Chapter 6

Preparations

"You can't shave three days off my deadline and expect everything to be ready," the human complained as he wove his way around the crowded shop.

Shadow stared at the human with a glare as he followed punching buttons in a satellite phone. The man was extremely short for his height, shorter than Shadow in fact, who was short naturally. He was an anthro after all, they rarely reached five feet. Snively Carr however, was a peculiar man. With a large pointed noise, large eyes and only about five hairs on his head, he was an odd sight to behold.

"I'm not supplied. I haven't tested any of this," Carr went on, "Thorne is gonna have a fit when he finds out."

Shadow growled, ignoring the human's complaining has he gave the satellite phone a soft smack, "Dammit, why did you have to give her a damn satellite phone if it doesn't work, what is the matter with this thing!" he demanded.

"Eh," Carr said glancing back only slightly, "It could be anything, Solar flares, the satellite could be out of sync, or maybe she just turned it off." Carr pointed at a group of workers nearby, "I need half air on those tires, we're going to flying pressurized."

"Does Rouge even know how to use it?" Shadow said.

Carr turned to him, walking backwards, "What are you kidding? She's faxed me refinements for 50% of the plans for this stuff. She knows her tech."

Shadow rolled his eyes, banging the phone against the fender of a large double trailer. Carr immediately reached for it, "Ow, ow, ow! Don't do that! You got to baby it a little bit. Love it."

Shadow handed it over, "Well I'll love it when it works." He stated, as a car backed into the large shop quickly.

"It'll work when you love it," Carr insisted.

Shadow dropped his bag of stuff on the floor, "Are you coming along Carr?"

The human shrugged, "Eh, I usually don't, but I can't resist the pay."

The car door opened and a green male hedgehog stepped out, slamming the door shut with a bang, "Thanks for the two minute warning, Snively," he moaned.

"Told you he wouldn't be happy," Carr mumbled to Shadow before speaking up, "Manic Van Thorne this is Dr. Shadow Malcolm."

Thorne barely spoke out a 'hi' as he walked swiftly to the back of his van. "Manic here is the other field equipment expert as well as our field photographer."

"How do you do," Shadow said stepping back slightly as Thorne yanked open the doors, "Photography? What's your background exactly? Do you do wildlife photography?"

Thorne shrugged, "Only as a hobby, but yeah, wildlife, combat, you name it." He explained as he pulled out cases of equipment, "I travel around a lot with it, but I prefer to work on the field equipment. Snively here makes sure the work gets done while I'm away."

"And that's how you got Hammond's attention?"

Thorne nodded, "Yep, and this time I'm getting paid. Hammond's check cleared, or I wouldn't be going on this wild goose chase." He said as he walked away.

Shadow scoffed calling after, "Hmph, well where you're going to is the only place in the world where the geese chase you!"

"Thorne Mobile Field Systems" was stenciled in black lettering on a large rolling metal garage door, at the far end of the Industrial Park. There was a regular door to the left. Miles pushed the buzzer on a small box grille. A gruff voice said, "Go away."

"It's us; we're here to see Dr. Thorne. It's Arby and Kelly."

"Oh, you kids, come on in."

There was a click and the door unlocked, and they walked inside. They found themselves in a large open shed. Workmen were making modifications on several vehicles; the air smelled of acetylene, engine oil, and fresh paint. Directly ahead Ex saw two dark-green Ford Explorers. One of the Explorers had its roof cut open; two assistants stood on ladders, fitting a large flat panel of black solar cells over the top of the car. The hood of the other Explorer was up, and the V-6 engine had been pulled out; workman were now lowering a small, new engine in its place – it looked like a rounded shoebox, with the dull shine of aluminum alloy, Others were bringing the wide, flat rectangle of the Hughes converter that would be mounted on top of the motor.

Over to the right, she saw the two RV trailers that Thorne's team had been working on for the last few weeks. They were not the usual trailers you saw people driving for the weekends. One was enormous and sleek, almost as big as a bus, and outfitted with living and sleeping quarters for five people, as well as all sorts of special scientific equipments. It was called the "Challenger" and it had an unusual feature: once you parked it, the walls could slide outward, expanding the inside dimensions.

The Challenger trailer was made to connect through a special accordion passageway to the second trailer, which was somewhat smaller, and was pulled by the first. This second RV contained laboratory equipment and some very high-tech refinements, though Ex wasn't sure exactly what. Right now, the second trailer was nearly hidden by the huge stream of sparks that spit out from a welder on the roof. Despite all the activity, the trailer looked mostly finished – although she could see people working inside, and all the upholstery, the chairs and seats, were lying on the ground outside.

"It's really busy today," Miles, noted, "I've never seen so many people working."

