As Stubborn as Taylors Come
Nethania rested in her hammock. After the poison scare, the captain was put on bed rest until further notice. Her eyes were closed but she heard someone walk into her room in the Hangar.
"Captain Taylor," the person said calmly. She recognized the voice as Mira.
She opened her eyes and glanced up at the woman.
"We had a deal," Mira said looking at her sternly.
Nethania stretched, stopping when she felt a twinge in her side.
"I held up my end of the bargain. I reunited you with your family, when are you going to reunite me with mine," Mira said.
Nethania rolled her eyes and groaned.
"That is nothing to roll your eyes at," Mira said, punching Nethania in the side.
"I'm sorry Mira, I wasn't rolling my eyes at your problem, I was rolling my eyes at my problem," Nethania said, rubbing her side.
"What's your problem?" Mira asked. Nethania sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the hammock.
"I just got released from the infirmary after suffering from minor poisoning. I drank some spring water that had sulfuric acid leaking into it. I know I need to hold up my end of the deal, it's just every time it's brought to my attention, something else happens and prevents me from doing so," Nethania said.
"I'm sorry to hear about your poisoning. I wasn't aware that something had happened to you," Mira said. She looked sincerely sorry now and wished she hadn't punched the captain in the side.
"Alright Mira, I'll make my way back to Nanosauria, if you can distract the Nanosaurs and my father long enough for me to get away from here," Nethania said.
"No," Mira said putting her hands on Nethania's shoulders and pushing her back a bit.
"Sienna can wait a few more days, you need to rest and get better," Mira said.
"Mira, if I don't do this now, it may never get done," Nethania said.
"You're no good to us half dead," Mira said shaking her head.
Nethania looked into her eyes and saw Mira was being serious. She lay back in her hammock and Mira walked out. Nethania sighed heavily. She had made a promise to get Sienna here and she'd be hopeless if she didn't deliver on it.
Not even two minutes after Mira left her father came in with a brown paper package that had red juice dripping from it.
"Here you are sweetie, fresh meat," Nathaniel said as he set the package on a nearby plate. Nethania looked at it but then turned away, sighing again, her eyebrows knit together, and her eyes looked serious.
"I know that look," Nathaniel said. He pulled a chair over and sat down next to her.
"Alright, what's on your mind, out with it," Nathaniel said. She glanced over at him.
"It is stupid dad, I don't want to bother you with it," Nethania said and looked away.
"Come on, if you can't tell your old man, who can you tell?" Nathaniel asked, placing a hand on hers.
Nethania shook her head.
"Would you like me to get Ute?" Nathaniel asked, wondering if it was a nanosaurian problem and that's why his daughter wasn't telling him.
"No, it's not that serious," Nethania said shaking her head.
"Come on then tell me," Nathaniel said, urging her to talk to him.
"It's my problem dad," Nethania said pulling her hand away from him.
Nathaniel sighed heavily, knowing he wasn't going to get anything from her today. He got up and turned to leave. Before exiting her room he turned back and looked at her.
"If you need to talk or decide you want to, Mom and I are going to be at home for the rest of the day," Nathaniel said, then quietly left.
Nethania looked at the empty doorway. Nethania glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It blinked 20:10. Nethania rolled onto her side away from the clock.
The things that went through her mind worried her further.
"I won't get any better with all this going on in my head," Nethania said quietly. She got to her feet and walked out of her room. A good majority of the Nanosaurs were beginning to doze off. Nethania crept out of the hangar and out into the night air, she silently nano-morphed into a velociraptor in the shadows before continuing onward.
She head off towards Snakehead Falls, stopping at the base of the falls for a breather. She sat down on a rock and looked up at the brilliant night sky. She loved looking up at the stars. She was so lost in her stargazing that she didn't notice the Slasher creeping up behind her until it stepped on a twig. Nethania jumped almost five feet in the air and immediately became defensive towards the Asoraptor.
She growled at the dinosaur but then relaxed when she recognized it.
"Tailblade," she said with relief. The Slasher trotted up to her and rubbed his crest against her chest like an affectionate horse.
"Hey, you scared me," Nethania said rubbing his feathers back. They spent five minutes greeting each other.
"Hey, maybe you can help me out boy, I need a ride to the Hadrosaur Plateau," Nethania said. The Slasher was only beginning to understand some human speech, but he understood 'ride' very well. He knelt down and Nethania pulled herself onto his back. He turned in the direction of the Nanosaur colony and took off at a dead run.
"Nethania, you didn't answer my message," Carter said walking in. He looked at the empty hammock, then at the still wrapped meat on her nightstand. Carter stepped out and looked around.
"Artiste (art-tis-ta)," Carter said. The large Troodon lifted its head and looked at Carter.
"Where is Captain Taylor?" Carter asked. Artiste walked up to him and looked at the empty hammock.
"I don't know sir," Artiste said. His voice was deeper than most Troodon voices.
Carter looked at the Troodon, then back at the empty hammock, before turning and walking out quickly.
Carter ran up the steps of the command center two at a time. He walked in to find Alicia sitting in Nathaniel's lap. They both looked up at him.
"Can I help you Carter?" Nathaniel asked.
