‘Getting back to our original argument, chaos theory was developed because the true physics of many processes were too complex to be properly modeled. Chaos theory assumes there are an infinite number of possible ways to accomplish a goal. That is, it assumes an evolutionary path that is purely statistical, based on chance and probability rather than the implementation of a predictable and systematic set of rules.’
‘You don’t have to believe in Divine Guidance to have a systematic evolutionary model. The fact is that the environment provides a set of conditions to which life must adapt through the universal laws of physics. Life evolves along a finite number of paths to fulfill those conditions and an evolutional solution excels if it selects the most efficient path. There may be slight variations in the methods used but whether they are mammal or dinosaur, the strongest, most efficient species will successfully develop to meet and occupy the niche. That is why our modern dinosaurs continue to survive in our world as avian life-forms capable of flight while mammals play a minor role in this niche.’
‘Please don’t get me wrong. I do need you in on this Sara. The attack on our people by these nanotyrannus is the second time we have been surprised by a sudden appearance of dinosaurs. We can’t afford surprises or someone is going to end up dead. When they attacked at the burn site, we didn’t know where they came from and we didn’t see them there before the attack. You will recall, the first time this happened to us was during our thanksgiving dinner when all of the extra Hypes showed up. We need to know just why we are not seeing these dinosaurs. How can they appear even inside our security perimeter? If the Hypes can do it then how long will it be before the Troondons appear among us?’
Sara chose not to follow up the argument but she would keep a keen eye on the workings at the ore mine. ‘Yes, I agree. We do need to understand their social responses and behavior. We have two key groups near at hand, the Hypes and the Troondons. I assume you’d like me to accelerate my studies of their behavior particularly their strange ability to appear and disappear in spite of our sensors. Could I draw on more of Dave Pope’s time for this since he has a strong naturalist background?’
‘Exactly,’ Matt replied ‘but Doctor Pope’s first priority will remain as a resource to the company for the safety of any expeditions outside of the Station. As long as you can use his services along these lines, I give you my full support. Please keep me informed of your progress.’
Sara turned to the flower-arched gateway across the patio and crossed out into the metal corridor of the Argos. ‘That didn’t go so bad.’ She thought as she moved to the exit glideway. ‘I will now be copied on the progress reports and have access to Dieter’s species count data. We’ll need to work even closer with the wild Hypes and Brittany should be a big help there. We need to watch those on station too but they are adapting too quickly to life around the station so our observations may be biased.’
Sara exited to the warmth of the sub-tropical day outside of the Argos. A group of four children and six young Hypes waved as they ran past her. Two of the Hypes were barely out of their egg-down and Jenn Young, daughter of Wei and Barbara, was carrying a third.
‘Come see the fish they caught Sara.’ Sara heard Brittany call.
Sara was a little surprised at hearing her daughter’s voice calling her by her first name. Then she noticed Brittany wasn’t there. The call didn’t come from Brittany but from Tina, one of the more outgoing young Hypes and one of the strongest imitators.
‘Guess we’ll have to stop calling them imitators soon.’ Sara thought. ‘The Hypes are learning and adapting to our presence much too quickly for us to assume it’s simple imitation. Tina’s comment also smacks of an original thought. Well, the project begins with me following this group.’
Sara tried to walk at a quick but dignified pace behind the running children. It was warm and a bit humid outside but you grew used to it after a while and the sweet-smelling, constant sea breeze made it even more tolerable. They passed the newly built dormitories and recreation hall. ‘Its nice that they left so many of the native flowers up in the area.’ She thought to herself. One of the Hunter Recon is on the pad and several of the Blackwave people are loading boxes and another tractor onto it. Sara waved at Seth and keyed him over her Hive Tab.
‘What’s the news from the mine site Seth?’
‘Hi Sara! One second please.’ Seth replied.
Sara noticed him directing one of the robotic loaders to put a large ammo crate into one of the easily accessible side bays.
‘OK, sorry but we used a lot of the ammo blocks earlier and I wanted to make sure they didn’t burry this box into the bottom of the cargo bay. Anyway, things are going fine at the site and it’s a lot calmer since the team redeployed. When are you coming out?’ Seth asked.
