At once the maiasaurs came back, honking loudly and repeatedly. But as they returned to the nests, it seemed as if the adults forgot what had just happened. Within a few moments, they ceased honking, and went back to dropping grass over the eggs. They ignored Dodgson as he left and headed back along the game trail.
Stupid animals, Dodgson thought, as he went to the car. Baselton and King were setting the eggs into big Styrofoam containers in the back, and fitting the foam packing around them carefully. Both men were grinning like kids.
“That was amazing!”
“Great! Fantastic!”
“What’d I tell you?” Dodgsoii said. “Nothing to it.” He glanced at his watch. “At this rate, we’ll finish in less than four hours.”
He climbed behind the steering wheel and turned on the engine. Baselton got into the back seat. King got in the passenger seat and took out the map.
“Next,” Dodgson said.
The High Hide
“I tell you, it’s fine,” Levine said irritably. He was sweating in the stifling heat beneath the aluminum roof of the high hide. “Look, it didn’t even break the skin.” He held out his hand. There was a red semicircle where the compy had pressed its teeth into the skin, but that was all.
Beside him, Eddie said, “Yeah, well, your ear is bleeding a little.”
“I don’t feel anything. It can’t be bad.”
“No, it’s not bad, ” Eddie said, opening the first-aid kit. “But I better clean it up.”
“I prefer,” Levine said, “to get on with my observations.” The dinosaurs were barely a quarter-mile away from him, and he could see them well. In the still midday air, he could hear them breathe.
He could hear them breathe.
Or at least he could, if this young man would leave him alone. “Look,” Levine said, “I know what I’m doing here. You came in at the end of a very interesting and successful experiment. I actually called the dinosaurs to me, by imitating their cry.”
“You did?” Eddie said.
“Yes, I did. That was what led them into the forest in the first place. So I hardly think that I need your assistance – ”
“The thing is,” Eddie said, “you got some of that dino shit on your ear and there’s a couple of little punctures. I’ll just clean it off for you.” He soaked a gauze pad with disinfectant. “May sting a little.”
“I don’t care, I have other – Ow!”
“Stop moving,” Eddie said. “It’ll only take a second.”
“It’s absolutely unnecessary.”
“If you just stand still, it’ll be done. There.” He took the gauze away. Levine saw brown and a faint streak of red. Just as he suspected, the injury was trivial. He reached up and touched his ear. It didn’t hurt at all.
Levine squinted out at the plain, as Eddie packed up the first-aid case.
“Jeez, it’s hot up here,” Eddie said.
“Yes,” Levine said, shrugging.
“Sarah Harding arrived, and I think they took her back to the trailer. You want to go back now?”
“I can’t imagine why,” Levine said.
“I just thought you might want to say hello or something,” Eddie said.
“My work is here,” Levine said. He turned away, raised his binoculars to his eyes.
“So,” Eddie said. “You don’t want to come back?”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Levine said, staring through binoculars. “Not in a million years. Not in sixty-five million years.”
Trailer
Kelly Curtis listened to the sound of the shower. She couldn’t believe it. She stared at the muddy clothes tossed casually on the bed. Shorts and a khaki short-sleeve shirt.
Sarah Harding’s actual clothes.
She couldn’t help it. Kelly reached out and touched them. She noticed how the fabric was worn and frayed. Buttons sewn back on; they didn’t match. And there were some reddish streaks near the pocket that she thought must be old bloodstains. She reached down and touched the fabric –
“Kelly?”
Sarah was calling to her, from the shower.
She remembered my name.
“Yes?” Kelly said, her voice betraying her nervousness.
“Is there any shampoo?”
“I’ll look, Dr. Harding,” Kelly said, opening drawers hastily. The men had all gone into the next compartment, leaving her alone with Sarah while she washed. Kelly searched desperately, opening the drawers, slamming them shut again.