Chapter 23

Malcolm clicked the case shut and shoved it into his backpack.

"All done. We'll see what the Lab results tell us. But if my suspicions prove correct - and they will - that is a Titanoboa. Though, thankfully for us, it's very dead."

The other three eyed the massive dark brown carcass sticking out of the muck with a mix of relief and suspicion. After first stumbling upon it, they had been inclined to turn and run in the opposite direction, but, as Jim had pointed out, a snake half buried under a fallen mountainside couldn't very well still be alive, could it? They had followed the long body and found its head further up, sticking firmly out of a large pile of gravelly dirt. The eyes were fixed and glazed over. Thankfully for them, it was indeed dead. Malcolm suspected that somewhere under the mass of hillside, it had broken its back. This fact, however, didn't prevent them from half expecting the long body to shiver and wake up at any moment. Mira gave it a heartfelt kick just to be on the safe side. It didn't move.

"You think the landslide killed it?"

"Looks that way." Malcolm agreed, standing up and stretching his own sore back. He threw a chastising look at Mira. "And I think it's been through enough without you having to disrespect its corpse as well."

Mira sniffed and rubbed her damp arms, looking around at the damaged vegetation. The area was barely recognisable. Malcolm followed her gaze.

"What a mess." He murmured, shaking his head. "But believe it or not, there is good news."

He turned to make sure Jim was listening. When he was satisfied, he continued.

"This side was fairly unstable already, it was all dirt. The majority of our side is supported by the rock walls that form the cliff. They're about as solid as it gets. I don't think we're in any immediate danger from another landslide."

"Good." Jim muttered distractedly. Malcolm's reassurances didn't appear to have eased his troubled mind much. Mark watched him for a moment with an increasingly deepening frown.

"Something wrong, sir?"

Jim glanced at him and then back at the massive head of the snake.

"Skye said the other one was white."

Malcolm nodded sagely, having already put the pieces together for himself.

"Yes, she did."

"So this is a different one."

"That would be correct."

Mira's voice rose several decibels and she stared at him accusingly, as if he had been producing the giant creatures himself.

"How many of these things are there?"

Malcolm turned to her with a dark expression.

"Too many."

He squinted back at the snake. This far up the mountain, a few bright rays of sunlight were peeking through the rain in places, causing the wet quartz in the exposed rock to glitter dazzlingly.

"They could both have been hatched from the same nest. Maybe they were the only survivors."

The other three members of the group suddenly began to feel distinctly uneasy. After a few beats, Jim voiced the horrifying question that was now on everyone's minds.

"Are you suggesting these are juveniles?!"

Malcolm looked appalled.

"Certainly not!" He squinted against the glare and stared around at the pathetically droopy foliage, his certainty in his hypothesis growing with every second. "This isn't the proper habitat for them anyway. My best guess is they came from a swamp to the south and when the land filled up like a giant bowl, their territory expanded. They would've just followed the current here."

Jim looked over his shoulder at the rocky cliffside, as if he could see right through the layers of stone and quartz and down into Terra Nova.

"And the colony .."

The animal specialist waved his worries away like a benevolent fairy.

"Oh, it's much more comfortable for them out here than near people. They'll stay away from the colony." I hope. Malcolm wished he felt as sure of himself as he managed to sound. But they had bigger problems right now. They didn't have time to worry about a threat that in all likelihood would never eventuate. Jim, at any rate, seemed reassured for the moment.

The sun was now reaching out toward the land below them, extending its rays as far away as possible. As certain areas were gradually illuminated and the glowing afternoon light reflected off the shimmering water, it painted quite a pretty picture. Then and there, to the observers on the mountainside, the imminent future began to seem a little less bleak. It was as though the golden light was injecting a measure of hope and courage back into the forlorn wasteland. For a while, no one spoke, and the only audible noise was the distant roar of the turbulent river below. Eventually, Mark glanced back at Jim, some instinct making him keep his voice lowered reverently.

"Maybe we're over the worst of it after all."

Malcolm and Mira exchanged a look, but said nothing. Jim patted the young soldier's back.

