The Search for Cleo Page 7

“They did.”

  “It will be done in a couple more hours?”

  “It will.”

  “Why can't we grow them that fast on the ship?”

  “We don't have the same level of cloning equipment on board,” Robert explained.

  “Why not?”

  “It eats up a lot of space,” the traveler replied. “As well as power.”

  “That makes sense then, I guess.”

  “It certainly does.”

  “Could the clones of the girls have been grown that fast?”

  “No,” Robert assured him.

  “Why not?”

  “They were far more complex than the clone of Miss Marrison is going to be,” the traveler replied. “They had to be able to deal with unexpected situations and act enough like the girls that we wouldn't notice. Considering how well we know them, that wasn't an easy task. All this clone is going to have to do is act out a future that already happened. It will know every event in its life before its even finished being grown.”

  “Cloning is almost as weird as time travel,” Morgan observed.

  “Nearly,” Robert nodded.

  Less than two hours after this conversation, the information for their next few jobs had been sent to the ship, along with the tools that Robert felt they would need to complete them. The moment the last piece of equipment arrived, the ship was sent hurtling into non-space. Almost an hour after this, the captain summoned his crew to the conference room.

  “This one is kind of interesting,” Robert said as he pushed in Cleo's chair for her. “That is to say; it's interesting from a going there point of view. The job itself is pretty dull.”

  “What is it?” Morgan asked.

  “I'm getting there,” the traveler said, taking up his own seat. “A time traveler named John Smurts...”

  “Smurts?” the young man chuckled.

  “Smurts,” Robert repeated. “Went back to observe ancient reptiles...”

  “You mean dinosaurs?!” Azure asked excitedly. “I love dinosaurs!”

  “Alright,” Robert sighed, shaking his head. “Went back to observe dinosaurs on a planet that never ended up inhabited by intelligent life. Mister Smurts’ theory being that he would be far less likely to damage the time-lines if he limited his travels to essentially uninhabited worlds.”

  “Or worlds inhabited by dinosaurs!” Morgan interjected.

  “Can I please finish?”

  “Carry on.”

  “In the main,” Robert continued, “he was right. In fact, he had a long, successful career as a time traveler. Only once did he ever create a paradox.”

  “The current job being that time,” Doc smiled.

  “Exactly,” Robert nodded. “As it happens, he was a carrier of a particular virus. He arrived on the planet...”

  “Thundera,” Morgan interjected.

  “What?”

  “The planet's nickname is Thundera,” he explained.

  “What would make you think that?”

  “I just made it up. Well, I didn't really 'make it up', but...”

  “Don't you want to know what the planet's actually called?”

  “A planet's name doesn't matter, Rob. What matters is where and when it is.”

  “I realize that.”

  “Well then, it doesn't make any difference. That being the case, I'm calling it Thundera.”

  “Whatever...” Robert replied, shaking his head. “He arrived on... Thundera, I guess... and was bitten by a mosquito...”

  “Mosquito?” Morgan repeated.

  “Alright,” the traveler said, clearly getting frustrated. “He was bitten by a talfen fly, which is a blood-sucking insect that you've never heard of before, Morgan. Which is why I used the word 'mosquito' in an attempt to cut your stupid question off at the pass. Sadly, it was too quick for me.

  “The insect became infected with the virus, which it then spread to the planet's population...”

  “Of dinosaurs!” Azure interjected.

  This caused Robert to stare at her silently.

  “I'm sorry,” she laughed. “I'll behave.”

  “This wasn't an issue, however,” Robert continued, “as the virus wasn't lethal to any of the lifeforms on Thundera. Roughly two hundred years later – from Thundera's point of view – a second time traveler named Bill Battleax...”

  Here the traveler paused, his gaze locked on Morgan. For several seconds, he sat in silence.

  “I made that up,” he explained. “His name wasn't Battleax. I just wanted to see what Morgan would say.”

  “Could you just get on with it?” Morgan asked.

