SECTOR 10 (The CLOUD 2)

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 6

Yasmine's trip to the National Resource Center is not too far. Her appointment with the paleontologist Dr. Rachel Adams should clear the air on discoveries a planet away. Adams is familiar with the excavation sites on Mars. Though she has no idea about what kind of dinosaur fossils the Martian colonists have been uncovering. Yasmine accompanies her for a stroll through the exhibit where figures of ancient reptile specimens roam the artificial plains of Earth's once unravished foliage.

"I think you'd like an explanation of all of this," Dr. Adams says to her. She is right. The Martian colonists seem to have awakened some ancient relic of advanced scientific repute. The only problem is they have no explanation for it.

Yasmine laughs softly, quieting her voice as if they are in a library. "You'd be right about that. This is new to me, unexpected."

"Surely," Adams speaks without restraint. Her voice echoes through the distant halls. "Well, these monolithic bones represent Earth's earliest creatures, cold-blooded, of course. But you, what you have are identical remains with Martian colonists. I, I don't know how I can ever reconcile that with the notion of empirical historical data."

Their walk stops near a skeleton of a T-Rex, and now that they are facing each other she can give her a piece of her mind. "I think I should offer you some advice," she says.

"Dr. Adams."

"Rachel, call me Rachel, please. I don't know if this is some mindless stunt, or what have you. But Ellis has no idea what he's gotten himself into. These things are for the scientifically minded, not business. Do you understand? He is sort of like, the one who wants to sell the lemonade and not make it."

"I can't say that I disagree with you." Yasmine treads lightly, though understands that Bartram is still committed to scientific discovery despite his business acumen.

"However," Rachel admonishes, "you need to be aware that this has dire consequences. He sent you here for what, to scour for information as if I'm some oracle. Do you think I have any idea how dinosaurs got on Mars?"

Yasmine remains still.

"Now he probably has no idea what we're doing here, does he? Tell him that whatever problem he's gotten himself into will work itself out. It always does, he got himself into this mess I'm sure he'll find his way out of it." Dr. Adams stands firm. "Do call to let me know the aftermath of this latest calamity." Adams' haste to remove herself from the situation expresses the increase in discomfort.

Yasmine is not keen to let the discussion end so abruptly. "Hold on, let me show you some pictures. How about these?" She removes a bundle of images, snapshots from the Martian colonists. Adams reluctantly joins her side before taking them for herself, snatching the photos from her grip to turn a back on a former reluctance.

Her eyes peruse disjointed dinosaur bones, fragments of familiar species dispersed among the crimson soil of a deserted Mars. In one distinct picture, something strikes her as peculiar, where some artifact peaks from a sunken piece of soil.

"What is it?" Yasmine asks.

Dr. Adams moves from her side to a nearby post where bright lighting from a model skeleton is lit from above. The image shows a metallic black structure standing in the foreground protruding from the excavation soil that is tinted crimson red from fresh shoveling. The colonists are moving right toward it.

"This, here," Adams points to it. "A structure peaking from the soil. Not to mention the fact that there are the remnants of shrapnel from an explosion of some kind."