Chapter Four

Planet Earth, over 65 million years B.C.

Great Valley

"I'm telling you for the last time" Cera groaned impatiently. "I saw it, it's real."

It was still early in the morning, and the bright circle had only just cleared the sharp ridges of the mountain walls, and was hanging just below Threehorn peak. The smoking mountain continued to belch out its black clouds on the horizon, which were given an orange tinge by the bright circle, which gave the morning sky an unusual yet beautiful coloration. Throughout the valley, its inhabitants were only just beginning to stir. Littlefoot, Cera and the others were the earliest to awake.

Having been amazed by Mo's find in the big water, Cera had raced back to the nesting grounds to wake her friends – she felt they should see it first. If she had told any of the grownups, there would have been a strong chance that she would have been disbelieved. But her friends trusted her. She would show it to them, and then they would tell the grown-ups. Once they did the latter, Cera would have her friends to back up what she had seen.

And as with most other things, Cera's pride played a strong role. She wanted to be first to break the news of the existence of this other-worldly newcomer to everyone else in the valley. She would not be disbelieved or ignored by any grown-up, especially her father, and then allow the grown-ups to find the stranger without knowing of it from her. The method that she had chosen to break the news would ensure this.

But she did have some trouble in waking the others up, as it was still several hours before they usually got up. Many were drowsy as a result of this, and due to the currently hot summer climate of the valley. She had to do it quietly, so as not to wake up their parents. She eventually succeeded, but once she had gathered all her friends together and lead them to the small lake where the Mo had brought the object to the valley, they could not believe what she was telling them.

They repeatedly asked her if it was true (many of such enquiries were made by Ducky and Petrie) and at that moment, she had answered another such question. Yet Ducky was still baffled by what she was hearing.

"But Cera, that thing you saw is nothing like we have seen, oh no, no, no."

"I can't explain what it is anymore than you can. But I know that I saw it, and Mo brought it here."

Littlefoot was quite amazed (and somewhat amused) that after constantly disputing any inkling of the unknown, including his dream, Cera was now claiming she had seen a totally alien object - an that it was now in the valley. He soon gained the nerve to point this out to her.

"I didn't know you believed in that stuff Cera."

She gave her usual "humph!" and picked up the pace. The others kept up.

They soon came closer the pool that was located at the edge of the valley walls, within a clearing in the trees, connected to the river by a little stream that the five friends splashed across happily. The cool water was a relief in the heat wave that was scorching the valley this summer. They burned and sweated heavily, even in the early mornings and late evenings. In addition, the heat had caused an explosion in the numbers of biting insects. The cool water also soothed some of the midge and mosquito bites they had received on their legs, which were a constant irritation.

They followed the stream to the clearing. What they saw made all except Cera drop their jaws in wonder. Cera grinned.

"Now do you believe me?"

There, lying at the edge of the pool was the strange, rounded cylinder that Cera had described. They could see the strange red markings that she had told them about. They saw the eerie flashing light at the top of the object.

As they edged closer, they also heard the mysterious beep, beep, beep, beep, beep that seemed to sound out from within the solid hulk. As they got closer, Littlefoot noticed that the skin of… whatever it was seemed to be divided into rectangles. At the sides of these rectangles were odd little bumps and knobs, like the armoured back of a club-tail.

Yet there was no head, mouth, eyes, tail, nostrils, feet or fins that could determine what kind of animal this was, if any. Just this solid, relatively smooth, strangely marked hulk.

"Wh-What i-is i-it, Cera?" Petrie was stammering. He had no idea what this thing was. Its unfamiliarity gave a sense of unease.

"I don't know. Even Mo couldn't tell me, and he found it."

Littlefoot walked up close, and then put up his front feet on its skin, feeling it with his paws. He then struck it twice with his right foot, which produced an odd sound, like a deep-ringing. The young dinosaurs even thought they could hear a mild talk-back coming from the object when Littlefoot struck it. It didn't even sound like anything they knew, let alone look like. Littlefoot then put his feet down, and hummed as he thought.

