Mesozoic zigzag

© Dmitry Chervichenko, 2024

ISBN 978-5-0062-8363-3

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

Preface by the author

I am a physics engineer by training, and this partly influences the style of presentation! I’m interested in history. From the Big Bang to ancient Greece… In this case, I wanted to write not just a science fiction story, but a paleo-science fiction story. Many people are probably intrigued by the past of our planet, right? Here I have tried to “describe” the Earth at the very end of the Paleozoic Era. To the best of my modest abilities, of course… The characters operate within an ecosystem that might have existed at that time. Terrain types, outlines of the continent, climate, vegetation, animals, insects – all of this is not just fictionalized, but, to varying degrees, consistent with the data of modern paleontology. No homunculi constructed by irrepressible imagination. All the living organisms that you will meet in the book, probably existed in reality. And made the heroes of the story, who accidentally got to the surface of our planet, to lead a full of adventures life. You will witness how a chain of random coincidences can change not only the fate of a few dozen living beings, but also the future of an entire planet. Read the story to the end and maybe you will have your own solution to the riddle of the Mesozoic Zigzag.

I am not an expert in English, so the story “Mesozoic Zigzag” was translated into English with the help of two neural networks. It was an interesting, though not always trivial experience. You, my dear readers, can judge what has turned out as a result.

Well, shall we begin?

Zwigg’s Nest

Facility: Zwigg’s Nest 299 space scout.

Coordinates: The center bend of the Second Great Arm.

(Point: 12115679-23-57 ХХ*^34^97^)

Date: 120st independent cycle from launch…

(Ship’s log entry)

The watch was over. From the loudspeaker above the bunk came the rasping voice of the duty officer, reporting for the hundred and twentieth time that there were no objects to be studied by the scientific part of the crew at the moment.

In short, boredom!

Assistant Explorer Jumoke (Jum for his friends and family) lay in his quarters with his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, blissfully recalling the very beginning of the flight.

Admiral Obahh, dressed in a blue jumpsuit, was giving a pompous speech about the “great mission” before a steady line of crew. He was an old warrior who had lost an eye and the ability to question decisions made in the endless battles with rebels on the fringes of the Empire. The veterans (both crew and scientists) were thinking about something of their own, nodding in time with the chopped phrases that came out of the Admiral’s throat. The young people listened with their mouths open, catching his every word!

After the farewell speech was over, young chicks in pink clothes and with burning eyes came running up, extremely proud that they had been entrusted with such an important task as seeing off another Expedition into deep space. They hung garlands of flowers around the necks of all those departing, resembling the eyes of the great Kueff, the mythical ancestor of the Zwigg civilization. “May you achieve all your goals in your faraway wanderings!”

The Zwiggs were the progenitors of a huge Empire spread across the outer part of the First Great Arm. With all its attributes: His Majesty – the emperor (by the way, the current one is quite adequate in all respects zwigg), the planet – the metropolis, huge fleet and army, allies, to whom it is better not to turn your back… Nevertheless, while the zwiggs were in force – the Empire was growing. And any growing empire continuously absorbs resources and “warm” places to live. A Research fleet was created for this purpose.

A lot of time has passed since then. The Empire lived more by inertia, looking like a gray-haired old man, whose great deeds remained far away in his reckless energetic youth. Those, the first ships, have long ago found their final resting place somewhere in the backyards of abandoned space centers of distant planets. Now the profession of space searchers was mastered by old (if not to say ancient) cruisers, worn out by life.

“Zwigg’s Nest 299” was no exception. The only thing that was modern in it was the engines and navigation equipment. The appearance on board of new equipment for remote search and carrying out “on-planet” expeditions was the result of incredible luck.

To be honest, the science officials would have been happy to save money on it, as before. But here, at the solemn meeting dedicated to the completion of the reconstruction of the ship, the scientific director of the expedition very timely appeared before the bright eyes of the viceroy of the Emperor who happened to appear at the event and made a patriotic speech about “the importance of growing the great Empire with new planets and the impossibility of all this without the use of the latest discoveries and inventions”.

