It sat, still as a statue on top of the other nest. This one is much bigger than Gabe. It is black with a head crested by a yellow plume that ran down its back. Its yellow eyes stared at Gabe. He could see the tension it held, as though it was as surprised as he was.
A low warble sounded behind him. It startled him and he stumbled as he turned in fright. A big bird, sorta like the other one on the nest but without the bright colors, suddenly stood over him. She had sharp claws on her feet with one big sharp claw in the center of each foot. The claw tapped the ground, kinda like his mother did with her finger on the table top when she was angry. His new friends squealed and ran to her feet. They didn’t seem bothered at all. Gabe stared up at her for a few seconds. ‘If they aren’t afraid I guess I shouldn’t be.’ Gabe thought and he walked over to join his new friends.
* * * * *
‘It’s a good spot Matt and I think we choose well.’ Mark Nolen said as he stood on the stone patio and stared out over the vine covered railings to the seascape in front of him. ‘Can you use the polarization filter to cut out some of the reflection here? It might be nice to see deeper into the water.’
‘Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the ore is close to the surface and the perimeter fence went up without further incident. We should get our first shipments out ahead of schedule. Right now, they are doing an initial clearing and layout of the area for the next three days. We are using the topsoil as an additional security barrier. We changed our plans a little. We’re still going to backfill when we’re done but we’re going to turn the mined section into a lake and leave some of the Quonset housing there. We might even eventually put up a SilFused unit or two.’
‘This really is a nice valley,’ Mark continued, ‘you should take a day or two and visit. It’s cooler than here and the breezes are sweet and relaxing. The sunsets are like no other you’ve ever seen. I’m going to keep it as a retreat for the team. Something to get their minds off the everyday work. The additional cost of maintaining it is insignificant and will be paid for by the improvement in productivity. The men started calling the valley “Blackbird” after the appearance of some of the more high profile residents. I guess we’ll keep the name.’
‘Yes, yes, yes Mark. But what about our other raw materials? We still need to find a significant amount of gold for the resonant coil shielding.’ Matt went over to his office cabinet and pulled out the walldisplay remote. He selected a menu as he talked and the top of the ocean changed from a silvery glitter to a clear, shimmering aqua. ‘I think this is what you wanted. Yes, I can see several mosasaurs out there using this. See, here’s a good example.’ He walked over to the edge of the patio railing and traced a wide circle, seemingly in the air. Then he put his closed fist in its center and expanded his fingers outward. The section of the display expanded like a bubble in the air to magnify the area that he had selected. ‘Where did it go? Oh, here it is.’
He extended his fingers into the display and slid the image over to the side drawing the figure of the mosasaur into the center of the oval. When it was centered in the display, he tapped the figure twice with his finger and it glowed for a fraction of a second. ‘There, that’ll track him as he moves. You see, this is a fully-grown mosasaur. It’s not a dinosaur but rather a marine lizard. We have a lot of them around us here. Head of an alligator, body of four-flippered whale and tail rather like an eel I believe. I believe this is what jumped out of the sea toward our pilot Seth the other day.’
‘You know, you really should do this with your office Mark. Here, look over here, by the shore.’ Matt walked to the other side of the patio. He gazed out over the northern shore with its white sandy beach. A dimpled section of the seabed could be seen through the filtered ocean water. It extended in to a few hundred feet of breaking waves. Matt again circled the area and magnified the view. ‘I’d love to have a few samples of these. These creatures are ammonites. See, they look like a cross between a nautilus and an octopus. It’s actually a mollusk but it swims and lives on the plankton.’ He tapped the display and a menu appeared in front of his finger. A quick tap and a list appeared on the wall next to the figure.
‘See, in this world of superlatives, this little creature is a full four and half feet in diameter. There are thousands of them swimming in this one colony, extending out into the sea. Well, so much for the office trimmings. We need a survey over on the western slopes of the mountain chain. We know there will be large gold deposits there in our time so we should be able to find them and remove enough for our needs.’
