Caught in the Cretaceous

Chapter 5: Dark Skies, Dark Lights

Artemis leaves her brother's office after having dumped  the responsibility on him feeling only a little guilty. She knew it was the best and only decision they had at the moment. He knew, technically speaking, he was third in charge so if there was ever a time her and Alex were unable to lead the role would fall to him. Thankfully that hasn't ever happened yet, but they still needed someone in charge while both her and Alex were in the field. 

If Alex had his way though she wouldn't be going out there, still being injured from the crash. Which of course had started an argument that Will was injured too. They had bickered about this point for a while. Starting with Alex saying he'd rather they both stayed behind and her responding with a very blunt 'not a chance in hell'. So then it turned into he would go with just Will because he was basically okay as long as he wore the brace, meaning he didn't have a head injury and his ribs weren't bandaged up like hers. That's when she really got mad. She didn't scream and shout, and thank goodness for that because wincing from her ribs hurting from that would've just proved his point. Instead she narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice and simply told him if he was going to risk his life, and their nephew's life she was damn well going to go with them, the'd already agreed on the groups after all. This of course meant the argument was over and he needed to simply accept it. 

So here she is on her way to meet her husband and nephew to head out into the basically unexplored world of the pre-historic past and she and her family now found themselves in. Just as planned both men were waiting for her by the exit of the ship. When she steps up to them Alex hold out a knife and sheath to her. She just tilts her head and looks at him quizzically. 

"Take it. This isn't a stroll through the park. You might need it." 

Artemis' eyes widen at his words. She takes the offered weapon, doing her best to hide the fact that she hadn't even considered they would need weapons of protection outside of the ship. All she had thought to bring was a canteen of water, a first aid kit, and a sample kit. Clearly her husband knew she wouldn't think of this, and that made her feel even more inadequate and unprepared. But she wasn't going to show it if she could help it, that would just satisfy Alex too much and she couldn't stand that 'Told you so' she knows he's just waiting to pull out and wave in her face. No, she would hold as long as she absolutely could because the humiliation would be too much. 

Shaking off her inadequacy she looks at Alex while she straps the blade and sheath to herself. "What are we doing today?" 

"We need  to know what's safe to eat. In most time periods you'd just watch the animals, but that might not be the case here. So we're going to take samples of different plants so we know which ones we can use for food." Alex explains. 

Artemis furrows her brow. That's it? They were just collecting samples of plants? That sounded so easy, he made it sound so simple. They probably didn't even have to go too far from the ship to get this done, right? So why did the edge in his voice make her feel what there is no such thing as a simple or easy task and she shouldn't jinx things by voicing that out loud. 

Alex leads the way outside. Upon stepping outside Artemis has her breath stolen from her. Of all the times and places they have visited nothing compares to this pure and untouched world infant of her. Even with the grooves in the ground from the bumpy landing, the towering trees and lush undergrowth under a brilliantly bright blue sky is a sight unseen not only by her but by humans in decades by the time she was born. She takes a deep breath of the fresh air and smells the natural woods and clean air. Her eyes sparkle with excitement. 

"Don't get too distracted. It may be beautiful but it is a dangerous environment. We have to keep out wits about us." Alex cuts off her admiring of the environment with a serious tone and message.