Recap: He discovered this new fossil, but he has no way of extracting it out. He thinks up a scheme to trick his former grad student.
There was a long pause, and I thought she disconnected, but she finally spoke. “What’s your angle, Saderick? You’d never talk to me unless your reputation was at stake or you had a huge collector waiting.” She used the word like a doctor referring to diseases.
She isn’t taking the bait. “It’s the truth, Meri. I’d be happy to leave you be, but I need to borrow a hoversled to get to Dubois. I can’t very well saunter over there, can I? I’d be more than glad to pay--”
She interrupted “You’re right on one account, Saderick. I would rather be left in peace.”
“And I’ll gladly leave you to it. Look, I don’t expect charity from you. I’m willing to offer the coordinates for this as payment.” I tapped several buttons on the transmitter and it keyed into the wireless signal on my neural drive, accessing the image archives. I selected the best shots of the Craggy Cliff site and started an upload to her.
“This is prime fossil grounds. I can’t extract anymore without gear. It’s open for anyone and if you don’t take it, Doniel will.”
“What, you didn’t explode this one?”
I decided silence was the best retort. The upload finished and she must have begun examining the images as she said nothing more.
After some moments, she spoke. “This is a pretty imposing find, Saderick. Better than what I’ve seen. I’ve never known you to share regardless of the circumstances. Why the sudden change of heart?”
“Because… I’d rather you get them than Doniel does.”
She gave an exasperated groan. “Again with your idiotic rivalry, Saderick. Do you ever stop and notice your war with Doniel does harm than good?”
“Harm to what? I’m protecting the paleontological community’s integrity from that heathen. They must know the misdeeds he’s enacted. Why I’m--”
“Out of all the fossils you’ve published on, how many do you own? None? You collect enough data to call it research and then sell to rich collectors who hide them away in their mansions. Do you know why I wanted to work with you?”
I could imagine several good reasons, but I wondered her perspective.
“On Earth we watched reports of the great Saderick Lake and his magnificent discoveries. Bought his own starship ticket, funded his research, and pioneered a new branch of paleontology. The man I revered wasn’t the one I worked with. Somewhere, you decided research mattered less than crushing a rival. I doubt you remember the names of half the fossils you’ve discovered.”
My fists clenched. “I was young and naïve like you,” I said. “But I discovered idealism doesn’t keep you funded. I’m all that’s keeping Jacobs from turning us into a laughing stock, and sacrifices became necessary to prevail. You, of all people, know how expensive this work is. You’re not being fair, Meri.”
“Not fair?” She gave a contemptuous snort. “You want to talk about fairness? How many years did I work with you? And throughout those years, how often did my name appear alongside yours? None. Zip. Zero. The paleontological revolution of a lifetime, and you wrote me out of it, you bastard.”
I tried to correct her, but she interrupted me. “You want to talk fair? I scour the boondocks, scraping what samples I can while you and Doniel intimidate or buy out anyone who dares to infringe on their territory.”
Her misconceptions were wrong, of course. She made me out to be some villain. Again, she spoke before I could defend myself. “I’ve nothing to show for my work, Saderick. Nothing. My parents tell me I’m wasting their money and my life, and are going to cut off my funding. I understand ‘publish or perish’ but there was no excuse. I could be someone, but you put an end to that.”
She paused long enough for me to interject. “Now wait a moment, Meri. I didn’t remove you. I wanted to wait until you were ready. Your skills were immature. I--”
“Until I was ready?” She gave a bitter laugh. “The only juvenile one is you, Saderick. Doniel can have your damn field and whatever else you’re hiding. I won’t be your footstool again.”
“I’m offering you the find of a lifetime, Meri. Send me the hovercraft, I’ll send you the coordinates. That’s all I want.”
She answered by clicking her radio off. I stared at the device for a moment. I hadn’t cut her out for personal gain. I suppose she could have come to that conclusion through jealousy. I’d stayed successful because I played Doniel’s game. Meri hadn’t and now realized she had plenty to learn.
That conclusion would come to her eventually. Later in the day, probably toward evening, she’d call back. I’d heard frustration in her voice. She was desperate for anything to validate her failed career. Meri would brood, but eventually realize she had to take my offer.
The result was inevitable and we both knew it. Just wait. I set the transmitter down and walked back to my discovery. It seemed even more marvelous now. A few more hours and you’ll be mine. It needed a name. Something powerful and fierce, on par with Tyrannosaurus rex.
I puzzled through some possibilities. My Latin skills extended only to forming binomial nomenclatures used with animal classifications. I’d find a name later. You don’t rush these decisions.
I gazed at his glistening beak and the three pairs of talons. Long ago, this area wasn’t badlands, but floodplains. He lived as an apex predator, without equal. Powerful as an avalanche, whatever beast stood against him, died.
A thought entered my head. All the animals living on Lockhart’s surface mated for life, never separating from each other by more than a few dozen meters. It felt logical this behemoth had a mate.
I stood back, startled at the idea. Judging by the pristine nature of this fellow, he’d been buried in a sand dune collapse like the Velociraptor and Protoceratops in Mongolia. And if the collapse caught him off guard, it might have caught others.
I crept into the gully, circling the mesas. No signs betrayed the presence of another but that meant little. Fossils weren’t exactly a surface phenomenon. Using a thin chunk of sandstone I ground at the sides of the mesas, trying to break through the tough rock.
The morning and afternoon went without event but I remained optimistic as I excavated through the sandstone using a fragment of rock. Even if I didn’t find it, I could conduct further excavations later but I might as well keep busy.
The sandstone in front of me shattered as I rammed my stone into it. The rupture sprayed a puff of sand into my face causing my already parched throat to burn. Further excavations should be delayed until Meri calls.
All I needed was the species. Given I made the discovery; I allowed myself some vanity. Rostimperator lakii. I doubted the UN Committee on Paleontology cared if I attached my name. Those old fossils would be too captivated by this new fossil to care.
