CRETACEOUS SEA
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as 'unsold and destroyed' to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this 'stripped book.' This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
CRETACEOUS SEA
An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author
PRINTING HISTORY
Ace mass-market edition / November 2002
Copyright © 2002 by Will Hubbell.
Cover art by Les Edwards.
Cover design by Judith Murello.
Text design by Julie Rogers.
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. For information address: The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. Visit our website at www.penguinputnam.com
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ISBN: 0-441-00989-1
ACE® Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ACE and the 'A' design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 987654321
Dedicated to Richard Clements Hubbell
1949-1971
1
CON'S COMSET SILENTLY VIBRATED. SHE SURREPTItiously removed it from her pocket and glanced at its screen when her calculus teacher turned his back. The message from Mother was short and cryptic —'Your father called. Has sur-prise. Limo to meet you after school.' Con wondered what the surprise could be. She doubted Mother knew. Most likely, it was another of her father's sporadic and extravagant ges-tures, like the horse she received a month after he forgot her sixteenth birthday. The limo was a dead giveaway.
Limousines were common at Con's school, so no one be-trayed any interest when she departed in a big hydrogen- electric Mercedes. It took her to an office building in a fashionable district of the city. When the driver opened the car door, Con's father was waiting outside. Con groaned in-wardly when she saw that he had his new fiancee with him. Con recognized her from the tabloids, but she was even more striking in person. Curvaceous, with intense green eyes and dramatic black hair, she seemed too perfect to be real. Con suspected little of her was.
'Hi, Daddy,' she said.
'Hi, honey. I'd like you to meet Sara.'
'Hi,' said Con. 'I've seen you on the news.'
'Don't believe everything they say,' said Sara, smiling and extending her hand. 'I've been looking forward to meet- ing you. John's told me so much about you.'
