Lying on the ground, strewn about, were the bodies of a herd of Stegosauruses. Most had been charred almost beyond recognition. If it wasn’t for the tell-tale dorsal plates, she might not have recognized the species right away.
Trevino caught up to her, assault rifle trained at the dead stegosaur in front of her. “What are you, crazy, lady? Never do that.”
“We’re not in any danger,” said Tracey, her tone impatient.
Trevino stepped next to her and nudged the charred body with his boot. “What is it?”
“Stegosaurus,” said Tracey. “A herd of them. The work of your ‘Daisy Cutters.’”
Trevino sighed. “Well, it could’ve just as easily been one of those T. rexes.”
“We can’t leave them here,” said Tracey.
“Why not? There’s nothing that can be done for them now.”
Tracey turned to Trevino. “You’ve been camping, right, Trevino?”
“Sure?” He was unsure of where she was going with this.
“Well, you know how you’re supposed to keep food buttoned up tight so bears don’t smell it and come around?”
“Yeah. You’re worried about bears?”
Tracey shook her head. “The Tyrannosaurus is a scavenger, not just a hunter. If any of them catch a whiff of Stegosaurus barbecue, they’ll come running.”
His eyes widened. “Got it.” He grabbed his radio. “Stallion to Chief, come in.”
‘Chief, here. Go ahead, Stallion.’
“We’re going to need a small detail to remove some Stegosaurus bodies. The doctor, here, thinks they might attract T. rexes.”
‘What bodies?’
“From the ‘Daisy Cutters.’”
‘Copy that. Re…’
It sounded as if Collins was about to say something more, but the radio cut out. There was a crackling in the sky, and with a bang the forcefield vanished, replacing it with crystal blue sky.
“We’d better head back,” said Trevino. “Was there anything else?”
Tracey looked around. “No.” Her eyes settled on the closest bit of tree line. “That’s it for now. What was that in the sky?”
Roach looked up, squinting in the powerful sun. “The connection to our dimension was severed. We’re on our own.”
They drove back to base in the Humvee, where Nielsen and Collins met them. Tracey hopped out, but Trevino and Roach remained in the vehicle.
“Nice work, Dr. Moran,” said Nielsen.
“Nothing nice about it,” said Tracey. “Those poor animals didn’t even see it coming.”
He turned to Collins. “Do you think your men could see to disposing of them properly? The last thing we need is to be attacked by T. rexes.”
“Do you really think that’s the best use of our time?” asked Collins. “This’ll delay the expedition. We’re ready for anything that comes out of the jungle.”
“I don’t believe you,” said Tracey.
“Pardon?” Collins looked irritated.
“I don’t believe you could be so cavalier knowing what happened to the last expedition who didn’t respect what we were up against.”
“She’s right,” said Nielsen. “Why engage when we can avoid? Dump the bodies in the river. Use the Humvees to drag them.”
“They’re too big,” said Trevino.
“Then cut them up,” said Nielsen. “Or maybe we can burn them.”
“That’ll take precious fuel,” said Collins. “Fuel we can’t spare. We need them for the birds. You know… to keep us safe and all.” He turned to Trevino. “How many bodies?”
“About a dozen, all torn up,” said Trevino.
“Then we can take them to the river in pieces. The current will carry it all away.”
“What river?” asked Tracey.
“The one we’re going to follow right up to the plateau settlement where we believe Dr. Albanese and the rest of our old team are located,” said Nielsen. “We leave in a few hours, after the Stegosaurus clean up.”
“We’re going to take three Humvees and a Huey with us,” said Collins. “Dr. Moran, you and the other technicians will be riding in an INKAS Sentry Civilian.”
Tracey arched an eyebrow. “An INKAS what?”
“An armored truck. We’ll hug the river bank, which should make for easier travel. The rest will be left behind to guard base camp. We’ll be in constant radio communication the whole time, with each other, our bird in the sky, and base.”
“This island does strange things with radio communications,” said Tracey. “What if there’s too much interference?”
“We’ve anticipated that,” said Collins. “We have a color-coded signaling system to communicate with the Huey.”
Tracey had to admit, Collins was inspiring quite a bit of confidence. She thought about Peter, left behind to fend for himself. She wondered if they really stood a chance of finding him and the others.
“Let’s move, people,” said Nielsen. “Times a wasting.”
“You heard him,” said Collins to Trevino. “Take a small detail and handle those bodies.”
* * *
Jason and Mary darted up the narrow path, deftly navigating massive boulders and the edge of the cliff, and made their way into the village. It was early morning, and the women and children were asleep, but the Umazoan men prepared their spears for an early hunt.
“Susan,” cried Mary. “Susan, wake up.”
Susan came stumbling out of her thatch hut, rubbing her eyes as Mary and Jason ran up to her, ignoring the concerned looks of the tribal hunters. “What? What is it?” She rubbed her eyes. “Where’s Peter?”
“He never came out of the temple,” said Mary.
Susan frowned. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
“Yeah, well, we have to get the hell out of Dodge, like now,” said Jason, out of breath.
“What’s he talking about?” asked Susan.
Mary panted, trying to catch her breath. “Peter said we needed to evacuate the village if he didn’t return.”
Susan scrunched her nose, as if catching a whiff of something rancid. “Evacuate? Where are we going to go?”
“Peter said we’re no longer safe up here,” said Jason,
