 
           --===Net Wolf | Where the Maiasaurs Roam | Chapter 2===--
 
+ 
Where the Maiasaurs Roam:
 
Setting Up Camp
 


"What the fuck do you mean, you *lost* the beacon?" Lowell Turner exclaimed.
"You damned well better find it again, or so help me, I'll have a dozen
lawyers crawling up your ass by the end of the day!"
 
"I can't afford the lawyers," Robert Nelson said, "But I want answers, and I
want them *now*. Where is my little girl!"
 
There was continued shouting and loud complaints from the rest of the parents,
as well. Dr. Carl Blackwell sighed. He realized suddenly that there was no
next of kin there for Lynn Sheffield. He wondered why.
 
Right now, however, he had to deal with the irate parents and one irate
spouse. He raised his hands to try to get some quiet, so that he could explain.
 
"People!" he called out, to get their attention. Finally, they began to settle.
 
"Now, first off, there's no need for threats. Especially since we all know
that they're baseless. The contract you all signed for your children
indemnifies our company from anything but gross negligence. That was not the
case in this event.
 
"What happened, as best we can piece it together, is this: the time trip has
somehow shorted out or otherwise disabled the time locator onboard the pod.
The device that is normally used to keep track of all our pods stopped
responding during their trip back. We don't know why. We have some hypotheses,
however."
 
"Such as?" Derek Clinton demanded.
 
"It is possible that, during the dimensional jump, because the trip was so
long, a glitch developed in the power systems. We have no easy way to test
that, of course. It is possible that they lost power, and thus the time
locator ceased to function."
 
"You're telling me that my baby girl is trapped back there?" Barb Davis
demanded.
 
"Until we can figure out how to retrieve them, yes."
 
"If we had figured out how to do that in the future, wouldn't we be back here
now telling ourselves how to do it?" Zina Miller asked. She was a science
teacher, but temporal mechanics was not her strong suit.
 
"No. It doesn't work that way. Even if we tried to do that, we'd end up
telling some other version of us in some other dimension. Anyway, point is
that we will continue to work on this. We *will* rescue those kids."
 
"You'd damned well better," Eric Cutter seethed.
 
"We will. Now, if you'll all let us get back to work, we'll get your kids back
that much sooner."
 



 


Sunday, Week 1
 


Tim woke slowly, his mind a little groggy. The last twenty-four hours had been
emotional ones. Gaining Sloan as a girlfriend had been wonderful, but being
stuck in the Late Cretaceous for the rest of his life wasn't really what he'd
planned on doing.
 
*Great choice of trips, slick*, he told himself.
 
Rather than focus on that, Tim paid attention to the soft body pressed up
against him. He turned onto his side - he slept on his back - to cuddle up to
her. Lynn mewled in her sleep as his hand stroked her stomach and his body
pressed against her back. When his hand brushed her tit, she sighed, and he
could feel her beginning to awaken.
 
Finally, she was awake, and she pressed back against him, trapping his dick
tightly between them, and then rubbing it with her ass.
 
"Mmmm, that feels nice and hard," she murmured.
 
Tim nibbled on her earlobe as she continued the process of waking up. She
continued to wiggle her ass against his cock, though.
 
When she was finally alert enough to participate, Lynn rolled over and hugged
her new boyfriend. They kissed passionately as their hands fondled each
other's body. Their kissing grew more passionate, and then finally, he
couldn't take it anymore. Tim rolled on top of Lynn, his cock at her entrance.
 
"Oh, God, yes..." she muttered as he slipped inside...
 


-----
 


By the time Tim and Lynn emerged from the bedroom, everyone else was already
eating breakfast. Sloan smiled at the two of them. Tim came over and gave her
a very welcome kiss that she felt down to her toes.
 
"That's gross," Laura said disgustedly, but nobody paid her any attention.
Sloan had asked Tim to spend the night with Lynn, since he'd spent the
previous night with her. He hadn't objected too much, but he did worry if she
was well enough to be up and moving around already.
 
"Good morning," she said quietly, to avoid the comment that the look on his
face had to be preceding. "Good morning, Lynn," she said next. Lynn responded
in kind. "I kept your breakfast warm," she said to both of them.
 
Tim surrendered to the situation, and grabbed his plate. He sat down between
Sloan and Lynn, who had intentionally left an empty space between them on the
log. He looked over to Sloan and asked quietly, "Did you sleep okay?"
 
She smiled and nodded. "I'm doing better. I'll be all right."
 
Tim nodded at her, but it was clear he was still concerned. She loved that he
was worried about her. Tim looked across at Kevin, who was eating with the
group for the first time in several days.
 
"You doing okay, Kev?"
 
Kevin shrugged. "I guess I have to get on with things."
 
Jane, who was sitting next to him, reached around him and squeezed his
shoulder. Tim nodded.
 
"Tim, what do we do now?" Aly asked. They all wanted to ask him that, but she
was the only one insecure enough to just blurt it out.
 
Tim swallowed a forkful of eggs, and then looked up at the sky. He saw a
pteranodon pass over, gliding toward the sea. Finally, he looked back down at
everyone.
 
"I'm not sure. We have to start making tools and weapons, and learn to live
off the land. Otherwise, we're going to starve to death, and that doesn't
sound like a lot of fun, you know?"
 
There was general agreement on that point. "There's going to be a lot of going
out there and getting dangerous now," Steven said. He turned to Kevin. "Are
you going to be all right out there? I mean, after what happened..."
 
"I'm going to have to be," Kevin replied. "We've all got to pitch in if we're
going to make this work." He turned to Tim. "How do you think we should divide
up tasks?"
 
Laura immediately objected. "Who the fuck put *him* in charge?"
 
"The dinosaurs," Kevin replied bluntly. "He's the only one who knows how to
deal with them. That means he's the only one who can make the important
decisions."
 
Tim didn't like this line of reasoning. "Laura has a point, though. I'm not
exactly a wilderness guy, you know. Sure, I know about dinosaurs, but most of
that came from books, not from going out and collecting bones or anything."
 
Steven said, "Yeah, but that's still better than any of the rest of us..."
 
Everyone except Laura was willing to accept that, and so Tim acquiesced to the
group's decision. He finished off his breakfast before speaking again.
 
"Well... I mean, let's be obvious here. Sloan's best skill is cooking and
keeping us all well-fed, so she should probably remain here and run the pod
for us. She'll also need to go out scouting for fruits and vegetables we can
eat.
 
"Lynn is our medic..."
 
"Who?" Steven interrupted.
 
"Sorry, Miss Sheffield is our medic..."
 
"Oh."
 
"Everyone, you can call me Lynn from now on. It's going to get old spending
every day with you and you all not using my first name."
 
There was general consent to that, and Tim continued.
 
"Steven, you seemed to be doing okay making that spear. I think you should try
to come up with as many tools and weapons as you can. That's what's going to
keep us going, because humans are tool-users."
 
"I've also done some hunting," Steven offered.
 
Tim nodded. "That's good, you can catch dinner." There were some chuckles
around the group.
 
"I can help out with that," Kevin said. "I've done a lot of backpacking and
climbing. I spend most of my summers outdoors."
 
Tim nodded. "I think it'd be best if you took over the job of leading the
field trips."
 
"I don't have the knowledge," Kevin objected immediately.
 
"Well, I can give you some of what you need... I guess I'll have to tag along
on a lot of them, but I'm not strong enough to get us out of trouble if
something bad happens."
 
"So what *are* you going to do?" Laura asked snidely. "Sit in here like King
Shit?"
 
Tim sighed. "Hey, I didn't want to be in charge. And no, I'm going to be
trying to think of things that will help us survive. I'll go on some of the
field trips, and we're going to have to have some trips just so we can learn
what the animals around here are like."
 
"Don't we already know that?" Kevin asked. "They're dangerous."
 
"All wild animals are dangerous to some degree," Tim replied. "We have to know
which ones we just have to leave alone, and which ones are going to actively
cause us a problem."
 
"I can help with that some," Aly offered. "I've worked with animals a lot. I
used to volunteer at a zoo."
 
"Good. You and I can work out some way of trying to find out which animals are
safe for us to be around, and which aren't."
 
"What about me?" Jane asked.
 
"Uh..." Tim said rather dumbly.
 
"You can help on field trips," Kevin said. "Your memory will be very useful."
 
Jane nodded in thanks.
 
"And what, Oh Great Leader, is my job?" Laura snarled.
 
Tim looked at her flatly. "Can you do anything besides bitch?"
 
"You mother-fucking..." Laura started.
 
Aly interrupted. "Laura's taken several home-ec classes."
 
"I'm not cooking and cleaning for you people. That's *her* job."
 
Tim ignored the insult to his girlfriend. "I'm sure you learned other things.
Like maybe how to sew? Because sooner or later, the clothes we're wearing are
going to wear out. They'll get ripped and get holes... we need to mend them,
and we also need to look at making new clothes. Especially when winter comes."
 
"Fine," Laura spat.
 
"You can also help with the field trips, just as an extra set of eyes and
hands."
 
"Whatever."
 
"Is there anything else I'm over-"
 
*DING!*
 
"What the fuck was that?" three people said at once.
 
Everyone rose, and went back into the pod. Lying on the floor, having emerged
from a mostly unnoticed slot in the wall, was an envelope. Lynn reached down
to pick it up.
 
"What the hell... I thought all the electronics were dead?" Steven objected.
 
"That ding sounded like an actual bell," Kevin replied. "I'll bet it was some
kind of actual clockwork mechanism."
 
"You mean like an old-fashioned wind-up clock?" Aly asked.
 
"Yeah. You know, something fail-safe."
 
"Too bad they couldn't use that kind of thing for the rest of the pod," Lynn
objected.
 
"What's it say?" Aly asked.
 
Lynn opened the envelope, and read the note.
 
