Meanwhile, back at the park, Leon was continuing his work with Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion. It had been two-and-a-half months since he had begun his training programme; they had been both whistle-trained and responded to verbal commands. Now, it was time to do a test run; to see if they could herd the lure into a certain point. Leon, using a remote control, moved a dinosaur-shaped lure into the enclosure at high speed. As usual, the three allosaurs dived after the lure, pursuing it wherever it went, snapping at it like sheepdogs. However, suddenly, as Leon turned the lure towards the door, Drogon dived in front of it, snapping at it and causing it to move backwards. Leon smiled; this was turning out entirely as planned. As he attempted to move the lure right, Viserion blocked its way, forcing it to move back the way it came. Rhaegal hampered an attempt to move the lure towards the bottom fence. Eventually, the allosaurs boxed the lure into a corner. Drogon hesitated, as did the others, and turned to look at Leon, as if waiting for a command. Leon said, "Leave", and the three the three allosaurs backed off, allowing the lure to leave the paddock. After this, Leon threw them each a piece of meat.

Leon reflected; the training was going well. Recent events, such as Drew bringing back the Gigantotosaurus and the Borealosaurus escape, had convinced him that he had made the right decision in beginning it. Someday, something would happen; something big, dangerous and toothy would escape and go on a rampage across the park. Having big, toothy apex predators on their side would tip the balance back in their favour. However, there was still some work left to go yet; Leon didn't yet feel safe having them out in the field. He'd told Nikolai that when the head of security had asked for his aid during the Borealosaurus escape.

Suddenly, Leon's walkie-talkie rang and he reached to pick it up. Lifting to his ear, he said, "This is Leon, who is it?" Jack's voice crackled out the other end, "Leon, mate, it's me! I'm heading for Drew's office and I thought you were going on the mission today". Leon inwardly cringed; he knew he'd forgotten something. Leon sighed, "I'll see you there in five minutes; I'm done with the allosaurs anyway."

Meanwhile, Drew Luczynski and Jack Denham were sitting in Drew's office, waiting for Leon to arrive. Drew was checking his watch and tutting, whilst Jack was looking absent-mindedly at the celing, saying monotonously, "He said he'd be here around about now." Suddenly, a voice said, "I'm here". He turned to see Leon walking towards him, a small smile on his face. "Where were you?", Drew asked, "You were supposed to be here five minutes ago". In response, he rolled his eyes and replied, "I was busy with the allosaurs; that's why I was late. Anyway, what are we going after?"

Drew smiled and showed them a picture of a large dinosaur. It was very bizarre-looking; it had a small head atop a long neck with a bipedal gait and a heavy, deep, broad body, with short, stocky legs. Its arms were its most striking feature, almost disproportionately long compared to its body, with incredibly long, vicious-looking claws tipping its three fingers. Leon smiled, "Therizinosaurus. I was kind of hoping we'd go after it someday."

Jack raised his eyebrow quizzically and said to Drew, "That's the dinosaur with the giant claws, isn't it? The one that lived alongside Velociraptor?" Drew nodded, "Yeah."

Leon turned to Jack and said, "Therizinosaurus was a very weird dinosaur; for many years no one knew what kind of dinosaur it was or even what it ate. When it was first discovered, it was thought to be a giant turtle; since then people have claimed it used its claws to eviscerate dinosaurs or even crack open termite nests. Now we know that it was a herbivore, and used the claws to pull down branches."

Drew nodded and said, "Thank you, Leon. However, we're not just going after Therizinosaurus; Theodore also gave us Velociraptor as a secondary target." He turned to Jack, smiling, "However, I understand that's why you were so eager to go on the mission, Jack?" Jack smiled, "Correct, fearless leader; I'd clean out Lightning's arsehole if that was what it took for me to go on this mission. What are we waiting for?"

And, so, they headed to the portal site. When they got there, Leon and Drew were surprised to see Collete standing on the walkway; however, Jack simply smiled, "Dropped by to see me off?" Collete rolled her eyes, walked up to them and said, "I came to wish you good luck on the mission today." After a brief pause, she said, "All of you", as if to clarify that she wasn't meaning anyone specific. An employee entered the time period and location and the portal whirred into life. Drew put the remote in his pocket and, after securing it, turned to Leon, who nodded, and Jack, who gave him a wink and a thumbs-up. Drew nodded at them both. As they turned to head towards the portal, Jack suddenly heard Collete shouting from the walkway, "Oh, and Jack? Promise me you'll be careful." Jack nodded to her, and he, Drew and Leon entered through the portal.

As they left the portal, the first thing that hit the team was the heat. They looked around to see where they had emerged. They had emerged on a vast expanse of sand, stretching for miles. Aside from occasional clusters of hardy-looking desert plants, the vast expanse was almost featureless. Jack looked around the vast expanse of sand, "Jeez, Alice was telling me that this was what the Permian deserts were like. God, I hope we don't run into any sandstorms when we're here." Leon looked around the vast expanse and said, almost philosophically, "It's amazing, isn't it? 75 million years and the Gobi Desert still hasn't changed." Drew looked at his teammates, "Sightseeing's over, guys! We have to start looking for our targets." Jack gave him a quizzical look, "So, what do you propose?" Drew sighed, "We find a watering hole. Those are like candy stores to desert animals." Drew looked at the ground and noticed a series of tracks. They clearly weren't Therizinosaurus tracks. Firstly, they were small; the animal that made them was likely to only be about the size of a sheep. Secondly, each was arranged in two pairs, with the back pair being larger than the front and each pair having three toes. This indicated the animal was a quadruped. Drew sighed, "I've found some tracks. We'll follow them; animals always head for food and water."

Following the footprints, they walked a considerable distance before coming to a large sand dune. After about an hour, Jack looked at the hill, "So, fearless leader, the animals we've been tracking are just over that hill?" Drew nodded, as he began climbing the hill, Jack and Leon following him. When they reached the top, they heard a loud grunting noise, like some large pig. The three adventurers looked at each other; whatever these animals were, they were about to find out.