New Pangaea pg 165 -171

Week 25

Day 1

I don’t know much about vampires, but this one does not bite; she nibbled though. And like vampires, this one has to leave at dawn. Its had been a hectic three days, or was it four I seems to lost count as the companionship cover the hands of the clock.

‘I got to go, We are re-building the camp today.’ I had to moved my body so she could get out and dressed up as the General. The naked warm woman who just shared my bedding last bight is now getting dressed into her drabby uniform. But to me,  its still a woman beneath the uniform just as I am the man behind the gun. As she freshen her makeup and tousle her hair and packed them into her cap, I felt it was time for me to get up too. I reluctantly got up too and got dressed as I have a colony to take care of. We said no words as we walked out to the exit of BASE. We soon parted at the steps of BASE with an official salute and wink of the eye.

‘Morning, Commander.’ I hate officers who creep up on my back like one irate Major Shaw. ‘It must be the dust in the air; they are making me teary today.’ She took out her hand to wipe her eyes.

‘I won’t do that if I were you. The dust could be contaminated.’ The Major looked at me and smiled.

‘Not so much with Fed’s dirt.’ She handed me my morning report from SWAMP and the progress across the river. She did not wait for my returning comments and walked to the landing where Bubble One sits perched on it.

Now I really need my coffee at the Officer Billet and a darned good hot one too. Its freezing this morning or is it the atmosphere I am feeling.

I did say I needed coffee, but I had Micheal Bent for company.

‘Thank you, Dad for the refill, but I am not sure how your progress in the cannons can excite me.’

‘Listen, Scott. If you were to keep your mind on the matter, I would explain to you a weapon against the primates. Allen found it in his research and he confers with Napoleon, the french speaking scientist....’

‘Dad, don’t get racist with me. We discussed this a long time ago.’ I know he disliked our previous neighbour when I was young. The guy with the mustache was flirting with mum and he disliked that. More to it the guy was a french descent and he will always says ‘Je t'aime aussi....’ Its irks him very much. But the frenchman died in an accident at work and we missed him so much.

More so mum.

‘Okay, anyway Napoleon said its been done. Its called ‘cannister block’.’

‘Enough, Dad. You do what is needed and please do not incite riot with your preferences.’ He was one happy man that day and so was I with my coffee.

Or until Doctor Leong turned up. He wanted me to understand the importance of evolution and understanding the chimp was one of them. He suggested diplomatic ties but I tied him down with cold coffee and left the Officer Billet.

Since the chimp issue, we been reviewing the defenses. Statements from the survivals tells that the chimps are strong, maybe triple our strength and agile. We know the PH925 works but that is limited in numbers in our armory. Catapults and Ballista are good for the big nasty boys but the smaller chimps will be over us before we can reload.

Doctor Mikhail, Doctor Indira and Doctor Liam renamed as the Chemical Agents as they are Chemist by profession too; came out with the novelty of producing phosphorus bomb as like those used in the twentied century. The reckon as the creatures feared fire, the above may sound viable as an incendiary weapon, white phosphorus burns fiercely and can set cloth, fuel, ammunition and other combustibles on fire, and cause serious burns or death. I could be developing destructive scientist instead of life savings one.

‘We are doing this under the duress of saving our own lives. For the record.’ Doctor Indira read my mind well. I gave them my approval and you can hear the chatter of their argument to my Command Unit. I decided to take a ride on my bike before I get bonker by more ideas. I saw Cheng sewing what appear to be some steel mesh netting on the ground.

‘Fishing is a great idea. How big are you looking to catch?’ Cheng caught my comment and his replied was more amusing.

‘I am catching chimps with my modified steel mesh. I am now adding in the metal spikes in case they decided to pull it off. I can released these using the harpoon and boomed we caught ourselves a monkey....sorry, chimp.’

I did not answer him as I took my bike to the Village Two. I decided that in Main Village are too many wacko’s developing something, maybe I will survived better in Village Two. I zoomed pass a T-Rex standing a short distance to my right; he ain’t chasing me as he’s done that several times. He is my local resident T-Rex which I bear. I called him Rexy for short. He also keep my Raptors population in check among others.

