Cretaceous Sea

'Winter in the middle of summer,' said Con bleakly.

'That's one reason why we should head for the southern hemisphere. It's fall there, and the change won't be as drastic to the ecosystem.'

'So things should be okay there,' said Joe, 'once the sky clears.'

'There's also the problem of acid rain,' said Rick. 'The nitrogen-oxygen compounds formed in the impact will be converted to nitric acid. The ocean's chemistry gets thrown off for a millennium. There's also a period of global wanning caused by greenhouse gases.'

'In short, all hell breaks loose,' said Joe.

'Why did we ever leave the island?' said Con, the dis-couragement heavy in her voice.

'The dinosaurs perished,' said Rick, 'not because they were primitive or inferior, but because their world changed too rapidly. Their adaptations worked against them, and they died out. Human beings are flexible and smart. We'll find a way to survive.'

Rick began talking about changes in vegetation, the 'fern spike,' and the proliferation of wind-pollinated plants over insect-pollinated ones. He sounds like he's lecturing a class, thought Con irritably. He's talking about my future, not some science experiment. Now that the excitement and the terror of their escape had subsided, thoughts of that future weighed heavily upon her.

Con saw that her choice to flee with Rick was not the result of any deliberation. At the time, her only thought was that they were escaping death. Fear had caused her to flee— fear and Rick. Now she faced a life as the only woman among two men. She could see so many potential problems and conflicts, it made her head spin. Will I have children? The idea of childbirth under such conditions was frightening. A more frightening question arose. Will 1 even have a choice in the matter? Con realized that the norms of society would no long apply. The three of us are society. She contemplated the two men lying so close to her in the enervating heat. Rick had set out to kill a man. Joe had helped Green escape. She wondered what they would be capable of when civilization wore off. It worried her that she didn't know.

'Rick,' said Con, 'let's talk about something besides this damned K-T thing. Tell us about your brother.'

'Tom?' said Rick. His hand automatically caressed the worn knife sheath that hung on his belt. 'He was mother and father to me after my folks were killed. I guess he's the reason I love fossils. Every kid is crazy about dinosaurs, but who has a paleontologist to tuck him in at night?'

'So you never grew out of it,' said Joe.

'No, never. You know, despite everything, he would love being here. The K-T fauna were Tom's specialty. A lot of people assume the mammals all made it through, but Tom was able to show ...'

'God, Rick!' said Con peevishly. 'Do you have a one-track mind?' She turned to Joe and, hoping to steer the con- versation back toward civilization, asked, 'Do you have a family?'

'I'm divorced,' he said. 'My daughter lives with her mother.'

'What's your daughter's name?' asked Con.

'Nicole, Nicole Corretta Burns,' said Joe in a soft, mel-ancholy voice. 'She'll be fifteen this August seventh.'

'You must have married young,' said Con.

'While I was in graduate school. Nicole was born a year later.' In the dim light, Con could see Joe shaking his head. 'I wanted to give my girl everything.'

'What children really want is love,' said Con.

'She had that, but she didn't have my time,' said Joe rue-fully. 'Frank, my college roommate, and I started a small

R&D company, and we put everything, our whole lives, into it. We developed a neural interface that we were sure would make our fortunes.'

'You sound bitter about it,' said Con.

'Yeah,' said Rick. 'What happened?'

'We needed capital, and Frank brought in Peter Green.'