Dinosaur Summer by Greg Bear

Author:Greg Bear [Bear, Greg]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Adventure
ISBN: 9780759295841
Publisher: E-reads/E-rights
Published: 2008-12-15T20:44:41.766000+00:00

Peter looked over his shoulder at his father. The unspoken question passed between them, and the answer returned the same way. Anthony met his son's gaze and said not a word.

Peter did not know whether to feel terrified or privileged.

They flanked the centrosaur. Shellabarger poked him gently in the withers. Sammy seemed to finally make his own decision; he began to move. Together, Peter behind and Shellabarger in front, they accompanied Sammy across the old steel span.

The dinosaur snuffled at the air with each step, then quickened his pace until Peter had to trot behind him. Shellabarger stepped to one side and flattened himself against the rail, letting the dinosaur pass. The bridge banged against the concrete abutment again as Sammy's weight reached the opposite side, shivering wisps of dirt and rust from the beams.

Sammy broke into a gallop and leaped onto the broken roadway beyond. His feet thundered on the weed-grown surface for two dozen yards and then he stopped abruptly, shield swinging forward with its own momentum, his haunches and withers tensing beneath the thick, scaly skin. Peter joined Shellabarger at the end of the bridge.

Across the abyss, on Pico Poco, OBie sat behind the dollymounted camera, filming steadily. Ray stood beside him.

"It's all yours," Shellabarger said, shooing the animal with his hands. "Go on! Git! Before we send Dagger across."

Sammy swiveled his long beaked snout and peered at them with his left eye. A rope of saliva swung from his mouth and his sides heaved with thick, deep breaths.

"He drools when he's excited," Shellabarger said to Peter, as if confiding the dark secret of a family member. "Git!"

Sammy spun about with a swiftness that startled Peter. For a second, Peter thought the centrosaur was going to double back and charge them. He lowered his head like a bull and made throaty clucking sounds, then stared over the broken macadam at Shellabarger and Peter. He lifted and twisted his head, stretching his neck skin into taut wrinkles, and his eyes showed their yellow sclera.

"He's going to do it," Shellabarger said in a whisper, as if for Peter's benefit alone. "He doesn't remember--it's been too long for his little walnut brain--but heknows the place." The trainer's face contorted. Peter could not tell whether Shellabarger was going to laugh or cry. Peter watched the centrosaur, his own chest and throat tight. "Go on," he encouraged Sammy. He waved his hands as Shellabarger had done.

Sammy turned more slowly this time, and with great dignity stumped across the field of green grass. With a shiver of his rump, he squeezed between two high rounded lumps of sandstone, and vanished.

The wind blew across the empty plateau. Peter looked down at his feet. He was standing on the Lost World. Beyond the rocks, just miles or maybe only yards away, were hundreds, even thousands of dinosaurs and other animals, some much bigger than Sammy.

Shellabarger put his hand on Peter's shoulder. "We're not done," he said.

Peter could not immediately break the spell.

"Come on," the trainer said.

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