Taming a Planet (Trapped in Time Book 2) (4 page)

This would be a good place for a community. The pond was about two hundred yards across and, though plants had tried to grow around it, the land was trampled flat by the dinosaurs that came to drink. Andy shook his head; a smart predator could just set up shop here and have all it wanted to eat. Andy looked up into the midday sun and decided that the heat would be too much for an animal that large. Even Dinah was feeling it. He saw a lone tree standing out in the open a half a mile ahead of them and decided that would be a good place to rest. He said go and Dinah didn’t need to be told; she started straight for the tree.

• • •

Dinah moved up a rise and, as they topped it, Andy saw something under the tree. He tapped Dinah with both heels and she came to a stop. There was something white against the tree. He looked to the right of the tree and saw one of the giant carnivores was lying dead about four hundred yards away. The pterodactyls had made short work of it. The head was about all that remained. He dismounted and held up both fists in front of him and then moved them behind his back. Dinah immediately went to her belly and lowered her head into the grass. Andy began moving forward through the knee-high grass and dropped to his knees when he was a hundred and fifty yards away from the tree. He still couldn’t make out what the white item was. It was definitely not a dinosaur. It was far too small and flat. He began crawling a hundred yards out and moved to within twenty yards and saw that the white object was made of material and had been set up to be a small tent. He stood up, notched an arrow, and walked forward. He arrived at the end of the tent next to the tree and reached down and pulled it away. A young woman tried to raise some kind of weapon but was too weak to lift it. She stared at Andy with hopelessness in her eyes and then fell back on the ground. Andy was shocked. He whipped around looking for others but saw nothing. He knelt and lifted the woman’s shoulders as he removed the small water pouch from his belt. He put the small snout in her mouth and squeezed some water between her lips. Her hands jerked up to grab the pouch and Andy pulled it away, “Not so fast. Take it slow.” Andy stared at the woman and didn’t remember ever seeing a woman with hair so blonde that it looked white. It was tied back but he could see it would hang to her waist if she let it down. His brief look at her eyes revealed them to be somewhere between blue and green…maybe turquoise in color. She had the cheeks of Carrie’s people from the far future. That wasn’t good. If those she came from had members from the far future, they could also have the death guns.

The woman’s eyes opened and she looked at him in puzzlement. He squeezed some more water in her mouth and laid her back down. She stared at Andy as he gave her some more water. He eventually allowed her to hold the pouch and she drank it empty. She suddenly looked around furiously from side to side and Andy reached behind him and lifted her weapon. She stopped moving and stared into his eyes. She said in English, “Who are you?”

Andy was shocked. Everyone in the community was taught the three major languages; Latin, English, and Atlantan. But they all spoke Latin daily. Andy knew she was not from his community. “My name is Andy.”

The woman pushed herself up against the trunk and her eyes went wide. Andy looked behind him and saw Dinah staring at them. He extended his hand and moved it toward his mouth. Dinah turned and moved away as she grazed on the grass. The woman was too shocked to speak. Andy stood up and went to his saddle and took out some provisions. He took the woman’s weapon with him and put it next to Dinah. He opened the pouch and handed the woman some greens and meat. She devoured them. He watched her eat and saw she was dehydrated and malnourished. Andy looked at Dinah and said, “Look around.”

Dinah turned and looked at Andy who raised both hands over his head. She went to her full height and began sniffing the air. The woman saw the saddle on Dinah and she stopped eating. Her mouth fell open and she looked at Andy. He smiled and said in English, “Her name is Dinah.”

“You actually ride that thing?”

“I do.”

“Then you aren’t with the Destroyers?”

Andy stared at her for a moment and then said, “Who are the Destroyers?”

“They have been attacking settlements along the southern sea. They come from the land to the east of here.”

“I have not heard of them. How far is your settlement from here?”

The woman paused and said, “It’s no longer there. The Destroyers burned it and took all of my people into slavery.”

“How far?”

