Adam Brodie and the monster from the dark planet

Chapter Thirty One

Chapter Thirty One

Adam was terrified. Not since the time when he was four and the thing under his bed reached out to him had he known such naked terror. His heart thudded and sweat poured over his body. His stomach knotted. His chest tightened and he felt it hard to breathe.

Yet his survival instinct kicked in and his mind and body were tightly focussed on one thing and one thing only, staying alive.

He urged Apache on with greater speed as the animal plunged through the tropical forest. The fronds of giant ferns slapped at his face and the long, stiff, hard leaves of cycads buffeted his body. Behind he could hear the growl of the monster and heard its pounding footsteps and could almost smell its stinking breath.

Adam considered discarding his helmet. It had no use in summoning help and if he fell from Apache it would be game over as the monster would get him. The helmet limited his vision and interfered with his sense of hearing. Then Adam reminded himself he needed the visor.

That thought vanished as he came into a clearing and before him saw yet more monsters. They were gigantic, a vast herd of plodding huge bodies and from those bodies rose snake like necks ending in tiny heads. The herd strode across a plain making the earth shake with dozens of heavy footfalls.

Adam had seen them in books as illustrations and now he was seeing them for real. He knew what they were, a herd of Brachiosauruses.

He urged Apache towards the plodding herd. It would only be a matter of time before the monster caught up with him so Adam's survival instinct made him a take a long shot. It wasn't a conscious decision but a sense of taking the only option open.

He drove Apache into the herd of titans.

Apache held back. The animal was too stupid to realise it was between a rock and a hard place, with the hard place slightly less hard than the rock that was thundering on behind it.

Adam urged the beast forward and they entered among the herd. Adam used his riding skills to dart about the great legs which came down with terrific force, their feet flattening anything below.

Pure instinct guided Adam. If he had to think about what he was doing he would have frozen instantly and a giant foot would have squished him and Apache like rotten tomatoes. He was aware of a vast foot descending and he pulled Apache to one side and the beast followed, as much guided by its own survival instinct as by Adam. They narrowly missed ending up under a Brachiosaurus' foot as Apache jerked to the left.

Suddenly they were the other side of the herd.

Adam looked back. He could see the meat eater, the other side of the herd, had stopped uncertain whether to go forward or not. Adam knew from his reading on dinosaurs, and the programmes he had watched on television, a lone predator would never attack a herd of sauropods any more than a solitary lion would attack a herd of elephants. Adam's judgement proved correct when the meat eater turned and slunk away.

"Better luck next time, old boy," said Adam.

He stopped Apache to take his bearings. Anyway, the animal could not keep running. Adam looked around him and saw the arc of the dome covering the Nexus. He turned Apache in that direction and the animal trotted towards it.

"Home again, home again, jiggity jig," said Adam with a heavy sigh.

He was extremely pleased with himself. He hadn't won the race but he didn't care. He and Apache had escaped certain death. He was furious with the Nexus and he intended having some harsh words with Trinity.

There was a familiar growl behind him and Adam's head swivelled on his neck and he saw another monster charging straight towards him.

"No!" he screamed. "No! No! No!"

He urged Apache on again. The beast did not need no urging, sensing danger. It was the same monster, the scaly frilled giant. Somehow it had gotten past the herd and followed Apache's scent until it had seen them both.

Adam and Apache sped across the plain heading directly towards the Nexus. Apache was slowing and Adam knew he had already driven his mount much too hard.

In the distance, to the west of the Nexus, a volcano spurted fire and dense black smoke. Adam thought, why was the Nexus next to an active volcano? His head swivelled again and he saw a black layer of freshly cooled larva strewn across the plain. He made for that.

Apache needed a lot of urging to go across the black craggy larva but Adam coaxed his mount onto it. Apache stumbled a lot and almost fell as the black crumbly rock gave way beneath it. Looking behind Adam saw the meat eater clamber onto the black rock and have even more difficulty getting purchase.

Adam went deeper into the craggy layer of black rock and the monster followed. It still attempted its headlong dash but on this uneven and fragile surface, that was its undoing. It lost its footing and tumbled crashing onto the black surface.

The creature bellowed with rage and pain. "Serves you right," Adam called back. "The bigger you are the harder you fall."

Adam urged Apache away from the larva layer back onto firm ground. The Nexus was now very close.

Adam was sweating with the hot, humid air and he felt parched. Reaching down to his saddle he took up the water bottle all riders had been equipped with and opened the top with the other hand which still held the reins. He tipped back the bottle and gulped down the water.

Something powerful grabbed Adam's shoulders and whisked him off Apache and into the air. Adam dropped the bottle and spat out a mouthful of water.

"What now?" he cried.