Terror In The Mist (The Island In The Mist Book 3) Page 4

  “And yet you went in anyway?” Jonathon asked.

  Silas seemed offended by the question. “If it was the only option we had to save Lucy’s life, then there was nothing to think about,” he replied, leaning across his desk.

  “So what happened?” Jonathon asked, now intrigued.

  Silas’s eyes twinkled as a wide smile spread across his face. He slowly leaned back into his chair again and took a deep breath before speaking. “Well, we quietly slipped into the cave and everything seemed just as it had been the last time you and I were in there,” he explained. “There was a beam of sunlight that shone through an opening in the cave ceiling and it seemed to come down directly onto the pool of water in the center of the chamber.”

  “And what about the Troodons?” Jonathon asked anxiously.

  “At first, they were nowhere to be found,” Silas replied. “I tossed Henry the vial and told him to fill it up quickly while I kept my eyes on our surroundings. The moment your father scooped out some water, I noticed movement in the shadows.”

  Jonathon leaned forward in his chair. He couldn’t believe his father had never told him any of this.

  “As you can imagine, it was a Troodon,” Silas continued. “Immediately, I thought back to what those things did to Osvaldo. It stalked out of the darkness and stepped into one of the shafts of light that was piercing through the cave ceiling. Just as before, the top of its head was covered in feathers, but this one was bigger…much bigger. It stopped and stared at us for a long minute as if it were trying to figure out what we were doing.”

  “It didn’t attack?” Jonathon asked.

  “No, and it was just one,” Silas replied. “I pointed my rifle at it and it growled at us and took a step back. I told Henry to take the water and start heading back out of the cave. As he started walking toward the exit, I began walking backwards behind him, but I kept the rifle pointed at the dinosaur. To my surprise, the darn thing followed me.”

  Jonathon crossed his arms and continued to give his undivided attention. “So once you got outside, did it continue to follow you?”

  Silas shook his head. “Once we got outside, there were more of them waiting for us,” he said. “They were lined up in a semi-circle around the opening of the cave. There were probably ten of them and they just stood there watching us. I looked back to the big one that had followed. It just casually strutted out in front of us and began making the most unsettling guttural sounds at the other Troodons.”

  “Guttural sounds…what do you mean?” Jonathon asked.

  Silas paused a moment and stroked his beard as he pondered the question. He shifted in the office chair and it squeaked in protest. “I don’t know how else to describe it,” he said. “Jonathon, if I didn’t know better I’d say it was somehow speaking to them.”

  Jonathon scrunched up his face from bewilderment. “What do you mean it was speaking to them?” he asked. “You mean it was communicating with them. I mean, most animals have their own ways of communication.”

  Silas shook his head. “No, it wasn’t like that,” he said adamantly. “This thing sounded as if it were speaking to them somehow…with its own sort of language. It emitted strange sounds that seemed to come from deep inside its chest and the inflection and cadence with those sounds made it seem like the dinosaur was talking to the other ones.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Jonathon said as he shook his head. “It couldn’t have been speaking…animals don’t speak.”

  Silas smirked and seemed to be slightly annoyed. “I was there and I know what I saw,” he replied. “And there is a lot of evidence that seems to suggest that dolphins may have their own language, so it’s not so far out of the realm of possibility as you seem to think. You yourself went on and on about how intelligent those things were.”

  “Well, they were very intelligent as far as dinosaurs go,” Jonathon replied defensively. “But I wouldn’t go so far as to say that their intelligence level is like that of dolphins.”

  Silas rolled his eyes and again shook his head. “Well, after the Troodon that followed us spoke—or barked—whatever you want to call it…the others backed off and let us through. It seemed as if they’d been ordered to let us go. There was something very unsettling about it.”

  Jonathon considered what he’d just heard for a moment before standing and pacing the room a few times. “I’m not sure what to make of that,” he said finally.

