The rift, p.11
The Rift, page 11
AJ was on his feet when they both heard Shannon’s horrified scream. Grabbing the pistol he took from the dead Seal he pointed it in the direction of the scream.
"Shannon!" Jenna yelled bounding to her feet.
She began to run up the beach in the direction where she had seen him disappear into the jungle. AJ was quick to his feet stopping her forward advance.
"Let go of me! One of my people are in trouble, let go!" she snapped trying to break his grasp.
"Jenna no! You don't know what's up there, if he's alive he'd answer us, just stay here for a few moments and wait," AJ said keeping a firm grip on her.
"But...but..." she stuttered.
From the jungle a ways down the beach three of the creatures bounded sniffing the air then abruptly seeing them one let out a loud half mew half roar. Then abruptly they all turned and began running towards them.
"Oh my God...Raptors!" Jenna said as she struggled to mouth the words.
"Come on! Back into the submersible, now!" AJ said yanking her arm.
AJ was climbing down the hatch as one of them bounded toward the submersible. Drawing the Seals Glock pistol he fired directly at the creature. It winced and shrieked as each bullet tore through its flesh but its forward motion never faltered. AJ let go of the railing dropping the rest of the way into the submersible. Outside the raptor struggled wearily to keep its balance on the pitching hull. Jenna flipped the power on and put the submersible's engines on high. Their dull whine grew in intensity as the submersible struggled to free itself of the sand bar it rested on.
"We're too heavy! That damn thing out there sitting on us is not giving us the bouncy we need," she yelled.
AJ said nothing, ejecting the spent magazine from the Glock pistol he shoved another one in the well chambering the first round as it closed. The raptor snapped its jaws trying to force most of its head through the hatchway. Jenna flinched as AJ let loose round after round the sound deafening in the confines of the sub. Looking up she noticed another one directly outside the forward window. Rushing full tilt it impacted with the glass making her recoil. AJ continued to fire until the magazine was empty, the raptor was dead its body lying on top of the submersible and its head hanging down the cockpit hatchway oozing blood. It's eyes still looked alive, though he knew it was dead. Tossing the gun to the side he reluctantly grabbed hold of its head and tried to force it out of the submersible.
Jenna winced again as the second raptor charged the forward window again. The reverberating bang drew his attention. The dazed reptile shook its head making a fearful noise. AJ began to push the dead reptile up and out of the submersible. Fortunately for his sake the creature was hanging half off the side and with considerable effort he managed to force it all the way over. It landed with a splash in the shallow water next to the submersible. The noise however didn't go unnoticed the second raptor bounded away from the front.
"AJ! Watch it, the second one is coming around to your side!" Jenna yelled.
AJ began to swing the hatch closed when the second raptor bounded up and onto the back of the sub it's massive jaws snapping with satisfaction of an easy kill. The hatch was almost closed when it snapped its powerful jaws onto it yanking out of his grasp. Startled AJ fell back down the ladder landing with a thud on the hard steel floor below. The second raptor like the first tried to force it's way down the hatchway it's jaws snapping at anything within reach. Suddenly the sub lurched back as it finally broke free from the sand bed it sat on.
"We're free! Get that hatch closed," Jenna said backing the submersible into deeper water.
Scrambling to his feet he grabbed the nearest object within arms reach, a stainless steel suitcase housing delicate instruments. Climbing the ladder he swung the case hitting the creatures head. The blows had no effect on it as it continued to snap its jaws.
"You sonofabitch!" AJ yelled as he forced the case into the raptor's mouth.
Water began to flood over the hatchway soaking him down, Jenna was determined to submerge them. Startled by the case now lodged in its mouth and the rising water the creature lost its drive to feed, the fear or flight instinct taking over and it disappeared from the hatchway. AJ fought the torrents of water rushing in and climbed the steel ladder closing the hatch just as Jenna submerged them totally.
"God that was close," he said examining the hatch for leaks.
"I don't understand...I just don't understand..." she mouthed softly to herself.
Moving over beside her he noticed the wet streaks on her cheeks. The reality of losing Shannon had finally sunk in and she began to shake.
"It's over now, what’s done is done. We can't go back and save either of them Jenna. Right now we have stay focused, try to figure out what the hell is happening here," he said.
"I know...It's just losing Shannon like that! My God what a horrible way to go!" she said as a new stream of tears fell.
AJ stared out at the murky water beyond the submersibles forward window and an ominous thought began to seep into his mind. "If there are things like that on land...what was waiting for them out here?"
"All stop! Prepare to surface!" Sam said lowering the periscope.
Ginny immediately followed his commands stopping the boat then blowing the tanks and bringing them to the surface. Sam turned and looked at all the eyes that stared. They wanted answers and he could see the concern and fear in their faces.
"I don't know what's going on people, but I sure as hell intend to find out!" he said. "Ginny do we still have that video tape of whatever that creature was?" he asked.
"Yes Sir," she replied.
