Cretaceous Sea

by Will Hubbell

  "All I know is we're at this godforsaken place, because Sam said it was safe," answered Joe.

  "Safe?" exclaimed Rick. "Safe? Maybe it was safe when you came here with Sam, but how long ago was that?"

  "Over three months."

  "Well, I have news for you," said Rick. "This place was built to observe the K-T event. That's why it's de-serted. Sam didn't need to change history—only fools would stay here." Con grabbed Rick's arm. "You're scaring me," she said.

  Joe turned to Con. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

  "Sixty-five million years ago, a nine-mile-wide meteor hit the Earth," said Rick. "It's called the K-T event. It wiped out the dinosaurs. It wiped out damned near every-thing. Only for us, it isn't 65 million years ago. For us, it will happen today. In a few hours. Now do you see why we have to leave?"

  "Can't do it," said Joe.

  "Weren't you listening? This is the greatest catastrophe on record. Fire . . . earthquakes . . . darkness . . . tsuna-mis . .."

  "What's a 'tsunami'?" asked Con.

  "Tidal wave," said Joe.

  "This one will be hundreds of feet high," said Rick.

  "Do you have proof for any for this?" asked Joe.

  "You sealed off the proof yourself, Joe," said Rick. "It's all there in that room with the screens. You can see the meteor ... plot its trajectory . . . see where it will hit. There's a running countdown! You should have looked at what you were covering up before you hid the doors."

  "You found them, I see."

  "Con did, no thanks to you."

  "Green's not going to like this," said Joe.

  "Screw Green! None of that stuff matters now. If we don't go, we'll die!"

  "Rick, the time machine takes two weeks to store enough energy for the trip back. We don't have enough power to reach our time."

  "We don't need to reach our time," said Rick. "Just move us a few months downwhen."

  "It's not that simple," said Joe. "I need coordinates."

  "I'm only talking about a few months, figure them out."

  "Look, Rick, the Earth spins, it rotates around the sun, the sun rotates around the galaxy, the galaxy's moving . . . hell. . . the whole damned universe is expanding. This particular spot is in outer space five seconds downwhen."

  "Then how did you plan to find your way back to our time?"

  "I already explained that," said Joe. "Those coordi-nates are fixed because of temporal linkage. We can't go downwhen, it'd be suicide."

  "There's another time machine," said Con. "We found it on top of the mesa."

  "That's a probe," replied Joe. "It's not made for peo-ple. We're stuck here."

  "Okay, okay, we can't leave this time. I'll take your word for it," said Rick. "But that doesn't mean we can't leave this spot. This meteor doesn't destroy the world. Some life survived, or we wouldn't be here. It's just we're standing on one of the worst spots—out at sea only twelve hundred miles from ground zero." A frenzied look of hope came to Rick's face as he paced and talked. "We'll leave this place in the plane. Make our way to the southern hemisphere—southern Africa or someplace. Things will be tough, but we'll be resourceful. We can make it! Joe, you provision the plane. Con, come with me. We've got to tell the others." Without waiting for their agreement, Rick started back toward camp. Joe looked at Con. "He's flipped out!"

  Con looked back with anguished eyes. "Joe, we've got to help him." She turned and hurried after Rick, leaving Joe alone in thought. When she reached the dining pa-vilion, James, Pandit, her father, and Sara were there, staring at Rick with puzzled expressions while he paced back and forth as he talked.

  "... only the necessities and all your clothing," Rick was saying. "It's going to get cold. Hurry, there's not a lot of time."

  No one moved. "John," said Sara, "what's going on?"

  "Look here," said John Greighton. "We're supposed to abandon everything on your say-so? All because of some theory?"

  "It's not a theory!" said Rick hotly. "The meteor strike is a fact. We've known about it for nearly a century."

  "Then why doesn't Pete know about it?" asked Greigh-ton. "Why should I listen to you?"

  "You know, as well as I do, that Green's a fraud," said Rick. "He has no idea where he is." Green emerged from his quarters, a look of rage on his face. "I've heard enough," he said in a cold, hard voice. "Who the hell do you think you are to frighten my guests?"

