Two weeks have passed. Many herds had wandered in and out of the Great Valley with the changing season as the early signs of winter began to settle in. Ali's herd had moved out to continue their migratory path up to the High Hills and all of the Valley's residents were there to see them off. Grandpa Longneck had also wished them luck on their travels and stated that they were always welcome to the Valley and should return should anything go wrong or they lose their way. Much to the migrating herd's discretion, the herd found themselves returning as their newly strategised route had been cut off by land slides of what seemed to be unnatural nature not too far from the Valley border. The herd decided that the male longnecks were to clear a path as quickly as possible whilst females and the elderly members were to return to the Great Valley until the debris was cleared. To the gang's delight, this meant Ali was back to stay for a little while longer as the sheer mass of rocks was predicted to take a few days to clear and secure their route before setting off again.
Since Ali's return, there had been a great level of disturbance and rumour spreading amongst the inhabitants of the Great Valley. There had been news about strange and bizarre sounds suddenly echoing and bellowing around the area; sounds of which no one had ever heard before.
"Sounds?" Ali asked curiously one dry, crisp day as the whispering winds swept the gold and red leaves that littered the ground and crunched underfoot.
"Yeah. Big booming sounds like thunder coming from somewhere out in the Mysterious Beyond. At least that's what everyone's been saying," Littlefoot replied.
"Do you think they could have something to do with the rock slides that have been happening just outside of the Valley?" Cera asked.
"Maybe because there have also been quite a lot of rock slides as well, there has," Ducky said.
"Yeah I know. The rock slide that all the male dinosaurs of my herd are trying to clear was huge. Lots of rocks and boulders had fallen on the mountain path and there is no other way around it."
"Can't your herd find another path that takes you up to the High Hills?" Jason asked having just arrived and catching on to the conversation.
"No. Those are the only ways we know and our leader says that our herd have used those paths to reach the High Hills for generations."
"What me no understand is why all land slides happen one after another like that. Nothing like that ever happen before," Petrie added scratching his head.
"Yeah, Petrie's right. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Could something be wrong?" Littlefoot said with a worried tone to his voice.
"There must be some logical explanation for all these slides and the strange noises that have suddenly cropped up out of nowhere. This sort of thing doesn't happen just like that," Jason said with his head resting in his hand in thought.
"What do you think it could be?" Ducky asked leaning closer to Jason for an answer.
"To be honest Ducky, I couldn't tell you. All these sudden rock slides seem weird."
"I'll tell you something that was really weird about the rock slides when we found the blocked path," Ali jumped in. Everyone focused in on Ali so they wouldn't miss a word.
"When we actually got to the where all the rocks were, we could see the mountain where all the rocks had fallen from."
"And? What's so weird about that?" Cera blurted in her normal, arrogant tone.
"All the rocks did not look like they had fallen from the top of the mountain. There was a big gap in the wall of the cliff where we walked almost as if the rocks had just tumbled out of the side of it."
"Huh?" Cera squinted in confusion, "That's stupid! How can rocks just fall from out of the side of the cliff? That's crazy!"
"But that's what it looked like Cera. It really did look like the rocks fell from out of the side of the mountain. There was also a funny smell around the area, kind of like the smell of burning trees after a fire." Everyone looked at each other wondering whether to believe Ali or not.
"That's odd," Jason said slowly as if to pick up on something.
"What is it?" Littlefoot asked.
"What Ali said about the rocks. That sort of thing wouldn't happen normally unless it was a coastal cliff being eroded by the sea…and that smell you described."
"What's that mean for those of us who don't speak human talk?" Cera grunted.
"What I'm saying is that the sea, or big water, washes against a cliff and as it crash onto it, it can pull fragments of rocks off the cliff. It's called coastal erosion. It only happens near the se…big water but never this far inland."
"So what you think do it then?" Petrie cawed.
"I dunno. It could have been anything," Jason sighed, "perhaps it could have something to do with the bizarre noises we've been hearing recently."
"I still don't understand what you mean by 'bizarre noises'? What are you…" Ali began. She had been halted by a tremendously loud clattering noise that seemed to shake the entire field in which they were standing in. Everyone ducked at the sound as if a low flying projectile had just been launched in their direction.
"What was that?" Cera wailed.
