by K D McNiven
Chapter Fourteen
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Captain Burke could only stare at the photos on Jayden’s phone. The size of the beast, nearly incomprehensible. It had turned out to be an incredible discovery and yet the cost was high. Higher than anyone would have wanted. He had seen the torment on Rourke’s face when he’d climbed out of the zodiac and onto the research ship. A look he hoped to never see again.
He wasn’t privy to their past, but clearly, they had been close friends. And then to hear about how Rourke and Meg had nearly died, he considered changing course and head for home.
Everyone sat over their meal almost without a word. The mood somber. Meg couldn’t get their near-death experience out of her mind. That they were sitting here at this moment had to be as close to a miracle as possible, considering her and Rourke probably had no more than one minute to spare, if that.
Her eyes flickered up and gazed thoughtfully at Rourke. He had never been good at showing his emotions. Today happened to be no different. How did one comfort someone under these circumstances? Certainly not his ex-wife. However, while trapped in the cage, believing they were going to die, Rourke had held her tightly in his arms. The feelings it had aroused raced through her and would be forever locked away in her mind.
She caught sight of Jayden from her peripheral vision, wondering how she would ever be able to thank him? Had he not acted so quickly, so heroically, they would have drowned for sure. He would forever be her hero.
As if he sensed her observing him, Jayden looked her way. He managed a wry smile, his eyes sad, his body slumped. Unfortunately, he had witnessed Jake’s gruesome death. He wondered if he would even be able to sleep without the nightmarish images flashing in his brain. He reached over and draped his arm over her shoulder comfortingly.
“Maybe it would be best at this point to call in the armed forces?” Captain Burke’s voice broke through the silence.
“First, we need to find out who lives in the warehouse along the river,” said Rourke. “Find out why they shot out our cameras, and what they are up to. Besides, I still want to trap one of them for research purposes, and we don’t know how many we’re dealing with. They may extend clear into Bolivia and Columbia for all we know. One thing is certain, I intend to find out.”
“We can’t stay forever, Rourke. We’ll have to go restock our food supplies, get fuel, and empty out the ship’s waste,” Captain Burke reminded him.
“I’m fully aware of that. And if you need to pull anchor, by all means, go.”
Meg looked over at him. “You can’t do this alone, Rourke.”
He was quiet for a time, shoveling his food across his plate but not eating it. The fork made a clanking sound as he dropped it, his eyes flickering up. “I’m hoping the police commander will put some of his forces to use.”
“Mind you, he sounded a bit hesitant, if not downright uncooperative,” Meg said. “I guess you can’t really blame him everything considered.”
“If he wants his village to stay safe, he needs to get off his ass and help apprehend these dinosaurs. I want to discover how on earth they managed to survive extinction—how it’s even possible.”
“It’s baffling, yes, and I understand why it’s so intriguing. After all, you’ve only had the opportunity to study fossils, but you also have to take into account the danger factor.”
“How can I forget it, Meg? Jake just lost his life moments ago. It couldn’t be more real.”
She bit into her lip. Probably not the best time to argue it out with him, she mused. He did not appear to be too receptive at the moment. Wisdom told her to back off. Right now, Rourke needed time to digest what had happened and come to terms with his feelings Nothing short of anguish had to be overwhelming him.
“Do you think repairing the damaged cage is doable?” asked Jayden.
Meg’s eyes widened. “Really? After everything that has happened, you want to try to capture one again?” She had thought Jayden would be fully traumatized over seeing Jake eaten alive. What she heard coming from the two of them caused her eyes to widen in unbelief.
“Absolutely,” Rourke replied. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Nothing is going to stop me from figuring out how these dinosaurs survived extinction and are now residents of Brazil’s rain forests.”
“We were nearly killed today! What makes you think you can conquer these dinosaurs single-handedly?”
“No one is trying to coerce you into going out again,” Rourke pitched back doggedly. Challenging eyes met hers levelly.
She knew that face! A face seeking revenge for Jake’s death. Their failure to capture the Purussaurus made Rourke all the more determined to see this through, no matter what, to honor his friend. Meg opened her mouth to argue the point, then bit into her tongue. Nothing she could say would change his mind—all too aware of his tenacity and stubbornness. Knowing she would not put a dent in his impenetrable armor, she surrendered. Taking a sip from her coffee, she looked away.
“Don’t sulk, Meg. It’s not becoming.”
She tensed, doubled her fists, her fingernails digging into her palms. She would not rise to the occasion. He wanted a good fight. Wanted to get rid of the anger boiling inside of him. But she would not battle it out with him. He would have to find some other means to express his rage than goading her.
The room became silent and all eyes locked onto them. Apparently, everyone waited to see if Meg would fly off into a raving frenzy and lock horns with her ex-husband, but was surprised when she remained composed, refusing to rise to the challenge. A reticent smile twisted on her lips instead. Draining the last dregs of coffee, Meg took to her feet and walked outside, leaving everyone in awkward silence.
Rourke looked around the room. “Sorry. I was out of line.”
Captain Burke nodded. “We understand you’re in pain, Rourke. After what transpired today, you’re doing better than most would under the same circumstances. However, I don’t believe it’s us you should be apologizing to.”
