"Here," shouts the tracker who came with Mason, Eve and Keith. Eve hurries over to the man's side and looks down. If he hadn't pointed it out she would've never noticed the tread marks but now she can see them too.

The four of them slowly follow the tire prints through the forest. Suddenly the tracker at the front stops and signals the rest to crouch low.

But soon enough they find themselves surrounded by armed men who have covered their faces.

Words exchange between one of them and the tracker in a local dialect.

Mason steps forward and says, "Hey, we mean no trouble. We're only looking for someone."

The man at the front pulls down his mask. He's caucasian. Blonde hair. "Are you Mason?" He says.

"You know me? Do you know my uncle, Dr. Nathan Gold? Is he here?"

The man orders everyone to lower their weapons before laughing. "I thought your uncle worrying that you'll come looking for him was unnecessary. But now I see he was right to do so. I'm surprised a bunch of kids were able to find us."

"Is he here then?" Mason repeats.

"He's here. Safe and sound. Come on, I'll take you guys to him. Oh, the tracker stays though."

Leaving the tracker behind, the three of them follow the man further into the jungle. "Who are you?" Mason asks.

"Peter Sommonde. A friend of your uncle's."

"Prof. Sommonde?" Eve says, surprised, "The geneticist?" One of his books was in the bookshelf in Dr. Gold's house in Cairo.

"It looks like you kids been busy looking for Nathan and have found out something about what we've been working on here."

Eve tells him about their journey and her theory but holds back her conclusion.

"That is impressive young lady. You're almost there now, both figuratively and literally now," Peter says as they arrive at a metal gate.

Biometric scanners come out and Peter provides his palm print and eye scan before the gate opens. "Welcome to Lab SPE-3."

It is like in a second the trio had been transported from the midst of a dense jungle into a busy human facility.

A long hallway opens up to living quarters on either sides. At the end the lab starts.

"Mason!" Dr. Gold shouts when he sees his nephew. Peter had radioed earlier that he was arriving with Nathan and a couple of his friends.

"Good Lord, it's so great to see you!" Nathan exclaims and the two of them hug.

"Uncle, how have you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"I can explain. I promise I had a good reason not to let you know where I am but I should've known better than to keep you in the dark. I see you brought your friends, too. Brad, good to see you."

"Keith and Ashton are here, too. They are looking for you in another part of the forest," Mason says. 

Peter says, "We've sent our men to pick them up. They'll be here soon."

"And who might this be?" Nathan says, looking at Eve.

"Eve's the one who helped us track you down to here. She's my girlfriend," Mason says. 

Eve shyly smiles as Nathan hugs her. "It's good to meet you, Eve. Sorry it's under such a circumstance."

"It's alright, Dr. Gold. Good to meet you too."

"Please, call me Nathan."

Everyone moves to the meeting room at the lower level. "I'll go arrange the accommodations for the kids," Peter says and leaves.

"What have you got yourself involved in uncle? And who are these people?"

"They are members of Custer. I'm guessing you've heard of it by now."

Mason nods.

Nathan continues. "A group of really brilliant scientists managed to have a breakthrough in the human quest to save our planet. Secrecy was needed in order to carry out the experiments. We've finally succeeded and the world will soon find out about it."

"What's the experiment?" Brad says.

"Why don't you throw at me your guesses first?"

Mason and Brad give their opinions ranging from Dinosaurs to Spaceships.

"You're awfully quiet," Nathan says looking at Eve who is staring at the small tree under the skylight in the room. "It's pretty isn't it?" He says.

Eve gets up and walks over to the plant. From a distance it looks like any other tree but looking up close she can clearly see the thick, hairy leaves, that seem familiar yet are unlike any plant species she has known.

"Plants," Eve says, "You have been working on plants. Plants from the Cretaceous era. But how? How did you get the DNA samples? They all surely would've decayed by now."

"You are correct. Unlike animals that lived millions of years ago, like dinosaurs, we don't have traces of the plants from that period of time. There's some speculative studies and carbon datings but that's about it. Good thing though. We don't need any of that."

Eve looks at him, still surprised. "I don't understand."

Nathan smiles. "Come now. Let me show you kids what I'm talking about. We're just getting started." 

End of chapter