Something about this object made him feel unsettled. Not that it was frightening, but the alien nature of what he was seeing seemed to conjure up the image of his dream. Of that massive, dark object being dragged through strong current…seeing its shell crack and flood…hearing cries of help, like they were from multiple creatures, pleading for their soon to be ended lives…and then silence. It was like hearing the sound of a hive of buzzing-stingers falling into the water, the stingers buzzing in distress before drowning, and turning silent forever.

Somehow, this object was connected with what he had seen, he could feel it. It seemed to be of the same nature, of the same solid, smooth composition. And Cera had said that Mo had told her that he had found the big object, and this was floating on the surface above where it was lying. It all seemed to fit – his dream had been a vision of a real event. He could not believe it. But how was this object directly related? Then he finally spoke.

"Whatever it is, it doesn't sound like a dead creature. It's more like a rock, but it feels differently from a rock. But it's making a noise, and that weird light. Rocks don't do that."

Nobody asked him how he knew it was closer to a rock than an animal, since they all knew that Littlefoot knew as little about this newcomer as they did. Then Littlefoot matched this up with his dream.

"Mo said he found this close to a bigger object. This must have come from it, since they both sound similar. Cera, did he say where he found it?"

"He told me he found it outside the entrance of a big tunnel."

"Then…the big thing must be what I saw in my dream."

"What?"

"The big thing I saw was being dragged through a tunnel, and then crashed outside the entrance. That must have been what Mo saw. My dream was real!"

"Come on Littlefoot, that can't be true. It could have been a coincidence."

"I don't know what I saw Cera. I might have been a coincidence, or something else. But what Mo saw sounds a lot like what I saw."

Cera wasn't about to believe it, and remained silent.

"I believed you when you told me about this Cera. Can't you believe me?"

Cera had already seen something she could not explain. In the awe of this sense of an alien intruder into the world of the dinosaurs, her usual stubbornness gave way.

"O.K., what you saw does sound like what Mo told me about. But it doesn't tell us any more about this thing, or that bigger thing out there."

Then Petrie spoke.

"What we do now?"

Littlefoot was lost in thought. Who else in the valley would have any knowledge about an object which had evidently come from the big water outside the valley, and which nobody seemed to be able identify, let alone know anything about it? The thing was an enigma; there was nothing even remotely familiar about what they were seeing and hearing about from Mo.

But Littlefoot had seen strange things before. And in recent years, he had got to know someone who had unbelievably immense knowledge about the world, and had more brains than any other dinosaur he knew, a guy with a knack for explaining the unknown. He was the best Littlefoot could think of. He had educated the children of the Great valley for years, and was perhaps the one of the greatest minds that the world of the dinosaurs had produced.

He had been discredited for a while by the other grown-ups following the time of the blizzards, but if anyone could explain the newcomer, this particular dinosaur could. Then he spoke again.

"Perhaps we should show this to Mr. Thicknose before we show it to the other grown-ups."

This idea was met with universal agreement by the others. However, they insisted on guarding the strange object, and that one of them should go. Petrie volunteered.

"I go find him. I can fly fastest."

"Not that any of us can fly" grunted Cera.

"I be back soon. Mr. Thicknose be with me."

Petrie spread his wings, and flew off towards Mr. Thicknose's sleeping spot.

Thicknose herd area, Great Valley

Early Morning

The Bright circle rose higher in the sky. While it was still at its morning level, it was high enough for its rays to shine down upon the valley. These strong rays of light woke many of the inhabitants, including the owner of one particularly thick nasal cavity.

As the light shone in his eyes, Mr. Thicknose pulled himself up from his sleeping position with a yawn, drowsy in the sweltering hot summer. It would soon be time for breakfast. Luckily for him, there was a large amount of those crunchy ferns, cycads and horsetails that were close to his part of the valley. He ambled towards it, and began to munch away cheerfully, while the processes of his well-formed brain began their inner workings, in order to produce one of his great intellectual thoughts that he might share with anyone who listened.

That was difficult to do these days, ever since old Thicknose had not foreseen the snow, and had been found out to have gained his knowledge of the unknown from others rather than from his own investigations.

Oh well, he thought to himself, everyone is inspired by someone else. And the kids still believe in me. Most of the others have forgotten about the blizzards. I'm still the certified Know-it-all in this valley.