"*If you are reading this, it means that something has gone terribly wrong.
The non-electric timer that was set to release this note was set to open
roughly one day after your expected return. Since you are apparently not home
yet, we have to assume that there is some reason we could not bring you back.
That means that you are going to have to survive there until we can find an
answer - remember that we cannot reach your time precisely if we have to come
get you - or you may actually be stuck there permanently.*
 
*"At this time, you should access the emergency survival kit in the lounge. We
have shown your group leader where this is located, just in case you needed it
for some reason during your trip. Inside you will find everything we could
reasonably pack to help you survive.*
 
*"We wish you the best of luck, and be assured that we will be working to find
a way to get you home. Until then, May the Universe favor you. Signed, The
TimeTrippers Engineering Team.*"
 
"Holy shit. They *knew* that we'd get stuck here?" Laura demanded.
 
"No, it sounds like they worried about it, though. Or maybe they put one of
these on every pod."
 
"Either way, our real problem is finding it. Kevin, did your dad say anything
to you about it?"
 
"No. But it says it's in the lounge somewhere."
 
"We need to find it," Steven said.
 
The group all set about trying to find a secret hatch or opening or panel that
would swing open. Tim stood back, trying to think it through while staying out
of everyone's way. They were already bumping into each other; he didn't see a
reason to crowd the space even further.
 
After a few minutes, he got an idea.
 
"Hey, guys?"
 
Everyone stopped and looked at him.
 
"Why is the sofa bolted down?"
 
"To keep it from moving around?" Aly offered.
 
"But nothing *else* is bolted down. The chairs are more likely to get shoved
during some kind of turbulence during the trip... so why bolt down the sofa,
and not the chairs?"
 
"What are you thinking?" Kevin asked.
 
"I'm thinking we try to find a latch or a hinge or something concealed around
the sofa."
 
The three boys ran their hands along the back of the sofa, pressing their
fingers behind the cushions.
 
"I got something," Steven said. He pulled at the cushion, and it suddenly gave
way, unlike the others, which were firmly secured in place. This one had been
velcroed on. It revealed a locking mechanism.
 
"Can you open that?" Tim asked Steven.
 
"I think so." He studied it for a bit, and then pressed in a particular spot.
They all heard a metallic *click*, and they waited.
 
"Now what?" Jane asked.
 
"Try pulling on it," Kevin offered.
 
"The panel? There's no hold..."
 
"No, the *couch.*"
 
They all grabbed hold of the couch, which now swung on a frictionless hinge,
and rolled on hidden wheels. It opened to reveal a large space hidden behind
the sofa, with a myriad of materials.
 
"Holy shit," Kevin said.
 
"Okay, so this is going to help a bit..." Tim said, awed. Inside were several
tools, some bars of steel or iron, several other items that he couldn't make
out in the darkness of the cavity... and several real, actual-paper books.
 
"These things are worth a fortune..." Steven said, picking one up.
 
"They're worth our lives, too," Tim said. He looked at a few of the titles,
and it was clear they were designed to help with survival. There were books on
wilderness skills, tool making, first aid, and other such useful topics.
 
There was also another note.
 


-----
 


"What the fuck do you think you're doing to my bed?" Laura demanded. Steven,
Tim and Kevin had pulled up her mattresses, and were currently feeling around
for a latch.
 
"Looking for something."
 
"Well, I think you'd best go look for it somewhere else," Laura harrumphed.
The three boys ignored her, continuing their search. Just as she was about to
berate them again, Kevin spotted it.
 
"Found it!" he called out. He shooed the others back and lifted up on the
latch. Looking in, they all saw a large, hexagonal hole in the top of a shaft
that led downward.
 
"So... how are we supposed to turn it?" Steven asked.
 
"I'd bet there's a key in the emergency supplies," Tim replied.
 
"Well, there's one. We just have to find the other five," Kevin said.
 
"I don't think it'll be that hard. Four of them are at the corners, obviously.
The other two are probably halfway down the longest sides."
 
"That puts four in bedrooms, one in the kitchen, and one in the lounge."
 
"Right. I'm guessing the other ones are in Mr. Miller's room, my bedroom and
Lynn's bedroom." Tim said.
 
"Let's go check."
 
They tossed Laura's mattress back on her bed, and ignored her glare as they
moved past her. They stood in front of the door to Mr. Miller's room, and
paused a moment.
 
"You gonna be okay, Kevin?" Steven asked.
 
Kevin took a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess."
 
"You don't have to go in there..."
 
Kevin shook his head. "Yeah, I do. Sooner or later, I have to face it. Better
if it's sooner."
 
The three boys entered the room together. Kevin stopped for a long moment and
looked over the room. The others waited patiently while he did so, wondering
if he would break down again.
 
Finally, with a somewhat ragged breath, Kevin said, "Okay, let's look under
the mattress."
 


-----
 


After another half-hour of searching, the boys had found all six of the jacks.
There had actually been six large hex-keys included in the supplies. Now
everyone was sitting in the lounge to discuss what they'd learned.
 
"Well, we found all six of the jacks, so we know how to lower the wheels."
 
"This thing is a car?" Aly asked innocently.
 
Steven smiled, but corrected her. "It's not self-propelled, but it can be
moved."
 
"Why the fuck would we want to move? That would be a lot of fucking work for
nothing," Laura complained.
 
"Two reasons," Kevin explained. "The first is that we're in the middle of a
dinosaur path. Great position, for a week-long stay, because it means we get
to see a lot of dinosaurs. *Lousy* position for survival. It puts us in the
middle of the danger zone. A quieter place would be much safer.
 
"The second reason is water. We've only got a few more days of water stored
here in the pod. After that, we're going to have to be collecting water."
 
"There's a big ass water supply not four hundred meters from here," she
objected.
 
"That's salt water."
 
"Oh. Right."
 
"We haven't yet found a river or stream. Which means that wherever there is
one, it isn't close. The eight of us are using about ninety liters of water a
day. That's nearly ninety kilos. That means three or four people to collect
enough for all of us, each day. If the water is an hour's walk from here, then
that uses up eight man-hours of labor every single day just for water
collection. It's a waste of time, if we can move the pod closer to the water."
 
"But moving this thing's got to be a sonofabitch, doesn't it?" Lynn asked.
 
"Probably not. It's gonna take all of us, but they've designed it to be moved
by the people occupying it."
 
"So we're just going to up and move this thing?" Laura demanded. "Where do you
plan to take it?"
 
"We're not going to just up and move, no," Tim said to her. "We need to scout
out a new location first. We need to find a quieter spot, near water, that we
can maybe find a way to protect ourselves in."
 
"Great. Maybe the place has room service, too."
 
"Laura, shut the fuck up," Steven replied. She glared at him, but seeing the
hostility toward her from almost everyone, she decided not to reply. She would
bide her time.
 
"So," Lynn said, trying to change the subject, "what else was in the emergency
supplies?"
 
"Quite a bit of stuff. A lot of it is just basic building material, though.
Metal rods and some resin compounds."
 
"What good are metal rods, though? I mean, I wouldn't know what to do with
them..." Kevin said.
 
"Someone's going to have to learn to become a metal worker," Tim said. 

"Like who?" Kevin asked.
 
Tim shrugged. "Anyone want to give it a try? They did send along a book on the
subject..."
 
Steven said, "I'll try. I've already started with making tools and weapons,
anyway, so..."
 
"How are those coming, by the way?" Kevin wanted to know.
 
"I've made a second spear. I'm going to have to redo the first one, because
the point broke in the fight with Scarface." The name for the troodon who had
injured Sloan had stuck.
 
Tim said, "Sorry."
 
"That's okay. Compared to my second tip, the first one sucked, anyway. So, we
have one spear at the moment, and the start of a second one. I can make us a
couple of stone axes, until I can learn to make metal ones..."
 
"Probably a good idea," Aly said. "We'll need to be able to cut wood if we're
going to have to build things."
 
"Was there anything in that emergency kit that could help us get home?" Lynn
asked.
 
Tim shook his head. "No, there's nothing they could have included that would
help with that. If they had a way to get us home like that, they'd be using
it. All they've given us is a chance to survive here until they can figure
things out."
 
"Wait. You said that if they ever figured it out, we would have left
yesterday," Kevin objected.
 
"What I meant was, if there was a way that they could track the pod, we would
have left yesterday. *If* they ever do rescue us, it will require them to send
someone else back here to get us. And that means they could show up at any
time at all. Tomorrow, or twenty years from now."
 
"Great," Laura grumbled. This time, there was agreement with her sentiment.
 


-----
 


Later in the day, the teens had separated to handle their tasks. Kevin, Tim,
Lynn, and Jane were out exploring, seeing if they could find a fresh water
source. Sloan was preparing their evening meal, and Laura was sulking in her
room, as usual.
 
Steven was sitting on a log, trying to hammer out an axe from a rock. Aly
watched him for a minute, but then walked over to him. He'd been working hard,
and was very sweaty. She offered him a glass of water.
 
"Thanks," he said, taking a big swig from it. She sat down next to him as he
returned to work.
 
"How long did you know we weren't going to go home?"
 
He continued to work as he answered her. "Since Tim and I went looking for the
homing device."
 
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" she asked.
 
He stopped then, and looked at her. "Would you really have wanted to know,
when we weren't absolutely sure?"
 
She dodged the question. "Did you know that day we talked about what we would
do when we got home?"
 
Steven nodded.
 
"And you said nothing about it."
 
"I didn't want to scare you if it wasn't necessary."
 
"I'm scared *now*."
 
Steven set down the axe-to-be and his hammering rock, and turned to her. "I
know. Me, too. I'm not sure how we're going to survive."
 
Aly looked down, and then looked over at him. "I'm not cut out for this.
Change scares the crap out of me. This is one fucking big change."
 
"I know," he said. He put his hand on her arm and squeezed lightly. "We'll be
okay if we all work together."
 
Aly looked up at him, her eyes moist with the beginnings of tears. Steven
rubbed her arm, then he leaned in. She closed her eyes as their lips met, and
they kissed gently. They slowly embraced as their kiss continued, until
finally they parted, gently holding each other, still.
 
"Thanks," Aly said softly, looking down again.
 
"Any time. It's going to be okay, Aly. We'll make this work, if we all just
pull together."
 
"I'm not sure what I can do, but I'll do whatever you guys need me to."
 
