intelligence gathering, military assignments that type of thing. As you got higher you ran into the guys who got 'sheepdipped.''
'What the hell does that mean?' asked Nung.
'Means they got pulled out of their units for special assignments.'
'Like what?'
'Like the CIA or DIA using them for real nasty black bag type stuff.'
'Jesus,' said Julia. 'You think?'
Wilkins shook his head. 'My buddy said there was another level after that. They worked directly for the Space Command.'
Nung's eyes lit up. 'Space Command?'
'Yeah.'
'And you think-?'
Wilkins shrugged. 'I don't know what to think any more. I mean, here we are, down in this frozen shit and we're in a jungle with dinosaurs? Freaky, man. It's damned freaky.'
Julia looked at him. 'you think this has something to do with aliens, don't you?'
Wilkins smiled. 'I think we all do. I think we've all been hiding from that idea for a real long time. It's easier to dismiss dreams as just that. But what if they're not? What if they're placed there or something. By some kind of higher intelligence?'
'Pretty far-fetched,' said Julia.
Wilkins almost laughed. 'Boss, look around. We are living in far-fetched!'
Julia sighed. He was right. Things couldn't get much stranger. 'You think these creatures are aliens?'
'I don't know.'
Nung shook his head. 'They look too human to be aliens.'
Wilkins frowned. 'Come on Nung, not all aliens look like blobs from outer space. It's been theorized for years they could look a lot like us.'
'I don't have a tail,' said Nung.
'Yeah, well, maybe they're cross-breeding species.'
'This is getting way too weird for me,' said Nung. 'Dinosaurs and now aliens. Where's it end?'
Julia shook her head. 'I wish I could say definitively what this was all about — what the hell is going on down here. But I can't. And so, with that said, I think we should try to keep an open mind. Any of this could be real. Any of it could be nothing but a bunch of lies.'
'Man,' said Nung, 'I really miss my old job.'
Wilkins punched him in the arm. 'You millionaires are all alike.'
Nung grinned. 'That we are.'
Julia jerked her head around.
She heard something.
Mick?
A low rustle sounded close by. She brought up her rifle and waited. It must have been Mick coming back from his reconnaissance. Good, maybe then he could answer a few questions.
Something grabbed her around the waist.
She tried to scream.
Another hand clamped over her mouth.
She heard grunts and struggles coming from where Wilkins and Nung were. What the hell was happening-?
Her mind started to go dark. She could feel herself losing consciousness.
And as she drifted toward the black swallowing her mind, she thought one last time about Mick.
She hoped he'd come back soon.
20
'Boss!'
'Julia!'
She heard the voices dimly, on the fringes of the darkness where she floated without concern of time or place. But gradually, their insisting repetition poked and prodded her until at last her eyes fluttered once and then opened.
She shut them again.
'— bright…'
She heard Wilkins chuckle. 'The lights are bright. Yeah. Now try it again, but slowly.'
She did. Squinting at first but then at last able to open them all the way. She frowned. 'You could have warned me about the lights.'
'We were more concerned that you were dead,' said Nung.
Julia looked around. 'Where the hell are we?'
Wilkins shook his head. 'Beats me. We only woke up a few minutes ago. There was no one around when we woke up.'
Julia saw both Wilkins and Nung were strapped into some kind of cylindrical contraption. She looked down and she was pinioned in the same fashion.
'Should I even suggest that we try breaking through these straps?'
Wilkins shook his head. 'We've already tried. Not sure what the material is, but it's plenty strong enough to resist brute strength. I can't even make out where the clasp is.'
'No sign of Mick?'
'None.' Nung gestured with his head. 'You see the consoles over there? Pretty fricking high-tech. I've never seen anything like them before.'
Julia looked. The interior of the room seemed to be made of sort of composite metal. Shiny surfaces beamed at them from every angle. She could make out large banks of computer equipment, but Nung was right — she'd never seen anything like it before.
'Are we still in the jungle?'
'Don't know,' said Wilkins. 'It's cool in here, but not uncomfortably so.'
'And no sign of anyone else? No Darren? No Kendall?'
'No.'
Julia let her head droop. She'd come down here with a team of eight. It'd be a miracle if she brought herself home alive at this point.
'This must be Monday.'
Nung grinned. 'At least it can't get any worse than it already is. I'd say we've pretty much hit the bottom here.'
'Bullshit,' said Wilkins. 'I'd say there's plenty of room left for some more heinous shit to befall us.'
'You guys are one helluva pep squad,' said Julia. 'Now shut up for a second and let me think.'
She studied the room. Overhead the lights seemed to come from some unseen source. She couldn't detect anything that resembled a lightbulb or fluorescent tube. What she did see, however, reminded her of the small pinhole cameras she'd seen advertised in spy gimmick catalogs.
'You guys think whoever is holding us might possibly be watching us right now?'
Wilkins glanced up. 'You think?'
'Possible,' said Nung.
'Should we try to get their attention?'
'Something tells me they already know,' said Wilkins. 'They're probably just waiting to see what we do.'
'What — like study us?' Nung sounded incredulous.
'Maybe,' said Julia. 'I'd find it really strange if the ones who captured us are the same ones as are now
