The Copernicus Deception (The Human Chronicles Saga Book 15) (10 page)

The guards, who had flash weapons drawn and were advancing on the writhing line of subdued prisoners, suddenly stopped in their tracks and stared at the surrounding jungle. Even the moans from the prisons dropped several decimals.

All around the compound dinosaurs were appearing, slowly at first, testing the security lines. Then night erupted with streaks of light from the shiny balls atop the towers. Yet the flood of light lasted only for a few seconds, as reserve battery power fell to zero from the high number of simultaneous discharges. Then the beasts returned, again testing the line. They grew bolder when no corresponding flashes were produced.

Adam waited for the guards to begin firing their flash weapons, which they did with little effect.

Adam felt a looming presence near him, a rustling of the broad leaves along with radical movement of trees and vines. Then he heard heavy breathing—a deep, almost gurgling growl.

The jungle around him began to separate.

A huge beast resembling a T-Rex moved past on his right, not more than five meters away. It poked its huge head out from the jungle cover and sniffed the air with flaring nostrils. Then a thick, muscled leg lifted over Adam as the creature entered the clearing between the tree line and the building where Coop lay incapacitated.

The guards were busy getting killed, as half a dozen dinosaurs or more—primarily of two predator species—stalked the compound, roaming with impunity and snatching up both guards and prisoners at an alarming rate.

The animal near Adam focused on the barracks building, before taking a long step in that direction.

Adam was on his feet, grasping the handle of a laser-tipped chainsaw as he ran. He lifted the tool, triggered the controls and took a wide swipe at a knobby-skinned leg of the towering beast. As with the guards, the cutter sliced through the flesh, but with more resistance this time. Still, the effect was immediate and pronounced.

The mighty creature let out a deafening roar, while jerking its leg away from Adam and twisting its thick neck around to see what had caused the pain. The dinosaur turned in his direction, the huge mouth widening as it came.

Adam ran toward the thick torso and jumped. In mid-air, he swung the chainsaw above him, pointing the tip directly at the gray, leathery skin. The bar—with its rotating line of blue-light laser cutters—disappeared into the flesh of the beast, penetrating all the way to the forward handle. Then with Adam hanging on, the spinning chain of burning light began to open a seam in the side of the creature, extending toward the ground, using Adam’s weight to pull it downward.

This time, the anguished cry of the beast was even more pronounced and high-pitched. It literally jumped in the air, lurching toward the barracks. Adam was nearly to the ground when he felt a blast of hot, foul air on his back. He looked over his left shoulder and all he could see was the gaping dark abyss of the dinosaur’s throat, framed by twin rows of deadly teeth.

Without thinking, Adam yanked the still-spinning chainsaw from the side of the creature and pushed off with his feet. He flew through the night air, past the rows of razor-sharp teeth, and landed on a mat of soft, sticky flesh at the back of the beast’s throat.

A Human-size tongue slid toward him, attempting to locate the foreign object and guide it to its teeth. Adam lifted the chainsaw in a defensive move, and half the red tongue was sliced off.

The dinosaur let out a deafening roar while tilting its head upwards. Adam began to slide further down the throat. His brain was rattled by the incredible volume and vibration coming from the twin flaps of skin that were the vocal cords of the creature. Adam grimaced with pain, before swiping at the vibrating sheets of flesh with the chainsaw.

Immediately, the sound stopped, all except a sickly gurgling as blood flooded the dinosaur’s throat. The beast began to jerk its head back and forth. Out of desperation, Adam planted the bar of the chainsaw into the soft flesh of the throat to create an anchor. If not for this, he would have been thrown free, and through the gauntlet of the sword-like teeth.

There had to be another way out.

With the chainsaw still spinning, Adam braced his feet against the side of the throat and pushed, pressing the tip of the cutter further into the flesh. Rocking the tool up and down, Adam was able to open a long slice, which he shimmied into, using his knees and feet to press farther into the opening. Soon he was out of the throat and working his way deeper into the beast. He was operating blind, his eyes squeezed shut, protected from the torrent of blood filling the cut. He also held his breath. If he didn’t find a cavity somewhere soon, he would—

The tip of the chainsaw suddenly lost all resistance, and a moment later Adam spilled out of the belly of the beast and into a puddle of mushy mud. He took a deep breath and sat up, only to be showered by a cascade of gooey blood, infused with globs of yellow mucus. Adam wiped the discharge from his face.

The mortally wounded beast staggered forward, leaving Adam alone in the mud. But then it fell forward, crushing the front end of the barracks building with its massive body.

Adam scrambled to his feet. The back half of the building was still intact, barely. He ran to the back door, still clutching the cycling chainsaw.

He crashed through the door, past the bathrooms and into the main barracks.

Several prisoners, their collars still on, rolled on the floor, while some of the more hardy among them rushed past and out the back door.

Adam entered the segregated section where he’d left Copernicus Smith.

Coop was sitting on one of the bunks, a sheet stuffed between his collar and the skin of his neck. From the pained look on his face, it wasn’t helping much.