Steven hugged her again, and then let her go. He sat back and smiled. "Hey,
look at the bright side. You don't have to talk to the judge the day after
tomorrow!"
 
Aly giggled, and finally smiled. Steven grinned at her, and then went back to
work.
 



 
Monday, Week 1
 


"So what's on the agenda for today?" Lynn asked as the group sat around having
breakfast.
 
"Food and water," Tim said. "We are going to need both in a few days. We have
got to find a fresh water source. Hopefully, one won't be too far away."
 
"Could we follow the dinos to find out where they're drinking? I mean, with
those herds close by..." Aly offered.
 
"We can, but there is the possibility that they are drinking from the sea.
They might be able to metabolize salt water."
 
"So what should we do?" Kevin wanted to know.
 
Tim shrugged. "We have the two options. Follow the dinosaurs, or try to find
something on our own. Both have risks. If we follow the dinos, then if we find
a water source, it is one that will *still* be surrounded by dinosaurs, which
isn't necessarily the best thing for us. On the other hand, we might not find
any water at all on our own."
 
"Should we form two teams? Have one follow the dinosaurs, and one go
exploring?" Steven asked.
 
Tim thought about it. "Sloan's not healed yet, so she has to stay here. Who
else doesn't feel up to going out there yet?"
 
Aly said, "I'm not comfortable with the idea."
 
"Okay, so... anyone else?" Tim was surprised that Laura did not say anything
at this point, but he wasn't going to pick her out specifically, so he kept
his peace about it. "Well, that's six people... I guess we could split up. How
do we want to divide the teams?"
 
"Why don't you take Miss...er, I mean Lynn, and Steven, and go exploring. I'll
take Jane and Laura, and we'll follow the paras, to see if they lead us to
water," Kevin said.
 
"Okay. Not that I'm arguing, but why that way?"
 
"Well, if we're following the paras, we hopefully won't see anything we don't
know how to react to. If you're going exploring, Lord knows what you'll run
into. That team would need your knowledge."
 
"Good point. Works for me." He wasn't about to object to the fact that Kevin
had burdened himself with Laura. There was general agreement with the plan -
Laura kept her mouth shut - and the groups split up to make their own plans.
 


-----
 


"So how do we find fresh water?" Lynn asked.
 
"Steven, how good are you at orienteering?"
 
"Fair. Not an expert, by any means, but I don't usually get lost. The compass
will help."
 
"Okay. I think, for the first day, what we should do is walk along the sea. If
there's a river or stream close by, it'll empty into the sea, and we'll be
able to find it that way."
 
"What if we don't find anything?" Lynn asked worriedly.
 
Tim looked at Steven, who kept his face impassive. Tim said, "We'll find
something eventually. It just may mean walking a ways."
 
"Okay."
 
"I say let's get moving. There's no point in dawdling." Tim went over and gave
Sloan a kiss. "You going to be okay?"
 
"Sure. Aly's here to keep me company. If we see any dinosaurs, we'll just
close up the pod and wait for you to get back and chase them off."
 
"Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically. She smiled at him, and he kissed her
again. Turning back to the others, who were hiding their smiles, he said,
"Let's go."
 


-----
 


As Kevin's trio approached the parasaur herd, they moved behind some trees to
try to remain hidden. They didn't yet know exactly how the animals would react
to their presence.
 
"What are we supposed to do if those things take off at a run? Something tells
me they've got all of us beat on speed," Jane wanted to know.
 
Kevin shrugged. "In that case, I guess we try to follow their trail. It
doesn't look like they're in a big hurry to get anywhere, though." For the
moment, the animals were grazing in a field. The only motion was that of a few
small parasaurs moving among their parents.
 
After about a half hour of sheer boredom, the herd started to move. The
animals weren't in a hurry, but their size guaranteed that they would move
faster than a human's walking speed.
 
"C'mon," Kevin said, and the group began to jog. As they moved, they put a
little distance between themselves and the edge of the trees, hoping to spot
danger before it spotted them. They had little hope that this would happen,
but little hope was better than none. Luckily, they didn't encounter anything
before the animals stopped moving. They'd only traveled about two kilometers,
and they had settled down under a copse of trees to rest in the shade. The
teens did likewise, though they remained alert.
 


-----
 


"How long do you want to follow them today?" Jane asked.
 
"Tim said he was going to travel outward for three hours, then turn back. I
guess we should do the same."
 
Laura, who had simply been waiting for an opportune moment to say something,
said, "Why are you listening to him? You're a far better leader than he is.
Okay, so what if he has some book smarts about dinosaurs? Most of that doesn't
help you stay safe from them. You're the real leader here."
 
Kevin looked at Jane, who rolled her eyes. Kevin said, "Tim is our team
captain. That's good enough for me. Besides, he's done pretty well so far.
It's not like I was any good to the team last week."
 
Just as Laura was about to continue the debate, Jane said, "Hey, we have some
movement."
 
The three looked across, beyond the parasaurs. In the trees several hundred
yards away, they saw dinosaurs about half the size of the paras, but more
menacing-looking.
 
"What the hell are those?" Kevin whispered.
 
Jane shook her head. "I don't know. The pamphlet I read didn't have good
pictures. They look like carnivores, though, the way they're hiding, and seem
to be paying a lot of attention to the parasaurs."
 
The group watched for a while longer, and the dinosaurs - they were
dryptosaurs - moved to the group's right. Finding no real cover, they moved to
the left. There was nothing to hide them in that direction, either. Finally,
the animals spread out, and began to creep out of the trees, keeping as low to
the ground as they could, which still left them quite easily visible. The
parasaurs, however, were not paying much attention, and there were some trees
between the predators and the prey.
 
When the dryptosaurs were about halfway across the field, the parasaurs
finally perked up. Something had alerted them to danger. The adult paras rose
and trumpeted at the intruders. The sound was incredibly loud, and deep, about
an octave lower than an elephant.
 
The dryptosaurs were not to be dissuaded, however. As the paras trumpeted, the
dryptosaurs spread out further, looking for a weakness. One parasaur "toddler"
strayed too far away from its parents, and the dryptosaurs saw it. They all
streaked straight at the herd, until the very last moment, when the closest
dryptosaur swerved, catching the baby parasaur on the neck, killing it in
seconds, before the parasaurs even realized just what had happened.
 
The teens watched in fascination as the parasaurs trumpeted even louder, and
charged the dryptosaurs, driving them away from the dead baby. The dryptosaurs
fell back, and then drifted toward the trees. They did not, however, leave.
 
The parasaur mother nudged her baby, trying to rouse it, but that wasn't going
to happen. After another few minutes of confusion and distress, the parasaurs
began to move on, leaving the body of the baby to the dryptosaurs, who were
quickly returning to their kill.
 
"C'mon, we need to follow them. Stay in the trees, though, so that those
things can't see us." The teens moved as quickly as they could while staying
hidden until they were well beyond the range of the dryptosaurs.
 


-----
 


"What do you think went wrong with the pod?" Steven asked Tim. They were
making conversation because walking wasn't really all that entertaining. They
had seen only a few animals so far; the styracosaur herd had been nowhere to
be found when they'd reached the water's edge.
 
"I don't know. It's not just the pod, though. Remember, Sloan's spotting scope
didn't work, either, and my watch died. It's everything electronic."
 
"Do you think we erased ourselves?" Lynn asked.
 
"Not possible. We're not even in our own dimension, if I remember the
information right. We might have erased ourselves in *this* dimension, but the
'us' in our dimension should still be all right."
 
"So what do you think it was?" Steven repeated.
 
Tim shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps the power supplies couldn't handle the
time travel. Maybe the circuitry blew from some kind of weird EMP effect. It
could be anything, really. All we know is that whatever it was didn't seem to
hurt anything living."
 
"Except for stranding us here," Lynn threw in.
 
"Except for that, yes," Tim agreed.
 
The three walked on.
 


-----
 


Two hours later, Tim looked up and down the coast of the inland sea. He knew
that the other side of the sea was hundreds of kilometers away, but he looked,
anyway. He didn't know exactly how far north they were, but he knew that the
northern coast of the sea could also be hundreds of kilometers away. What he
*really* knew was that they had not encountered a river, stream, or lake.
Granted, they'd walked maybe ten or eleven kilometers, but he was disappointed.
 
"I guess we need to turn back now. It's been three hours or so," Tim said.
 
"How do you do that?" Steven demanded. "You always know how long it's been."
 
Tim held out his arm, his hand turned so that his palm faced him. Then he
said, "At this distance, your palm is about fifteen degrees wide. That means
that it takes the sun about an hour to cover the distance of your hand. So if
you know how many hands above the horizon it was when you started, you can
figure out about how long you've been traveling."
 
"Shit. Where'd you learn that?"
 
"Saw it in a book somewhere."
 
"So I guess we go back, huh?" Lynn asked. "So what are we going to do
tomorrow?"
 
"Search south, I guess," Tim said.
 
"And if we don't find anything that way?" Steven asked.
 
"One thing at a time."
 


-----
 


As Tim's group approached the point where they should turn away from the sea
toward home, Steven asked, "Don't you think it's a little strange? We've seen
almost no dinosaurs. No pterodactyls, no nothing."
 
"It worries me, actually." Tim was staring off into the distance. Something
was tugging at the edge of his mind, but he didn't know what.
 
"Why worries?" Lynn asked. She'd been quite relieved to have a quiet day.
 
"Because they should be here. It means there's a reason they're not."
 
"Such as?" Steven prompted.
 
Tim shrugged. "Maybe there's a volcano nearby about to erupt. Maybe we're
about to suffer an earthquake."
 
"You're just full of cheerful ideas," Steven replied.
 
That's when Tim's senses and his memory came together. "Or maybe we're about
to suffer something worse. We need to get back to the pod. Soon."
 
"What's the matter?" Lynn asked, automatically panicked.
 
"*Hurricane*," Tim replied with a single word.
 


-----
 


As the group moved very rapidly toward the pod, Tim said, "I couldn't figure
out what it was I was feeling. But I used to live in Florida, and I finally
figured out that it's that sense of heaviness right before a big storm. Then
you mentioned all the animals being gone. That happens right before a really
nasty storm, too.
 