What else can be said about the Zwiggs? They were known to be creatures gifted in the exact sciences and valued discipline and solid logic above all else. Nevertheless, even among them, especially in recent times, there were some dreamy, adventure-loving and even adventure-seeking specimens.

Such was Jumoke. This was his first expedition. He had just finished the fourth cycle of training, and his hands were itching to discover and explore something “for the glory of the Empire”. Once he had made contact with a hitherto unknown people somewhere in the wilds of space and convinced their kings, or whoever was in charge, to join the great Zwigg Empire, he would be granted an audience with the Emperor. The Emperor will tearfully thank the young scientist for his gift to the Empire and appoint him head of all the researchers. He would be written about in textbooks, statues would be erected in the palace garden of the metropolis, and his name, along with the names of celebrities, would shine as a jewel in the centuries and millennia.

Such a dream he had had at the beginning of his journey. Now he just wanted to be on a planet. Any planet! Even if nothing but mold grew there, and the most intelligent creatures were dung flies.

All the ship’s systems were managed by a military crew headed by Captain Benaip, a middle-aged officer, sullen and contemptuous of everyone and everything. He immediately established a rigid daily routine and restricted the civilian crew from traveling around the ship outside of their quarters and the corridors connecting them to the wardroom. No one resisted. The scientists divided themselves according to their interests and day after day held meetings and discussions on the narrow problems of their sciences. The young people, who initially joined the discussions with enthusiasm, became bored.

Tabit, the head of the whole research group, seeing the universal boredom in the eyes of his young colleagues, realized that something urgent had to be done. He remembered how in his youth, at the university of his native Kressum, he had participated in team intellectual games with a huge number of puzzles that had captivated all the students with their originality. Later, these games were held at all universities in the galactic arm.

– Attention! Attention! I ask the staff of the scientific part, participating in the expedition for the first time, to gather in the wardroom! – The loudspeaker speakers blared.

When the youth filled the wardroom, Thabit stood up from the table and raised his hand. There was silence.

– Dear colleagues, the expedition leadership decided to form working teams for further work on the surface of the planets. The list composition of the teams was selected taking into account the recommendations of the onboard computer in accordance with the psychological compatibility and the list of professions.

There was an exclamation of satisfaction.

– To rally the teams, the Kressum Games are announced starting tomorrow’s cycle.

The hall applauded.

In fact, the Kressum games had a very long history, one could even say going back in time. Judging by the fragmentary information, which has reached modern zwigg historians, originally, they were not games at all, but rather a rite of voluntary transition of some young men and women of one of the most numerous communities living on the planet Kressum to the category of “Protectors of the Home”, with their own, sometimes quite cruel, unwritten rules. As far as we could find out, the essence of the games was this.

Young people who decided to participate in the Kressum Games were independently assembled into small teams, where the skills of some were complemented by the skills of others. What skills? You’re about to find out…

All groups of young people were dropped one by one from an air transport ship into the wilderness, far from any civilization. Each team had only a topographical map (given by lot) and the minimum amount of survival equipment. The map indicated the starting point (each team had its own), where a small airtight container with the first task was waiting for them. It was necessary to pass the section of the route indicated in the task and take the next container. And so on, until the whole route was completed (each team had its own). The only thing that all teams had in common was the finish point. The difficulty lay in the location of the containers. They could be at the bottom of a lake, on a mountain peak, in the lair of a bloodthirsty predator. And the route to the next point was not easy. Only a united team, capable of joint actions and mutual support had a chance to pass the route to the end. Of course, in case of big problems on the route, the team could call evacuation transport with the help of bonfires.

