CHAPTER 60

The remainder of the ride went without conversation. As the truck bounced along on the dirt road Bryce heard Dianna muttering a string of curses under her breath. He didn't dare offer any words of comfort this time. Saying things like, the kids are going to be fine and, everything is going to be ok, were just hollow promises. Bryce didn't want to upset her any further.

Ten minutes later they were rolling into the clearing at the mouth of the tunnel that led to the quetzalcoatlus cage. At the sight of the battered four-wheeler overturned in the middle of the field they slowed down.

Joan leaned her head out the window and examined the ground. She studied the multitude of footprints that had been trampled into the dirt for a moment and said, "therizinosaurs."

They drove up to the gate and stopped. Ms. Murdock jumped out of the truck with haste and slid her card through the reader as two of the Cost Ricans ran forward to open the gate. The smell of burnt flesh was potent, making it easy for everyone to discover the two scorched velociraptors. Joan waved the vehicles through and helped secure the gate from the opposite side.

Back in the truck Dr. Conners commented to Joan, "They were chased in here."

"It appears that way." Ms. Murdock shut the door, and Dianna started driving through the tunnel.

Bryce said, "it looks like they got their hands on an access card. That was fortunate of them."

Ms. Murdock shifted her eyes at Dr. Conners. "I imagine it wasn't so fortunate for whomever the card belonged to."

Static crackled over the radio below the truck's dashboard. A voice came through. "Hello? Dr. Johnson?"

Ms. Murdock snatched up the mic and accidentally bumped the stick shift to neutral in the process. "Yes. This is Joan. Go ahead."

Dianna put the truck back in gear with an aggressive thrust of her palm. The spiral chord for the mic had coiled around the stick, and now it was getting caught on her fingers. "Jeez! Bryce, do something." She stuck her hand in his face.

While Bryce was undoing the tangled chord the voice came over the radio again. "Oh. Hello Ms. Murdock." The woman on the other end sounded confused that she was speaking with anyone other than Dr. Johnson.

Dianna recognized her voice. The woman worked in the main operations building. She was in charge of video and motion sensor surveillance. She was also Shelly's mother.

"Yes. What is it, Ms. Bolton?" Joan had an impatience about her.

The radio crackled back. "You'd better hurry. The pterosaurs are beginning to circle in."

Dr. Conners and Ms. Murdock exchanged glances of concern.

Joan responded, "thank you, Ms. Bolton. Copy that."

Quetzalcoatlus had not been thought to be an exceptionally aggressive pterosaur. Originally presumed to be scavengers or eaters of fish they had later been found to prefer small terrestrial animals such as snakes, lizards, and crustaceans in addition to carrion. The truth was, their cage had been constructed before the creatures were fully understood. It was now observed that even as masters of flight they maneuvered quite well when walking on land, unlike other pterosaurs with less terrestrially adapted limbs. Quetzalcoatlus actually did most of its feeding on the ground. Although their habitat was built over the ocean they didn't consume any fish unless it washed up on shore.

The real danger of quetzalcoatlus was in that they were extremely territorial of their cage. They immediately acted as though human intruders were out to compete for their food supply. Between Dr. Conners and Dr. Johnson they had theorized that it might not be a behavior the pterosaurs would normally exhibit in the wild. The doctors suspected that in nature the flying reptiles would use their broad wingspan to glide over great distances in search of prey. This maximized their chances for finding food.

Within the ptero-dome the quetzalcoatlus were unnaturally constricted. Having grown accustomed to the confines, they had become conditioned to understand that they could only find food within the small amount of space they were given. This applied a large amount of stress on the pterosaurs, making them far more ornery than they would otherwise be.

Bryce felt the truck accelerate as Dianna pressed the gas pedal harder. The end of the tunnel was nearing fast, and a wall of fortified jungle was quite visible.

"Dianna, maybe you should slow down a little." Dr. Conners squirmed in his seat. "Dianna, I don't think there's a road there any more." He realized she wasn't stopping. "Shit!"

The truck vaulted into the foliage and shuddered over the rough terrain. Stiff branches lashed at the vehicle and a spiderweb fracture cracked across the windshield. Dianna maintained her speed, with her boot heavy on the gas. Behind them Bryce could hear the locals cheering with excitement as they launched their jeep into the woods. Dr. Conners was gathering the impression that they weren't fully grasping the gravity of the situation. The quetzalcoatlus were no doubt a threat, but it was the velociraptors that were truly concerning. They could be anywhere on the island now, including the ptero-dome. No place was safe.