Prehistoric Park

Never poke a Sleeping Dragon

It was a semi-ordinary day at Prehistoric Park.

By semi, we mean more problematic then usual.

Eight people broke into the park to take dinosaur eggs, but they made a number of mistakes.

One was the kind of animals they went after: all theropods.

Second, they went after Utahraptor eggs first.

Bad idea.

One had his head ripped off.

After that, they went after Giganotosaurus eggs.

Worse idea, although no one died.

Then there was, in my option, the worst idea in the history of bad ideas: the idiots went into the Tyrannosaurus paddock.

T-Rex was the largest land predator ever, (North America 68-65 mya was bigger then South America 112-100 mya, we just haven't found the fossils) and it was easier to piss off then any other animal.

Thutmose and Matilda were anything but happy.

Three people died, and Ron was up to see it.

Morbid or not, he wasn't helping them.

They were stupid enough to poach from extremely overprotective parents, so they paid the ultimate price: their lives.

Ron made himself a cup of tea while watching Terrance and Nefertiti kill another poacher.

Eventually, they made it out, but ran into Ron.

"You people are idiots. One, you went after theropod dinosaurs, who are thousands of times more protective of their hatchlings then any other dinosaur. Two, Dromaeosaurs are a bad idea. Giganotosaurus, worse. But T-Rex? Have none of you watched Jurassic Park? Anyone who runs into a Tyrannosaur is lucky to survive. Now, as you didn't get anything, I'll let you go. Just don't come back."

They ran off, and Bob walked over as the three poachers ran off.

"Poachers?"

"They couldn't get anything. Theropods are overprotective and almost mammal-like when it comes to their hatchlings."

He offered a cup to Bob.

"Tea?"

"No thanks."

Ron drank it all and saw Veronica laying down on his feet.

"Cute. Is Dr. Hawass awake? I'd like to get those Mei Long before Nigel gets those Microraptors."

"Yeah, but he's reading up on some of Nigel's dino data. He doesn't want to get killed by a T-Rex."

"He should relax. T-Rex lived at the end of the Cretaceous and in North America. The biggest animal he has to worry about are the Ruyangosaurus."

"What?"

"You've known them as titanosaurs. That's their proper name."

Ron got to the Warthog and started it up.

"See you later."

Veronica woke up and hopped into the Warthog as it started to head toward one of the attministration buildings.

Inside, Zahi was reading a massive text on dinosaurs.

"Dr. Hawass?"

The Egyptian man looked at Ron.

"You don't need to read that book, Doctor. I practically wrote it."

"Where are we going?"

"China."

"Not a place for an Egyptologist."

"Everywhere on the planet at that time was more or less the same. Places like Egypt and China had similar animals."

They left, and went to the Warthog.

Veronica crooned as her chicks hopped into the 4X4.

"Here we go!"

They drove toward the time portal.

Zahi was nervous, and with good reason.

He'd never gone back in time.

"Don't look so worried! I do this all the time!"

"You do; I don't!"

They got to the time portal, and waiting was Ron's capture team, with Vietnam War-era jeeps, modified with heavy-duty rollcages and engines made for the things Ron put his vehicles through.

"Ready?"

"Ready when you are."

Ron activated the time portal, and they drove through. Zahi watched as the lowlands of Prehistoric Park disappeared and were replaced with the volcanic foothills of Early Cretaceous China.

"Keep your gas masks on you at all times. Those volcanos might erupt."

Michael pulled out a large roast and stuck it onto a stick.

"The last time Nigel ran into these little bastards, they destroyed the camp. Perfect bait, right?"

"Good work. We'll search for other animals to bring back."

Then a pterosaur landed on the shore of the lake. It looked like a Pteranodon, but it was out of place and time.

"This is a new one. Eopteranodon lii. It's one of the newest discoveries from China. I'll try to dart it so we can bring it back to Prehistoric Park with a few friends."

Then 6 more landed on the shore, and started eating dead fish on the shoreline. Ron aimed his M4 at one of the Eopteranodons.

The 180 pound animal collapsed. 6 more darts went into the other animals.

"Despite their size, these guys are only half my weight. Get them back to the Park."

Then a small dinosaur entered the clearing.

The shortened third finger betrayed it's identity.

"It's one of many Chinese Tyrannosaurs: Xionggaunlong baimoensis. Only one skeleton's been found, but that was 500 miles from here."

Zahi looked at the Tyrannosaur.

"It's tiny. I was thinking of something like T-Rex."

"Tyrannosaurs started tiny. The big ones didn't appear until 110 mya, with Eotyrannis lengi, and even then, they weren't monsters: 20 feet long."

Ron picked up the Xiongguanlong.

"Why don't you take us to your family, you little suck?"

Ron set it down and it ran off, growling.

"Follow the dinosaur."

Zahi, Ron and Veronica followed the Xiongguanlong into the foothills.

Then they found something Ron thought he'd never see: a Coelophysis-style flock of Xiongguanlong, with numbers of 50 or more.

"50, 60, 70, 80-Christ, I give up. There's over 100 of them. This is a breeding flock. And I can see another one, about 500 meters thataway."

Zahi looked at the flock.

"How do we get them back to the shore?"

Ron cut his arm.

"Tyrannosaurs have the ultimate nose."

They all looked at Ron.

"Ever watch Jurassic Park?"

"The second one."

"Run."

The three ran toward the shore, with over 150 dinosaurs after them.

After 10 minutes, they arrived just as Justyne sent the Eopteranodons through. "Oh, shit. Run!" Ron dove through, with the Xiongguanlong after him.

"120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190-"

"There's over 200 of the damned things!"

Then a screech was heard. 18 Mei Long, all hungry and weakened from injuries, ran over to the meat and tore at it.

Ron walked back into the past, none worse for wear. So, what did I miss?"

"A few dinosaurs tried to kill you and you're so-"

"Relaxed? I do this all the time, Dr. Hawass."

He walked over to the Mei Long.

"Beautiful animals, these ones. Troodonids were the smartest dinosaurs of their time, but were eclipsed by their Dromaeosaur cousins because the raptors were more powerful, faster and frankly, bigger. Troodon formosis was the biggest these guys ever got, and it went extinct 69 mya, long before the end of the Mesozoic."

Then Justyne noticed something.

"Nigel told me these little bastards were scaly. They've got feathers."

"I know. The Troodon we've got back at the Park moulted their feathers before Nigel and I brought them back, hence the birdiness. Birds are dinosaurs, so dinosaurs did the same. Tyrannosaurs have feathers, they just don't need them most of the time. Sauropods are huge, they don't need them."

"We get it, but what the hell are we doing now? 18 Mei Long won't rebuilt the species."

Then what could only be called a flock ran down the hill.

60 animals, and none were related.

"78, on the other hand, gives it a fighting chance."

They looked at Ron and one bit his finger, albeit gentlely.

Then the ground shook.

"Get through the portal!"

Back at the Park

Bob watched the Eopteranodons come through, followed by the huge Xiongguanlong flock.

"My God!"

Then Ron came through with 78 Mei Long. Zahi breathed heavily.

"And you do that everyday?"

"No. It's sometimes...more interesting. So, like it?"

"Yes. It's a chance to see the past."

That's a lot of animals, but then again...

All of them were found in China, and around the same time.

Next Time: Ron rescues the last frourish of the dinosaurs from certain doom.

Ja Ne!