"That's what I like about you, Reynolds. Always the optimist."

It should've been a friendly enough comment, but both Mark and Malcolm frowned slightly at the tone of voice. As Jim began to lead the journey home, Malcolm caught up with him.

"What's your problem?"

Jim shook his head irritably.

"It's naive to think it's all over. Our battle's just beginning."

"Well you don't have to take it out on Reynolds."

"I'm not." Jim met Malcolm's gaze for a second before some vague twinge of guilt made him look away. The head researcher watched him severely.

"You really should take it easier on the boy. Can't you see how hard he's trying to please you?"

Jim tapped a wet branch and sent it quivering, showering tiny droplets all around.

"That's just it, Malcolm. He's only a boy. I just wish he'd wait until he was the man I want him to be before he marries my daughter."

Malcolm scoffed.

"Well, I can guarantee that's never going to happen." He sighed dramatically. "It's been the lot of men from the beginning of time to disappoint their fathers-in-law."

Jim suddenly grinned.

"That's true enough. Elisabeth's father had a scowl that could melt the skin off a walrus from 100 feet away."

"I know." Malcolm remarked flatly. "I knew him."

".. oh."

"Although, I must admit, I was never on the receiving end of that scowl you seem to be so familiar with .." Malcolm mused. ".. but then, I think he was quite fond of me."

Jim glanced sideways at him dangerously.

"Careful, Malcolmus. I might still get angry and throw you off the side of the mountain."

Malcolm snorted loudly.

"I'd like to see you try."


Their task thus complete, the travellers made their way back down the mountain to civilisation. Unbeknownst to them, however, the landslide had accomplished more than just slaying the monstrous beast. If one swung around the far side of the cliff and down, upon nearing the foot one might glimpse a shadow of greenish grey peeking out of the soggy terrain. A large deposit of dirt had slid sideways, revealing an ancient entrance to the caverns that wound their way through the heart of Snakehead. Though it was inevitably soon to be overgrown and swallowed up by the ravenous jungle once more, for now the area was left untouched and uncovered, exposed to the open air and the elements for the first time in centuries, and the dark shadowy hole in the side of the mountain told its story.


2 x 8 is 16 .. 4 x 4 is 16 .. 4 x 8 is 32 .. 8 x 8 is 64 ..

Skye groaned inwardly as she tired of her mental math drills. When would her mother be back? Surely it didn't take an hour to "run down to the market", even in this weather.

She looked up hopefully as her curtain swished, but was met with disappointment immediately as Josh's cheerful face poked in. Still, she was really bored, and even her former best friend was better than nothing. She tried to summon a smile, but it felt like her face was frozen. She realised too late that she'd been staring blankly at him, but luckily for her, Josh didn't seem to notice. He swept the curtain aside smoothly and came into the small room.

"Oh good, you're not asleep." After taking a quick glance at her chart, he leaned on the end of her bed. "Thought I'd come say hi to the newest member of the Infirmary club!"

His grin faded as Skye's expression remained unchanged.

".. sorry, that sounded way funnier in my head."

The side of Skye's mouth twisted dryly.

"Don't worry about it. You've never been the most sensitive of people."

Josh pasted a polite smile on his face.

"Well, I'm workin' on it."

"What, Tasha been giving you lessons?"

It was meant to be a playfully teasing comment, but Josh's reaction made her wish she could throw herself off the bed. Her visitor shifted uncomfortably.

"Skye-"

Skye held a hand up to halt him, suddenly feeling sick to death of the awkwardness.

"Stop. It's fine. Things have been weird enough lately. I don't want them to be weird with you." She patted the side of her bed, even managing to muster up a fairly genuine smile. "Come talk to me. You have no idea how boring it is in here."

She felt an inordinate sense of relief as the good-natured grin appeared again and he complied.

"Hey, careful. This is my home away from home you're talking about."

He dropped down on the side of the bed a little too enthusiastically. After Skye had recovered from the jolt and accepted the shower of profuse apologies, she began to question him.

"So .. any news? Ogawa told me about the landslide."

