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The final Flashback begins ... Its all led to this.

All the characters and situations of the Flashback/Dinosaur Apocalypse come together in a final trilogy of tales that will close out and define the saga. Join Ank and Williams, the crew of Gargantua, the kids from Thunder Road, and so many others as they heed the call to adventure one last time and face the very architects of the Flashback!

From The War-torn Hills of Earth:

The gold fog rolled and so did the water, foaming and frothing, revealing first the photonics mast and communications antennas, then The Sarpedons black, sea-slicked sail and forward fins, then its great, dark, parabolic bowwhich breached the surface at an angle, like the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs swimming alongsideuntil, still steaming forward, the ship was fully surfaced and its aft fins visible; at which three peopletwo men and a small woman with a bob haircutappeared in the sail.

"Jesus," gasped Puckett, the engineering chief, as he looked at the beasts, which filled the water for as far as the eye could see (which nonetheless wasnt very far, due to the fog). "If I hadnt seen it myself, I wouldnt have believed it. The sonar doesnt lie."

Captain ONeil was more circumspect. "But why, goddammit. Thats what I want to know. Ive certainly never seen them migrate en masse like thislike Hammerhead sharks. Whats the reason?"

Both of them had to shout over the crash and commotion of the waves.

Pang signed excitedly at them as the wind chopped her hair.

"Whats she saying?"

Puckett, whod been working with her, paraphrased: "Shes saying, What if they were called tooonly in a different way?" He watched as she continued to sign. "Orconsidering the dream used sound and imagery instead of wordsthe exact same way?"

ONeil looked at the marine animals as they leapt and dove and swam powerfully alongside. Aye, but for a different reason, he thought.

"Ho!" cried Chief Puckett suddenly. "The Santa Monica Pier!"

ONeil peered into the fog and saw the tiny silhouette of a Ferris wheel emerging from the gloom, then unhooked his mic. "Half ahead, revolutions 500and mind the beasties." He looked at Pang. "Yes, Im going to send a team ashore. And no, youre not"

And thats when it happened: thats when the pterodactyl flapped down like an oyster-white threshing machine and snatched her up by the shouldersbegan rising. Thats when ONeil drew his sidearmeven as Puckett grabbed her by the anklebut couldnt get a shot in through the pounding wings and Pangs own flailinguntil there was the briefest of openings, and he did fire.

Until he got lucky, and the bird fell and so did Pangstill being gripped by her ankleso that she was flipped upside down and slammed against the sailwhich her head hit like a rock. So that she was knocked unconscious even as Puckett and ONeil held tightly and ultimately dragged her back into the conning tower.

After which, drearilyfor they were unable to wake her or get any sort of reaction at allthere was nothing to do but take her to the infirmary and monitor her.

Nothing to do, frankly, but pray.

...

Filtros

war-torn