It avoided the same path it had come before, not wanting to suffer the same bombardment. But upon returning to where it had dug at the crack in the ground, it found they had fled.
But their scent was still strong. It moved quickly to where the fissure narrowed and smelled that they were on the other side of it. The great beast turned away and trotted about 50 feet from the eight-foot-wide crack, then swung back and accelerated quickly, its massive legs pounding down on the hard earth. When it was a few feet out, it leaped across the fissure to land on the other side with a thunderous impact.
The huge carnivore then traced its way back to where it detected the small things had climbed out. It followed the scent trail, huge nostrils flaring wide and sucking in the odors — they’d moved into the jungle. It began to follow.
CHAPTER 37
“What was it like, Ben? Please, I must know,” Andy persisted. He was like a small satellite as he stayed at Ben’s shoulder. “You’ve got to tell me what you saw.”
“It was Hell.” Ben sighed. “And what did I see?” He turned. “I saw a place that people should not exist in.”
“Ruled by tooth and claw, huh?” Andy pushed.
“Ruled by hunger, and without mercy — eat or be eaten,” Ben replied.
“I want to see it,” Andy said. “I want to see it all.”
“There’s a price.” Ben turned. “I stayed alive because I lived below the ground, in caves, only foraging at night, and staying out of sight. Being seen meant inviting death.” He grinned like a death’s head. “If I was a cat, this would be my last life.”
“Yep, I get it.” Andy nodded. “Working with fossils all my life means having to use my imagination to construct what dinosaurs must have looked like when they were alive. But being here, I’ve seen living dinosaurs. The colors, the way they move, even the sounds they make, un-bel-ievable.” He grinned.
“Yes,” Ben said. “They’re faster than we ever imagined. The hunters display pack behavior, just as the plant-eaters move in herds. And some of the pack hunters are smart, even smarter than dogs. They can work things out, problem solve, and they learn real quick.” His eyes narrowed as he remembered. “Makes me wonder what the world would be like if they hadn’t all become extinct.”
“They’d rule the world,” Andy said, beaming.
Ben snorted softly. “The ones in the ocean were the same.”
“What?” Andy grabbed Ben’s arm and stopped them both. “You actually made it to the ocean?” His mouth gaped.
Ben nodded. “Several weeks’ hike, always moving at night. Spent months there living off the land and sea.”
“Oh God.” Andy let him go. “I want to see it,” he whispered.
Ben shook his head and began to walk ahead. “The price is too high.” He stopped and turned. “Things… people, die horribly here.”
Andy nodded, but kept his head down.
CHAPTER 38
They entered the swamp half an hour later, about the same time the weird mist started to settle around them. Ben stopped them to crouch by a particularly viscous-looking pool. He dipped a hand into the soft mud and started to liberally apply it to his shoulders, underarms, face, and neck.
“Insects?” Drake asked.
“Keeping insects off is for comfort,” Ben said. “But mainly it’s to mask my body heat and scent. And that’s to survive.” He held out a handful. “I suggest you all do the same. After ten years of not seeing and hearing another human being, I can tell you one thing — you smell.” He half-smiled. “Not in a bad way, it’s just that I can smell you. And if I can, the hunters certainly can.” He finished and stood. “Not to mention the snakes. They’ll see you in the dark.” He looked at Emma. “Remember?”
She nodded. “They can see our body heat.” She held out her hand. “Pass me the cold cream.”
Andy and Drake looked at each other, and Ben pointed to the mud. “I’m serious. You don’t need to strip down, but coat your clothing and all exposed skin.” He looked up at the sky for a moment and saw that the moon had vanished. “Em, how much time do we have?”
Emma checked her watch. “Four hours. It’s three until sunup.” She turned to Drake. “I’m thinking a good hour and a half to the temple.”
“By then, Ajax, Fergus, Helen, Camilla, and Juan should have all scaled down. Or maybe waiting for us,” Drake said. He crouched, scooped some mud, and lathered it on his neck, cheeks, and up through his short hair.
“That’s quite a team. But more people, more risk,” Ben said evenly.
“Yeah, most I hand-picked,” Emma said. “Ass kickers like Drake, but also some scientists. Camilla and Juan are press, and managed to barge in on a, take us or else proposition.”
“Frankly, I’ll be happy if they’re all gone,” Drake added. “If not, we’ll get an update on why.” He exhaled. “I only hope, if they are there, it’s not because it’s a dead-end… or something worse.”
Drake, Andy, and Emma were lathering the mud on their faces, ears, and began to cover their clothing. Drake stopped for a moment. “And before you ask, we don’t really have a Plan B.”
“Yeah, we do.” Emma tilted her head. “The mist made me remember when we scaled up, and I scaled down the last time. We seemed to pass through a distortion layer of air.”
Ben nodded. “You think maybe that was what separated our two time zones, and our worlds?”
Emma nodded. “We know the magnetic effects of Primordia are localized. So maybe that was as far as the time distortion effect reached. So our Plan B is if the temple’s chute is deep enough, maybe we can drop below the distortion line. So once Primordia moves on, we can climb back up, and be… back.” She shrugged. “It’s a theory.”
“I like it.” Ben nodded. “And I never even thought about that.”
“Or we could climb back up, and still be here,” Andy said, not looking worried by the prospect at all.
Ben grinned at Emma. “But, I believe in miracles.”
A wind began to rustle the treetops, and Ben looked up again. “And so it begins.”
“Or ends,” Emma said softly.
CHAPTER 39
Comet P/2018-YG874, designate name, Primordia, was pulling away from the third planet to the sun to continue on its eternal elliptical voyage around our solar system.
The magnetic presence that had dragged at the planet’s surface, caused chaotic weather conditions, and created a distortion in time and space, was lessening in intensity by the seconds, and in just a few more hours would vanish completely.
The clock was ticking down, and soon there would be another 10 years of calm over the mountaintops of the Venezuelan Amazon jungle.
CHAPTER 40
“So, what’s the first thing you’re gonna do when you get home, big guy?” Drake walked at Ben’s shoulder.
Ben turned to smile at Emma, who nodded in return.
“Yeah, after that,” Drake said, chuckling.
Ben had lived it in his mind too many times. He grinned in the darkness. “Ribs.”
“Huh?” Drake tilted his head.
“Ricky’s ribs,” Emma said. “Double plate, special barbecue sauce. Jug of cold beer.” She threw an arm around Ben’s waist. “My treat.”
He hugged her in close and looked to Drake. “Play your cards right, you might just get an invite.” His face became serious, as someone else came to his mind. “Cynthia, Mom, is she still…?”