As the hills around Tyler swept down to the plains far below them, he saw a sight that first brought fear to his family and friends, that turned to wonder once Tyler had assured them all that the giant Brachiosaurs, whose long necks they saw soaring up towards the highest of the trees, were herbivores. These creatures posed no danger to them as long as they kept their distance from the wondrous creatures, however as Appolon said, where there were grazers there were animals that prayed on the weak and the young. Further on, they saw a herd of duck billed dinosaurs, which were much closer to them, and the children wanted to get a closer look, but the wisdom of Appolon prevailed and they continued to walk ever onwards, quietly and ready for whatever the future held. All Tyler wanted to do was to get out of the Cretaceous period and back to the present day. Argo decided to climb up a nearby solitary tree to scout out the country about them, and there some four miles in front of them, he could see the next portal, all they had to do was stick to this track and they would arrive there in just over one hour.
“Appolon there is something wrong with all of this, the kidnappers must have known something about the portals and the different domains, something that we don`t know, otherwise they would never have entered.” Tyler said to his friend.
“You think that they knew a way out of here that wouldn`t necessitate them going through the entire complex?” Appolon replied.
“It is the only thing that makes sense.” Tyler replied.
Up ahead of them they saw what looked like a cave set into a large rocky hillside, a cave with what appeared to be prison bars and a cell door across its opening.
In front of the cave three dinosaurs the size of red kangaroos were attempting to find a way into it, and the easy meal that it contained. On seeing the approaching group of the humans, the three dinosaurs thought that another easy meal was coming their way, and they turned away from the cave entrance and began to move towards Tyler and the others.
“Run away quickly, while you can.” Marot Pallas shouted from inside his safe prison. “Your energy weapons are useless, the first portal must have drained them, one of the missing archaeologists who came through here told me so, and it is why they never returned.” Marot Pallas was almost beside himself with fear for the people coming towards him.
“Marot, it is me, Patina, I have come to save you.” Patina cried.
“Please run away my darling while you are still able to, those animals are killers, I saw them kill and devour a man right in front of the cave it was one of the archaeologists. He got lost while running away from another dinosaur, just after he first came through the portal, and was only able to find his way back to the track yesterday when they attacked him.”
“No my darling these men are here to save you.” Patina cried to her husband.
Marot Pallas fell to the floor, his strength flooding out of his body, as he prepared himself to see even more people killed and eaten by the monsters, monsters that were even now preparing to launch themselves at the humans approaching them. Tears flowed down his face as he prepared for a new hell that of seeing his young wife killed before his eyes, to hear her screams. All his thoughts stopped as he saw that there were three young children amongst the group, and a woman who must be their mother, what was happening to his mind, was this all an illusion sent to torture him.
Tyler knew just what type of dinosaur faced them; they were some sort of animal akin to a Velociraptor that found fame in Hollywood, and that meant that they were more dangerous than their size indicated. They were in fact an animal that was similar to the Deinoychus family that roamed Earth in the Cretaceous period.
“Appolon, Tryon and Cimon come to my right flank, Argo to my left. This put Argo near to the cliff and so he was slightly safer than those on the right of Tyler were, but the children were once again directly behind him, which meant that, he could not retreat.
“Listen those three dinosaurs have razor sharp claws, so mind they don`t get within slashing distance. Caroline put the children in the middle, and then will you prepare to guard our rear, Cimon give Data your spear, Data you stand behind me, your strength with the spear could well save us all again.”
The children were looking fearfully up at the adults clustered around them; they could feel the tension given off by the adults, and they were now too scared to even breathe. The dinosaurs were only thirty feet away now, and were ready to launch their attack but Tyler had different ideas.
“Appolon see if your arrow will pierce the hide of that one on the far right, aim for the top of its leg.”
Moments later and an arrow flashed across the space between the humans and the dinosaurs to hit the dinosaur, and causing it to squeal in pain as the sharp metal tipped arrow entered its hide, the other two dinosaurs stopped moving as they looked towards their wounded brother, for these three were all hatched from the same batch of eggs. As the wounded dinosaur looked wonderingly at the shaft of the arrow, Tyler called behind him to Data.
