18 - Addressing The Ugly Truths
Hurriedly Levine darted back through the trees, heading in the direction he thought he’d come from. What should have been something so straightforward had, once again, gone to absolute shit and if he’d acted that split-second faster, Thorne’s disappearance might not have come to pass.
Levine cursed loudly to himself. He’d been too slow to save Thorne, too slow to apprehend Ludlow; too slow to see where they’d even gone. After everything he’d experienced on this woeful island, having the team together and in reasonable spirits was a nugget of optimism for him. But watching it dissolve in front of him was sending his head spinning. He thought of Thorne; he thought of Eddie Carr, the poor bastard. He even went so far as to offer a passing thought to Lewis Dodgson.
Death. The Lost World brings death.
He daren’t admit it out loud but Malcolm’s theories might actually have been right. There was no way Dinosauria could have ever survived from antiquity; they were too complex in their own right and they brought about a complexity all of their own. Chaos theory was complicated but articulate, chaos theory the pessimistic naysayer of those who dared to dream. And Ian Malcolm was its smarmy, arrogant mouthpiece—
Levine cursed again, shaking his head. I’m not doing this now, he told himself. Jesus. We need to go get the Doc. With that he continued on as quickly as he could, pushing through the undergrowth. Distantly Levine’s leg throbbed from the raptor wound but the adrenaline coursing through him drove him onward. Clutching Thorne’s flare gun he’d found on the small jungle trail, he followed the sounds of the Tyrannosaur mother and headed into the ferns.
Suddenly the nearby jungle was filled with a brilliant purple light; Levine yelped. Panic soon gave way to confusion as his heart rate slowed and he collected himself. Then it hit him: Twilight Sparkle’s magic. She was casting spells. With a renewed sense of urgency Levine headed for the source of the light, praying to all that was holy that the ponies were okay.
The very fact that Twilight Sparkle was casting spells on Earth left him inherently uneasy. She shouldn’t need to – let alone be able to – and yet Levine was watching her fight nature itself in order to survive. On top of that, at least two people had been killed by dinosaurs in as many days, Dodgson and his sad, failed company knew about this place when they absolutely shouldn’t have, and InGen were up to something incredibly strange by still operating out of Isla Sorna. Nothing was natural about this place; nothing made any sense. It was not as simple as the natural order should have dictated.
Christ. Maybe Malcolm was right.
* * * *
“Fluttershy’s out cold,” Malcolm called. “Sarah, how’s Twilight?”
“Not well,” came a tired response. “She’ll be okay – won’t you, Twi?”
“Mm-hmm.” Twilight was clearly faded, but she had finally stopped vomiting and looked up at Harding with determined eyes. “Yeah, I’ll be fine... but I need some water, please.”
“Of course. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Harding made the short journey to the SUV, producing a water canteen from the satchel Twilight had been wearing. For the briefest moment she paused, the adrenaline pumping hard through her body beginning to fade. She was dizzy, tired, and at this point, pissed off. These last few days had been hellishly difficult for Harding; she had wildly underestimated the strain her body and mind would be put under. Isla Sorna was nothing like Kenya – not that she had expected it to be, but she’d at least thought some of her skills might be useful. But nothing was useful here.
Harding grimaced as an unnatural, negative feeling came creeping over her. The darkness and downright horror that exuded from Isla Sorna was really quite something, and it was getting to her in a big, big way. Sighing she readied herself, summoning a strength from somewhere inside and she headed back, carefully letting the weakened mare take on water. “Here,” Harding said, producing some chocolate from her pocket. “This might help too; get some sugar back in you.”
From the trees there came a rustle and immediately everyone stiffened; Malcolm and Harding particularly tense. But all fears were immediately assuaged as Levine hauled himself from the jungle. He appeared frazzled, wide eyes darting to and fro. The man was in full force. “Guys, I—woah, what happened here?! Are the Equestrians okay? Twilight, what happened? Ian, Sarah? Where are the Rexes? And the Spinosaurus? Why is nobody answering me—”
“Richard that’s enough,” Harding snapped. “Everyone and everypony is okay, but the mares are weak. You know Fluttershy’s just been through a horrible magical ordeal. And Twilight just teleported them both to safety. She’s alright but weak, too, so quit your squawking.” Harding was short.