The woman stared at Andy and sighed, “My brother and I have been running from them for three months. We decided that the only way to escape was to head north and keep running.”

Andy looked around, “Where is your brother?”

The woman shook her head and pointed toward the dead predator, “He was eaten by that thing. I managed to kill it but not before it surprised us and took Singer.”

Andy looked at the giant and said, “You killed it?”

“My brother and I managed to surprise one of the Destroyers at night and kill him with a knife. We took his rifle and bullets and fled. We knew the Destroyers would not quit until they found the killers. Their weapon is what killed it.”

Andy stared at her and said, “You’re being pretty open with me.”

“You’re not a Destroyer. If you’re not one of them, then you are probably not going to kill me or you already would have. You certainly wouldn’t have shared your water and food if you intended to do me harm.” She paused and said, “You would have probably had some fun with me before you killed me if you were one of them.”

“It looks like you were about done when I found you.”

“We ran out of water and food a week ago. There’s no way we could have gone to the river; the predators would have taken us before we could escape. I pretty much decided to die under this tree close to my brother.”

Andy shook his head, “About a half a mile over this rise is a large pond in the middle of the plain. If you had kept going, you would have found it.”

She stared at Andy for a moment and said, “Really?” Andy nodded. “I guess when I lost Singer and his rifle, I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it alone.”

“Your brother also had one of those weapons?”

“Yes, we killed a second and third Destroyer to collect their bullets and an extra rifle.”

Andy looked at the huge carcass, “I have to see if the…rifle is still there.” Andy looked at the dead predator with huge insects still swarming around it and took a deep breath.

“Why do you need it?”

Andy looked at her, “My community may have to face them in the future and we need to see what we’re up against.”

Andy stood up and the woman said, “My name is Harmony. I’ll show you where he was taken.”

“You don’t have to do that. You can just point me in the right direction.”

“No, I’m going to need you to survive. I might as well get used to the idea that I will have to be an asset for you to help me. Follow me.”

She started to stand up and Andy put his hand on her shoulder, “Not until you finish eating.” She looked at Andy and nodded. Andy stared at her and said, “There were more than just you and your brother.”

She looked at Andy and after a moment said, “My lover was also with us. He was killed by the first group of Raptors that attacked us. He wasn’t a very good shot with the rifle.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be; he died instantly. It was a better death than those committed by the Destroyers.” She paused and sighed, “Actually, there were thirty of us that left our village and moved north. Once Singer and I had a rifle, we ambushed one of the Destroyers’ hunting parties and caught them out in the open. We’ve been slowly killed by the carnivores as we moved north. Finally, it was just Singer and me.” Andy stared at her and she said, “What?”

“I’m going to have to go back the way you came and take a look at these Destroyers.”

“For God’s sake why!?!”

“I have to have an understanding of how they operate. The survival of my community will depend on what information I can gather.”

“The information won’t do them any good if you’re dead.”

Andy shook his head, “I have to do it. If something happens to me, I’ll send Dinah back with the information.”

Harmony looked at the large Runner and shook her head, “Just how will she take it back?”

“I’ll tell her to do it and she’ll follow my instructions. I’ll document everything I see and leave it in one of my pouches.”

Harmony looked at Andy and started shaking her head, “I don’t know much about the creatures here but this much I do know; they’re as dumb as a rock. Just how will she know where to go?”

Andy smiled, “They are not very smart…but they are trainable. They also have a sense of direction that is incredible and know where their home is no matter where they go. I am going to go and take a look at these Destroyers.” Harmony looked at Andy in silence. “I will take you with me and if I can collect enough information, I’ll take you back with me to my home.” Andy paused, “Or you can go from here.”

“That’s suicide.”

“Probably.”

“You’re not giving me much of a choice.”

“Your choices ended when you crawled up under this tree. Any time from this moment forward is a blessing.”

