There is something missing from our world. The amazing animals that time has left behind. But what if we could bring them back? What if extinction didn't have to be forever? We're going back on a safari with a difference as wildlife explorer Nigel Marvin plunges into prehistory to rescue creatures on the brink of extinction. His plan is to bring them to the safety of the present and give them a second chance.
This time, Nigel will go back in time to save mates for Prehistoric Park's current Megalodon and Xiphactinus, but run across some unexpected surprises.
Welcome to the ultimate wildlife sanctuary. Welcome to Prehistoric Park.
Chapter One- Lost Loves of the Past Part 1
The air is hectic with excitement as Prehistoric Park staff get ready for the arrival of yet more new residents. However, these aren't any ordinary new arrivals. These are of species already rescued. Today, Nigel and Chiyo are rescuing mates for residents already brought back.
Nigel was in a scuba diving suit as he swam in the waters of a marine exhibit. In the distance, a large three meter predatory fish with a squashed face could be seen cruising slowly. It had a black stripe that came down from the tail before ending at the squashed face. The rest of the fish was blue and vicious teeth could be seen in it's mouth.
Nigel swam alongside it for several minutes, occasionally stroking it's scales before climbing onto a boat above. There, he took off his scuba mask before talking to the cameraman.
"Mr Bullock is a relatively calm animal" Nigel said, grinning to the cameraman. "He doesn't act aggressively towards other animals unless he's hungry. We just fed him some chicken and salmon, so he was full and docile. He used to eat fish, cephalopods, small sharks, marine birds, young mosasaurs, and even smaller members of his own species until they went extinct. Today, we're rescuing a mate for Mr Bullock. Later on in different times, we're going for mates for our Sphenacodon, Lizardlips, adult Megalodon, Lamia, and Gigantophis, Apophis."
The cameraman chuckled at the given name of the Permian reptile before he was interrupted by Mr Bullock leaping out of the water to try and unsuccessfully catch a modern seagull. Gravity reclaimed the predator as he fell back into the water and became passive and docile once more.
At Isla Nublar, two of the mechanics, field equipment experts, and vehicle engineers of Prehistoric Park, Jack Thorne and Eddie Carr, have finished working on a new visitor attraction: the Gyrosphere. They have been testing throughout the entire park to find positives for the Gyrosphere tours. Every creature had tested positive so far. However, they are about to have a disagreement with some of the park's oldest residents.
John Arnold and Ian Malcolm were in the control room watching the Gyrosphere with a camera drone. Eddie Carr, a balding white man in about his early thirties, had fitted a camera onto a crash test dummy inside the Gyrosphere. All the tests in the other enclosures had been positive. It had tested positive to Torn. It had tested positive to their Spinosaurus. It had even tested positive to Cronus and Jane. But the Gyrosphere's luck was about to run out.
"Oh crud" John muttered as the Triceratops started to flee from the Gyrosphere. It was on Theo's and Andy's side of the creek. Andy could be seen ignoring the giant glass ball rolling towards the forest next to him, but Theo saw the Gyrosphere as a threat.
"Look like our day is about to get interesting" the man muttered to himself. The man grabbed the closest radio before changing it to Eddie's channel.
"Hey Eddie" John said into the radio.
"Yes?" said the man. "Make it quick, we need to finish the last dozen Gyrospheres for Muerta. They aren't made quickly you know."
"I'm sorry about the inconvenience, but it looks like the Gyrospheres are a negative for the Triceratops. The Ankylosaurus seem to be okay with it, but Theo is starting to become more aggressive towards it."
"See. This is a perfect example of the Chaos Theory."
"Shut up Malcolm" John growled through clenched teeth.
Theo was now rattling his quills and bellowing at the circular inanimate object before charging. John winced as the horns pierced right through the glass, strong enough to withstand bullets, and into the crash test dummy's seat belt. The clasp broke and the dummy suddenly drooped.
Theo wasn't done though. Using all the strength in his massive head and neck, he managed to lift the Gyrosphere off the ground before dropping it and using his head as a battering ram. The Gyrosphere flew backwards before suddenly stopping as it crashed into something. A pained grunt came from behind the Gyrosphere as Andy the Ankylosaurus recovered from the blow.
Theo suddenly ran away to avoid the wrath of the furious Ankylosaurus. Andy seemed to glare at the fleeing Triceratops before turning his gaze to the glass ball and turning around as if to leave. John relaxed until the Ankylosaurus used his great tail's strength to hit the ball. John's jaw fell open as the Gyrosphere didn't move (it was pinned between a tree and boulder) but the dummy flew out at least ten yards before tumbling to a stop. It's head was bent at an unnatural angle and the arms had flown off.
