White Mountain Sun

Prologue

Dawn.

The fuzzy border between nighttime and daylight, the gray hours when the world is still dreaming, when few dare to stir and the changing of routines begins. When nocturnal creatures fly home to roost, and the early risers step up to begin their work. The time when one's whole day can be planned ahead, when nothing is certain and muses explaining the current happenings can be made up inside one's head.

But Dr. Emily Grey was no morning person, and she could hardly see what she was doing as she fumbled with the silvery doorknob on the dulled white door in front of her. Stupid thing won't budge!

Cursing under her breath, she pulled away and knocked, trying to stay still as she fought the urge to peek through the peephole in the upper center of the door. Though it was the first few days of summer, it wasn't too warm outside, and even though Dr. Grey didn't freeze easily (she did, after all, spend the first few years of her life in northern Canada), she didn't like waiting outside in the dark. She might have been in the restricted area of the zoological park (after being dropped off by an intern), but there was no added insulation back here—just concrete gray tiles that formed a winding path past outdoor exhibits to a squat white building. And Grey had no interest in the exhibits she'd already passed.

Just as she was about to knock again, the door opened, a woman in a crisp white lab coat replacing the piece of wood. Dr. Grey nearly punched the poor employee, but quickly retracted her hand. "Sorry, Ms...?" she said, trailing off to let the other woman fill in.

"Doctor Amanda Fethry. You're Dr. Grey, aren't you? I believe I saw you when you were leaving after your interview." She had pale eyes, Dr. Grey noticed; pale eyes like faint blue crystal, like the cold of ice, like staring out onto a desolate and freezing landscape. "Congratulations on getting the job, by the way. You're going to love it here."

"Yes, and I believe I will. I assume you know that I'm here to..." Grey paused; how should she phrase this? "...be shown around?"

The unsaid ending hung in the air like a bat from the ceiling of a dark, hidden cave: ...and meet the dinosaurs?

She knew that they were not truly resurrected dinosaurs, as any employee with a brain in this park knew. Yet she was still curious, and she wanted to see the creatures she was to be working with.

Dr. Fethry nodded, stepping back against the wall so that Dr. Grey could enter. "Of course," she replied. "First a tour of the main facility, then the animals."

Grey stepped inside, feeling a blast of cool air as soon as her shoes hit the tiled floor. The hallway was long and painted pale white, cool and crisp and pristine, and the blonde woman made a mental note never to get lost in here as she followed Dr. Fethry.

"So," said doctor began, "shall we begin?"

...

The facility was everything Emily Grey could ever hope for and more, with its sprawling expanse and well-furnished rooms for studying, for working, for keeping the sick animals, and although it wasn't overly large, Grey was awed. She wasn't at all surprised, in fact, when she glanced at a clock and realized that it was now eight in the morning.

She had suggested to Dr. Fethry that they visited the Velociraptors first, and when the other woman agreed, she could hardly contain her excitement. Grey was no bubbly, happy-go-lucky cheerleader, but the mere thought of meeting the dinosaurs was enough to have her giggling like a schoolgirl.

They traveled through the hallways to find what Fethry called "the private viewing area", climbing a staircase or two in the process, with Grey hardly able to keep up. And, as they finally reached a locked door, she hardly had time to pant before it opened onto a sight that rendered her nearly speechless.