Danger: Dinosaurs!

Chapter 16 Counterplot

As if backing up the voice, a rifle sounded from behind the boulders. The bullet whistled through the air, kicking up a spurt of rock and dust some six inches from Chuck’s nose. He swallowed hard and began rolling toward a low flat rock to his left. The rifle boomed again, and Chuck heard the same whistle, was relieved when he saw the bullet plow up dirt far short of its mark. A high shrill laugh came from behind the boulders, and Chuck shuddered when he heard it. Arthur was beside him now, flat on his belly behind the rock. Gardel was there, too, smiling in superiority.

“Kind of got you, ain’t he, Superboy?”

“Shut up, Gardel.”

Gardel laughed. “Give it to ‘em, Dirk,” he shouted.

Masterson’s voice came back over the space between them and the boulders. “That you, Brock?”

“Give them another round,” Gardel called.

“Come on over,” Masterson shouted.

The .45 was in Chuck’s hand almost before Gardel moved an inch.

“If you want a hole in your head, go on,” Chuck said. “Otherwise, get down on your belly and stretch out your hands in front of you.” He wiggled the .45 at Gardel, and the thin man eyed it with curious respect. This was a language he understood. Guns. And violence. These were the elements that had gone into the shaping of his character.

“He’s got me,” Gardel called. “The kid is armed.”

When Masterson’s voice came back, it was cold and deadly. “Chuck! Chuck Spencer! Can you hear me?”

“I hear you, Masterson.”

“Get this right the first time, because I’m not going to repeat it. Who’s with you?”

“None of your business!”

“Who’s with you?” Masterson shouted again.

Chuck was about to answer when he heard Pete’s voice behind him. “Chuck, where are you?”

“Get down, Pete!” he shouted. “Masterson’s holed up here and he’s using the rifle.”

“Right,” Pete’s voice came.

Chuck kept the .45 trained at the boulders. Arthur had already unslung his rifle and had it resting on the rock. He aimed along the barrel at the boulders and waited for Masterson to show some sign of himself. Behind them, they heard scraping sounds as Pete and Dr. Perry worked their way toward the protection of the rock. Masterson shouted, “I see you!” and triggered off a shot that nearly planted itself in Pete’s leg. Pete pulled the leg in, breathed a deep sigh and continued to crawl toward the rock, Dr. Perry behind him. Arthur opened fire, peppering the boulders with a steady stream of bullets that discouraged Masterson from taking any more pot shots at the approaching duo.

When they reached the rock, Chuck quickly explained the situation to them. Arthur had stopped firing, but he kept watching the boulders.

“Looks like a stalemate to me,” Dr. Perry said.

“Yes,” Chuck agreed, “unless we can talk some sense into him.”

“Chuck Spencer!” Masterson’s voice boomed again. It bounced off the boulders, echoed in a thousand darkened shadows, echoed in the very pockmarks of time itself.

“I’m here, Masterson.”

“Send Gardel over. Send him right now.”

“He’s not going anywhere,” Chuck yelled back.

Gardel tried to rise, but Arthur slammed one meaty hand into the small of his back, and he bounced back against the ground again, the wind knocked out of him.

“Send him over or I’ll shoot Denise,” Masterson said.

Dr. Perry’s eyes widened. “Why, the man is insane!”

“He’s bluffing,” Pete said. “He wouldn’t shoot his own niece.”

“Try him and see,” Gardel muttered.

“Gardel stays with us,” Chuck shouted back.

“I’m not kidding,” Masterson said. “I’m not fooling, Spencer. I’ll shoot her if you don’t send Gardel over.”

Chuck heard Denise shout, “Don’t believe...” Her voice was cut off, as if a hand had been clamped over her mouth.

“You’re bluffing,” Chuck shouted. “And we’re calling your bluff.”

Dr. Perry’s eyes took on an anxious look. “Chuck, are you sure you’re...”

There was a deadly silence now. It seemed to hang over the land like a mailed fist. The fog was almost all gone, but the sky was still a leaden gray. Chuck saw a small reptile scamper across the no man’s land between the rock and the boulders. The Jurassic, he thought. Jurassic. Jurassic. Jurassic.

The silence continued, and Chuck waited with his heart in his mouth.

“Send him over,” Dr. Perry said. “Send Gardel over or he’ll shoot the girl.”

“What’s to stop him from shooting her once he gets Gardel?” Chuck asked.

“The man is a maniac, can’t you see? Why should we provoke him?”

“I think you’re wrong, Doc,” Chuck said. “He’s more than a maniac. He’s got something up his sleeve. If we send Gardel over, we’ll be playing right into his hands.”

“You gamble real pretty with somebody else’s life,” Gardel muttered. “Maybe Denise don’t feel the way you do about it.”

There was silence again. Chuck waited, his ears straining for the sound of a bolt being shoved home.