But among young people it was so shameful not to pass the route that most of the teams did not even think of such a thing. As a result, the death of a part or even a whole team was not uncommon. The unwritten laws of honor and the high birth rate in those old days allowed society to look at it as an inevitability. The death on route of a young member of the community may have been a personal loss to their loved ones. But, to those around them, that death was a source of pride. So, he, the hero, was raised right and chose honor over dishonor, going to the goal “to the end”! The names of those who gave their lives for the right to be a “defender of home” were immortalized on the central alley of the capital, and those who survived and received the “sign of the defender” joined the elite ranks of the military and pioneers.

A long time has passed since then! Life had changed unrecognizably, and so had the goals of the Zwigg civilization. There was no need for such a brutal selection process. It was now an intellectual competition. Teams were formed not spontaneously, as before, but with the help of special algorithms that took into account the aptitudes and mutual compatibility of its potential members. The nuances, of course, changed from planet to planet, but, in general, the games evolved along with society.

Therefore, as it was customary, the leaders of scientific groups together with Tabit divided all the youth into teams consisting of specialists of different profiles, who had to not only search for containers with notes in different secluded places of the ship, but also to solve riddles from planetology, botany, zoology, astronomy and other things. The first team to reach the finish line was the winner.

Kressum games

– I don’t understand you, Tabit! This kind of thing is not in the charter! Am I supposed to go looking for them in all the nooks and crannies?

– Believe me, Benaip, this is a necessary measure. I don’t want to approach the first planet with a demoralized crew. Are you aware that the number of young scientists on this ship has been increased to almost three times the normal number? I promise we’ll take every precaution possible.

– You’re shamelessly taking advantage of my equal in rank! But I’m warning you: if a single foot of a “civilian” gets near the control room, or if my officers are disturbed by the clattering of these non-statutory spurs… What idiot invented them?! Well, if anything like that happens, I’ll stop it in a heartbeat.

– Very well. I agree, but I don’t understand your reluctance to help. After all, we’re doing the same thing!

The life of the young part of the expedition took on new colors from that moment on. Jumoke joined the group of two more boys and a girl. The guys’ names were Iabis and Dakkarei, and the lady’s name was Tanafriti.

Iabis (Abis to his friends) was a planetary biologist. He was short in stature, stocky, and wore an old blue army jumpsuit, which felt a little self-conscious about. Abys was obsessed with all sorts of animals, and could talk for hours about “rustling one-legged jumpers from the planet Krivz`s” or discuss “wide-mouthed gruss” from a star system he knew only to himself.

Dakkarei was a climatologist and spent most of his day taking notes and statistical models of the atmospheres of various planets. Unlike Abys, he was tall, slender, and aristocratic, but a lively, curious nature. Dakkarei always wore a neatly pressed overalls of the fashionable among young black color. He did not like his long name very much, so he asked to be called simply Dak.

Tanafriti (or simply Tana) was a pretty, short, smiling person. Her voice was quiet and melodic, but very clear and convincing. She liked to wear a bright green jumpsuit of soft feminine cut made of some rare beautiful fabric, which spoke of good taste. Tana studied the internal structure of celestial bodies from stars to small satellites of planets. Many asked her why she made such a choice? Most of the time Tanafrithi grudgingly hummed and avoided answering, but she told the boys that both of her parents, as her grandmother said, had been doing it all their lives. They had died on a distant expedition, and even the name of the planetary system where it had happened, Tanafriti had not been able to learn. She was raised by her grandmother, as were twenty other orphaned “chickens” like her. They lived on a farm in one of the peripheral star systems. Tana decided to study and study certainly in the metropolis to become a planetologist! As soon as she came of age, she ran away from home with the money she earned on the farm, writing a letter to her “sweet grandmother” asking her to forgive her.