  “Mmmm,” Robert nodded. “Bill got bitten by a talfen fly, got infected with the virus, and took it home. By the time he caught it, it had mutated. None of the people on his home world were immune, and it kicked off a very annoying plague. Fortunately, it wasn't deadly, but it did result in billions of lost man-hours and created a number of small, but significant paradoxes.”

  “So, we just immunize Bill, then?” Vox suggested.

  “After Bill,” the traveler replied, “several other time travelers visited the planet. Nearly every one of them caught the virus and spread it around their home times and planets. We could take the time to immunize each one, but I think it will be far more efficient just to kill the infected talfen fly right after John Smurts leaves.”

  “How do we go about that?” Morgan asked. “If we just go crush it, we'll create another paradox.”

  “True,” Robert nodded. “That's why we're going to put out bug bombs we can fire off from Never Never Land.”

  “Bug bombs to kill a single mosquito?” Cleo asked. “I can't help but feel that there's just a slim chance that we might kill more than one.”

  “I'm sure we will, love,” the traveler replied, “but, it's a matter of underwear elastic.”

  “What?” Celeste asked.

  “He's never explained that to me, either,” Azure added, shaking her head.

  “I mean,” Robert replied, “that the time-lines, much like underwear elastic, have a certain amount of give. Although individual intelligent beings often have serious effects on the time-lines, millions of mosquitoes rarely do. If you kill a passel of them, it just results in nature reallocating resources. In this case, other mosquitoes will simply fill in the void.”

  “Are we sure of that?” she asked.

  “Fairly,” Robert nodded.

  “What happens if we're wrong?”

  “We breed replacement mosquitoes and release them right after we kill the others.”

  “It's just that simple?”

  “It is,” he assured her.

  “Alright then.”

  “So, all we have to do is strategically place some bug bombs?” Morgan asked.

  “That's it.”

  “Piece of cake.”

  “It will be,” Robert nodded. “The hard part is going to be finding something to do between here and Thundera. We won't be there for around ten more hours. It is out there.”

  “I have an idea!” Morgan claimed.

  “No,” Azure replied, instantly shutting him down.

  The crew burned up the next ten hours practicing and playing. They all went down to the gun range, down to the gym, bowled a few games, and watched a movie. At last, the ship dropped into real space once again. Robert pointed out that this job could easily be handled by him and Morgan, but the rest of the crew insisted on being allowed to see the dinosaurs – even Doc.

  As a result, they all headed for the armory, where they decked themselves out in 'be ready for anything' attire. With this attended to, Cleo once again locked down the ship before they all climbed in the car and set out for Thundera.

  Unfortunately, Robert had a hard time finding a place to park, due to the verdure that completely covered the target area – not to mention, the planet in general. Finally, he thought he spotted an area of fairly rocky ground beneath the canopy. He lowered the car to the ground, only breaking a dozen or so tr
ee limbs as he did so.

  As soon as the car touched down, the crew climbed out. Robert popped the trunk and he, Morgan, Vox, and Doc, each grabbed two massive bug bombs that looked almost like future landmines. With these in hand, they began their journey. The traveler assured his companions that he had landed the car within five miles of their destination. Considering the heat and humidity, however, this didn't comfort Morgan much.

  As they marched along, the young man considered the idea that 'teeming with life' was the only way to describe Thundera. The trees seemed to go up forever, and the plant life that covered the ground was so thick that Vox and Doc were having to hack a path for them to pass through. It looked as if it were going to be a long, hot, sweaty day.

  Of course, it was also very interesting. Unfamiliar calls filled the air, as did the scent of foreign flowers. Countless creatures fled at the party's approach and, in the limbs above, Morgan spotted what almost appeared to be reptilian monkeys gazing curiously down at them. Lizards and snakes were also plentiful, as were insects of various sizes, shapes, and colors.

