Hunter's Moon (Cretaceous Station Book 2)

by Terrence Zavecz

  ‘Naturally, any who feel they would prefer to return to the Essex will be provided transportation. I know you like to be well informed on matters Suzan so just in case you are wondering … yes all of you can have full access to the encounter records, both Hive-Tab and written. I would like to warn you though, some of the scenes are not for the faint of heart.’

  ‘Ok, let’s head over to the Argos and we’ll get started. Meetings will be completed by 15:30 hours so you’ll have plenty of time to meet the researchers and learn out our work here.’

  References

  1. Spartak Poliakov, Oleg Poliakov, “Gravitonics is Electronics of the XXI Century”, New Energy technologies, Issue #4, July – August 2002. http://www.intalek.com/Index/Projects/Research/Poliakov.PDF

  2. Rajendra D. Badgaiyan, “Conscious Awareness and the Brain Processing”, Elements 3(3):8-12, 2005

  3. Sebastián Apesteguía & Hussam Zaher, “A Cretaceous terrestrial snake with robust hindlimbs and a sacrum”, Nature 440, 1037-1040 (20 April 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature04413; Received 22 August 2005; Accepted 9 November 2005

  4. “Blue skies, red-hot temps in Cretaceous”, GeoTimes Earth, Energy and Environmental News, April 2008 http://www.agiweb.org/geotimes/apr08/article.html?id=WebExtra041008.html

  5. Landis, G.P., and Snee, L.W., 1991, 40Ar/39Ar Systematics and argon diffusion in Amber; implications for ancient earth atmospheres: in Kump, L.R., Kasting, J.F., Robinson, J.M., Atmospheric oxygen variation through geologic time. Global and Planetary Change. v. 5, p.63-67.

  Gas pockets encapsulated in Amber have confirmed the higher oxygen content of the late Cretaceous Era. This cannot explain the monstrous increase in animal size that occurred during this age. Consider that even the human body seems to operate better with the slightly higher oxygen levels. With the higher oxygen of the Cretaceious we would heal faster, think faster, see better and with greater clarity. Burn victims as well as those suffering from Nitrogen Narcosis are quickly put into a high oxygen, barometric chamber to aid healing.

  So, why did dinosaurs get so large? As we’ve seen in the quote at the start of this chapter, simple fluid mechanics tells us that the blood vessels and heart would not have been able to handle the higher pressures needed for such large creatures. Long-necked creatures such as the Brachiosaurus present additional problems. Their necks are not built strongly enough to support a head in the upright position or even a position parallel to the earth under the stress of our current pull of gravity. Simple logic says that if you have a long neck, you didn’t develop it to feed over a pond or into the bushes. A long neck is made to either reach the ground or to be able to extend up to the highest, most tender leaves of the trees.

  The concept of a change in the gravitational pull of the earth is not only NOT proven but it’s usually scoffed at in the community. Keep one thing in mind, there’s no proper mechanism for gravitational change in the physics of today or in Einstein’s General Relativity. In fact the force is not well handled at all in the theorems.

  Chapter 6 : Blood Lines

  “When the thorn bush turns white that’s when I’ll come home

  I am going out to see what I can sow”

  “Full Moon” Lyrics

  by The Black Ghosts

  ‘I told you that you had to be careful of what you touched around here.’ Marty Feldman reached down to help Brian up from the floor. ‘Here, give me your hand, I’ll help you up. You’re OK, just hold your breath for a moment. Good, now breathe easily.’

  ‘It’s a good thing you didn’t hit anything flying across the room like that. You might have hurt yourself even worse…. No, now watch it! You’re going to end up breaking something important! Here, sit!’

  Brian’s shoulder ached after the 25,000 volt wave jolted through it. Lucky for him the pulse that jumped across at him was all voltage with very little current. Paul had warned him not to touch anything but he had only passed near the probe point when it flashed. ‘This guy has got to be crazy.’ Brian thought to himself. Even his jaws ached a bit.

  ‘I’m sorry Doctor Feldman. Ah, shouldn’t you have a safety cage or some signs around that probe?’

