A Long Time Until Now Read Free Page A

and that’s it. So we don’t use it until we’re sure.”
    Alexander said, “Sir? Latrine break?”
    “Yeah, around that rock,” he pointed east. “Take a buddy.”
    “I’d rather take two. Sergeant Spencer, will you cover us?” She indicated herself and Caswell.
    “Yes,” he agreed.
    Elliott nodded. “Yeah, we need to stay in close proximity. We don’t know if it will happen again.”
    Spencer and the two females headed around the rock, but not far. He could see their heads as they squatted. He was glad they were within sight. What would happen if or when they jumped back . . . or elsewhere?
    And thank God for sci fi movies. Whatever had happened fit concepts they all knew about. Fifty years previous, he would have had a panic on his hands. As it was, they were too shocked to panic. He’d need to keep them busy.
    Oglesby lit a smoke, after a half dozen attempts with trembling hands. Elliott decided to let it slide.
    Except he was panicking himself. He didn’t know where they were, or what happened. There was the sound of wind soughing through long grass and shrubs, and the occasional chirp of a bird. Otherwise, it was silent. He’d never been anywhere this quiet in his life.
    When Spencer and the females returned, he said, “Okay, watch in alphabetical order by last name, one hour each, starting now. Use the cupola. After dark, we’ll overlap two hours, with two people up. I don’t want anyone falling asleep or panicking. This is some serious shit, but we’re U.S. Army Soldiers and will deal with it.”
    “And tomorrow?” Dalton asked.
    “Tomorrow, we’ll widen our search and go from there. Also, as of right now, I want everyone to have weapon loaded, chamber empty. It only takes a second to charge a weapon, and we don’t need any accidents because of nerves.”
    There was a rattle of charging handles and magazines, as everyone cycled their chambers empty and reinserted magazines.
    Barker asked, “Can’t we run the vehicle?”
    “That falls under the category of wasting resources, and breaching noise discipline. No.”
    “Aye, aye, sir.”
    “Yeah, Barker, you were Navy before you joined the Reserves?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “The ‘aye aye’ gave it away.”
    “Sorry, sir.”
    “Don’t worry about it.”
    “Well, what do we do until dark, sir?”
    “Hasty positions, and I want another patrol farther uphill, tracking back the line we took downhill.”
    “To find what?”
    “Whatever there is to find.”
    Spencer didn’t seem too sure, but he said, “Yes, sir.”
    Alexander had her camera up, with a big telephoto on. He was about to say something when she said, “S-small herd of animals, sir. Y-you want to see this.”
    She lowered the camera and stepped over. He reached for it, she pulled it away, looped the sling around his neck, then handed it to him. Yes, he could understand why she’d be protective of her very expensive equipment.
    He held it up, looked through the viewfinder, and aimed it where she pointed. Yes, a small herd. They were hairy, brown and tan, and had big heads and long horns on their noses.
    They were shaggy rhinos. About a dozen of them.
    He took a long, ragged breath and tried not to panic. It was completely impossible. He looked again. One of them galloped a couple of steps, and reached out a long horn toward its mother, who was cropping thick, green grass.
    He stared at Alexander. He looked around at the others.
    Caswell raised a hand to shield her eyes and squinted. Then she asked, “Are they . . . ?”
    “Yes. They are rhinos,” he said. There was nothing to be gained by stalling.
    “What the fuck are rhinos doing in A-stan?”
    Alexander said, “Woolly rhinos. From when it was cold.”
    Caswell got it, and shouted, “ We’re in the fucking Stone Age? ”
    He felt it himself. His entire body shook, there were splotches in front of his eyes, and he couldn’t talk.
    No one else said a word, but they were all obviously shocked. Lips trembled, then whole