Pete nodded enthusiastically. “I can go; I know how to do it now,” he volunteered.
Travis gave him a look. “You’re what, fourteen?”
Pete shook his head no. “Almost. Thirteen and a half.” Travis looked dubious.
“It is up to Travis Pete,” Doc and Janet looked non plussed at Mitch’s answer. “I know you will be an asset to Travis, handling the communications and electronics.”
“Wait, why don’t we fly the helicopter out direct right off?” Paul asked.
“It only has a limited seven hundred kilometer range,” Jacklynn responded.
“So, it is two hundred eighty kilometers one way right?” Pete asked confused.
“Yes, but you always need a reserve. Besides,” Mitch glanced to Jacklynn. “You also need to factor in winds.”
She nodded. “And remember, that is with a minimum load. If I have to haul anything it cuts into the range.”
Pete nodded. “Ohhh okay,” he said and then scampered off.
“Going to take him?” Mitch asked, turning to Travis.
“I don’t know. I am leaning toward it,” Travis answered dryly. “I dunno what would happen if I didn’t bring him back in one piece though.” He gave the glaring women a cool look.
Chapter 21
Three days later Mitch came into the kitchen and noted Doc curled up in a chair staring out the kitchen window at the waterfall. Achilles, one of Hera’s first brood was sprawled in the window sill, drowsy from the sun. Doc was clutching a steaming mug; he smiled as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “I thought I smelled coffee,” he commented, and then came up beside her. “Are you worried about them?” he asked her softly, and then took another sip. A soft affirmative sound and slight jerk of her head.
“Travis knew what he is doing,” Mitch said softly to her. He sets his cup down and rubbed her shoulders. She groaned softly, digging her chin into her chest and arching her back. “They check in every day, so far they have made it to the pass.”
An “Uh huh,” answered him. He wasn’t sure if she was more interested in the scouting party or the shoulder rub now.
He switched to her neck, she groaned softly in appreciation. “Don’t worry about Petey, he did okay with Paul when he rode shot gun, he is just stretching his wings a little.” She gave a small groaning sound, he wasn’t sure if it was in agreement or not.
“So I heard Nicole gave you a clean bill of health?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Uh honey...” she purred.
He softly snorted. “Been up a while?”
She groaned. “Since zero three hundred. Anne had a case of indigestion and was a bit concerned for the baby.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, it can be a bit scary.” His hands moved down her back, massaging her arched spine.
He found a lump of muscle on her right side just under her shoulder blade and massaged it. She groaned softly and twisted a little. “Damn that felt good. Thanks,” she groaned. He took that as a dismissal and stopped.
Picking up his cup, he hid his smile as she arched her back a little then shook her head back and forth. Her red mane was bound up in a pony tail, it danced about. She turned, dimpled a little as her freckled face smiled. “Are you here for me to take the cast off?”
He smiled then shrugged. “You’re the Doc Doc; you can check it when you’re ready. Get some rest. No hurry.” He gave her a smile, and then looked to the waterfall.
She followed his gaze. “I was wondering... Why the drawbridge?”
His eyes shifted to the drawbridge. “It gave me a chance to sneak a few engineering lessons into the kids,” he replied, giving her a smile. She snorted. “Besides, every castle needed a drawbridge.” He saluted her. “And of course every castle needed a fairy tale princess.” He gave a short bow and then left as she chuckled in appreciation of that compliment.
She watched him go, curious about that. Lately he had been opening up a little more, acting a little more loose around her. Now that most of the others had settled down maybe she could give him a shot.
Jolie came running after dark. “Travis called in; those shark things have been sighted,” she exclaimed, extremely concerned. Hurriedly they rushed out down the hall and up the stairs to the communications room on the third level. A very pregnant Frances was there, concentrating on her headset.
Mitch picked up a headset. “...looked like south by south east, out to sea.”
Mitch pressed the transmit button. “Repeat that Travis?” There was a momentary squelch of static.
