Cretaceous Sea by Will Hubbell

Author:Will Hubbell [Hubbell, Will]
Format: epub
Tags: Science fiction, General, Fiction, Fiction - Science Fiction, Science Fiction - General, Adventure, Science Fiction - Adventure, Time travel
ISBN: 9780441009893
Publisher: Ace Books
Published: 2002-10-29T00:00:00+00:00

"Joe, she's souped" Rick whispered back. "She's al-ready thinner. She looks like she hasn't eaten for a week."

Joe glanced at Con and shook his head. "She does."

"Joe, I'm not fooling myself. I know our chances aren't good, but I can't think of anything better."

"I just want to take care of her. There are worse deaths than starving."

"Dying without hope is one of them," replied Rick.

Joe looked at Con sadly. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

The subject of Rick and Joe's conversation was vora-ciously devouring her second strip of raw meat when they came to eat.

"Better than nightstalker?" asked Joe.

Con, her mouth full, nodded vigorously.

After their meal, they headed out again. As they walked, Rick pondered the behavior of the nightstalkers. He did not think the attack in the river was characteristic. They didn't seem evolved to hunt large prey. Under nor-mal circumstances, I suspect they don't, he thought. They appear to be adapting their behavior to the new environ-ment. As a scientist, he found that hypothesis interesting, worthy of further study. As a guide, he found it disturb-ing. They would have to be more wary in the future. Several miles farther down the river, they spied a pale line in the hills close to the riverbank. As they ap-proached the hills, they could see that line was a stretch of low limestone cliffs. The cliffs were about a hundred yards from the swollen river, and they were cut by a se-ries of gullies and small canyons. A stream flowed from one of the latter, and they followed it into the cliff.

Within the narrow canyon, they found both trees and shelter. The small trees formed a tangled grove of coni-fers and small hardwoods that crowded the stream and extended to the canyon walls. They all appeared dead, but they were unburnt. Rick discovered shelter farther into the canyon. It consisted of a five-foot ledge. It was halfway up the cliff wall and protected by an overhang. With some difficulty, Rick was able to scale the twelve-foot wall leading to it. Standing on the ledge, Rick sur-veyed his surroundings. Before the impact, he would have considered the canyon a dismal place. Its walls screened out much of the feeble light from the dark sky. The dank vegetation that choked its floor was as brown and lifeless as the trees. Yet compared with the burnt and barren valley, the canyon was a place of bounty. The stream that flowed through it ran clear, and there was ample wood. He called down to the others watching be-low. "This is perfect! It's dry and protected enough for a fire."

"A fire?" said Joe. "How will you manage that?"

"Your guide has a trick up his sleeve."

"The real trick," said Joe, "will be climbing up to that ledge in the dark."

"We'll enlarge the holds," said Rick. "The limestone's pretty soft."

"Before you do that," said Joe, "let's go back for that meat."

"Yeah," said Con. "We'll feast tonight in our new home." For the first time since they had abandoned the plane, they did not have to carry all their possessions.

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