  “Well, I only bring it up because, as both you and I have witnessed before, those animals are dangerous,” Silas said. “And they are highly intelligent.”

  Jonathon stopped pacing as he suddenly caught on to what Silas was suggesting. He looked over at him and asked, “You believe they are intelligent enough to train?”

  Silas nodded. “You can debate how intelligent they are with me all you want,” he replied. “But, I know what I saw, and I saw those animals communicating in a way that I’ve never witnessed before. And I don’t have to tell you how many animals I’ve watched over the years. If Cold were looking to use any of the animals on the island in the manner that you’re suggesting, the Troodons would be his best option.”

  ***

  “So what did he want?” Lucy asked as she piloted their family sedan away from the airport and back toward their home.

  “He wants to write a book about the island, and everything that we’ve experienced on it,” Jonathon replied.

  Lucy glanced up at the rearview mirror and peered at their one-year-old daughter, Lily, as she cooed and played with a tiny stuffed bear within the confines of her car seat.

  “Oh my,” she said, somewhat surprised. “He wants to go public about the island?”

  Jonathon leaned over and rested his forehead on the passenger side window. He watched the pine trees zip by as they motored down the interstate and into Bienville Forest.

  “I think he’s getting frustrated,” Jonathon replied. “And I get it…truly I do. Mr. Cold and whatever government operation he is working with is doing God knows what on that island and the people in this country don’t know a thing about it. Something tells me it’s all going to come back and haunt me one day.”

  Lucy pursed her lips as she contemplated a response. Finally, she said, “Well, maybe Silas is right…maybe you should go forward with your story.”

  Jonathon narrowed his eyes and immediately shook his head. “We’ve been through this, Lucy,” he said. “First of all, I’m not sure how Cold will respond. I’m not putting my family at risk. Secondly, do you really think the public is ready to listen to a couple of guys tell them that there is an island in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle inhabited by dinosaurs?”

  Lucy smiled. “Well, you’re not just any guys,” she countered. “You’re a respected paleontologist and Silas Treadwell is basically a worldwide celebrity thanks to his old show Wild World. You two have credibility. And besides, I’ve been to the island…I can contribute—oh, and then there’s Annie.”

  The mention of Annie’s name made him frown and he returned his gaze to the window. Annie Wedgeworth had been through two traumatic experiences on the island. The second one ended with her shooting her boyfriend and ultimately killing him to save Jonathon.

  “You know Annie is not in a frame of mind to help with a book right now,” he said sadly. “She’s bounced around to so many different psychologists and psychiatrists I don’t know if the poor woman will ever be right again.”

  Lucy took a deep breath. “Don’t give up on her,” she said. “She’ll get through this…it’s just going to take some time.”

  Unfortunately, Jonathon did not share Lucy’s positivity, but he kept the thoughts to himself. “It doesn’t matter,” he grumbled. “It doesn’t change the fact that I’m not ready to go public with this.” He paused and glanced over his shoulder to watch Lily. “Like I said, I’m not endangering our family.”

  Lucy wanted to argue the issue further, but thought better of it. Truthfully, she could see both sides of the argument. She’d onl
y met Mr. Cold once, and though he was cordial and seemed friendly, there was something very mysterious about him. Jonathon, on the other hand, had met with the man on numerous occasions and probably had a better grasp on who he actually was than she did. If he was worried about him coming after him for going public about the island, then who was she to tell him different.

  Suddenly, the local newscast began to play on the radio and she turned it up slightly. The reporter began speaking about a massive storm building in the Atlantic Ocean. Hurricane Simon was approaching category five and both Lucy and Jonathon began thinking about a certain misty island that just happened to be right in the hurricane’s path.

  Chapter 4

  The Island In The Mist

  Charlotte Nelson, or Charlie as her friends called her, paced back and forth across the shiny laboratory floor. The walls of the room were covered with various metal cabinets and though the space in the middle was quite vast, something about the room made her feel claustrophobic. When she thought about it, she finally decided it must’ve had something to do with the lack of windows.