"Marten I want you to take a copy and bring it to the rest of your people. I want to know what that thing is. Communications officer, I want a link to sub command, I don't care what you have to do to get it but I want that link. Ginny, I need you to search for the Akari, it's engines must put out an audible sound that we can pick up, find them," he said giving out commands. "Everyone else off the bridge until further notice."
Everyone went about their tasks everyone except Rollins. He stood against the bulkhead staring. Sam noticed this and turned sharply to him.
“I said off the bridge!” he snapped.
Rollins said nothing, smiling he turned slowly and stepped out through the hatchway. Sam felt rage as he watched the man leave. He knew that Rollins was pushing him to a confrontation. He knew also that sooner or later that confrontation would occur. Motioning to the lookouts he climbed the ladder up to the top of the sail. Wheeling the hatch open he was immediately greeted by the heavy ozone in the air. Frowning he continued up followed by the two lookouts who lashed themselves to the edge of the sail and began to scan the horizon with their binoculars. Sam grabbed his own pair and looked out over the water. Turning to port he realized that land was a lot closer than he had thought.
“Navigation, what was our nearest landfall when we approached the rift?” he said into a mike.
“Nearest landfall Sir is either Mexico or Cuba,” the navigator replied.
“How close?” he asked.
“Not within eyesight Sir,” the navigator responded. “If you’d like actual distances…”
“That won’t be necessary,” he said cutting him short. “What is our current position?”
“Unknown Sir, we lost all connections to our satellites as we entered the rift Sir,” the navigator responded.
He again raised his binoculars and peered at the landmass in the distance. Where the hell were they? The landmass in the distance looked very much like jungle, could it be that they were closer to Mexico than they thought? Taking a deep breath he almost gagged. It was then he realized that something else was amiss.
“Radio operator, do you have that connection to Sub Command?” he spoke into the mike.
“Negative Sir, there is no contact with anything,” the radio operator replied.
“What do you mean anything?” Sam asked.
“I mean nothing Sir, everything and I mean everything seems to be…gone. I can’t even pick up a radio station.”
“Have you checked your equipment?” Sam asked.
“Yes Sir, when I realized something was wrong. The equipment is functioning properly, I don’t know what happened,” he said baffled.
“Keep trying, let me know if you hear anything…and I mean anything.”
Sam hung up the mike and closed the communications console shut. He then looked over the side where he had witnessed whatever that creature was attacking the hull. There were no marks what so ever.
“Bogie at 3 o’clock,” one of the spotters yelled.
Sam wheeled around and looked, in the distance he noticed a black speck moving steadily closer.
“Identify” he asked.
“Just a bird Sir, a big bird at that,” the spotter said then moved away to view a different location.
Sam turned away also, he was jumpy and he didn’t know why. What the hell had happened? There had to be a logical reason why they couldn’t establish communications with Sub Command. But why couldn’t they receive any radio stations? It just didn’t make sense.
Suddenly from behind him came a screeching sound so piercing that it made his skin crawl. Pivoting around sharply he watched as a huge bird like creature swooped down grabbing one of the spotters trying to rip him off the top of the boat. The bird was huge, gray in color with leathery wings, it’s head was long and pointed at both ends it’s beak opening up to display a set of sharp jagged teeth. Its eyes were black and gave him the impression it could look everywhere at the same time. The spotter tried to defend himself but the creature applied so much force that Sam could hear the man's bones snap as the ropes that held him gave way. Screeching again it flew off with the dead man in it’s grasp.
“Dive! Dive!” Sam yelled as the other spotter scrambled down the hatchway.
Ginny responding to the command immediately submerged the boat taking it down to periscope depth. Sam stood on the bridge his grip on the ladder so tight his knuckles were turning white. He had lost another man…to a bird.
“Ginny hold periscope depth, all engines slow ahead,” he said aloud.
“Aye, aye Sir,” she replied.
“Captain, could you please come to your cabin, we have some information for you,” Marten asked buzzing the bridge on the intercom.
Sam tried to move as casually as possible off the bridge. He didn’t want any of the others to see just how badly he was shaking. When he finally was alone he leaned heavily against the side of the wall and closed his eyes. Just as quickly he again opened them and proceeded on to his cabin. When he reached the door Marten, Nancy and Rick Madison stood waiting their faces flushed and they looked highly agitated. Sam opened his door and motioned them to enter. Once they were in he closed the door and went behind his desk. Sitting he breathed a heavy sigh.
“OK, what do you have?” he asked.
“What we have is something that is impossible Captain,” Marten began to say.
“Tell me, right now I’ll almost believe anything,” Sam said softly.
“Rick, this is more your department,” Marten said looking over at Rick.
“Well, as unbelievable as this is going to sound, what attacked the submarine earlier was a Kronosaurus.”
“A what?” Sam asked.
“A Kronosaurus, it was the largest known Pliosaur. It existed during the early Cretaceous period. This one, well this one was exponentially bigger than anything that has ever been found,” Rick said with obvious pride.