‘I’m going to wait a little longer. There’s more than enough to keep me busy here right now. Are you guys going to be ok out there?’
Seth stopped for a second and paused to look over toward Sara. ‘Sara stop worrying. We have things under control and the animals got out of the valley ok. Except of course for the ones we had to shoot. We’re still having sporadic run-ins with those big blackbirds but they aren’t swarming like before. I think the fire set them off. You should have seen it, they were mindlessly biting everything in sight. They even chewed up the seat and operator controls on one of the dozers, that’s why I’m taking this one along. Molly and I will keep you posted on things particularly if we hit anything really unusual.’
‘Oh, and we saw some really neat new ones. They were only about four or five feet high had a big round head with a ring of red feathers coming from it. Dieter thinks they are something called stegosaurs or something like that.’
Sara stopped for a second, feeling a little puzzled. ‘Oh, you must mean “Stegoceras”. A ring of feathers around their head, huh. Well that might explain the bulbous but thin cranial bone. Thank you Seth. I’m running over now to the north shore. The kids have some kind of big fish that they want to show me. Bye.’
A crowd was growing down at the cliff edge as Sara approached she saw her husband John and Mary Li standing in the group. ‘What’s all the excitement John?’ Sara called as she came up on the shoreline.
Down below, on the sandy beach lay a monstrous shark. John turned as Sara came up and handed her the binoculars. ‘I finally get to see a real live megladon.’ Sara thought he looked like a kid who just got a lollypop.
‘Look down below the dorsal fin Sara.’ He directed her binoculars. ‘See that, there’s a bite out of its side. I guess that’s why it came up on shore. Look at the size of that thing. It could eat you whole with one chomp. Hey look, Troondons!’
Four Troondons emerged from the end of the cliff path to the shoreline. They seemed to be wary of the megladon and at the same time nervous of the humans. They carefully inspected the shark and seemed to relax a little after determining it was dead. The Troondons began biting and clawing chunks of meat from its side and two of the Troondons pickup up large slabs and carried them back to the cliff trail.
‘They are foraging!’ Sara exclaimed. Look, they aren’t just eating the meat there. They are taking it off somewhere.’
‘Yeah, probably back to the nest.’ John murmured.
‘No, we can’t assume that level of society.’ Sara excitedly looked up the cliff. ‘They may simply be taking it to a safer area to eat it.’
The whole scene excited the kids and they took videos and threw rocks out into the surf. Sara noticed that the individual Hypes seemed to attach themselves to particular children. Relationships of some sort were developing. ‘How intelligent are these animals?’ She thought as she watched the troondons climb the cliff with their burdens.
* * * * *
They decided to call the valley “Blackbird” after the Nanotyrannus found there. The recent burn did little to spoil the beauty of the valley since the fire burned so quickly in the high oxygen. The flames had passed below most of the larger trees. The v
alley has steep, bare silver-shaded cliffs on the sides and the upper end rises in a gradually broadening, easy slope that ends in bare cliffs several miles away. A stream flows down its center to exit at the lower end where the barrier was being setup by Alex and his crew.
‘Look at this.’ Mark Nolen reached into the tractor tread and pulled out a three inch gleaming white object. ‘Here’s another tooth. They were just biting on anything.’
‘Swarming and biting.’ Dan commented as he kicked at a Nano-T carcass. ‘This blackbird wasn’t even killed by us. He had his stomach torn out by at least two others, judging by the tracks here.’
‘My guess is that the fire set them off. Where are they now? There’s one or two down below our valley near the herd but they can’t all be gone from the area up here.’ Mark said as he followed the tracks across the burned valley floor. The Hunter Recon left little more than an hour ago and things had been very quiet in the valley ever since. There were a few wounded Nano-Ts around along with one or two other types of dinosaur but the live ones had just vanished.
‘Alex, how’s our barricade holding up?’ Mark called on the open network.
