Sapiosaurus | Out Of Time

by Lon McQuillin

  And the research team members were there! And Sandy Ruggiero was there!

  Panic set in. How could he stop it? How long did the elevator take to go down? He guessed around two minutes. Assuming it wasn’t already down. Another four or five minutes to get to the Penthouse entrance, and there’d be a few minutes to spare in which to disarm the bomb.

  Or should he go to the office and call down to warn them? But they might not believe him — or if they did, might not be able to get the Bible open, or accidentally push the wrong buttons. He had to do it himself.

  He jumped up, pulled on his parka, and ran out the door.

  Chapter 28

  The Bomb

  Taylor refilled his coffee mug, and was about to head toward the refrigerator to pick out a sandwich when he glanced out the window just in time to see Northrup arrive at the elevator. It was up, and Northrup got in, lowered the outer and inner gates, and started to disappear down the shaft.

  Taylor released the mug, which stayed suspended for a split second before starting its own trip toward the floor. Before it shattered, Taylor was already at the door. The other team members in the office gaped at each other, and several moved to the window to see what the commotion was all about.

  As he ran across the ice to the platform, he realized that he was unarmed. By the time he reached the elevator, the car was too far down the shaft for him to jump. He leaned over the side rail and shouted at Northrup.

  “Mr. Northrup! You are not authorized to enter the downtown area! Please stop and bring the elevator back to the surface!”

  “I can’t do that, Commander.” Northrup’s voice sounded strained.

  “Eugene, I know what you’re planning to do! Don’t do it! You can’t destroy those creatures!”

  “You don’t understand, sir!” Northrup’s voice, echoing up the shaft, was becoming harder to hear over the hum of the motor.

  “I do understand. We know everything. We’ve been monitoring your telephone conversations with Wilder.”

  Northrup heard this, and was both frightened and confused, assuming that Taylor was talking about this morning’s conversation.

  “You don’t understand, sir. I’ve got to disarm a bomb.”

  By now, the elevator was low enough that all Taylor was able to make out over the sound of the motor were “understand” and “bomb.”

  He looked around for something he could use to jam the elevator mechanism, and felt his heart sink when he saw the power controls only a few feet away. He reached out and punched the “Off” button, and the elevator ground to a stop.

  Northrup felt the cab lurch, and looked first up, and then down. He was barely 50 feet from the bottom of the shaft. He reached up and unlatched the emergency trap door in the wire mesh ceiling. Hoisting himself up through the door and onto the roof, he grabbed onto one of the electrical cables running down the shaft and began lowering himself to the bottom.

  Seeing this, Taylor sprinted back to the office and across to the intercom. He picked up the receiver and started shouting for someone to answer. After what seemed like an eternity, Dick Behling answered.

  “Dick, is Dan there?”

  “No, he went over to the tool room.”

  “Get him. Right now!”

  The tone of the command told Behling not to waste time asking questions. “On my way!” He ran out of the library and down the wall to the tool room, where he found Lightfoot.

  “Commander Taylor wants to talk to you, and it sounds pretty urgent.”

  The two men ran back to the library, where Lightfoot put on the headset.

  “What’s up, Fred?”

  “It’s Northrup. He’s headed your way, and the last thing I heard him say was something about a bomb.”

  “Was he carrying anything?”

  “Not that I could see, but he could have had something inside his parka. And Dan, there was a satellite intercept this morning. He may be very upset right now.”

  “OK, I’ll be ready for him.”

  Lightfoot took off the headset and ran to his pack. He hesitated, trying to decide whether to use the Sapio sidearm to stun Northrup, or use his 9mm Beretta. He decided to go with the weapon he’d trained with for years. Taking it out of the pack, he clicked off the safety, pulled back the slide and chambered a round.

  “Sandy, you and Dick go to the infirmary. Tell Steph and the others to stay inside no matter what happens,” he said to Behling. The three left the library and headed in opposite directions.