“Gotcha.”
In response to Burke’s words of wisdom, Rourke stood up, plucked his oiled-leather hat from the table, patted it down on his head, and strode out of the dining hall to go in search of Meg. It didn’t take long to find her. She busied herself cleaning the dive equipment. A slight smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he walked forward. It didn’t surprise him to find her here. Meg always took to cleaning things when something riled her up—her way of releasing tension instead of exploding in a rage. He was thinking maybe it would be a good remedy for him. He sometimes let his mouth rule over common sense, which in turn, created unintentional conflict. This was one of those times.
At his footsteps, she glanced up, then went back to her work, ignoring him when he squatted beside her and took a rag to help clean the diving masks. They worked for several minutes before Rourke dropped his hand on hers, stopping her from her task.
“I’m sorry for embarrassing you in front of your colleagues…you deserve better than that. You know me…foot in the mouth Rourke.”
She couldn’t help but chuckle. Looking up, she met his gaze straight on. “I really don’t know how I would act under the same circumstances, Rourke. I know you’re in deep pain and you need to release it, but you can’t take it out on me. I didn’t kill Jake.”
“I know. I’m an ass. I won’t let it happen again. And yes, I need an outlet. Maybe I should swab the decks…take lessons from you on how to release pent-up anger.”
They both laughed softly.
Their eyes locked onto each other. It was one of those moments when both of them got caught up in their emotions. With passion burning inside of him, Rourke lowered his head to kiss Meg, taken off guard when she stretched out her arm, placing the palm of her hand at the center of his chest to stop him.
He could see in the depths of Meg’s eyes that she was struggling with the same surge of emotions as him. Even so, she held him at bay, turning her head away in hopes he hadn’t seen the barrage of f
eelings she fought desperately to control.
“Rourke…I…we can’t…we…”
“Sorry. I got swept into the moment,” he apologized. “Won’t happen again.” He pushed himself to his feet, and without another word, walked away.
Tears sprang to her eyes as his footsteps faded. They were both vulnerable, what with everything they had gone through since he had arrived. It would be foolishness to fall into a relationship with him out of need and pain. She had witnessed first-hand, the results of impulsive relationships with a couple of her friends, whose marriages sadly ended up in divorce. She didn’t want to chance going through that kind of pain all over again.
Chapter Fifteen
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The next day, Meg saw Rourke and Jayden heading for the dive platform and Kyle went immediately to the side crane to lower the inflatable. Because of the conversation that had taken place in the dining hall, Rourke hadn’t invited her to go with them. No wonder since she had only hours before chastised them for wanting to go out again.
No matter what danger was ahead, Meg knew she could not remain on the ship. Like Rourke, she had started this venture and no way would she would sit on her haunches and let the opportunity get by. She had tired of playing it safe. The thrill of participation in this climactic event could not be denied, even when she considered their lives were at stake.
“Wait up!” Meg flagged her hand and raced across the deck toward them.
Rourke looked surprised. “What do you need?”
“I’m going with you.”
“Come again? Wasn’t it you who said we were out of our minds to pursue this on our own?”
“Forget what I said. I needed time to sort things out,” she explained. “I let fear dictate my decision. But this morning when I woke up, I realized I’d go stir-crazy staying here, wondering what was happening onshore... I also want to know who is living in that compound and what they’re up to.”
“Don’t you think you should listen to your first instinct?”
“I’m going! You can’t stop me. The zodiac belongs to ORI, the crew is hired by ORI, and the jeep…”
“Yeah, yeah. Got it, Meg…rented by ORI.”
“You catch on quick Rourke, don’t care what they say…and look…Kyle’s bringing the zodiac around, so let’s get to it.” She flashed a smile and slapped his shoulder as she strode past him and climbed down the metal ladder to the dive platform to wait.
Rourke heard a snicker coming from Jayden and turned his head to face him squarely. “Um…you have something to say?”
“Sorry. I couldn’t help myself. She’s the mirror image of you.”
“Then God help her,” Rourke said, with a crooked smile.
There was a ring of truth in what Jayden said. Both were stubborn, knew what they wanted, and drove themselves hard to achieve it. He knew all too well when Meg made up her mind to do something, no amount of arguing would alter her decision. And since she’d already determined to go with them, no matter the consequences, he would not stand in her way. He knew better.
Because the wind had picked up, the waves were averaging above normal and the current was stronger than they had battled before. As they came in close to the shore, Kyle kicked up the motor, racing full speed, and at the last moment, raised the motor out of the water. The zodiac, having a rigid keel, had the ability to safely slide up onto the sand without destroying the bottom.
They grabbed their gear and walked a short distance from where they were stationed, stopping when they spotted the cage right where they had left it in the river. The Purussaurus had long since revived, its tracks leading back into the canopy of trees. It was maddening, but they would have to start all over again. Any luck, they’d be able to redesign the cage, remove the bent framework, and replace it with new bars in the front. The cameras were beyond repair and since they had no alternative but to invest in new ones, they would have to make do with what they had.
