The ground-shaking footsteps came closer and closer as time slowed to a halt. The Giganotosaurus shrank back, snapping nervously at thin air. Drew looked at them; they were nervous. Rooted to the spot in fear of what was coming. His mind suddenly realised what the creature that was headed for them was; there was only one animal that could so utterly terrify predators like this…
A loud bellow cut him off, as all creatures fell silent and turned to the beast standing before them. It was a sauropod, bigger than any they had ever seen. It looked very similar to the young male they had found in the clearing; only it was bulkier overall, its tannish green skin slightly darker and the row of iguana-like spikes along its back, slightly longer.
Not wanting to give up their kill, the Giganotosaurus hissed at this intimidating newcomer. However, the gigantic sauropod reared up on its hind legs and brought them down with such force that the ground around it shook. The Giganotosaurus turned tail and ran; they did not want to challenge this giant. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Drew set up the portal and the three young allosaurs ran towards it, into the present.
One Giganotosaurus, evidently the pack leader, had remained, stubbornly refusing to give up on its meal. It hissed and snapped defiantly at the approaching giant; an attempt to voice resistance to the titanic creature. The gigantic Argentinosaurus replied with a bellow so loud it almost deafened everything around it. Quietened by this display, the Giganotosaurus slunk off in defeat, through the portal. After this, the mighty sauropod scanned the clearing, as if looking for any more threats. Then, with a slow, almost stately walk, ignoring the humans staring at it in wordless awe, it went through the portal, into the present.
Snapping out of his wonder at the creature before him, Drew got out his communicator and contacted the park, arranging for a containment truck to transport the young male. Eventually, the largest truck they had arrived; it was the only one that could transport him. After much coaxing, the young sauropod stood, unsteadily and, tentatively, walked onto the containment truck. The truck then drove through the portal, into the present. Drew turned to his team, tired and exhausted. He said, "Maybe we need to take a bit of a rest."
Meanwhile, the Cessna team were on the last leg of their journey. They were heading towards the north coast of Cantabria; their final destination. "We're almost there!", Jack cheered and he, Alice and Adrian briefly looked at each other; they'd followed the Ornithocheirus across half the known world to get to this point. The Cessna veered towards a lone rock on a large open beach, following their target's tracker. As they got closer, they saw the rock was dwarfed; a black pebble swamped in a sea of flapping grey wings. A beach three miles long and one mile wide was playing host to the largest pterosaurs in the world. Adrian turned to Jack and said, "This must be the breeding beach; where the male we tracked was headed for."
Landing the Cessna, they saw the breeding site as a hubbub of activity. Males were displaying intensely, throwing their heads up to the sky and clacking their beaks. The females were only just beginning to arrive. As the females began to land, the males upped their displaying. They immediately noticed differences between the sexes; the females were about the same size as the males, if slightly shorter, and lacked the ornate crests on the males' snouts.
Heading into the display beach, the team got to work. Using bait and recordings of their calls, they were able to lure some of the Ornithocheirus through the portal. Luring the males proved to be easier than expected; many males were sent through the portal attempting to chase them. The females were more difficult; however, they did follow the bait in the end. After the first few, they got a bit risky; Jack nearly lost a finger luring a particularly aggressive male through the portal. They continued with this for an hour, until they had sent a sufficient amount of the pterosaurs through the portal, after which they headed back to the Cessna.
However, something had bugged Jack during the whole hour; not the presence of something, but rather its absence. Throwing caution to the wind, he turned to Alice and asked, "Did you see him?" Alice said curiously, "Who?" Jack, caution in his voice, replied, "The large male; the one we tracked here. 'Cos I didn't." Checking the tracker, they found the tracker was responding… on a dry sandbank near to where the Cessna had landed.
Returning to the Cessna, they saw the large male Ornithocheirus, sitting alone on a dry sandbank covered in driftwood. He looked a sorry sight. One of his wings was torn and he was so malnourished and exhausted he could barely stand. He blinked as a wound on his head dripped blood into his eyes. He must have attempted to land on the breeding beach and had been attacked by the other males. The pterosaur let out a quiet caw; from such an awe-inspiring creature, it sounded weak, almost plaintive. They all looked at each other and came to one conclusion.
He was going to die if he stayed here.
Jack got a fish out of the bait bag and dangled it in front of the giant pterosaur, who raised his head to regard the human. Jack began to say, quietly and reassuringly, "C'mon, big fella. Follow the fish. C'mon, big guy; you know you can't stay here."
The giant pterosaur, attracted by the lure of the fish, waddled tentatively, weakly, towards Jack and the fish. Adrian activated the portal and the giant pterosaur went through to the present, with Jack, Alice and Adrian accompanying him; he was the priority. They'd arrange for someone to pick up the Cessna after they got him to treatment.
