He went into his office and slammed the door.
Arby stuck his hands in his pockets. “They couldn’t have figured it out without our help.”
“I know, Arb,” she said. “But we can’t make him take us.”
They turned to Malcolm. “Dr. Malcolm, can you please – ”
“Sorry,” Malcolm said. “I can’t.”
“But – ”
“The answer is no, kids. It’s just too dangerous.”
Dejected, they drifted over to the vehicles, gleaming beneath the ceiling lights. The Explorer with the black photovoltaic panels on the roof and hood, the inside crammed with glowing electronic equipment. Just looking at the Explorer gave them a sense of adventure – an adventure they would not be part of.
Arby peered into the larger trailer, cupping his eyes over the window. “Wow, look at this!”
“I’m going in,” Kelly said, and she opened the door. She was momentarily surprised at how solid and heavy it was. Then she climbed up the steps into the trailer.
Inside, the trailer was fitted out with gray upholstery and much more electronic equipment. It was divided into sections, for different laboratory functions. The main area was a biological lab, with specimen trays, dissecting pans, and microscopes that connected to video monitors. The lab also included biochemistry equipment, spectrometers, and a series of automated sample-analyzers. Next to it there was an extensive computer section, a bank of processors, and a communications section. All the lab equipment was miniaturized, and built into small tables that slid into the walls, and then bolted down.
“This is cool,” Arby said.
Kelly didn’t answer. She was looking closely at the lab. Dr. Levine had designed this trailer, apparently with a very specific purpose. There was no provision for geology, or botany, or chemistry, or lots of other things that a field team might be expected to study. It wasn’t a general scientific lab at all. There really seemed to be just a biology unit, and a large computer unit.
Biology, and computers.
Period.
What had this trailer been built to study?
Set in the wall was a small bookshelf, the books held in place with a Velcro strap. She scanned the titles: Modeling Adaptive Biological Systems, Vertebrate Behavioral Dynamics, Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems, Dinosaurs of North America, Preadaptation and Evolution….It seemed like a strange set of books to take on a wilderness expedition; if there was a logic behind it, she didn’t see it.
She moved on. At intervals along the walls, she could see where the trailer had been strengthened; dark carbon-honeycomb strips ran up the walls. She had overheard Thorne saying it was the same material used in supersonic let fighters. Very light and very strong. And she noticed that all the windows had been replaced with that special glass with fine wire mesh inside it.
Why was the trailer so strong?
It made her a little uneasy, when she thought about it. She remembered the telephone call with Dr. Levine, earlier in the day. He had said he was surrounded.
Surrounded by what?
He had said: I can smell them, especially at night.
What was he referring to?
Who was them?
Still uneasy, Kelly moved toward the back of the trailer, where there was a homey little living area, complete with gingham curtains on the windows. Compact kitchen, a toilet, and four beds. Storage compartments above and below the beds. There was even a little walk-in shower. It was nice.
From there, she went through the accordion pleating that connected the two trailers. It was a little bit like the connection between two railway cars, a short transitional passage. She emerged inside the second trailer, which seemed to be mostly utility storage: extra tires, spare parts, more lab equipment, shelves and cabinets. All the extra supplies that meant an expedition to some far-off place. There was even a motorcycle hanging off the back of the trailer. She tried some of the cabinets, but they were locked.
But even here there were extra reinforcing strips as well. This section had also been built especially strong.
Why? she wondered. Why so strong?
“Look at this,” Arby said, standing before a wall unit. It was a complex of glowing LED displays and lots of buttons, and looked to Kelly like a complicated thermostat.