CHAPTER 68
65 mil ion years BC, jungle
The three girls had revived the smouldering re; the dried brit le moss that seemed to carpet every boulder and rock made perfect kindling and already a thick column of smoke was drifting up into the evening sky.
Liam felt a lit le happier now. Fire had seemed to keep those creatures at bay during the last few nights that they’d been out on their errand. They seemed to have a healthy respect for it – actual y, to be more precise, a morbid fear of it.
He looked up across the twilit clearing. It had got dark very quickly. He wondered how the others were doing with Keisha. Surely they must have found her by now? If those pack hunters real y had fel ed that tree and made their way across, then he was surprised they’d al owed her to live.
He was considering that point when he heard two sounds at the same time: one a far-o scream, shril and terrifying that rat led around the clearing like a gunshot, and the other the sound of approaching trainers slapping the hard ground. He exchanged a hurried glance with the girls, and with Becks as she stopped ddling with their damaged windmil and snapped erect like a spooked damaged windmil and snapped erect like a spooked meerkat.
‘Help!’ He heard Edward’s voice through the gathering gloom, and then a moment later picked out of that gloom the dancing outline of his pale T-shirt.
‘Edward! What’s up?’
The boy joined him, gasping and looking anxiously back over his shoulder. ‘They’re h-here! THEY’RE HERE!’
Liam fol owed his gaze and saw nothing across the clearing, just the dark outline of the apron of jungle.
‘Where are the others?’
The boy ignored his question, his eyes wide with terror.
‘Th-they’re h-here, they’re h-here!’
Liam grasped his arm rmly. ‘EDWARD! What about the others?’
The boy looked at him. ‘Dead,’ he replied. ‘Al dead.’
‘Oh God, look!’ gasped Laura.
She was pointing across the clearing. Where a mere second ago he’d seen only jungle, now he saw a line of the creatures approaching them cautiously, spreading out like beaters for a hunting party. He quickly estimated thirty, maybe forty, of them; al sizes.
The whole pack … Jay-zus!
In the middle of the line, he thought he recognized one of them in particular. The one he’d seen in the jungle, barking orders to the others, their leader.
‘Liam,’ said Becks, stepping back from the windmil to join him and the others near the smoking re, now beginning to take hold and crackle and spark. ‘Do you see beginning to take hold and crackle and spark. ‘Do you see the middle one?’
He knew what she was referring to. The one in the middle, the pack leader, was holding one of their spears in its claws. He nodded.
‘Like my adaptive AI,’ she continued, ‘the species has observed our behaviour and learned from it.’
He swal owed nervously. ‘Back to the palisade … we need to go now!’
‘Negative, I must stay.’
‘What?’ He looked at her.
‘This location has been probed in the last twenty-four hours.’ She nodded towards their broken windmil . ‘There are decaying particles in the vicinity of the interference device. They may scan again at any moment.’
She was right, of course. Ut erly barking mad, but quite right.
‘Al right, al right,’ he ut ered, watching the approaching hominids closing the gap slowly. ‘You four,’
he said to the others, ‘get inside the wal and wait there!’
‘What are you going to do?’ asked Edward.
He real y had no idea just then … some notion of holding out beside the camp re, back to back with Becks until … until … what?
Until they’ve nal y worn her down, and jump her. Then turn on me.
But, there was a slight chance, wasn’t there? A slight chance Maddy and Sal were going to sweep this place again at any moment. And, if they did, this might be their again at any moment. And, if they did, this might be their last chance to ag the signal, to tel them they were right here. The alternative, hiding inside their imsy palisade until these creatures nal y managed to gnaw their way through the twine, pul aside a couple of the logs from the wal and get in … He shuddered.
‘There’s a return window coming,’ he said. ‘It’s coming soon! Becks and me need to be out here waiting for it. You four wil be safer inside. I’l cal for you when it opens. Now just go!’
‘I want to stay,’ said Edward, picking up one of their hatchets from a pile of cut wood beside the re. The other three nodded. ‘We’l f-ght them t-together,’ whispered Laura, her teeth chat ering noisily.
Jasmine looked across at the palisade, twenty yards away beyond the ickering pool of light from the re.
‘They’l nd a way in anyway.’
Liam looked at the creatures, now almost entirely encircling them, maintaining their cautious distance. ‘Al right. Perhaps you’re right,’ he ut ered. ‘Becks, how’re we gonna do this?’
‘Recommendation: I need to be in the vicinity of the interference device in order to detect any precursor particles arriving.’
Liam nodded. ‘Yes … yes. R-right. We should hold the ground over there.’ He reached down towards the re and pul ed out a branch. The end of it ickered with ames.
‘Everyone grab a torch. They don’t like re!’
The others fol owed suit. Then moved together in a The others fol owed suit. Then moved together in a tight huddle, away from the reassuring glow of the camp re towards their contraption, a dozen yards beyond the growing pal of amber relight.
The creatures fol owed them, silently padding across the soft ground, watching them, and ever so subtly closing the distance around them.
‘YOU BACK OFF!’ screamed Laura at them, waving her aming stick.
The creatures hissed, warbled and mewed at that, one of the smal er ones at empting a copy of her shaking voice.
‘… Yoo …. bak … o f …’
Becks turned to Liam. ‘This location has just been scanned again. There are several hundred new particles.’
Liam felt a surge of hope. ‘Oh, c’mon! Why don’t they just get on with it and open a bleedin’ window?’
Becks cocked her head. She had no answer.
Al of a sudden, the creature holding the spear barked in a croaky voice and, as one, the creatures surged forward towards them.
‘Oh my God! Oh my God! screamed Laura.
‘Recommendation: use your spears to –’