  •

  As he rounded the last corner before the entrance to the Penthouse, Northrup took the transmitter from his pocket. It read 11:56 AM. He reached the entrance and pressed the three buttons on the wall that entered the combination. The outer door started to slide open, and as soon as there was enough clearance, he squeezed through. It was dark in the corridor, and as he reached the inner door he remembered with horror that it opened to 260 pounds of weight. He only weighed 210. He pounded on the inner door, and then began looking around for any kind of object that would add to his weight. And once again, God intervened: There, against one of the walls, were two sandbags.

  He dragged them to the door, and jumped on top of them. The ceiling began to glow, and the door began to open.

  He sprang through the door and aimed himself at the entrance to the infirmary just in time to hear Lightfoot yell, “Freeze.” He looked to his right and found Lightfoot coming towards him with a 9mm pistol aimed at him.

  “Agent Lightfoot, you don’t understand… There’s a bomb.”

  “I understand perfectly, Eugene. Don’t move a muscle.”

  “But Dan,” he said, raising his right hand, which held the transmitter.

  At the movement, Lightfoot instinctively shifted his aim and fired. The slug shattered the transmitter, and passing through it, the bones in Northrup’s hand. He spun, clutching his wounded hand to his chest.

  “Don’t move, son,” said Lightfoot. “I don’t want to kill you.”

  “You don’t understand. There’s a bomb in the infirmary. I planted it. And I was trying to disarm it.”

  Lightfoot frowned. “What? Why?” he asked.

  “Reverend Wilder. He’s a fraud. He told me it was God’s will, and then he turned out to be a fraud.” Northrup was nearly sobbing, and not just from the pain of his wound.

  Lightfoot hesitated. Taylor had mentioned that Northrup might be upset, but hadn’t provided any details.

  “You’re telling me there’s a bomb in the infirmary?”

  “Yes,” Northrup wailed.

  “Can you disarm it?”

  Northrup looked at the shards of the transmitter on the floor. “If I can get to it in time.”

  “How long do we have?”

  “About two minutes.”

  Again, Lightfoot hesitated. There was something in Northrup’s voice that made him want to trust the boy, despite his misgivings. He wanted to go with his instincts.

  “Eugene, are you telling me the truth?”

  “YES!” The look on Northrup’s face was all Lightfoot needed to see.

  “Go!” He dropped his weapon to his side.

  Clutching his wounded hand, Northrup started running toward the infirmary with Lightfoot right behind him. As he passed through the doorway, a hand reached out, grabbing him by the neck, and he found himself lifted off his feet. High off the ground, he was being held by one of the Sapios.

  Garlmek had heard the noise in the main chamber, and though the sound was different from the discharge of a Noaud weapon, he knew what it represented nonetheless.

  “There is something not right here,” said the Sapiosaur.

  “Eugene, what’s going on?” asked Hummford.

  “Ghlghhugglth,” said Northrup.

  “Ask him to put him down,” shouted Lightfoot.

  “Garlmek, please let him down,” said Hummford.

  Garlmek turned to look at Hummford, then at Lightfoot, and then back at Northrup. He slowly lowered the human to the
ground and let go.

  “Dr. McCollum, you’ve gotta unlock the medical cart!” Northrup yelled hoarsely, rubbing his neck.

  “Why?”

  “Just do it! There’s a bomb!”

  McCollum reached into her pants pocket, and under pressure, fumbled a bit. She finally came up with the key and unlocked the cart. Northrup dropped to his knees and opened the bottom drawer. He tore the glove box out and retrieved the Bible that was set to explode at any moment.

  He knew there wasn’t time to fool with the release mechanism, so he stood up and ran out of the room, across the main chamber and towards the exit.

  “Get everyone back,” he yelled at Lightfoot, who had started to follow him. Then he saw that the inner door was closed. “Agent Lightfoot! I need you to help me open the door!”

  Lightfoot hesitated. Assuming that Northrup was telling the truth seemed the more prudent, no-downside course of action. He ran to the inner door and stood next to Northrup.

