As they pulled into the cove, they noticed that the waves were beginning to ride higher up the beach and white spray had gathered over the corals. Silt and sand drawn up from the bottom had turned the water opaque. Jack sighed, looking at the weather outside, "Anyone wanna play some poker?" Alice sighed, "I'm game" and Adrian nodded, "Me too." Outside, the rain swiped at the trees and the waves rode up between the podocarps, tearing up the ferns and club moss and draping them over the lower branches. Every creature on the island that could not swim had headed for higher ground, in order to sit out the storm. Out to sea, the waves rolled across the coral, plucking at the sea creatures, some of whom were clung to rocks, whilst others had headed to deeper parts, jetting frantically back and forth to hold themselves in place.
It was a bad storm and continued to pound the shallow sea for the rest of the night. The next day, the team climbed out of the Mariner and gasped at what they saw. The small island was a mess. The sea had swept almost the entire understorey away, piling it up in large, rotting heaps. The lower parts of the tree were festooned with a mixture of ferns, seaweed and the occasional piece of coral. Along the top of the beaches, dead pterosaurs lay crumpled up, alongside dead ammonites and stranded fish. Jack snapped out of his open-mouthed shock to ask, "What's the plan, fearless leader?" Drew turned to the assembled team, "Adrian, you're with me. The rest of you, stay with the boat and try and find the Opthalmosaurus pups; we'll radio you if we find anything."
Drew and Adrian walked along the ruined beach, looking at the battered island as they did; as their feet squelched under a festering layer of destroyed plants, they walked past rows of dead fish, ammonites and pterosaurs, casualties of the 400mph winds. Suddenly, one of the Rhamphorynchus moved weakly; it was still alive! After a few seconds, it groggily lifted its head and attempted to right itself; but failed. Adrian gently picked up the weakened creature; it's breathing was ragged and shallow and its eyes looked at the two humans in an almost tired stupor. Adrian looked, scared, at Drew, "We need to get him back to the boat; if we don't get him back to the park, he's going to die." Drew nodded, "Take him back to the boat and get him stable; I'm going onwards, see what I can find."
Meanwhile, back on the boat… "Well, that was easy", Jack remarked, "Drew tells us to look for the Opthalmosaurus pups and there they are, right below us. They've all congregated too; perfect opportunity, don't you think?" Alice and Cynthia.
After donning their diving suits, Jack, Alice and Cynthia swam through the reef, in search of the baby Opthalmosaurus. Finding the pups wasn't difficult… catching them was. Whenever they got within close range of a few, they would scatter, darting away into the caverns and tunnels of the coral reef. Jack shrugged; he'd warned them beforehand about the difficulties. Without other options, Alice got the bait bag and began emptying it into the water. As the Opthalmosaurus pups approached it, Jack activated the portal, with the Opthalmosaurus pups heading through into the present, moving as if a single, unified entity.
As they got back to the boat, suited off and got to the control room to see if there were any updates from Drew, they had a big surprise; they saw Adrian, holding the crumpled, but still breathing, body of a small pterosaur. Lifting the broken creature as gently as he could, Adrian said "Help him. Please, help him."
With Adrian back at the boat, Drew was resuming his search. Suddenly, he paused to realise something; a pungent smell was blowing up the beach from the south, he estimated. That was not the last of his surprises; a few seconds later, a Eustreptospondylus walked out from the destroyed trees, walking in the approximate direction of the scent. Drew followed the theropod as it stalked towards the source of the scent; as it crossed the headland, the source of the smell became apparent.
Lying, with his tail in the water and most of his body on the shore, was the giant male Liopleurodon. His breathing was thick and laboured, as he weakly swung his nine-foot head and tried to shift his flipper. He only moved a few inches. He had become confused during the storm and run aground; it was unlikely he would make it back into the sea and he would have a very short time to live. Not only would his lungs collapse under the pressure, but in the warmth of the sun, his body temperature was soaring. The Eustreptospondylus creeped slowly forward towards the Liopleurodon and Drew glimpsed two more lurking in the bushes. With a prize like this, the usual hierarchy was irrelevant.
All three Eustreptospondylus surrounded the Liopleurodon like undertakers, waiting for the giant to die; intoxicated by the presence of 20 tonnes of meat. Suddenly, the Liopleurodon lifted his mighty head and roared weakly at them. The Eustreptospondylus let out surprised hisses and turned to run back into the bushes; whilst the giant was dying, it could still kill any one of them. As they scurried into the bushes, Drew activated the portal directly in their path and the theropods dived through. Drew turned to the beached giant; how would he get this through? He needed help.
Meanwhile, on the Mariner, the crew were getting Keehar stable when Drew's voice suddenly echoed through the radio, "Hello? Can anyone hear me?". Jack got to the radio first and replied, "What's up, fearless leader? We've got the Opthalmosaurus pups and a pretty badly hurt Rhamphorynchus that Adrian-". Drew's voice cut him off, "I know about that. You know that big male Liopleurodon we saw. He's beached; must have run aground during the storm. If we don't get him back to the park soon, he's going to die." Jack looked flabbergasted, "What do you want us to do?" After a pause, Drew said, "Simple…."
Ten minutes later, the Ancient Mariner turned into the cove where Drew had found the giant Liopleurodon. Drew looked at the approaching vessel and smiled; he'd told Jack the plan. Now was the time to see if they could implement it; he'd seen it done on beached whales. As the boat pulled forward, Jack threw down a corset-like sleeve, which Drew attached to the winch, before wrapping it around the Liopleurodon's tail. For good measure, he wrapped a large belt around its neck. He climbed back onto the boat and gave the thumbs up. The boat pulled away, taking the Liopleurodon with it, and moved slowly into the cove. As it entered shallow water, Drew activated the portal and the Mariner – and its reptilian passenger – sailed through, into the present.
