Return To Primordial Island by Rick Poldark (read my book .txt) 📕

can see you through the tent,” said Collins. He gestured up with his right hand. “You’re standing in front of the flood light.”

Tracey stepped forward, going for broke. “Yeah, well, we want to know the real reason why Poseidon Tech is here.”

Before Collins could answer, automatic gunfire erupted off in the distance. He whirled around.

“What’s that?” asked Tracey, but she had a feeling she knew.

“It’s coming from the direction of the river,” said Collins.

Peter had closed his eyes as soon as he heard the shots, reaching out with his senses using the power of the life orb. He opened them. “A dinosaur. A Big one. Spinosaurus, I think.”

Tracey looked at him sideways. “Wow, Pete, you can actually tell the species now?”

As if in answer, a thundering roar filled the night air, followed by more gunfire.

Collins got on his radio. “Chief to perimeter guard, report.” He waited, no answer. “Perimeter guard, report.”

The radio crackled. “It’s coming through. It’s huge. We can’t stop it…” The pops of gunfire filled the background, and the call terminated.

Collins looked at Peter. “Wait here. You’ll be safe here.”

Before Peter could say otherwise, Collins ran off, shouting instructions to the men around him.

“Let’s get inside the main tent,” said Tracey. “At least we’ll get a good look at what’s going on inside.”

Peter nodded, and he followed Tracey around to the front of the tent as they heard more gunfire erupt in the background. Before them, under the large tent, sat a large array of electronic equipment. Techs manned screens and keyboards. They looked up from their monitors, their terrified expressions eerie in the dim illumination.

“What’s going on out there?” The question came from a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair, around Marcy’s age. Her face was white, and it wasn’t just the illumination of her monitor. All eyes were on Peter and Tracey.

“We’re under attack,” said Peter.

The woman’s eyes were wide as platters. “From what?”

Another loud roar answered the young technician’s query.

“Is that a dinosaur?” asked a paunchy man in his thirties with sandy blonde hair, his glasses nearly falling off his face.

“I know what we’re working on,” declared Marcy, stepping forward from behind a table of laptops. “This land we’re sitting on is abundant in an unclassified metal. Poseidon Tech is using it to focus the stabilization grid.”

Peter and Tracey traded confused looks.

“By locking onto this vast deposit of ore, they’ll be able to keep the island phased into our home dimension,” said Marcy.

“That’s how we’re going to get home,” said the man in the glasses. “This way there’s no time pressure to make it through a brief window. They could hold the portal open indefinitely.”

That last sentence sent a chill down Peter’s spine. He looked at Tracey, his expression grave. “That’s what they’re here for.”

Tracey looked pale, as if she’d seen a ghost. “Peter, there’s something I have to tell you.”

“What?”

“In the mission debriefing, before we landed on the island, Nielsen played audio from 207’s flight recorder. Peter, I think something wants off this island.”

He nodded. “That entity. The one that turned Mike Deluca into a monster.”

“The one that offered to teach you how to use the death orb,” added Tracey.

Marcy walked over to them. “I’m sure this is all just for the mission, to help get us off the island, like Randy said.”

Randy nodded.

Tracey glowered. “I’m not so sure of that.”

Nielsen came barreling into the main tent. “We’re under attack! A dinosaur made it through the perimeter defense—big one, too. Collins wants us here in the center of base camp until it’s over.” He looked around the room and was stunned to see Peter and Tracey already inside the tent.

Peter shoved past him to look outside. Tracey was right beside him. Base camp was in a state of barely controlled chaos. The drilling for core samples ceased, and technicians flocked to the main tent as Collins and his team mobilized. The remaining weapons team hopped into their Humvees as the remaining Huey’s blades began to turn.

Tracey pointed to the tree line to the south. “Look!” Bolts of light streaked into the jungle, trained on something they couldn’t yet see from the main tent.

“That doesn’t sound good,” said Marcy, standing beside them.

“We’ll be safe here,” said Nielsen. “Collins is all over it. There’s only one.”

Peter turned on him. “Do you have any idea how large and dangerous a Spinosaurus is?”

“Peter, look!” Tracey gawked at something to the south as gunfire erupted. Several of the technicians darted up front for a look. A few remained inside the tent, cowering behind their laptops.

Peter turned in time to see the Huey rise into the air and fly south. He saw an enormous, hunched figure enter the clearing. It was long with a massive sail on its back. “That’s got to be a twenty-footer,” said Peter.

“Bigger,” said Tracy.

Nielsen looked out the front of the main tent as Collins’ team engaged the ‘spine lizard.’ He turned to Peter and Tracey. “You know what this thing is. Does it have a weakness? If it does, you need to tell Collins.”

“It’s thought to be largely aquatic,” said Peter. “I encountered one in the river when I escaped the Zehhaki. The only reason I’m still alive is dumb luck. I got caught in the rapids, and it didn’t follow me.”

“Is it weaker on land?” asked Nielsen.

“It’s definitely built for water,” said Tracey. “It has a crocodilian bone structure. It uses its tail and webbed feet to propel itself through water.”

“It must’ve followed us back from the river,” said Peter.

“Or, we left a trail of breadcrumbs,” said Tracey, glaring at Nielsen.

He shot her a sharp look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We dumped the Stegosaurus bodies in the river. Remember?”

“There’s nothing we can do about it