  "Your game's up," replied Rick. "You're not going to conquer anything. In a few hours, this island and the time machine will be destroyed. Too bad you didn't ask Sam where you were going before you bumped him off."

  Green pulled out a pistol from his pocket and aimed it at Rick. "You goddamn nosy sneak!" he said, his voice dripping with venom. "You'll learn what it means to cross me!" Green was taking aim at Rick's stomach when Con darted in front of Rick to shield him. "You'll have to shoot me, too," she said.

  "Move out of the way," ordered Green.

  "No," said Con firmly.

  Green did not lower his pistol as Con expected. In-stead, he raised it until it pointed directly at her face. She looked at the eyes behind the gun barrel. She could find no reluctance in them. He's weighing if it's worth it, she realized. If he believes it's truly over, he'll shoot. Green's cold eyes confirmed her fears. Still, Con held her ground. She looked away to gaze upon the trees that glowed with morning sunlight. This is the last moment of my life, she thought.

  "Peter, let's not be hasty," said Joe, as he approached the group. "I think you and I and John should leave in the probe. The kid's on to something. He may be right. Probably is."

  "I have business to finish first," replied Green.

  "You don't want to shoot your partner's daughter. Leave her here."

  "I only want him."

  Con flung her arms back, grasping Rick around the waist.

  "For God's sake, Pete," said Greighton. "Put the gun away." Green slowly lowered his gun. "He's lucky I'm a for-giving man. John, as a precaution, I think we should go."

  Sara clutched Greighton. "Don't leave me, John!"

  "He won't be gone long," assured Joe. "Remember, this is time travel. He'll return only seconds after he leaves."

  Greighton took his cue from Joe. "I'd never abandon you, Sara. I promise."

  "That's bull!" said Rick hotly.

  "You don't know shit!" said Joe. "Don't scare the lady. You've made enough trouble already. Come on, Peter. Come on, John. There's no point in drawing this out."

  John kissed Sara, then pushed himself away from her arms. "Good-bye, Sara. I'll be back soon. Good-bye, Constance."

  "Good-bye, Daddy."

  Joe led the two men into the storage room in Green's quarters. Pulling the dresser aside, he kicked in the plas-ter wall to reveal a passageway. All three men disap-peared into it.

  "Would you please tell me what's happening?" said James in an exasperated voice.

  "A giant meteor will hit the Earth this morning," said Rick. "If you believe Joe, we'll be long gone when it happens. I believe we're going to die."

  "Rick's right," said Con flatly.

  "How can you doubt your father?" said Sara angrily. "He promised to come back."

  "He abandoned my mother. He abandoned me. What makes you different?"

  "You've never appreciated him! Never understood him!"

  "I understand him, all right! He's leaving you to die!"

  "He is not!" screamed Sara. She strode up to Con and slapped her across the face. "You spoiled, ungrateful brat!"

  Con burst into angry tears as James separated Sara from her. "Ladies, ladies," he said, "you must remain calm."

  Sara turned her back to Con and stared expectantly at the door. Con pointedly ignored her. Assured there would be no more fighting, James turned to Rick. "Okay, Rick," he said, "I'll assume you're right and we're here when this thing happens. What can we expect?"

  "The meteor will hit the ocean about twelve hundred miles to the south. At the impact site, the temperature will be hundreds
of thousands degrees. Everything will be vaporized and rise in a plume miles above the earth. That's what we'll see first. Debris will fall back and burn as it hits the atmosphere to form an expanding ring of fire. To the south, everything will burst into flame. Up here, huge fires will burn too. The Earth's crust will rip-ple like the surface of a pond. If we survive that, a tsu-nami will arrive in a couple of hours. It will tower over the island."

  "There's nothing to be done?"

  "Can you fly the plane?"

  "No," said James, "only Joe can."

  "Then we're stuck."

  "How much time do we have left?"

  "There's a clock counting down the minutes in Con's quarters. It works on a decimal system, but I can figure it out."

  Rick walked over to the pulsating red symbols on Con's wall. James and Con followed. The row of zeroes had advanced:

  "If there are ten hours in their day," said Rick, "and a hundred minutes in their hour, then, they have a thousand minutes in their day instead of our 1440. One of their minutes is approximately 1.4 of ours. Ninety-one times 1.4 equals 127. About two hours."