‘We got here just in time, sir.’ Alex said in a hushed voice. ‘The herd settled down at the edge of the sequoias but the T-Rexes keep milling around. We have the smaller one just on the other side of the barrier right now. He’s awfully curious about how all those trees and rocks got there so quickly. He doesn’t like our dozer here. He’s been giving me the evil eye but fortunately, he can’t get at us.’
‘Jonas, Toshi and I set up the AutoSentinels and we’ll start layout of the sensor grid after we grab a quick bite. We should have a good four hours of daylight to finish the job. We may miss lunch but don’t worry, we’ll be back before sundown.’
‘Keep an eye open and don’t assume it’s safe on your way back.’ Mark replied. ‘Make sure you are back before sundown even if you don’t finish.’
‘Well, let’s see how the other open door at the back of the valley is doing.’ Mark pulled up a sensor display as he keyed the open circuit again. ‘David, I see you have most of the upper valley sensor grid up. Are we going to be able to hold the line up there?’
David replied immediately. ‘The sensors and AutoSentinels should keep most of the large natives outside tonight. I’m laying a no-man’s land zone forty yards deep across the whole upper valley. We put the sensors in before the AutoSentinals because they are the easiest to place and it gives us intelligence on anything travelling through the area. I’m putting in some sensor linked flash-bang and smoke defenses that will follow up with kill shots if the intruder is too aggressive. This should take care of anything bigger than a dog until we can get the fencing up.’
‘Well we still have to figure out where all those black-feathered Nano-T’s came from before the area is fully secure.’ Dan commented. ‘Mark, Let’s start working through some of the scrub islands left by the burn.’
‘Yep. Tom, Toshi and Dieter meet us over by the camp. Let’s see what we can learn.’ Mark called over the open channel.
He shut off the transmission and walked back to the camp with Dan. There wasn’t any easy way to return the tractor until Seth came back with the replacement parts and seat. Mark turned to Dan as they walked. ‘Should be secure enough for tonight but I’ll feel better when we have the fencing up and most of this area cleared off.’
Dan watched a few chicken-sized dinosaurs run across their trail and into a flower-filled scrub island. ‘Funny how the scrubs were able to resist the fire.’ He thought and then turned to Mark. ‘See how the fire went right up to the edge of this brush and even to the point of leaving black scorch marks on the plant?’ He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a lighter. ‘Look at this. If I hold the flame up to the edge of the leaf then the leaf curls but it won’t catch.’ He pulled off another leaf and ripped it in half. A faint nut-like smell filled the air. ‘No, the oils inside the leaf won’t light either. Oops, there it goes.’ The leaf popped into a deep-blue flame. ‘Well, look at this. These leaves are fire retardant until you reach a higher flash point. Then it really goes.’
‘That explains why we have so many of these unburned islands around and why some of those trees flash-fired.’ Mark turned and began walking again. ‘Come on. I want to start a second push on the valley by going through these scrub islands. The last thing we want is some of those seven foot blackbirds running around here tonight.’
They could see the others were waiting for them at the camp as Mark and Dan worked their way up the slight rise of the valley floor. ‘Let’s split into two groups and beat the bushes as we pass down the valley. I want at least one ready rifle with each group. I guarantee we are going to run into a few of these blackbirds and Lord knows what else along the way. Keep in sight of each other in case we run into something unexpected. Let’s start down here on the left.’
Molly, Tom and Dieter each picked a five or six foot wooden switch and cleared it of side branches. Then, with a rifle on their shoulder, they moved toward the high edge of the valley floor near the debris pile that marked the foot of the cliff. Mark and Dan followed with rifles at the ready. Bob and Dieter moved to the other side of the valley with David, now back from the upper valley setup, covering their backs. The plan was to begin a sweep in towards the stream at the center of the valley. After reaching the stream, they would turn down stream for forty yards and then turn back toward the cliffs at the valley’s edge. Eventually each would work a serpentine sweep pattern on their side of the stream down to the narrow valley exit below. As they walked, they swatted the brush that was still standing after the fire and examined any of the larger islands for tunnels.
David called over the general channel a final thought. ‘I’m sure we’re going to find some of these Nano-Ts lying low in the scrub so be careful where you step. And watch out, there may be more than Nano-Ts in there.’
