Read Online Delta Pavonis by John Maddox Roberts, Eric Kotani - Free Book Online Page A

up the cliff.
    "Piece of cake," Dierdre gasped, stomach heaving, sure she would faint. Gradually, her distress subsided. "I'm going to have to practice this climbing business."
    "You'll get lots of opportunity. Can you get on your feet? We have to find a big rock or tree or something, and damn if I'm going in there alone."
    Shakily, Dierdre stood. Everything seemed to be in working order. "Let's go."
    Cautiously, pushing their way through the dense foliage lining the stream, they tried to look in every direction at once. Tiny creatures ran along the branches of bushes and small trees, too swift to see clearly. Insects buzzed loudly, but the repellant that Schubert had concocted from his aid kit seemed to be working.
    "Was that a snake?" Govinda said, pointing at a movement in the underbrush.
    "I didn't see it. At least none of those monsters have been here lately. This growth hasn't been trampled or chewed up in a long time. Years, maybe," she added, hopefully.
    "Here's a good one." Govinda pointed to a tree nearly a half-meter in thickness, its gnarled roots gripping the steep side of the ravine. They looped a rope around the trunk and went back to the edge, tossing the rest of the line over.
    "Come on up!" Govinda called.
    First to ascend were Sims and Okamura, their beam rifles slung across their backs. As soon as they were up, they took up positions a dozen meters into the brush, keeping watch overhead and inland. Forrest came next, followed by the others. The team leader scanned the surroundings, muttering constantly into his recorder unit. With the rope, the climb was far easier and the last of the team was atop the cliff within ten minutes.
    Dierdre had not experienced such excitement in her life, not even on her first solo flight. The air here seemed to crackle with life and danger. A chilling thought struck her: it would be easy to die here. Then another thought: so what?
    "Let's move out," Forrest called. "Up onto the plateau, single file, two-meter intervals. Sims, you go first, I go next. Okamura, take rear guard. Go."
    Slowly, they made their way up the steep bank.
    The growth was dense, and Sims had to grunt and heave to force his way through, taking the easiest route he could find, quartering the slope rather than trying to climb straight up. Dierdre, still tired from her climb, took a position near the rear so that the trail would be well broken by the time she got to it.
    The climb to the plateau took only a few minutes. They found themselves standing among tall trees that formed cathedral-like arches overhead. There was dense underbrush in places, but huge tunnels drilled through it forming long, intersecting corridors.
    "Damn," Forrest said. "Now that's what I call a game trail." He inspected one, its tangled roof fully five meters from the forest floor. The floor itself was bare dirt in the tunnels, mossy loam everywhere else.
    Colin stooped to study the ground. "This is packed too hard to take footprints. When we get to softer ground, we'll see plenty of them."
    "Here's something," Hannie called. A few paces from the path, she had found a footprint impressed in the soft loam. It was at least forty centimeters wide, with toe and claw impressions. Everyone gaped at it.
    "The broad ones like this," Colin said, "will be mostly herbivores. The ones to watch out for will have tracks like big birds, with long toes and not much footpad. Some will leave nothing but toe impressions."
    "I'd just as soon not meet a tyrannosaur," Hannie said.
    Colin shook his head. "A predator that size probably wouldn't even notice you. There were smaller ones a lot more dangerous. Small by dinosaur standards, that is. There was a real horror called a deinonychus. About man-sized, and they traveled in packs. Their hind feet each had a gut hook about half as long as your forearm. There were probably a lot of others never discovered."
    "That's enough gawking," Forrest said. "We'll see plenty of tracks before long, and the animals that