Trapped in Time 1: The Time Takers (23 page)

“You scared me to death.” Anna pushed her head down next to Andy and groaned. Andy rubbed her head and she fell to the ground in happiness. Linnae wrapped her arms around Andy and he pulled her close.

“Now that was interesting.”

Andy looked up and saw Maxus and Rief standing over him. “I’m going to use this to go and take a look at our neighbors.”

Maxus tilted his head and said, “I really wish you would train one of us how to fly this thing to do that.”

“I can fly it.” Everyone turned and stared at Carrie. She smiled, “You shift your weight to move up or down or left to right, right?” Andy nodded. “I also noticed you made small circles close to the cliff to move higher.”

“You can move higher using any updraft. If you see big clouds developing, they’re always caused by an updraft and they can be used to gain altitude as well. However, it’s not as easy as it looks.”

“It never is; but I’d like to give it a try.”

“Carrie, I’m not sure you understand just how dangerous this is if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

Carrie smiled, “And just how does one learn how to do this?” Andy stared at Carrie and was at a loss for words. Carrie smiled, “Let me see if I can just make it glide here in the clearing.”

Andy shrugged and buckled Carrie into the harness. “Run as fast as you can and lift your feet and just hang.” Carrie did as he instructed and Andy said, “If you want to go up, push your body further behind the bar.” Andy watched her and said, “To go left, shift your weight to the left vertical bar.”

Carrie said, “To go down, I just pull my body in front of the control bar.”

Andy was surprised; she must have watched him fly the glider, “Yes.” Carrie put her feet on the ground and lifted the hang glider and held it by the two vertical bars. Andy noticed a slight breeze blowing from the river toward the cliff wall. “Be careful and don’t let the breeze blow you into the cliff.”

Carrie nodded and started sprinting. The wing filled with air and she lifted her legs and glided forty yards before she landed on her feet. Andy saw her smile as she turned back toward them and begin sprinting. As soon as her feet left the ground she turned the kite into the breeze blowing from the river and started to turn into it. She moved out over the trees and began a spiral as the hang glider was lifted higher and higher. Andy shook his head. Linnae said, “It appears she can fly it.”

Andy continued to watch Carrie move higher and higher until she was above the cliff, where she moved the glider into the powerful updraft. She shot up into the sky at an incredible velocity and was a small speck in the sky in moments. Andy smiled, “Indeed she can. I wish I had told her how to turn on the cutters and land it.”

The group watched several Pteranodons flying toward Carrie. Carrie saw them as well and she made a sharp dive toward the clearing. The huge flying reptiles followed her to the cliff wall but flew away as Andy blew his whistle. Andy watched Carrie make several sharp turns to bleed off speed and glide slowly south. In several more moments she was gliding toward them and landed standing up just in front of them.

Andy smiled and looked at Jenak, “How long will it take you to build another glider?”

“The first one was a learning exercise. I can have another one completed within five days now that I know what we need to do.”

“Get on it and we’ll start scouting the caves north and south of here.” Jenak nodded and sprinted away to get Renak and Kaynex to assist him in the construction. He yelled at Karon that he needed her to assist him before he disappeared into the cave.

Andy looked at Carrie, “How was it?”

“Incredible; I want to go up again.”

“We’ll go together in five days. If you want to fly around here to practice, go ahead; however, I don’t want you going beyond the forest.”

Linnae looked at Andy, “Why do you say that?”

“I saw something and I’m not sure what it is. Until we have both gliders operational, I don’t want to take any chances investigating it.”

“Do you think it’s something dangerous?”

“I honestly don’t know. I prefer to not take any chances.” Andy looked at Carrie, “Are you capable of following orders?”

Carrie’s smile disappeared, “Yes, I can follow orders.”

“Then stay away from the forest, that’s an order.” Carrie nodded and buckled back into the glider’s harness. She ran forward and the glider lifted smoothly off the ground and began rising in the breeze coming off the river. In less than a minute she was over the top of the cliff.

Linnae looked at Andy, “What did you see?”