Ex shrugged, "Maybe that's why Dr. Thorne couldn't make it today, he was too busy." She pointed, "Look, he's over there."

Thorne himself was standing in the middle of the room, next to a black hedgehog with red stripes. Thorne was shouting at the welder on the roof of the camper. "Come on, come on, we've got to be finished today! Snively, let's go!" He turned, shouted again, "No, no, no! Look at the plans! Cyrus: you cannot place that strut laterally. It has to be crosswire, for strength. Look at the plans!"

Manic Van Thorne was a green furred hedgehog, with the wildest quills to be seen on a hedgehog. They stuck out in every direction, like a wild jumble of porcupine spikes. His eyes were light amber. He was only thirty-five years old. But his intelligence was more comparable to a man with more years under his belt. His maturity level varied for he often joked with the kids and talked in surfer lingo, but was more serious when it came to his work. His clothes spoke out younger year, with spikes wrapped around his white gloves, an orange open vest with a brown belt and fanny pack, two gold hoops on his right and a silver stud on his left ear.

It was hard for Ex to imagine Thorne as a university professor, for while being intelligent, he was also extremely strong and athletic. "Damn it, Cyrus! Cyrus! Cyrus! Are you listening to me?!"

Thorne swore again, shaking his fist in the air. He turned to the kids and immediately smiled, and a friendly air came about him, "I keep telling you little dudes," he said. "They're supposed to be helping me. But they never do. Aw well." From the Explorer, there was a white-hot crack like lightning. The two men leaning into the hood jumped away, as a cloud of acrid smoke rose above the car. Thorne cursed, turning to face the men, "What'd I tell you!" he shouted. "Ground it! Ground it before you do anything! We've got serious voltages here, guys! You're going to get fried if you're not careful!"

He looked back at the kids and shook his head. "They just don't get it," he said. "That IUD is serious stuff."

Miles's ears perked up, curious, "IUD?"

"Yep, Internal Ursine Deterrent – that's what Snively and I call it. It's his idea of a joke," Thorne said, "Actually I developed this system a few years back for park rangers in Yellowstone, where bears break into trailers. Flip a switch and you run ten thousand volts across the out skin of the trailer. Wham-o! Takes the fight out of the biggest bear. But that kind of voltage'll blow these guys right off the trailer. And then what? I get a workmen's-compensation suit. For their stupidity." He shook his head. "So? What brings you two here?"

Ex opened her mouth when suddenly the black hedgehog walked up, "How soon will we be ready to leave?"

Thorne looked over, "Oh? Soon, give me twelve hours at least, and we'll be up and heading to Costa Rica in no time." He looked at the two children staring at him full of curiosity. "Uh, kids. Meet . He's a mathematician and an expert in the theory of chaos. Dr. Malcolm this is Ex Curtis and Miles Benton, they've been my assistants for the past few weeks."

Miles stuck out his hand, "Pleased to meet you Dr. Malcolm, I've heard a lot about your work."

"Pleased to meet you," Dr. Malcolm said, shaking Miles's hand, before firmly shaking Ex's.

"Nice to meet you," Ex mumbled. Ex didn't know who he was, but his name sounded familiar.

Thorne shoved his hands into his pockets, "So as I was saying, what brings you two here?"

Miles immediately spoke up, "You didn't show up to teach class today. And you said, I quote, 'Definitely be there'."

Thorne looked surprised, "Today? Isn't is Saturday?"

"No," Miles frowned, "It's Friday, and you were supposed to teach."

Thorne rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration, "Ugh, I'm sorry kids, I totally lost track of time. Is it really Friday? Dammit. I've just been so busy…" He lowered his hands, giving them an apologetic look, "I'm sorry, you did get the backup video though?"

Ex nodded, "Yeah, we got it."

"Good." Thorne sighed, "Chaos I can't believe I forgot…"

From the ceiling, a large metal cage came crashing down, landing next to them on the floor. Malcolm cursed and Thorne jumped aside, "Snively! Damn will you watch it?!"

The human, whom the children recognized from previous visits, went by the name of Snively Carr. He shrugged from the rafters, "Sorry."

Malcolm inspected the cage it was circular, constructed of inch-thick titanium-alloy bars. It had survived the fall without harm. And it was light; it could be easily lifted with on hand. It was about six feet high and five feet wide. It had a swing door with an heavy lock. "What is it?"

Carr climbed down, "It's a high hide. It can be lifted to a height of twenty feet, to keep researchers safe from animals."

Malcolm did not seem impressed, "Actually that puts them at a rather convenient biting height."

