Read Online Jurassic Dead by David Sakmyster, Rick Chesler - Free Book Online Page A

ship and the crisp air tingling the flesh on his neck. The sort of spark he had only felt very rarely before, but this wasn't some eco-girl back home that he could comfort after watching Blood Dolphins or Blackfish and see where it led. An older woman, and a physician to boot. Smart and good-looking. Probably out of his league, but then again, so was this entire misguided trip.
    “What is it?” She asked, looking past him.
    “Oh, just taking a walk.” Great, that’s a brilliant opener. “Oh, but hey—I was just down on the work deck and there is somebody hurt bad down there. Not that I'm a doctor or anything.” Real smooth, dumbass.
    Veronica looked at her phone again and then back up at Alex and gave him a chilly response. “Yes, I’ve been alerted. Listen, would you mind…”
    “Oh, I’m sorry.” Alex bowed his head and stepped aside.
    “No,” she said, her tone softening, “I mean would you mind taking me there? I'm still new to the ship and time is of the essence with these kinds of injuries.”
    Alex looked up, a slight smile tugging at his lips. “Okay, sure. It's this way.” He led her back out the hallway through the door he came in and then along the platform outside. “My ex-girlfriend is pre-med,” Alex said, making conversation as they descended a series of ladder-like stairs. “Got into U.C. San Francisco and left me.”
    “Sorry to hear that.”
    “Oh, no worries. I'm way over it by now. Where'd you go to med school?”
    A pause, then: “UCLA.”
    “Oh, wow! I used to live in Westwood, right there. I didn't go to the school, but I grew up there, so I totally know the area. What street did you live on?”
    She didn't respond, and for a few seconds, he heard only the pounding of boots on metal stairs. They reached a landing and made the turn down the last flight of stairs that would lead to the main deck.
    “I don't remember the name, sorry. All I did was study. It was, you know, pretty typical for student housing kind of thing.”
    “Isn't med school like six years?”
    “Eight, actually, counting the residency. I had a few different apartments while I was there.”
    Alex frowned. Shut up, stop making her uncomfortable. The wiseass in him couldn’t resist. “So you don't remember the name of a single street where you lived for eight years? That must have been some—”
    Veronica's phone chimed and she held it to her ear. Alex could hear a frantic voice emanating from the other end and then heard her say, “On my way. Almost there.” She pantomimed which way to Alex when they reached the lower deck walkway. He pointed to the left and waved an arm for her to follow as he took off at a jog toward the work deck.
    When they ran up, the crew parted for the doctor like the Red Sea for Moses.
    “Right here, Doc,” one of them called out. “A davit motor busted off the rail under heavy load. Too damn cold probably, and landed square on his right knee. Crushed it pretty bad. We tied a tourniquet on his thigh to stem the bleeding.”
    The injured crewman was in bad shape. Someone had given him a piece of wood to bite down on, but his anguished cries still filled the air. His knee had been severely crushed. Alex noted that even the doctor seemed to be squeamish around it. He saw her face wrinkle in revulsion as she moved in for a close look at the wound. A few seconds passed and she still had said nothing.
    “Doc?” one of the crewmen pressed.
    She shook her head back and forth, as if snapping out of it. “Good work with the tourniquet. Seems like most of the bleeding has stopped. We can't do anything else for him here. I need to get him to the infirmary. You two, can you lift him?” She pointed to two beefy crewman standing nearby. They looked at their wounded associate's crumpled knee and then exchanged confused glances.
    “Whoa, wait a minute,” Alex said. As a long-time adrenaline junkie and X-games sports enthusiast, he'd been treated by emergency responders and ER doctors for