‘There he is.’ Alex calls to David. ‘He’s in that group of older chicks by the rocks. They’re chasing those little gray and black dinosaurs.’
A brightly feathered male calls and two of the chicks came over to his feet. ‘Alex!’ David signaled, ‘Gabe went over with the other chicks when that male called. Cheez, the male is feeding something to them.’
Sara calls from back where she cannot directly see the group. ‘Oh, he didn’t regurgitate it for them did he?’
‘No. I didn’t even think of that. He had something in his hands and a few branches, or something I can’t quite make out, in his mouth.’ Dave replied. ‘Buddy you stay and watch. Alex, pull back quietly. We have to decide how to ….’
A warning cry rises from a hidden sentry on the edge of the group. All of the troondons turn to the edge of the forest as mothers gather their chicks to the center of the clearing. A bellowing screech answers the cry. Two feathered furies jump into the clearing with feathered arms spread wide. A blue head filled with sharp teeth and topped with an orange comb reaches in to grab and hold the fleeing sentry troondon.
The second attacker moves in. Dave can’t help but think how magnificent it is. Bright green feathers surround its head, run up its back and then down to an eight-foot tail. The tail flashes high in the air, swinging a spectacular tufted, broad blue plume on its end. Claws reach out for the dodging troondon sentry. An orange, scale-coated hind foot rises and a single, foot-long claw rips down and into the breast of the victim. The air erupts with a heart-rending cry from the troondon as the claw rips down through its breast, splitting wide the chest cavity and throwing its stomach and intestines across the clearing. The sentry flounders and screams on the ground before them until the raptor reaches down and nips off the head of the hapless troondon.
Alex and David rise from the brush and move forward. The attacking raptors ignore them and turn, trying to corner a second victim. David raises his hand and motions left to Alex. Alex fires the first three shots. Two white-hot hypervelocity slugs, set to hollow point, rip into the chest of the raptor and a third catches the attacker in the back of the skull. The raptor drops to the ground, lifeless in an instant in a spray of red blood.
The second raptor stops and raises its head in confusion. Alex shouts, ‘Do it David. What are you waiting for?’
David fires. Two shots ring out. One bullet passes through the raptor’s chest, breaking the shoulder as it exits the body carrying a spray of bone fragments and soft tissue. The second shot enters the upper throat and exits the base of the skull. The raptor falls forward. ‘He never knew what hit him.’ David says, almost sadly.
Sara and Brittany are now up in the clearing. ‘Watch the troondons!’ Brittany yells.
The troondons have turned on what they believe are new attackers. Several of the males and a female, unsure of themselves, are edging forward with feathers bristling in a threat display. ‘They’ve had experience with us before. They recognize us. They’re afraid. Unsure of themselves. Wait, don’t shoot them!’ Sara calls.
The troondons are warbling, a low growl felt in the bones more than heard. Inching forward to snap and then pull back. Behind them, the rest of the flock has formed a protective circle. ‘There’s Gabe!’ Brittany calls. ‘He’s in the center of the circle by that female.’
Brittany walks forward. Her pistol held at the ready. ‘I’m going to try something.’ She calls. Then she bows low on one leg and whistles with her head raised high to expose her neck.
‘Well, that got their attention!’ Alex calls.
‘I’ve watched some of them do it back in front of the Station.’ She says as she lowers her head to look them in the eye. ‘Gabriel! Gabriel, come here right now! It’s time to go home!’
‘Brittany? Help, I’m scared!’ Gabe cries and breaks away from the legs of the troondon protecting him. The troondon, although still afraid, follows him protectively. She is unsure of herself but she’s obviously concerned about the boy. One of the males growls and snaps at Gabe as he passes by. The female body slams him aside and growls back, yelling at him. Gabriel stops. Unsure of himself again.
Brittany calls again, ‘Gabriel, we won’t hurt them. Come to me.’ She slowly moves forward and smiles at the mother troondon as she comes up.
David calls in a low tone, ‘Cheez, Brittany! Don’t smile at them. You are showing your teeth! That’s a threat posture with any predator!’