Carr gave him an odd look before continuing, "Anyway, I had to test it to make sure the cable and clip would hold. The clips were too weak so…"

Thorne nodded, "That's fine, Snively. But don't test it when we're under it next time. What clips did you use?"

"The 5.0 clips."

Thorne nodded again, "Try the 7.5 those should be strong enough, to hold the cage and our weight, pack a set of 10.0's just in case though."

"What is it for?" Miles asked.

Carr looked at the young fox, "It's a high-hide….you know... For hiding…up high."

"Actually," Thorne said, "its part of that." He pointed across the room, where workman were working on a larger rectangular cage, built of similar thickness, and the same metal. This cage was about five feet high, six feet long, and four feet wide, with about six inches of distance between bars. "That cage is for the ground, in case one of the researchers can't get to the trailers of the high-hide. We'll be installing a thick padlock for the door."

"What are the researchers observing?"

"Sorry kid," Thorne said, "I can't tell you. Because I don't know." He looked at one of the workers, a lion, who was welding on the trailer, "Cyrus! Why in the hell did we do all these simulations, if you guys aren't going to follow the plans? Is everybody brain-dead around here?"

"Sorry Manic..."

"Don't be sorry! Be right!"

"Well, we're massively overbuilt anyway-"

"Oh? Is that you decision? You're the designer now? Just follow the plans! Here I'll go get the plans for you! We've got to be in Costa Rica as soon as possible and I don't want a single screw up!" Thorne stormed off, heading for his office.

"Dr. Thorne wait!" Ex called racing after.

"What is it kiddo?"

"Where are you going?" Miles asked.

"On a little trip." Thorne quickly replied.

"But you promised to take us on a trip to test the equipment!" Ex said.

Thorne placed a hand on his face, swearing, "Dammit, I did, didn't I?" He turned to the kids, "I'm sorry kids, but there has been a change in plans."

"Can't we still go!" Miles begged.

"Yeah," Ex agreed, "We can still come can't we? You're going to Costa Rica right? What's so bad about going to Costa Rica?"

"According to Malcolm it's really bad," Thorne mumbled.

"We're old enough!" Miles protested, "We've got permission from our parents and everything!"

"We can handle ourselves!" Ex said.

"Kids I'm sorry," Thorne sighed, "It's out of the question."

"But we earned it!"

"We already have permission!"

"You have permission," Thorne said severely, "to go on a field test in the woods a hundred miles from here. But we're not doing that. We're going someplace that might be very dangerous, and you're not coming with us, and that's final."

"But-"

"Kids," Thorne said. "I'm sorry, no. I'm going to go make a phone call. You get your stuff together. You're going home."

And he turned and walked away.

"Gee," Kelly said.

"That's not fair," Miles pouted.

"Get with the program, Miles," Thorne said, not looking back. "You two just can't go. Period."

He went into his office and slammed the door.

Miles struck his hands into his pockets, "But we worked so hard to."

"I know, Miles," she said. "But we can't make him take us."

They looked over, as Malcolm walked by, punching buttons into a satellite phone. "Dr Malcolm, why can't we come?"

"Sorry," Malcolm said, "Thorne has made up his mind, and frankly, I agree with him."

"But what is so bad about Costa Rica?" Ex asked.

"The answer is no, kids. It's just….." he paused, looking worried about something, "It's just too dangerous.

Dejected, they drifted over to the vehicles, gleaming beneath the ceiling lights. The Explorer with the black panels on the roof and hood, the inside crammed with glowing electronic equipment. Just looking at the Explorer gave them a sense of adventure – an adventure they would not be part of.

Miles peered into the larger trailer, cupping his eyes over the window. Wow, look at this!"

"I'm going in," Ex said, and she opened the door. She was momentarily surprised at how solid and heavy it was. Then she climbed up the steps into the trailer.

Inside, the trailer was fitted out with grey upholstery and much more electronic equipment. It was divided into sections, for different laboratory functions. The main area was a biological lab, with specimen trays, dissecting pans, and microscopes that connected to video monitors. The lad also included biochemistry equipment, and a series of automated sample-analyzers. All the lab equipment was miniaturized, and built into small tables that slid into the walls, and then bolted down.

"This is so cool!" Miles said.

Ex did not answer. She was looking closely at the lab. Dr. Thorne had designed this trailer, apparently with a very specific purpose. There was no provisions for geology, or botany, or chemistry, or lots of other things that a field team might be expected to study. It was not a general scientific lab at all. There really seemed to be just a biology unit, and a large computer unit.

Biology and computers.

Period.

What had this trailer been built to study?

Set in the wall was a small bookshelf, the books held in place with a Velcro strap. She scanned the titles: Modeling Adaptive Biological Systems, Vertebrate Behavioral Dynamics, Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems, Dinosaurs of North America, Preadaptation and Evolution…It seemed like a strange set of books to take on a wilderness expedition; if there was logic behind it, she didn't see it.