The Ankylosaurus lumbered over to it's victim before assessing whether or not it was a threat. After a sniff or two, the Ankylosaurus brought it's club down on what would be the stomach of the dummy. One of the legs jerked up before detaching and becoming airborne and landing in the tree branches. Once convinced that an enemy was dead, the herbivore went back to the spot it was originally grazing, as if nothing ever happened.
"You think they'll have that on the tour?" Ian asked jokingly, looking at the "guest".
Back at the aquatic holding pens of Isla Nublar, Nigel has met up with Chiyo and Hussein to travel back to the oceans of the late Cretaceous period. These waters were prowled by mosasaurs, predatory fish, sharks, giant squid, and even late surviving pliosaurs. The coastlines often had Deinosuchus and spinosaurid dinosaurs. This was not your average summertime beach.
Nigel climbed aboard the Ichthyosaur as Chiyo was throwing some bits of bread to the marine ducks. The birds had started swarming under the hull to get to the bread that they loved so much. One duck even went as far as to fly onto the deck and steal an entire slice before flying away.
Chiyo's hair stood out against the bright sunlight while the sea breeze blew it, making it resemble fire swaying in the wind of night.
"Hello Chiyo!" Nigel yelled to her as he climbed on deck. "You ready to quite possibly die by mosasaur?"
"Nope. Sorry, but I'm allergic to dying."
"Excellent! Now let's just get Hussein up and then we can be on our way. I'm hoping that we might be able to capture some Hesperornis this time, since we missed them the first time around. We might even bring back an entire school of Xiphactinus instead of just a female."
A chill went down Chiyo's spine at the thought of a school of Xiphactinus swimming towards the yacht before jumping out of the water and trying to get to the humans. Xiphactinus were brave enough to try and do that. Sometime Mr Bullock would jump onto the deck to grab an unsuspecting seagull before flopping back into the water. Six unwary birds had met their end that way.
"Let's not try to bring back a school" Chiyo said. "Remember how Mr Bullock tries to occasionally try to jump onto boats for gulls?"
"Oh yah" Nigel said, frowning. "Well, we can't help that. We should catch multiple just in case. Breeding season will be coming soon and I think it'll be good just to have a few extra Xiphactinus for when the park opens in case Mr Bullock doesn't want to come out."
Chiyo sagged once she found out that she wouldn't sway Nigel from his decision. In the distance, Mr Bullock jumped out of the water, almost as if to celebrate and gloat and Nigel's decision, before he crashed back down into the depths as sweet gravity reclaimed his body.
Hussein came back with his camera, ready to rescue animals from the most deadly sea of all time. He even hummed a cheerful little tune. Nigel found that ironic.
"Good day" the captain of the Ichthyosaur said. "So, you ready to die? No? Great!"
"That's what I said" Nigel muttered.
The portal flared to life and within seconds, the boat was back in the most dangerous sea of all time. Gentle blue waves kissed the hull of the park's yacht. Birds could be seen flying towards a nearby coastline. It appeared peaceful on the surface, but it always appeared so. Looks could be deceiving until one actually went under the water.
"Well" Nigel said cheerily. "Now we're here, we can throw some chum in the water. Hopefully it will attract some Xiphactinus and maybe even some extra creatures. As I said before, I personally hope that we can capture some Hesperornis or maybe even some sharks or something else."
Hussein used a crane onboard to throw the chum into the water. Nearly an hour went by before something appeared on the sonar screen. Nigel and Chiyo quickly darted under to the glass bottom to catch sight of their newest visitors.
Two fourteen foot long mosasaurs were swimming side by side with each other, cautiously going towards the meat. Both were brown with yellow spots on their sides and strong tails. They nervously flicked their forked tongues in and out to taste the water for threats.
Nigel didn't know that mosasaurs were shy, but apparently these two were. A fish suddenly started in front of them before they swam off. After the initial surprise was gotten over, the two started swimming towards the meat once more.
"Wait a minute" Nigel said, looking at the mosasaurs more closely. "They're glowing."
The mosasaurs's yellow spots were in fact glowing as the two came out from the inky depths. They were obviously deep sea fishers that used their glowing spots for some important use. The one on the left seemed to flicker it's spots in a sort of communication between them.
"I know what these are!" Chiyo exclaimed happily. "These are Platecarpus, a type of smaller mosasaur. They weren't as dangerous as Tylosaurus, but they could still ruin beach day. They hunted a variety of animals, including small sharks, small Xiphactinus, Hesperornis, younger marine reptiles, and maybe even small Tusoteuthis!"