  ‘Look Brian, we have a problem and very little time to find a solution. I don’t get many visitors to this lab and I like it that way. If you can’t be careful then leave and tell Paul to send someone else.’

  ‘You are Brian Folsome, right? Paul told me you were quick and competent. I could use your help but I’m not going to pander to your clumsy whims. It would take me hours to install those silly interlocks and cages. Do you want to help or not?’

  For the first time in years, Brian Folsome felt rather incompetent. Marty had an almost god-like reputation for brilliant problem solving as well as eccentric behavior. Spending some time to work with him, to learn his methods and perhaps be able to say he knew him is just too great an opportunity to pass up. He’d have to be more careful.

  ‘I’ll be more careful Doctor Feldman. Its just …’

  ‘Well then let’s get to work and stop with this “Doctor” stuff, Marty will do. Come over here.’ Marty turned and rolled out a broad sheet of paper. Like some alien document, the paper is filled with symbols that Brian’s never seen before. Lines scurry across the sheet linking symbol to symbol. Actually, having grown up with a Hive Tab, Brian had never seen a drawing on paper before. He wanted to ask Marty why he bothered to print it out but ..

  ‘Oh, don’t we look wide eyed with surprise? Haven’t you ever seen a hand-drawn schematic? You should try it some time, the physical linkage of the drawing to your mind lets you really feel the design. You can’t do that with those virtual schematics you guys use.’ Marty pushed aside some small stands and components on the optical bench that floated in the center of his lab to make room for the paper. A single light shown down from a thin pole up near the ceiling onto the drawing. ‘No, no no. Don’t touch that one or you’ll ruin a month’s worth of data gathering. Come over here and keep your hands by your side until you learn how to move in here.’

  ‘The symbols I use in these schematics are my own design. The drawings you use may be typical for your engineering but they are too restrictive in their performance scope and don’t really allow for cognitive feedback and capacitive noise coupling in the circuits, among other things. I’ll explain how you use them this one time. It’s a simple concept so listen and I won’t have to waste more time later. You’ll need to be able to read this if you’re going to program the cellular assembly fabricator for me. Oh, and one tip, until you get to know your way around here, if you pick up anything use only one hand … just in case. You don’t want any voltage travelling from arm to arm across your chest or we’ll be rushing you over to the infirmary. Better safe than sorry you know.’

  Brian emerged from the darkened lab a half hour later with, of all things, a roll of paper schematics under his arm. His shoulder still hurt from the rapid jolt the muscles experienced as they contracted from the high voltage shock. His mind felt confused and a little panicky. He was beginning to understand some of the power of designing using Marty’s schematics but the scope and interplay of their interactions were so complex! Marty had skipped through the explanations like a schoolboy hopping from rock-to-rock across a stream. You either kept up with him or you were lost. Brian resolved that he was not going to go back and ask for an explanation a second time. He’d figure this out!

  A cup of coffee waited for him in his lab from this morning. It was cold and thick. He’d have to lay the drawing on the coffee table or perhaps he could go to the cafeteria. Yeah, no one would be there this time of day and he could spread everything out on the tables there and get a good cup of coffee at the same time.

  He unconsciously brushed his shirt aside to rub the sore shoulder. ‘Ow, what a bruise! That wasn’t there before. Shit, maybe I’ll stop at the medical center on the way and have this removed. I can also see how Cindy’s doing.’

  Brian liked working here, he liked the ocean and the sun. Loose
stones crunched under his shoes as he walked outside toward the cafeteria and infirmary. Through the loose brush along the trail he could see across the cleared quadrangle where Mark and Dan are greeting the board members and their visiting families. Every day has been sunny with almost no clouds. There are so many new experiences. For example, for the first time in his life Brian discovered how difficult it was walking with rolled drawings in the stiff breezes coming from the open seas beyond the edge of the plateau.