“Okay, okay. Well – good. I’m glad you’re safe,” he said, making a point of directing his warmth at Twilight. He saw her smile weakly in return. “And you two?”
“Yes, we’re fine,” Malcolm hissed from a short distance away, still crouched next to Fluttershy. “So where – where exactly did you go, Richard?”
“I went to support Jack. I figured one man against two – or more – was foolish, particularly here.”
“That much is wise. The rest, well...” Malcolm shot him an uncomfortably long glare. “So... where is he, where is Jack?”
Wordlessly Levine produced the flare gun from his jacket. “I found this lying on a small trail leading west,” he said cautiously. “They got him.”
“Fantastic,” Malcolm blurted, his eyes flashing wide. “This is all we need. The curse of Isla Sorna hath struck again.” He sighed dramatically, pinching his nose. “And – and how many of them were there, in Ludlow’s party? Did you see where they were headed?”
“I – uh...” Levine faltered. “I didn’t get there in time.” His shoulders slumped; he was defeated.
“God damn it, man—”
“We have to find him.” Harding cut through the bickering; she was steeled. “I doubt Ludlow would murder a man in cold blood. He’s either still alive or they’ll... leave him like they did Dodgson...”
A croaky voice came from the forest floor. “We’re not leaving Doctor Thorne here.” It was Twilight; she had unsteadily risen to her hooves, Harding quick to support her. “We can’t leave anypony here. We leave together.”
Levine flapped. “I – I wasn’t suggesting we leave him—”
“And me either,” spat Malcolm, his frustration clear. “But I wasn’t suggesting we put ourselves in a position where we needed to rescue anyone else at that.” He huffed loudly, marching toward Levine, a forceful finger poking him squarely in the chest. Malcolm was uncharacteristically brutish. “If you had went with Thorne this may have played out differently but you failed to commit.”
“I’m aware of that Ian.”
“Failure to commit in the wild gets you killed. Isn’t that right, Sarah?”
“Cool it Ian, please—”
“Come on man don’t pull Sarah into this—”
“And a lack of commitment is the hallmark of a bad academic at that, too—”
“Enough!” Levine roared. In an equally uncharacteristic display of fury the self-absorbed man spoke. “I have heard enough from you, Doctor Malcolm, the oh-so-mighty and wise and always right soothsayer that you claim to be. Can it. We can all see through you. I see you’re just as scared as the rest of us. Well you know what? You didn’t have to come here. You could have chosen to stay at home and postulate how each of us would be killed at that hands of chaos theory.” Levine was wide and animated, eyes flaring up and his temper boiling over.
“Doctor Levine, stop this, now.” Twilight spoke up but it was to no avail, Levine had cracked.
“You impress nobody,” he continued, verbally pinning Malcolm to the wall. “This whole time you’ve impressed nobody, dragging this expedition down. You’re a metaphorical ball-and-chain, and any time we’ve encountered difficulty you’ve been reactive rather than be proactive. People like you get killed in the wild as per the laws of nature—”
“Do not speak to Ian like that,” Harding said coldly, following Levine’s bitter vitriol with her own. “He is flawed in many ways but he’s much stronger than you’ll ever know—”
“Sarah I can look after myself, especially with Richard—”
“—Remember he’s already seen these dinosaurs? He knows these animals Richard. Unlike you. Without him you’d be dead for sure. We’d all be dead. Dead and useless and shit.” Harding had finally unwound, giving in to her frazzled temper.
“So – you’re – both – as bad as each other? Come on, Sarah, I know you’re not really like this—”
“Please?!” came Twilight’s forceful reply, finally halting the impish argument unfolding before her. “Are we really going to drag each other down now? Of all moments? Look at yourselves!” She huffed. “I thought you were all above petty shots at one another when the going got tough. Come on. Every time we disagree we descend into chaos – and I’m sorry Doctor Malcolm but chaos is the most negative of all magical forces – and the only way we’re going to get out of this place is together—”
“So you keep saying—”
“For a reason, Doctor Levine. Because it’s true.” With that, Twilight trotted with purpose towards the now-stirring Fluttershy, sighing deeply. She knelt next to her, turning back to the others. “The map that Fluttershy and I picked up a few days ago says there’s a geo-thermal power plant a little to the west of here. We should probably head there – if it’s not where Mr Ludlow was heading then we’ll at least be somewhere that’ll hopefully offer more clues.”