As Nigel watched the two mosasaurs circle the boat from below and contemplated whether to give Bob a heart attack via glowing mosasaur, a dozen new shapes appeared on the sonar screen. And they were heading right at them.
Back in Prehistoric Park, Hammond has given John and Bob the task of retrieving the destroyed Gyrosphere to avoid the glass injuring the animals. And it appears that Andy is much more territorial after his recent encounter with overgrown hamster balls.
Bob had attached a hook from the back of the jeep onto the shattered Gyrosphere after cleaning up the glass shards that had flown and broken off of the mechanism. John was currently in the jeep, ready to make a quick getaway from the territorial herbivores if need be.
"You almost done Bob?" John yelled from the window. "Theo is coming back. For my sake and your, I hope you are."
"Yes" replied the head keeper as he came back. "I'm done. I just hope that we can now… RUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!"
"You want to run? You can do that outside the paddock Bob."
"DRRRRRIIIIIIIIVVVVEEEE!" Bob yelled as we dove into the passenger seat.
"You want to drive? Honestly Bob, I'm already in the driver's seat. I offered to hook up the Gyrosphere instead, but you said that you didn't want to drive. Too late now. I hope you learned your less…"
Andy let out a bellow as he burst out from the shrubs behind the jeep. John Arnold hit the gas pedal and took off at full speed, trying to stay away from the territorial Ankylosaurus.
"Turn!" Bob yelled as the noticed Andy was trying to herd them into a small cornered ravine. It was a common tactic that Ankylosaurus would use to eliminate threats that they thought were too dangerous. Bob knew for a fact that Andy's mate was most likely at the bottom of the ravine, waiting for the threat to come to her. Many a jeep had been destroyed at the canyon that way.
John swerved to avoid the slope and drove through the tall shrubs and young trees until they came to a familiar trail. John started to relax, as this enclosure had two trails that could lead out of the enclosure. This, however proved to be a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Several minutes down the road, as John and Bob were laughing about their escape, the jeep started to slow down.
"Oh boy" Bob said as he noticed the low amount of gas in the car. "I knew I should've brought some extra gas."
"Yep" John said. "Just call someone who's recently ate beans to come on down and refill the tank."
Bob snorted at that before a bellow came from down the game trail. John paled and Bob gulped before pulling his radio off of his side belt.
"Hey Suzanne. We need a tow truck and a fast one at that."
In the Cretaceous period, Nigel and Chiyo have been watching the Platecarpus slowly creep forwards towards the bleeding ball of chum. Distracted by distant shapes on the horizon, Hussein has forgotten to check the sonar screen. Now the crew will get a surprise that they are not prepared for.
Nigel and Chiyo were taking pictures of the beautiful glowing mosasaurs before a dart-like shape passed by, quick as a bullet. One of the Platecarpus immediately retreated back into the depths, while the other turned aggressive and swam after the shape.
Soon, another shape darted by. This one accidentally hit it's head against the glass bottom of the Ichthyosaur, giving Nigel and Chiyo time to observe the creature.
It was a bird with small grey feathers, a black and red beak, short legs, giant feet, and wings utterly useless in for flight. Teeth filled the beak of the fish eater and it's eyes were green. A small crest of feathers, similar to certain forest theropods were on it's head.
"This is Hesperornis Regalis. They were fish eaters that were an important part of the food chain, which was why we weren't able to bring them back last time. John set the portal near a breeding colony since he knew Nigel would most likely want to capture some. Look, they're acting like crows attacking a hawk!"
The Hesperornis were in fact harassing the Platecarpus. The mosasaurid in fact tried to snap it's jaws around one several times, but each time the bird narrowly escaped. Finally, the harassers were too much for it to take and it vanished into the inky depths.
"Shame" Nigel said looking into the deep water. "I really wanted to capture one of them. Oh well. I guess I can't give Bob a heart attack every mission."
Hussein had just come back from the deck and had just checked the sonar screen to see the Hesperornis. He wasted no time in raising the chum out of the water and onto the deck. For a minute, the Hesperornis bobbed in the water to look at the great ball of cephalopod and fish flesh before jumping onto the deck.
Hussein startled into backing up at that action. Nigel and Chiyo rushed up to help him and capture the birds, but Hussein had already recovered and was making a trail of dead fish into a doorway.
"Hey Chiyo" Hussein said. "Set the portal up in the doorway so that I can lure the giant, toothed heron-penguin things into it."