At the park, Kyle looked over the new species rescued; he was the only head of staff at the portal site. Linda and Khatin were with the Postosuchus, whilst Nikolai was, apparently, with Leon, observing some weird project involving the allosaurs. Hopefully, Drew would be back soon with the Mariner… Suddenly the communicator rang; a message from Drew. It read "Bringing something big back with us"; Kyle, confused, stared at the enigmatic message and exclaimed irritably, "What the hell is he trying to say"?" The portal suddenly flared to life and the Ancient Mariner sailed through, with a large, black-and-white marine reptile attached to the winch, its neck, flippers and tail braced. Kyle sighed, "OK, now I've seen everything." He took a deep breath, lifted his radio and said, "Everyone? Drew's back; and he's decided to surprise us…" .
After a while, everyone was at home. The marine reptiles had been transferred to their new accommodation in the aquarium. It was decided that the Cryptoclidus and Opthalmosaurus could share a tank, since they were both fish-eaters and unlikely to harm each other; they were either swimming around or basking on the rocks in a large, dome building that had been named the Coast. The Metriorynchus and Hybodus were also sharing a tank; it was decided that they probably would not pose much threat to each other. The ammonites were being kept in a nearby exhibit; they were swimming around their new home, waiting to be fed. The largest tank was home to the Leedsicthys school. It was the largest tank in the aquarium; the tank was so deep that the viewing windows were on two floors instead of a single floor. The tank was mainly empty except for a few rocks in order to stimulate an open ocean. The school were quietly swimming around their new home.
The five Liopleurodon were being kept in a gigantic exhibit in Hell's Oceans; the two adolescents in one, the two adults in another and the gigantic adult male, who had been named Thanatos, being kept in the largest tank of all. They were currently swimming around their new territories, waiting to be fed. The Rhamphorynchus were all put into a large aviary with a large pool, stocked with fish for them to eat. The one Adrian had found after the storm, who had been named Keehar, was currently undergoing treatment in the vet offices. The Eustreptospondylus had been provided a large beach area to roam in Mesozoic Tropics.
However, everyone was at the allosaur paddock in Theropod Kingdom. This was the place where they were going to see a test run of Leon's plan; all Leon had stated was that it involved the allosaurs and would be very important for the park's future. Drew, Cynthia, Jack, Alice, Kyle and Nikolai were all waiting outside the pen to see what he had planned. "So Leon wants to use the allosaurs for something?" Cynthia asked, before rolling her eyes, "Well, that's the end of him". "Hey! Give him a chance, alright?!", Jack said to her, angrily. Alice shrugged, "I wouldn't count him out just yet; we'll have to see it first. Besides, Nikolai gave it his approval; it must work." All Kyle had to say, "I'll believe it when I see it."
Leon walked out onto the platform, smiling. Leon yelled to a nearby keeper, "Open the gate!" The gate opened and a dinosaur-shaped lure, which for some reason had been painted bright purple, zipped out. Shortly after, three gates opened and the three young male allosaurs emerged, diving after the lure. Leon, using a remote control, moved the lure into the enclosure at high speed. The allosaurs dived after the lure, following it. Eventually, Leon turned the lure into a wall, allowing the allosaurs to corner their "prey". Everyone waited with bated breath; what did Leon have planned for this moment. The young male Drogon took a few steps, jaws open, towards it when, suddenly…. A piercing whistle-blast echoed through the air. The allosaurs stopped in their tracks and turned to look at him. Leon threw them each a piece of meat. Everyone cheered.
As Leon walked towards the assembled throng, the first person to greet him was Jack, who shook his hand and said, "Congratulations, buddy." Leon smiled in response and looked at everyone else and said, "Well?". Everyone looked at each other, before Drew addressed Leon, "Leon, I'm sorry I doubted you. This plan of yours seems pretty interesting; is it why you couldn't go on the mission today?". Leon smiled, nodded and said, "Yes. I felt like we had to put some measures in to protect the park. We're going to be bringing back things that make allosaurs look like geckos; having big, powerful apex predators on our side tips the balance in our favour. If something big and dangerous breaks out in the future, we can use them to stop it. One day, we're going to need them."
There was a brief pause, whilst everyone digested the implications, before Jack looked, first at Drew and then at everyone and said, "Well, fearless leader, I'm certainly convinced. Anyone else?" Drew breathed out and addressed Leon, "Yeah, I agree. Leon, I give you my full support." Everyone else nodded; Leon's little speech had convinced them. Even if nothing bad happened in the future… it never hurt to be prepared, right?
Next time on Prehistoric Earth, the team goes back to the Early Cretaceous
(an Tapejara squawks at them)
Where they meet giants of the land
(Drew, Cynthia and Leon stand by an injured sauropod)
And sky
(A large pterosaur flies by a plane)
All next time on Prehistoric Earth: Age of Giants!
Animals rescued:
Liopleurodon ferox: 5 (3 males, 2 females)
Cryptoclidus eurymerus: 9 (5 males, 4 females)
Ophthalmosaurus icenicus: 32 (13 males, 19 females)
Rhamphorhynchus muensteri: 34 (17 males, 17 females)
Eustreptospondylus oxoniensis: 6 (3 males, 3 females)
Perisphinctes plicatilis: 69 (32 males, 37 females)
Leedsichthys problematicus: 6 (3 males, 3 females)
Hybodus houtienensis: 12 (5 males, 7 females)
Metriorhynchus geoffroyii: 6 (2 males, 4 females)