“Yeah. Very sensible, Twilight.” Harding was curt, outwardly stressed. “We can take the SUV.”
“Uh, no we can’t. Thorne had the keys.” Levine, too, was short.
“Great! Then we’ll walk.” Harding headed back to the SUV, grabbing Twilight’s satchel and slinging it over her shoulder. She smiled meekly at the two mares – now upright, if not a little worse for wear – and impudently brushed past Levine, heading along a westerly track.
Malcolm followed suit. “I will work with you until we get off this hellhole, Richard. But do not think for a second this means I like you. At all.” With that he caught up to Harding.
Glancing back at the ponies – Twilight offering something between a reassuring nod and a directive to press on – Levine drew a haggard breath, following Malcolm and Harding. He was some distance behind them but close enough to keep them in view; Fluttershy and Twilight were just a little ways back. The atmosphere in the group was poisonous and unpleasant – a collapse of unity seemed to be rooting its way in. Egos and tensions that had threatened peace before finally seemed to be taking hold. After everything they’d been through. And Levine did not like it, not at all.
He felt lonelier than ever as he followed the narrow track into the jungle.
Lord let this nightmare end.
* * * *
Twilight wasn’t entirely sure how long everypony had been walking for but the night was endless and very, very dark. But instinct told her that they were making reasonable progress. The group had been pressing on in near-silence; occasionally Fluttershy would reassure Twilight, and she would reply in kind. Very sparingly Malcolm and Harding would check in with one another, most of the interaction short and to-the-point. Levine had said nothing for the duration.
In all honesty Twilight had shocked herself with how little she had spoken to anypony. Whilst she was far from Pinkie Pie, she certainly wasn’t about to turn down conversation with a world-renowned mathematician, animal behaviourist and palaeontologist. And yet, she was so mentally spent and magically drained that she had little desire to do so. Despite being relieved to see that everypony seemed reasonably well given the circumstances, the feeling in amongst them all was tense and cold. Before, Twilight had seen promise that the magic of friendship might have some effect. Now she was beginning to feel that there was no hope for anypony here at all. Levine, whilst gifted, was too obtuse and arrogant to effectively reach out and work with others. Malcolm was far too condescending and self-righteous to take others seriously despite a real concern for the well-being of other folk, and Harding – the one Twilight had respected the most of them all for her empathy – was a little too tribal and quick to deal with issues by shouting the loudest. And there was just something about the island that seemed to bring out the worst in everypony. Twilight sighed; she was disappointed. These were good people. These were people who had worked so very hard in their own fields, formed academic networks, friendships – relationships, even. These were surely good people. But for whatever reason, they seemed to wear their negativity on their sleeve. It seemed to be the trait that came out the most under pressure and she could not understand why. This was not the first time Twilight had thought this, and more worryingly so was that a new thought had taken hold quite prominently in her mind.
What if all humanity is like this?
She blinked, taken aback at the weight of such a thought. Shaking her head, she allowed a moment.
Perhaps the foul magic of Isla Sorna is getting to me...
Doing her best to pull herself out of her negative spiral she decided enough was enough – she was going to strike up conversation, and she was going to engage in a topic that she felt hadn’t really been concluded yet.
“Doctor Malcolm?” She was uneasy speaking to him but allowed scientific curiosity – rather than her concerns – to take the lead.
Up ahead Malcolm faltered, turning his head to see Twilight trotting towards him. “How you doing, Twilight? Are you – are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m okay, thank you. I—”
“Twilight, listen,” Harding said, interrupting the flow. “I wanna apologise for earlier. Things got ugly, and none of us needed that.”
“I agree,” Malcolm sighed. “You didn’t need to see that.”
“I appreciate that,” she offered with a smile. “Thank you.” Twilight paused for a moment, happy that an apology had come to pass but not convinced her opinions on anypony had quite changed. “Listen, Doctor Malcolm... I wanted to ask your thoughts on chaos theory now that we’ve been here for a few days.”