"Yeah, Dad just got back. He wouldn't say much, but it wasn't good. He gets that weird look in his eye when he can't figure out a problem." He laughed at his own attempt to imitate his father's expressions, noting with satisfaction that Skye's weak smile was quickly transforming into a bright grin. "Rumour has it some people are preparing to walk out."

Skye raised her eyebrows a little.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Let's just say we have a mutiny on our hands, the river's a raging torrent, and we're all gonna die!" He smiled brightly in blatant defiance of the fact. Skye laughed a little and shook her head.

"Great."

"I know, right?" Josh fell silent for a moment as he studied her face. "Hey, are you okay?"

Skye looked up in surprise.

"What? Yeah, I'm fine. I mean, there was the whole 'almost-dying' thing, but .."

Josh narrowed his eyes a little.

"Skye, come on. It's me. I know we've had a rough time lately, but you can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

Skye hesitated. As sweet as the sentiment was, she knew it was partly wishful thinking. She couldn't tell him anything. Not anymore. While she was considering this, another movement at the door caused her to glance upward. Josh followed her gaze curiously. His eyelids lowered a moment later as he caught sight of the intruder.

"This is a private conversation. Do you mind?"

Lucas shrugged, leaning casually on the end of the cupboard that created part of the divide between "rooms".

"No, not at all. Be my guest."

Yet he remained there. Josh waited for a moment and then turned back to Skye with a roll of his eyes.

"Your criminally-inclined friend is really annoying."

"He's not my-"

Skye pulled herself up short. Friend. Were they friends? She supposed, after all this time, they must be. Still, he wasn't really the sort of person one thought of as a friend. She glanced up at him, but if Lucas had heard the fractured statement, he certainly wasn't showing any indication of it. Skye shook away her confusion as Josh turned back to her and stood up, trying valiantly to hide his growing annoyance.

"Well, I should probably get back anyway. Got .. doctor stuff to do .."

Skye smiled up at him.

"Right."

He put a hand on her arm.

"I .. we were really worried about you."

"I know." Skye's smile faded for a moment, but then managed to pick itself up again. "Thanks for coming. It was nice to have some company."

Josh nodded.

"I'll check on you later."

He squeezed her arm a little and then made his way toward the doorway. Lucas stepped aside obligingly, as though he was seeing the young doctor out of his own house after hosting a dinner party. Josh looked at him calmly as he exited, his eyes conveying the statement that he knew exactly what Lucas was up to and he wasn't getting away with a single thing. Lucas nodded slightly in return. Truth be told, he was mildly impressed by how confident and collected his adversary had managed to appear. Unfortunately, it had taken all of Josh's willpower to maintain the facade, and it collapsed the second he left their sight.

Lucas turned to Skye, his eyes lighting up with laughter momentarily as he managed to catch the faint "I really hate him" from down the hall. Without waiting for an invitation, he approached and sat down carefully, occupying Josh's previous position on the side of her bed.

"Well, this is incredibly dramatic, even for you." He glanced back toward the doorway as though he was worried Josh would turn the tables on him now and suddenly materialise there.

"You know, it took everything in my power not to go straight to his house and beat the pulp out of him when I found out what he did to you." He murmured, sounding almost as though he was simply talking to himself. "But I didn't."

Skye snorted.

"How noble." She watched with resignation as a water droplet lost its grip on a strand of his damp hair and fell onto her clean blanket. "That doesn't sound like you."

Lucas turned back to her and shrugged.

"I knew you wouldn't like it. So I didn't."

Skye studied him blankly.

".. thank you."

"You're welcome." He grinned as she looked around at the blue curtains for the thousandth time and sighed, understanding the sentiment altogether too well.

"Not so much fun being cooped up in here, is it?"

Skye returned his gaze wearily.

"I dunno. It's a nice rest, I suppose."

Lucas snorted.

"Since when have you ever craved 'a nice rest'?"

Skye's resulting laugh sent a nasty twinge of pain through her stomach. Lucas looked on gravely as she recovered.

"Don't injure yourself."

She shot him an ungrateful look, but accepted his concern tolerantly.