‘Commander, I need to talk to you.’

I forgot about Margaret Welch. She spent ten minutes with me on the safety concerns and I offered her a home in the Caverns. She declined if Micheal does not go. I close the subject then.

The colonists there are building wooden wheels and wagons. I wondered why. I moved onto SWAMP and decided to join the Fed’s. I saw a colonist standing there, and taking some measurements. I remembered him; he is an engineer and architect; Philip Dupine.

‘Commander, if we have a bridge here; we can cross faster to over the other side?’

‘You got someone over there, or you got nothing to do. Do you realized this river is as busy as the freeways we have on Earth. A biggie dinosaur like the Brontosaurus could just decimate your bridge.’

‘Brontosaurus do not travel on the river. Sir. I know my history too. Actually I am looking at a replica of the old London Bridge from archive when we had rivers then. We could span that half way across and joined by the other one from the other side.’

I kinda liked the idea as it means easier access to cross over. I could see Victoria if I am in the mood. My personal preference is taking over my military command. He saw me nod my head as I board the MSV.

‘Your W-Bots are doing wonders with the wall. We will have it up soon and it will be partial stone and wood, with stakes protruding outside. We will rebuild our site. They named it Vic’ Castle after me.’

I have to admit it takes a lot of self control to stand next to the General in front of so many people. Victoria Seeker is not a vampire as recounted by many. Its all far fetched stories as explained to me by her and also her close goons. She is respected by them for her bravery. She came up the ranks by her own works and she is one tough woman in the uniform. She likes the command and she do what is needed to keep her people safe. I asked her the questions in my head. She did take command when she came in to the camp from Lieutenant Colonel Wilhelm as morale was low and the army were going to mutined. She took over command and she armed the able men as they were undermanned.

She also did listen to Pepe’s advise and initiated the raid, but when she lost the battle and she did execute Pepe because Pepe tried to kill her. And not because of Pepe’s failure; Pepe was a spy for us like Mongol in their’s. Pepe tried to kill Victoria and Mathew stopped her in time. Mathew and Mongol caught Pepe which is why they did not plea on her behalf. She told Colonel Meering to execute Pepe as a spy but he made her suffered. Victoria reprimanded the Colonel and send him to do sentries job which was how he was attacked during the chimp raid. Colonel Meering was posted to keep track of her as part of the High Command orders.

As for the vampire rumors, the prisoner was bleeding from other wounds and he died of anemia but the tales went out of her dripping his blood for her drinks. She loved the reputation as its scares other prisoners when she questioned them. Her goons are her original squad of men when she was Lieutenant. They trusted each others and will die for each other.

But right now, I am dying for her charms. I guess I need to see Doctor Bashir for some sedatives.

I was riding back at dusk alone, as she is spending time at her castle.

Day 2

‘Susan, need I remind you that I do not control Dad. He is older than me, and he ought to know his own preference ........ I meant advice.’ Susan is confronting me this morning on Margaret Welch spending her time with Micheal Bent. Margaret used to know Micheal from past events before mum’s death. And also after as Susan blamed the death of mum on her. But mum died of her sickness and not murdered. But not in the eyes of Susan. And right now, Susan looks like a Spinosaurus as she hovered over my bunk and thanks my lucky star, ‘Vickie’ is not here this morning. Susan left without a word and I haven’t had my coffee yet. I was about to get dressed when Pedro called me. He wants to ride to Hot Spring and he reckon I might want to joined him.

I did with glee.

They did not do much at Hot Spring due to the concern on the chimps but they are extracting sulfur and whatever they can on the area. Then I noticed the solar balloon with a wireless transceiver as the signal level here is low, the used that to boost it reception. Then the idea came to me; that we can rigged up mini vid-cams on these balloons like the ones they used to explore certain planets. So instead of flying the Bubble daily, these balloons become our perimeter watch.

Sargeant McKay from Comms was given the task.

It seems that everyone has a job except me and Pedro, so we went scouting. We went across the river and travel on north.

We saw the new terrain which is about the same except we hit more rivers but they are smaller ones and less wider. But the reptiles does not seems to grow any smaller. When you are enjoying yourself, time move fast. Soon it was dark when we stopped at a small cave. We parked the bikes outside and crawled in the cave. We got it cleaned and ready for our stay.