Finally Masterson said, “All right, Spencer, I’ll make a bargain with you. I’ll send Denise back safely.”

“All right,” Chuck said. “Send her over.”

“I said a bargain, not a gift. I’ll trade Denise for Gardel and Dr. Perry.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Send over Gardel and Dr. Perry, and the girl is yours.”

“Tell him we’ll do it,” Dr. Perry said quickly.

“‘No!” Chuck snapped. Something was beginning to take shape in his mind. He began to wonder all over again about Masterson’s reasons for taking Dr. Dumar with him and leaving Pete behind. Dr. Dumar was undoubtedly valuable to him, whereas Pete was not. Now he wanted Dr. Perry. Why?

He remembered the mining equipment he had seen in the truck that day he had unloaded supplies. Suddenly it became perfectly clear to him.

Uranium!

Of course! Why the entire time slip had probably been an excuse for Masterson to get back here where he could get his hands on the uranium deposit. He’d probably read all about it in the newspapers and decided to come back to the Jurassic to find the scientists and the deposit. That explained the mining equipment in the truck and it explained Masterson’s motive for smashing the force field. A hunter, indeed! He was hunting, all right. He was hunting for a fortune in uranium, and the only men who could lead him to it were Dr. Dumar and Dr. Perry.

Now Chuck understood why Masterson had constantly wanted to return to the spot where the two doctors had been found. He had probably assumed that the deposit was somewhere in that vicinity and had tried to lead the party that way, rather than back to the rendezvous site. He’d probably known all along that Chuck was heading in the right direction — but a return to his own time was the farthest thing from his mind. At least, until he’d got all the uranium he needed.

This gave Chuck another interesting thought. How had Masterson planned on getting away with it? He’d find the deposit, yes, probably by getting “lost” from the party and searching for the two scientists until he found them. Then what? If he left the doctors alive, his plans would be ruined. Had he then planned on killing them?

“What do you say, Spencer?” Masterson shouted. “Denise for Gardel and Dr. Perry.”

Chuck snapped his thoughts back to the immediate problem. “Dr. Perry,” he said anxiously, “who has the map to the uranium deposit?”

“Why... why...”

“I know it’s top secret stuff, but this is important. Does Dr. Dumar have it?”

“No.”

“Then you do.”

“No.”

Chuck’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. “Well... well, who does?”

“The Jurassic has it, Chuck.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Pierre had it in his sleeping bag with him on the night of the upheaval. In all the excitement...”

“He left it in the bag!”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds. We still remember the location. We spent a lot of time there, Chuck. We could probably draw it from memory — if the upheaval didn’t change the situation.”

“What do you say, Spencer?” Masterson shouted.

“I say NO!” Chuck roared. “I don’t like your bargain, Masterson. It smells.”

Hastily, Chuck lowered his voice and told Dr. Perry, Pete and Arthur what he thought. He watched their faces as he spoke, saw Dr. Perry nod.

“I was wondering why he was so friendly to us when we first joined the party,” Dr. Perry said. “I should have realized he was after something.”

“We’ve got to stall him,” Chuck said. “We’ve got to get that rifle away from him. If he gets you over there with Dr. Dumar, he’ll force the location of the deposit out of you. And when he’s through with you...”

“Mmm,” Dr. Perry agreed.

Chuck’s eyes wandered over to the cliff, climbed the sheer wall to settle on the ledge fifty feet from the ground.

“That’s it,” he said aloud.

“What? What’s what?” Arthur asked.

“The ledge.” Chuck indicated it with a motion of his head, not wanting Masterson to see him pointing. “If I can get up to that ledge without Masterson seeing me, we’ll have him boxed in.”

“How the deuce you going to get up there?” Pete asked.

“I don’t know. Around the side, maybe. The sides don’t look as steep as the face. I’d have to go up the side anyway, or Masterson would see me.”

“You’ll never do it,” Arthur said. “It’s too steep a climb.”

“I’ve got to try.”

“Why not me?” Arthur asked.

“Because I’m the alleged guide on this time slip.”

Chuck said quietly. “So far, all I’ve done is get us into a lot of trouble. Maybe I can get us out of some now.”

Arthur’s eyes met Dr. Perry’s, and the paleontologist nodded imperceptibly. Chuck saw the movement and smiled. “I’m not trying to be a hero or a martyr, believe me. I just feel... I feel as if I’ve... as if I haven’t been doing my job. Do you know what I mean? As if I’ve let everyone down.”

Dr. Perry was quiet for a long time. Then he said, “Every man has his mountain to climb, Chuck. Do a good job with it.”

“Thanks,” Chuck said. “Now here’s my plan...”