"Ow .. alright, fine. I may be going .. slightly insane." She stared wryly around the room. "There's only so many things in here to count."

Another fleeting grin appeared on her visitor's face.

"Well, maybe this will help .."

Skye watched curiously as he produced a chess set she hadn't even realised he was holding. He set it up efficiently and within the space of a minute, they had begun to play. After a while, however, Lucas seemed to forget the game and sat watching her. After a prolonged period of waiting patiently for him to make his move, she finally looked up, but the berating she had been about to give him died on her tongue as she caught sight of his expression.

"Hey. You okay?"

His gaze fell to the chess board once again as he nodded absently.

"Things have been weird lately."

Skye scoffed.

"Yes."

He waited for some additional statement, but there was none. When several seconds had passed and she still didn't seem inclined to elaborate, he couldn't stand it any longer.

"So .. what is it then?" There was a note of desperation in the accompanying laugh. "I mean .. do you hate me?"

Skye frowned.

"There was a time I hated you."

Lucas seemed to take this as her final word on the subject and sighed.

"I know. You had every right to."

Skye leaned carefully back against the bed frame, abandoning any thoughts of returning to the game for the moment.

"Yeah, I did." She stared around the room as she weighed up her reply. "But you know I don't hate you now, right? You've changed, I've changed .. I haven't hated you for a long time."

Lucas shrugged a little.

"I wouldn't blame you if you did, Skye. I wouldn't blame you at all." He put his hands up to his face and rubbed his eyes. "But trust me, you couldn't hate me anymore than I hate myself."

Skye stared at the ceiling, getting the distinct feeling they'd had this conversation before, but not wanting to interrupt. Lucas evidently needed to get something off his chest. She turned back to him when he continued.

"I did things I'm not proud of .. all in the name of war, revenge .." He looked down at his hands, ignoring the game beside him. "She may have been the enemy at the time, but she didn't deserve to die."

Skye remained quiet. He seemed to be struggling with his words.

"It's surprising how easy it is .. to end someone's life. You point the gun, you pull the trigger, and it's over. They're gone. And you can never take it back."

"I know." Skye murmured.

Lucas glanced at her quickly and then seemed to return to his thoughts.

"At least she went fast. It would've been painless. There are a lot worse ways to die .."

He stared into space. Skye studied him, the haunted expression, the tired green eyes, made even paler by the dark rings encircling them. Suddenly his dream seemed to shatter and he jumped, bumping the side of the chess board sharply with his left hand. He grinned sheepishly at her and laughed a little, shaking his head.

"Sorry. Morbid conversation. My bedside manner could use some work."

Skye reached out and caught the fugitive king that had decided to desert his fellows and roll away following the board's most recent upheaval.

"Well, if it helps, I'm hoping you don't get much more time to practice it."

"You'll be out of here before you know it."

They sat in silence for a few seconds before she finally built up the nerve to ask the question that had been on the tip of her tongue for several minutes.

"You've been having nightmares again, haven't you?"

He threw a brief smile in her direction before rearranging one of his pawns back to the centre of its square.

"I believe I was about to execute my elaborate plan."

It was probably the least subtle change of subject in history, but Skye mercifully let the matter drop and they continued the game. Nevertheless, a few minutes later, the match stalled again. Lucas was once more taking an unusually long time to decide on a move. Finally, he flicked his bishop, knocking it over. Skye snorted.

"Somehow I don't think that's-"

"He was right, you know." Lucas interrupted, looking up at her suddenly. "She would've been ashamed of me. She would've been horrified."

He shook his head slowly, the resulting laugh sounding more like a choke. Skye realised they had switched the subject of the conversation and were now apparently discussing his mother .. or Lucas was anyway. She just seemed to be along for the ride. He stared at her seriously.

"She hated violence of any kind. She was the gentlest person in the world. She tried to raise me the same way, but despite her best efforts .. it would seem she failed. This is her legacy."