Mark was staring at the mosasaur’s antics as it swam through a group of giant turtles. It ambled through the group without bothering them. ‘Yeah, I’ve been a little hesitant. There’s a lot of volcanic activity up in the northwest and I’ve been trying to avoid the risk. Oh look, what the hell is that?’
A bubble appeared on the horizon and expanded to show a figure flying across the horizon. Slowly it turned in towards the Station and grew in size to reveal a large, orange beaked creature with leathery wings that extended back across its body. The head was brown with a crest that was orange in the center and blue on the edges. The crest extended partially down its neck to a body that was soft-white in appearance underneath with a darker green on the back. Matt walked over and brought up the statistics.
‘That’s the automatic tracking that just kicked in. I saw one of these last week but it wasn’t this big. This is a pteranodon. It’s a member of the pterosaur family and measures out here at forty-two feet in wingspan. Think of it as a flying giraffe! Amazing!’
As they watched, the clarity of the image improved. ‘Remember the reports of our early scout flyovers. Animals panicked below the craft as its shadow passed by them. This, I believe, is what they were afraid of and we’re going to get a close view of it.’
Mark opened a Hive Tab channel to Dan. ‘Matt tells me there’s a forty foot pteranodon flying in from the ocean from the southeast. Here’s the approach coordinates. He says they might not be too friendly. Let’s put out the alerts for all outside.’
‘Ok, maybe we should be scanning for these with our defense systems. It has been pretty quite around here so far. Our biggest danger right now is complacency. You miss something around here and someone is going to end up dead.’
‘This is the biggest pteranodon I’ve seen Mark. They are not too numerous in this area and their flight pattern looks like we’ll have plenty of warning. He’s gliding rather like an albatross in flight. Interesting, I’d love to see one take off. I wonder how they do it. But, back to our business! There can be too many distractions around here at times.’
‘Yeah, too bad we can’t set this whole place up as a vacation spot. People would love it but the cost is prohibitive.’ Mark said as he turned back to the papers on Matt’s desk. ‘Ok, let’s plan for a survey up here in the northwest region. We’ll center around where northern California will be and down across the Sierras. We should do a near infrared satellite mapping first to narrow down the search area. We can then take advantage of the high density of gold and start using the mass gravimeters from the Hunter Recon vehicles to zero in on a site.’
‘Oh, by the way the Zavtek’s have invited us over for dinner tonight. They’ve caught some of those big lobsters and a white fish they say is delicious. Bob says he’s found some native mushrooms that are just excellent and they want to add it to some of the marinara we brought for a pasta side dish. Can you make it?’
‘Oh, I don’t like leaving work so early. Ok, I’ll join you. Send me a calendar update so I don’t forget.’ Matt said as he watched Mark walk through the archway and out of his office.
* * * * *
The tide was out and this allowed small waves to enter into the grotto. The waves play on the walls and echo musically in the cavern. Shafts of reflected light sparkle across the back of the cavern where three figures are removing some rocks and taking off their backpacks.
Tom Bracken pulled three hammers from his backpack and handed one
to Molly. ‘Here Molly, take one of these. It’ll be a lot easier digging in this hard rock than trying to do it with our utility tools.’
The hammer had a good weight to it and a solid, balanced feel. It was a bit crude looking. For one thing, she had never before seen a wooden handle. She noticed that the head of the hammer is unusual. It forms a long, slender mallet that pinches down to a point on one end. Tom had shaped the other side of the head so that it forms into a shallow plus-sign protrusion about a quarter of an inch deep.
‘I couldn’t risk taking any of the digging tools from the storeroom.’ Tom continued, ‘So I borrowed some of the iron ore samples we took from Blackbird. I used one of the gravitonic field generators to liquefy it and poured it into a mold. I recalled doing something like this in one of my college labs.
I didn’t want to fool around with trying to carbonize it into a steel alloy. The carbon ratio and cooling cycle is too touchy. I’d also have had to have the temperatures a lot hotter, like a blast furnace. That would have attracted attention for sure but somehow we need a hard exterior and soft interior for the tool so I had this idea. I was able to melt it into a field-cooled lost wax mold that quickly cooled the outer surface and left the interior cool very slowly along a controlled curve. The outside of the hammer therefore has a very fine grain structure and is very hard while the interior is softer and more malleable. Viola! Here we have a perfect tool for digging into and cracking around these veins of quartz and limestone.’