Levine mumbled something beneath his breath.
“Sure. Fire away,” Malcolm replied simply. He could sense the group’s fatigue at the sound of the words chaos theory, but he’d been expecting Twilight Sparkle to re-address this at some point.
“You said in your seminar all those months ago that dinosaurs died out because of the sudden and radical change to their surroundings. And as I understood it, they adapted too much or not enough and so they stopped existing.”
“That’s about the length of it, correct...”
“So how have these dinosaurs been able to survive for so long on their own on this island? It seems that they’ve not really been interfered with very much – shouldn’t they have adapted themselves out of existence?”
Without missing a beat Malcolm was in full flow. His venomous tone from before had all but vanished as an academic enthusiasm took hold. “I once told John Hammond that life finds a way. Life – uh – will find a way to adapt in the face of adversity. And that is true. Now in the case of dinosaurs from antiquity, life found a way for them to thrive two hundred million years ago and when they were faced with the edge of chaos they failed to adapt correctly, and so it was that they became extinct. Twilight, these creatures here are not dinosaurs. They are monsters, aberrant creations, designed to emulate dinosaurs.”
“Yeah.”
“Hammond and Ludlow would tell you otherwise but they are not scientists. They fail to see the accuracy and the math and the philosophy of it all. These are as close to dinosaurs as we are likely to get. But they – they are not true dinosaurs. True dinosaurs are the work of nature; these are the work of man. And the reason that they still exist? Because life finds a way. Clearly, whatever these things are have found a niche in nature that fits them, and are adapting effectively. They’re reproducing naturally as we have seen. But remember they are not real dinosaurs – look at those Spinosaurs that showed up. Barely resembled an actual Spinosaurus if I’m correct.”
“I believe you are, yeah.”
“But the – the worrying thing here is that they exist at all, and are so successful at doing so. Much as dinosaurs failed at the edge of chaos when presented with sudden change; humanity is gambling with failure on the edge of chaos it has created for itself by genetically engineering dino-creatures.” He paused. “We could be writing our own death warrant with what we’ve seen here.”
Twilight was silent for some time, processing what she’d heard. “Why didn’t you speak up about the park after 1993? If it concerns you that much?”
“I’m... not too sure,” came a delayed reply. “I think I felt at the time that the issue was self-contained. That was before I knew about this place. That is of course not to mention that I was recovering for some time from my initial visit to Jurassic Park. There was, also, the non-disclosure act we were legally obliged to sign. I figure I didn’t want to rock the boat too much at the time. A self-contained issue that could resolve itself and I could forget about? That – that would have made my recovery so very much easier at the time. Both physically and mentally, you understand.” Malcolm was uneasy.
“Even then, surely gambling with the safety of humanity is worth the risk of going public—”
“Humanity gambles with its own safety on a daily basis,” Malcolm said quickly. “Twilight, there is plenty of beauty in this world. Look around you. See the forest. Smell the damp ferns; hear the distant animal calls; look at the stars and when the sun rises watch the colour of the sky. See the good people doing good work. But there is an ugly underbelly, too. Governments engaging in unscrupulous activity to make money. Abuse of the natural world. Secrets like this.” He gestured widely. “I’m sorry to break this to you but Planet Earth is a flawed place. A beautiful one, but a flawed one.”
In all the time she had known Ian Malcolm, Twilight had not heard him sound so defeated. Not least in his species but in himself. But she had read the history books and she had studied political systems and operations: whilst she did not believe Earth was completely under the spell of this negative magic she could absolutely see where Malcolm was coming from.
“It’s called the human condition,” he added with a sigh. “We are good, and we are bad. A species of grey, if you will.”
“T-thank you, Doctor Malcolm.” Twilight was taken aback. What started as chaos theory had become depressive nihilism. “That just about answers it.” With a somewhat forced smile she trotted back to Fluttershy, who had been half-listening.
“I didn’t follow too much of that,” she offered.
“Oh, you didn’t miss much.” Twilight paused. “You didn’t miss too much, to be honest.”
“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Fluttershy said simply. “It’s horrible.”