  “If you’re bullshittin’ me, boy…” But again, the look on Northrup’s face convinced him that he was telling the truth.

  The inner door slid open, and Northrup ran through. He reached the outer door, which still stood open, flung the Bible out and to the left, and ducked back inside. A moment later there was a massive explosion, sending figurative fire and brimstone in both directions through the tunnel in the ice. As Northrup was flung back into the corridor like a cloth doll, several tons of ice came raining down, completely filling the tunnel along the outer wall of the Penthouse. Northrup skidded to a stop just short of the inner door, groaning.

  After alerting Lightfoot over the intercom, Taylor raced across the shed to his room and retrieved his pistol. He then went to the elevator, wishing that he’d thought to turn it back on and start it up before he’d run back to the office. It seemed to take forever to reach the top. The ride down seemed interminable.

  When he reached the bottom, he opened the inner and outer gates and started the sprint across to the stairs. He figured that Northrup had gotten about a four-minute lead on him, but he wanted to be there to back up Lightfoot.

  He took the stairs as fast as he could, and then ran down the length of the Penthouse wall. He turned the corner, and was half-way to the door when he saw an arm appear and fling something down the ice tunnel towards him. He had just enough time to recognize what it was — Northrup’s Bible — when the world went white in front of him. As the ice began caving in a split second later, the many pieces of what had been Commander Fred Taylor were buried under it.

  •

  Lightfoot had been knocked backwards off his feet by the concussion, but as he picked himself up, found that he had sustained no injuries. Looking at Northrup, however, he saw that the young man’s condition was questionable.

  “Deirdre, Eugene needs your help,” he called across the chamber. McCollum trotted across to the entrance, where she knelt next to Northrup. She checked his eyes and felt his carotid artery. His pupils were reacting to light, and his pulse was strong. A quick survey showed no wounds on his legs or body. He was losing blood from the wound in his hand, though.

  “Sandy,” she called across to the infirmary, “would you bring over my black bag?” Ruggiero had anticipated the need, and was already crossing the chamber with it, with Mitchell and Reynolds right behind her.

  “Eugene, can you hear me?” There was no response. She took sterile pads from her bag, placed them on either side of Northrup’s hand and bound it with gauze.

  “This’ll stop the bleeding for now. The blast knocked him unconscious, and I’m concerned about internal bleeding. Let’s move him inside.” As gently as they could, Reynolds and Lightfoot slid Northrup through the door and into the main chamber.

  “Hal, there were some blankets in the library. Would you see if they’re still there?”

  “Yeah, they’re still there. Be right back.”

  When Reynolds returned, they folded one blanket twice lengthwise and moved Northrup onto it. They then covered him with two additional blankets. In addition to possible internal bleeding, McCollum was also worried about shock.

  Both Sapios and all of the humans were now gathered around Northrup.

  “Would somebody like to explain what just happened?” asked Mitchell.

  Reynolds looked at Lightfoot, who nodded, and then turned to Mitchell.

  “Eugene was sent here to destroy the Sapios,” said the team leader. As he spoke, Hummford translated for the Sapios.

  “He what?” said Mitchell. “Why?”

  “Evidently the good Reverend Wilder convinced himself — and Eugene — that the Sapios represented some sort of evil threat to God’s plan, and had to be eliminated.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Well,” said Lightfoot, “it looks like Eugene had a sudden change of heart, and not a second too soon. If the bomb had gone off in the infirmary with you, none of you would have survived.”

  “Forgive me,” said Garlmek to Hummford, “but I do not understand what you mean when you say that Touolok and I somehow represent a threat to the plan of a mythical being. This makes no sense.”

  Now Ruggiero translated for the humans.

  “You are correct, Garlmek. It makes no sense. There are some humans, however, who guide themselves not by logic and reason, but rather, by their belief in myths.”

  “What is the source of these myths?”

  “In the case of Eugene, they are a set of stories made up thousands of years ago by primitive humans attempting to explain things they didn’t understand.”