“Come again? You say that those things that attacked us were dinosaurs?” Sam said looking at him with surprise.
“Yes Sir, that’s exactly what I’m saying. I don’t know where in the hell they came from because by our records that thing should have been extinct for possibly over sixty five million years.”
“Explain this to me, how can something that’s suppose to be extinct suddenly show up out of nowhere?” Sam said leaning back in his chair. “Tell me also, have you ever seen a bird with a massive wingspan that has skin that looks like leather. The head is pointed on both ends with black, black eyes?”
“S...sounds like you’re talking about a Pterosaurs, possibly a Pteranodon. It had a wing span over twenty feet, that probably existed sixty five million years or more ago. I almost don’t want to know this, but why do you ask?” Rick asked.
“One of my men was just killed and carried off by one. People, what the hell is going on here?” Sam said his face draw with concern.
“It would appear that somehow we’ve gone back in time over sixty five million years,” Rick blurted out.
“Back in time?” Sam frowned.
“Look, I realize that it’s hard to accept but what other explanation is there? These creatures don’t exist in our time period,” Rick added.
“We went into the rift didn’t we Captain?” Marten asked.
“You know we did, Mr. Kempt,” Sam said turning his attention to him.
“Well, what if that rift was a kind of…portal? Maybe it’s a gateway from our time back through millions of years to this time period. That might explain also all the machinery that appeared to be set up around the edge of the rift. It would also explain why our other two submersibles…three submersibles all disappeared without a trace. If they were sent back in time to here…” Marten suggested.
“Captain, I have picked up an emergency beacon,” Ginny said cutting in.
“Is it the Akari?” he asked hopeful.
“Unknown Captain, would you like me to head us there?” she asked.
“Yes, best possible speed,” he said.
“Captain, it is the only explanation, we’re over sixty five million years in the past!” Rick said leaning forward.
“If you’re right Mr. Madison, if you’re right, how do even begin to protect ourselves?”
Chapter 7
Marten looked over at Nancy and they both looked at Rick who looked back at all three of them baffled.
“What do you expect me to do? I’m a paleontologist, Christ…I study fossils…bones… not living creatures,” he blurted out.
“You know about these things though,” Nancy said.
“Yes, somewhat, but just from the fossils we’ve found. Already I’ve been shocked to learn that Kronosaurus can grow as big as what we’ve seen here already. If something as simple as that is incorrect, then what else have we made presumptions about that are also incorrect?” he stated pleadingly.
“You still know more about all these things than we do,” Sam stated sternly.
“With exception to Jenna, she’s the expert in this field,” he pointed out.
“Well Jenna isn’t here, so that makes you our resident expert,” Sam stated staring hard into his eyes.
“OK, OK, but understand this, I’ll work with what I know and if something happens that’s different, don’t blame me!”
“Understood Mr. Madison, now if you will excuse me I should be on the bridge,” Sam said getting up. “Mr. Kempt would you wait, I need to speak with you.”
Nancy looked at Marten who nodded it was OK. After she and Rick left the room closing the door behind them. Marten turned to Sam.
“Look, I know you and I have no love for each other. Right now though, I need to know from you what kind of submersible you built. Is it…trustworthy?” Sam asked softly.
“Captain, I frankly don’t give a damn about what you think of me. You will always blame me and my submersible design for your crew mans death. I can’t change the past, but I can tell you that the Akari is the most advanced submersible to date. It will handle almost any depth and it has backups for every system on board. I wouldn’t have let Jenna or anyone else go into her if she wasn’t,” Marten said defending the Akari.
“Would you go down in it Mr. Kempt?” Sam said shooting him a hard gaze.
“Yes Captain, I would without any concern. Now is there anything else you need, I would like to assist Mr. Madison in his research,” Marten said.
“No, no, nothing else Mr. Kempt, just be aware that Commander Calkin is aboard the Akari, and Mr. Kempt, Commander Calkin is quite close to me,” Sam said cutting him a hard look.
Marten hesitated then turned and quickly left. Sam sat there for a moment then headed for the bridge. Once there, Lomkin and Brooks stood by the sensor array watching the operator work. Sam walked over and sat down in his chair swiveling towards the sensor array.
“Update” he said.
“Well Captain, the ship has brought us within range of the homing device and we should be there momentarily,” the operator said adjusting switches.
“Bring it up on the display when you have it,” Sam said turning to the small console next to his chair.
The screen flashed on, then a small green light at the bottom of the unit flashed until the signals from the cameras were transferred to the screen. Below the wreckage of what was once a submersible was strewn over the seabed. Sam felt his chest tighten as his eyes searched the screen for any identifying marks of the Akari. Reaching out he gently touched the screen. Their deaths would have been swift, but not painless. Implosion was a nasty thing, the pressure of the sea around them would rush in so fast that they and everything around them would have been torn apart viciously. Then again, something else could have gotten them also.
