Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [47]
‘She is kind of weird,’ said Franklyn. ‘Like Spock … or something.’
‘So, Liam, since it looks like you’re the only one who understands what’s happened here,’ said Whitmore, ‘it seems we’re all going to have to rely on you to get us home. I presume you have some sort of a plan of action? You know … beyond merely exploring our immediate surroundings.’
A plan? The closest thing to doing any ‘planning’ so far had been figuring out how he’d use the rubbish machete in his hand if a dinosaur was to suddenly emerge from the undergrowth ahead.
‘The plan?’
‘Yes,’ said Whitmore, ‘I mean … I presume there’s a way out of this mess for us, isn’t there?’
Liam could see the other three were staring expectantly at him. ‘Well, uh … well, one thing’s for sure, gentlemen. We need to stay right where we are, on that island.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’s the exact same place that we were.’
Joseph Lam nodded. ‘The same geo-coordinates as the lab, right?’
‘That’s right. We haven’t moved an inch in position … just in time. If we happened to up sticks and move camp somewhere else, it would make it even harder for someone to find us. So we’re best staying put right where we are.’
Whitmore dabbed at his damp face with the cuff of his shirt. ‘This agency you work for … are they like a government agency? Like the CIA? Like the FBI? Something like that?’
Liam hadn’t heard of either of those. So he decided to do what he did best: bluff. ‘Sure, they’re just like them fellas, Mr Whitmore, but you know … uhh … much bigger and better, and, of course, from the future.’
‘And they’re going to come for us, right? They’re going to get us all out of here, aren’t they?’
Liam offered him a stern, confident nod. ‘Sure they are. We’ve just got to hold on here. It’ll take them a little time to find us … but they will. I assure you, they will.’
They looked at each other uncertainly, until the scraggly beard beneath Whitmore’s stubby round nose stretched with a smile. ‘Well, all right, then. I’m sure between us we’ve got enough know-how to make do for a few days.’
His smile spread to the others.
‘I’d like to see at least one dinosaur first, though,’ said Franklyn. ‘Be real lame not to.’
‘Yeah,’ said Jonah, pulling out a mobile phone from his pocket. ‘That would be, like, awesome. You know? I could stick it up on YouTube. Whoa! No!’ He pushed his frizzy mop of hair aside. ‘Better than that, dude … do it as a pay-per-download. I could make, like, millions out of this …’
Whitmore shook his head. ‘What is it with you kids these days?’
‘Opportunity,’ replied Jonah. ‘That’s what it is, my man … a golden freakin’ money-makin’ opportunity.’
Whitmore sighed.
CHAPTER 27
65 million years BC, jungle
Becks stood to one side dispassionately observing the work of the others as they hacked at the slim, straight trunks of the smaller trees they’d already felled, stripping branches from their sides to produce usable lightweight logs for construction.
She had them divided into two groups. One doing this job, the other group lashing the logs together with lengths of twisted vine to form wigwam-shaped frames. On top of these they could layer the big waxy leaves that drooped from the canopy trees. A few layers of those would give them a covering that would almost be waterproof.
That had been Liam’s instruction. Make shelters. But her cool grey eyes panned uneasily across the clearing, observing the area of jungle that had been hacked away, the disturbed jungle floor where the smaller trees had been uprooted. Her eyes picked out the slashes of machete blows on other bigger trees that had proven too difficult to fell or uproot and the compressed tracks of footprints on the ground – the distinct oval of signatures of a human presence.
> [Evaluation: time contamination is increasing]
Every movement these people made, every footstep, every swipe of a blunt blade, was adding to a growing count of potential contamination. Yet Liam O’Connor’s instruction to her was a mission priority, an override. As the mission operative, his orders were as final and non-negotiable