Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova or any of its characters, this is solely a non-profit fan activity.


CHAPTER 9

Obstacles

EMPTYING another bottle of water Malcolm just hoped it would suffice to keep him from dehydrating. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief feeling it didn't make much difference and wafted his shirt in an attempt to feel cooler. He detested the way his clothes stuck to his body. Why did sweat have to have such adhesive qualities anyway? Malcolm adjusted his position though the tree trunk he sat against still managed to hurt his back in several places at once.

Just when he closed his eyes for a moment to block out the dazzling sunrays a high buzzing sound invaded his ears. He swatted the mosquito he could have sworn had followed him around from the get go against his neck with cruel satisfaction. But not before he had felt the tell-tale pricking sensation that would dome him, once again, to endless hours of unbearable itching. Giving up on his powernap Malcolm got up and stretched his legs which already felt stiff an heavy even though they hadn't left the colony but five hours ago.

See? A tiny voice inside him began for the umpteenth time. This is why he usually made sure other people went on road trips so he could stay in his air-conditioned lab with every possible convenience within his reach. All this cross-country driving made him feel like his intestines were shifting position with all that bumping and shaking. And he definitely wasn't looking forward to the whole camping thing either. He knew but all too well what kind of creatures roamed the jungle. Especially at night. Maybe coming along had been a mistake..

Well, technically it had been an order from the Commander of course. But he wondered whether he should have tried harder to convince him of his inability to deal with all this surviving in the wild. Perhaps he should talk to Commander Taylor and beg for a ride home. After all, they had only just started on their way.

His hopes of returning to his cool and mosquito free lab were soon dashed, however. Break time was over and everyone got into their vehicles again. When he tried to speak to the Commander, the man had simply shook his head the moment Malcolm had opened his mouth as if he had expected him to ask to be send back but wasn't going to hear of it, and had walked straight passed him without another word. Rather deflated after this, Malcolm returned to his warm and cramped rover and went back to wiping his forehead.

The first night he barely slept. Strange noises from the jungle around him kept him wide awake. That and the mosquitoes. He began to seriously suspect them they preyed on people that hated them the most on purpose. Just sucking your blood wasn't enough apparently.

The next day was pretty much the same as the one before had been. Long hours of driving, or being tossed about in his seat in the back in his case together with the luggage and crates stowed there so he could add several bruises to his 'why I should've stayed at home' list. Besides running into a herd of Ankylosaurus which were lazily grazing for ferns, nothing much happened.

The second night he was simply so exhausted that even the strange squeaks and shrill cries of the wildlife nor the buzzing and pricking of vindictive mosquitoes could prevent him from falling asleep. As a result he did feel slightly better in the morning. After his usual cup of coffee, a fair amount of which he'd insisted on taking along, he felt he could deal better with another day of driving.

After two more days Malcolm, though by no means feeling more comfortable being out and about in the wild, had gotten more used to the traveling. That night, checking his portable and pocket sized plexpad to go over the data on the figurehead once more, he even started to feel excited again about the prospect of finding the answers to the riddles it held. A sudden piercing buzz close to his ears almost made him lose his rediscovered zeal. But when he expertly swatted the teasing mosquito on his knee without looking up from his plexpad, he realized he wouldn't let some silly insect deprive him of the chance to become the world's most famous scientist. He switched off his plexpad and threw his jacket over his shoulders. Leaning back on his bag that doubled as a pillow, a proud grin spread across his face as he imagined the eternal fame and universal recognition bound to come his way.


The perfectly round moon above shone bright and cast everything and everyone around him in a pale and otherworldly light when Nathaniel started his usual round to check in with all the sentries before getting some shuteye himself. Up until now everything had gone pretty smooth. Apart from some flat tires, a wonky engine and that herd of harmless whatchamacallit-saurus, nothing much had happened to disrupt their slow but steady progress towards the Badlands.

Tonight didn't seem any different. When he had spoken to everyone on patrol or guard duty he headed for his own bunk. Well, it wasn't more than your usual army type bed; sand or rocks for a mattress, soft grass if you were lucky, a tac vest for a pillow and the night's air for a blanket. Still, he always enjoyed sleeping out in the open. It made him feel more one with nature, the forces it contained and the myriad of live it held. Apart from this, it also reminded him of those118 days he'd spent in the jungle on his own and made him feel grateful for having survived to found the colony which had grown so much since then.

Nathaniel made his way back, navigating through small campfires people gathered around to sleep. He could see Dr. Wallace still working on his plexpad, eyes fixed on the screen and his lips curled in a broad and slightly disturbing smile. Thankful he hadn't noticed him Nathaniel hastily walked on. He was glad Dr. Wallace had been silenced pretty easily. He had known beforehand the man didn't always take well to orders, and sure enough he had tried to wiggle himself out of coming along on the very first day. No surprises there. Fortunately, the Doctor seemed to have accepted his fate fairly quickly. Nathaniel supposed Sergeant Hallows also had had a fair share in this. The both of them had spent considerable time together these past few days to endlessly discuss inter-dimensional interference or some such ethereal matter and were usually talking so fast it was a miracle they could still understand what they were saying to one another.

Trying to ignore the unreasonable annoyance he felt when he pictured them getting along this well, Nathaniel laid himself down, his head resting on his surprisingly soft tac vest. He was well on his way to falling asleep when he noticed how quiet it was. The same realization had struck him earlier that day, but he had been unable to put his finger on it at the time. After a while the lack of rustling leaves, the patter of small reptiles chasing insects and the occasional growl of a dinosaur far away made him open his eyes again. He got up, did the same round again but came up empty-handed half an hour later. No-one had seen anything suspicious or unusual. Trusting his soldiers that they would notice if anything was wrong and would act accordingly, he forced himself to lie down again and close his eyes so a light slumber could at least pretend to be a good night's sleep to his brain.