His mouth fell open at the sight of Adam, covered entirely in a coat of thick, dark blood.

“It’s okay,” Adam said. “It’s not my blood.”

Then he concentrated on Coop’s collar, able now to see the faint reading that was the locking mechanism. With a clunk, the thick, metal collar fell to the floor.

“Is this the signal I was supposed to wait for?” Coop said with a weak smile. He was drained from nearly ten minutes of constant electric shock of varying strength.

“I wanted to make sure you noticed.”

Coop nodded. “Subtle, but effective. I take it you found Kaylor and Jym.”

“They’re at the tree line, along with Riyad. He’s been shot.”

As the pair ran from the barracks, Coop asked, “Is he okay?”

“It was a level-2. Burns like hell and it will leave a scar, but he’ll be fine.”

They reached the spot where Kaylor and Jym knelt near Riyad, who was sitting up now. The light drizzle had washed most of the dinosaur blood from Adam’s skin, although his clothes—what remained of them—were now stained a dark burgundy.

Kaylor, Jym and Riyad didn’t seem to notice. They were too distracted by what was happening in the compound. Adam and Coop turned to look, too.

Only a couple of the emergency lights now lit the area, but it were enough to show a bloody feeding frenzy taking place. Dinosaurs rushed about, scooping up running guards or writhing prisoners, while two other beasts were now munching on the dead T-Rex Adam had killed, ripping huge sections of tough, bloody flesh from the corpse. More creatures emerged from the jungle, many making a beeline for Adam’s fallen victim, attracted by the scent of warm blood.

“Help Riyad. We have to get out of here,” Adam cried out.

“Were to?” Kaylor asked.

Chapter 13

“Into the jungle—” He raised his hand to squelch the coming protest. “It looks like most of the jungle creatures are going to be preoccupied for a while. It’s our only chance. Now move!”

Adam still had his trusty chainsaw, so he led the way. The glowing chain provided some light; Adam hoped it wasn’t enough to attract any of the dinosaurs. Kaylor and Coop helped Riyad, who was weak on his feet and grimacing with every step, especially when leaves or branches brushed across his angry wound. The mud helped, but now he ripped away a wet leaf from a passing plant and pressed it against the burn.

Adam glanced back and saw a look of relief cross his friend’s face…moments before his eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open. He jerked away from his helpers and dove face first to the muddy jungle floor. Adam stopped.

“What the hell?”

Riyad rolled over, the entire front of his body now covered in mud. “There was something in that leaf. And I thought it hurt before!” The others helped him to his feet “It’s better now.”

“Probably some kind of acid,” Adam said with a smile. “Let that be a lesson to you.”

“Oh yeah…as if you wouldn’t have done the same thing.”

“I’ve had jungle training, smartass. And if I’m not mistaken, I don’t think they had a lot of jungles in Lebanon.”

“Your training was something like a century ago,” Riyad countered.

Adam resumed slicing through the jungle growth. A few minutes later, he stopped again. “You notice anything unusual?” he asked.

“It’s getting thinner,” said Copernicus.

“What’s getting thinner?” Kaylor asked.

“The jungle,” Jym replied. He began to nod.

“Why are you nodding?” Adam asked.

“Just look,” said the tiny bear. “It
is
getting thinner, and it will only improve.”

“How do you know that?” Coop asked.

“It is because I come from a world similar to this. We also have aggressive forests. Don’t you see what’s happening?”

Adam could now see several meters to the front and the sides. The jungle had indeed thinned out, and the muddy ground had given way to a cushy mat of moss and fallen leaves. A near-constant drizzle of rain fell from the canopy over a hundred meters above them.

“What’s going on, Jym?” he commanded.

“The jungle is like a huge, living organism. As it is attacked, it strives to repair the damage, even to defend itself, against such attack. As a result, the jungle becomes thicker near where it has been cut back. The more you cut, the more it fights back. Yet the further from the damage, the more natural the growth becomes, as we witness now.”

They had stopped in a small clearing. Adam concentrated with his ATD and began to gather a small ball of negative ions from the atmosphere. They ignited to create a one-inch ball of light floating in the air above them.

“What…is…that?” Coop asked.

“It’s a static electricity ball,” Adam replied. “It’s harmless.”

“Won’t it attract attention?”

“It might. It might also scare off anything around here. This way we’ll be able to better see our way. And I still have the chainsaw.”

“So where are we going, oh great leader?” Riyad groaned.

Through the sparkling light, Adam looked around. It was clear where the jungle was the thickest; it was to their left. “The road is this way,” he said pointing. We’ll skirt along the thick growth. Eventually it will rise up in front of us when we reach the city. It took two hours of slow driving through inches of mud. We should be able to make good time on this mat, but we still have a four hour hike ahead of us, if not more. I’d really like to get back to Swiv before daybreak. Are you up for a brisk hike, Riyad?”

“With this gravity, maybe we should jog. I’m feeling better, really I am.”

“Kaylor, Jym, how are you holding up?”

“Surprisingly well,” Kaylor said. “The gravity here is weaker than even we’re used to—is this how you feel all the time?”