It was our first night outside BASE after so many days.

I woke up in response to my instinct and find myself looking at a marsupial lion at the mouth of the cave. Its standing not more than ten feet away, and I am in my bed sack. The bed sack is a like camper bag for us to sleep when we are out in the fields. The only difference is this one has temperature controller which regulates our body temperature. And its closed fit when activated so movement is quite restricted. If I pushed the lever to de-activate, it will blossom and I can crawl out.

‘Don’t move’ I looked from the corner of my eye to see Pedro on my right. He is half crouched with his rifle raised to the shoulder now. Its pointing at the lion and his finger is on the trigger. He is going to take a shot at the creature, but he is holding his aim. The lion slowly looked to its left and right, and then at me. Its a big one and it looked like it need another meal. I can see the dried blood on its whiskers and its tongue came out to lick at it . It looked again to the right and slowly move its body to walk away back into the jungle. That was too close for comfort and I had to get out of the bed sack. I needed to pee first.

‘Its the same lion that came to my campfire when I found Professor Main. It remembered my scent and the branches that dropped on its head. I can see the scar where I burned part of its paw.’ Pedro has lowered his rifle and stood up.

‘What? Did it come to say hello or thank you to you?’

But Pedro did not answer. He just climbed into his bed sack and I know its my turn to keep watch. If I see the lion again, I am shooting it for sure.

Day 3

We came across more streams and they are all flowing from somewhere. We turned our direction to west and followed it. It was not far when we came to a big lake of about two miles across with a small island in the middle. The island measured about five hundred feet across. Sure would do well for a resort if you asked me but here in these jungle, its just another wonder’s creation.

We turned north and rode on but we discover nothing unusual or strange as if you are referring to creatures, we seen them all before. Predators and non-predators, but maybe more T-Rex than we like to see. I wanted to asked if Mum and Dad was busy as there were a lot of them young T-Rex. We did stopped to see two T-Rex chomping a herbivore; we could not make out the model anyway. Its almost down to bones.

Then we almost hit over a hidden ravine. We were riding fast running parallel to the trees line and then we saw what appeared to be some bushes. We were to jump over it but instinct tells us to stop. Both of us pressed the brakes and pull to the side just before the bushes. We walked over and pushed the growths aside to see a deep and narrow drop. Its like a break in the plates and we are on the upper piece. The gap is about twenty feet and the jump elevation is about fifteen feet, but if we missed the other ledge we are dropping hundreds of feet. The question what if we had jumped; could we make it back when we want to. This crevasse or ravine looks like it run forever. We decided to drop a marker there that said ‘BIG DROP here’ and then proceeded to go south towards BASE.

On the way down south, we came across a container that carried the Fed’s logo among some trees. It must had just dropped down recently as there were fresh broken branches around. It is yet unopened and we stopped to investigate. Pedro opened the control panel on the side and press the release code. It opened to reveal a HELI-PODs that is unassembled. Its a rare find in the place. I comm back to BASE for assistance.

An hour later Bubble One came to the scene and laid a marker. It was worth our trip after all.

It was getting dark so we stayed the night and await the rescue team from Vickie side in the morning.

That night we had some visitors in the form of a troop of apes. They just stared at us from the trees but none made any attempt to communicate or attack. They were gone in the morning, leaving no traces.

Did we dream it or there were really there?

Day 4

Vickie got her HELI-PODs and I got my call on Code One.

It was Earth Council and they said they are not sending any ships soon as all the EDS are undergoing maintenance due to the frequent trips. But EDS Titan will be en route with some supplies to last us for sometime unless we start a war. I am sure they were joking but we updated Earth Council on the new development. I did not get a pat or a kick but a cordial warning, that technically we are at peace, but its an uneasy one on Earth. Then they signed off.

‘How was your Code One call this morning?’ Vickie joined me at my late afternoon coffee drink, as I pondered over the new place. I told her it was routine and we got new supplies. It was like me taunting her with the supplies but she did not respond.

We assembled the HELI-PODs and got it to give us a lift back to BASE.

