Chapter 1
"All systems are running fine!" the young man announced to his passengers as their small jet soared through the clouds. They were on their way to visit a relative from Australia and were in high spirits as they cruised high above the Indian Ocean. "Hey Johnny," one of the men said, "do you think you'd wanna live down there when you retire from racing?" Johnny looked at him with an odd look.
"That's ridiculous David!" he said. "I was gonna run the race team and maybe do a little side project. Besides, I heard that there are a lot of crocodiles down there." David approached the cockpit.
"Speaking of crocodiles..." he said slyly as he opened the door to the cockpit, "Hey Croco! You have any idea when we'll be to Brisbane?" Croco turned to him.
"No, I do not. Sorry Dave." Johnny then entered the cockpit.
"C'mon Joey," he said, "you gotta have some kind of an estimate. So whaddya think, little bro?" He thought about it.
"Um...I'd say about another few hours at least." David and Johnny groaned. Croco laughed sarcastically as his companions stepped back into the cabin. They continued to cruise over the clouds as the three men continued to joke and clown around. As they approached another cloud formation, the plane suddenly dropped. Croco began to fight the plane to keep it straight.
"Dammit...we've got turbulence!" Croco announced. "Get into a seatbelt now!" The plane continued to lose altitude as Johnny and David scrambled to find their seatbelts. The plane was lost in the clouds as so was its pilot, as Croco had no idea where he was going. When he was able to finally regain control and they exited the clouds, they were pelted by rain and the wind tossed them around like a rag doll.
"Whoa...we're in the middle of a killer storm!" David said. "What the hell did you do Croco?!?"
"I don't know...I was helpless!" Croco shouted. "I was trying to fight the damn plane through all this turbulence and lost track of where I was going!" Suddenly as they escaped the storm, there was a beeping noise and Croco checked to see what was wrong.
"Oh my God!" he said, "I've lost most of the auxiliary electrical systems...but the main one's still working fine." He saw what appeared to be an island in the distance. But he couldn't accurately make it out as it was shrouded by a thick blanket of mist. Still, he made up his mind to try and land on the island.
"I'm gonna try and land on that island down there," he announced to his passengers, "maybe somebody down there can help us." Johnny wasn't too thrilled at the idea.
"Joey, are you nuts?!?" he hollered, "That only works in the movies...and besides, if we were lucky enough to survive..." David stepped in.
"Shut up Johnny and let him try and land the plane! He can radio for help when we get on the ground!" Croco overheard the conversation.
"Bad news Dave," he said, "I've lost the radio, so we're pretty much on our own here." David lost it. Just then, the plane lurched to the side, tossing him and Johnny. Croco fought the plane even harder than before to get it right-side up.
"Oh great...I think I may have lost the rudder!" he said. "We're gonna have to crash this thing in the water!"
"Son of a bitch!" Johnny hissed, knowing that he couldn't swim and his life depended on him staying above the water. The skies had calmed down, they had passed the fury of the storm, but they weren't out of danger yet. Croco continued to struggle with the controls while David and Johnny hoped for the best. As they were approaching the island, there was a loud noise and he lost control.
"Aw nuts! I've lost stick response!" he shouted, "But we're about a thousand feet off the ground. It's survivable.....brace for impact!" The plane hit the sea and skipped like a rock towards the island. The men, thinking they were out of harm's way, undid their seat belts. The plane hit the water again, this time the wing hit first and the men were thrown about the plane. Croco flew through the windshield and hit the water hard, and the other two men hit the inside of the plane, killing them instantly. The wing sheared off and the fuselage tumbled through the air before finally splashing down and sinking to the bottom. When he finally came to, Croco was face down in the sea and still groggy, looked for something to hang on to. An excellent swimmer, he paddled his way toward what was left of his aircraft. He found a wing and grabbed a hold of it, and then he blacked out for good this time.
This time when he awoke, the wing was nowhere in sight and Croco could feel himself moving through the water. He looked around to see two dolphins dragging him towards the mist-covered island. One of the dolphins had him by his left arm while the other propped him on his back. He realized that they were taking him ashore.
"Nice dolphins," he said, but other than the fact that he knew that they were taking him to the island, he was rather confused.
"I'm Joey...but all my friends call me Croco. What are your names?" he asked the dolphins. They just continued to drag him towards the beach, which was still about a couple miles away. As his only companions in his state of confusion, Croco continued to talk to his new aquatic friends as if they were human. When they were about fifty yards from the beach, they gave him one last push and left to go play in the warm seas they called home. He finally washed onto the shore after about a minute of being pushed by the waves. He had enough sense to crawl a few feet inland, then he slumped over and fell asleep.
A child, about eight or nine, was roaming the beach looking out at the sea, occasionally picking up a rock and throwing it out into the foamy wash. Suddenly, she saw something suspicious and hopped on the back of her companion, a deinonychus she called Riojay or "Rio" for short.
"C'mon Riojay!" she said, encouraging her reptilian partner to go faster. When they got to where Croco was lying, the girl's eyes lit up and a smile came across her face.
"Oh boy!" she shouted as Riojay looked him over, "I've never come across a dolphinback before! I wonder if it's still alive." She kicked Croco in the side, and he let out a loud groan. The girl was even more excited than before as she hopped onto Riojay's back.
"We gotta tell Dad about the dolphinback...he's gonna be surprised to see him still alive! Let's go Rio...as fast as you can!" and with that, the girl and her deinonychus were gone.