To understand such an extravagant step from the Zwiggs’ point of view, one must know that every true female citizen was obliged first of all to bring new citizens into this world. Education, especially in the last three hundred cycles, was not only optional for the female population of the Empire, but was even considered harmful. And only a handful of women from the most noble or famous families could afford a career in science. Nevertheless, to the surprise and delight of Tanafriti herself, the university of the metropolis paid absolutely no attention to such defiant, seemingly uninformed behavior of an unknown poor visiting dreamer and after serious examinations accepted her to study (and even gave her a scholarship).

One evening, after running around and eating a hearty dinner, the whole group sat in Jum’s small cabin and discussed the quest they had almost won first place in.

– If we had been allowed to walk normally around the ship, we could have taken a side corridor to get past those snooty Cogl’s crewmen! – Jum was furious.

– Calm down! – Tana smiled. – You realize that would be cheating!

– Don’t you think it’s strange that there are non-standard restrictions for some of the crew? – Abys said faintly. – As far as I remember the charter of mixed expeditions, it doesn’t say a word about the prohibition of civilian movement on the ship. With the exception of the military arsenal, everywhere else is open. So the truth is on our side.

– Well, well. Take it easy, – Dak hummed. – Who are you going to make a claim to? We’re outside the Empire! And if Thabit has agreed to this development, then… I like your idea of going around the corridor, Jum, though, frankly!

– Boys, what are you doing? It’s dangerous! – Tana said fearfully.

But the trio, looking at each other, were already discussing a plan to win the first place.

As it turned out, Dak, working with his programs on atmospheric anomalies, “unintentionally”, of course, got into the ship’s database. And although almost everything in it was protected, but the young climatologist managed to get to the scheme of rooms. Now they had not only the desire to win, but also the shortest way to this victory.

In the evening, on the eve of the next quest, a printout of the plan of their deck and two neighboring ones (with all the corridors) was in Tana’s pocket. The guys had managed to not only get her to participate in their plan, but to keep the printout in her possession.

– In case of an emergency, the lady is less likely to be searched immediately, – Jum said reasonably.

The foursome slept poorly that night in anticipation of victory.

Several times Jum fell into a restless sleep with horrible dreams. Then he and the rest of the crew fell into cunning traps in forbidden corridors, then their deception was revealed, and the captain, eyes bulging and shaking with indignation, sentenced him, Jum, as the main troublemaker, to immediate ejection into outer space with his bunk tied to his leg as cargo! Jum, though in a dream, was still perplexed: what was the point of the cargo if he, Jum, would be in a state of weightlessness? But all his arguments led only to the fact that Benaip ordered to spin the system “Jum – bed” around the common center of mass in space! Anyway, in the morning, when the boys met in the wardroom, Jum made sure that everyone’s dreams, if any, had clearly not improved their mood or promoted rest. The red eyes, the earthy color face, and the gait of a criminal sentenced to execution were simply the trademark of their crew.

– So…, – Jum decided to take matters into his own hands, – Cheer up! We will have things to tell our children about!

The answer to him was fake smiles.

– Oh-ho-ho! – Abys scratched the back of his head. – I sense in my head that our best prospect is a thousand years in the disciplinary cell.

The usually cautious Dak, who had been thinking about something, raised his head and, to Jum’s surprise, said: “Guys, but this is going to be an adventure! Otherwise, you can die of monotony…”

– What does the lady think of our enterprise? – Jum asked.

– You know, I’m used to doubts before I make a decision, not after… So, let’s hurry up and have breakfast and go to the drawing of lots. May we get the lucky number! – smiled Tana.

Two hours later, the “Lucky Four,” as Jum called his team, moved deeper into the corridors, reading the task of today’s search as they went.

Forbidden route

The only unforbidden route led down the main corridor almost to the stern of the ship, where they had to walk back along the deck below to the same place where they were standing now and start performing tasks there. The question arose: wouldn’t it be possible to use the secret map of the ship to go down the forbidden side corridor and gain a lot of time?

– Okay, stop! I guess all the competitors are already ahead of us? – Jum stopped everyone after a bit of breathing from his fast walk. – Tana, get the plan! We’ll study it as we go.