At the portal side, the giant Ornithocheirus waddled a few steps further, before his wings gave out and he collapsed. Approaching Collete, who was manning the portal, Jack said "Tell Linda we need her at the portal site, now! We've brought back an Ornithocheirus, a very hurt Ornithocheirus, and he needs veterinary treatment this instant!" Jack turned to the giant pterosaur, chest rising and falling weakly, and said to him, "Don't worry, big guy, you're gonna be fine.", before running off to arrange a Jeep to tow the Cessna.
Collete looked at the giant pterosaur, concern in her eyes, lifted her walkie-talkie and said, "Linda, Jack brought back an animal that needs treatment…", she paused to look back at the Ornithocheirus, now letting out anguished chuffs, "Urgently." Linda's voice crackled in from the other end "Understood. I'm on my way."
Meanwhile, in South America, the team were sitting by the lakeside; taking a breather after the night they'd just had. After their brush with death, they were exhausted and tired; they just wanted a little rest until they got back to their mission. It was Leon who broke the silence, "So, Drew… what do we do now?" Drew sighed, "We wait. The herd of argens you guys saw can't be far away." Leon sighed, "Believe me, waiting is exactly what I was looking for…"
Suddenly, they were cut off by a loud and all too familiar bellow. They turned to see a large herd of Argentinosaurus approaching the lakeside. They varied in size, from approximately the size of the young male they'd saved in the clearing to slightly smaller than the adult male who'd saved them from the Giganotosaurus.
As the giants moved closer into view, the three humans went silent; transfixed at these giants. With an almost stately walk, the Argentinosaurus walked up to the lake and began drinking from the water. Drew, quietly, crept up to the herd and pressed the button on the portal remote. The herd stared, transfixed at this glowing orb, and, one by one, walked slowly through the portal. When the last one had gone through, Drew closed the portal. When the last one had gone through, Drew closed the portal, smiled at his compatriots and went, "Let's go home". Cynthia and Leon sighed in relief; this mission had been an arduous one.
At the portal site, they were met by Jack. "Hi, guys!", he said, "You are not gonna believe the day we've had…", he trailed off, looking at the injured Argentinosaurus. "You, too, huh?", he responded. Soon all the Early Cretaceous creatures were all transferred to their new homes.
The Utahraptor had been provided a large paddock in a new area called a new section called Raptor Territory. They were currently napping in the sun, waiting for food to arrive. The Giganotosaurus had been moved into a large paddock, in Theropod Kingdom. They were currently roaming their new territory, and waiting for their next meal.
And the large herds of herbivores were all being transferred to Mesozoic Safaris. The two sets of Iguanodon herds, with accompanying Polacanthus, apparently had combined. And the Argentinosaurus, the biggest herbivores of all, had been herded using Jeeps; the same system that had been used for their distant Jurassic cousins. Eventually, the herbivores were all in their new home. The young male Argentinosaurus, who Drew had dubbed Lightning, would soon be joining them; Linda had informed Drew that the young sauropod would recover from his injuries soon.
Meanwhile, another new section had been created.
This section had been built in one of the mountains, with skylifts being constructed for easier access. It contained all the pterosaurs and other flying animals that Drew and his team had brought back so far. The smallest aviary was themed like a forest and contained the Iberomesornis, whilst the second smallest was entirely indoor and contained the nocturnal Anurognathus. The next aviary was themed after a Triassic riverside and contained the Peteinosaurus. An aviary themed after a Jurassic coastline contained the Rhamphorhynchus and the two largest aviaries contained the Tapejara and Ornithocheirus, with both pterosaurs resuming their vigorous breeding displays.
The only exceptions were Keehar the Rhamphorhynchus and the large male Ornithocheirus, who Linda had dubbed Cirrus, both of whom were still recovering from the trials they had endured. Keehar had been in surgery for three hours to fix the bones that had been broken in the storm, whilst Cirrus had had surgery to treat his many injuries and was in rehabilitation, so he could recover from the heat stress and malnutrition; he could not be introduced to the main flock until he had regained his strength.
Next time on Prehistoric Earth
The team go back to rescue one of the smallest dinosaurs ever.
(A small dromaeosaur glides past Drew, Jack and Adrian)
But end up with some big surprises along the way
(A large sauropod bellows at the team)
Meanwhile, back at the park, tempers are running high
(A Stegosaurus and an Iguanodon bellow at each other)
All next time on Prehistoric Earth: Feathered Dragons!
Animals rescued:
Tapejara navigans: 15 (6 males, 9 females)
Ornithocheirus mesembrinus: 13 (7 males, 6 females)
Iguanodon lakotaensis: 38 (17 males, 21 females)
Iguanodon bernissartensis: 38 (21 males, 17 females)
Polacanthus foxii: 4 (2 males, 2 females)
Utahraptor europaeus: 9 (4 males, 5 females)
Iberomesornis romerali: 32 (16 males, 16 females)
Sarcosuchus imperator: 4 (1 male, 3 females)
Macrogryphosaurus gondwanicus: 19 (9 males, 10 females)
Giganotosaurus carolinii: 5 (2 males, 3 females)
Argentinosaurus huinculensis: 11 (2 males, 9 females)