“Data throw your spear at the wounded one.”
Data`s arm carried the spear behind his head and then he launched it, his strength taking the spear through the air far faster than one of the humans could have managed. It struck the wounded dinosaur in its throat and went deep in severing blood vessels as it plunged further into the soft flesh of the beast, on its way through it had also severed the beasts windpipe cutting off the vital supply of oxygen to the beasts heart and brain. The beast dropped to the ground thrashing in its death throes, its two brothers looking from it and then to their meal in front of them. The children took heart at this and cheered bravely, before stopping as they saw the two remaining beast beginning their charge towards them, as Tyler called out to the others.
“Fire at their eyes and throats again everybody, stop them dead, Data take Tryon`s spear and use it now.”
Tyler`s call was none too soon for the two dinosaurs were almost on them, Tyler and Tryon being the targets for the beasts jaws, five arrows found their target and the beast charging Tryon was finally knocked backwards by the impetus behind the spear, that thudded deep into its body, and was once again thrown by Data. The dinosaur charging straight at Tyler had an arrow in each of its two eyes, two in its throat plus a spear deep inside the soft tissues of its body. The spear had just whizzed through the gap between Tyler and Appolon, as Caroline chose this moment to enter into the fight. It was this well aimed spear that finally stopped it at Tyler`s feet where it thrashed weakly about as it still tried to get to him, before dying a quick death when Appolon had thrust his own spear deeply into the skull of the dying creature.
Tyler knew that they had been lucky to meet these animals in the open, had they met in thick undergrowth the outcome would not have been so one sided, but the Orionist were brave warriors, well able to hunt a ferocious animal single handed if necessary, they would still have had a chance to prevail against only the three dinosaurs.
Patina rushed ahead to the cave where her husband was imprisoned.
“Marot, I knew that you were safe, Magi told me that if I did as I was instructed that you would be saved.” Patina cried out in glee.
“Patina, you must tell me, who are those people who came through the portal with you and what are those children doing here?” Marot Pallas asked baffled by what he was seeing.
“Magi told me to go through the Vortex to a planet on the other side, and to bring back to Helionia the man who is talking to the children, he is a chosen one of the gods, and only he was capable of bringing you safely back to me.” Patina explained but she knew that Marot would not condone her actions, but what else could she have done to bring him safely home to her?
“But why are the children here?” Marot Pallas asked as an unexplained fear filled his heart.
“He wouldn`t come when he heard that no one who had ever entered the portal had ever returned, so I kidnapped his wife and children to force him to come Marot, what else could I do?” Patina begged of her husband.
“But why did he bring them through the portal with him
?” Marot asked again, but something deep within feared to hear the answer.
“Magi told me that if I wanted to save your life then I had to bring them through with me, only all of us coming through the portal would ensure your safety my darling.” Patina said. Her eyes was streaming with tears by now, her face full of fear that Marot would turn from her for committing such a terrible act.
“Ask him if he will come to speak with me Patina.” Marot Pallas asked of his wife, he greatly feared that she would be made to pay for the evil that she had done.
Patina walked back to the Orionists and approached the man she had wronged so badly.
“Tyler Burrows, my husband asks if you would speak with him.” Patina said through her android.
Tyler looked from her to her husband, and then he walked across to the cave with the others following in close attendance, for they all wanted to hear what the man had to say.
“Marot this is Tyler Burrows, he is the man who is going to bring you back to your people.” Patina said. The android came forward then to greet his master.
“Master I am fluent in the language of the Orionists so you need have no fear that they may not understand you. Here is a receiver so that you will be able to understand them.” Data handed over a receiver similar to the one that Patina wore.
“Tyler Burrows please except my apologies for the crime committed against you and your family, I cannot express how bad I feel about the way Patina had treated you. If you don`t want to except my apology then I will understand, but I would still beg of you to get me back to Helionia to safeguard the future of not only my people, but of the neighbouring planets, and also yours, for the vortex makes it a simple matter to travel between the two sectors in space.” Marot was looking directly into Tyler`s eyes, and Tyler could see that he was sincere in all that he said.