"It is so loud, it is!" Ducky said nudging Spike for him to remove his forefeet from his ears and open his eyes again. Littlefoot stood upright and watched the panic-stricken flyer-type dinosaurs squealed and flee from the trees in the distance as they moved across the sky as a mass of black specks.
"Was that the sounds you were all talking about?" Ali asked cautiously as she found her feet again.
"Uh huh, but never that loud!" Petrie exclaimed.
"What do you think it was Jason?" Ducky asked and turned to him when he didn't answer. "Jason?" Jason was staring open-mouthed at the sky watching the scared flyers escaping in terror.
"Jason? What's wrong?" Littlefoot asked as he moved his head in front of Jason's field of view forcing him to blink and shake his head.
"Huh? Oh. N-nothing…" he replied still slightly mesmerised.
"What up with you? Why the dumb face?" Cera said bluntly. Jason frowned but didn't say anything in retort. He suddenly turned on his heels as if about to take off.
"Will you guys excuse me for just a sec? There's something I need to check on."
"Hey, wait Jason? Where are you going?" Littlefoot shouted as Jason sped off.
"Need to check something! Be right back!" he hollered across the field leaving everyone dumbfounded but strangely inquisitive. Did Jason know something? With their curiosity getting the better of them, the group followed Jason into the trees hoping that he would explain a few things.
Emerging from the bushes, the gang found Jason rummaging through his bag which was lying at the base of his sleeping tree. He had his back to them and hadn't noticed any of them but no one advanced on him just in case he became defensive. Jason's shuffling suddenly stopped, almost as if he had been injured by something. Through the shrubs, the gang saw Jason pull out a small blue object from the main compartment of his bag as he slowly rolled himself over to sit under his tree. It opened up just like his mother's book he had used to formulate the medicine to revive Cera's father. Jason's expression looked troubled and very serious which made something in Littlefoot's stomach drop rather uncomfortably. He suddenly felt that Jason had been thinking a lot about something rather personal but he didn't have the courage to confront him and ask him about it.
"What's up with him?" Cera whispered across the group.
"He looks sad. I wonder what is wrong," Ducky said softly.
"Has he told you anything Littlefoot?" Ali asked pulling her head from out of the bush and turning to Littlefoot.
"N…no. He hasn't said anything," he stammered without turning back to meet Ali's eyes. He remained focused on Jason trying to analyse his strange behaviour. He had seemed a little isolated from the rest of the group recently he had noticed but he never wanted to ask why just in case something happened like last time. Then, Littlefoot gasped quietly but the others picked up on it.
"What's the matter?" Cera asked quickly. Littlefoot didn't answer but he felt the sinking feeling drop even further as he saw Jason head disappear into his knees and his arms wrapped around them. Littlefoot felt couldn't suppress the urge any longer and slowly shuffled his way through the bush.
"Littlefoot!" Cera breathed forebodingly. He ignored her and kept moving leaving the others still in hiding.
"What he doing?" Petrie cawed quietly.
As Littlefoot walked into the clearing, Jason gasped and jerked his head up to the sound of him rustling the leaves of the bush. It wasn't until he was practically nose-to-nose with him that Littlefoot stopped and began to speak.
"Jason…what's wrong? You can tell me…"
"I'm sorry Littlefoot. I can't. I'll end up feeling more pathetic and weak than I already am," Jason sighed dropping his head back down.
"What do you mean? You're not weak or pathetic…"
"Yes I am."
"What is it? Is it that book you were looking at? It is a book isn't it? I remember you telling me but I might have forgotten." Jason smiled.
"I just can't get anything past you can I?"
"So what is that?"
"It's my mother's diary. She used to write in it everyday about everything that happened in her day." Jason opened up the diary and Littlefoot leaned in to look at the neat, blue handwriting that curled in straight rows down the page.
"You can understand that?" he asked tilting his head sideways trying to decipher the alien symbols.
"Uh huh. My mother wrote everything in this diary. Everything up until… the day of…the virus outbreak." Jason then flinched at the sound of more rustling from where Littlefoot had emerged.
"It's alright. You don't have to hide anymore. I know you're all there," Jason beckoned across the clearing to the others. Cera poked her nose horn out from the greenery quickly followed by Ali and Spike (with Ducky and Petrie either side of him). The rest of the group crowded round Jason as he started telling them all about his mother's work on the perpetual energy source and their daring escape that only he survived. The group were spellbound by Jason's story but also felt an overwhelming regret for his loss.