Next day when they had stopped for their usual midday break, however, the silence was starting to grow heavy on him. There was something oppressing and unnerving about it. Looking around he could see others wearing the same disquieted expression on their faces. There was a tenseness even in the way some kept looking back over their shoulders or seemed to momentarily forget about the power bars or energy drinks in their hands. Deciding to act on his gut instinct telling him that something was off he called Sergeant Reilly to him. Leaving her in charge he took two men of his squad with him and together they set out to search for the source of his unrest.

They had been gone not twenty minutes when he heard a loud crunching sound as something was crushed underneath his boot. He looked down and understanding instantly dawned on him when he recognized the shattered eggshell. Signaling the others to proceed with caution he raised his blaster with one hand and pushed away the enormous green leaves in front of him with the other. The sight that met his eyes affirmed his suspicions. In a den the size of a small meteor crater there were dozens of brown speckled dinosaur eggs clustered in small groups and half buried in the sand; Slashers..

The three of them retreated to the rovers as fast and soundlessly as they could. Nathaniel ordered everyone to get ready to move on as quickly as possible, hoping against hope they wouldn't be heard. Not wanting panic to spread amongst the group he only told the two squad leaders, Sergeant Reilly and Sergeant Hallows what they had discovered. After this was done there was no need to stick around any longer. It was high time they left. He prayed they weren't too late already. Stepping in his rover that was bringing up the rear this time he carefully scanned the jungle around them but nothing moved or made a sound. It was still eerily quiet. Too quiet. And with it now came a feeling that they were not alone. They were being watched.

He spotted the first Slasher an hour's drive from their nesting grounds. It had been a short glimpse, but the malicious glint of its deep orange eyes spying on them from between leaves and the tip of its lethal tail blade disappearing behind the trees was enough to get him worried. And it wouldn't be alone seeing they hunted in packs. They obviously weren't going to give up stalking them. The others were keeping just enough distance though to successfully hide their true number. Nevertheless, when fifteen minutes later he had already counted over a dozen of them appearing and just as fast disappearing again in the dense growth of the jungle he had to admit to himself that they were dealing with an unusually large pack. Especially considering how well they seemed to know this terrain even though it was already miles away from the den where their eggs awaited hatching. The bigger the territory, the bigger the pack, he thought sourly.

Nathaniel was about to radio the other two rovers in front of him when it crackled as it lay in his hand.

"Commander Taylor?" It was Sergeant Hallows who had beat him to it.

"What's wrong Sergeant?" A worrying sensation settled in his chest; she had sounded troubled.

"There seems to be a vehicle up ahead. It's blocking the path, sir."

"Any activity?" He inquired.

"Negative, sir. Scans didn't pick up any life signs. Seems abandoned."

Dread spread through him at this when he thought he could provide the missing puzzle to this mystery. "Proceed with caution and stop at a safe distance. I'll come to have a closer look. Under no circumstances leave the rover. There are some very hungry Slashers around."

"Understood." She responded shortly, then, after a strained silence in which he could picture her hesitating whether or not to say what she was about to say anyway, added, "Permission to join you, sir?"

Nathaniel sighed, pondering a moment what to say to her now he seemed suddenly torn in two. Part of him appreciated her eagerness and the offer resulting from it, and in truth he could actually use her uncommon knack for noticing minute details. There was no doubt she was a good shot, either. But the other part wanted to bluntly refuse just to have her stay inside the rover and the relative safety it provided.

"Sir?-"

"-Granted, Sergeant. Wait for me to join you." He finally decided and closed the channel before he would take his words back now something in him seemed to protest strongly. He would be right there to protect her, he reassured himself. Moreover, he shouldn't have allowed himself to be distracted. Being the leader meant he needed to be ready to make difficult decisions. There was absolutely no reason why he had grown incapable of doing exactly this all of a sudden.

He rapped on the door of the rover not long after without lowering his blaster. It opened instantly and Hallows came out with her weapon and handheld scanner at the ready.

"You can put the scanner away. Blaster is all you need for now." He instructed her calmly. When she had attached the scanner to her belt instead they carefully headed for the vehicle some ten meters further.

Nathaniel soon identified it as one of the rovers the Sixers had manage to steal from them over the years. All across it there were strange markings in paint; their usual tribal symbols. He doubted whether the red splatter that had mixed with them was paint too, though. There was definitely no mistaking the deep scratches on the doors. Even the roof had been partly ripped off like the lid of a can.

Gesturing Hallows to keep an eye out he slowly moved in for a closer look. The interior was, if possible, even worse off than the outside of the rover had been. And he barely recognized what had been its passengers; maimed and scavenged as they were by first the Acceraptors and every other possible predator after. He turned away from the gruesome sight when Hallows called him back.

"Sir." She pointed to the rover's tires which exhibited violent scars and deep cuts. There was no doubt in his mind they were caused by razor sharp tail blades.

"Looks like they're learning more every time. This clearly indicates they went for the tires to disable the rover. They deliberately deprived their prey of an escape." She reasoned with the same unsettling respect for their hunters as he felt at times. As much as he didn't want to end up on their plates, he had to give it to them; these Slashers were smart.

"Let's head back." He nodded towards her, knowing deep down they didn't have a choice but to stand and fight now.


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