"Do you know where Nethania is? "Carter asked.
"She was in her hammock in the hangar last I saw her," Nathaniel replied.
"She's not there now and Artiste didn't see her leave," Carter said.
Ute walked in with Hookclaw. The command center had been renovated to accommodate the larger Utahraptors.
"What's going on?" Ute asked.
"Have you seen Captain Taylor?" Carter asked.
"Not since 12 o-clock yesterday," Ute said with a shake of his head.
"I'm worried," Carter said sternly and left the command center. Ute glanced over at Nathaniel questioningly. Nathaniel sighed heavily and Alicia looked up at her husband.
"Nathaniel," Alicia said.
"Nethania had something on her mind last night, I have a feeling her disappearance has something to do with it," Nathaniel said.
"What was it?" Alicia asked.
"I don't know she wouldn't tell me," Nathaniel said, gesturing for her to get up.
"Carter, where's the fire?" Mira asked as he came and quickly turned to leave the bar.
"Nethania's gone missing," Carter said to her. Mira rolled her eyes at this, knowing where the stubborn Taylor went.
"You know something," Carter said looking at her suspiciously. Boylan glanced up at them from setting drinks on a nearby table.
"I went to her last night to see about her holding up her end of the bargain we made," Mira said.
"Oh no," Boylan said, knowing Nethania's impulsiveness.
"We need to find Nethania right now," Carter said.
"Josh," Boylan called. He looked up at Boylan.
"Hold the fort," Boylan said and followed Mira and Carter out.
"Alright Mira, what did you say to Nethania?" Nathaniel asked leaning forward on his desk.
"After I helped her fake her death, Nethania and I made a deal. I would help her in reuniting her with you. In return she would use her portal to go back to the future and rescue my daughter Sienna. I went to her last night and asked her when she was going to hold up her end of the bargain," Mira said, crossing her arms.
"Well done Mira, you may have well been the death of the Captain," Boylan said.
"Now hold on, I told her not to go until she got better," Mira said.
"You can tell her no…she won't listen," Boylan said Nathaniel nodded in agreement.
Hookclaw walked in.
"Report Lieutenant," Ute ordered.
"She took her comm with her, but she's not responding," Hookclaw said.
"Perhaps she's out of range," Alicia said.
"Or the forest density is blocking it," Boylan added.
"Not with our equipment," Ute said.
"It ridiculous, Captain Taylor can't get into the Portal Room without you, she designed the locking mechanism to have two keys," Hookclaw said.
Ute looked at the younger Utahraptor and knew he was right.
"Captain Taylor must be heading to the Hadrosaur Plateau, she has a portal hidden there," Ute said.
"So many portals," Carter said.
"That one Nethania claims she used to travel to the different prehistoric periods. It can just as easily link up with the future," Ute said.
Nethania got off Tailblade at the edge of the plateau. She pulled a strange collar out of her pants pocket.
"Head on home Tailblade," Nethania instructed. The slasher her gave her a soft roar before turning and leaving.
Nethania nano-morphed into her Saber-Tooth Cat form and pulled her collar on.
"Now, on to Diablo Falls," Nethania said.
Diablo Falls was the most hazardous falls in the whole plateau. Behind the cascading water was a hidden tunnel way that was sealed by a rotating hatch that could only be opened by the collar around her neck.
Nethania ran towards the dangerous rough waters of the Diablo River as fast as her short Saber-tooth cat legs could carry her. It took her twenty minutes to reach the dangerous rapids. She followed the rushing white waters up towards the falls.
At the base of the falls there was a deep enough pool to swim in, but if you swam into a certain area, you were hopelessly trapped in the fast moving current. Nethania ran across the shallows, the second the spray of the waterfall hit her fur, the rotating hatch spun open and then closed quickly behind her. She ran down the dark tunnel until she reached the portal room.
The whole secret laboratory was carved from obsidian, down one hallway, the buzzing sound of powerful electrical currents cycling from loud to quiet as they moved down the hall of tesslacoils, forming circling triangles as they did. This hall led to the main core which provided the power for operating the portal. The portal itself wasn't visible, being hidden behind a massive shield door. In front of the portal way were the consoles that controlled the portal.
Down another hallway was Nethania's brig. It was here that she held a freshly revived General Philbrick, guarded by a pair of Dimetrodon and a pair of Saber-tooth Nanomals.
Nethania lurched onto her hind-legs and walked towards the middle console. She pressed a small red button labeled, Ignition. The console came to life. She began to punch in coordinates for the portal behind the shield. Ten padded mechanical fingers dropped down onto a glowing blue sphere of thousands of electrical currents. The currents joined together where the fingers touched it. The fingers moved over the surface of the sphere, some lifting up at intervals. When Nethania locked in 2150 she pulled a lever to open the shield doors.
The bright bluish white caustic lights of the portal filled the room. Nethania punched in orders to close the shield door in five minutes. No one would ever use this portal for anything. Nethania stepped around the console and walked towards the light.
"CAPTAIN," came over the comm on the console.
Nethania looked over her shoulder at the console, but then stepped forward into the caustic lights and was gone.
To be continued…