  Garlmek had to remind himself that humans had only recently evolved into a civilized race. And that even now, using the term “civilized” was stretching the definition.

  “Long ago, at the dawn of our time, we know that the Noaud believed in mythical beings. But knowledge enlightens. How can humans have achieved so much progress, yet still hold onto such unenlightened beliefs?”

  “Not all humans are enlightened. Many are poorly educated, and still hold their primitive beliefs.”

  The Sapios nodded their understanding. With such a crushing population, they could see how educating the masses might be difficult.

  Then a moan from the floor drew attention back to Northrup. McCollum knelt at his side.

  “Eugene?”

  “Dr. McCollum…”

  “How do you feel?”

  “I…I ache all over.”

  She pulled back the blanket, and placing her hands on his abdomen, pressed gently. “Does this hurt?”

  “A little.”

  “How about this?” She moved her hands to his side.

  “Ohhh! That hurts!”

  She felt his forehead, then continued her survey. After a few minutes she stood and turned to Reynolds. “He’s worse than I thought. He has a mild concussion, but the main thing is I’m pretty sure there’s internal bleeding. He needs surgery, and I’m not sure I can do it alone.”

  A thought crossed her mind, and she turned to Touolok. “Can your equipment be used with mammals as well as Noaud?”

  “Yes. There are veterinary settings, and there is a flat examining table.”

  “He has suffered internal injuries. Will you help him?”

  “Of course. Bring him into the medical room.”

  At McCollum’s direction, Reynolds and Lightfoot collapsed two of the work light stands, and slid them through the folds at the sides of the blanket on which Northrup rested, turning it into a stretcher. They carried him across the chamber and into the infirmary, and placed him on a table indicated by the Sapio doctor.

  As Touolok started preparing to examine Northrup, Reynolds motioned Lightfoot to exit the infirmary with him.

  “Let’s go see what kind of a fix we’re in.”

  They crossed to the entrance, through the corridor and to the outer door.

  Directly outside, the tunnel was now dark. The work lights that previously illuminated the outer door was either broken
, or no longer getting power. In the glow cast by the corridor’s ceiling, they could see lying on the surface the transceiver that had made communication with the office possible, its side bashed in and the cable to the surface severed at the connector. It had obviously been smashed by a chunk of ice.

  The tunnel along the side of the Penthouse was filled with ice. There was no way of knowing how much of the tunnel was blocked.

  “Well,” said Reynolds, “it doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere soon.”

  Lightfoot nudged the transceiver with his shoe. “Yeah, and we can’t even let them know what’s going on, or that we’re OK.”

  “Rank will come after us in any event. We’ll just have to wait for him to dig us out.” He glanced over at the NSA agent. “So, did Fred give any indication why Eugene underwent his eleventh-hour conversion?”

  “Nope. Just said that he seemed upset.”

  “Well, whatever caused it, I’m not about to complain. I’ve never been that close to certain death before.”

  Lightfoot grinned. “Sorta puts a whole new perspective on things, doesn’t it?”

  •

  In the infirmary, Touolok had finished adjusting the viewer to mammalian settings, and began a scan of Northrup. He had initially protested being treated with Sapio technology, but when McCollum told him that his alternative would possibly include dying within hours, he’d relented.

  The two physicians stood on either side of the table as Touolok held the viewer over his head. There were no broken blood vessels, and McCollum decided not to worry about concussion. The Sapio doctor moved the viewer to his chest, and began scanning downward. When she reached his waist, the damage was obvious. His spleen, liver and right kidney were bleeding.

  “The damage can be repaired, but we will need to drain the blood from his thorax invasively,” said Touolok. She touched a series of controls, and the same blue glow that appeared when Garlmek’s nerve damage was repaired now spread over the image of Northrup’s damaged organs.

  “I’m still amazed at how this works,” said McCollum.

  “It simply directs healing energy to the areas of injury. The cells are stimulated to repair themselves at an accelerated rate.”