  Brian was fumbling with the papers when he heard a strange noise from the door as he approached the infirmary. Then he remembered, the security systems were on high because of the attacks. ‘Must have been some small animal walking too close to the door.’ He looked around. Nothing. Well, he’d talk with Ian about it. Maintenance might have to be called in for the repair, he didn’t have time to get involved with security system tuning.

  A small beam scans his body as he approaches the door. It was a small, quick scan that Brian would normally not even notice if the problem hadn’t occurred just a second ago. ‘Seems ok.’ He commented as the door opened to his touch and he stepped through the threshold. He was about to call to Ian when a sudden blow from behind threw him into the doorjamb. His head struck the jamb and he slumped to the ground.

  Dazed by the blow, Brian felt hard hands pulling him into the building. He tried to thank them for the help but could only mumble. ‘Cheez, take it easy will you? You don’t have to be so rough.’ He grumbles through haze filled eyes and a piercing headache. ‘What?’ They are saying something to him but he can’t understand. Then he felt hot fingers grab and squeeze his throat, covering his eyes and nose! ‘No, … can’t breathe!’

  Brian thrashes. Soon the panicked reaction turns into convulsions and consciousness fades. A sheaf of papers, now free in the breeze, fly across the stone and sand of the cleared area to bump and bounce across the field. Unrolled, separated and torn, the schematics tumble outward on the edge of the cooling afternoon breeze to be torn, shredded and captured by the surrounding low brush.

  * * * * *

  The walls inside of the infirmary illuminate the interior with a bright, uniform natural white light. It floods the room from all directions making it impossible to generate an obscuring shadow. A critical characteristic for a room designed to handle injuries and trauma. Alien to the directional characteristics of natural sunlight, the illumination falls on the intruders, making them feel uneasy as they pull the body in and consciously close the door. The intruders stand unmoving for a few moments, attempting to adapt their natural camouflage to the room without success. They feel exposed as never before. It’s an unfamiliar and very uncomfortable feeling that is tolerated only because of the urgent pull of the sensed presence in the next room.

  Habit dies hard as one of the intruders watches silently, a sentry for the other’s cautious movement toward the easily opened doorway of the next room. He pushes the door open and, with a silent flexing of the feathers around the back of his neck, he signals. A silent and simple sign, it marks the all-clear and urges his brother onward toward the welcome darkness of the interior. The dark figure enters the room and stops. Fear suddenly grips them both as the interior floods with a brilliance of the day. For the second time, they freeze in startled reaction, trying to adapt to the unnatural environment.

  The scent is here! It urges them to ignore their fears and move into the room. It’s an old scent and difficult to follow but they now know that their prey never left this room. How could it simply end in this room?

  * * * * *

  A blessed coolness sweeps across her body, soothing her semiconscious thoughts. Her body floats in a safe, comforting space free of the damaging pull of gravity, bathed in the healing vapors. There is no sense of presence except the comforting touch of a breeze totally enveloping her, pushing back the pain to a small, dull reminder of its former horrible self. She feels weak, unwilling to move, still threatened by the sharply remembered agony brought on by the smallest movement.

  Two senses have filled her sleep-numbed soul for what has seemed like an eternity; that of the blessed cooling breeze and its constant comforting sound. She exists here, without pain and that is enough for now.

  Cindy’s random nightmares gradually coalesced over the hours yielding toward healing and sanity. Her thoughts slowly are becoming more and more coherent as she recovers. Progressively her abused eyes have begun to see light again; like the sudden brightness now glowing softly though her closed eyelids. If she had not been awake then she would have never seen this warm and strangely welcome change. Perhaps she can take the chance to open them? No, the sharp fear and the all too fresh memories of intense pain encourage her to slowly slide back into the healing arms of slumber.

  Another change enters into her universe. A faint shadow dims the comforting light around her! Actions race ahead of conscious thought, spurred by the fears deeply etched in her mind causing her eyes to fly open in response. Her eyes attempt to focus on a curious blurred image, shimmering before and towering above her like that of a swimmer opening her eyes underwater to view a friend standing on the edge of the pool. Suddenly, unwanted recognition and memories flood back into Cindy’s consciousness. The confusion, revulsion, overpowering smells and pain of that horrid evening come rushing back with the memory of the despair brought on by recognition of the fear-laden figure once again hovering over her.