“I said, the shark things are in the water. We made it across the ford and made camp on a hill overlooking the sea.” There was another squelch of static. “I can see, ten, maybe fifteen fins heading out to sea now.”
Doc sucked in a breath. “Are they okay?” Mitch waved her back and gave her a quick nod and thumbs up.
“You said they were heading South by South East?”
“Ten four.” Mitch nodded. Maggie made a note to bring to Doctor Mallard.
Frances signed off and handed Mitch her tablet. He took a look, scrolled through the report, and then handed it to Maggie. She whistled, and then e-mailed the report to Doctor Mallard and her own in box.
“What?” Doc asked, getting exasperated.
“Well, it seems after Travis’s team settled in on a hilltop for the night and the perimeter guard spotted the sharks in the river. They swam out to sea,” Mitch replied.
“Out to sea? Does that mean we are rid of them?” she asked, excited.
“For the rest of this year most likely,” Mitch replied. He pulled up a map. “But based on this they had to have come from the mountain pass, not the ones near Copper town,” he said and grimaced with her.
“Could they come here?” Janet asked, suddenly scared.
“I do not know how far they can swim in fresh water Janet, it is possible.” He waved in the direction of the river. “Travis is on it, he and Gunny are instituting corrections to our security to make sure they do not get inside our perimeter,” Mitch replied. Janet and Doc looked relieved.
“We need a playground for the kids,” Anne said, dodging one of the brats as they ran around.
Mitch looked up from peeling potatoes. “Hmm, what about right there in the courtyard?” He wiped his hands and led her to the hall. He pointed out the window, to the left corner. “We can put it right there. We have steel and plastic now, so we can do some steel tubes for a jungle gym.”
She cocked her head. “Might work,” she said looking at the indicated area for a moment and then she smiled. It was perfect really, right out the window. “I think it would be appropriate with these monkeys,” she teased one of the kids, and then sent her scampering.
He nodded. “Well, we can also tap the plastics and make some other things. Swings, slides, and such,” he mused. She nodded.
One of the older kids looked up. “A playground?” He started to get excited.
Anne gave Mitch a resigned look. “Guess you’re committed now,” she replied in amused resignation. He shrugged and laughed as the boy rushed off to tell the others. The adults made their way through the sudden mob of excited kids back to the kitchen.
“Yeah, well we aren’t doing it today, why don’t you go draw what you want to play on?” Mitch finally told them.
When that idea only got rid of a few Anne pulled out the ultimate weapon. “Okay I need volunteers to muck out the animals I guess all of you want to help right?”
“EWWW!!” Kids exploded away from them in all directions and then down the hall.
He grinned, “You know that isn’t going to work forever right?” he asked as he put the peelings in the compost bin.
She shrugged. “Worked this time,” she said with a slight grin. She gave him a sniff then headed off. He chuckled as he got back to the potatoes.
Mitch came into the barn and immediately covered his ears when the din fully registered. The noise was almost as bad as in the garage and machine shops. He looked over to Ma
ggie, mucking out a stall.
A Struthiomimus stuck its head up over a fence; he felt a rumble as its legs hit the walls. He called to Maggie who was near, then went over and patted her on the shoulder. She looked up startled and pulled one I pod headphone out of her ear. “What?”
He snorted. A cow bawled. “Sean said you wanted to talk?”
“What?”
He motioned her to follow. She set the rake aside and did so.
Out in the garage the loud grinding drove them back. The Great Hall was occupied by a class so he motioned her up and led her to the hallway near the mushrooms. “Okay, as I was saying,” He turned to her. ”Sean said you were looking for me?” She nodded. “What about?” he asked curiously.
“We need to work on your breeding program,” she replied. He nodded. The door to the mushroom chamber opened; he scowled as Dora and Brian tip toed out with clothes obviously mussed.
He sighed. “I don’t quite think that was the breeding program you had in mind.... you were saying?” She shook her head in amusement. The kids looked a bit chagrined.
