Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall
Page 78
***
Within an hour the Kra and U.S. Army soldiers were inside the ranch house, taking places on opposite sides of the big dining room table, which had been carried into the living room for the occasion. Suarez sat in the center of the U.S. Army side, acting as the official United States representative. Crom on his right and they were backed up by Quinn and Walt in the Danielses’ office, communicating with NORAD via the CB radio.
Gar squatted on a raised cushion in the center of the Kra side with two Kra officers on his left and two on his right. Dr. Ogilvey, acting as translator for both sides, sat at the head of the table. Chase, Kit and Will Daniels settled into spare chairs in the dining room.
Dr. O convened the meeting by rapping on the tabletop with a coffee mug, spilling some coffee in the process. “We are gathered here,” he began, “to draw up the most momentous peace agreement in the history of the planet: a truce between mammals and dinosaurs. Until last week, I am sure those of you on the human side of this table thought this issue was settled sixty-five million years ago. Some of you on the dinosaur side may have expected a quick victory, but you’ve gained a new respect for your adversary.”
Heads nodded on both sides of the table while Ogilvey paused to translate his remarks into Kra-naga.
Will whispered to Kit and Chase, “It’s gonna be a long negotiation if that old windbag keeps blabbing.”
Despite Will’s prediction, the afternoon’s talks moved swiftly. One issue and then another was nailed down until a whole series of points had been debated and approved by both sides. The central tenet of the negotiations was that the U.S. would agree to the Kra establishing a reservation centered on Arran-Kra, similar to an American Indian reservation. In exchange, the Kra would renounce claims to any other parts of the U.S.
A highlight of the deliberations came when Suarez passed along a question from the President. “He wants to know,” Suarez read from a printout Walt had handed him, “how the Kra intend to make reparations for the destruction they’ve caused to our military hardware and communications infrastructure?”
In response, Gar reached into a pouch he had brought with him. He pulled something out and set it on the table, eliciting gasps from the humans present. It was a lustrous gold ingot, larger than those kept at Fort Knox and covered with ornate Kra artwork and lettering. “Vit theez vee pfay you.”
“Pfay?” Crom puzzled.
“Pay,” Ogilvey corrected. “The Kra will pay with gold, if that’s suitable.”
“I’ll bet it is,” Suarez murmured, his gaze transfixed by the shine of the ingot.
“Gar tells me,” Ogilvey explained, “his excavation teams have recently broken through into the Kra equivalent of Fort Knox. He assures me they intend to buy you as many new military toys as you would like. He wants to be sure the Kra’s new allies are the strongest human force on earth, for the sake of the Kra’s own security.”
“And our communications?” Suarez asked, reading from a list.
“New satellites all-round,” Ogilvey said with Gar nodding his concurrence. “Just put it on the Kra account. And to top it off, once humans have demonstrated their peaceful intentions toward the Kra, Gar is willing to allow the transfer of Kra technology. That includes the secret of making kekuah and those magnificent fighter-walker machines.”
“Sweet!” Chase exclaimed. “I could use one of those.”
Gar uttered a few more words to Ogilvey, who translated, “Gar tells me there are mines on Noqui—er, the moon—from which the Kra extract massive quantities of strategic minerals, everything from molybdenum to gold to tantalum. These will be shared with humans if we play nice from now on. Beyond a mere economic recovery, the Kra intend to join us in a new Renaissance and a world far more prosperous than we’ve known until now.”
“Speaking of the moon,” Suarez said, looking again at his list, “I’ve got another item here. The President insists that the death beam up there should never be repaired. It should be decommissioned permanently.”
Ogilvey discussed this with Gar briefly and then asserted, “Gar intends to see to it personally. He plans an expedition to the moon aboard a Kra spacecraft that is already in earth orbit. He suggests you, Major Suarez, as leader of the human contingent. Any interest?”
“I didn’t sign on as a spaceman but, well, why not?”