Then the mother comes closer and a melodious whistle and warble climbs up the octaves until they can feel it in their mastoids without hearing it. Brittany can see an understanding in its eyes. The troondon does not feel threatened anymore.
‘Well, maybe not.’ David says as Gabriel goes running over.
‘Ok, let’s take him and slowly back off. First, give her some of the fruit ration you brought. We want to be on her good side.’ David says.
Brittany takes off her backpack and opens it. She pulls out the fruit. The troondon obviously smells it. ‘She knows what it is! She must have had some of the food we left out for them at the Station. Here, a special treat as a thank you.’
Alex calls out, ‘They seem to be relaxing. Let’s take Gabe and pull back.’
Gabe flies into Brittany’s arms. Brittany hugs him to her and says, ‘Oh man. Look how dirty you are Gabe! I think I’d fall over if I ever saw a clean Gabriel!’
‘Yech, your’re all wet and gooy!’ Gabriel says.
Brittany slowly backs away from the troondons just as Tina erupts from the brush into the clearing. ‘Watch, Watch!’ Tina cries as she whistles shrilly.
Three more green bodies erupt into the clearing behind Alex’s back. One reaches down for him just as a golden brown blur flies out of the brush hitting the raptor on the side and knocking him over.
‘Go Buddy!’ Sara cries.
Buddy rolls over and regains his feet. He stands and braces for his next jump just as Sara fires three shots into the raptor. The remaining two raptors turn toward Buddy, identifying him as the threat. Three others emerge from the brush on the other side of the clearing.
‘Head over towards the troondon!’ David cries as he jogs toward the defensive circle. One of the troondon males hisses and snaps at him as he goes by but David straight-arm’s him to the side with the force of his high gravity muscles.
Dave begins pushing the group back. ‘Push them back into the boulders.’ He cries. Brittany grabs Gabriel and carries him over toward the troondons. Sara runs up with panic in her eyes, ready to strike out as she sees the female troondon push over toward Brittany.
‘It’s ok Mom. She’s protecting the babies!’ Brittany yells.
Sara nods, not really sure of the help. Then she turns to join David and Alex who are firing regularly now. ‘I can see more back in the brush. Down across the path we just came in!’ Alex yells.
Brittany quick-links into Dave’s Hive Tab, ‘The troondons are really confused and the Hypes are very unhappy about being so close to the troondons. They aren’t mixing well. What should I do?’
David yells out. ‘Keep Gabe and the Hypes with you! Put your backs to the rocks and be ready!’
Bellows, screeches and yells fill the air. Shots from a rifle rend the air with sharp supersonic cracks followed by the dull sound of their impact. Alex raises the pitch of his voice to carry it over the screeching din around him, ‘The raptors finally seem to be getting the idea that we’re the problem. Shoot into the ground before them so they can see the threat. No, you got it right Dave! Go ahead and hit them in the legs. We need confusion. We gotta make them afraid of us or we won’t hold them all off.’
More raptors charge into the clearing. The cries of the fallen wounded rise as they try to get back up to continue the attack on broken legs or with a severed tail. Others, following close on the attack, trip over the flailing bodies. Anger rises and many of the wounded lock in mortal combat with their own. ‘Its working, they can’t get a good angle on us in these boulders. Keep firing on anything that
comes towards us. It’s better to wound them than to kill ‘em outright. Dave, watch on your left side!’
The chicks are huddled together in the center of the group. Boulders on three sides of them slow any attackers. Brittany hasn’t let go of Gabe although he is squirming, trying to get back in with the other chicks. Three of the troondon females stand next to her. Their backs turned to her protectively in an unconscious sign of temporary trust.
A green head appears from around one of the boulders. The raptor silently moves in behind the small ones in the center and is spotted by a male troondon. The troondon runs between the attacker and the group. He leaps into the air just as Sara fires a three shot burst into the attacker. The troondon and raptor fall to the ground, the raptor dead before it hits, twitching in its death throes. The troondon stops and stares at the fallen attacker in puzzlement.
A sudden relative quiet descends on the group. A quiet often broken by the pitiful cries of the wounded and the low growls and hisses of the frustrated raptors surrounding them. The situation is completely alien to the troondons. They don’t know whether to run or attack.