“We need to bring in some aurochs to supplement the diet here. We have every cow producing, but only a handful of bulls. Eventually we are going to want more.” She threw her hands as wide as the hall allowed.
He nodded. “Yeah, Mike wanted a herd too now that they are stable,” he replied.
She looked exasperated. “MIKE?”
He shrugged. “We may have to have him wait, maybe do a couple sperm milkings of one of the bulls before sending it to him. Keep the semen on ice.”
She nodded relieved. “Should work, good insurance too.
He smiled. “As for cows, well, I am not too happy about losing any right now.” He shrugged. “Goats on the other hand, maybe a couple.”
She nodded. “We can send him some struthiomimus and protoceratops too.”
He gave her a look. “Not happy about that project?”
She shook her head. “Oh no, one thousand pound over grown wild turkeys? One hundred pound drum sticks? Who wouldn’t be?”
He chuckled. “So, you want to get some, I am assuming auroch cows? To act as what? Surrogate mothers?”
She nodded. “Yeah, you have some nice embryos going to waste in the freezer. I want to bring in some of them, and broaden our gene pool.”
He nodded, “Good idea, if they can carry them to term. We lost a few this year after Janet and I did the implants last year.”
She nodded and got a thoughtful look. “I think we should try a donor egg and sperm from one of our existing animals though.” She cocked her head in thought.
“Good idea. That way, if it doesn’t work, we can work on it, and not lose an embryo.” He nodded in agreement.
She shrugged. “What about the horses?”
“I want to send some of the geldings on, and maybe one of the stallions.”
She looked dubious, and then nodded. “Yeah, that would free up some room. We need to get some space soon.”
He nodded. “Next year we will expand the barns, double or triple their size, maybe move them all out to dedicated quarters,” he replied. She looked wide eyed. “What? It isn’t that hard to make forms and pour concrete. We can do the floor and walls, then buy tile from Jack to do the roofs,” he explained. Her face cleared and she nodded.
“We already sent chickens, goats, and rabbits along to each of the villages. The geese aren’t doing well,” she sighed. “I dunno what is going wrong. It seems like some avian flu, but it only has affected the turkeys and the geese!” She threw her hands up in the air. “I have them quarantined, but it just concentrates the problem. Hopefully it isn’t air born or we are all in trouble.”
He got a worried look at that. “Get with doc and that biochemist. See if they can isolate and culture it... Then check and see if we have the cure for avian flu, and if it would help. Maybe immunize them with it?” he asked and then shrugged. He knew when he was out of his element.
She nodded. “Wont help the geese though,” she cautioned.
Mitch sighed. “No, but it might save the chickens and struthiomimus.” He looked off down the hall then back. “Who knew, the mimus’s or those therapods of Jeff’s might have been the source of contagion.”
She gave him an alarmed look. “We didn’t think of that!”
He sighed. “It could also be prions. Have Doc check for that. If she needed a human guinea pig for a blood test, have her call me.” Maggie nodded and left.
“We have signs of herd migration here boss,” Security called in. The base AI echoed the report.
He snorted. He'd been expecting the great migration when the cold snap hit and took hold. “All right, I will be right there.” The hoist dropped the drive train the last few centimeters into the frame of the truck. Bill gave him a thumbs up then moved to slip the bolts into the motor mounts. It seemed that the work on the vehicles had gotten Bill and Candy back into staying... at least for now.
Mitch signaled to Candy that he was taking a break then grabbed a towel to wipe his hands. Outside he took a look around, spotted a flock of people heading out to the perimeter. He snorted. He grabbed a ride on the back of Janet’s horse. At the edge of the perimeter she pulled up, suddenly having problems from the fractious horse. People began to arrive behind her. Some want to climb the wall, but he waved them back.
Vance and his crew had been busy. The perimeter had changed since last year, now it had a six meter tall concrete wall and two meter deep moat in some sections. The wall was far from complete, but it was enough to deter the dinosaurs from climbing or stepping over it. A few of the Terran group moved off to see through gaps in the wall where only fencing was.