He threw his hands out helplessly and laughed again. He seemed to have mastered the art of empty, soulless laughs. Skye wondered why he bothered. They certainly didn't make her feel like smiling. She couldn't imagine they made him feel any better. As he fell back to studying the blue curtain in front of him, she shifted, trying not to upset the board, but feeling grossly inadequate to deal with the situation. She wished he would go to the colony counsellor or Jim or Malcolm, but he still refused to talk to anyone besides her if he could help it. She took a deep breath and watched him for a moment.

"You don't realise, do you? You don't see how much you've changed."

He looked at her doubtfully, but she could see a hint of something threatening to rise up inside of him. It was too much to hope for that his mother could be proud of him after all this time, and yet he wished it to be true more than anything in the world. Skye suddenly became aware she had to tread very carefully. She pulled herself up again and considered her words.

"Not everyone gets a second chance. You did. But you've made the most of it. You're a better person now. You'll never make up for your mistakes, but you've moved past them."

She hesitated. Her next words were the ones he was really dying to hear, the least she could do was say them. They were the truth, after all. Why was it so hard to just spit them out? She took a deep breath and made herself continue.

"I think that .. wherever she is now, she is proud of you. I really do."

He stared blankly at her for a moment, his face barely changing. When the tears began to threaten to come, he shook his head and cleared his throat, avoiding her gaze in favour of examining the ceiling.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Skye closed her eyes tightly for a moment as though she was in pain. What she was about to say wasn't ideal, but it had been nagging at her of late and now was as good a time as any. She opened her eyes and followed his gaze to the white cloths on the ceiling.

"And .. I'm sorry. I've been kind of .." She hesitated as he looked back at her and decided to start again. "I'm not .. I haven't .. been the type of friend you deserve .. lately."

He shook his head and smiled slightly as his eyes fell to the blanket under his hand.

"On the contrary. You've been far more than I deserve."

Skye breathed a sigh of relief internally. Easier than expected. She put her hand out to him.

"Friends?"

Lucas' smile widened as he shook her outstretched hand.

"Friends."

"Good. Now I won't feel so bad about absolutely destroying you."

Lucas snorted.

"We are sure of ourselves this afternoon, aren't we?"

He thought for a moment and then smiled deviously, moving his queen to the left.

Skye raised her eyebrows.

"Interesting .. check."

Lucas groaned for a moment, moving his pawn in front of his king. Skye grinned maliciously as she moved to intercept another of his pieces.

"Didn't see that, didja?"

Lucas smiled patiently at her for a moment and then swung his bishop out of the corner to trap in her king.

"Checkmate."

But behind the triumphant grin, in the back of his mind, Deborah's words continued to echo.

"Skye must never know .."


"I can't believe you're even considering this."

Elisabeth set a plate down very firmly on the kitchen counter. Jim tried not to visibly wince. His wife rarely got this worked up about things, but when she did, it was usually for good reason. He summoned the remainder of his patience and tried again.

"Malcolm believes-"

"That's another thing!" Elisabeth dumped a cup of peculiar-looking beans into a pot with great vigour. "This is Malcolm we're talking about! I mean, do you really trust Malcolm with the lives of your family?"

"Yes, I do." Jim reached out and took his wife's shoulders, turning her to face him gently. "Liz, I think this is our best chance."

"Don't 'Liz' me!" Elisabeth shrugged him off and continued her energetic cooking. "It's pure insanity. And I can guarantee you no one else will go for it. We should get out while we have the chance."

"We can't!" Jim placed his fist down on the counter a little harder than intended, making Elisabeth turn around in surprise. Jim shook his head. "I .. I'm sorry. But this is the only way. Please. You have to trust me."

Elisabeth sighed, appearing to calm down a little. They stood in silence for a few moments until finally she shrugged resignedly.

"I want to see the plans for myself before we go to the council."

"Done!" Jim smiled for the first time in 10 minutes. "I'll go get them right now."

"No .. wait." His wife's subdued voice halted his immediate sprint to the door. "Don't go out there again. It can wait till tomorrow."

Jim frowned as he turned back to her. Elisabeth had left the kitchen and was now sitting down at the table with her head in her hands.

"Elisabeth?"

"Hm?"

Jim took the seat beside her and watched her anxiously.