“It is. The sooner we can leave the island, the better...”
“I agree.”
At the head of the group Harding looked to Malcolm. “That was particularly grim,” she said.
“I – I know.” Malcolm was quiet. “But it is true. Maybe to a greater or lesser degree but that’s a different debate for a different day.”
“You didn’t paint us in an especially good light. What’s Twilight gonna take back to Equestria with her?”
“A whole lot of negative feelings, I should think.” As he walked Malcolm could feel his shoulders dropping. “God, Sarah, I’m so tired of this place. It’s getting to my head.”
“I think we all are,” she said gravely.
* * * *
“It must be said, Peter,” Tembo began gravely as the group pushed through the undergrowth. “Calling in for a helicopter to get us to the geothermal plant would have been considerably easier. Or, perhaps, just off of the island.”
Ludlow sighed. “You are correct.” Of course Tembo was correct. It would have taken the team less than five minutes to arrive there by air as opposed to the thirty or so minutes they’d been walking. “But, alas. We’d have needed to wait for the aircraft – in which time we may well have been compromised yet further by the Equestrians. And I’ve no doubt that everyone here knows we could not afford that.” He looked back at the Griffons; a small nod from the Tsar acknowledging he’d been heard. “When we arrive at the facility I will call for an aircraft to pick you and I up, but we will need to see our dear friends away safely from the island and not the continent. The only Matter Transporters available to us on the mainland would be those now connected to the International Switchboard, Roland – and you may recall the political red tape surrounding our machine?”
“Yes, I remember.” And remember he did, all too well. Ludlow had previously been squawking for so long some time ago, insisting on receiving Tsar Gavrel and Grigorii prior to the International Switchboard getting their ‘invasive hands’ on InGen’s Matter Transporter. Indeed, Tembo surmised it’d be difficult for any InGen employees to forget Ludlow’s comments regarding the global Matter Transporter monitoring network. For months it was all he would speak of. But for good reason – InGen’s Transporter hadn’t been officially sanctioned and neither had it been legally declared upon successful inter-realm travel. To this day Tembo had no idea how Ludlow was able to avoid having the device confiscated, let alone avoiding imprisonment. Aloof and bloody-minded, perhaps; but Ludlow was one hell of a politician and businessman. And so, Tembo did have to concede to the man somewhat. Making use of the Matter Transporter on Isla Sorna did make a lot of sense. An off-grid device should allow for the Griffon royalty to return home undetected – and certainly it’d make any business they were to do with InGen a lot easier.
Not that Tembo cared much for that. He had long since made up his mind that upon returning to the mainland and receiving the remainder of his generous pay packet, he would wave goodbye to Ludlow and InGen and the whole sorry affair. Tracking wild animals was one thing, dealing with dinosaurs another. But doing dinosaur-related business with alien Griffons? He drew the line there, for sure. Griffons and ponies and dinosaurs and politics. Hardly an easy existence.
“Here we are,” Ludlow announced proudly, pulling Tembo from his thoughts. Finally the ragtag group had made it to the facility – a small industrial frontage built into the foot of the great mountain. “It may not look much from outside, but within the earth lies the engine-room of Isla Sorna: the geothermal power plant.” Ludlow spoke with a dramatic flair – something that did not go unnoticed – as he gestured widely at the mountain. “Your Highness, Duke, Roland: if you’d follow me inside we can promptly head to the Matter Transporter Station.”
“Most excellent,” Gavrel said quietly. “Thank you.” With that, the Tsar and his Duke followed Ludlow inside.
Tembo took a moment on the concrete steps, looking back out across the small and now-overgrown courtyard. He surveyed the treeline – dark and intimidating in the night, surely concealing anything that had tracked them here. He shuddered at the thought. But his natural instinct told him that they were reasonably safe and to that end he finally entered the facility itself.
“All seems okay out there Roland?”
“For now. But let’s keep moving and not play with chance.”
“Good. I’ve just called for our helicopter, it will meet us in thirty minutes – so we should move quickly. Everyone, follow me please,” Ludlow said aloud, starting down a stone corridor. “Do take care under footing – as you can see nature has begun the process of reclaiming this site.” And he was not wrong: weeds and shrubs had sprouted through the tiled floor, vines clinging on to the stone walls. The light fittings had been swamped with moss and overgrowth and the once-proud, clean facility appeared... tired. Functional, perhaps. But certainly forgotten in time.