Adam smiled. “Okay, then a light jog it is. Remember to lean into your strides, otherwise you’ll just hop up and down in place. Coop, keep an eye on Riyad. He may not let on that he’s getting tired, until he collapses. I’d rather go a little slower than to have to carry his useless bag of bones.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“We’ll see. Now everyone form up on me. I’ll keep the light above and slightly ahead of us. Okay, let’s move out.”

********

The limiting factor in their journey ended up being Jym. Although he could run faster in the light gravity of Visidor, he was still handicapped by the shortness of his legs. As it turned out, for the Humans they moved along at slightly more than the pace of a brisk walk.

It was hard to tell time in the confines of the jungle, with no watch or even the stars to go by. After what seemed to be an hour’s march, they stopped to let Copernicus work his way through the thick bush to verify if there really was a road on the other side. He returned a few minutes later drenched to the bone from the water of the jungle.

“It’s there, all right,” he confirmed. “And there’s a whole caravan of vehicles headed for the prison. Even if we had taken a vehicle, everything’s moving in only one direction, away from the city.”

“Could you see anything that might tell us how much farther we have to go?”

“I did notice that most of the trucks are relatively clean, not like the ones that made the full trip. I’d say we’re about half way there.”

Everyone fell silent as they heard a low growl coming from the forest. Panicked eyes scanned the shadows.

“I told you that light would attract something.”

“There!” said Jym, pointing.

It was a pair of red eyes staring at them from the jungle depths. They appeared to hover about two meters off the ground.

Adam command the static ball to drop lower and close on the pair of beady eyes. The beast moved off to the left. Adam’s mind control matched the movements of the creature.

The beast stopped, fascinated by the moving light. Adam sent a command to the crackling ball of light, and it shot off toward the set of red, unblinking eyes. With just a glimpse, the group saw a slick coat of shiny black fur before the beast spun and ran away.

“Looked like a panther,” Riyad said. “A
fayd
.”

“Yeah, a fayd about the size of an elephant.”

“Luckily they scare easily.”

“Let’s move on,” Adam said. “The next one may have bigger balls.”

“I did not see any balls on the beast,” Jym said. “Are you referring to nodules of some kind?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“You must have had a better view.”

Adam shook his head. He brought the static electricity back to the clearing and then sent it out ahead. They resumed the journey.

********

The end of their journey came in the form of a dark wall of thick foliage rising before them. The city had been maintaining its area of dominance for generations, so the thickness of the jungle here had taken on a permanence, a balance of sorts.

Adam was sure the natives were aware of what they were doing. Unfortunately, they had little choice. Even without trimming, the jungle was too thick to settle. So they staked off their territory and dealt with the consequences.

Adam set to work with the chainsaw, and after about fifteen minutes, he paused to listen to the sound of the huge, automated trimmers that ran along the perimeter of the city. They were close.

He waited until the sound of the closest trimmer began to fade before he cut through the last layer.

He and Coop crawled up to the clearing. The city lay about a kilometer beyond. To their left was the main road leading out of the city and to the prison. In the soft glow of morning, transports were still heading down the road, bringing assistance to the overrun prison.

“You know, they may not realize we survived,” Coop said. “Why would they?”

“So let’s get to the spaceport before they do,” Adam said. “I’ll disable one of those trucks going by. Most appear to be troop carriers.”

“How do you know that?”

“By the number of flash weapons they’re carrying.”

“Your…thing…can tell you that?”

Adam nodded.

“Where can I get one of those?”

“Sorry, they’re on backorder. It could be a while.”

“You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

“Relax, Sergeant Smith. It’s beyond your paygrade.”

“Fuc—”

“Here comes a truck. There are two readings in the cab, six in the back. I’ll take the ones in the back, if you can handle the two in front.”

“They have flash weapons.”

“I’ll have them all disabled.”

“Like you promised with my collar?”

“This is different, trust me.”

Coop opened his mouth to respond, but Adam was already up and sprinting toward the troop truck that had just coasted to a stop along the side of the road in front of them. He ran to the back of the truck, and without hesitation, flung open the rear door. Six, pudgy and hairy female Visidorans sat in the back, three on each side of the bed. They had MK’s around their waists and Xan-fi rifles in their laps. Adam couldn’t remember the last time he’d struck a female, alien or not. But when the natives identified him as a threat and began to lift their rifles, he reacted without a second thought.

The first Visidoran he hit was the female at the end of the row on the right. He didn’t know much force it would take to incapacitate her, so he swung with all his might.

He should have known better.

The natives evolved on one of the lightest-gravity worlds he’d ever been on, and their bone density showed it. His fist ripped through the alien’s soft face spraying everyone behind her in a soup of brains, blood and bone. When he was through, only the curved back on the soldier’s head remained.

It was like this for the other five. Adam swung his hands and arms wildly, even kicking out with a foot once. In a matter of seconds, the troops weren’t only dead, but they were barely recognizable piles of bloody flesh. And Adam didn’t look much better, splattered once again from head to toe with the innards of his latest victims.