As Mr. Thicknose let that thought flow through his mind, he heard someone calling his name from what sounded like above. He then recognised the voice.

"Petrie, is that you?"

"Yes, it me."

Petrie flew down to Mr. Thicknose's eye level, and perched on a tree branch. He then gave a hurried explanation to his teacher.

"Sorry Mr. Thicknose, but we find something weird in the valley."

Mr. Thicknose's eyes glinted with interest.

"Weird, you say?"

"Yeah. A friend from big water brought it to great valley."

"This morning?"

"Yeah. Its hard like a rock, but it makes flashes and weird noises."

"Really! Where is it?"

"By pool near valley walls."

"I must see this."

Mr. Thicknose trusted the kids, and was almost immediately intrigued when he heard something out of the ordinary. Unfortunately this made him very gullible and many dinosaurs mocked him for this. Still he was eager to see this thing Petrie was telling him about.

"Lead me to it Petrie. I'll follow."

Mr. Thicknose left his feeding area, and followed his ardent pupil to this new mystery.

As soon as they got there, he was fascinated by the strange object, and immediately began to examine it closely, so much that he seemed to forget that the kids were there – he could not believe what he was examining! But then Cera finally spoke, interrupting his work.

"So, what do you think?"

Mr. Thicknose turned towards them, eager to tell them what he had found out, and perhaps several of his own theories.

"Well, you seem to be right that it's not an animal. I can't feel a heartbeat or any sign of life, except for that noise and the flashing light, but I don't think that means it's an animal. It does feel more like a rock, but it doesn't seem to be natural."

"Natural?"

"Things that are given to us by the great circle of life, like Tree stars, Trees, rocks, mountains and the river. This isn't any of those things. It looks artificial."

"Arti…what?"

"Artificial. That means it was made by something else. You know how we build nests for our eggs, and you kids sometimes build piles of rocks around the valley? Well, I think this is something like that, but more complicated."

Cera found that hard to believe. "What do you mean? What could build this?"

"Do you see how the skin is made of those rectangles, with those little knobs? They look like they've been joined together to form a solid body. And those red markings? You know how you sometimes draw lines and crosses in the dirt with your feet? Or use that coloured clay to make marks on the solid rock, or on your skin? I think they're something like that. Markings made by whatever made this. They're probably intended to mean something, but none of us know what they mean. However, I think it's clear that someone or something built this object."

"What about the sounds and the flashing light? Who could build that?"

"I can't tell you how anyone could do that. But I'm certain that this thing was built. And you say it came from the big water?"

Cera explained how Mo had found it, and the bigger object that he had also seen. She also told him how they thought all of this was connected to Littlefoot's dream. Mr. Thicknose became even more fascinated.

"Well, well, well" he murmured. "We seem to be onto something big here. This object probably came from that bigger object. That sounds to me like it was of the same nature, and was also built. If we are to assume that Littlefoot's dream was real, then both objects must have come out of that tunnel. But where they came from exactly, we don't know. Something very odd is going on."

He paused as he began to think. After a long interval, he spoke.

"The other valley dinosaurs must know about this. No, more than that…there must be a council! Littlefoot, Cera, bring your father and grandfather here. They lead the council; they'll know what to do."

Sure enough, the two kids ran off to bring their elders to this new mystery. Within minutes, Tops Threehorn and Grandpa Longneck arrived on the scene. For the moment, the mysterious object was hidden from Tops's view by Mr Thicknose's bulk, while the much taller longneck could see it. Grandpa was staring in amazement.

Tops, who could not see what was to be stared at and always the one to have the first say, grunted impatiently.

"So Thicknose, what have you found for us to talk about? Something that would only fascinate you, no doubt."

"Didn't Cera tell you she found it?"

"Well…yes. I just saw that you were here, and expected you to tell me exactly what it its."

Mr. Thicknose sighed. Tops was always one to bark before thinking and he was often heavily pressured by the Threehorn to live up to his Know-it-all status. He stepped aside to allow Cera's father to see. Then the Threehorn began to stare as heavily as the Longneck. After a long pause he spoke again.

"What…is it?"

"Cera said a friend of the kids from the big water brought it here…that's where it came from. I believe that it was built by something – like a nest, and…"

Topsy interrupted.