With one final double-take, Tembo followed the group into the bowels of the facility. He was uncharacteristically off-guard, his head less focussed on the immediate threat that could be lurking around each corner and more thinking of getting home. Indeed, he noted a strange mood within the team; evidently he was not the only one feeling that the end was in sight.
There also remained an uneasy tension regarding what to do with the bearded man Grigorii had beaten into submission. Whilst erring on the side of neutrality, Tembo understood why the Griffon had acted in such a manner – indeed, the parallels with how he had handled Lewis Dodgson were never far from his mind. However, eventually somebody would have to call the shots on what to do with him and Tembo felt that he’d left enough people for dead on this godforsaken island. If that’s what the others wished to with him so be it. But he sure as hell would not be the one to decide.
He simply pressed on, following the group in silence.
“So,” said Tsar Gavrel in his cool, collected nature, breaking the awkward atmosphere as they navigated the corridors. “I feel it would be good to at least begin discussing business, now that we are out of harm’s way.”
“Of course.” Ludlow did not look back, focussing on navigating the site. “I’m sure once we’re back home we can finalise things properly, but it’d certainly be good to bounce some ideas back and forth. What did you have in mind, Your Highness?”
“Just a... few points of interest. Firstly. We will move ahead with plans discussed as before,” Gavrel began. He spoke slowly; deliberately. “I see very little reason to amend the construction phase. Send your architects, Mr Ludlow: my comrades will do the heavy lifting. But you remember this must be clandestine, for now.”
“I understand.”
“We will open when the main exhibits are completed, and populated. And we will open with a Tyrannosaurus Rex.”
“A good choice, Sir,” Ludlow hummed. “It may take some time for us to incubate and grow a Tyrannosaur for you—”
“And a Spinosaurus.”
“Oh! Well – certainly she will be a crowd-pleaser, no doubt.” Ludlow had not expected the Tsar to request two apex predators – each came with a substantial price tag – but business was, at the end of the day, still business. “Again, as per the Tyrannosaurus, she will take some time to—”
“I would also very much like to buy the Spinosaurus rights from you, and would like your scientists to teach ours your company’s ways of working.”
Ludlow faltered, but only for a moment. This request had come out of the blue; there had been no indication that the Griffons wanted the science and technology for themselves. Selling Gavrel dinosaurs, sure – Ludlow knew he could do that, and the InGen Board of Directors had green-lit this – but actually handing over company assets and knowledge was a completely different affair. “I shall have to speak to the Board,” Ludlow offered meekly in response. “That’s quite the request, Your Highness, but I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement.”
“I’m sure we can, Mr Ludlow.” Gavrel fell back slightly, glancing to Grigorii. “We will have their technologies,” he all but whispered in their native tongue.
“Da, moy Korol’.”
“And how is our interloper?” Gavrel asked Grigorii; obviously louder this time, and in plain English.
Grigorii shifted the weight of Thorne around on his shoulders. “Seems to remain out cold. What a pity.” He guffawed, a crooked smiling arcing across his beak.
“Indeed.”
From somewhere deep within the facility – and after a reasonably long silence – came a dull thud, and the group stopped in their tracks.
“I wouldn’t like to say for sure,” Tembo said finally, feeling a slight release of pent-up tension. “But I am not convinced that the creaking of the power station produced that sound.”
“Hmm.” Ludlow nodded once, slowly. “The geothermal station does have a history of clattering and creaking, but it seems prudent not to test that historical record tonight. We should press on,” and with that he abruptly marched along the hallway.
Tembo noted the heightened atmosphere and was quick to follow. Vigilance will guide me home.
* * * *
Grigorii had said very little as he followed the meek Ludlow and His Highness deeper into this odd power station but he was unsettled by a number of things he’d seen. Firstly, why was the facility getting hotter and hotter the further he went? The science of geothermal energy was something very new to him – and he had a very loose understanding of what the words meant, based on the discussions with the Tsar previously – but surely only the energy production side of the facility would be so hot? It was all rather strange. Perhaps it did make sense. Perhaps they were closer to the magma than he had first realised. Either way, whatever the explanation: Grigorii was not at ease, not at all.