She moved on. At intervals along the walls, she could see where the trailer had been strengthened; dark carbon-honeycomb strips ran up the walls. She had overheard Thorne saying it was the same material used in supersonic jet fighters. Very light and very strong. And she noticed that all the windows had been replaced with that special glass with fine wire mesh inside it.

Why was the trailer so strong? It made her a little uneasy, when she thought about it.

Still uneasy, Ex moved toward the back of the trailer, where there was a homey living area, complete with gingham curtains on the windows. Compact kitchen, a toilet, and five beds. Storage compartments above and below the beds. There was even a little walk in shower. It was nice.

From there, she went through the accordion pleating that connected the two trailers. It was a little bit like the connection between the two railway cars, a short transitional passage. She emerged inside the second trailer, which seemed to be mostly lab and part utility storage: extra tires, spare parts, more large lab equipment, shelves and cabinets. All a significant sign to an expedition meant for some far off place. There was even a motorcycle hanging off the back of the trailer, right next to the large window. She tried some of the cabinets but they were locked.

But even here there were extra strong reinforcing strips as well. This section had also been built especially strong.

Why? She wondered. Why so strong?

"Look at this," Miles said in awe, standing before a wall unit. It was a complex of glowing LED displays and lots of buttons, and looked to Ex like a complicated thermostat.

"What does it do?"

"Monitors the whole trailer," he said. "You can do everything from here. All the systems all the equipment. And look, there's a TV…" he pushed a button, and a monitor glowed to life. It showed Snively Carr walking towards them, across the floor.

"And hey what's this?" Mile said. At the bottom of the display was a button with a security cover. He flipped the cover open. The button was silver and said DEF/

"Hey, I bet this is that bear defense Dr. Thorne was talking about." Ex said.

A moment later, Carr opened the trailer door and said, "You better stop that, you'll drain the batteries. Come on, now. You heard what the doc said. Time for you kids to go home."

Miles and Ex exchanged glances.

"Okay," Ex said. "We're going."

Reluctantly, they left the trailer.

They walked across the shed to Thorne's office to say goodbye. Miles sighed, "I wish he'd let us go."

"Me, too."

"I don't want to stay home for break," he said. "They're just going to be working all the time." He meant his parents.

"I know."

Ex did not want to go home, either. This idea of a field test during spring break was perfect for her, because it got her out of the house, and out of a bad situation. Her mother did data entry in an insurance company during the day, and at night worked as a waitress. So her mom was always busy doing her jobs, and he latest boyfriend, Drew, tended to hand around the house a lot at night. It had been okay when her big sister had been there. But she was studying nursing at the community college, so Ex was alone in the house. Moreover, Drew was somewhat creepy. Nevertheless, her mother liked Drew, so she never wanted to hear Ex say anything bad about him. She just told Ex to grow up.

So now Ex went to Thorne's office, hoping against hope that at the last minute he would relent. He was on the phone, his back to them. And he was in his work mode. They knocked on the door, opened it a little.

"Bye, Dr. Thorne."

"See you, Dr. Thorne."

Thorne turned, holding the phone to his ear. "Bye, kids." He gave a brief wave.

Ex hesitated. "Listen, could we talk to you for a minute about-"

Thorne shook his head, "No."

"But-"

"No, Ex. I've really got to place this call now," he said. "Rouge Harding hasn't answered her phone, and everyone is trying to get a hold of her."

"Who?"

"Rouge Harding."

Rouge Harding? The Rouge Harding. Her hero? One of the leading experts in the behavior of carnivorous animals? The one person she would be dying to see in person just once.

"Rouge Harding is going to be with you?" she said, lingering at the door.

Thorne sighed, "I don't know." He shrugged. "Have a good vacation kids. See you in a week. Thanks for your help." He looked across the garage. "Snively, the kids are leaving. Show them the door, please. And get me those papers! And pack your bag; we need to be out of here as soon as possible!" The he cursed, his voice dropping low, as he glared at the phone, "Dammit Rouge, why won't you pick up?"

He dialed again, and he turned away.

And yet another chapter. Yay!

Anyone catch the 'Convinent biting height' pun from Shadow? That was one of my favorite lines from the Lost World film. Why build a cage to lift you twenty feet in the air, when the T-rex's head is at the same height ^_^' He's trying to warn them he really is. Perhaps the direct route?

Hey we're going to an island full of dinosaurs, you might want to change you strategy...

Nah, That just sounds silly.

They'll all find out soon enough anyway ;)

See you for the next chapter!