"What do you mean a nest? There's no nest that looks anything like that!"

"I didn't say it was a nest, but that it was built the same way a nest or a pile of rocks are built. It's not a natural object. Something built it, but we don't know what. And before you ask Threehorn, I don't know how someone could build something that gives out light and makes noises. But is definitely built."

"You assume."

"No, if you look at the surface, it's made up of multiple sections joined together. I'm pretty sire it's not a rock or a plant, or an animal. Its not moving like an animal."

"What about one of those hard floaters, we've seen them before."

"There aren't any tentacles. And it's not like any normal shell. It's much harder and smoother."

The Grandpa Longneck spoke.

"This friend from the big water – did he know where it came from?"

"He said he saw a much larger object on the bottom of the sea, and that it was of a similar nature. It's possible that it came from that. The larger object was found at the entrance of an underwater tunnel."

"It came out of a tunnel you say?"

"Yes."

"Sounds like Littlefoot's dream."

"Your grandson said so himself. The sea swimmer also affirmed it."

Topsy could not believe any more of this. An odd object that floated, flashed and made sounds and that was built was one thing…Littlefoot's dream was another.

"This is ridiculous! Just because this thing exists doesn't mean that the dream was true! That 'friend' of Cera's could be lying – Cera told me once he was a prankster."

"I don't think he was joking this time Dad. He told the truth about the mystery floater."

Then Grandpa spoke again.

"Whether the dream was true or not, something very unusual has entered our world. It doesn't seem to be a threat for now, but every dinosaur in the valley has a right to know what is happening, and to see this thing for themselves."

"What if it causes panic?" Said Tops.

"We've faced outside unknowns before and we've lived normally afterwards. We have to bring it to council rock, so everyone can see. We're officially calling a valley council. I'll inform everybody. You and Thicknose are the strongest, so bring it over to the rock. As for the kids…well, since they found it, we'll need them to explain it to us. They're on the council as well."

Mr. Threehorn and Mr. Thicknose both placed their strong heads against the object, and began to roll it towards council rock, with the five young friends following them. The object was heavy and awkward, much more so than any boulder, and Tops grunted and grumbled regularly as he pushed it. It was especially troublesome for two grown-ups sweating heavily in the heat-wave.

"It might be mysterious and incredible, but is a nuisance to shift!" growled Mr. Threehorn.

Council rock, Great Valley

Late morning

By the time they reached the rock, the entire herd of valley dinosaurs were gathered there and Grandpa Longneck, wife his wife at his side, was making an introductory speech. It was still firecely hot, and swarming biters still proved an irritation. Nethertheless, the meeting went ahead.

"My friends, you may wonder why I have called you here, so suddenly, almost without warning. As you know, my grandson had some unusual dreams. We all dismissed them as nightmares. But now something has been found that proves that there is something very queer going on…"

He was quickly interrupted.

"What is it?"

"What's going on?"

"Is it dangerous?"

A torrent of mutterings and conferring sprung up among the valley dinosaurs, before a loud three-horned grunt broke the silence.

"Whatever it is, it's heavy!"

The council turned their heads to see Threehorn and Thicknose working side by side (amazingly) to push a strange, solid object into the centre of the gathering. The odd shape, mysterious markings, the strange clanging sound it made as it was rolled along, the flashing light, the eternal beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, spread a feeling of wonder and awe over the herd, reducing them to complete silence. Finally Tria spoke at the sight of her husband pushing it.

"Topsy! What on Earth…"

"Cera found it…a friend from the big water brought it here. No one knows what it is."

The object finally reached the centre of the council, and everybody saw it. Everybody remained silent. Grandpa Longneck continued.

"As Mr. Threehorn pointed out, we know that it came from the big water, but we don't know much else. However, Mr. Thicknose has some theories about it, if he would care to share them with us."

No sooner had Grandpa said the word, Mr. Thicknose began to spew out his investigations in every detail…the markings, the composition, the artificiality of the object and its origins. The latter sparked the most sporadic discussion, especially with regards to an allegedly bigger object. Tops soon broke that discussion.

"I'll say it again, its nonsense! This "mystery floater" might have been built, it might be mysterious, but there no way that what happened in a dream could reflect real life! It's ridiculous! And another thing, how could anything just simply appear out of a tunnel? It can't be true!"

