Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [125]
‘So, before that?’ Maddy asked impatiently.
The others joined her at the desk.
> A total of 227 transient density warnings.
Cartwright squatted down beside her and studied the dialogue box. ‘That means what? So now you’re down to two hundred and twenty-seven possible locations for your friend?’
Maddy nodded. ‘Can we filter that any further?’
> Affirmative. 219 were single-incursion events. Of the remaining eight density signatures that demonstrated a repeated incursion, only one demonstrated a regularly timed signature.
Sal bit her lip with excitement. ‘That’s it! Surely? That’s got to be it!’
> Affirmative, Sal. There is a high probability that this is the correct time-stamp.
‘YES!’ said Maddy, spinning round in her chair, her hand raised for a high-five. Sal obliged with a hearty slap and a shriek of excitement.
Cartwright smiled. ‘I presume that means you’ve found your friend?’
‘Yes … see?’ Maddy grinned proudly. ‘I told you we could do it!’
‘So then … what happens now?’
She spun back to face the monitors in front of her. ‘Bob? We’re good to begin charging up to open a portal?’
> Information: we have a 24-hour time period identified in which to open a window.
‘Hmm.’ Maddy pulled absently on her top lip. ‘Twenty-four hours. But when exactly do we open it?’
Cartwright looked vexed and impatient.
‘We have to be sure they’re there, right?’ said Sal on Maddy’s behalf. ‘You know? Before we commit to opening a portal. If we spend the stored charge and they’re not there, we’ve gone and wasted it.’
Maddy nodded. ‘We’ll only have enough stored energy to open one, maybe two windows. How do we make sure they’re actually right there and ready and waiting to come through, though?’
‘Hang on!’ cut in Cartwright. ‘You just said “they”. Are you telling me there’s more than just your friend stuck back there?’
Sal nodded. ‘Yes, Liam … and some others … children that were caught up in an accident.’
‘Good God,’ the old man whispered. ‘Accident? This was an accident? What the heck have you people been up to?’
‘It was a training incident,’ cut in Sal, ‘that’s all. It went wrong. These things happen from time to time.’
> Information: it will be possible to open a series of pinhole windows and obtain a small-resolution image of the target location.
‘Right.’ Maddy nodded. ‘Right … then we could see exactly when – during the day – there’s somebody standing around. Yes … yes, good idea, Bob. Let’s proceed with that.’
> Affirmative.
Cartwright sighed. ‘So what’s happening now?’ Clearly impatient to see the displacement machine actually finally running.
Maddy turned to look over her shoulder. ‘We’re taking some images of the portal location to make sure that when we open the window they’re ready and waiting to come through.’
‘Why don’t you just open your portal and see for yourself?’
‘Sal just explained that. We could be wasting a full power-up, and we can’t risk doing that.’ Maddy shrugged. ‘Anyway, wouldn’t you want to check first? This is the Cretaceous era, right? That means dinosaurs. I’d want to know the coast is clear of T-rexes first. Don’t you?’
The old man glanced at Forby and the man shook his head quickly. ‘Taking a few photos first sounds like a pretty good move to me, sir.’
Cartwright laughed nervously. ‘Uh, I guess you’re right. OK … we’ll do it your way. Just get a move on before those hunters down the beach find a railway arch in the middle of their jungle.’
CHAPTER 68
65 million years BC, jungle
The three girls had revived the smouldering fire; the dried brittle 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 little 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 – actually, to be more precise, a morbid fear of it.
He looked up across the twilit clearing. It had got dark very quickly.