something and to check the entire area. You can stay and watch if you want to.”
“What are you going to do?”
There were several metallic noises for a couple of seconds and Ben said, “Drones and bots are now out, and you heard earlier one of the satellites is already up. I’m going to start tracking all animals out as far as I can see their heat signatures.”
“You can see all of that?”
“Most of it.” Ben held up a hand as Lauren started to say something and smiled as he continued, “But the computer sees better than me. We get something fast or large moving anywhere close by and it alerts us. We have an animal approaching the Team, we get alerted. We don’t trust me only, I have to have a backup.”
“What backs up the computers?”
“Two more computers,” Otto told her.
Lauren didn’t know what to say after that, so she told Ben, “I think I’ll go sit down for a while with Charles and make sure his insurance is up to date and that I am the sole beneficiary.” She looked at Lisa and added, “And to make sure everyone is dressed right.”
“Yes Mom,” Lisa laughed and then she suddenly stopped. She was reminded vividly of holding Marilyn during the third jump. She turned and took Ron’s arm and they walked out of the control room.
Danny told everyone he was going to lay down for a few minutes and as Lauren and Charles walked out with him, Ben turned to Steve and asked, “What do you think so far?”
“Well, that was a perfect start. The underwater test went exactly the way we knew it would. Still, Lauren and Charles are not quite on board yet. There is still a little hesitancy and even suspicion.”
Ben nodded and replied, “But you were right on target asking everyone if they wanted to go out. Everyone is caught up in the excitement. I think Ron would have just run out the door immediately. Everyone is going except Lauren and I think she really wants to. I was surprised Charles wanted to and even more surprised when Lisa said she would go.”
“I was too,” Steve said. “I thought Charles would stay inside and watch what I was doing. And you know, I can’t quite figure Lisa out. I know she’s afraid but there is a strength there that is hard to read.” The room was silent for a moment then Steve continued, “But let’s get to work.”
<
br /> As Danny gave them a wave and headed to the bunk room, Lauren and Charles went into the viewing room and sat down. After a few seconds Charles said, “Look, I know I promised I wasn’t going to go out with these people, but Danny is –”
“I understand,” Lauren cut in. “I don’t mind. He does seem to be sick so it’s nice you’re going to watch him. You know, this does seem to be a safe operation. But still, it can’t be 100 percent safe all of the time. The odds are against it, something has to happen.”
“I guess that’s why you will be in the control room.”
“You guess right. I can’t let anything happen to you before we go on vacation.”
Charles leaned back and smiled as he said, “You know, I thought this would be our vacation. It’s tropical, we get a tan, it’s got a built-in zoo. What more do we need?”
“No worries,” Lauren told him as she took his arm. “When we are in Hawaii I don’t want to worry about anything and I don’t care if we see any animals or not. Now let’s go and see about getting all of you geared up.”
They walked into the locker room and found Danny, Ron and Lisa already there. “Tried to lay down but I’m too pumped,” Danny told them as Lost was fastening a DOPE on him. “This is going to be exciting.” He turned around and as she cinched his belt he asked, “So what do I have?”
“First you have your DOPE. If you throw yourself down on the ground it automatically activates. Make sure you’re on ground though, not rock. It digs in and you can’t be moved or be chewed on.”
“That’s useful.”
“Most definitely. If you are inside you’ll see controls for ventilation, air flow, some food and water and most importantly, shock. You got something you don’t want around you, just zap it and send it a message.”
“Like you did earlier.”
“You got it. The earpiece has your mic and audio and the helmet with the visor protects your head and eyes. Also, a view screen can be activated on the visor by leaning your head forward and to the right. Paycheck can give us a real-time view of what he’s looking at. Comes in handy sometimes.”