  Feelings of solitude and safety metamorphose into new revulsion and overpowering panic. Cindy’s fear drives her into flight but her body will not respond, cannot overcome the field entombing her. Surges of claustrophobic darkness wash into her dream-like consciousness, pounding like the ocean’s waves rising on a sudden tide. Her consciousness soars on the crest of despair and fear and then, her heart pounding in her chest, the unthinkable happens.

  Her body panics into a burning desire for flight but she is frozen, immobile, incapable of even the solace of an escape-delivering physical response. Entombed and powerless, Cindy’s unmoving eyes stare before her and helplessly watch. Hideously blurred teeth emerge from above and the abject, claw-tipped arms slowly rise above her face as the horrid memories scream silently in anticipation. Her mind shrieks the hate she feels for her own heart. A pounding muscle of life that refuses to quit, refuses to bring her the comfort and safety of death. Thoughts and memories burst incoherently, flying through her mind, hammering with an almost physical force into her very core. Cindy’s envisioned agonies climb, pounding upward in a swirling tornado of panic. Rising to meet and focus on the tips of the pain-giving claws as they descend along a well-remembered path. A macabre dance she knows will soon lead to new waves of pain and agony. Despair fills her very soul and she cannot even hear herself scream.

  * * * * *

  His brother stands as sentry as he approaches the strangely scentless object swirling in the center of the room. The old scent of his prey surrounds it but the thing is without odor. It is a destination without an ending and he is confused because their victim should be here.

  The strange blur of this thing sings the sound of the wind without its touch. Fear envelops him but curiosity draws him toward this strange, alien and very unnatural object floating strangely before him, filled with lifeless movement.

  Stealth resides naturally in his movement as he cautiously approaches the object. Like the cascading waters of a rock-strewn stream, it moves and flows without flight or change, ignoring his presence. Slowly he approaches and his eyes focus in disbelief. The prey is here! Their senses did not deceive them!

  How strangely the prey moves like a fish sitting under the waters of a stream. There, moving and yet motionless. Perhaps, perhaps like from a stream the prey can yet be taken back.

  Slowly he extends his arm, hoping to snare the prey as he would a fish. His fingers suddenly tingle and burn. He pulls his arm back in surprise. This is not a stream! It is the strange emptiness of the wind! A wind oddly felt only within the strange distortion before him. A barrier that holds nothi
ng out yet holds all within.

  Yet, there is no real pain, just a tingling. The object doesn’t respond, it doesn’t even hide, it just is and his prey lies there before him alive, waiting. See? It moves! Its eyes are open! Again he extends his arms, watching his hands blur and swirl as they sink deeper into the object. A test is needed!

  The prey lies in frozen stillness but he can see the succulent fear of a cornered animal in its eyes. He extends his claw and carefully, gently runs it down from breast to groin along the soft underbelly of the prey. The excited beating of his heart soars in sweet response, rising in concordance with the despair and panic swelling so silently in those eyes.

  Everything feels warm and natural until the hot blood flows. The blood emerges from the wound and suddenly whips away on the small winds of the object. Eyes grown wide in amazement, he again pulls his claws lightly down the unmoving body. No sound emerges, no soft mewing or cries of pain. No movement in response as the image fades into a swirling red mist before him carried on and contained within the strange winds of the object.

  He pulls his arm out. The room fills with the acrid scent of his prey but the longed-for, salty-liquid red ambrosia is not on his claw. Instead, his arm is coated with the dried, flaked powder of the long dead. This is not as it should be! It had flowed freely, he had seen it doing within the barrier, but then it also was taken by the strange winds? How can this be?

  He looks to his brother who is now sensing this clear prey scent, and then returns his attention. The object is once again clear of the red haze, the barrier swirls faintly with the last blood traces and he is amazed to see that the cut down its belly has closed. The expected liquid flow of hot blood is not there! The liquid exists inside only briefly and is then quickly washed away by the strange winds.