Mr. Thicknose began to lose his patience.

"Do you doubt the unusual nature of this whole thing? Here we have a totally alien object, which we know nothing about. We can't say with certainty that its origins, which two accounts back-up, are impossible. We can't make assumptions."

"And you can't assume that a dream is true, or that Mo was telling the truth!"

Tria entered the discussion, in an attempt to calm things down.

"There's no way we can disprove the story of where it came from, any more than we can prove it. All we know is that there's something here we can't understand. We haven't seen the larger one, if it exists. Personally, I think it does, since the sea swimmer told the truth about the mystery floater. We know that something made it. There's no way he could have made it as a joke. I think the best thing to say is that we can't understand this without more information, and shouldn't try to."

The slight difference between Tria and Topsy was nearly always made clear. But most of the dinosaurs agreed with her. Then Littlefoot stepped forward.

"There is something about this that reminds me of what I saw in my dream. And this isn't like the Stone of Cold fire. It's something stronger than that. I can't explain it either. I just know what I saw, even if it was in my mind. But I guess we can't explain it. If we all see the bigger mystery floater, that'll prove my dream. But we can't, so we're deciding that we can't understand."

His Grandpa lowered his head to his level.

"I know. We can't. There are some things we can't understand. But at least this makes your story more plausible."

He then returned to the council.

"I think we can all agree that we can't delve into this any more. There is simply not enough information. We will have to accept, as with other things, that we cannot understand what we have seen."

Cera then spoke.

"What about those markings on the top? The red blob with those golden crossed things and the other two marks – could they tell us where it came from?"

The grown-ups looked closely at the strange markings. They were all fascinated, especially, Grandpa.

"They are certainly symbols of some kind. But we can't possibly understand them, so they can't tell us anything. Accept this, young ones – we can do no more to investigate."

Petrie's mother spoke up.

"What shall we do with the mystery floater? It's been through a lot, but it still keeps flashing and making that sound."

Grandpa stopped to think for a moment.

"For now I suggest we leave it alone, there's no way we can investigate further. It doesn't seem to pose any danger, other than keep us up at night with that light and noise."

The others laughed.

"However we might find some use for it. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

The meeting went from a nervous discussion of a mystery to a light-hearted discussion about the possible uses of the mystery floater. There were many weird and wonderful suggestions, some of which drew laughter.

"We could use it as a marker." Suggested Tria. "For reminding us where the meeting place is. It's a good thing to gather round."

Some others suggested that it could be used for meeting procedures – whoever was speaking would put a leg on it as a sign only he could speak without anyone interrupting.

"We know that it floats" said Cera. "Maybe we could use it to float and play on in the waterfall, like a log."

"Maybe we could use it to give us light when it's dark" suggested Ducky's mother. "It does have that flashing light".

"All very interesting" grunted Tops. "Maybe we can decide what to do with it at the next meeting. I think we should use it as a marker for now. That would save me having to carry it further."

Grandpa chuckled happily. For once they ended the meeting in agreement.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we'll get more ideas. But I think it would work well as a marker for a few days. We can have another council on its other uses after that. Council adjourned."

The dinosaurs went back off to go about their business of eating, sleeping, talking and caring for their young. The five young friends remained for a while.

"Don't feel bad Littlefoot." Said Ducky. "Dreams are hard to understand. I never understand mine, oh, no, no, no."

"What you dream of?" asked Petrie.

"I never remember, but I think it's usually about spike."

They all laughed. Littlefoot then spoke.

"Well, I feel better. I guess there are some things you can't understand, beyond the mysterious beyond, remember?"

As they are lost in though about their previous encounter with the unknown, he seized the opportunity and tagged Cera.

"You're it!"

The others ran way, laughing. Cera called after them.

"You guys! No fair! Not again!"

And they all ran off to play in the hot summer's day, and for a while, returned to their normal lives.

The buoy remained at council rock, forgotten by all, including its masters and creators, which it constantly called out for, even when it was still stuck in this unknown world. But its cries for help were only in vain for the moment…they would soon be heard - and answered.

For now, it would be forgotten about for the next few days.