“I should have killed your wife.” Tyler replied fulfilling all of Marot`s fears. “But I didn`t, for my people are not barbarians, we do believe in justice though, so we will be asking your people to treat her as she deserves to be treated. As for you, yes I will endeavour to return you to Helionia, as long as doing so doesn`t further endanger my family or my friends.”
Patina hung her head in shame, her face had once more turned very pale as Tyler spoke, but Marot`s pain at Tyler`s call for justice was tempered by the balance of the reply that he had received.
“Tyler Burrows, thankfully you brought your primitive weapons along with you, for they not only saved your lives and my wife`s, but hopefully you can also rescue me, but how did you know that your energy weapons wouldn`t work inside here?” Marot Pallas asked, clearly baffled by such an act.
“Your old mystic told me to bring them along with us when she was on Orion; I guess she cannot be all bad, although from what I have heard about her she sure tries to be.” Tyler replied.
“She is thoroughly evil Tyler Burrows, as I have told my wife many times before, but for some reason she will not listen to me. Tyler Burrows my four captors went along that track over there.” Marot Pallas indicated a track that led off the main one.
“Their leader boasted that it led to a way out of this hell, they took with them a young officer, a Lieutenant Vakas, what they intend to do with him I don`t know, but the shortest of them has the key to this door here.” Marot Pallas said indicating his gaol cell door.
“I don`t believe the exit that they were seeking is all that far away, and I don`t know if they even made it. A few minutes after they had left me I heard more than one man scream out in agony, if their Phasers weren`t working either, then they too may have ended their lives as meals for the terrible animals of this world.”
Patina almost collapsed when she heard that her lover had been kidnapped as well, luckily, no one was looking her way and she recovered herself sufficiently to join in the conversation.
“Why didn`t your tracer work, I thought that it was solar powered?” Patina asked her husband.
“Because Patina the sun cannot supply it with power while I am locked away in this cave.” Marot Pallas informed her. Tyler Burrows then butted in to their conversation.
“Marot we will go the same way as your kidnappers went, if we find the key we will return immediately for you, have no fear, for we will not leave you to die down here in this hell.” Tyler promised Marot Pallas. For a politician the alien seemed to be almost human, and then a thought ran through Tyler`s mind, as he was mayor of Orion, he too was a politician.
“Appolon our friend here is quite safe for the moment, but there isn`t any way of freeing him without the key, I suggest that we all follow the track that the kidnappers took and find their way out.” Tyler said to his friend.
“Don`t worry Tyler, they have left enough tracks for even you to follow.” Appolon said, and when all of the Orionists had managed to stop laughing, and Tyler had acknowledged the truth behind the jest, he then moved them off.
Appolon and Tryon led the way, for as trackers the two were simply the best and could easily follow the kidnappers sign, and Cimon and Argo brought up the rear to ensure that they were not taken by surprise from that direction, if any more of the fierce creatures of this domain appeared.
The trail soon finished at the remains of a massacre, the partial remains of four men lay before them. Caroline and Tyler had trouble looking at the bodies themselves, and they sought to ensure that their children saw nothing of them as they moved them by the awful site, keeping the children`s eyes buried deeply within their parents clothing, this way the worst of it was hidden from their children`s eyes. Patina couldn`t look at them either, for she knew that one of the bodies was that of her dead lover Ajmer, she would never again lie in his arms.
Appolon and Tryon moved ahead to ensure that the portal was empty of anything that would be a threat to the children, and when they got there they found the remains of Hanson whose body lay inside of the portal, together with the key to Marot Pallas`s cell. Picking the key up, Appolon and Tryon then carried the gruesome remains out into the day light and hid the body in the undergrowth, away from the eyes of the three children. It was only now that they called to Tyler to tell him that it was safe, only then were they were followed by Tyler and Caroline and the others of their small group. They moved the children inside the portal but not too far for they didn`t want to activate it yet, and there inside the cave they saw through the glass window, in a newly installed closet, five space suits hanging on pegs along with their air tanks, seemingly ready for use.
“Let`s move nearer to the entrance darling, this place gives me the creeps, it is so black further along that the entire Heliot army could be in there and we would never know.” Caroline said as the Burrows family moved a little nearer to the mouth of the portal, and into the light cast down by the sun.