Alice Denham sat in the Prehistoric Earth staff canteen, looking haunted. It had been almost two months since Cynthia had asked… conscripted her and Will Darrow into becoming her little agents. And they had both hated every single minute of it.
Ever since Cynthia had told her and Will of what was going on, somehow things had changed; everyone was a potential plant, someone to be feared, someone who, if they knew a tiny bit more, might arrange a little "accident" for you whilst you were cleaning out the entelodont pen.
Maybe people like Cynthia thrived in this environment. Alice did not. This cloak-and-dagger shit was stressing her out; it was keeping her awake at night, making her feel sick.. That was why she'd put herself down on the mission today. She needed something to take her mind off this. Talking of which… she lifted her watch and checked the time; she had to be heading off.
Drew Luczynski and Adrian Sky were sitting in Drew's office, waiting for Alice to arrive. Drew was checking his watch and tutting, whilst Adrian flicked absent-mindedly through the info-packs, saying monotonously, "She said she'd be here around about now." Suddenly, a voice said, "I'm here". He turned to see Alice walking towards him, noticeably frazzled. "Where were you?", Drew asked, "You were supposed to be here five minutes ago". In response, she looked at the floor diffidently and replied, "I was busy; that was all. Anyway, what are we going after?"
"We're going back to Pliocene South America, after a creature you should both be familiar with", Drew smiled and pulled out a picture of a large cat; it was immediately recognisable to Adrian and Alice, who looked at it with surprise. Drew smiled at them before continuing, "Smilodon, the greatest of all the cats." Adrian looked at Drew, flabbergasted, "Are you sure Leon isn't coming? This sort of thing would be a dream to him." Drew looked around the room, "He is and he isn't; he said he wanted to use the portal for something, but I really wasn't listening. Anyway, let's get heading off!"
They walked to the portal site and got in the Jeep; Drew got in the driver's seat, Adrian in the passenger seat and Alice in the back. An employee entered the co-ordinates into the portal and the portal whirred into life. The Jeep drove through, ready to bring back the deadliest mammal predator…
The Jeep emerged in the middle of a moving herd; consisting of large, bulky hippopotamus-like creatures and smaller, lightly-built camel-like creatures. Adrian yelled. "What the-", to which Drew shrugged, "Co-ordinates ain't always reliable. Anyway, let's follow this lot to where they're headed."
Managing to get out of the stampede, they followed the creatures, from a safe distance, for several miles, until, eventually, they reached a large lake. Parking some distance away, they were able to get a better look at the creatures.
The large creatures looked like a cross between a buffalo and a hippopotamus and were covered in short, mostly black fur. Some were browsing on the shoreline, whilst others were wallowing in the water, to cool off. Looking at the bulky herbivores, Drew said, "My best guess is that these guys are Toxodon - one of a very weird kind of ungulate that lived in South America. Apparently, they used to think these guys were semi-aquatic - guess we can consider that dismissed."
The other creatures were even weirder-looking. In the body, there was a vague resemblance to the guanacos that would roam the pampas in the present day. However, it was at the head where the resemblance ended. A small, tapir-like trunk hung from above the upper lip, giving it a weird, Muppet-like look. Drew said, "According to the info packs, these fellas are Macrauchenia; the last of a different kind of weird South American ungulates."
Looking at the vista, Alice noticed something, "They're herding together for mutual protection; like antelopes and cape buffalo." Drew turned to Alice, "What do you mean?" She pointed at the herd, "The Macrauchenia are forming an outer ring around the Toxodon. The Toxodon are big, strong and have a good sense of smell, but they're weak sighted, whilst the Macrauchenia are smaller, weaker, but have good vision. It's a mutual predator defense."
A Macrauchenia suddenly scanned the air and turned to look at something. From their vantage point, the team noticed what had gotten it spooked; there was something moving through the grass. From what they could see of it, it looked like the Dinofelis back at the park; only this was much, much bigger. From head-to-tail, it was the size of a Siberian tiger. The other distinction between it and the Dinofelis was its teeth; at over eleven inches long, the teeth looked comically oversized, hanging out of the mouth like prop fangs.
They all knew what this was; the greatest of all mammal predators.
Smilodon.
The Macrauchenia let out a camel-like bellow and the whole herd suddenly went on alert. However, it was too late, as the Smilodon burst from the bushes, charging into the herd. Immediately, the herd panicked and galloped off to the west, leaving a cloud of dust.
When the dust cleared, they saw the cat hadn't pursued… however, an elderly Toxodon, however, had been left behind. The cat approached the large notoungulate, snarling. Suddenly, the Smilodon pounced, sinking its claws into the herbivore's shoulders. Suddenly, the grass rustled and three more Smilodon emerged, sinking their claws into the herbivore's back, flanks and shoulders.
Eventually, the combined strength of the four Smilodon won out and the prey was wrestled to the ground. The first Smilodon then opened its mouth enormously and clamped its sabre teeth onto its neck. The herbivore's struggles became weaker and weaker… eventually, it was dead.
After this, the team could get a look at the Smilodon in better detail. Each of them had massively powerful front limbs but relatively short back legs and stubby tail, like that of a bocat, giving them a distinctive front-heavy appearance. Their bodis were covered in tannish fur, with faint brown spots, similar to that of a jaguar. Alice said, under her breath, to Drew and Adrian, "I think these are all females - if they're anything like lions today, it's the females who'd do most of the hunting."
Suddenly, a loud, hoarse squawk echoed through. Two enormous birds, each standing about ten feet tall, loped out of the brush towards the carcass. They looked like giant secretary birds; however, they had the dark yellowish brown feathers of a seriema. On their feet, the second toe had a long, curved-looking claw, like that of a dromaeosaur. The nearest one spread its stubby wings out, kicked the ground and hissed menacingly at the cats.
Adrian muttered, "Terror birds. In the flesh." Alice turned to Adrian, confused, "What?" Adrian continued, "The technical name is Phorusrhacos; they went extinct around about now. They're Smilodon's natural enemies and the other apex predators."
The female Smilodon regarded these intruders nervously; for good reason. Those vicious looking claws and large hatchet-like beak could seriously injure one of them. One female stepped forward, swiped her paw at the nearest bird, and snarled threateningly. The bird simply walked towards the carcass, before lunging its head forward, breaking open the carcass' skin and yanking loose a chunk of meat the size of a human head. The bird hissed defiantly, its prize still hanging from its beak, and its comrade approached the carcass.
The female Smilodon all roared at the birds; an attempt to put on a united front and drive these interlopers off. However the terror birds simply hissed back. The team all looked at each other; this was going to end in a fight...
Suddenly, there was suddenly a loud, groaning roar; like a jaguar's cry, only much, much louder. The terror birds went rigid in fear and the female Smilodon turned to look in the sound's direction as another Smilodon emerged from the brush.
It was a magnificent example of its species, standing about five feet tall at the shoulders. There was a noticeable size difference between it and the other four; it was also somehow more powerful-looking than the others. This was clearly the male. His sandy, spotted hide had few scars; this male had not been challenged seriously for his territory in years. However, one of his magnificient sabre canines was broken halfway down.
Approaching the terror birds, who immediately turned to retreat, the male swiped at the nearest one of the two, causing it to drop the large hunk of meat it had been carrying.
After this, the pride settled down to feed. The terror birds waited some distance away; they would have to wait their turn. Looking at the chunk of meat that one of them had dropped, the gears began to turn in Drew's head…
"I've got an idea."