  Still, he wouldn't have called any of these animals 'dinosaurs'. Technically, they were, of course. At least, the lizards were. They were reptiles that would have been extinct in his day in age. Depending on 'when' this planet was, anyway. As such, they qualified as dinosaurs. On the other hand, he honestly felt that he hadn't seen anything worthy of that description.

  This changed suddenly, however, as Azure spotted something a short distance to the side of the trail they were blazing.

  “Look at that!” she said softly, pointing at a truly massive monster.

  The creature was roughly the size of ten elephants, all tied together and held above the ground by eight relatively short, stocky legs. It's hide was deep green and bright orange stripes ran along its side. From its body, two long necks rose into the air, each holding aloft a massive head that was currently consuming the giant leaves that bedecked the trees filling the area.

  “Be very quiet,” Robert whispered. “We really need to get away from that thing without it seeing us.”

  “Why?” Azure asked. “It's obviously an herbivore.”

  “No,” the traveler said, shaking his head. “It's obviously eating plants at the moment. That doesn't mean it wouldn't eat us if it had the chance.”

  “Would it?” Morgan asked.

  “I don't know,” Robert shrugged. “As stunning as you may find the fact, I don't know everything about every animal that ever lived.”

  “Well, look at it,” Morgan replied, pointing. “That's the body of an herbivore.”

  “Even if it is,” the traveler said, “that doesn't mean it's safe. Jurassic Park was also just a movie, Morgan. Here in real life herbivores can be extremely dangerous. I mean; look at hippopotamuses. They were some of the most territorial creatures Earth had to offer.”

  “Yeah,” the young man nodded. “That's a good point, actually.”

  “It is,” Robert nodded. “Which is why...”

  His statement was interrupted by the creature suddenly bellowing and turning both its heads toward the party.

  “Start with tranq-guns!” the traveler cried as the creature began to charge them.

  Instantly, the party sprang into action. Vox grabbed Celeste by the arm and began leading her away from the scene of the coming conflict, while Robert and Morgan both started spraying darts from their bullpups. Cleo, Azure, and Doc all followed this example and, in mere moments, the monster's flesh was filled with tranquilizer. Sadly, however, this didn't seem to noticeably slow the beast.

  As it drew nearer – pushing trees aside as though they were matchsticks – Captain Hood ordered his crew to switch on their stealth belts (as well as their personal shield generators). The monster seemed monetarily confused by its vanishing foes, but the darts that were still flying at it convinced the creature that they were still there – visible or not.

  Finding one of its senses defeated, it immediately turned to another. The beast lowered its heads and began snuffing the air. Morgan felt that the monstrosity had to be male, as it clearly appeared to be attracted by the scent of the girls. In spite of the ladies' valiant attempts to get beyond its reach, the creature began to quickly close the gap that stood between them.

  “Crom!” Morgan yelled as he charged at the beast, having just fired his last dart.

  Although the young man did manage to insert himself between the monster and the maidens – intent on somehow clubbing it unconscious with his empty gun – the animal's hearing was almost as good as its sense of smell. As a result, it swung one of its twin heads almost directly at him. The young man was struck by the skull of his opponent with more than enough force to break every bone in his body.

  Fortunately, his personal shield generator kept his soul safely inside his body. Unfortunately, when he was knocked from his feet, he fell directly in the animal's path. This was why it stepped on him. As he lay in the dirt, his head – and most of his chest – completely covered by the creature's massive foot, he considered the idea that learning to hold his breath for longer periods of time would almost certainly be a good idea. If the monster didn't move in a minute or so – or if his companions didn't manage to quickly dig him out from under it – he was going to die from lack of oxygen.

  Although it seemed to him as if he had days to contemplate this as it stood on his skull, he was only actually under the beast for about three seconds. As it moved on, still apparently after the ladies, Morgan leapt to his feet, gasping for air, and beat the creature's leg with his empty gun. The animal paid this absolutely no respect.

  As bad as it made him feel to do it, Morgan threw down his bullpup, ripped his energy pistol from its holster, and shot the beast in its knee. This did get its attention.