The girl opened the flap of her bag and took out a printout of the ship’s corridor diagram from a hidden pocket and unfolded it. Everyone leaned over the map.

– There, see? This corridor will definitely get us to the next game question faster than the others! Let the losers who are now running down the long deck corridors gnash their teeth! – gloatingly said the quiet Abis. The others, hearing these words from him, only smiled at each other. The boy, too, was caught up in their future adventure.

– By the way… If you look carefully at this corridor, my dear potential criminals, you can easily see that it cuts through all the main decks and leads straight to the warriors’ area, – Tana pointed her finger at the diagram. – Doesn’t that bother you?

– No risk, no prize! Isn’t that, right? And if you look carefully, it’s clear to beings who choose to take reasonable risks that the probability of meeting any of the crew and guards there is negligible! – Jum rubbed his palms together in anticipation. – Come on, colleagues, our prize and our glory await us.

The boys looked around to make sure that no one was around, then sneaked to one of a string of doors along the main corridor and quickly opened it, slipping inside.

The platform on which they stood was only lightly illuminated by a small lamp in the ceiling. The steep steps that began at the edge of the platform went up and down.

Jum took a quick look at his small group and shook his head: “Well? Shall we move? Let’s be as quiet as possible. Who knows, there might be some solitary warrior wandering up and down these stairs.

The four began to descend silently.

The light from the lamps in the walls barely reached their feet, and there was a danger of catching something on the stairs, not seeing it in time, and rolling down with a rumble, announcing violation. Jum, believing that he could see better than anyone else in the dark, went down first. After four spans there should have been an exit to the lower-level corridor. That was where they wanted to go, to get ahead of the competition. But the strange thing was… The door was locked! Not only was it locked, but it was welded at the top and bottom with something that fused the metal of the door and the bulkhead.

– Wow! – Jum whispered, twitching the handle of the door, which was now completely unnecessary. – What do you say? Something must be done quickly.

– All right! Let’s have a look at the diagram. There must be some other way into this corridor! – Abys replied.

– Guys, why don’t we go back upstairs before it’s too late? We may be the last ones, but at least we won’t end up in the punishment cell or something worse, – Tana said with fear in her voice.

– There’s still time! Don’t panic. Dak, give me the map, – Jum shook his head.

Dak was already unfolding the diagram, bringing it as close to the dim lamp as possible.

– Look, this descent can be continued down one level, and then cross the corridor below us and come up the other side to the place we need.

– All right! Let’s do that. We don’t have much time anyway, – Jum whispered quickly.

– By the way, did you notice that the weld is quite fresh? The verification labels that were partially burned during welding have our flight code, – Abis said thoughtfully.

– All the more reason not to stay here any longer, – Jum exhaled.

And they began to descend further. Indeed, after four stairs, another door appeared in the semi-darkness, and it appeared to be open. Dak, who went first with the scheme, carefully pulled the handle, and the door opened silently. Immediately after that, all four of them heard muffled voices outside in the corridor, just a few meters away. And that door was inaccessible to them.

Dak tried to close the door, but it wouldn’t close. Something was in the way. Dak and Jum, who was standing next to him, leaned over to see what was keeping the door from closing, and immediately recoiled. It was someone’s gloved hand. The body had evidently been leaning against the wall near the doorway, and the moment the door opened, the unknown man’s hand, which was leaning on it, fell inside.

The attempt to push his hand back into the corridor and close the unfortunate door resulted in something metal hanging from his hand hitting the corridor floor with a clang.

The guys flew up a little inaudibly, with huge leaps, and froze, someone downstairs at that moment opened the door wide from the corridor. Any further movement on their part would have given them away at once and with their heads!

The new captain

– Hey, is anyone here? – heard a vaguely familiar hoarse voice. A long silence followed. The stranger was listening. – Third, why isn’t this door locked?