Molly pushed the last of the rocks aside and crawled into the tunnel they had dug. It was a bit of a squeeze but they wanted to keep the diggings a secret for now. The hole in the wall of the grotto is located just behind a four-foot stalactite. It was at the bottom of the quartz vein in which they had first noticed the deposit. Inside the tunnel opens so that a miner can move a little easier. There is just enough room to swing the hammer and scrape the loose rock out.
Molly hefted the hammer in her right hand a little and then swung at the rock vein. The point grabbed into the vein sending larger chucks out onto the floor. ‘Hey Tom, good job! This is a lot easier to work with.’
She pulled out several pieces of milky-white quartz with shining gold nuggets as big as her thumb embedded in them. Molly carefully pushed them to the side in the close quarters. Nothing to get excited about anymore. ‘Darn these helmets. I keep bumping my head on this roof. I’ll fix you!’
Carefully she rolled onto her back and pushed back so that she could swing the hammer at the ceiling of the narrow tunnel. The roof worked easily. The soft limestone matrix yielded to her hammer, falling into dust and small stones around and on top of her. Breathing was a little difficult. She struck harder into the side of the hard quartz above her head and the hammer sunk into the rock. Wedged into the rock, she levered the handle to see if she could break the rock clear. A large chunk of hard quartz fell to the floor and nicking her shoulder. She held her breath and a small tear came to her eye as she rubbed her arm.
Molly pushed the hammer back outside then pulled a wide tray into the tunnel. ‘I’ll clear this out then one of you guys take over.’ She used her utility tool to shove the smaller chunks into the tray. The big rock was a problem in the tight tunnel but it would be easier to pull it out as one piece than to try and break it apart inside the hole. ‘Cheeze, this thing weights a ton.’ She called out to Alex and Tom. ‘Hang on, ok. That should do it. I’m coming out.’
Molly backed out of the tunnel. Alex was sorting the gold nuggets she pulled out from the first load. She grabbed the end of the rope attached to the tray and carefully pulled it out. It was heavy but she didn’t want it to tip and spill inside the tunnel. The piece she pulled out into the reflected light of the grotto looked odd.
Molly took her hammer and cleaned off the loose dirt and some of the quartz pieces that formed the rock. She picked it up and carried it to the edge of the lagoon to wash off the rest of the sand. She pulled it from the surface and a shaft of light from the entrance sparkling off the crystal that Molly held in her hands. ‘Oh my gosh! Quick, look at this. This thing must weigh over twenty pounds.’ Molly whispered to Tom. It was a massive piece of gold. She carefully set the massive gold nugget down on a rock. Alex and Tom came running over and stared at the rock that was easily as large as a human head.
Molly broke the silence. ‘How are we going to take this back with us? They monitor the weight of your personal items you know.’
‘I’ve got that covered Molly.’ Alex said as he picked up the gold and examined it in the flickering light. ‘We’re only into the wall about four feet and we’ve already got enough to make us comfortably rich. I’ve never seen a nugget this big before but what we can’t do is become greedy. We’ll take only about a hundred pounds each and then show the vein to Dan. When we’re ready I’m going to collapse a bit of this softer wall into the chamber and claim that the tidal flooding collapsed the section.’
‘Later, we’ll strip some of the extra ballast from each of the bulldozers before we’re ready to leave. There are three dozers and we’ll divide it among them. Since I’m responsible for their final cleanup, we’ll recover the gold back at Europa Station.’
‘I wish we could take it all back with us.’ Tom commented. There’s several fortunes in there and we’ve just touched the surface.’
Alex looked directly into Tom’s eyes. ‘Like I said, don’t get greedy or we’ll lose. We’ll be coming out of this trip with a nice pay check anyway. Do I need to remind you, five years accumulated pay plus bonus? We may even get an extra bonus for turning in this find, who knows? But don’t get greedy or we’ll all lose.’