"Then I saw the high clouds on the horizon when we were by the sea. It's the
first sign of a hurricane."
 
"I thought they only hit southern states," Steven objected.
 
"They hit *gulf* states. Right now, we *are* a gulf state! Because it's so
much warmer now than when we live, the hurricane can come much further north
without losing strength. The inland sea provides it with plenty of energy."
 
"How bad will it be?" Lynn wanted to know as they approached the pod.
 
"I don't know. I don't know how big it is, just that it's coming. I hope the
others are back soon."
 
He saw that he needn't have worried; the other team had already arrived back
at the pod, and were waiting for them. None of them were expecting the bad
news they brought, however.
 


-----
 


A half hour of discussion about the danger had led to four and a half hours of
frantic effort before the wind had started to pick up. They had gotten almost
everything they needed to finished, and they each made their way into the pod.
Once there, they dogged down the pod door, and went upstairs to raise the
solid walls over the bubble, to protect it from the weather.
 
"How bad could this get?" Steven asked Tim.
 
Tim shrugged. "There's really no way to know. What I do know is that, because
the Pacific Ocean is so large at this point in time, and because there is a
path from the Pacific to where we are, this storm could conceivably be
monstrous."
 
"Define 'monstrous' for me," Lynn requested.
 
"Twice the size of the kind of hurricanes we're used to. Think 'Category
Seven' on a five-category scale."
 
"Shit," Kevin opined.
 
The girls shivered a bit, and looked worried.
 
"Can the pod take it?" Aly asked.
 
Tim shrugged. "I have no idea. We'd better hope so. More to the point, we'd
better hope we don't get hit head-on by a storm that big."
 
"Why?" Sloan asked. Tim could see the nervousness in her.
 
"Storm surge. We can see the coast from here. If it hits us directly, we may
become a boat. That is, if this thing floats. The storm surge could be higher
than the pod."
 
"Great," Laura said. "So what now, oh glorious leader?"
 
Tim shrugged again. He was doing a lot of that today. "We wait. There's
nothing else we *can* do. We've prepared as best we can. Now we just hunker
down and let the storm go by."
 
"Peachy," she said. She left the lounge and went back to her room. No one made
any effort to stop her.
 
As the wind began to whistle strongly outside, the group clustered in their
private pairings. Lynn and Sloan sat on either side of Tim on the couch. Jane
sat in Kevin's lap and hugged him. Steven and Aly sat on the love seat,
holding hands. Everyone was very quiet.
 


-----
 


"I've got to go to the bathroom," Tim said. "I'll be right back."
 
A large portion of the time spent preparing for the storm was rigging
something that could be used as a lavatory during the storm. Steven and Kevin
had rigged something that would suffice, and had put it, naturally enough, in
the bathroom. Tim finished up his business and headed back out to the lounge.
 
When he arrived, Sloan stood up to join him. Lynn, he saw, was talking with
Aly. Jane and Kevin had disappeared, presumably into a bedroom.
 
"What's up?" Tim asked Sloan quietly. The look on her face indicated that
something was unusual.
 
"Let's go back to your room. I can't stand these storms. I want to lie with
you and let you hold me."
 
Tim nodded, then looked over at Lynn. "Lynn?" he said, getting her attention.
 
She just nodded at him. "She already told me. I'll be okay. It's just a
hurricane. I've been through a half-dozen of them."
 
Tim arched an eyebrow, but nodded anyway. He took Sloan's hand, and they moved
back to his bedroom, closing the door. Tim sat on the bed, and scooted over so
that Sloan could join him. She turned and lay against him, resting her head on
his shoulder. He brought his arm around her, and they sat quietly, listening
to the thunderstorm raging outside. It wasn't yet a hurricane, though they had
no way to measure such things now.
 
The two remained silent for a long time, alone with their thoughts. As they
sat, Tim's hand was rubbing Sloan's side. She was enjoying his touch; it was
helping her to forget her fears.
 
When Tim's hand accidentally slid onto her breast as she shifted to grow more
comfortable, she sighed softly. He squeezed her tit gently, but then let go,
to continue caressing her. She looked up at him, and they kissed softly.
 
"Sloan?" he asked.
 
"Yeah?"
 
After a long hesitation, he asked, "Can I see you naked?"
 
They both blushed at his question. "Are you sure you want to?" she asked. "I'm
not that much to look at. Well, actually, I'm far *too* much to look at.
That's the problem."
 
Tim nodded. "I'm sure. You're my girlfriend. I think you have a nice body."
 
"Hmph. Too bad there's not an eye doctor on the team to check your vision,"
she said.
 
"Who said I was deciding with my eyes?" he said with a grin. She smiled at
him, and then slipped away from him and stood up.
 
"You're sure?" she asked again. He could tell she was nervous, so he nodded
strongly. "Okay."
 
Tim watched avidly as Sloan took off her T-shirt. He admired her bra-clad
chest as she unzipped her jeans and began to push them down her hips. She sat
down on the bed to remove her shoes, socks, and pants, but then stood back up
to face him.
 
Tim was nearly holding his breath as Sloan reached behind herself to unfasten
her bra. He could tell she was watching him closely as she let her bra slide
forward, off her arms and to the floor, exposing her ample, heavy breasts to
his sight. He couldn't take his eyes off them, her nipples growing erect with
the cool air.
 
Sloan blushed at his gaze, and she struggled not to cover herself. Finally,
she bent over, letting her breasts hang down, and slid her panties off her
hips. As they fell free, she stood back up and stepped out of them. Then she
slowly turned in a full circle for Tim.
 
Clasping her hands in front of her, she asked, "Well, what do you think?"
 
"I think you're beautiful," he said honestly. He held out his one hand to her,
and she took it. He gently pulled her back onto the bed and into his arms.
They kissed softly for a long moment before settling back against the wall, as
they had been initially. Sloan snuggled more tightly against him, as she was
now a bit chilly, but didn't want to just get dressed again.
 
Tim's hand continued to caress her side until he grew bold enough, and then he
slipped his hand onto her bare breast. He squeezed softly again, and this
time, Sloan moaned very quietly. She pushed her breast into his hand, and
stayed that way for a moment. He eventually gave a final squeeze, and then let
go, stroking his fingers over her nipple as he returned to caressing her side.
 
"That was nice," she said.
 
"Yeah," he agreed.
 
After a while, Sloan ran her hand across Tim's chest. She loved feeling him
next to her, and she was happy that he found her attractive. Her hand
meandered across his chest and abdomen, until finally she moved it down a
little further, and her hand passed over his hardening dick. Her eyes grew
wide at the feel of it beneath her fingers.
 
"Is that for me?" she asked with a smile. He just grinned and nodded.
 
Sloan leaned up to kiss him as she squeezed his cock through his pants. She
felt his prick harden in her grasp, and she wondered what that looked like.
Deciding that she had to find out, she began to unfasten his jeans.
 
Tim knew what she was doing, at least as far as her hands were concerned. He
wasn't sure how far they were going to go, though. He was ready to let her do
whatever she wanted with him.
 
It took her some time to undo his pants, but finally it was done. She tried to
pull them down his legs, and he lifted his hips and used his free hand to help
her. She stroked his cock outside his briefs for several seconds, but then she
began to tug at those, as well. Tim helped her as before, and soon his dick
was exposed to her view.
 
Sloan stared at his shaft for a long time before her hand moved to stroke it,
ever so gently. She was surprised when it twitched, and she giggled. She
looked up at Tim to see if he was offended, only to find him with his eyes
closed, enjoying her touch. She leaned up and kissed him again, her tongue
dancing in his mouth. As they kissed, she wrapped her fingers around his cock,
and rubbed back and forth gently. Tim moaned into her mouth, letting her know
how good that felt.
 
After several moments of working up her courage, Sloan broke their kiss. She
slid away from Tim, but kept her hand on his dick. Leaning down, she stared at
the head of his dick, really unsure of what she was supposed to do. She knew
the mechanics of the act, but she didn't really know the technique.
 
*Well, one way to learn,* she said to herself.
 
Leaning down further, Sloan's lips touched the tip of Tim's dick. She kept
moving forward, letting her lips part to admit his member into her mouth. She
continued to push her head downward until she felt like she was going to gag.
At that point, she backed off a little. She knew that guys loved deep throat,
but she just wasn't ready for that. Instead, she began to slowly move up and
down on his pole, her tongue pressing against the side of his cock because of
her angle. 

Tim grunted as she slid down onto him, and as she began to move her mouth on
his shaft, he clenched his hands into fists, trying to hold off his climax. It
felt as if every nerve in his body was tingling.
 
Sloan sped up her pace a little, and then she reached up to fondle Tim's balls
with her hand. She tickled them gently with her fingers, and continued to suck
him off. Tim was shivering now, holding back his impending orgasm as long as
he could. 

After a few more strokes, Tim knew that he couldn't take any more. "Oh, god,
Sloan. I'm gonna come. You'd better back off if you don't want a mouthful..."
 
Sloan had been considering that since she'd started sucking him off. She
decided to try it. She kept blowing him, moving her mouth a little faster. She
felt his body tightening up, and wondered just when he would blow.
 
The first blast of his cum into her mouth was a surprise, but she managed to
back off quickly enough that she didn't choke. She kept tickling his balls
until his spasms subsided. She held his cum in her mouth for a minute, then
swallowed it. She didn't really care one way or the other about the taste of
his cum, but she had enjoyed the feel of it in her mouth. She sucked on his
cock a little longer, cleaning it off, and then she sat up, letting it free.
 
Snuggling back up to him, she said, "Was I any good?"
 
"Holy shit," was Tim's only response. Sloan giggled.
 
"I don't think I'm ready for sex yet, Tim. I'm sorry."
 
"It's okay, Sloan. I didn't think you were gonna do *that*. Wow."
 
She smiled, and then settled against him. They sat quietly and listened to the
rain outside.
 



 
Tuesday, Week 1
 


It was sometime in the middle of the night when the real storm arrived. That
is to say, they heard a horrendous crack of lightning, and something crashed
close by outside the pod. Tim and Sloan both jolted out of a very pleasant
slumber.
 