  Well, one could say the same for just about this entire building, she thought.

  “Dr. Nelson, are you alright?” a man’s voice called out from the open doorway.

  Charlie looked over and saw Dr. Matthew Walker leaning against the open door frame. He was wearing his lab coat and had his arms crossed as he stared at her. Charlie thought he was an attractive man with a head of thick brown hair, and a square jaw that reminded her of the Hollywood actors in the old black and white films she loved. Matthew was a doctor of veterinary medicine and he also had a degree in zoology with concentrations in neurobiology and animal behavior. In short, he was the man Mr. Cold had charged with putting together a program to train dinosaurs. Charlie, being the paleontologist who was already under contract with the government thanks to Cold, was hired on as his assistant.

  “Hi, Matt,” she said, strolling over to him. “I’m fine, just thinking about our impending doom.”

  Matt chuckled. “We’re going to be fine,” he said reassuringly. “When they built this facility, they knew that it would have to withstand the occasional hurricane.”

  Charlie stared into his eyes and wanted to believe him.

  “But what if it doesn’t?” she asked. “We’re in a facility surrounded by dinosaurs and if the power goes out—”

  “It won’t,” Matt said, and he reached over and grabbed her forearm. “But…if it did, there are backup generators. Everything will be fine, trust me.”

  Charlie chewed her lip and her eyes drifted away from his toward the floor.

  “Look,” Matt said. “You don’t have to stay. Mr. Cold asked for volunteers, and you volunteered.”

  Charlie sighed. “I know,” she said apologetically. “With my history at this place, I almost feel like I’ve got some responsibility here…to stay.”

  Matt smiled at her. His teeth were a brilliant white and perfect. “I don’t want you to worry,” he said, squeezing her forearm slightly. “You should leave until this blows over.”

  Charlie shook her head and looked back up at him. “No, I’m here to do a job and I’m going to do it. I don’t know what I’m so scared of…this place is huge. As long as we’ve got power, I’m sure everything will be fine.”

  “Everything will be fine,” Matt assured her again. “It’s just you, me, George, and Glenn for the next three days, playing poker and watching Andy Griffith Show reruns until all of this is over.”

  Charlie smiled. “I’m so sick of that show,” she groaned.

  The recreation room in the facility was equipped with pinball machines, a ping pong table, pool table, a big screen television, and VHS player. The entire Andy Griffith Show series was available on VHS tapes and George Powell had made a habit of popping one in every evening at dinner time. It seemed that no matter what activities were going on in the rec room, the Andy Griffith Show had to always be on the television. It had become a running joke among the residents.

  “I’m sure if we ask nicely, George will allow us to watch something different,” Matt said hopefully.

  Charlie shrugged and turned her attention to one of the monitors in the corner of the room. The monitor was one of many in the room, but this particular one was focused on the outdoor enclosure for some of the Troodons they’d been studying. The enclosure was more or less a gigantic cage that connected to a retractable door that led into the building. Once the Troodons entered through the doorway, they would be inside a large room with several cells that lined the wall. Each “cell” measured twenty feet by twenty feet and usually there was fresh meat in them to attract a Troodon. Once one of the dinosaurs stepped inside the cell, a door was lowered and the animal would become trapped. Once they were trapped, the training and other studies could begin.

  Everything went well for quite a while, but it began to get harder and harder to get the intelligent dinosaurs to enter the cells as they quickly learned that upon their entry they would immediately become trapped. There was one Troodon in particular that seemed to be especially troublesome and stubborn. They’d named her Mother because she seemed to be the leader of the other Troodons. Charlie thought she acted almost like a mother to the others. It seemed as if she was behind the sudden difficulties in getting the Troodons into their cells. Charlie had noticed on more than one occasion that Mother seemed to almost be in some sort of conversation with the others. She seemed to be warning them.