During the flight, I was wondering on the Code One call and now the question from Vickie. I don’t know how to tell her, as she has no communication with her Command as their Comm is damaged in the last upheaval at their camp. What do I say when Earth tells me the peace is an uneasy one. Do we go separate or shoot each others. Instead I told her that we are to work together as requested by Earth Council. I don’t think she bought the story but it will remain for now.

I was in the Steel Mill as part of my evening tour and I saw this lineup of ancient cannons; all brand new and just cast out from iron.

‘Its a beauty, isn’t it? Our Napoleons’; all twelve of them ready for boring and fine finishing to the body. They will fire them cannister and saved our butts.’

‘Dad, I said do a prototype, not create a regiment.’ I was getting agitated that the man never listens to me. But he pull me along to the side to show me his first cannon all ready for firing, mounted on a wooden breech and two wheels on the side. They even got the Cheng to assemble up a boring machine which did the inside of the cannon. Micheal claims its as smooth like the young babes.

Then there is this one guy there with a muzzle brush and he was grinning. Micheal nodded his head and the man took up a small cannister and slot it down the barrel. He used the muzzle brush to push the cannister in and then ran to the back of the cannon. He set the fuse and lit it. Then he ran back  a further ten feet near us and held his hands to his ears.

Boom!

The cannister went off from the barrel and sprayed opened its content onto the tree trunks. The guy who fired ran to the trunk and removed a splinter of a metal piece with his gloved hand. He ran back to us and said; ‘it worked.’

‘You are both crazy, but I am pleased.’ I walked away from the mill smelling of gunpowder.

‘How long do you think we had to wait?’ I looked at Vickie in my arms as I held her in my bunk that night.

‘I have no idea. Maybe months or none at all. They may not come at all. But we got to assumed they will.’ I got the jab in my ribs, and she got up to sit by the side.

‘I was asking about us. When can we really serious and maybe marry?’

Goodness me, this is pushing the marker too fast. I wanted to said something but she was already getting dressed. I lay there and see her getting clothed and walked out of my bunk.

I sure can’t figure out woman any day. Except my mum, she knows me better.

Day 5

I met Doctor Leong and I asked him more on chimpanzee and their behaviour. He told me to read the mails he send me, and let him do his job. He was one grouchy chap that day. I found out why later; he was upset at the nickname of Chimpanzee Man on him. It was then I remembered I did not access my mails for days now. I sat down on my console and read the updates from every section and including my dad. It drives me crazy to reply them all but I did it with mostly the word; ;’thanks’ and ‘good’ and the best line; ‘get it done’..

I did not get to see Vickie but I did see my Village Guard Commander, Admiral Stokes. The second batch of Village Guards are out and he is training another fifty more men and women now. He is enjoying himself and I am happier he is. He takes his grandson with him when he does the training.

I saw the HELI_PODs taking to the air and flying over us. At other days, I would had shot it down but today we are allies. With over seven hundred people around, the land looks busy with us more than the creatures which are shying away at the edge of the perimeter. Or is it some of them are in the corrals and Doctor Leong has ensnared ten raptors to date which he has kept them in a deep pit dug by Heavy Metal. The doctor is also feeding them regularly and on time too. I wondered why they won’t call him Raptor Man instead.

The Chemical Agents has managed to get their phosphorus bomb done. They are going to test it tomorrow. I suggested a large clearing nearby. The Cheng’s did not want to be left off also offered to demonstrate his netting harpoon gun but I declined and said I have faith in his design. By then I also got used to listening to the boom sounds from the cannon testings. The first solar balloon is going up but have yet to installed in the vid-cam and how do we stopped it from being attacked by pterosaurs. That’s McKay’s problem.

The inmates has fashioned fire bombs using the catapult. The firebomb is clay cannister with a lighted fuse and inside are crude oil and some sticky stuff all mixed in. They also fashioned off Molotov cocktail; the poor man’s bomb.

‘Scott, this is Vickie. You must come here now.’

They found Mathew Burns outside the wall. He is already half dead and can barely breathe. They carried him in before he went into a coma. But he is alive.

We need to know what happened then after the battle. And how he escape.