They’d have to winch the cage back out of the river, then drive upstream and see if they could find out the story behind the warehouse. Because of the evidence, they were positive the people living there were responsible for blasting the cameras. One way or the other, they hoped to get the information they wanted without getting shot themselves. Intent on getting to the bottom of it, they headed back to where they had parked the jeep and would return later to deal with the cage.
“I don’t believe it!” Rourke yelled, slapping the side of the jeep frustrated. All four tires were slashed. Flat as a board.
“Unbelievable! Who would do such a terrible thing?” Meg said, “What now?”
Exasperated, Rourke said, “We’ll have to hike into the town. They have one station at the far end. With any luck, they’ll have tires we can purchase. “This just keeps going from bad to worse.”
“If that’s what we have to do, let’s get walking.” Meg tried her level best not to let her discouragement show.
“No sense all of us going,” Rourke replied. “Why don’t I go to the station while you three go sit at the bar and wait for me.”
“You sure?” she asked.
“It may be a waste of time, but who knows, maybe our luck will change and I’ll actually find some tires in this godforsaken jungle.”
“Hey, good luck,” Jayden said.
***
Dr. Wilhelm’s head shot up when his assistant James Holcombe entered the lab. He eyed his assistant curiously, seeing mud spattered on his white lab jacket. His brow creased and he pushed his black horn-rimmed glasses further up his long with his forefinger. James had been gone all morning and Wilhelm wondered where he’d gotten off to for so long. First impression, Wilhelm guessed he’d been down by the river. The top of his bald head looked burnt, his shoes caked with mud, and as he walked over to Wilhelm, he left a trail of dirt that had gotten wedged in the creases of his tennis shoes.
“What the devil have you been up to, James?”
James grinned. “Our cameras zoomed in on those pesky ORI people—idiots are back on the beach again. They don’t seem to have much sense, considering what happened to their friend earlier.”
“Back again?” Wilhelm looked perturbed; his voice sharp. The last thing he wanted or needed. Snoopy marine biologists digging into his business. He would have thought the incident earlier would have discouraged their return. How could he have guessed they would be so foolhardy as to return?
“And what does their meddling have to do with your muddy attire?” Wilhelm asked.
He snickered. “Well, I knew you wouldn’t be happy to have them snooping around here…they don’t seem to have much common sense. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know they aren’t welcome around here. And yet, here they are. So, I headed down toward the beach, circled around them, and found where they parked their jeep.”
“Where are they now?”
“Sliced their tires. Thought it would slow them down if nothing else. You can bet they’ll keep nosing around. I’ve forewarned Ramon and Aberto about them. Told them under no circumstances were they to let them inside the compound.”
“Now I know why I hired you on as my assistant James. You’re an asset to Dietrick Laboratories. Now go clean-up, will you?”
Once James left the room, Wilhelm went back to his work. He had put in long hours over several years studying these animals and he had no intention of letting a rag-tag group of biologists expose his work to the world and steal his glory. His file drawers were over-flowing with detailed data from all of the years he had devoted to this project. Millions of dollars poured into his account from a Japanese investor who wanted to become involved in Wilhelm’s work and view these magnificent creatures up close and personal. To top it off, his investor planned to introduce the cloned Purussaurus to the world. All in good time, Wilhelm thought.
He remembered how a young German adventurer by the name of Sebastian Neumann had flown to Antarctica, hired to do the arduous task of ice core drilling. He and his team spent three months examini
ng ice cores, looking closely at the concentrations of greenhouse gasses and calculating the amounts of carbon dioxide and methane to compare with other results from several years prior. Using an ice auger machine, Sebastian’s team brought up an extraordinary surprise. Encased inside the twelve-inch core, he saw two oblong shadows. With anticipation, the team moved the core to the laboratory for closer examination and running the ice core through the x-ray machine, the oval objects revealed embryo encased inside. Sebastian now knew the two shadows were eggs. Immediately he satellite-phoned Dr. Wilhelm Dietrich, a highly accomplished German scientist, working in Brandenburg, Berlin and a close friend of his father.
With the prospect of ancient DNA, Wilhelm’s expertise, arrangements were made straightaway for a cryogenic storage container to be flown to the core drilling site. Wilhelm also demanded that Sebastian protect the discovery in a frozen condition to prevent any change of temperature. As a DNA expert, Wilhelm knew the half-life of ancient DNA deteriorated every five-hundred years and exposure to warming would compromise any usable material. The odds of usable genetic specimens were poor, but he had the lead on this potential scientific breakthrough.
Upon receiving the cryogenic transport container three days later, no one could ever imagine the surprise Wilhelm felt racing through his veins. Dinosaur eggs! How they had managed to be preserved for thousands of years was beyond comprehension. The eggs had been sheltered by the ice layers and when Wilhelm put the six-inch eggs through one of the lab’s x-ray machines, he nearly dropped to the floor when he realized there were actual baby Purussaurus intact inside.
Perhaps he should not have been so surprised. He had heard recently about construction workers in the Jiangxi province of China, who had discovered what they believed to be one hundred and thirty million-year-old eggshells, and a short time later, a group of paleontologists unearthed a one hundred-million-year-old “Dracula” tick with the prospects of containing DNA.