The movement in the water continued, creating light ripples across the otherwise still surface of the river. Ian wished it wouldn't move like that because frankly it unsettled him.
Whatever it was, it was moving to the surface of the water. And it seemed to be headed towards their raft. Never a good sign.
"There!" Grant pointed. Ian followed his gaze. They both leaned across to the side of the raft, trying not to cause it to tip, but at the same time attempting to get a better look at … whatever the hell it was. It was hard to tell – the creature was obscured by the water – but they both noticed as it twisted below the water. Its movements seemed natural. Whatever it was, it was definitely aquatic.
"Can you see anything?" Grant asked. Ian peered over the edge of the raft but the dinosaur was too far away to see anything clearly.
"Not particularly."
"How big is it?"
Ian frowned. "Can't tell. It keeps moving." He watched it for a little, then said. "Uh, Grant. I think it's coming towards us."
He paused. "Why would it do that?"
"I don't know. I hope it's friendly."
"Metriorhyncus," Alan whispered. If Ian hadn't known better, he'd have believed Grant was talking in tongues. As it went, he did know better. He just hoped Grant was wrong.
"I don't know. It seems bigger." Although that wasn't necessarily promising news. But then if it was a Metriorhyncus they didn't have much hope. As with most crocodiles, it wasn't known for its docile behaviour. "I wish I could see it a little better." On second thoughts, he kind of didn't. He didn't wish to get too close to it at all.
"You say it's coming towards us?"
"I sure hope not."
Grant sat back in the raft, thinking furiously. "Perhaps it's just passing." The river didn't seem big enough to host many water dinosaurs. Although now he was beginning to suspect it was deeper then he first thought.
"Maybe it's curious." Ian stated. Before much more could be said, there was a sudden whhosh as the water ripples parted and the top of the creature glided gracefully across the surface before diving a little deeper again. That split-second of sighting was all the men needed.
"Short, pointed snout." Grant pointed out.
"Too wide to be a Metriorhyncus," Ian breathed out of relief.
"Too big, too." Alan agreed.
"Did you see that?" Malcolm was starting to get excited. "Did you see the eyes?"
Grant smiled, too. "Yeah."
"Ichthyosaur." He almost beamed.
"Ophthalmosaurus." Grant specified, equally as pleased as his friend with the sighting. It was like an odd bonding session.
Ian leaned back against the soft edge of the raft. "Wow."
Time had passed since the exciting encounter, and once again the men were stuck in difficult silence. They were nearing the land now and they really needed to get some form of act together before facing the trouble they knew they were getting themselves into.
"What's the plan?" Ian picked mindlessly at the leaf he held. He knew little of plant life and what was prehistoric or what was just a leaf. This one looked plain old leafish to him, but one could never be too sure.
Grant shrugged. "I guess we make our way to the building," he started.
"Uh huh. What then?"
"We then find out how to get off this island."
"I see." Malcolm paused. "Such a simple plan of action. But how exactly do we do that? Bearing in mind that building is teeming with god knows how many scary criminals."
"Well, uh. We… we try to be… quiet?"
Ian blinked, and stared at Grant, who appeared to be deadly serious. "Do we have a better plan?"
"Ah. No." He admitted with a shrug. Ian dropped his head into his hands. Despair was an emotion he was now very familiar with. He had little time to wallow in it, however, as they had reached their destination.