Gabe wiggles out of Brittany’s grasp. ‘Get back here!’ He runs over to the female troondon who by this time has all of her chicks. Brittany looks at her, ‘OK, you watch him for a bit.’
‘Shit!’ Alex snarls, ‘Oh, sorry ladies. Now what do we do Dave? We’ve got a Mexican standoff here.’
David turns as he loads a fresh ammo cartridge onto his rifle. ‘We gotta send out to Mark for help. They called before and they’re close by.’
‘We can’t shoot our way out of here. Too many of them once we leave the cover of these boulders.’ Alex replies. ‘Gabe isn’t going to be too happy with it when we leave his foster mom out here to be ripped to shreds by these guys. We’re gonna have to really hold on to him.’
‘I’ll go.’ Sara says. ‘I can take Tina and sneak through to the outside. We’ll sneak out and run back up the hill and call for help. Tina will show me the way.’
‘Good idea. Bad scenario.’ Alex mumbles. ‘I guess it’s gotta be me.’
‘You aren’t as good in the brush as I…’ David starts.
‘Nope, but I’m near half your age even if you are in shape.’ Alex cuts him off. ‘No, I’ve gotta go and I’ll take Buddy along with me. By the way, thanks Bud for saving my hide. I owe you a big one.’
‘It’s settled!’ Alex turns looking over the troondons and then scans across the clearing. ‘All right, let these bad guys sit for a bit and let their guard down. Watch our Hypes and these guys. They apparently don’t get along. When things calm down a bit we’ll break out. Keep firing at anything that moves. We gotta get it into their thick, feathered heads that they can’t even let us see them.’
* * * * *
‘Undo your blouse,’ Adrian reached over and helped Seth remove the armor and then his shirt. ‘You are one lucky guy. That claw just managed to dig into your skin and then was stopped by the edge of the armor. Does that hurt?’ He said as he poked Seth under the arm.
‘Cheez, yeah it hurts. Cut it out and put some antiseptic on the thing.’
‘Well, that’s mostly bruise. Up here it’s from where the armor scraped into your skin. Down here,’ Adrian pushed his fingers into his upper ribs again, ‘it’s from the smaller claw.’
‘Will you cut it out? There’s nothing broken. I can feel it.’
‘All right, big baby! We need to plan our next step.’ Adrian said as he pulled the med-packets from his utility harness.
The meds flowed to protect the wounds and a low level analgesic began to kick in. ‘That feels better already. Thanks Adrian, but I think I’m gonna be a bit sore tomorrow. How long do you think they’ll stick around?’
‘How the hell should I know? We could try and wait another five or six hours. Should be dusk then.’
‘Think we can find our way back to the Hunter in the dark? I mean, even with our night sights on the goggles …’
‘No, I guess I don’t want to wait until then either. Let’s go out into the outer room and see if we can hear them.’
‘Well I can’t stay in that room too long. I lost my respirator in that free-for-all. Thank God for small favors, at least we have light in here.’
‘Why don’t you take a few breaths of this clean air? Fill your lungs and we’ll try the outer door.’
‘Ok, I’m ready. Let’s give it a try. Open the door.’
Adrian pushed the control and the door opened. They went into the chamber and left the inner door open. ‘Hear anything.’
‘Not a thing. I don’t even hear the wind. I wish there were some windows or, even better, a walldisplay in here.’
‘You stand back and to my side a little so you have a clear lane of fire. I’m gonna open the door.’ Adrian went and poised his hand on the switch. ‘I hope these things have a fast cycle time. I’d hate to be stuck with an open door again.’ He pulled his pistol and hit the switch with his other hand.
‘They’re gone! Stick your head out Adrian and look. Don’t forget to look up! They might be on top of the rock.’
‘Nothing! I don’t hear anything either. I’m gonna go out and look around the area. Hold this door open for me.’
‘Don’t trip on those bodies.’
‘Like I could trip over an eight foot dinosaur. Come on Seth! Now be quiet so I can listen.’
‘Nothing!’ came over Seth’s Hive Tab. ‘Come on, let’s see if we can make it back to the Hunter.’