  "Two hours and seven minutes," said Con.

  "Not much time," said James.

  Rick turned to Con. "The world's going to change for-ever this morning."

  "Then let's not stay in here," she said. "I want to see it one last time." As they walked back outdoors, they saw the time probe sparkle in the sunlight as it rose into the sky. 18

  CON FELT ALMOST NUMB AS SHE WALKED, AS IF THE

  things around her were happening to someone else. That per-son was going to die, not she. She dispassionately observed Sara glaring at her. She noticed Pandit speaking to Sara. His voice seemed to come from far away. "Everything will be fine," he said, as one might soothe a child. "Just you see." She saw James join them. He, too, said soothing words, but his sad eyes betrayed his true feelings. Con did not want to see them.

  Rick reached out and gently grasped her hand. "Thank you," he said softly. "Thank you for saving my life."

  Con stared at the hand holding hers. It looked strong de-spite its long, almost delicate, fingers—a hand used to work, already a little worn by living. It pulled her from the void of unfeeling.

  "I guess I did," she said, as a glimmer of animation re-turned to her face. But not for long, she thought darkly.

  "I've never met anyone so brave," he said, squeezing her hand a little tighter.

  "I just did it without thinking. I'd hardly call it brave."

  "I would," said Rick.

  Con met Rick's eyes. He gazed at her as if she were the entirety of his world, as if nothing else mattered. No one had ever looked at her that way and despite their approaching doom—or perhaps because of it—Rick's gaze met a desper-ate need within her. She saw in his eyes the adoring look she had always dreamed of and longed for. It filled her with joy mingled with almost unbearable sorrow. Why only now?

  she lamented.

  "I can't believe this is happening," she said.

  "I wish I was wrong, but I can't see how," said Rick. "Everything fits together so neatly. Now, it all makes sense."

  "This makes sense?" said Con bitterly.

  "I should've figured it out earlier," said Rick. "In all Earth's history, this is the most spectacular event. The only one you could pinpoint precisely. Of course they'd build an observatory here. How could I be so stupid!"

  "Don't blame yourself; everyone lied to us."

  "That's true. Joe had me going up to the last minute," said Rick.

  "He talked Green out of shooting us."

  "Only to save his own skin."

  "I don't want to talk about Joe," said Con, "or Daddy or anyone else. Let's go to where we had our picnic."

  They walked to the beach, then slowly strolled along the shore, as the wind and the surf roared in their ears. Con paused to pick up a shell. She held it for Rick to see. "The pink ones are my favorites," she said.

  "It's beautiful."

  "I want to see as many lovely things as I can." Tears were glistening in her eyes. "I want every moment to count." Still holding the shell, she wrapped her arms around Rick and kissed him on the lips. For a moment, his expression was one of surprise. Con murmured to him, "Aren't you going to kiss me back?"

  "Con," said Rick, his voice filled with wonder and ten-derness. He lovingly brushed a tear from her cheek, then embraced her as their lips touched, and the wind called their names. The wind had Joe's voice. "Rick! Con!" They turned and were startled to see Joe running down the beach. "Thank God, I found you! We've got to go."

  Rick stared at Joe in disbelief. "Why the change of heart? Green kick you out?"

  "Of course," Joe replied. "But I had to convince him that I thought I was going. Otherwise, he never would have got into the probe."

  "Where's Daddy?" asked Con.

  "Left with Green," replied Joe. "He's who Green wanted. Soon as I entered the coordinates, I was surplus."

  "Did Daddy get Sara?"

  "Nope."

  "So he left her," Con said with sad finality.

  Rick held Con tight as he looked suspiciously at Joe. "You've told us so many lies, why should we believe you now?"

  "I only lied for your own good," answered Joe.

  "And look where we are," said Rick.

  "We don't have time for this!" said Joe. "You said we had a chance to survive." Rick stared at Joe, the distrust clear on his face.

  "Look," said Joe, "I want to live. Don't you? Tell me where we need to go, and I'll get you there."

  "Rick," said Con. "We can't give up, not if we have a chance. We have to go with him!"