Harmony put the final piece of meat in her mouth and shook her head. She stood up and said, “Let’s go see if we can find the other rifle.” Andy nodded and followed her toward the dead predator. It took about ten minutes but he saw an indentation in the grass and found the rifle. Harmony had walked over to the predator and found an ammunition belt among the bones. The shells were discolored and the belt tattered by the acids in the predator’s stomach but they were still intact. She walked away from the site with tears in her eyes.

Andy left her in peace as he stored the two rifles on the harness on Dinah’s back. He motioned Dinah to stay down and he motioned Harmony to join him. She walked over and he extended his hand to her. She took it and he pulled her up behind him. Dinah rose easily and Andy’s first worry about having too much weight disappeared. Dinah was magnificent. He said go and the Cursor trotted toward the south. Harmony held on to Andy and felt both fear and amazement at the dinosaur they were riding. She worried that she had run away only to return and die at the hands of the Destroyers. But he was right, choices were not something she possessed any longer.

N
ight was falling and Andy looked around the plain ahead. He saw a group of the three horned Dinosaurs ahead and he slowed Dinah to a walk. The huge herbivores were starting to settle down and were lying on the ground with one of them still standing guard. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to find a place where we can bed down for the night.”

“Tell me what you’re thinking; I need to learn how you do things.”

“I’m looking at the tops of the trees to each side of the plain. We are downwind from those horned horrors.”

“They’re called Triceratops.”

“What?”

“That’s what the original colonists called them.”

“They’ve been around that long?”

“They’re pretty much everywhere along the southern coast.”

“Southern coast?”

“The ocean beyond those cliffs ends in about a hundred miles and the land moves around its southern shore.”

“We’ve been told that the ocean separates the land with the cliffs from the lands to the east.”

“That’s not accurate. It’s from the lands to the East that the Destroyers come. Now what are you looking for?”

“I want to move upwind from those…what do you call them?”

“Triceratops.”

“Ok, anyway, I want to move up wind from them and settle down.”

“Tell me why?”

“Dinah has a keen sense of smell. She’ll know if anything is approaching us from the south.”

Harmony nodded, “And anything coming from the north would have to pass those Triceratops in order to get to us.”

“Now you have it.”

“What if the wind shifts from out of the north?”

“Dinah will smell the Triceratops and wake me. We’ll then move to the south of them.”

“Are you sure about this?”

“You can stay up and see. Personally, I have to get some rest.”

“Are you going to give me my rifle back?”

Andy stared at Harmony and sighed, “I’ll give it to you when we stop.” He paused, “I think you should know that Dinah will not follow anyone’s orders but mine.”

“You’re worried I might shoot you and try to escape with her?”

“The thought has crossed my mind but you’d be dead within a day without us. Dinah would probably be dead with you. I think I can use you more as an ally against the carnivores than dead weight I’m carrying around. I’m certain I can use your knowledge when I find the Destroyers.”

“I really wish you would forget about going there.”

Andy nudged Dinah with his left knee and she made a wide circle around the resting Triceratops. And brought her to a halt two hundred yards south of them and dismounted. Harmony started to jump off but Andy stopped her. “What?”

“This might not be far enough.” Andy raised his hand to his mouth and Dinah started grazing. The huge horned guards standing next to the other Triceratops started moving their way until Dinah lowered her head and started grazing. Its small brain recognized that she wasn’t a predator; they didn’t eat grass. It snorted and backed up to the group on the ground. Andy said, “I think we’ll be alright here.” Harmony slid down to the ground and Andy took one of the rifles off one of the clips and handed it to Harmony. He pulled one of the belts with the metal objects on it and handed it to her as well.

“Are you going to take it from me in the morning?”

“No, being unarmed out here is not something I’d do to anyone. I’m going to have to trust that you see your survival hangs on my wellbeing.”

“Your survival is precarious at best if you’re going to go anywhere near a Destroyer Hunting Team.”

“We’ll see. You and your brother survived one.”

“Only because the Destroyer Warrior had laid the rifle down to have his fun with one of our females.”

“I’ll try to take a look at them without getting too close.”