Secondly, why had nature been able to so successfully reclaim these halls? For somewhere apparently ‘up-and-running’ it looked in complete ruin. The meek man Ludlow had said that it hadn’t been used in some time but it was hardly a welcome sight, and surely something that would not make a good first impression for his King. Nonetheless, the Hunter Tembo was doing a good job of hacking his way through the thick shrubbery and vines. That was at least something.
Lastly – and perhaps most disturbingly – were the various signs of animal activity throughout. A few vent grates had given way and collapsed inward, claw marks scuffing the walls and floors around them. But it was the blood stains that concerned Grigorii the most. He didn’t know if any of his comrades present had seen any of them – surely the Hunter would have picked up on them – but he couldn’t be certain. That said, he thought there were enough to be unsettled so why did nobody else? Indeed, it hadn’t taken him long to notice the stains along the skirting of the walls, as if something was being dragged down the passageways. And with each patch of ferns and shrubs he’d noticed something more; blood-soaked flooring tiles and splash marks on the walls and ceilings, suggesting a more frenzied movement. As if animals were fighting.
No, it did not set him at ease whatsoever but he opted not to air his worries. They were close now. Just a little more, a little further, and they’d be on their way to safety. Grigorii knew the Tsar was diligent and wise; he would evade dinosaur attack. He didn’t much care what happened to either of the humans in his presence but he assumed at least the Hunter could fight his way out of trouble. As for his captive, Grigorii cared even less about. Truth be told, he’d barely thought of the bearded man: he became so accustomed to carrying his weight that it made very little difference to him. He’d likely leave him for dead. Something would probably have killed him anyway.
A honk from down the hall and beyond the thicket where Tembo was hacking away created a moment of chaos; Grigorii instinctively leapt in front of the Tsar. But all panic was immediately quelled as through the brush came a pair of small, beaked creatures – and as quickly as they had appeared, they disappeared, their honks and scurrying feet taking them further down the halls.
“Leptoceratops,” Tembo said, waist-deep in the dense ferns. “They’ll do us no harm.”
“Hm.” Tsar Gavrel responded curtly. “Let’s hope they are the only creatures here. May we soon reach the Transporter.”
“We will,” Ludlow offered warmly. “Please, my friends, worry not.”
“Thank you.” Gavrel immediately turned to Grigorii, ensuring Ludlow was more occupied with Tembo’s work. “Something else inhabits this place. Do you sense them?”
“I do.” Grigorii knew the wise King would have picked up on the subtleties, too.
“We are nearly home. But we are not there yet.” Gavrel leaned in closer, defaulting to his mother tongue. “I do not like being put at risk, Duke Glebovich. The meek one is stupid but we only need to tolerate him for a short while.”
“Thank the Almighty,” he responded in kind.
“Should we be under immediate threat, use the bearded one. We have no use for him, really. I am quite surprised you’ve carried him this far, after all.”
Grigorii simply shrugged. “As am I.”
“Route’s clear,” came Tembo from beyond the vines. “We can get through now.”
Grigorii looked up; sure enough the Hunter had carved a way through the impasse. With a silent nod to Gavrel he hastened his step. The end was in sight now, finally. It hadn’t been a particularly long day but it had been hard enough – and oh bozhe the humans were insufferable for the most part of it.
* * * *
...
...
...
From somewhere quite unsteady and uncomfortably hot a flicker of consciousness stirred; Doc Thorne could feel his head coming to. Goddamn it did he feel sick. He tried to stir but his body felt so very heavy, his arms and legs utterly useless. On top of that his head was pounding something awful. He could distantly feel motion, unsure of quite where he was or what was going on and it was all too apparent that moving was way out the question, for now.
Shit.
He blinked once, twice – and finally opened his eyes, so very slowly. He could hardly see in the dim light and his vision was blurred, but slowly shapes formed, betraying a strange facility and corridors and foliage. Thorne tried to blink again but his bleary eyes did him no favours, and he had no idea where in the hell he was. But then, as his brain began to fire, memories returned to him. Ludlow, the prick. The man with the rifle. And those... things.
