“I don’t know,” Rickman moaned, gripping his arm. “Did you kill it?”
[404] “I missed,” he whispered. “Please let me go. I need to have a clear shot.”
Rickman released him, then crawled backward between two of the struthiomimus skeletons, curling herself into a fetal position with a stifled sob.
“Be silent!” Cuthbert hissed.
The Hall lapsed again into a profound stillness. He looked around, probing the shadows with his eyes. He hoped Wright had found refuge in one of the many dark corners.
“Ian?” came a subdued voice. “Lavinia?”
Cuthbert turned and saw to his horror that Wright was leaning against the tail of a stegosaurus. As he watched, Wright swayed, then recovered.
“Winston!” Cuthbert hissed. “Get under cover!”
But Wright began walking unsteadily toward them. “Is that you, Ian?” Wright said, his voice puzzled. He stopped and leaned for a moment against the corner of a display case. “I feel sick,” he said matter-of-factly.
Suddenly an explosive noise rocketed across the hall, echoing crazily in the enormous space. Another crash followed. Dimly, Cuthbert saw that Wright’s office door was now a jagged hole. A dark form emerged.
Behind him, Rickman screamed and covered her head.
Through the skeleton of the dryptosaurus, Cuthbert could see the dark shape moving swiftly across the open floor. Straight for him, he thought—but it suddenly veered toward the shadowy figure of Wright. The two shadows merged.
Then Cuthbert heard a wet crunching noise, a scream—and silence.
Cuthbert raised the gun and tried to sight through the ribs of the mounted skeleton.
The silhouette rose up with something in its mouth, shook its head slightly and made a sucking noise. Cuthbert closed his eyes, squeezing the trigger.
The Ruger bucked in his hand, and he heard a blast and a loud clattering. Now Cuthbert saw that the [405] dryptosaurus was missing part of a rib. Behind him, Rickman gasped and moaned.
The dark shape of the creature beyond was gone.
A few moments went by and Cuthbert felt the hinges of his sanity begin to loosen. Then, in a flicker of lightning through the clerestory, Cuthbert clearly saw the beast moving swiftly along the near wall, coming directly toward him, its red eyes fixed on his face.
He swung the barrel and began firing wildly, three quick shots, each white flash illuminating rack upon rack of dark skulls, teeth and claws—the real beast suddenly lost in this wilderness of savage extinct creatures—and then the gun was clicking as the hammer fell harmlessly on the expended chambers.
As if from a half-remembered dream, Cuthbert heard the distant sound of human voices, coming from the direction of Wright’s old lab. And suddenly he was running, heedless of obstacles, through the ruined door, through Wright’s lab, and into the dark corridor beyond. He heard himself screaming, and then a spotlight was shining in his face and somebody grabbed him and pinned him against a wall.
“Calm down, you’re all right! Look, there’s blood on him!”
“Get the gun away from him,” someone else said.
“Is he the one we’re after?”
“No, they said an animal. But don’t take any chances.”
“Stop struggling!”
Another scream rose in Cuthbert’s throat. “It’s back there!” he cried. “It’ll kill you all! It knows, you can see in its eyes that it knows!”
“Knows what?”
“Don’t bother talking to him, he’s raving.” Cuthbert suddenly went limp.
The Commander came forward. “Is there anyone else back there?” he asked, shaking Cuthbert’s shoulder.
“Yes,” Cuthbert finally said. “Wright. Rickman.”
[406] The Commander looked up.
“You mean Winston Wright? The Director of the Museum? You must be Dr. Cuthbert, then. Where is Wright?”
“It was eating him,” said Cuthbert, “eating the brains. Just eating and eating. It’s in the Dinosaur Hall, through the lab there.”
“Take him back to the Hall and have the medics evacuate him,” said the Commander to two members of his team. “You three, let’s go. On the double.” He raised his radio. “Red One to Dugout. We’ve located Cuthbert, and we’re sending him out.”
“They’re in this laboratory, here,” said the spotter, pointing at the blueprints. Now that the penetration was complete and the team was deep inside the Museum, the two had moved inside the mobile command unit, away from the hammering rain.
“The lab’s clear,” the Commander’s monotone came over the radio. “Proceeding into the Dinosaur Hall. This other door’s been broken down, too.”
“Go in and take that thing out!” cried Coffey. “But watch out for Dr. Wright. And keep a clear frequency. I want to be in touch at all times!”