"There's something else, isn't there?"

Elisabeth looked up at him wearily.

"How much longer can we go on like this? One thing after another. There's been a new crisis at every turn. The floods, the medical equipment-"

"I told you, I'll make sure it gets fixed."

"It's just not good enough, Jim!" Elisabeth snapped sharply. "Skye could've died."

"I know, I know." Jim took her clenched hands in his and gradually felt them relax. "But it's not your fault."

All the fight suddenly seemed to go out of his exhausted wife as she dropped her head onto his shoulder.

"Things have to let up soon, don't they?"

Jim put an arm around her and shook her gently.

"Smile, Elisabeth. If our ever-optimistic chief science officer's word is anything to go by, the worst is yet to come."

Elisabeth scoffed quietly.

"That sounds like Malcolm."

Jim was silent for a few moments and then continued with a mischievious grin.

"Hey, don't worry. Maybe Taylor'll come riding in on his white gallimimus and rescue us yet."

Elisabeth released a shout of laughter and turned to study him curiously.

"You really don't think he's dead, do you?"

Jim shrugged.

"I don't believe anything without seeing the evidence. Harlon's word isn't good enough for me. For all I know, he might be holding Taylor somewhere. And besides, Lucas swears he isn't dead, and he's supposed to be the expert after all."

"Or he tries to make everyone think he is."

"Hm .."

"It's sad, isn't it?" Elisabeth leaned on the table. "I can't help but think they could've sorted themselves out if they'd only listened to each other. Guess it's too late now."

Jim raised an eyebrow.

"Since when is my wife so pessimistic?"

"I'm just tired."

"Yeah, we're all tired."

It took Jim a moment to notice Elisabeth's irritated look.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"I didn't mean to insinuate that you didn't have a reason to be .. I'll make dinner, shall I?"

Elisabeth laughed as he stood and hurriedly moved toward the counter.

"I suppose I'll help you .. on one condition."

Jim winced.

".. what is it."

"You take your foot out of your mouth before we start eating, or none of us will have an appetite."

Jim laughed with relief.

"That I can do."


Taylor stared into the crackling fire.

Tonight, he would do it. In a few minutes, he would be with his wife. He peered around into the solid darkness. No sign of it. Good. He took a deep breath, pressing the glittering blade of his hunting knife to his throat. As he tensed his muscles for the final time, he caught sight of a familiar scaly face through the flames.

No, not now! He was so close!

The ugly beast had the worst timing. He had tried to get rid of it before. He had waved the knife like a madman and screamed until he was hoarse, but the creature remained unmoved. Taylor stared at it for as long as he could, but the unblinking dinosaur had an uncanny talent for unnerving him. Groaning, he dropped the knife and allowed it to clatter loudly on the rocks as he put his head in his hands. Why wouldn't it just leave him alone and let him get on with it? Looking up a few seconds later, he screamed pointlessly at the dinosaur through the tears in his eyes.

"GET OUT! Why do you ALWAYS show up when I don't want you here?! You know I can't do it with you watching!"

Nevertheless, the Kaprosuchus continued to watch him coldly, his sharp eyes boring into the man opposite him. Taylor finally ran out of patience.

"FINE. You know what?! Come and kill me yourself! That's what you want, isn't it?! COME FINISH THE JOB. DO ME A FAVOUR FOR ONCE IN YOUR MISERABLE LIFE."

He spread his arms out dramatically and watched the beast across from him, waiting for the sudden pounce of death to claim him. The dinosaur stared at him for a moment and then sat, looking as though he couldn't be bothered killing something that was already dead inside. He preferred a challenge. This wasn't it. After what seemed like hours, Taylor finally retrieved his knife and put it away, slumping down against the rock wall in defeat.

"Fine, you win. One more day."

They lay there in a sort of strange companionship for several hours, two natural-born enemies divided by the slowly dying fire. Eventually, the flames withered down to glowing embers, and Taylor fell into a hopeless sleep. Two bright eyes watched over him in silence as the cold night wore on. Just before dawn, the Kaprosuchus slunk away.