They climb over the face of the rock. On top, they run low, following the brush along the edge to stay hidden as much as possible. ‘I think the trails over that way.’ Seth calls out.
‘Oh shit! Get a move on they’re behind us.’
‘Can we get back down?’
‘No, come on. We’ve got to try and out fight them while we run.’
‘We can’t outrun them!’ Seth called as they ran up the side of the exposed rock and into the brush. Adrian ran right into Seth as he stopped to fire two shots wildly into the brush ahead of them. Then Adrian saw Seth jump to the ground. Running full speed, directly for them, were four of the dinosaurs. Four rapid shots and they dropped. Two others approached from the side just as he felt something pull his side. ‘Adrian! Come on this way!’ Seth pulled the stumbling pilot over into the brush.
Seth yelled as they ran through some bushes and almost threw Adrian into a hole. ‘The lava tube! Quick inside. Ow! Damn thing’s sharp. Here they come, get in!’ He turned and fired behind them. Two more shots off to the side and he dove head first into the tunnel landing on top of Adrian.
‘You son of a …’
‘Now Adrian, come on. Here they come.’ An orange head silhouettes itself against the open sky. It looks down into the hole and Seth instinctively raises his Python.
‘No, no. Wait!’ Adrian yelled but Seth fired and the dinosaur fell from sight.
‘Wait a second will you, you idiot! Let one get half way into the hole before you plug him. That way they can’t follow us!’
‘All right, we should have one any second.’
‘Right. I think they must be pretty smart. I can hear them but they won’t come in.’
‘Come on Adrian. While they are waiting up there. Lets get moving.’
They started uphill using only the light of their flashlights. ‘How do we know when we’re up at the top? Suppose this thing is going deeper into the ground?’ Adrian griped as they ran.
‘You’re not thinking clearly. Look, the roof has these breaks in it. As long as we can see light through them we’re ok.’
‘This is a lot easier than running on all that gravel. Look, I’m going to stick my head up. Give me a lift up.’
Adrian interlocked his fingers and Seth planted his foot and stretched to look outside. ‘I think the tunnels getting smaller. I don’t see anything up here.’
‘Come back down and we’ll go further uphill. Wait. What’s that noise?’
‘I think they’re coming
up the tunnel.’ Seth said as he redirected his light down the tube. He fired a short burst and the movement stopped. ‘Thank God for smooth straight tunnels with noisy little stones on the floor!’
‘Quick, uphill before they get up again.’
‘How do you know I didn’t get them all.’
‘Murphy’s Law! If there is the slightest probability of an error occurring, there is one hundred percent chance it will occur.’ Adrian quoted. ‘Try it here. Come on, jump up.’
‘I don’t see the Hunter but I remember that bush and log. The Hunter’s right around that rise in the ground.’ Seth scrambled up into the bright sunlight. He grabbed his Python and swung around. Nothing. ‘Come on Adrian.’
Adrian grabbed his arm and Seth pulled him up from the hole. They could hear screeching and calls from down the hillside.
‘There she is. We’re clear.’ Seth called.
Adrian keyed the door as they approached. It swung wide and they threw themselves inside.
Seth stood and looked downhill, ‘Oh, oh. They must have heard us. Here they come. Let’s get out of here.’
Adrian was already in the cockpit. He logged on and closed the door as the Hunter lifted.
Seth came up into the other seat rubbing his head, ‘You’re pretty rough on a guy Adrian. We could have held them off or just closed the door. As it is I had to pull in my head so fast, when I heard the door warning, I smacked it on the side of the frame.’
‘No, we couldn’t just sit there and assume they wouldn’t be able to harm the Hunter.’ Adrian replied as Seth came in. ‘I’m plotting a return path in case they want us back at the base. Call our status in please.’
Matt Zoeller picked up their call. ‘I hope you found something but in any case I’m glad you finally called in. Link up with Dan and Mark. They are over by the river valley edge waiting for David to call in. The Zavtek boy is lost and they’re trying to find him. We lost contact with them but at last contact they felt he was alive and they were close.’
Nodal Convergence (Cretaceous Station Book 1) Page 28