At suppertime, both sides paused to partake of a dinner feast prepared by Will Daniels. An entire side of beef barbequed over an open pit was served to the humans. The other side of that same beef was served raw on the bone for the Kra contingent. Both sides praised the quality of the beef and the chef’s skill.
“I can tell you who’s easier to cook for,” Will said to Kit, Chase, and Ogilvey while carving more beef off the oversized rotisserie near the garden. “Kra don’t even like salt on it, let alone cooked.”
“You’ll have to try barbequing a side of dinosaur,” Ogilvey quipped. “I hear duckbills taste like chicken.”
“Not Rufus!” Kit exclaimed. “Or any of his—”
“No, no no!” Ogilvey reassured her. “Not your pets, of course. But Gar tells me there are some very tasty tenontosaurus herds roaming the hills.”
“I’m willing to cook whatever you can catch,” said Will. “Except maybe one of them try-anna-saurs. They look kinda stringy from what I’ve seen of ’em, which ain’t much.”
“I for one,” Ogilvey responded, “would not want to be part of any hunting party that went after such a formidable beast. They’re best left alone.”
“The way I see it,” Will said, “a T rex ain’t much worse than a grizzly bear. Either way, if you’re caught out in the open without a gun, you’re history.”
“I agree,” said Chase. “Although I think rexes have a speed advantage over bears.”
“And a tooth advantage,” Ogilvey added. “But don’t fear. Gar assures me tyrannosaurs were not very common at the end of Cretaceous times, so their population will be kept in check. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m due back at the negotiating table.” He took a step toward the house, where the table was cleared and ready for more deliberations between Kra and soldiers. But he paused a moment to speak confidentially to Chase. “By the way, young man, your skills as a species re-establishment specialist may be pressed into service soon. When Gar learned you are a wildlife manager and not normally a wildlife killer, he said that you and he are like brothers. You’re both dedicated to preserving life on earth. Gar is in charge of the Kra’s re-establishment program, but he is in need of a human counterpart, one who will look out for mammalian interests including wolves and cattle and humans.” The doctor pointed a finger at Chase’s Park Service name badge. “May I tell him Ranger Chase Armstrong accepts the position?”
“Sounds like an awfully big responsibility,” Chase hesitated.
“Don’t be so modest, boy. Your name has been mentioned to the President of the United States and he’s impressed with your credentials. There aren’t many who can say they have darted wolves and shot a tyrannosaurus as well.”
“Killing that rex is not something I’m particularly proud of.”
“Play your cards right, Chase, and you’ll be darting tyrannosaurs someday. The President wants you to help in the great balancing act of reintroducing dinosaurs here in Montana while being fair to folks like the Danielses. There’s not much trouble east of the Mississippi. Gar’s old enemies, the Khe, were environmentally irresponsible back in the Cretaceous. They had already wiped out all the largest East Coast dinosaurs before the asteroid struck, so there are no East-Coast species to reintroduce. In fact, the situation at the end of the Cretaceous was much like now. The great herds were in the West. The Kra protected the big animals on reserves similar to Yellowstone National Park, against encroachment by the Khe civilization. Now, I’ve just perused Washington DC’s latest negotiating stance. The President and Congress accept the Kra’s request to designate land on National Forest property in Northern Yellowstone country and along the Rio Grande valle
y adjacent to Big Bend National Park as dinosaur rangelands.”
Will Daniels quipped, “Sounds like the Mexican border’s gonna be patrolled by the baddest immigration agent of all, namely T rex.”
Ogilvey nodded. “Those migrations may indeed stop, but the migration route for Montana dinosaurs to the Big Bend is problematic. If the dinosaur herds follow the Front Range of the Rockies and then the Rio Grande Valley, they can travel most of the way on National Grasslands, National Forests and National Parks. But they’ll need to cross some privately-owned land too. The U.S. and Kra will need permission from hundreds of ranchers and farmers for dinosaur migration rights across their property. I know there’ll be some hard bargaining but the Kra have what’s necessary to make a deal. As any rancher knows, money talks. So prepare yourself, Chase. You’ll be managing more than wolves soon. You’ll find yourself in a Kra walking machine, wrangling the greatest animals that ever lived.”
