At the opening of the canyon the parasaurolophus were leaving for their territory to the south. They made a trip around the island several times a year. They were noisy creatures, the sound of their feet echoed for no small distance as did their honking and passing gas. The din caught the attention of another, very different creature. It rippled into view causing a stir in the herd. several made a break back in to the open plain inside the canyon. The rest of the herd continued on their way out of the mouth of the canyon. The Carnotaur killed one of the three and feasted. A short while later it noticed the scent of a smaller carnivore. It growled. It was not the speedy demons that lived in the Valley but another kind. It growled again and moved on to find a place to rest. It found it, a place nestled among some trees. After laying down, it's scales changed to accommodate the surroundings.

Howler monkeys called with irritation. A young native had been hunting them with a blowpipe. One of them would never screech again. Idehe carried the creature, he was returning to his Hogan when he smelled smoke. It was too much smoke to be one of his people. The young boy approached the scent. There was a white man, eating out of a sardine can. He watched the man for a while then made his way to his village. Many of his people fished of the coastal waters. He could smell the odor of sharks liver in the air. he made his way to his Hogan. His mother was cooking with a ceramic pot. He grimaced, there was a world out there that was run with technology and his mother insisted on tradition.

"I am home." He said this in perfect practiced English that his mother had taught him. His mother smiled until she turned and spotted the Howler. "take that...monkey out of my house."

"I saw an American he had a nice blanket. One with the symbol of warriors dyed in. His mother looked startled for a moment "This American, was he an old man?"

"He was a young man mother."

"I see. Now skin that Howler." the boy left their shared home and went away. She stamped out the fire and went to see the tribal elders. Perhaps it was simply a descendant of one of the men who was with gray eyes.

Yellow Tail had heard the Alpha's call, and she had heard her call for help. Her father had led the pack out into the early morning. She was left to guard the nests along with Teera. She wondered if the older raptor was bored. She wasn't anyway, not now. She was curious at what could be happening. She wondered if she would ever get to go anywhere. Her father had told her it was much too dangerous to follow along. That he had heard a familiar sound... a human weapon. Her father reasoned that the Alpha had run into some.

They had left in a hurry. She glanced at the Alpha's eggs. One of her duties was to make certain the right amount of dried leaves were on the eggs to maintain the right amount of warmth. The Alpha had been tense before she left. She had always bossed around Alpha Adam. "What's the point of having a mate if you can't boss him around." She'd say. She had a way about her that showed she was different than the rest.

Her father, who took his name after his running speed, was all too willing to follow her. Her mother, who was also the Alpha's sister, was a little more reticent. Yellow Tail supposed being her sister had something to do with it. Of course, she had never met her siblings so she wasn't sure. Teera wasn't talking at all, she rarely did. In fact it was two hours before she spoke " Are Nadine's eggs okay?" Yellow Tail just glanced over and Teera glanced back to the clump of dirt that she stared at most of the time.

The sun rose out of its nest and was journeying high in the sky when the pack returned. Teera looked like she was interested for a moment. Then she flat out stood up, Yellow Tail looked over to see what could cause her to react that way. She could see a creature, but she didn't know what it was. Teera bared her teeth in a growl and her eyes were still wide in shock. Yellow Tail wondered what got into the reserved female raptor, it was not as if a human had found their nest.

Whatever it was, it was big. It was taller than any raptor and stood more upright than any creature she had seen before. There was some kind of fur on its head. It had grey and black fur...and grey eyes. She decided that the creature had less in common with her than the creatures she hunted. That reminded her that she never actually hunted anything.

Her mother followed close to the creature like she didn't trust it. Yellow Tail wondered why they hadn't killed it? Why they brought it to the nests? Especially of all, what was it? She knew better than to ask these questions just yet. It was not her place to question her elders. She could see her father beside her mother. His feathers were raised and his arms were tense. Her youthful curiosity was aroused.

She studied the creature. It reminded her somehow of a monkey. She had played with one once, knocking it down and stepping back until it got up. Then knocking it down again. The creature was making horrible screeching sounds. She had hit it with her snout which sent it through the air. To land beside Nadine who at once grabbed it with her jaws and flung it against her hip. That ended her play. She wondered what it would be like to play with this monkey.