That was it. He’d been attacked by Ludlow’s odd companions. It was coming back to him.
Had Thorne possessed the strength to thrash and fight he knew he’d have done so but there was nothing in the tank; he was in a heady, physical stupor. Not to mention he knew there was no way he could overpower the lion-eagles that had abducted him. And then it finally hit him that one of those monsters was carrying him on its back. That was frightening enough and instinct told him to do something, anything, but Thorne found himself powerless. And he was no fool – he wasn’t about to expend energy he didn’t have or couldn’t afford. And so he resigned himself to this odd fate, a prisoner on the back of a strange creature. His eyes rolled about in his head and he struggled to focus and keep them open, slipping in and out of consciousness.
Thorne’s head lolled to the side, startling him from the black and his eyes batted open once more. His vision was compromised, sure, and his brain unreliable and fuzzy but something had caught his attention and it sent a cold, paralyzing chill down his spine. His brain was absolutely filling in the gaps but there was definitely something there. Way back up at the top of the corridor. The chill turned to a blood-flushing horror as three slender forms with long arms and snouts full of flesh-shredding teeth padded round the hallway’s corner. They lurked a long way back, but their snouts seemed hawkishly trained on him. As if he was the one being observed, rather than the way it should have been.
It was honestly quite difficult to see in the dim light, and even in his current state he knew he couldn’t fully trust his own brain.
But those things sure did look like Velociraptors.
Thorne drew a sharp breath, and promptly slipped out of consciousness again.
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Spinosaurus, the dino that just keeps on getting weirder and weirder.
Truth be told, it's quite saddening to see Twilight slowly lose faith in humanity. I do think Malcolm's assessment that we're both good and bad is correct, but the, I prefer to focus and cultivate that good side. I'm kind of a glass-half-full sort of guy.
I know this story started out with Twilight all but admitting defeat, but I do hope she can see that for all of our faults, we're not necessarily hopeless.
Great chapter again.
The adventure is taking its toll on them, but I have no doubt they will get back up. Twilight has seen the different sides of humanity, but I'm sure she will not lose faith in her human friends.
Take your time for the next part of this wonderful fanfic!
10250114
Hey! Thanks for checking in again. :)
Spinosaurus, eh? What a strange creature it was. Incredibly interesting! And the more we learn, the more bizarre and frightening it becomes!
As for the 'optimism / pessimism' thing I'm more glass half-full than empty myself - there is definitely a lot of shade and a lot of grey within us but you're absolutely right regarding cultivating the good and joy in life. It's the only way to live!
As for the impact this'll have on The Lost Ponies? It's been absolutely saddening to see the affect this adventure has had on her, and I really struggled to write this chapter and gauge where Twilight's head would be. I do feel that after everything she'd really be losing hope at this point - not least of all due to her company who have all but lost hope themselves.
However! I do have one trick left up my sleeve; all will be revealed in the next chapter (or two, I'm not quite sure when the event will occur but something's brewing).
Either way, good to hear from you again and thank you for reading. Stay safe. :)
10250163
Thanks as ever for weighing in! More to come, I' feel I've found my rhythm with things again and am looking forward to writing the next few chapters. :)
Great chapter!
welcome to Jurassic park
10250213
Thank you! More to follow. :)
10250322
Welcome indeed. ;)
10250460
thanks
Let me guess the Lost World Movie. Cool. Then the bull T-Rex is going to terrorize San Diego on a destructive rampage.
Sonic: I thought those guys were extinct!!
Tails: Well that's one angry fossil!
10352133
Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for your comments, too.
There is more to come! I'm now back at work so times are busy, but the next chapter is nearing completion :)
9912980
I actually like it. I’m not biggest or racist but. The writing feels like the book and truly feels like I’m in the 90s again. The Lost World was my favorite movie franchise
Can I have some more please? I need dinosauce, and 2020 was bad. Need lots of dinosauce yo make me whole again
10686720
Ok.
Boy am I enjoying reading this! I hope you’ll continue this. Take the time you need with these chapters, I’ll be waiting. We all will.