“And you’ll be busy too, Kit,” Ogilvey declared. “You’ll be getting the best paleontology training imaginable. I intend ask the university to build a research facility on the prairie near Sandstone Mountain, right next to Arran Kra. We’ll have our work cut out for us. Just imagine describing every single species of Late Cretaceous dinosaur. Not just their bones, but their anatomy, their social systems, their—”
“Personalities?” Kit asked, watching Gar walk by on his way to the negotiating table.
“Exactly.”
Will Daniels grumbled, “I ain’t so sure about having a dinosaur city pop up right in the middle of my grazing lands.”
“Don’t worry,” Ogilvey replied. “Gar has convinced the Kra to outlaw sacrifice, human or otherwise. And he’s taken quite a liking to steak, as have the other Kra. I predict the price of beef will skyrocket locally with the Kra as your biggest customers.”
Daniels grinned. “I could get used to that.”
“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Ogilvey said as he headed for the house, “I believe the negotiators have resumed their places.”
Kit and Chase followed him in and watched from the doorway as the professor took his place at the head of the table and gaveled the session to order. As Ogilvey began what promised to be another long-winded speech, Chase put an arm around Kit’s shoulders. “What say we leave these guys to their work and get out of here?”
“Sure.” She smiled and wove her arm around his waist. They strolled arm-in-arm out the back door into the early evening light.
“I know of a great boulder we can go sit on,” said Chase.
“Sounds good to me,” Kit replied.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thomas P. Hopp was born in Seattle, Washington, where he lived his earliest years in a housing project on the banks of the Duwamish River. Good grades at West Seattle High School and the University of Washington as well as a perfect score on the Graduate Record Examination got him into the Biochemistry Ph.D. program at Cornell University Medical College. Dr. Hopp studied genetic engineering at Rockefeller University and then helped found the multi-billion-dollar biotechnology company, Immunex Corporation. He discovered and patented genes for the immune stimulating hormone interleukin one. He also created genetically altered animals with human genes as well as the first commercially successful nanotechnology device, a molecular handle called the Flag epitope. He worked in the field with paleontologist Jack Horner, excavating bones of the nest-building duckbilled dinosaur Maiasaura. He published scientific articles on his brooding-to-flight hypothesis, in which wing feathers of birds developed first for nesting and then for flying. He plays guitar and bass, and has performed onstage with blues legend John Lee Hooker and rock supergroups The Kingsmen and The Drifters. He has lived in San Diego and on Manhattan Island, but now lives in Seattle. Visit his official web site at https://thomas-hopp.com or to learn the very latest about him, visit his blog at https://thomas-hopp.com/blog.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This new edition of Dinosaur Wars: Earthfall has benefitted from the input of a number of people. I’d like to thank Pamela Goodfellow, whose popular fiction courses at the University of Washington nurtured the first drafts of Dinosaur Wars. The editorial staff of iUniverse Books provided great insight on how to make the second edition better than the first. Shelley Young provided stellar editing and discussions on this third edition. As before, my thanks also go to Steve Sweeney for invaluable information on tranquillizer darting and radio collaring wild animals, and Mark Orsen for helpful pointers on cover art and for conceptual discussions about dinosaur brooding behavior. Finally, I offer heartfelt thanks to my father Ed and my son Ian, whose enthusiasm for Dinosaur Wars has remained unshakable.
Books by Thomas P. Hopp
The Dinosaur Wars Trilogy
Earthfall
Counterattack
Blood on the Moon
Peyton McKean Medical Thrillers
The Neah Virus
The Jihad Virus
Short Stories
Saving Pachyrhinosaurus
Riding Quetzalcoatlus
Something in the Jungle
Hatching Alamosaurus
The Treasure of Purgatory Crater
A Dangerous Breed
The Re-Election Plot
The Ghost Trees
Blood Tide
Visit the Author’s Official Blog Site
www.thomas-hopp.com/blog