Molly turned the piece over again on the rock. ‘Do we have to break this up? This isn’t even a nugget. It’s crystalline. That means it’s very pure! It must be worth a fortune. I’ll bet it weighs twenty pounds even under this gravity.’
‘It’ll be a lot easier to carry if we break it up. Also, consider that you’ll cause quite a stir if we turn in a big chunk like this when we get back. What do you want to do, put it on your mantle piece?’ Alex said running his hand over the rough crystal.
‘We’ll leave that decision for later. Maybe we can form a story about it being found on one of the asteroids.’ Tom commented. ‘Put it into the knapsack and make sure its covered. I’ll take this dirt out and dump it into the surf.’
‘Take just the big chunks of quartz. The rest can be explained as wash out. I’ll start digging. Maybe we can find another one like this.’ Alex said.
* * * * *
Rachel Zavtek was in a panic. ‘Sara you’ve got to do something. I can’t find him anywhere! Can’t we ask Molly or Tina? He’s always playing with the Hype chicks.’
‘All right, we’ll walk over to the nests. When did you say you lost Hive-Tab contact with him?’ Sara put down her tablet and started out the door. ‘Maybe he just got into an area where the signal doesn’t pass through. We’ve seen this before in some of the tunnels.’
Sara and Paul Wenford’s new home is located near the entrance to the peninsula. She wanted to be able to see the mainland animal life, the kids wanted a patio over the ocean. The spot she choose has a commanding view extending from below the mouth of the river, over and above the gated entrance to the north. From this vantage, they could see the rocky shoreline immediately below, the river, forest and some swampy areas to the west. The beauty of the high plateau contrasted with the blue-silver mountains that formed the backdrop of the western horizon.
‘I do miss the snow covered peaks.’ She thought to herself as she closed the door behind Rachel. The home was still new enough that the scenery took her breath away every time she walked out the door. ‘Snowy peaks would have made the setting perfect. But then, you can’t have everything. Grazing dinosaurs or snowy peaks? Who knows?’
Rachel didn’t notice the view. ‘How are we going to get the question across to them? Bob claims that they can really talk? Is this true? I mean, Gabe really likes them and they seem nice enough.
Suppose he fell from a cliff? I told him not to ..’ Rachel went on.
‘Slow down Rachel. Take a deep breath.’ Sara said to her. ‘We’ll find out in a minute and don’t worry, the Hypes are good babysitters. They wouldn’t let the chicks get near the high cliffs.’
‘As far as asking, we need to talk with Tina rather than Molly. Tina picked up our language the fastest and has the clearest sentence structure. She should be able to help us. I really don’t think we need to worry. Look, we’re almost there.’
Alex and Tom came up from a side trail. Sara noticed they had full backpacks on and wondered what they were doing. ‘Hey Alex. We can’t find Gabriel. Can you give us a hand?’
Alex stopped a second and said something to Tom. Tom grabbed his backpack and continued down toward the workshed with both packs. Alex trotted over to the girls. ‘He’s been so happy lately.’ Sara thought. ‘He must really like it here.’
‘Sure ladies, I’d be glad to lend a hand. Where did you see him last?’ Alex said.
‘Come on, We’re going over to the nests.’ Sara said without breaking her step. They saw Brittany working with some of the younger Hypes. ‘Is it dress-up time Brittany? Come here, we need your help.’ Brittany smiled and followed them back to the nests. ‘Where’s Tina?’
Tina was down inside the main tunnel. She had one of the colored mantles around her shoulders. ‘Hi Sara, How are you?’ came over Sara’s Hive Tab connection. Sara stopped, momentarily stunned by the communication link demonstration.
‘It’s ok Mom, don’t look so shocked. John set up these Hive-Bots to act as communicators linked directly to our Hive Tabs. The range still is limited but now we can all use the Hive Tabs with Tina and a few others. See, he set up this special sub-channel for the link.’
Nodal Convergence (Cretaceous Station Book 1) Page 24