"What the hell was that?" she asked.
 
"I don't know." Tim hopped over her to the floor and started getting dressed.
By the time he made it out into the hallway, the other two boys were waiting
for him.
 
"What was that?" Steven asked the other two.
 
"Sounded like a tree getting hit by lightning," Kevin opined.
 
"Let's take a look upstairs, and see if we can spot it. The windows down here
aren't clear enough to see through."
 
The boys climbed the ladder and looked out the smaller openings afforded by
the solid walls of the dome.
 
"Holy shit. That's a freakin' redwood!" Kevin uttered. Tim looked out. While
it wasn't, literally, a giant redwood tree, it was a very large tree that
looked as though it had been completely uprooted by the storm. They could
barely make it out, as it was about two hundred meters away, and the rain was
nearly horizontal at this point. 

"Fuck, how much worse is this going to get?" Kevin pondered out loud.
 
Tim was worried, himself. He estimated the storm to be at a category two level
already. He had no way of knowing if it would get stronger, nor how much
longer it would last.
 
"I guess the best thing we can do is to go back to bed. Not much else we *can*
do, really," he said, echoing his earlier words.
 
"Yeah, I guess."
 
The boys climbed down the ladder, to see four of the girls waiting for them.
Laura had not come out of her room.
 
"What's going on?" Lynn asked.
 
"Just a tree blown down," Tim said reassuringly. "Nothing to worry about."
 
"Right," Aly said, clearly unsure. Steven went over and hugged her.
 
"Let's just go back to bed and get some sleep," Kevin said. Everyone agreed,
and headed back to their rooms.
 
As Tim settled back into bed next to Sloan, he found that she was shaking.
 
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, worried.
 
She shook her head negatively. "This stuff scares the shit out of me."
 
Tim hugged her tightly, stroking her side. "It'll be over eventually."
 
"When?"
 
"I don't know."
 
For a long time, they lay together, not talking. Sloan continued to shiver,
listening to the pounding rain and the howling wind. Tim lay next to her,
trying to comfort her, but not successful.
 
Finally, Sloan said, "Tim, I need you to distract me. I'm gonna come apart if
I just lay here listening to it."
 
"Okay..." Tim said, unsure. "What do you want me to do?"
 
She closed her eyes and rolled on her back. "Make me feel good."
 
He knew exactly what she meant by that, though he didn't know how far she
wanted him to go. He leaned down and ran his tongue gently over her areola.
Sloan mewed as she felt the tingles shoot through her. When he sucked her
nipple into his mouth, she groaned and held his head to her bosom. He sucked
and nibbled on her nipple, while his hand caressed her abdomen.
 
As he moved his mouth over to her other breast, his hand wandered further down
her body. He was brushing the tops of her thighs now, trying to help her relax
and to feel good. When he began to gently push on her inner thighs, she parted
her legs, allowing him access. He smiled to himself as he tongued her nipple.
His hand slipped between her legs, and he gently pulled her legs even further
apart.
 
Sloan was shivering in anticipation of what he was about to do, and when his
fingers stroked her pussy lips, she actually bucked her hips up at him. He
followed her movements, continuing his light touch, driving her wild in
arousal.
 
After a few more moments, Tim let loose of her nipple, and moved down her
body. He shifted to a position between her legs, and looked down at her auburn
bush. He leaned in and let his tongue run along her pussy lips.
 
Sloan cried out in bliss at the wet contact of his tongue. She rolled her
hips, trying to make greater contact, but Tim wasn't having that. He continued
his light strokes until he finally moved up and ran his tongue over her clit.
She screamed in pleasure, and her hips bucked. He continued to pleasantly
assault her clit while she rose higher and higher on the wave of passion.
 
It wasn't long before Sloan's arousal and need overcame her fear.
 
"Tim, Tim! Stop!"
 
He leaned up to look up at her, waiting.
 
She bit her lip and then said, "Make love to me. Please."
 
"Are you sure?" he asked.
 
"Oh, god, yes. I've never been more sure of anything!" she assured him.
 
Tim moved up, positioning himself, and then he paused. "This is going to
hurt..."
 
"I know. Just do it," she said.
 
Tim leaned down and kissed her passionately, their tongues dueling. He tweaked
her nipple, causing her to squeal in pleasure. At that moment, he thrust his
hips forward. He had positioned himself just right, and in one move, he broke
through her cherry, sliding halfway into her pussy.
 
Sloan screamed into his mouth, but it wasn't the scream he'd expected. Sloan
had reacted to the pain, but it had sent her over the edge, and she came,
hard. Her body shuddered and writhed beneath him as they continued to kiss. He
finally broke their lip lock so she could breathe more easily. He stayed where
he was, not wanting to move for fear of hurting her. Finally, after long
moments, her orgasm began to subside.
 
"Holy fucking shit!" she gasped. "I mean... damn... that was good!"
 
Tim smiled down at her, his dick still halfway inside her. He wasn't sure
whether to pull out or push in, so for the moment, he stayed put.
 
"I thought it was supposed to hurt really bad," she said, still trying to
catch her breath. "That hurt really *good*!"
 
"I didn't know you were a masochist," Tim said with a grin.
 
Sloan eyed him mischievously. "Neither did I, until just now."
 
Tim pushed his cock into her until he was fully inside her. Sloan's eyes grew
wide at the sensation, a mix of pain and overwhelming pleasure.
 
"Oh, fuck, yes," she growled.
 
Tim decided to simply go for it, and he began to thrust into Sloan. His first
strokes were slow, to make sure she could handle it, but as soon as he was
sure she was wet enough, he began to go full-force into her pussy. Sloan was
very soon crying out her pleasure and bucking her hips up at him.
 
Tim's experience with sex was limited, but he had learned a few things with
Lynn, and he used every one of them now, trying to bring Sloan to orgasm once
again. He was fighting to hold off his own, so that she could have one more
climax. He could tell she was right on the edge, but just wasn't going over...
 
Getting an idea, Tim reached down and twisted one of Sloan's nipples, hard.
She screamed as her orgasm washed over her. Her pussy clamped down on his
cock, and milked him. He couldn't take the pressure, and he slammed his hips
into hers, and blew his load deep into her pussy. The two grunted and groaned
for long moments until their orgasms began to subside.
 
Tim pulled out of Sloan and fell onto the bed. Then he rolled onto his side
and gently collected her into his arms. They kissed tenderly for long moments,
but then the passion subsided.
 
"Thanks, Tim," she said softly. Before he could respond, her eyes closed, and
she was asleep.
 
He soon joined her.
 


-----
 


When Tim awoke, some number of hours later, the storm outside sounded as if it
was raging even harder than before. The pod was rocking back and forth in the
weather, like an old trailer in a thunderstorm.
 
Tim carefully got out of bed, trying not to disturb Sloan, who was snoring
softly. He dressed and left the room, to see what was going on.
 
He found Lynn and Aly both sitting in the lounge. He greeted them, but headed
up the ladder, rather than go over to them. He wanted to see what was going on.
 
He sensed, more than heard, Lynn come up the ladder. The noise was deafening.
The storm was raging so bad that he could not even make out the outline of the
fallen tree. He couldn't even properly see the ground, and he realized that it
was covered with water. He grew pale at the thought of drowning inside the
pod; he didn't know how water-tight it was, and the storm surge was only going
to get worse.
 
Lynn wrapped her arms around him, and he sighed, settling back into her
embrace.
 
"How's Sloan?" she asked, as quietly as the weather allowed.
 
"Sleeping," he said. Turning around in her arms, he kissed her deeply. When
they broke the kiss, he asked, 'How are you doing?"
 
Lynn shrugged. "A storm's a storm. I've been through them before."
 
"What's the worst one you went through?"
 
"Category four."
 
"This is at least a five."
 
She shook her head. "What's out there isn't that harsh yet."
 
"Not yet, no. But it's going to be."
 
Lynn shivered, but still wasn't all that scared. "This place should hold up."
 
"So long as it doesn't get washed away," he said.
 
Lynn smiled and asked, "What, you can't swim?"
 
He grinned at her, then kissed her again.
 
When they once again separated, he said, "You seem a lot calmer than you have
been."
 
Lynn shrugged. "This weather scares me a lot less than the damned dinosaurs.
While it's raining out there, we have to stay in here, and that means no one
gets eaten."
 
"Except Sloan," he said with a conspiratorial raised eyebrow. Lynn blushed,
and then giggled.
 
"Did you two..."
 
"Go all the way? Yeah. She wanted me to take her mind off the storm."
 
"I can think of worse reasons to have sex," Lynn said. "I'm glad you two
finally came together." After just a moment, she blushed at her double
entendre.
 
Tim just smiled at her.
 


-----
 


The group figured it was about noon when they all gathered in the lounge for
lunch. No one really had any idea what time it was, only that they were all
awake and dressed, and hungry. Without the sun as a reference, it could have
been almost any daylight hour, though even knowing for sure it was daylight
was tricky with the storm that was overhead.
 
"How much longer can this last?" Jane asked.
 
"Wouldn't a typical hurricane be over by now?" Steven queried.
 
"How am I supposed to know?" Tim asked, annoyed. Everyone was looking to him
for answers that he didn't have. "In our time, we'd have satellite imagery and
about twenty thousand forecasting computers to tell us. Now, we've got our
eyes and a window. What I can tell you is that the wind is still blowing
southeast to northwest. That means we're in the northeast section of the
storm. Which means that the eye has not passed us yet. Which means the storm
is probably going to get worse than this. But I don't really know how much
worse, or for how long. And once the eye *does* pass us, we've still got to go
through the tail end of the storm."
 
"Tim, I know you don't know, but can you guess how much longer?" Aly asked
quietly.
 
Tim shrugged. "Maybe the rest of the day."
 
There was negative reaction to that statement.
 
"You don't fucking know anything, do you?" Laura spat. "Hurricanes don't last
but a few goddamned hours."
 
"According to whom, Laura?" Lynn said, coming to Tim's defense. "I've been in
a few. They can be quite lengthy."
 
