Chapter 1: New Beginnings
It was a big day at Prehistoric Earth. Throughout the square miles of this enormous island, the crew were finishing off the exhibits for everything from giant bugs to dinosaurs. A jeep drove through the partially constructed park, stopped and a broadly grinning Drew Luczynski got out. The island was owned by Novum and, looking at it, they'd picked the right one for the project. The construction crew were currently working on every habitat that extinct wildlife could possibly live. Deciduous forests, plains, tropical rainforests and even coral reefs had been simulated. They could house any animal they wanted.
Drew walked into the aquarium; he needed a meeting with the other high-ranking members of staff about Theodore's first choice. Whilst he should have held the meeting in his office, he found it more appropriate to give it here. As he entered the building, he saw several people sitting on chairs around a large round table, next to a small tank made up to look like a coral reef. Leon and Adrian, he recognised, but the majority of people surrounding the table were new faces. He never ceased being surprised as to how large Novum actually was; pretty much everybody sitting was transferred from some part of the company. As Drew went to his chair, he mentally took notes of everyone.
Sitting next to Leon and Adrian were the other two Deputy Keepers, a man and a woman about the same age as them; Jack and Alice Denham. Jack was a little taller than Leon with black hair, hazel eyes and a slightly stocky build. He wore a pair of glasses, a black t-shirt, scuffed trousers and a goofy smile. Alice, sitting next to him, was quite tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and an average, slightly athletic build. There was a similarity in facial features that betrayed their familial relation. Whilst not night and day, Jack and Alice were definitely dawn and dusk to each other; she seemed more collected and serious than her excitable brother. Whilst he had only been briefly introduced to them, he knew they were both skilled and competent; both had been animal handlers on Novum projects before the opportunity for PE came up; tempted by the prospect of "new frontiers" (as well as the considerable paycheck), they'd taken the job.
The heads of staff were also there. Drew mentally listed them off.
Linda Eberhart, a tall, fair skinned blonde woman in her mid thirties. She had been a zoo vet, working at many accredited institutions around the world (including San Diego Zoo, ZSL London Zoo and the San Diego Safari Park), before joining Novum as a vet on their various projects. Given this, it was unsurprising that Theodore had offered her the position of chief veterinarian at PE. Sitting next to her was her assistant, Yolanda Hall. They looked startlingly alike; it was hard to believe that they weren't related.
Sitting adjacent to her was Kyle Taymor, a well-built African-British man in his early forties. He had also come from a zoo background; he had been working in many accredited institutions around the world (including the ZSL London Zoo, Bronx Zoo and Chester Zoo), before he had joined Novum as an animal handler on their many projects. Theodore had offered him the position of head keeper. He, tempted by the new frontiers the job would offer, had jumped at the call.
Sitting next to Kyle was Nikolai Koshkin, a tall, well built, dark-haired Russian man in his early fifties (although he looked a few years younger). He was an ex-Spetsnaz sniper, who had joined Novum shortly after leaving. He had several scars from that era; the most notable being on his forehead and his arm. Drew knew better than to ask where they had came from; he was always evasive about his past and with good reason. Theodore had offered him the position of head of security on Prehistoric Earth. Interested by what the offer entailed, he had taken the position.
Sitting in the next seat but one was Collete Dubois, his "number two", a woman about the same age as Drew with platinum blonde hair, pale skin and icy blue eyes. She gave the room an icy stare, as if contemplating the number of ways she could escape the room and overpower everyone using only her little finger.
Sitting next to Collete, with his head buried in a book was Khatin von Schorzberg, the head of the park's research division. It wasn't a surprise he was busy reading the book instead of focusing on Drew or talking to the others in the room; he wasn't keen on socialisation, instead choosing to focus on his research.
They made for a bizarre collection. However, they all shared one common goal; they were ready for the most dangerous creatures that prehistory could throw at them. They were ready for the worst. They were ready... for thumb sized fish.
"Seriously? We're preparing for that?!"
(Intro Theme)
Everyone on the round table was looking at a representation of what was to be the first planned animal. On the table was a large picture of a small fish only a few inches long. While most of the group looked confused at the choice, Kyle was pretty furious, "I spent hours preparing for some giant killer dinosaurs and now you're telling me that we're starting with something that can't even hurt a nerve!"
Drew facepalmed, shook his head, and sighed, "I know it's small but it played a huge role in shaping the world as it is today. It was the first vertebrate; the ancestor to all backboned animals." Khatin, along with several of the others, nodded in understanding; they all knew how special this was. Kyle was, however, still angry. He turned to Nikolai who was sitting in the corner, not speaking a word and stated "Koli, could you please back me up here?"
Nikolai, barely looking up, raised two fingers, and coolly said "One, don't call me Koli. Two, I feel starting with a small animal species at the beginning is both practical from a security perspective and would help us learn how to care for extinct animals." Kyle threw his arms in the air and left the building, muttering things to himself. Drew sighed and went back to what he was explaining.
In order to save this fish they'll have to go back to China, about 530 million years ago; the Cambrian period. During this period the Earth was mostly covered in water, no life lived on the land, the world was colder and the air had thirty-seven percent less oxygen. This hellish world was the unlikely birthplace of the first vertebrates.
It was decided that Leon, Adrian, Jack and Alice would be accompanying Drew on this first trip into the past. Together they plan on capturing some of life's first creatures.
The five were standing in front of the time portal, each wearing a custom Novum diving suit specially designed to handle the Cambrian seas; durable drysuits with silicone sealing systems which kept both the water and the cold out (mostly), life-support systems which resisted the cold, and heated undergarments. Instead of a normal mask and breathing apparatus they had an all-in-one version developed by Novum, with a built in communicator. They didn't have any air mixtures yet so they had to stay in the sea; this mission had to be a quick one. Drew stepped first towards the glowing vortex and was soon jumping in, his four teammates following behind him.
Trivia or Everything You Didn't Realise you Needed to Know about Prehistoric Earth:
1. Prehistoric Earth came about as discussions on reviews of Dawn of the Indominus. Around about December 2015, Drew commented he'd had an idea about a Prehistoric Park with the creatures from Walking with Dinosaurs; the project gained a lot of support from users and it began in earnest. The project languished for a while until about April, in which new characters, plot ideas and scenarios were suggested.
2. Jack Denham's name is a composite of the names of Jack Driscoll and Carl Denham from King Kong.
3. A proposed title for this mission was Novum Initium (Latin for new beginning).
4. The total number of PE staff at this point is about 150 people; of course, we won't see all of them. By series' end, we'll probably have seen about 30, including the 11-strong core cast; some will be semi-recurring, others will probably be just characters who appear every now and again (there will be no real one-timers). Some we've already thought of (remember Kaisumi?), others you're free to suggest OCs for.
5. Personally, about the intro (which I posted in the reviews, because the story was simply too cluttered with it), I just hear generic jaunty action music. The music is really up to you; some people will hear the theme from the original PP, others will hear the Jurassic Park theme. I showed this chapter to someone and he heard the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean… for some reason.
6. This is the only time that all four of the mission team members (Leon, Adrian, Jack and Alice) will go on a mission.