"And that's how I ended up here in your world. That time door thing some of the higher ranking scientists must have been working on transported me here but before I recovered, the door closed behind me."
"So…you want to go back…is that it?" Littlefoot asked cautiously. Jason found he couldn't answer immediately.
"I…I…I don't know. I think…at least…I'd like to see it again…I'd like to see my world again despite how disgusting and desolate it seems…but…I also found that I enjoy my life here with you guys. Life is so much more fun and exciting, not to mention peaceful, but there's some part of me that…just…wants to…" The group fell silent as Jason sighed heavily.
"Would you…would you ever return to your world?…you know, if you had the chance," Ali said.
"I…I couldn't say. I wouldn't want to leave the Great Valley but… the reason I came back here to get my mother's diary was because that strange, supernatural storm and these sounds reminded me of my life back in the year 2113. It made me have reason to believe that…" Jason was interrupted in mid speech but another loud banging sound. It sounded very close as the soundwaves bounced off the mountains and echoed in the Valley.
"What that! It sound like earthshake!" Petrie said trembling from underneath Spike.
"No. It sounded more like the Smoking Mountain had just blown up!" Cera cried nervously.
"What was that?" Ali asked fearfully.
"I'm not sure but what worries me most is that it sounded very, very close to here," Jason said calmly with his vision fixed on the horizon.
"It came from over near there," Littlefoot said pointing with his head.
"But that over by Forest of Fear!" Petrie cawed shaking some more.
"Umm…The Forest of Fear eh?" Jason said suspiciously, "I think we need to delve a little further into that place if we're gonna get to the bottom of this…"
"Who's we? I'm not going back to that creepy place! We'll be in serious trouble if we're caught snooping around there. We were lucky not to get caught the first time!" Cera blurted.
"No one said you had to come Cera but I'm gonna check it out! I've gotta hunch just what might be making those banging noises," Jason said as he dropped his mother's diary into his pocket and began heading for the Forest of Fear.
"Wait for me Jason! I'm coming with you!" Littlefoot called.
"And me!" Petrie croaked and took flight.
"We are in too right Spike?" Ducky chirped as Spike agreed with a hefty head nod.
"You coming Cera?" Ali asked as she started off towards the moving group.
"Oh alright! Just because you guys forced me too!" Cera groaned and followed Ali to catch up with the others.
Chapter 29: The Unsolved Riddle of the Forest of FearTravelling through the Grazing Pasture and to the far western edge of the Great Valley, the group arrived at the Forest of Fear where they came to a sharp stop on its perimeter and all stared apprehensively into the dark woodland. Everyone was completely speechless but the nervous glances on each of their faces told them exactly what they were all feeling.
"Now what?" Cera asked in a slightly quivering voice.
"We…err…we should…go in I suppose…" Jason replied in between nervous cracks in his speech.
"I do not think we should be here, no, no, no," Ducky said trembling and clutching Spike's head.
"I know but, maybe we might find out what all the weird noises are about," Littlefoot said trying to keep everyone calm but he was feeling incredibly shaky himself, "besides, Jason said he might had an idea on what might be making the sounds."
"Couldn't you just tell us?" Cera complained.
"You wouldn't understand me if I tried. Anyway it's just a hunch. I'm gonna need proof to ensure I'm right," Jason said as coolly as possible but he could feel a rush of excitement surge through his body which made him jittery.
"But what if you don't find anything like last time? It'll just be a waste of time," Cera continued to whine.
"We have to make sure we find something then so this WON'T just be a big waste of time won't we Cera?" Jason snapped back without raising his tone of voice.
"Anyway Cera, if you don't want to come with us, why don't you go back home?" Littlefoot added.
"Because…because if you guys find anything, I wanna be there too! You gotta problem with that?!" she barked back. Littlefoot shook his head and then turned to Jason who turned to meet his eyes. Despite his worried expression, Littlefoot could see a strange, excited sparkle in his eye that made him realise that Jason was obviously on to something.
"Well…let's go then. I'll go first," Jason said stepping out of lateral line they all stood in. Taking a small gulp, Jason took a nervous step into the forest with Littlefoot following close behind. The others filed in one after another leaving Cera and Ali yet to enter.