"Giant, toothed heron-penguin things? You make them sound demonic. They act more like seals than penguins. Also…"
"Chiyo, I honestly couldn't care less about what they are, what they evolved from, who their mother was, or any of that. All that I care about is whether they're going to poop on the deck. The last time we came here, some Ichthyornis, Pteranodon, and Hesperornis slept on the deck. It took a week to get all the feces off. I do not, I repeat, do not, want that to happen again. Ever."
Nigel snorted and Chiyo gave a little chuckle as she set up the time portal using the teardrop shaped machine that had allowed for countless animals and a few plants to be saved before. The blue vortex appeared and the aquatic holding pens of Isla Nublar appeared.
The Hesperornis slide on their Bella's as they followed Hussein, who had some more fish, held one out and occasionally tossed one to a Hesperornis losing interest.
Once they were all directly in front of the time portal, Hussein dumped the entire bucket of fish before running away. The marine birds started eating them at once, while Nigel grabbed a hose.
Aiming it at the one farthest away from the portal, we squirted a stream of icy water at the bird. The bird shrieked in shock before using its legs to push itself at the portal. It pushed through more Hesperornis, sending several of them through as well, before they finally all went through in a chain reaction.
As Nigel, Hussein, and Chiyo clean the deck after their capture, Suzanne is watching the dwarf panda female through a camera in their den. And it looks like they finally have a bit of a pleasant surprise.
Suzanne smiled as the male groomed the female before going out to forage on the plentiful bamboo. Three months ago, Nigel rescued the dwarf pandas in China, while trying to rescue Gigantopithecus. While doing an exam, Suzanne had made a pleasant discovery: Zhen Zhen, the female panda, was pregnant.
Last night, her keepers had noticed her leave early from the area where she usually liked to jump in a pond. Suzanne had taken that as a sign that she had to give birth. Now, Zhen Zhen was in her den with a small shape, mewing and crawling around her fur. Her cub was finally here.
A small hairless cub now suckling from the mother, who was currently licking her lips. Suzanne smiled as the cub suddenly sneezed and Zhen Zhen turned around to look at her cub.
"I'll find out what gender it is when it's older" Suzanne said to the cameraman. "Right now, it would be impossible to tell. The mother is also most defensive about it right now, so I'll have to wait until she starts making it leave the den by itself."
Suzanne turned back to the screen to look at the two pandas before a message popped up on her phone. It was from Bob, who had escaped Triceratops Creek/Ankylosaurus Alcove, and was now dealing with more pressing matters. The message read:
Recapturing Phil the Phorasrhacos, who has recently raided the frozen meat storage at the boat dock storage complex. Need assistance, a raise, and a vacation. Please send help. Thank you.
Suzanne sighed and rolled her eyes before sending two assistants down to help recapture the terror bird.
In the Cretaceous period, Nigel, Hussein, and Chiyo have picked up a new creature on their sonar screens. While Nigel is hopeful for a school of Xiphactinus, Chiyo is hopeful for some more Hesperornis, and Hussein is hopeful for something that won't sink his ship, some visitors have arrived.
Nigel sat on the deck with the sonar screen beeping next to him as he watched out for new creatures. The mystery creature was just underneath them. At the front of the ship, Hussein was cursing like a sailor (probably because he was one) as he cleaned up the mess that the Hesperornis had left him. Chiyo was below on the glass bottom to see what their mystery creature was.
Several minutes later, she came up and Nigel turned his head towards her.
"What was down there?" Nigel asked. "Please tell me it wasn't a Tylosaurus. Or any other large mosasaur."l
"No" Chiyo said. "It was a female Xiphactinus scout."
At this, Nigel perked up. Schools of Xiphactinus would send their smallest out to scout the area for danger before the school itself would come. The smallest were always the fastest, which meant that they had a better chance of escaping danger.
"Is it still there?" Nigel asked.
"Nope."
"Where is it now?"
"In a shark's belly."
"What?"
Chiyo led Nigel below to the glass bottom to observe the said shark. It was circling the boat underneath, it's primeval eyes portraying no emotion. It had a dark black back, the darkest black Nigel had ever seen, and a blue and white underbelly. Teeth lined it's giant mouth and it was an impressive five meters in length.
"This is a real monster" Nigel laughed. "Squalicorax Bassanii. They were strong sharks that were capable of hunting some of the smaller marine reptiles of this age. Unlike the Cretoxyrhina, they hunted alone and usually hunted animals from the size of an Archelon to smaller. Cretoxyrhina would form gangs and hunt larger animals, sometimes even Tylosaurus, as prey. I think I can vouch for Bob that he is going to just love this new arrival."
Nigel cracked a mischievous grin and called to Hussein to lower the chum ball back into the ocean. The water turned red once more and the shark started to swim towards the surface to investigate this free food.