“Something in the far tree line had a reflection. I don’t know of any natural substance that would cause that large of a reflection from inside the forest; it has to be something metallic.”

Linnae looked up at Carrie circling overhead and smiled, “I guess your glider is not as dangerous as I thought. Perhaps you’ll teach me how to fly one.”

“As soon as we have three, you’ll be the next one.” Linnae hugged Andy and they walked toward the cave entrance. Andy looked back at Anna and saw her with her nose up in the air. He stopped and Linnae turned around and saw Anna sniffing the air.

“What is she doing?”

“I don’t know. It doesn’t appear she feels threatened.” Suddenly, Anna turned and ran full speed toward the river. She went through the opening in the wall and turned south. Andy ran after her but by the time he arrived at the wall she was out of sight. Linnae arrived a moment later and shook her head. Andy said, “I guess I always knew she’d leave.”

Linnae stared at the forest and sighed, “I’ll miss her. She’s never left the walls before. Where do you think she’s going?”

“I don’t know. I just hope she stays safe.”

“Even a Raptor couldn’t catch her now; her sense of smell will help her avoid trouble.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Andy took Linnae’s hand and turned back to the cave. His heart felt heavy and he prayed Anna would survive.

• • •

Anna went into the forest at full speed and smelled the Raptors to the left. She was past them before they could react and she moved into the edge of the clearing and accelerated. She was twenty five feet long and her speed was incredible. She ran for a mile and stopped in the clearing. She gave a loud groaning roar and waited. A minute later, she saw him. He was beautiful and he could sense Anna was waiting for him. He ran out of the trees and joined Anna in the clearing as they began circling each other while bobbing their heads. They had to run three times to escape carnivores, but they eventually finished their dance and Anna rubbed her head against her mate. They spent the next twenty days together until he left her to return to the forest. Anna turned north and started back toward the community.

A
ndy and Carrie left the cave early and buckled into their gliders. They were wearing full camosuits and were only able to see each other because they had their skull coverings on. They cleared the walls and caught the morning breeze and lifted in a steady climb. Andy turned south and Carrie turned north. They were going to scout the other caves to see if they were going to be a danger to the community.

• • •

Linnae and four women left the cave and Maxus watched them move down the slope toward the forest to check on the crops and to post guards in the towers. He felt uneasy and didn’t know why; he listened and realized the forest was too quiet. He watched them cover half the distance to the forest and suddenly saw four strangers dressed in grey step out from the opening at the end of the walls walking toward the women. He yelled at Linnae to warn her but saw that she already recognized the danger.

• • •

Linnae saw the four men step out from behind the wall and one of them raised his hand toward her. She had an arrow notched in an instant and fired it; the man raising his hand was hit in the eye and he fell backwards. A red beam shot over the five women and Linnae had another arrow on the way in an instant. It hit another man in the throat and he fell but not before the other two fired their hand weapons at the women. Linnae saw the beam and it appeared to be moving in slow motion. She knew there was no avoiding it and that nothing would step in and save her this time. She felt an extreme sadness rush through her as her last thought was, “Oh Andy.” The beam blew through Linnae’s chest and she fell to the ground. Another woman was also hit and her head disappeared. The three survivors had arrows on the way and the two men were hit but not before they fired at the women and killed them. Ten more men dressed in grey came out from behind the wall and started running toward the cave’s entrance.

• • •

Maxus saw Linnae die and he yelled for help. Six Vikings came rushing forward and they rolled the stone wheel over the opening. One of the red beams flashed around the edge of the stone wheel and a Viking fell to the ground with his arm burned off. The wheel moved into place and Maxus ordered the defense team to the door. They set up at the end of the corridor and waited for the intruders to force an entrance.

Reif said, “What was that red light?”

Maxus shook his head, “I don’t know, but whatever it hits, dies.”

Reif stared at the stone wheel, “It doesn’t appear to have done anything to the wheel.” Maxus looked up at the place the red beam had come through and the wheel didn’t appear to have been affected at all. Reif said, “What are we going to do?”

“We stand no chance against those beams. We’ll wait for them to attempt a break through and we’ll fill the entrance with arrows. Get everyone set up.”