But as she studied it , it occurred to her that she was no match for this creature. There was something off about it. Something she couldn't identify. It's eerie eyes darted from side to side as if it took in the whole clearing where the nest was. So it seemed to Yellow Tail. She noticed her father had some sort of stick, she wondered about that. Carrying sticks around was something hatchlings did when their teeth came in.

The Alpha nudged the creature's tail with her snout. It was then Yellow Tail realized something startling : it didn't have a tail! What sort of creature had no tail? Yellow Tail reflected that perhaps the creature was better off than herself. The creature had some kind of hump on its back like a hadrosaur. It wasn't part of the creature. This fact became apparent when the tail-less monkey set it against a tree.

She looked back at Teera. The other female's eyes were wide, she was watching the Alpha. She was staying close to the creature, almost protectively, she motioned with her snout. She was pointing him to her nest. Now Yellowtail was surprised. Most females became aggravated when anyone approached their nests. The fact that the Alpha female was blatantly taking the strange creature there was an action that turned Yellowtail's instincts inside out.

Nadine pointed Chayton to an area beside her nest. She was eager to check her eggs. She was certain that her pack had taken fine care of them while she was gone, but it was the rote of a mother to check over them. She touched the foremost one with her snout. It was at an acceptable temperature. She felt it was her duty to look after them herself but was grateful that they had been cared for nonetheless. She glanced over to see where the human went. He was sound asleep.

Leon walked through the jungle as quietly as he could. He knew something was dead. The little green pests were all going an easterly direction. He had been to some of these social gatherings before. All manner of life would be there. In his lifetime he had eaten just about anything. Food was food. Despite his hurry he went to investigate.

The alleyway was deserted. Trash lay everywhere. Shadow Walker wondered why no police were there. He half decided that they did things differently in Costa Rica. As they neared the wooden door he realized that was foolish.

"Why is no one here?"

"We've got a eighteen minute window."

"Ah, you never cease to amaze me."

Hamilton reached in his shirt pocket and pulled out something shiny. "I've got friends in high places."

"What is that?"

"What?"

"That!" He pointed at the object.

"This is a corkscrew. I stole it from that diner we were at earlier."

"Light fingers."

"We all aspire to something."

"You're going to pick the lock with it."

"Yes. Getting a key would attract too much attention. Now, someone else did the same thing. Call up your heritage and see if you can turn up something."

"Ten people have come through here in the past day."

Hamilton had approached the door, but turned around abruptly. He almost stumbled. Athen had been quick. He composed himself.

"Most of those are La Polici'a?"

"Yes, along with a Rickshaw carrying a woman and a boy."

"How did you deduce that?"

"You see the tracks? A man riding a bicycle pulled it through here. His weight is shown clearly by the deep tire marks. The passengers are not of the same weight either, the distribution is slightly uneven. That perfume indicates a woman riding with most likely a teenage boy. Like your son."

"Then we should be looking for the tracks of the occupant and the intruder. They would of been here four days ago. "

"You said the lock had been picked? We have to know how."

" Yes." Hamilton was hesitant to approach the door. He didn't want to disturb any track they needed to find. The police had desecrated the scene thoroughly. He brought out a tiny laser out of his pants pocket. It also doubled as a flashlight. He shined the laser through the keyhole and then the flashlight.

"Scratches on the keyhole. Likely caused by a metal object."

"That means the man leaned forward to pick the lock. The prints will be deeper and at an angle."

"Which set of tracks fits that?"

"The one that was covered by you and the Costa Rican police."

"I'll pick the lock then."

"How did the police get in?"

"They had the key."

Hamilton stuck the corkscrew in the keyhole. He was having trouble.

"Wouldn't it be easier to use something else? Like an ice pick."

"If I had one." The gears turned inside the lock. There was a small clicking sound. Hamilton opened the door. He stopped suddenly. Before him was a scene that would fit in Frankenstein. There were testing tubes on the floor. Chemical beacons. They were both speechless. Hamilton composed himself. "None of this matters. He was trying to cross certain bacteria, in an attempt at medicine. That is what his last few published papers were about."

