Prey

Then stepped through the opening.

Julia followed.

And Wilkins came on her tail.

The opening branched off immediately once beyond and several things struck Julia simultaneously.

Bright — heat — humid — green.

Jesus Christ — a jungle?

She heard Mick swear.

Wilkins snorted the air and then swore, too.

Around them, lush green plants with leaves the size of palm fronds gently waved in some sort of balmy breeze. Julia felt an instant sweat come on. Mick's face was already running.

But he kept scanning their immediate environment.

A crude path of brown earth tracked through the underbrush, leading in a looping fashion off into the distance. Mick knelt down and examined the ground.

He looked up and gestured Julia to him.

When she got close, he put his mouth to her ear. "Tracks." And then he pointed at the ground.

Julia glanced down and frowned. They weren't human footprints. But there seemed to be two apparently separate sets of tracks leading down the path. But what had made them. Both sets only contained two indentations, meaning the thing that had created them must have walked up right.

But what?

And where were Havel's tracks?

Julia frowned. Maybe he'd been carried.

Maybe he was already dead.

She heard the other team members come into the opening and spread out, still facing behind them. But she saw the incredulous look in their eyes. A jungle inside a mountain in Antarctica of all the crazy things.

She almost couldn't believe it herself.

But here it was.

Mick brushed the closest giant leaf and shook his head. "This doesn't exactly look like the latest generation of this species."

Julia grinned. "You an expert at horticulture?"

"No."

She turned and waved Darren up. "Fortunately, we've got one of the best." She pointed at Darren and then at the leaf. "What do you make of that?"

Darren knelt down and examined the leaf closely. He turned it over and seemed particularly interested in the stem running back toward the trunk of the shrub. After two minutes he shook his head and looked at Julia.

"Damnedest thing, boss."

"What?"

"This plant hasn't existed on earth for about sixty-five million years."

She looked at him. Mick turned slightly.

"Excuse me?"

Darren nodded. "It's a subspecies of the palm genus. The kind that used to litter the planet way back in the late Cretaceous period. Sixty-five million years ago. They evolved into what we commonly refer to as palm trees now, but back then, these plants were a food source for a whole lot of animals."

Mick cleared his throat. "What kind of animals?"

Darren's face clouded. "Well, there were the early mammals around back then. Some birds just starting to show up on the scene."

Mick's jaw grew firm again. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," said Darren. "Some species of dinosaurs liked this plant, too."

Julia heard Kendall sniff derisively. "Dinosaurs? Give me a break."

Wilkins shot him a look. "Keep your damned eyes peeled, Kendall. I don't want anything coming at us from behind because you were too busy spouting off your bullshit."

Kendall frowned but turned back to watch the opening.

Mick chewed his lip. "Well, I don't think we were attacked by dinosaurs in the tunnel back there. And I have a hard time believing that a dinosaur could be intelligent enough to come through the roof of the greenhouse and carry of Vikorsky."

Julia looked at him. "Still."

"What?"

"We all saw the creatures back there in the cave."

"It was dark, Julia."

"Not dark enough. I saw a tail at least once."

"Doesn't mean it was a dinosaur."

She nodded. "I think we'd better keep our minds open to any possibility, however."

Mick nodded. "Absolutely. I just don't anyone running around with visions of Jurassic Park in their heads is all. It'll distract us from finding the real source of our problem."

"You mean rescuing Vikorsky and Havel," said Julia.

"Yes," said Mick. "If that's even possible."

He turned back to the ground. "These tracks aren't all that old. Maybe a few hours. We should follow them and see where they go."

Julia's throat went dry. Somehow the idea of tracking down the…creatures did not appeal to her much. A wave of fear broke over her confidence and dragged her resolution out into a sea of worry.

Mick must have seen it on her face because he took her hand. "It'll be okay. Just stick close to me."

She grinned. "I've got no intention of being anywhere else."

Darren cleared his throat. "It's damned hot in here."

Mick nodded. "Seems like some kind of controlled environment, doesn't it?" He pointed at the ceiling. "It's still the mountain, near as I can tell, but the roof is almost a hundred feet over our heads."

"Why would this cavern be so large?" asked Julia.

Mick shook his head. "I don't know."

Julia heard a zipper coming down. She turned and saw Wilkins shrugging off his jacket. He smiled at her. "Way too hot in here to keep our gear on."