‘These little black bugs are so small you can hardly see them.’ Molly said as she rustled the bushes between her and Tom. ‘They look like the “no-see-ums” we had back home. Bite like them too!’
‘I know.’ Tom replied. ‘For such a small thing, they really can bite. Watch out for the ones with the green wings. I had one actually take a chunk from the back of my hand. Dragonflies are pretty though, I always liked foot-wide dragonflies. You know, It’s cooler here than down at the Station so I really don’t mind the work.’
The going is easy until you entered a patch of bushes. Then, if you are smart, you used the switch to swat the leaves ahead of you. Spiders and their webs were everywhere. Some of the hunter spiders that scurry across the path before you are wider than an open hand. Tom pulled at one web that covered his helmet and face. ‘Don’t you know it but they get worse down here by the stream.’
‘I can’t stand the mosquitoes.’ Molly growled. ‘They drive me crazy even with the bug repellant on. Oh, there goes one.’
As Molly drew her pistol, a four-foot shape rose from the scrub in front of Molly and bolted across the open space. Dan drew a bead on the runner but held his fire. ‘No, I saw some of those during the burn. Hey Dieter! What did you call that speckled green dinosaur with the ring of red feathers on its head?’
‘Those are Stegoceras. They are plant eaters. They didn’t bother us during the burn.’ Dieter radioed back.
‘There’s a lot of these little chicken-like things in here too.’ Dan commented as a flock of five small, brightly color dinosaurs half ran and half glided in a jagged path ahead of them. ‘Ok, heads up! Here’s a tunnel.’
‘Can you see anything in it?’ Mark called over. ‘Wait, here’s another one. Ok people, be careful now.’
‘There are more over here.’ Tom called out. ‘I don’t see anything inside so far, but this one has fresh ground thrown out over the burn at the entrance. There’s gotta be something digging in here.’
‘We’re over the herd area now. I just see this one … oh shit!’ Dan said. ‘Ok people watch were y
ou step. There are dino-patties as deep as your waist around here and they aren’t easy to spot ‘cause they are covered with dead leaves and ash.’
‘Down-wind Dan, keep down-wind.’ Mark said as he laughed. ‘I don’t believe you couldn’t see that.’
‘Aw, I just stepped in the edge of it. Hang on a minute. Gotta head for the stream and get this off.’
‘OK, we’ll wait.’ Mark continued. ‘Let’s see what’s in these holes. Tom, take one of your smoke canisters and drop it down the hole when Dan gets back.’
They waited for less than a minute when another Stegoceras abruptly jumped from the brush alongside of Molly and skittered down toward the next island. Molly let out a half-scream, half squeal and shouted, ‘Why do they have to do that!
The Stegoceras jumped into the brush just as a sleek, shiny black shape rose and leaped on top of it. The smaller dinosaurs in the brush squealed and screeched. The two dinosaurs locked arms and tumbled in a rolling grip as they bit and kicked using their hind feet. The smaller Stegoceras actually put up a good battle for its size. The combatants rolled and screamed while smaller animals ran in all directions from the surrounding brush screeching and yelling in panic.
Tom was closest and he ran down with his pistol and placed three shots into the back and head of the Nano-T. The Stegoceras stood and took off for the brush. ‘OK, one less blackbird to worry about.’
‘Leave it for now but that’s probably tonight’s dinner.’ Mark commented. ‘Watch out for more in the area. They like to travel in flocks.’
Dan had returned from the creek’s edge with his pants leg wet up to his thigh. ‘I can’t step away for thirty seconds without you guys running into trouble. All right, let’s leave him there and forget about the batch of bushes that he came out of. I want to go back and clear out these holes before we move on. I don’t want them behind us as we move down the valley. Position yourselves at these entrances. Tom, time to use your smoke bomb.’
Tom pulled the ring on the canister, rolled it down the hole and stood to the side. The smoke billowed out from his hole and soon wisps of brown smoke began to rise from the three other holes. ‘Over at two o’clock,’ Dieter shouted, ‘there’s two other holes by those trees.’
Nodal Convergence (Cretaceous Station Book 1) Page 20