"That could be what Fitch is after. Use him to create some kind of chemical weapon."

"I don't doubt it. But nothing has been taken. Everything is in order, including the invitation to the conference he was going to. It's Wu's past he's interested in. As I am."

They turned back to the door. Shadow Walker leaned forward inspecting the door knob. Then the hinges. "It looks like the door itself was taken out."

"So, It wasn't a lock pick, it was a drill ."

The drill bit slipped into the crack just under the door hinge. The wood began to warp. It's owner was in a great hurry. His knuckles were white due to his tight grip.

Shadow walker "Wood was warped but sanded down. Wu likely didn't notice it that night."

"A lot of trouble to go to."

"True. They could of just stolen the key. That might have just warned Wu away though."

"I was thinking that they could have just come in the window."

"Oh."

Hamilton walked to the window intent on his point. He felt the windowsill with his dominant right hand. He stopped when he found a crack. No it was an indentation. A groove caused by something.

The wire slipped beneath the wood. Repeated strokes bit into the window sill. Enough leverage was soon achieved to open it.

"Why go to the trouble of breaking in from both ends?"

"Fitch was always an efficient tactician he likely believed his men needed an escape route."

" I better look for tracks."

"Would be wise."

Hamilton left the apartment behind Athen. Their eighteen minutes was about up. They circled the duplex. Shadow Walker squatted to peer on the ground. Hamilton grimaced. It was something he couldn't do.

"Definitely the man you killed Ben."

"Remind me to shed a tear. At least we know for certain all this is related."

"And all after the survivors told their story to the officials."

"Fitch among them."

Abraham Fitch was both angry and amused. After three days they had no more leads. Torture had gotten them nowhere. Of course, he couldn't torture the survivors of the wreck. Even if they were Chayton'srelatives.The authorities would soon shut him down. He only tortured the Asian scientist. The man was unexpectedly resilient. He merely said that he had made a terrible mistake. When asked what it had been; he only said he had tried to control nature.

He wondered what Hamilton was doing. The man was taking too long. He believed he knew what the fool was going to try. But this waiting was taking its toll. So he engaged in one of his pastimes: collecting antiques. He was not choosy about whom he obtained them from. It made no difference to him. This morning he had acquired something special: a Kachina Rain God. It most likely would go a long way in proving Paleo-Northern and Southern contact. If it was in the possession of scientific study. It was a source of comfort to him.

He smiled: he was going to send Hamilton an invitation.

When Leon got to the kill site, he had to navigate his way through some thick timber had been cut here a while back, what had replaced it wasn't friendly. When he reached the place he discovered the lizard things were surrounding a very weak and wounded male of the human species. The man looked unconscious. Leon waved his hands and shouting his toneless barrage of sound he managed to frighten away the little devils. He looked down at the man. He couldn't move him. He had to do something about the wounds. Being a doctor, he was especially aware of that fact.

Once Yellow Tail was told that the tailless creature was a human. She became curious, and excited, and even more restricted. She was not allowed near the animal. She could only look at him from a distance. Those were her parents orders. No one actually went near him,... if it was a him. Nadine wouldn't allow it. Most of the pack were slightly bruised. The fight must have been more than they thought it would be. No one had said much since the return. She usually had to ask anyway. She knew better than to do so now. She curled up and went to sleep herself.

The members of the pack each were concerned about one thing or another. One by one they would voice their fears while the alpha slept. Quick Foot answered none of them. He was certain that Nadine was still awake. Or just half asleep. He knew she would do nothing to the pack. Concerns were important. He had concerns of his own. She would wait. He would wait. The day wore on, at midday he took two of the pack on a hunt. The day wore on, when he came back nothing had changed. Nadine was certainly asleep. The human only rolled over occasionally.

No one said anything. Night fell. Yellow Tail curled in her little nest between her parents.

Leon had to risk going back to the tree to get a pot through the dark jungle. He had made a crude shelter. Not what he like for himself, but he didn't want to carry the man up the tree. For fear he wouldn't have the guts to come back down. He built a fire and bathed the wounds. It was a waiting game. He knew the man would die; it might be tonight maybe tomorrow. Lingering—could even last longer. It was something he had had to deal with for a long time.