Reif looked around, “Where’s Linnae?” Maxus looked at Reif and shook his head. Reif’s eyes showed his distress but he ran away to set up the defense.

• • •

Carrie turned north and felt something wet. She held the bar with one hand and reached for her water pouch and felt it was too light; it was empty. Darn it. She had to have water to stay in the air for any length of time. She thought about landing but decided it was too dangerous to try and go to the river in untamed lands. She turned around and headed back toward the community. She was only ten minutes of flight time from the community and she could get a new water pouch and be on her way quickly. She came over the cliff and saw the four men dressed in grey attack Linnae’s group. She lifted higher and quickly turned in time to see Linnae’s death. She was stunned; the men were using a hand weapon from her timeline; the red beam was unmistakable. She saw all four men were killed but then ten more stepped out from the wall and sprinted toward the cave. Carrie saw Maxus get the door closed and she knew the men would not be able to break through the stone wheel; the beams only harmed living tissues. She continued to turn circles overhead and she saw the ten men talking to each other. Suddenly, one of them turned and ran down the slope as the other nine spread out around the cave’s entrance. They were sending a runner for reinforcements.

Carrie watched the runner move around the wall and jog into the clearing running along the cliff wall. He watched the forest to the left and kept his weapon in his right hand. Carrie watched him jog two hundred yards and start walking quickly. She decided he had to be stopped. She brought the glider down at a high speed and leveled off four feet off the ground. She moved to the side of the runner and just before she drew even with him she activated the cutter on the end of the right wing. The runner must have heard something because he looked over his shoulder. He didn’t see the cutter until it was two feet from him and he had no time to react. The cutter sliced through him at chest level and the two parts of his body fell away from each other.

Carrie brought the glider to a halt and she quickly unbuckled her harness. She ran back to the dead runner and picked up the hand weapon. She saw an Allosaurus stick its head out of the tree line and she blew her whistle. It disappeared in an instant. She buckled back into the harness and ran down the clearing. She lifted her feet, turned toward the forest, and lifted twenty feet off the ground in an instant. She rode the thermal higher and headed toward the cliff wall where the updraft blew her three thousand feet in two minutes. She turned south and continued to climb. She’d climb and dive to increase her speed. She had to catch Andy. She had no idea what to do. She decided he couldn’t be told about Linnae until later. She knew he was going to be devastated. She searched the skies to the south and hoped to find him quickly. She was at least fifty pounds lighter and her speed would be greater. Forty minutes later, she saw him off in the distance ahead. Thank God he was taking his time.

• • •

Andy slowly rode the thermal higher into the sky and was enjoying the freedom of flying over this beautiful but dangerous world. As he spiraled higher he saw something moving toward him from the north. It wasn’t a Pteranodon; it had a different shape. As he continued to spiral, he saw it was Carrie. What was she doing following him? He turned and came out of his spiral and glided toward her. Carrie came flying in at high speed and did a sharp turn to bleed of speed and moved up beside him. Andy yelled, “What’s wrong?”

“The community is under attack.”

Andy’s eyes narrowed, “By who!?!”

“It has to be from the cave to the north. They’re using a weapon from my time.”

“What kind of weapon?”

Carrie took the hand beam out of her pocket and fired it toward the ground. The red beam shot out and Andy saw it dissipate before it could the ground. But he saw it had gone at least a hundred yards before it did. Carrie yelled, “This beam will kill any living organism it hits. They can’t use it to break through the stone wheel. Nine men have the community trapped inside the cave. They sent a runner to bring others but I killed him.”

Andy knew the hand beam had a much longer range than a bow and arrow. How was he going to kill those men without being killed as well? He yelled, “Can that thing be fired continuously?”

“No, there is a ten second delay between shots.”

Carrie saw a large Pteranodon flying toward them and she lifted the hand beam and fired at it. Andy watched the beam hit the giant reptile and a four foot hole was blown through its body. It fell out of the sky and hit the forest far below. The only way to kill those intruders was to have too many targets for them to hit. Andy yelled, “Is the gate at the end of the walls open?”