Ben took it and hefted it. “Barrett M82—the Light Fifty.” He then held it under his arm, testing the balance. “Big punch.”
“Yep, can’t go past the .50-cal, Barrett M82, recoil-operated, semi-automatic, anti-materiel, anti-personnel rifle. Like you said, a big punch, but with a significantly lighter weight compared to previous models.”
“You got us the shorter barrel — smart,” Ben said.
“Sure did; in closed-in spaces, it’s good to have that extra maneuverability. And that’s not all I got.” He ducked down to pick up a magazine box and flipped it open. In it were large shells with a green-on-white tip.
Ben scoffed. “Holy crap, are they Raufoss?”
“You bet your ass.” Drake kept grinning.
“A what?” Emma asked, taking out one of the shells and holding it up.
Drake took it from her and held it up like he was examining a diamond. “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Raufoss Mk 211.” He turned it in his fingers. “It’s a .50-cal, multipurpose, anti-material, high-explosive incendiary plus armor-piercing projectile. The multipurpose bit I mentioned is because these bad boys have a tungsten armor-piercing core, plus an explosive and incendiary component. Comes in handy for penetrating armored targets and causing internal damage after that penetration — basically, it’ll punch its way in through the toughest armored hide, and then explode.”
He turned. “So, to quantify that, your standard .50-cal will put a hole the size of your fist through steel. But a Raufoss round will penetrate even the toughest of armored bodies, and then blow bucket-sized chunks of flesh all over the field.”
Emma nodded. “Okay, I feel a bit better now.”
“Me too,” Ben said. “Considering we only want to be there for a single day, if we were going anywhere else, I’d say you’ve gone well over the top. But we all know what we’re going to be up against, so well done.”
“I just hope your friends do as well. Chess and… who?” Emma half smiled.
“Chess, Francis, Shawna, Buster, and… Balls.” Drake grinned. “And by the way, Balls is a woman.”
“Of course she is,” Emma said with a smile. “Tell me about them.”
Drake rubbed his chin theatrically. “Well, Chess is sort of their leader. He’s a big S.O.B., but Ben already established the chain of command with him.” He winked at Ben.
“I can imagine.” Emma rolled her eyes at Ben who just shrugged as Drake went on.
“Shawna is blonde, busted nose, and used to be a bail bond hunter. She’s tough as nails and knows every curse word known to mankind, and a few she’s made up. Francis is a big guy, real big, and ex-MMA. He doesn’t say much but he’s a coffee-colored mountain and good with a gun, knife, and his fists. Even Ben would have trouble with this guy. Next up is Buster; he used to do some freelance work in South America consulting to the drug agencies. Apparently got caught and tortured, so is still a bit twitchy.”
“A problem?” Ben asked.
“Nah, bit of high blood pressure and plenty of scars inside and out, but he’s all good now.” Drake shrugged. “He’ll keep his end up.”
“And Balls?” Emma grinned.
“She’s a tough little one, and a fighter. Smart as a whip, totally fearless, and a crack shot. She’s also probably the brains of the group.”
“And you fired her?” Emma asked.
“Yeah, like I said, she likes to fight, but a little too much.” Drake’s mouth turned down momentarily.
“Quite a team you’ve pulled together,” Emma said.
Ben nodded at Drake. “They’re friends of his.” He chuckled. “Oh yeah, he didn’t just fire her, he fired all of them. So I expect employee loyalty will be off the charts.”
“And that’s why you pay them the money only when they get home,” Drake replied.
“Yeah.” Emma’s mouth set in a line. “Just make sure you come home; everything else is secondary. Drake, you tell them that if Ben doesn’t return, as far as I’m concerned, they can all go to hell.”
“That’s the plan,” Ben said. He grabbed his friend’s shoulder and pulled him close so he could feign whispering into his ear. “I’m sure she means both of us.”
“Yeah, right.” Drake checked his watch. “Okay, we’re done here. I’m gonna pack all this up and send it on ahead. It’s five weeks until Primordia passes over and our doorway opens. We set off Monday morning.” He held out his hand to Emma. “You two have a nice weekend and I’ll see you when we get back.”
She grabbed it and pulled him close into a hug. “Take care of yourself, and take care of Ben… for me.”
He nodded. “Seems to be a full-time job these days.” He turned to Ben. “Monday morning, big guy, we’ve got a date… 100 million years in the past. See you at the airport.”
CHAPTER 20
Andy woke and came to his senses almost immediately as he had trained himself to do. He had found a hiding space beneath a huge tree that might have been some creature’s burrow that looked as if it hadn’t come home for a while — one trip out too many, he surmised.
He and Gluck had moved in and set to barricading themselves in for the night. Morning sunlight just peeked through the cage bars of roots as it had peeked over the horizon.
The tiny flying reptile had wedged itself under his arm as though hiding and was delighted he had finally woken.
“Morning, Daffy.”
“Gluck.” It angled its head, turning one eye on him. Andy grinned down at it.
“Say: thuffering thukotash.”
“Gluck.”
Andy grinned. “Thuffering… ”
“Gluck.”
“Thukotash.”
“Gluck.”
“Thuffering thukotash.”
“Gluck, gluck.”
“I think you’ve finally got it, little buddy.” He rubbed its head, and Gluck climbed up on his thigh, flapping its leathery wings and pulling on the hairs on his leg.
“Hungry.”
“You’re always hungry.” Andy found the last bits of his dried meat and shared it with the animal. Gluck gobbled it down and then went to climb higher on him, as if trying to get under his arm.
“That’s all I got, but big day ahead. Got another sea to check out. We’re here just in time, ‘cause in another dozen million years, it’ll be gone. Blink of an eye, really.” He chuckled.
“Many legs.” Gluck burrowed under his arm.
“Huh?” Andy tried to push Gluck off, but the tiny pterosaur stayed put, and when he went to lift him, he felt it shiver. Andy knew it wasn’t from cold as it was already about 80 degrees and humid, so even hairless, featherless reptiles were in their comfort zone. Gluck started to make tiny noises almost like a mewling whine.
“What’s the matter with you?” he whispered.
He looked around, but there seemed nothing inside to worry them, and he began to wonder whether there was a threat outside their root cave. He looked down at Gluck, who was staring back up, but not at him, at a place just over his head.
Andy slowly lifted his gaze.
“Oh, shit.”
On the roof of their cave was a spider the size of a dinner plate. It was muscular, its body was shiny black like polished plastic, and finger-thick legs covered in hair were spread wide.
Multiple eyes were like drops of oil, and he knew it was watching them. Normally, Andy would just give it space, as small ones like this rarely contemplated attacking something the size of Andy, but a few pounds of skinny pterosaur would have been perfect for it.