  "All right," said Rick. "We'll go."

  The three of them raced down the beach. As they ran, Rick asked, "Are the others ready?"

  "They're staying here."

  "What?"

  "They have their reasons."

  They ran as hard as they could, too hard to continue talk-ing. When they reached the staff tent, they were out of breath.

  "Rick," said Joe between gasps, "this is your plan. Tell us what we should take."

  "As much clothing as you can," said Rick. "We should get cooking pots and utensils. Flashlights. Water containers. Blankets. Food. Con, grab your clothes from your room, then meet us back here." Con ran off toward her quarters.

  "Pandit and James said to help ourselves to their stuff," said Joe as they pushed clothes into their duffel bags.

  "Are you sure they won't come?"

  "I tried my best to convince them. They won't budge."

  "And Sara knows that 'returning in seconds' is just bull?"

  "I explained it," said Joe, "but she wouldn't listen."

  "You told her the opposite just before Greighton left."

  "God help me, I did," said Joe. "Yet if I hadn't, Greighton might have balked. Then you and Con would have surely been shot."

  "You're right," admitted Rick. "It's Sara's decision. I just wish it was different."

  "Me too," said Joe. "Me too."

  Rick began to go through James's things, pulling out shirts, pants, a sweater—anything that would provide warmth. He felt like a thief rifling the dead. He won't be needing them, he told himself. Somehow, that made him feel worse.

  Meanwhile, Con was rapidly sorting through her clothes, trying to imagine what she would need in the times ahead. She tossed aside a delicate pair of dress shoes, a lacy top, and her brassieres. She kept the dresses for the cloth. As she stuffed her things in her bag, she couldn't help but wonder what she would be wearing in a year or two. Animal hides? Leaves? Will we become naked savages? All the prospects depressed her.

  As she headed for the staff tent, she saw Sara with Pandit. Sara stared anxiously at the door through which Con's father had departed, silent tears streaming down her face. It was impossible to remain angry with her. Con had never seen anyone so forlorn.

  "Sara, please come with us."

  Sara turned and noticed Con for the first time. "What would John think? Coming her
e to find me gone?"

  "He can't come back," said Con. "Didn't Joe explain?"

  "What does Joe know about love? About devotion?"

  "This isn't about devotion, Sara."

  "You don't understand. John needs to find me waiting for him. I won't let him down." Con ached with pity for Sara. / do understand, she thought. / loved Daddy too. She remembered all the birthdays and holidays where she, too, had expectantly watched a door. Con also understood she could not help Sara, that trying to dissuade her would be an exercise of futile cruelty. She turned to Pandit, who had been silently watching the exchange.

  "Pandit..."

  "I will be staying with Miss Boyton."

  "But..."

  "I, too, understand something of devotion. She will not be alone, come what may." Con had to stifle sobs to say, "Good-bye, Sara. When you see Daddy, tell him I love him."

  "I will, Constance."

  "Good-bye, Pandit. Take care of Sara."

  "Good-bye, Miss Greighton."

  Con spotted James sitting in the dining pavilion, sipping coffee. She ran to him, and as she approached, he said, "Lovely morning, reminds me of the Serengeti."

  "Don't tell me you're waiting to be rescued, too," said Con.

  "Me?" said James. "No, I'm rather like Pandit. There are things I won't leave behind."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "This morning," replied James. "Rick says it will be the last of its kind for a very long time."

  "Knowing what will happen, how can you stay here?"

  "Knowing what will happen, why do you want to live in a ruined world?" replied James. "Can you really conceive of what you're fleeing to?"

  James's question hit a nerve. When he saw Con's dis-tressed reaction, he immediately regretted asking it.

  "I'm just too old to start over again," he said gently.

  "I won't leave Rick," said Con.

  "You shouldn't," James said. "He's a good man. You two take care of each other."

  "We will."

  "Then you'd better run along."

  "Are you sure you won't come?"

  "And miss this morning? Not for the world."

  "Good-bye, James."

  "Good-bye."

  James watched Con run through the glade until she was hidden by the trees. Then he refilled his cup and recalled the sight of lions in the morning.