Chapter 8: Life and Death Promised
"OK, is everyone present?", Drew said as he looked around the conference room, mentally counting the heads. Ordinarily, this was little used; it had only been used twice in the six-and-a-half months since the missions had started. "I think so", Yolanda said from the front row, as she looked around the room and saw everyone that had been asked for present; the deputy keepers and the heads of staff. " Thank you, Yolanda", Drew said under his breath before turning to the assembled, "Now then, what is the one thing we are constantly being reminded of? Especially by the Novum board"; Drew put the same emphasis on the last two words as most people would on "cockroach". "That we could die at any moment?", Jack asked from the front row.
Drew muttered "No."
Yolanda shouted another question, "Doing a Sweeney Todd quote whilst holding the scalpels is considered very unprofessional?"
Drew breathed out, "No."
Bethany Williams, one of the vets, shouted a third question, "The surgical glove bin in the vet offices is just for the gloves, not for anything else?"
Drew, yelled "No! We are going to be open to the public someday. The Novum board confirmed it today; the inspection went successfully and we need to get ready for it." He looked around the room, exasperated; how was he going to get this lot to take the mission seriously? Everyone finally realized what he said and nodded in confirmation that they understood; this was a big deal. "Ok, now the people are going to need something to entertain them. Does anyone have any ideas?" He waited and saw someone raise their hand. "Yes, Hugo?", Drew turned to look at Hugo Adams, one of the amphibian keepers. Hugo said, "How about some behind the scenes stuff? I mean I'm pretty sure people would love to see how the park was made."
Drew nodded; he'd heard Jack talking about an idea with some of the other staff members a few days ago. "There were a few people talking about writing a book about our history that we'll sell in the gift shops. We need something that everyone will enjoy." Drew looked up at the clock and saw what time it was; time to get ready for the mission. "OK, I need to get ready for the mission and it's feeding time, so everyone go back to your normal duties and report back to Kyle if you have any ideas to go with the ones the board have sent. I'll have a look at them when I get back. Jack, you're coming with me.."
(Intro theme)
"So this is a time when Antarctica was tropical. Thank god, at least it won't be an awful place. And we won't need cold-weather gear, which is a massive plus, I presume." Jack asked Drew as they got set up for their final Paleozoic mission. Drew nodded, "Yes. 248 million years ago, the poles didn't have ice caps. The world was also much hotter than it is today; Pangea was still intact, by the way and the centre was largely desert.", Drew replied.
Jack shrugged, "OK…. so what's the need for such a big enclosure? I mean, I read the info-packs and what we're going after is only pig-sized."
Drew smirked at him. "Because I want to rescue a large herd of our targets, Lystrosaurus. It was the most common terrestrial vertebrate of the Early Triassic, populating every continent with huge numbers; for a while, 95% of all terrestrial vertebrates on Earth were this species. They also pulled through the Great Dying, which is why they are our final targets for this phase." Jack nodded in understanding. "So how big were they compared to the Edaphosaurs?"
Drew shook his hand , "Smaller. But, since the herds were larger, at least at certain times of the year, they'd need to eat more." Drew then grabbed his remote and got ready. "Welp, let's get going." He said as the two of them walked out, unaware someone was watching them.
Once the portal was activated and they walked through, it seemed like this was an easy mission. They landed right in the middle of a lystrosaurus herd. They were strange looking creatures; grey, bristly creatures that looked like a cross between a pig, a lizard and a turtle. Their most notable features were two small tusks on the front of its face. There was a vague resemblance to the Diictodons back at the park. "Well, we didn't find them, fearless leader; we walked into them. I knew they were abundant, but to find them this quick...", Jack said.
"Hold your horses, Jack. Y'see, I forgot to mention another target of ours." Drew said as he pulled out a picture of a small creature, which looked like a cross between an iguana and a monitor lizard. "This is Euparkeria, one of the most important reptiles of the time."
"That's the one that's the ancestor of all the dinosaurs, isn't it?", Jack said. "Yes." Drew replied, "This little insectivore is the ancestor of all the dinosaurs to come. From tyrannosaurus to diplodocus, they all came from this little guy." "Well, let's just hope we can find a few. I mean, lizards are pretty common today, so it should be easy." Jack said as they began walking into the forest. "I hope so too. Fingers crossed." Drew replied.
At the park, while the animals ate, Kyle looked over ideas that the marketing department had sent them, as well as ideas that had been pitched by the keepers. Dinosaur rides were high on the list, as well as animal feeding shows, but that was completely obvious; the board was looking for the mighty dollar as usual. Other ideas on the list included a river tour of the Carboniferous house (an artificial river would have to be dug in first for that to happen) and an auditorium show about the origin of Earth. The keepers had proposed some interesting ideas. A keeper had proposed "Animal Encounters", featuring some of the park's more docile animals. All this time, Kyle was looking through the list, ticking or crossing ideas that he, personally, liked or didn't like. Of course, he had to wait for Drew and Jack to get back before these could be decided.
Back in the Triassic, Drew and Jack found four small lizard-like creatures chasing dragonflies. They were green, with bands of black and yellow scales running down their backs and sides. One, in order to catch the insect it had been pursuing, stood up on its hind legs and jumped, catching it in its mouth. "I'm assuming that's a Euparkeria?" Jack asked.
"Yes. They have specialised hip bones, which allow them to stand on their hind legs with great agility when necessary." Drew said, pointing his net gun at the lizards. However, before he could fire, a loud noise echoed through the clearing, the sound of the net gun going off, and a net captured all four of the tiny reptiles. Drew turned to Jack, confused, "Did mine just backfire?" Jack shrugged, "Eh. Premature discharge. Happens to us all, fearless leader."
Drew thought about it for a minute but shrugged it off and picked up the net containing the little reptiles to observe what they were like up close. Jack remarked, "You can definitely see the family resemblance up close. They look almost like little dinosaurs on their hind legs.", before Drew placed the net in the portal, sending the four reptiles to the present. Whilst he was doing this, Jack looked around and saw someone running away. It looked like a human, but he couldn't tell who; it looked awfully familiar… Before Jack had time to think any further, a rumbling sound was heard. They both ran back to the herd and saw them all leaving. Some great migration was about to begin.
To be continued