Nigel pressed a remote and the shark vanished through the portal on the hull of the Ichthyosaur. Chiyo grinned and even Hussein smirked at think about the reaction that Bob would have at seeing the shark that would put a great white to shame. Then the sea exploded.
In the distance, a Xiphactinus jumped into the air. Nigel just had time to point it out to everyone before a pair of great reptilian jaws burst from the water and clamped onto the fish. The Tylosaurus let sweet gravity reclaim it as it started to devour it's prize below the water, turning the water even redder than before.
Then the rest of the sea exploded as Xiphactinus jumped out of the water to escape more Tylosaurus. The marine predators were blowing air out of their lungs to create a bubble ring, like a humpback whale pod.
"You know" Chiyo said dryly. "This reminds me that Ludlow one time wondered if InGen could make a separate farm with certain animals, like dodo, Xiphactinus, Aurochs, and Moa, not to conserve, but to breed, farm, and eat! That was the worst idea I ever heard and Hammond put a firm foot down on that idea, destroying any and all hopes for it. Ludlow's didn't act too angry or surprised at the action, but he was slightly disappointed that he wouldn't get to taste a Triceratops steak. He can settle for pork and beef for now. I like a good Italian sausage myself, but I don't want to find out what Cronus or Theo tastes like."
Nigel nodded before several Xiphactinus jumped onto the deck. He hurriedly, with the help of Chiyo and Hussein, managed to push them through into the Nublar aquatic pens. A little random fact about one of the recent events clicked off in Chiyo's mind and she activated the hull portal quickly.
What are you doing Chiyo?" Hussein yelled from across the deck.
Chiyo didn't answer and pulled the chum ball to the hull. Several seconds later, a Tylosaurus burst from the Cretaceous ocean and attempted to eat it, but the marine reptile was positioned in a way that it fell back into the portal. The gaping jaws full of glistening white teeth snapped into nothing before she fell into the swirling blue vortex.
Several more Xiphactinus jumped into the portal as well, probably through accident. Satisfied, Chiyo turned the hull portal off and motioned for Nigel to send them back to the present day. Nigel nodded before pressing a red button and the Ichthyosaur vanished. A blue light covered the ship before the yacht was outside the Nublar aquatic holding pens. Inside, staff members could be heard yelling as the Xiphactinus jumped. The Tylosaurus most certainly wasn't helping matters.
"Chiyo, why did you bring the Tylosaurus back?" asked Nigel. He was obviously worried that Muldoon was going to have a fit about the unexpected carnivore. He had good reason too. This one was forty feet long.
"Well, the juvenile Tylosaurus just left his mother, meaning that he has almost reached sexual maturity" Chiyo said. "I thought he could use a mate as well."
Nigel nodded before speaking again.
"I think I'll rescue mates for the Squalicorax off-screen. I think that the cameraman has had enough with the predators."
A yep from the cameraman confirmed this. Hussein smiled before they headed back to shore. In the distance, it was possible to see Bob chasing Phil down the beach, while Phil was holding a sausage rope in his mouth.
The next day, Nigel goes to the extended Pierre Shale to observe the newest resident in their new homes and habitats. And it appears that some of the new residents are taking a particular liking to the new room mates.
Hammond and Nigel were strolling down the underwater walkways as they followed the Archelon and Hesperornis. The Hesperornis were playing underwater in a manner similar to Dolphins, while the Archelon, Dharma, obliviously swam on.
"The Hesperornis are riding the small current that Dharma makes, similar to what dolphins do with whales and ships" Nigel explained to the cameraman. He remained silent afterwards.
The strolled by Xiphactinus Canyon, where the new school was currently jumping out of the water to try and catch seagulls. In Squalicorax Mariana, the primeval shark was exploring the depths of this new territory. The new female and old male Tylosaurus were currently sizing each other up through a specially built mating tank.
"Well done Nigel!" Hammond exclaimed. "Brilliant job! However, I have another job for you. Apophis has been getting a wee bit cranky and I think a friend will do him good…"
Next time, Nigel and Chiyo will rescue a mate for Apophis,
(a giant python-like snake hisses at Nigel)
save other unique fauna,
(an Arsinoitherium trio grazes in a herd of early elephant-piglike animals)
and deal with Theo's aggression once more with a new machine.
(a strange looking tractor with tires and bamboo sticks to resemble a Triceratops battles Theo)
All next time on Prehistoric Park!
Animals Rescued:
16 Hesperornis Regalis: seven males, nine females
1 Tylosaurus Kansuensis: one female
1 Squalicorax Bassanii: one female
9 Xiphactinus Audax: five males, four females
