Cretaceous Sea

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.

The trees, which had been but shadowy shapes earlier, assumed form and detail as the light grew. For the most part, they looked ordinary. They were predominantly conifers mixed with a few small broadleaf trees. Except for the ab-sence of grasses and the profusion of cycads, plants that re-sembled crosses between giant pineapples and palm trees, the woods outside could have been an unkempt city arboretum.

Flying among the branches were pale creatures which Con at first assumed were birds. Only when one flew close did she recognize it was a small pterosaur. It veered away with a flap of its sickle-shaped wings and landed outside the din-ing pavilion. As it alighted, the pterosaur leaned forward so the paws in the middle of its wings rested on the ground. The tips of its folded wings were held upwards, out of the way. It entered the pavilion through a gap in the netting and began searching the floor for scraps. Soon it was joined by several of its fellows. They scampered about on all fours, wingtips waving comically. Con got out of bed, pulled on a pair of shorts, and walked very slowly toward the pavilion for a closer look. The pter-osaurs ignored her. Utterly alien to them, she represented neither a threat nor an opportunity. Just when she was near enough to see that the animals were covered with fur, one of them found something edible. A second pterosaur tried to steal the morsel away, and the group soon erupted in a ca-cophony of cries that sounded somewhat like a cross between a squeal and a hiss. After a brief tussle, the victor flew off with its prize, pursued by the others. Con wandered away from the deserted pavilion.

RICK AWOKE WHEN the first rays of sunlight hit the wall of his tent. Rising with the sun was a