Laura crossed her arms and slammed herself back in her chair, glaring at
everyone. Lynn wondered how long she was going to do the petulant child thing,
but decided she didn't care that much. She'd been told about Laura.
 
"So we're pretty much just going to have to sit here, all day long," Jane said.
 
"We don't have to just sit here," Kevin said to her quietly.
 
Jane giggled.
 
Tim ignored the question, and the later comment, since the thought running
through everyone's mind was the same. After they finished with lunch, each
retired to their chosen spots to relax. Tim sat on the couch with Sloan and
Lynn. Kevin and Jane were in his room. Steven and Aly were sitting on the love
seat, and Laura had retreated to her bedroom. Tim wondered what the hell she
did in there, alone, but he decided he didn't want to know.
 


-----
 


As it became clear that night was falling, the storm's intensity picked up yet
again. At this point, someone was always in the dome, keeping a watch out the
window to see what was going to happen. It was Kevin's turn to watch at the
time, and Jane was with him. They couldn't see very much, but they knew that
the water level was rising. The froth of the shallow water being whipped up
made for an eerie sight in the flashes of lightning.
 
As they moved from window to window, Kevin was caught by a horrific sight.
Jane screamed as Kevin dove to the floor, pulling her with him. They were near
the ladder, and Kevin hollered the only phrase that came to mind. It was from
an old war movie.
 
"*BRACE FOR IMPACT!*"
 
A few seconds later, the pod shuddered violently. There were a couple screams
from the ground floor, and the pod actually lurched, shoving Kevin and Jane
nearer to the opening. Kevin used his arms to keep them from falling, and then
they pushed back away from the ladder. A screeching noise was heard as the
large tree scraped its way along the side of the pod. Kevin was sure it was
leaving horrid scars on their home, but there was nothing to be done about it.
 
Once the screeching stopped, Kevin got to his knees and took another look
outside, to see if there was any further danger. Seeing nothing, he led Jane
down the ladder, where they found everyone else waiting for an explanation.
Laura was holding a wet cloth to a bruise on her head.
 
"Coulda warned us, you know," she spat.
 
"He *did*, if you hadn't had your door closed," Jane shot back.
 
"What was that?" Lynn wanted to know.
 
"A tree. It was being blown by the wind."
 
"You mean a branch?" Aly asked.
 
"No, I mean a big ass fucking *tree*. Ripped right out of the ground and
tumbling along the ground until it slammed into us."
 
"Is there any damage?" Tim asked.
 
Kevin shrugged. "Hell if I know. Unless there's water coming in somewhere, I
have no way to know."
 
"Anyone feel a draft in their rooms or anything?" Steven asked. There were
generally negative comments. "Then there probably wasn't any really serious
damage."
 
"Which way did it come from?" Tim asked.
 
Kevin pointed, too confused to really get a direction.
 
Tim nodded. "We're getting the worst of it now. The wind's coming from the
south, and it's as strong as we've seen it."
 
"So how much longer?" Aly wanted to know.
 
"Basically, it will take as long to die off as it did to build up. Not
exactly, of course, but that's the general idea."
 
"You mean we've got another *day* of this shit?" Jane complained.
 
Kevin said, "I can think of worse problems." Jane giggled.
 
"Sloan, could you make us something to eat?" Steven asked. "I get hungry when
I'm scared out of my wits."
 
Sloan nodded, scared herself, but glad to have something to occupy her
attention.
 
"Do you think the pod will hold up?" Lynn asked the boys.
 
Steven said, "It should. These things are pretty damned sturdy."
 
Kevin agreed. "Unless something really big hits us, we'll probably be all
right."
 
"I hope so," Tim replied.
 


-----
 


As the storm raged on, Tim and his two ladies retreated to Lynn's bedroom to
try to relax a little bit. It was difficult, but both of them felt more
comfortable with Tim nearby.
 
"So," Lynn said to Sloan, "I hear you're a woman now."
 
Sloan blushed, but not nearly so deeply as Tim did.
 
"Yeah," Sloan said shyly.
 
"Any questions?" Lynn asked.
 
Sloan looked at Tim, a question in her eyes.
 
"What?" he asked, confused.
 
"Should I tell her about the... thing?"
 
"Oh," he said, light dawning. "That's up to you."
 
Lynn sat quietly, waiting for Sloan to say something. Finally, Sloan said, "Is
it normal for me to, like... really enjoy the pain of having my cherry popped?"
 
Lynn's eyebrows went up and down once, before she smiled and said, "Normal?
No, not really. But it's not a problem, either. It just means you have a bit
of a taste for pain. Just be careful not to go too far, and you should be
okay."
 
"Okay. I was afraid there was something wrong with me."
 
"Not a damn thing," Tim assured her, giving her a hug.
 
"And if you actually like discomfort, there are a few other things you might
enjoy," Lynn said.
 
"Like what?" Sloan wanted to know.
 
Lynn told her.
 



 


Wednesday, Week 1
 


It was early afternoon when the rain finally stopped. The storm had taken
nearly two full days to pass by. The immensity of the storm was something that
none of them really wanted to think about. They first lowered the walls on the
observation dome, to look out at the world.
 
"Hey, are we sure this isn't just the eye of the storm?" Jane asked.
 
"Yeah. I followed the cycle of the storm. This isn't the eye; it's over," Tim
assured her.
 
"Good," Jane said.
 
Looking out, they were shocked by the amount of havoc the storm had wreaked.
Trees were blown down, uprooted and tossed about. There were large puddles of
standing sea water. The ground cover was battered flat. In short, the area was
a disaster.
 
"Geez. It's a good thing this storm missed us," Steven said.
 
"Does it *look* like this storm *missed us*, you fuckhead?" Laura seethed.
 
"I think he means the eye of the storm," Kevin said. "Who knows what that
would have been like."
 
"I'd rather not find out, thanks," Tim said.
 
"Well, since the water's gone, I guess we need to go out and see how badly
damaged the pod is," Lynn said. The group all agreed.
 
The first one to step out of the pod was Kevin, and his foot sank a solid inch
into the mud. He cursed, and then said, "Watch your step. It's muddy."
 
The group made their way carefully outside, and moved around to the side of
the pod, where -
 
"Holy shit," Steven said in shock.
 
The sentiment was echoed by everyone. The side of the pod had been ripped
open. Luckily, there was an "inner hull", but that, too, was scratched and
dented. They saw some torn wiring and piping, not that *that* mattered a damn
at this point. What worried Tim was how close the damage was to one of the
wheel bays. He didn't say anything at the moment, though, so that they could
continue to assess the damage.
 
"Well," Kevin said, bending down to look in at what had happened, "I don't see
anything torn open to the inside of the pod. I guess we can still live in it
without too much trouble."
 
There was some relief at that, though Tim was still not sure. He said, "We're
going to need to test that wheel, though."
 
Kevin looked up at him sharply and said, "Why?"
 
"Look at it. Does it look functional to you? The bay is all dented in and
shit."
 
Kevin's eyes narrowed. "That could be a serious problem."
 
"Why?" Lynn wanted to know.
 
"Without this wheel," Kevin explained, "We probably can't move the pod. If
there isn't drinking water within, say, an hour's walk of here, we *have* to
change our location to be closer to water. If we can't move the pod, and we
can't stay here, it means we'd have to abandon the pod."
 
"No fucking way," Laura said immediately. "There is no way I'm going to sleep
on the *ground*."
 
"Would you rather die of thirst?" Kevin challenged.
 
Laura didn't say anything, but she was clearly not happy. Lynn said, "Is that
really necessary?"
 
"Well -" Kevin started to say, but Tim cut him off.
 
"Let's worry about it after we find out if the wheel works, okay?"
 
Moving back into the pod, they all went to Laura's room, the location of the
damaged wheel bay. They pulled her mattress up and opened the hatch, just like
before. Steven went to the lounge and retrieved one of the six keys that had
been included in their survival kit. Tim inserted the key, but then stepped
back.
 
"Go for it, Kev."
 
Kevin said, "Why me?"
 
"'Cause you're the only one who might be able to crank that wheel open."
 
Kevin sighed, and then moved forward to grasp the key, now acting as a crank
handle. He pulled with all his might, to the sound of a couple of screeches
and creaking metal, but the wheel didn't budge.
 
"Maybe they're all this tight?" Steven asked.
 
"I doubt it," Aly said. "They're not likely to have made it that difficult."
 
"We should check, though," Tim said.
 
They moved over to Mr. Miller's room, and they repeated the exercise. This
time, the crank spun freely up to the point that the wheels contacted the
ground. Everyone looked around at each other, their expressions grim.
 
"So what, exactly, does this mean for us?" Kevin asked Tim, just to make sure
that everyone was clear.
 
"The pod was designed to move on six wheel trucks. Now, there are only five.
Apart from losing a lot of dexterity in turning the pod, we've also lost the
perfect balance of the pod, and each of the remaining five trucks will be
carrying added weight, which will make it harder to move. Since our ability to
move the pod was already in question, I don't think it's going anywhere now."
 
"Wait, why was it in question?" Steven wanted to know.
 
"Steven, look at us," Kevin said. "You and I are the only two with any real
physical strength, and even we're not exactly muscle-bound. This pod has to
weigh like twenty tons or more. It'd probably take ten people like you and me
to move it, at least. There are only eight of us, and -"
 
"And the rest of us are fucking useless?" Laura demanded angrily.
 
Kevin stared at her and responded honestly, "In this case, yes."
 
They all went back out to the lounge, to discuss the issue.
 
"So, what are our options?" Lynn asked.
 
Aly said, "We can stay in the pod if there's water nearby, right? I mean, it's
not ideal, because of all the dinosaurs, but we *could* do that."
 
Kevin nodded. "Yeah. The problem will be if the water supply is more than five
or six kilometers away."
 
"Why is that really a problem? I mean, so we'd have to carry water..." Steven
said.
 