  Now as Charlie watched the monitor, she noticed all of the Troodons had quickly darted to one side of the enclosure. This alerted her and she quickly walked over to the monitor for a closer look.

  “What’s up?” Matt asked, noticing her concern.

  Charlie squinted her eyes, looking closely. “Something is wrong,” she said. “All of the Troodons just ran over to one side of the enclosure. It’s almost as if—”

  At that moment, she saw what had spooked them. In the dense jungle foliage, she noticed a dark presence moving menacingly nearby.

  “What was that?” Matt asked as he noticed it too.

  Charlie moved her face closer to the screen, almost to the point that her nose was touching it. She looked hard, desperately trying to make out the shape of the animal. It appeared to be quite massive and at first she feared that it was a Tyrannosaurus rex—but then she saw the distinguishing detail she was looking for. Along the dinosaur’s back, there was a large structure that resembled that of a sail.

  “Oh my God, is that the Spinosaurus?” she asked in disbelief.

  Matt moved closer beside her. “I can’t tell,” he muttered. “Surely not. Why would it be this close to the facility?”

  Charlie took a deep breath and shook her head. “I told them this was going to happen,” she grumbled. “There is only one Spinosaurus on this entire island. It’s been competing with the tyrannosaur population for quite a while for food and I feared sooner or later it would be driven to our end of the island.”

  Matt looked over at her. “Are you saying it’s coming for the Troodons?”

  Charlie crossed her arms and nodded, still staring at the screen. “I’m afraid so,” she said.

  Matt looked away from her and back to the screen. After he pondered the situation a moment, he marched over to a nearby phone that was attached to the wall. He punched in a few buttons and then began speaking.

  “We’ve got a situation,” he said very matter-of-factly. “Send Glenn Hardcastle to the Troodon containment level…I’ll meet him there.”

  Matt slammed the phone back onto the receiver and marched out of the room. As he passed Charlie, he flashed a grin in an effort to assure her that he had the matter under control. Once he’d disappeared into the hallway, Charlie returned her attention back to the monitor. The Spinosaurus had now poked its head from out of the leafy vegetation and its eyes seemed to be focused directly on the eight Troodons huddled together on the opposite side of the enclosure.

  Suddenly, Charlie had an overwhelmin
g urge to take Matt’s advice and leave the island until the hurricane passed through. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something deep inside her gut told her something very bad was on the horizon. The feeling was so strong it made her feel ill. She somehow shook the unsettling thoughts from her head and turned away from the monitor. She decided she needed a break. Maybe the Andy Griffith Show would be playing in the rec room.

  ***

  Glenn Hardcastle had just stepped out of the shower when he’d received the call. It seemed that the only Spinosaurus on the island was getting much too comfortable around the compound and, to make matters worse, now it had taken great interest in the Troodon paddock. Hardcastle quickly pulled on his tan cargo pants and then went to work on his boots. As he pulled the laces tightly, he silently cursed Mr. Cornelius Cold.

  Cold had asked for Hardcastle’s input regarding the best way to construct buildings that would be “dinosaur proof.” Hardcastle immediately informed him that there would be no such thing as a “dinosaur proof” building, but if he was really serious about keeping the workers safe, then more attention should be placed on the fencing.

  Cold—or someone higher up the chain than him—had made the decision to make use of the compound that Eric Gill had built from the ground up. The “Triangle Building,” as it had been named by the associates of Gill Enterprises, had been left exactly as it was. It was a multi-level building that consisted of twenty-five apartments. The hanger had also been left just as it had been under Eric Gill’s reign. The office building had been left as well, but it had been added onto quite a bit. What was once a one-story 3,000 square foot structure, had now swelled into a five-story building with over 15,000 square feet of space. The entire top level had been constructed for the sole purpose of training dinosaurs. The fourth and third levels were made up of multiple laboratories. The second level was for the maintenance and operations crew, and the bottom level was made up of offices.