"All systems are running fine!" the young man announced to his passengers as their small jet soared through the clouds. They were on their way to visit a relative from Australia and were in high spirits as they cruised high above the Indian Ocean. "Hey Johnny," one of the men said, "do you think you'd wanna live down there when you retire from racing?" Johnny looked at him with an odd look.
"That's ridiculous David!" he said. "I was gonna run the race team and maybe do a little side project. Besides, I heard that there are a lot of crocodiles down there." David approached the cockpit.
"Speaking of crocodiles..." he said slyly as he opened the door to the cockpit, "Hey Croco! You have any idea when we'll be to Brisbane?" Croco turned to him.
"No, I do not. Sorry Dave." Johnny then entered the cockpit.
"C'mon Joey," he said, "you gotta have some kind of an estimate. So whaddya think, little bro?" He thought about it.
"Um...I'd say about another few hours at least." David and Johnny groaned. Croco laughed sarcastically as his companions stepped back into the cabin. They continued to cruise over the clouds as the three men continued to joke and clown around. As they approached another cloud formation, the plane suddenly dropped. Croco began to fight the plane to keep it straight.
"Dammit...we've got turbulence!" Croco announced. "Get into a seatbelt now!" The plane continued to lose altitude as Johnny and David scrambled to find their seatbelts. The plane was lost in the clouds as so was its pilot, as Croco had no idea where he was going. When he was able to finally regain control and they exited the clouds, they were pelted by rain and the wind tossed them around like a rag doll.
"Whoa...we're in the middle of a killer storm!" David said. "What the hell did you do Croco?!?"
"I don't know...I was helpless!" Croco shouted. "I was trying to fight the damn plane through all this turbulence and lost track of where I was going!" Suddenly as they escaped the storm, there was a beeping noise and Croco checked to see what was wrong.
"Oh my God!" he said, "I've lost most of the auxiliary electrical systems...but the main one's still working fine." He saw what appeared to be an island in the distance. But he couldn't accurately make it out as it was shrouded by a thick blanket of mist. Still, he made up his mind to try and land on the island.
"I'm gonna try and land on that island down there," he announced to his passengers, "maybe somebody down there can help us." Johnny wasn't too thrilled at the idea.
"Joey, are you nuts?!?" he hollered, "That only works in the movies...and besides, if we were lucky enough to survive..." David stepped in.
"Shut up Johnny and let him try and land the plane! He can radio for help when we get on the ground!" Croco overheard the conversation.
"Bad news Dave," he said, "I've lost the radio, so we're pretty much on our own here." David lost it. Just then, the plane lurched to the side, tossing him and Johnny. Croco fought the plane even harder than before to get it right-side up.
"Oh great...I think I may have lost the rudder!" he said. "We're gonna have to crash this thing in the water!"
"Son of a bitch!" Johnny hissed, knowing that he couldn't swim and his life depended on him staying above the water. The skies had calmed down, they had passed the fury of the storm, but they weren't out of danger yet. Croco continued to struggle with the controls while David and Johnny hoped for the best. As they were approaching the island, there was a loud noise and he lost control.
"Aw nuts! I've lost stick response!" he shouted, "But we're about a thousand feet off the ground. It's survivable.....brace for impact!" The plane hit the sea and skipped like a rock towards the island. The men, thinking they were out of harm's way, undid their seat belts. The plane hit the water again, this time the wing hit first and the men were thrown about the plane. Croco flew through the windshield and hit the water hard, and the other two men hit the inside of the plane, killing them instantly. The wing sheared off and the fuselage tumbled through the air before finally splashing down and sinking to the bottom. When he finally came to, Croco was face down in the sea and still groggy, looked for something to hang on to. An excellent swimmer, he paddled his way toward what was left of his aircraft. He found a wing and grabbed a hold of it, and then he blacked out for good this time.
This time when he awoke, the wing was nowhere in sight and Croco could feel himself moving through the water. He looked around to see two dolphins dragging him towards the mist-covered island. One of the dolphins had him by his left arm while the other propped him on his back. He realized that they were taking him ashore.
"Nice dolphins," he said, but other than the fact that he knew that they were taking him to the island, he was rather confused.
"I'm Joey...but all my friends call me Croco. What are your names?" he asked the dolphins. They just continued to drag him towards the beach, which was still about a couple miles away. As his only companions in his state of confusion, Croco continued to talk to his new aquatic friends as if they were human. When they were about fifty yards from the beach, they gave him one last push and left to go play in the warm seas they called home. He finally washed onto the shore after about a minute of being pushed by the waves. He had enough sense to crawl a few feet inland, then he slumped over and fell asleep.
A child, about eight or nine, was roaming the beach looking out at the sea, occasionally picking up a rock and throwing it out into the foamy wash. Suddenly, she saw something suspicious and hopped on the back of her companion, a deinonychus she called Riojay or "Rio" for short.
"C'mon Riojay!" she said, encouraging her reptilian partner to go faster. When they got to where Croco was lying, the girl's eyes lit up and a smile came across her face.
"Oh boy!" she shouted as Riojay looked him over, "I've never come across a dolphinback before! I wonder if it's still alive." She kicked Croco in the side, and he let out a loud groan. The girl was even more excited than before as she hopped onto Riojay's back.
"We gotta tell Dad about the dolphinback...he's gonna be surprised to see him still alive! Let's go Rio...as fast as you can!" and with that, the girl and her deinonychus were gone.