Mitch snorted. The trumpeting call of a sauropod stopped some in their tracks. One of the sauropods raised its head up and up, towering over the wall. It snorted, blasting pale green mucus, then continued on. Mitch could just see the top of the animal’s shoulders over the highest point of the wall. That was a good sign it was tall enough. Of course it could still try to walk through it, or like the six legged hammerhead giants, walk over it or through the gate.
He pulled out his Bluetooth. “Jolie call Pete, Sam and Paul, let them know the migration is on its way, the first herd is passing us now.” A woman looked over to him and then waved. He snorted, recognizing Jolie now. She gave him a nod, and a salute then returned to watch the parade. “Smart ass,” he commented dryly. Anne and Janet were nearby and caught that. They chuckled.
He felt something in his hand; he turned and spotted Doc standing next to him. She had slipped her hand into his. He watched her shiver, and then released her hand. She looked at him with a little hurt, but he was pulling his jacket off. He put it on over her shoulders then slipped his hand back into hers. “Thanks,” she murmured.
“The parade looks better from the outside then right smack in the middle huh?” he asked softly. She shuddered a little and nodded.
Anne got a little nervous when a Rex sniffed the fence. She stepped back, stumbling but Janet caught her before she fell. Doc was concerned, but she waved her off. “I’m okay, I’m okay.” Mitch looked at everyone watching then murmured to Doc.
“This looked like an annual thing,” Mitch said.
She nodded. “Guess we’ll have to book it as a holiday.” He snorted.
Cassie had a kid on her hip, juggling her up and down a little. The little girl was not happy about the big scary animals, and let everyone within earshot know with an indignant and fear laced wail. Doc chuckled, and then stopped when the hammerheads come up. “Oh shit oh shit.” One of the bigger ones put its head over the wall, snorted at the child, and then moved on. Cassie turned, carrying the little girl back to the base.
Mitch snorted. “I doubt she will be a parade fan anytime soon,” he said with a wry smile. Doc chuckled, remembering Cassie putting her much the same thing at that age.
As the migrating herds faded into lower and lower numbers interest began to wane and people began to turn and walk
back to the base.
Anne took one of the kids back on her horse, Doc walked with Mitch and a crowd of excited people. “They never get over it do they?” she asked quietly.
He snorted. “I hope they never do,” he said. She gave him a questioning look. “We should always have a sense of wonder, and an appreciation of things, especially nature,” he answered. She nodded.
She hung back, letting the crowd go ahead of them. They are the last to enter the Hall. It was deserted. “So, now what?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Life goes on,” he replied starting off to the distant passage.
“Oh no you don’t you're not walking away this time,” Doc growled, grabbed his arm and halting him.
He paused to look her over. “What?”
She scowled. “You’re not getting away with that. You know we are attracted to one another what the hell is your problem?” He gave her a long look, and then as she opened her mouth to berate him further he leaned down and kissed her. When he broke the kiss an eternity later her eyes and face had softened.
“Well, it’s about damn time,” she said, pulling her arm around his neck and pulling his lips down to hers again.
Somehow they made it to his suite. He was sure they surprised a few people into getting out of the way. Their love making was intense and seemed to last forever. Finally, exhaustion set in and they drifted into sleep within each other’s arms.
She woke to see his shyly smiling face, tracing freckles on her bare arm. Entangled in the sheets and his arms, she wasn’t going to be able to escape the tickling touch.
“I wish we could have met earlier... on Earth,” Doc murmured and then looked away.
“I was a scrawny geeky pimple faced nerd in high school, a late bloomer even though I graduated at sixteen. More into science and engineering, so I was passed over by most of the girls who were swooning for the jocks,” he replied, still tracing her freckles. Doc blushed feeling a familiar heat and tingling.
“When I got to college I had just started to... Well, you know...” He pantomimed growing up and getting bigger. “I was still computer crazy.” He shrugged. “I had a couple relationships, but my love of all things electronics got in the way I guess.” He shrugged again.
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