The ground was rough, covered with sharp rocks that stabbed at his hands and his chest and his knees. He kept close to the ground, hugging it for dear life as he moved away from the protection of the rocks. Behind him, he heard the sharp crack of a rifle as Arthur began his diversionary fire. He did not turn to look back. He kept his head low and his body pressed flat to the terrain as he inched his way toward the boulders and the sheer face of the cliff. The rifle fire stopped suddenly, and then the second part of his plan went into action.

“Masterson!”

“Yeah, what is it?”

“This is Dr. Perry talking.”

“What’s on your mind, Dr. Perry?”

“I’ve been talking to the boy. Spencer. I’ve been talking to him.”

“Is that what all the shooting was about, Dr. Perry?”

“The shooting was the boy’s idea. I’ve talked him out of it. He thinks the way I do now.”

“And just how do you think?”

“I’ve decided to accept your proposition. Gardel and I will join you if you give us Denise in return.”

He moved forward more quickly now. The land still probed at him with a hundred razor-sharp fingers, but he was out of Masterson’s line of vision and he could proceed without caution. Slowly he got to his feet and began running in a wide arc, circling around the boulders, heading for the side of the cliff. He smiled as he heard Dr. Perry speaking. Filibuster. Good old American filibuster. A filibuster in the Age of Reptiles. The thought amused him, but he was not forgetting the task that lay ahead of him.

“I’ll send Gardel over first.”

“I’m listening.”

“When Gardel gets there, Masterson, you’ll send Denise to us. Then I’ll come over to you.”

“That’s rather shrewd, Dr. Perry, but I don’t like it.”

“Why not?”

“What’s to prevent you from getting Denise and then not coming over to me yourself?”

“The thought hadn’t even entered my mind.”

“I’ll bet it hadn’t, Dr. Perry. Do you take me for a fool?”

“I give you my word of honor. As soon as Denise is safely here, I shall start across to you.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t like the arrangement.”

“Don’t you trust me, Masterson?”

“I do not trust anyone, Doctor.”

“Well, what’s your suggestion, then?”

The ground swelled upward to become a ring of boulders that ran around the side of the cliff. Chuck studied the boulders for a moment, pausing to catch his breath. And then he started to climb. Mounting the boulders was not too difficult, and he accomplished it with ease. Now only the cliff lay above him. Fifty feet up its side was a narrow ledge from which he could get a clear shot at Masterson if the situation was pressed that far. He hoped it wouldn’t be. The .45 was heavy on his waist as he reached for his first foothold on the sloping side of the cliff.

“Hello, Masterson?”

“I’m still here.”

“Do you have any suggestions?”

“I’m thinking.”

“Suppose you send Denise over first? Then when she’s here, Gardel and I can come over together.”

“Do you take me for an idiot?”

“Why? The idea sounds reasonable, Masterson.”

“To you, perhaps. But you’re four men there, and Gardel is only one. How do I know you won’t jump him as soon as the girl is in your camp?”

“We wouldn’t do that, Masterson.”

“How do I know you won’t?”

“You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

“In fact, Doctor, how do I know that Gardel isn’t bound and gagged right this minute? How do I know this isn’t just a trick to get the girl back to you?”

“That would be foolish, Masterson. You’d still have Dr. Dumar with you. You’d still have one hostage.”

“Let me see Gardel. Have him step out from behind the rock!”

He was almost to the ledge. His heart gave a vicious leap when he heard Masterson’s last request. He hadn’t counted on that. He hadn’t even considered it when forming his plan. He kept climbing, reaching for shrubs that jutted from the rocky side, tearing at the slope with grasping fingers. Ten feet. Ten more feet. Seven feet. He could see the rock far below him, with Arthur and Pete sprawled behind it. Dr. Ferry yanked Gardel to his feet and pulled the gaunt man with him out into the open. Arthur’s rifle swung around slowly, pointed at the back of Gardel’s head. Five more feet.

“Here he is, Masterson.”

“Hello, Brock!”

“H-h-hello, Dirk.”

“What do you think, Brock? Shall I trust them? How does their plan sound to you?”

“I... I don’t know, Dirk.”

“You sound kind of nervous. What’s the matter? Is anything wrong, Brock?”

Another foot. One more foot. His hands reached out for the flatness of the ledge. He got a good grip on the surface and then slowly swung his legs onto it. He could see Masterson behind the protection of his boulder now, far below. The big man had a rifle, and it was pointed across the clearing at Dr. Ferry and Gardel. Slowly, cautiously, he unholstered the .45 at his waist, checked the clip and released the safety. He looked down again, saw Denise and Dr. Dumar huddled on Masterson’s right. From the other side of the cliff, beyond his own vision and beyond Masterson’s, he heard a curious sound. A scraping sound or the sound of something treading on loose rocks. He was just turning his head to locate the source of the sound when Gardel pulled his arm away from Dr. Perry. He started to run across the clearing, and his mouth was open in a hoarse warning.

“Look out, Dirk! The boy! With a gun!