  One of its heads swung back and struck the currently-invisible young man, knocking him into the monster's side. The creature then snapped at him – having discovered his location with its sense of feeling – and successfully grappled him in its giant jaws. An acute sense of dread filled Morgan's soul as he was jerked off his feet and raised into the air. He suddenly realized that, although his personal shield would almost certainly keep him from being masticated to death, this thing was big enough to swallow him whole. The beast did exactly that.

  More accurately, that's exactly what it tried to do. As luck would have it (or 'fate' as Doc would insist), the monster spun the young man around in its massive mouth and began swallowing him feet first. Morgan would have shot it again (and again, and again), but he had dropped his energy pistol when the thing slammed its head into him. By the time he thought to reach for the three-fifty-seven that was on his hip, his hip was well inside the animal's mouth. As its teeth began chewing on his chest, he realized he was in serious trouble.

  The monster quickly sucked more of Morgan into its mouth while the young man was trying to come up with a plan. One thing was certain: he couldn't just give up and let the thing eat him. As the beast's tongue pushed his head further toward the back of its throat, he decided to do the only thing he could: he grabbed the creature's bottom lip with a death-grip and refused to let go.

  The monstrosity seemed confused by this – having never had this trouble with any of the plants it had eaten over the course of its life – and began trying to dislodge Morgan's hands with its tongue. All this did, however, was push part of the young man out of its mouth, allowing Morgan to improve his grip. At this point, the second head decided to help and began nibbling at the young man's fingers.

  Morgan’s struggle had given Vox and Celeste more than enough time to get in a position where they could attack the monster from what Vox felt was relative safety. The couple filled both the animal's necks with all the tranq-darts they had to shoot. Slowly, but surely, the creature's heads drifted toward the forest floor. At last, the beast collapsed and Morgan was able to wiggle from its maw.

  As he was busy doing this, his companions switched off their shield generators and stealth-belts and f
lew to his side.

  “Good job, Morgan!” Robert said with a smile, reaching down to offer him a hand. “You were the perfect distraction.”

  “Thanks for rushing to our rescue, Conan,” Azure added with a smile.

  “I saved your life again,” the young man asserted, deactivating his own defensive devices.

  “I don't know that I'd go that far,” Cleo chuckled.

  “I don't care,” Morgan replied, shaking his head. “I almost got eaten by the monster. For that, I get a kiss.”

  Having said this, he grabbed Azure by the wrist, pulled her up to his chest, and took the reward he felt he so richly deserved.

  “There'll be time for that later,” Robert pointed out, slapping his friend on the shoulder. “We've got work to do.”

  “The first thing we need to do,” the young man replied, releasing his love as he spoke, “is go back and get some more tranq-darts. How long will that thing be knocked out, by the way?”

  “Probably close to half-an-hour,” Doc replied. “Considering its weight, it certainly won't be much longer than that.”

  “Then we are definitely going to need some more darts,” Morgan opined.

  “No, we're not,” Robert disagreed. “We're almost there.”

  “Not to be argumentative, Rob,” the young man replied, “but, we haven't gone anywhere near five miles.”

  “I know,” the traveler chuckled. “I lied. I just wanted to see what your reaction would be. To be honest, it was kind of muted. I was a little disappointed.”

  For a moment, Morgan merely gazed at him in silence.

  “You're supposed to be working on not lying,” Morgan said.

  “On not lying to the girls,” Robert qualified with a wide smile.

  “How much further do we have to go?”

  “That far,” the traveler replied, pointing a short distance away.

  Just minutes later, they were where they needed to be; strategically placing one bomb after another.

  “Why do we have to put them this far apart?” Morgan asked as he was trudging along through the undergrowth behind Robert.

  “Because,” the traveler replied. “We know the talfen fly is around here somewhere, we just don't know exactly where. We've got to get the poison spread out enough to kill him wherever he is.”