"Let's do the math," Tim said, taking over from Kevin, and reiterating some
points he'd made before. "An average person uses about eleven liters of water
a day for drinking, cooking, and cleanliness functions. That's almost eleven
kilos. That's eighty-eight kilos, actually comes out to around eighty-seven
kilos, total weight in water that has to be carried over a distance of six
kilometers. I don't expect that most of us can carry more than about twenty
kilos any real distance, especially if it's more like hiking than just
walking. That means four people, covering that trail, every single day. Two
hours of every day wasted by half the team, and they probably wouldn't be able
to do much else afterward. It would be an exhausting walk."
 
Steven's eyes had widened a little during Tim's explanation. "I hadn't really
thought that all the way through."
 
"So we definitely have to be close to water," Jane said. "How close?"
 
"Right next to it would be ideal for convenience," Kevin said, "but dangerous.
What do you think, Tim?"
 
"A few hundred yards away. Best if there were trees between us and the water,
it would disconnect us visually, which would be good protection against the
dinosaurs."
 
"So, unless there's water close by," Lynn said, making sure she understood,
"you're saying that we are going to have to abandon the pod and... what? Live
in a tent?"
 
"That is a much stickier problem that we'd have to find an answer to. We would
need something substantial to protect us against the dinosaurs. We need to get
out and explore."
 
"Not today. There's not enough time to go very far, and the ground is still
saturated," Steven said.
 
Tim replied, "The ground is going to be saturated for weeks. But I agree on
the time part. It's simply too late in the day to go very far."
 
"So, tomorrow, then?" Jane asked.
 
They all agreed; the next day, the hunt for water would start in earnest.
 



 


Saturday, Week 1
 


The team collapsed into their seats in the lounge. Sloan was the only one of
them not worn out, and that was because she had remained in the pod. She'd
lightly sprained her ankle during one of the previous outings, and so she'd
had to stay home on this trip.
 
Over the previous two and a half days, the team had explored their world out
to a radius of six kilometers. There was only one exception to this rule, and
that was their southern side, which was blocked by a kilometers-long wall of
rock. Anything on the other side of that cliff was not reachable on a daily
basis.
 
"Anything?" Tim asked, gratefully accepting the glass of water Sloan offered
him.
 
Kevin shook his head. "Not a damn thing. We must have gone about ten
kilometers, just to see if we'd find anything, but not a damned thing. I'm
getting worried."
 
"Sloan, how much water do we have left?"
 
"About two hundred liters. Three days' worth, if we keep stretching it like we
have been."
 
"So we have got to find water. Where do we look now?" Steven asked.
 
Tim took a long look at Kevin, who nodded.
 
Tim said, "Over the cliff."
 
"Are you nuts?" Jane wanted to know.
 
"We don't have any other options. That ridge is kilometers long. We can't
waste all our time going around it. We have to climb it to see what's on the
other side."
 
"Is anyone here a rock climber? I'm not," Kevin pointed out.
 
"I've done some free climbing before," Aly said softly. "But nothing that
steep."
 
"Do you think you could do it?" Jane asked.
 
"I'm not sure. Maybe. If we can find an easy spot."
 
"Okay, so, tomorrow, we'll explore that wall of rock for a good place to try
to get over it. Uh... Kev..."
 
"Yeah, I know."
 
"You want to sit this one out?"
 
"I'll let you know tomorrow." The problem was that it was this very wall of
rock where Kevin's father had met his death. None of them really wanted to see
what, if anything, was left of Mr. Miller's remains.
 
"So, what's to eat?" Laura asked, changing the subject tactlessly. "I'm
hungry."
 



 


Sunday, Week 2
 


Aly stared up at the rock wall before her. Right here, the rock wasn't
vertical, which made it better than every other spot on the wall that they'd
seen so far. Tim and Lynn stood behind her, while Steven was at her side.
 
Steven asked, "Couldn't we just go around? I mean, I know we couldn't do it
daily, but just once?"
 
Tim shook his head. "If we could, we would. But we've seen no end to this
wall. We've gone down it for two hours in each direction, and it has only
gotten bigger, not smaller." To Aly, he asked, "Can you do it? Be honest. If
you can't, we'll just have to think of something else."
 
Aly shook her head. "No, there *is* nothing else. I've got to do this. I'm
just nervous. It's a lot steeper than the last cliff I free-climbed. And it's
been almost a year, anyway."
 
"It looks like if you follow this little crevice, you'll have handholds all
the way up," Steven said, pointing. Aly nodded agreement. That was the other
reason she was willing to try it.
 
Steven helped her adjust her satchel on her back. There wasn't much in it,
only a hammer and a makeshift spike, as well as a sufficient length of
high-tensile rope. If there was anything to be seen, the rest would have to
climb up on the rope. This, in itself, was pushing some of the members to the
limits of their abilities. Kevin was the only one who could easily make the
rope climb, and he was back at the pod, because he wasn't ready to face the
psychological horror of this wall.
 
Aly took a deep breath, then looked back at her teammates. "Wish me luck," she
said.
 
They all did, and she then started up the wall. The first ten meters weren't
hard; it was loose rock that had fallen off the cliff at some point. Shifting,
but not hard to climb, she covered the distance with ease. When she finally
got to the rock face, she looked up again, tracing the path of the crevice
with her eyes, making sure the path went all the way to the top, and that
there weren't any insurmountable obstacles.
 
With another deep breath, she placed her hands inside the crevice, finding
handholds. She moved her feet to find places for them, and pulled herself up.
As she moved, hands alternating with feet, all external issues faded. She
blocked out all the noise, all the movement around her. The only sounds were
her breath and her heartbeat, both loud in her ears, as they always were when
she made these climbs.
 
The cliff face was almost 120 meters high. It didn't take her all that long
before she was approaching the top. Just before she poked her head over the
edge of the cliff, she shifted her hands and feet so that she had as solid a
position as possible. She had no idea what she might encounter as she peered
over the edge, and she didn't want to fall to her death out of surprise.
 
With a final push of her legs, she lifted her body upward so that her head
could look over the cliff... onto a mostly flat area, that appeared to fall
away on the other side, as well.
 
She climbed up onto solid ground, and then looked down at her friends, waving
to indicate that she was all right. Turning around and stepping away from the
cliff, she took in the land on which she stood. It was now clear to her that
the wall did, indeed, extend for kilometers in either direction. And it truly
was a wall; about a hundred meters away was another cliff.
 
*Well, hell,* Aly thought to herself. *I hope this wasn't a waste of time.*
 
Walking over to the edge of the other cliff, she knew that it wasn't.
 


-----
 


"So what's the excitement about?" Tim asked as he reached the top of the rope.
He was the first one up, and he was surprised at Aly's eagerness.
 
"You're not going to believe it," she said with a smile.
 
"Okay..." he said, dubiously. He politely waited while everyone else made
their way up the rope. Laura, Kevin, and Sloan were all back at the pod, but
the rest had come on this journey.
 
"So, now that we're all here, show us your big surprise," Tim said, smirking.
 
"C'mon," Aly said. She led them over to the other edge of the cliff.
 
"Holy shit," Tim said, his voice shaky with awe.
 
"Damn," Steven uttered.
 
"It's beautiful," Lynn said.
 
What they saw before them was a lush valley, bordered on three sides by a wall
of rock. It was not a "lost world"; the wall of rock clearly started to taper
in the distance, so it was almost certain that the fourth side of the "box"
was open. 

A small herd of parasaurs grazed just below the team, unaware of their
presence. In the distance, amid some trees, was movement, depicting some large
animal that they could not make out.
 
And against the wall to their right, they heard the burbling of water running
over rocks.
 
"It's perfect," Jane said.
 
"Let's not get too excited," Tim warned.
 
Everyone looked at him in shock.
 
"Are you nuts?" Steven exclaimed.
 
"Two things:" Tim said, "An area that lush will have many predators, because
there are lots of prey. We were trying to get away from dinosaurs, remember?
And second, we need a safe place to live. I don't think there's any chance of
pushing the pod all the way around this wall and into the valley. That means
we need a new home. A safe home."
 
Everyone frowned at Tim for spoiling their good mood, but they knew he was
right. Just then, Jane asked, "How about a cave?"
 
"Caves are often already occupied by animals, like bears," Steven replied.
 
"But there are no bears here," Jane shot back.
 
Steven blushed at forgetting that. "Would dinosaurs like caves?" he asked.
 
"The nocturnal ones might. Why did you ask about caves, Jane?" Tim queried.
 
"Because I think there are some in the far wall. I can't really make them out,
but I see dark spots."
 
Tim dug in his small bag and brought out his binoculars. Sure enough, about
ten to fifteen meters off the floor of the valley, there were caves. The
interior walls were not nearly as steep as the wall that they had just come
up, but they would still require hand-over-hand climbing.
 
"I don't think a big dinosaur could make it into those, do you?" Aly asked
Tim, wondering.
 
"Probably not. In order for them to hang onto the rock, too much of their
weight would be just sticking out in space. It would mean some work for us,
though. We'd be going up and down rocks all the time."
 
"Good workout," Jane said with a smile. The others laughed.
 
"I suppose. We'd need to find out if those caves are big enough for us to live
in, and whether or not they're already occupied. We have two more days of
water left to figure it out."
 
"Why don't we go down there and bring back some water? That will give us more
leeway," Lynn suggested.
 
Steven shot down her idea. "Because we've got nothing to carry the water in."
 
"Oh. Right. So now what?" she asked.
 
Everyone looked to Tim. Tim looked up at the sky, and down into the valley. It
was just passing noon now.
 
Turning to Aly, he said, "Are you sure we can climb that wall?"
 
Aly nodded. "Those walls won't be that tricky. The caves are formed by water
run-off through the rock, and that causes all sorts of handholds and
footholds. My only worry would be whether Sloan could make it, if and when we
do come here, until her ankle heals."
 
"All right. Let's go down there and take a look around. But let's be *careful*
about it."
 
The group looked down the inner slope of the ridge on which they were
standing, and could readily see that it wasn't that complicated to climb down,
though they hoped any large animal would find it impassable.
 
It wasn't long before they had made it down to the floor of the valley. The
heat of the day was subdued by the amount of shade provided by the foliage.
They could hear birds twittering in the trees.
 
That caught them by surprise.
 
"Hey, those are birds!" Jane exclaimed.
 
