were Green's idea. James is just doing his job.
Once camp was set up, James allowed everyone, except himself, the rest of the evening off. "I'll tend to any of our guests' requests," he said. "Just get a good night's rest, tomorrow will be busy." Rick discovered that an additional aftereffect of time travel was exhaustion. The work had not been that stren-uous—he was used to much harder—but it had left him bone tired. It was dusk, and the thought of sleep was almost irresistible. Almost. The lure of this unexplored world was even stronger than his fatigue. He wandered toward the shore.
A path led him to a cove. Its rocky walls enclosed a sandy beach. The water glowed silver against the dark rocks, and its waves painted the sand with the colors of the evening sky.
"Pretty sight. Especially this time of day."
Rick turned to see Joe sitting on a rock, watching the water. "I'm finishing that drink you so rudely inter-rupted," said Joe with a friendly tone. "Care to join me?"
"Thanks, but I only drink beer."
"Beer weighs too much when you're counting every gram of cargo. Though, I figure if Greighton was a beer drinker, we'd have packed a dozen cases."
"Somehow," said Rick, "he doesn't seem the type."
"Good thing, or you and I would get to bring only one change of underwear."
"I believe you," said Rick. "I waited on those people at dinner. Fancy china . . . champagne . . ."
"Green has a thing about champagne."
"The daughter was wearing a dress, for God's sake. A dress, out here. Who was she trying to impress?"
"The rich, if you haven't noticed, are different from you and me," said Joe. "Hell, they even look different now."
"I thought the girl might have been okay. I mean, she wasn't redone."
"Bet she's souped, though."
"Genetically enhanced?"
"Sure," said Joe. "All rich kids are. You served to-night, bet she ate like a pig."
"Five helpings."
"Yep," said Joe. "Probably has the metabolism of a hummingbird. That's how she keeps that nice slim fig-ure."
"Then she's probably smart, too," said Rick.
" And sassy." Joe chuckled. "Just you remember what 'rich' rhymes with. It begins with a 'B.' "
"I'm afraid you're right."
Joe and Rick silently watched the waves, each caught up in his own thoughts.
"I don't get this setup," said Rick after a while. "Some of it's the height of technology and the rest is downright primitive. Why don't we have a power hookup? The guests' quarters have voice-controlled lighting while our kitchen has only a small propane-powered refrigerator. We're washing dishes in cold water. A lot of the basic stuff is missing. It doesn't make sense."
Joe looked down and shook his head. "Green was wor-ried about you. I can see why."
"What do you mean?"
"Look, I don't speak for the man. Don't want to. But I know him, and I know he doesn't like questions. That's why you're our naturalist. He wanted a college kid rather than some scientist."
"You don't need a degree to be a scientist, just curi-osity."
"Curiosity's exactly what Green wants to avoid. He wants this place kept secret."
"Then why build a resort?"
"He has his reasons," said Joe, "and you don't want to know them."
"Why even pretend you can keep this place secret? Those guest quarters must have involved a massive con-struction crew. Surely, some of those people have talked by now. It's pointless to be so hush-hush."
"There was no construction crew."
"Are you telling me Green built this place without help? That's absurd."
"Green didn't build this place," replied Joe, "he found it." He looked at the stunned, puzzled expression on Rick's face. "There, now you know too much already."
"But..."
"I told you so you'd keep your mouth shut. I'm not going to tell you more, and, if you have any sense, you won't ask any more questions. Focus your curiosity on this place"—Joe swept his hand over the sea and the land beyond—"not on Green's business. Trust me, it's safer."
Rick sensed that Joe's warning was earnest, and he tried to suppress the questions that bubbled inside his head. He watched the waves roll into the cove, hoping they would calm him and wash his mind clear. As it grew darker, he spotted something strange about the water. "Joe, are my eyes playing tricks, or is that stretch of wa-ter glowing?"
"It's some kind of field that protects the beach. Don't ask me what it is, it was already here when we came."
Rick could now make out a dimly glowing band of shifting colors that stretched through the water at the en-trance to the cove. As he watched, a portion of the band glowed briefly brighter. It silhouetted a huge eel-shaped creature under the water. It turned sharply, flaring out its flippers and twisting into a "C" shape when it contacted the band. Then, with a powerful thrust of its tail, it sped off into deeper water.
"What the hell was that!" asked Joe in astonishment. "It looked thirty feet long!"
"A mosasaur," replied Rick, "From its size, I'd say a Tylosaurus."
"A what?"
"A marine reptile, related to the monitor lizards. A car-nivore."
"Damn!" said Joe. "I don't care if this beach's pro-tected, I'm not going in the water."
"Heck, there was—or I guess I should say—there is a crocodile around here called Deinosuchus that's fifty feet long."
"Double damn! That thing out there was big enough!"
Rick stared into the darkening sea, hoping to catch an-other glimpse of the mosasaur, but it did not return.
7
CON WOKE TO THE TOUCH OF A COOL BREEZE FLOWING
over her bare legs and feet. She remained still, enjoying the sensation. She had drawn aside the curtains strung across the colonnade of her room the previous evening so she could view the grove beyond. It made her feel like she was out-doors. Brought up in a high-rise amid a sprawling city, it was the first time she had ever been close to nature. The expe-rience was well worth any loss of privacy. Besides, privacy wasn't much of a concern on a world that contained only eight people.
Despite the impression that the colonnade was completely open, there was some sort of imperceptible barrier that kept insects and even dust from passing between the columns. Con had discovered it yesterday by noting its trace on the floor. Inside the barrier, the floor was immaculate, while be-yond it, dirt and dead mosquitoes clearly marked, its bound-ary. Fortunately, the invisible protection did not shut out the breeze.
Now, as predawn twilight slowly illuminated the world, Con listened to the rustling of leaves and savored the air that moved them. Its richness made her realize that she had lived her entire life smelling millions of chemicals and pollutants. Here, they were gone, and the very experience of breathing was altered. The pristine air had cleansed the taints of civi-lization from her nose while she slept, revitalizing her sense of smell. She became aware of the rich mixture of fragrances that, wafted in with the breeze. There was the tang of the sea, the herbal scents of spring and hundreds of other smells her mind could not wrap in words, but only experience on a deeper, more primal, level.
There was one puzzling scent that was both new and vaguely familiar. Con breathed in deeply, seeking it out. Eventually she recognized it. It was her own body. How strange I don't know my own smell, she thought. On further reflection, she decided it wasn't strange after all. Mingled with her own scent were the obscuring perfumes of shampoo, soap, and deodorant. Con breathed deeply searching for her essence. She liked the concept of her uniqueness borne on the wind. No more perfumes, she resolved. I'll wash in pure water and smell like myself.