"Yeah," Tim said. "There were birds now," he said, using that odd grammar
again."
 
"But how come there weren't any in the other forest?" Aly wanted to know.
 
Tim shrugged. "Maybe they knew the hurricane was coming. Or, more likely,
because there is something in that area that hunts birds, and the birds don't
want to be there."
 
"Oh."
 
"Anyway, the first thing to do is go check out that water. If it's not a good
water source, then this is all academic."
 
The group stayed along the edge of the valley wall. They were tempted to climb
up it a ways, to get out of the reach of dinos, but that would have been too
difficult to navigate.
 
In a short while, they saw the glimmer of water through the trees. They also
heard an animal milling around the water. They all stopped while still inside
the tree line.
 
"Shit," Tim cursed.
 
Jane was next to him. "What is it?"
 
"Dryptosaur," he whispered.
 
"Will that thing consider us food? I figure it to be a carnivore," Steven
whispered. The large theropod was dipping its head to drink from a very
inviting-looking spring. Or, it would have been inviting-looking, except for
the dryptosaur.
 
"It might. I don't know. It's right in that medium-size range that means it
might eat almost anything. We're still puny to it, but not as puny as we are
to a Rex. If he's had trouble getting food, we could be in danger."
 
"Let's get out of here, then!" Lynn hissed.
 
Tim shook his head. "Moving is a bad idea, unless it heads in this direction.
Let's just see what it does."
 
The dryptosaur drank for long moments, then it stood fully upright, shook his
head back and forth, as if to dry off, and turned toward the trees. Luckily
for the team, they were not in his line of travel.
 
They waited for a full five minutes after the dryptosaur had gone before
moving out into the clearing. They took turns getting drinks from the pure,
cold water of the spring.
 
They were surprised by a noise in the underbrush, and they all jumped, only to
be confronted by an opossum, working its way out of the brush to get itself a
drink.
 
"Let's move on, shall we?" Tim said, after he got his heart started again. 



-----
 


The team stayed along the valley wall as they made their way over to the area
that held the caves. This was the long way around; going directly from the
caves to the water probably was not more than a kilometer, but following the
wall would add at least another full kilometer to the walk. Still, until they
were familiar with the area, they were trying to minimize their chances of
running into trouble.
 
Once they were underneath the caves, they could see that they were, in fact,
fairly easy for a person to get to. A small animal, capable of jumping, also
would not have trouble. The trek would be almost impossible for a heavy
animal, however.
 
"So, pick a cave, any cave," Steven said, grinning.
 
"Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe," Tim said, pointing to a larger cave nearby.
 
Aly started up the rocks, finding an easy path for all of them to follow. They
took her lead, making their way up the face of the cliff rapidly. In a few
short minutes, they'd climbed their way to the entrance of the cave. They
pulled themselves up into it, and were shocked by just how large it was. They
could all easily stand up straight. The cave was not terribly deep into the
rock before it started to shrink and angle upward. In just twenty meters, they
were unable to go any further.
 
"This would be a good cave for us, wouldn't it?" Aly asked.
 
"I think we need more than one cave," Jane replied.
 
"Why?" Steven asked, rather naively.
 
"Because I don't really want to get undressed in front of you. No offense."
 
Steven laughed. "Oh, yeah. I hadn't thought of that. So... do we need eight
caves?"
 
"Technically, nine. I think this one would be best for a 'common' cave. Like
the lounge," Tim informed him.
 
"I don't think there are eight caves here... certainly not close together,"
Aly said.
 
"We need to count and find out."
 
"Do we really need that many?" Steven asked. "Why not a boys' cave, and a
girls' cave?"
 
"Do you really want to live in a barracks for the rest of your life?" Tim
said. "I'd personally like a little privacy..."
 
"Okay, okay. Just trying to cut down on our cave needs, is all."
 
Aly walked to the cave opening and looked along the wall. "I can see at least
three more caves from here. I didn't count them while we were on the ground."
 
"We need to do that. There's nothing more to see here, so we might as well
head back down."
 
When they were all back on the ground, they stood, staring up at the wall,
looking for cave openings. After a careful count, they found a total of
fifteen caves on a one-hundred-meter section of wall. They felt that was close
enough together. They ranged from being ten to thirty meters off the ground.
 
"We're all going to get into great shape," Steven said as they started to walk
back toward the opposite cliff.
 
Tim chuckled. "Or die in the attempt to get in shape!"
 
The group laughed.
 


-----
 


On their way back to the pod, they were walking through the quiet forest. They
were talking about the possibilities offered by the valley.
 
"So we're all just going to learn to rock-climb?" Jane asked.
 
Tim shook his head. "No, I'd guess that, once we get settled and have our
immediate needs in hand, we'll build ourselves ways to get from one cave to
the other, and to the ground, quickly."
 
"Like what?" Steven asked.
 
"You're the engineer. Invent something!" Tim ordered good-naturedly. The group
laughed again. They were in high spirits, with this problem seemingly behind
them.
 
Suddenly, Aly squealed. "Ew, gross!" She had been splattered on the shoulder
by what looked suspiciously like bird dung.
 
Looking up, they all saw the strangest looking birds they'd ever seen. Before
anyone could say anything, one of the creatures dropped off a branch and
swooped down at them, pulling up just over their heads. It let out a strange,
high-pitched wolf-like call.
 
"Wasn't that-" Steven asked.
 
"Yeah," Tim confirmed in disbelief.
 
"But-"
 
"Yeah," Tim said again.
 
"Bambiraptors can *fly*?" Aly demanded. "Since when?"
 
"Dunno," Tim said, still shaken by the idea. "There was some talk about
certain of the raptor species being capable of flight, but they've never
proven it... Shit. Well, that would explain why there aren't any birds in this
forest," he said, trying to regain his composure. "The raptors probably scared
them off."
 
"Damn, what a day," Steven said, as they all started back toward the pod. "A
hidden valley, a nice new home, and real flying dinosaurs. What's next?"
 
"Don't ask, and maybe we won't find out," Jane said. She was a little spooked
by the bambiraptors.
 
The rest of the trip to the pod was more subdued.
 



 


Monday, Week 2
 


The beginning of the day was spent in weapons-making and other basic tasks
that had been somewhat overlooked while the search for water had gone on. By
mid-afternoon, however, it was time that they discussed the situation.
 
"You just want to up and move us, just like that," Laura demanded.
 
"You're welcome to stay here and die of dehydration," Tim shot back, tired of
her constant contrariness. "And no, it's not going to be 'just like that'.
It's going to take several days to move us over. Maybe a couple of weeks.." 

"I do have a question, though. Why can't we continue sleeping in the pod? I
mean, the rope gives us the ability to get up that cliff in fifteen minutes,"
Kevin asked.
 
"Fifteen minutes up, fifteen or more minutes down, a walk to the spring, and
then repeating the process carrying twenty kilos. How wasted are you today,
Steven?"
 
"Pretty tired, but I'm workable."
 
"And that was without having to pack a third of your body weight yesterday.
It's just not feasible. Even if we rigged a way to lift the water up and down
the cliff, it's just a lot of wasted work. Honestly, what is this pod giving
us, other than shelter, at this point? The caves are deep enough to keep us
out of the weather, which is precisely what this thing is doing. Plus, it
looks like that narrow valley has more food in it than being out here in the
open. I just generally think it's a better option for us to move."
 
There was general agreement, though a couple people grumbled about it. Kevin
asked, "So what's the plan?"
 
"We need to figure a way to lift stuff up the cliffs, so that we don't have to
carry it. Both the first cliff, *and* up to the caves. Then we start moving
stuff from here to there. Also, we're going to have to build bed frames. We
can take the mattresses from here, but we need something to set them on."
 
"We've got a shitload of work ahead," Kevin said. Tim nodded. "Here is my
suggestion: we continue sleeping here for now. We spend all of our daytime in
the valley, building what we need to live in that place. When we have
everything built over there, we begin moving stuff over, so that we can start
living there."
 
"Agreed," Tim said at once.
 
"Shouldn't someone stay there at night, to protect our stuff? I mean, maybe
the animals won't bother it when we're there, but..." Jane said.
 
"If anything big can reach it, we've picked a bad place, anyway," Tim replied.
"If you want to spend the night there, and can convince two other people to
join you, by all means, go right ahead. I'm not sleeping there until there's a
nice soft bed under me."
 
Jane nodded her understanding of his point. She wasn't sure she wanted to put
her faith in the animals not bothering their stuff, but until she had a good
idea, she'd have to just hope it worked out.
 
"Okay, so what should we be trying to build first?" Steven asked.
 
"Tools. We need hatchets and axes. I think a saw is probably beyond our
ability for now, don't you?"
 
"Yeah, probably."
 
"So we'll build with hatchets, axes, and vines. Primitive, but functional."
 
"So what will we actually need to build, furniture-wise, first?" Kevin
persisted.
 
"The beds, most likely. Then cooking prep stuff. Then chairs. Then... some
kind of... like, wagon or something. To haul the stuff from here to the cliff.
After that, it's going to be slow going."
 
"Wheels are going to be tricky without nails or screws or whatever to hold
them on."
 
"Maybe we can make a drill of some kind, and then make a pin to hold the wheel
on," Kevin said. "We've got all that metal. If you sharpen it on a rock, it
might make a good drill bit."
 
"Maybe," Steven said. "Anyway, that's for later. I guess tomorrow I'll sit
down here and make some stone tools. Anyone want to help?"
 
"I'll help," Aly said. Jane agreed.
 
"What should we do?" Lynn asked Tim.
 
"Kevin and I are going to explore the valley. You want to come?"
 
"Sure."
 
"Sloan? How's your ankle?"
 
"It's getting better, but I think I'd best stay here and help Steven for now."
 
"Okay. Laura? What do you plan on doing tomorrow?"
 
"What, you're not going to dictate to me?"
 
Tim sighed, and stared at her.
 
"Fine. I'll go exploring with your team."
 
"Good, so that works out. Anything else we need to discuss?"
 
"Just dinner," Steven said with a grin.
 
"It'll be done in a half-hour," Sloan said, smiling back at him.
 



 

 