"This is crazy! This is totally nuts! I can't believe I'm actually doing this!" Cera blabbered to herself.
"Maybe we shouldn't go," Ali said slowly.
"We have to otherwise Jason and Littlefoot would be on their own. Besides, I can't walk out on something like this. I want to find out what Jason has planned."
With those last, brave words, Cera entered the forest with Ali bring up the rear.
In a single-filed line, the gang wandered their way deeper into the forest. All of them fearfully aware that they could all get lost in amongst the thin, gangly, branchless tree trunks. Jason, much to his discomfort, led the way through the trees with no clue to where he was going. The light from the Great Valley had now disappeared from behind them as they strolled further and further into the darkness. Petrie and Ducky had decided to hitch a ride on top of Spike to prevent themselves from being separated from the others but as they hopped on Spike, he yelped in fright which, in turn, made everyone else jump.
"Spike! Don't do that!" Littlefoot said sternly as he tried to get his breath back.
"Jeez Spike, you scare the treestars outta me!" Cera said frowning but also panting. The chatter was hushed by Jason who was barely distinguishable in the shallow light.
"What is it Jason?" Ali whispered from the back.
"I don't know but it seems to be getting strangely lighter for some reason," Jason mumbled.
"Yeah, so it has. What do you think it could be? It could possibly be the Bright Circle," Littlefoot said as low as he could.
"I think it might be… WHOA!!!" Jason suddenly lost his balance as his foot got caught on something embedded in the ground.
"Jason? Are you okay?" Ducky asked as she watched him get to his feet again.
"Yeah, I tripped on something." Jason turned to look at what he fell over and saw a fallen tree lying under some fallen leaves. He crouched down beside it to examine it closer.
"It's just a tree Jason. How clumsy are you?" Cera teased but Jason wasn't taking any notice.
"Hey guys look at this end," he called them over to the point were the tree had fallen from its stump. Everyone glared at the unnaturally smooth end of the tree stump and then at the base of the leaf-covered tree.
"What kind of dinosaur could push over a tree and make it break like that?" Ali asked.
"A sharptooth could have cut it with its claws maybe," Ducky suggested but Jason shook his head.
"No. This was not the work of a sharptooth or anything of the sort. No dinosaur could have made such a clean cut."
"Hey, what's this? There is black stuff around the rim! It looks like the tree was burned around the edges," Cera said poking the sooty bark with her nose horn.
"Hmm? Burn marks? Only laser blades can make those scorches…" Jason thought aloud.
"So what could have done this?" Littlefoot jumped in.
"I think 'what' is the right question to ask Littlefoot."
"Look," Petrie pointed behind Jason, "more fallen trees. What could make so many trees fall down?"
"…Could it be?" Jason whispered. He quickly hopped upright and started off in the direction of the fallen trees.
"Hey Jason! Wait up!" Littlefoot called after him.
The path of destruction led them deeper still into the forest. By now, all of them had temporarily forgotten their fear of the haunted woods as they were all puzzling over what could have destroyed so many trees which all bore the same smooth, slash wounds at their base accompanied by the suspicious burn markings. All the dinosaurs were keen to know what might be churning around in Jason's head as they continued to wander aimlessly along the path. After about an hour of walking, the gang decided to stop for a short rest. Littlefoot quickly advised none of them to sample any of the leaves as they'd probably suffer the same gut-wrenching taste as he did. One by one, they flopped down, kicking up leaves in their impact. Cera was the last to collapse but she quickly jumped up again in pain as something crunched under her weight.
"ARRGGHH!!! What was that!" she yelped, cart-wheeling her way awkwardly away from her impact point. Jason got up and brushed away the leaves that covered a smooth, silky looking black surface (now with a dent in it). Digging a little further in, Jason then picked up the strange object and examined it. Everyone packed in tightly to get a closer look in the dim light.
"What is it?" Ducky asked enchanted by it.
"Some sort of black, plastic box?" Jason said rotating it. He swivelled it around and noticed a thin slit working its way around three of the four sides of the flat box. Jason pushed the top half up and it opened. Jason gasped in disbelief.
"It's…It's a…"
"What is it?" Ali asked leaning in closer.
"It's a laptop computer!!!" Jason breathed. As the top half flipped up, the screen flicked white and the cooling fan hummed noisily. The group were dumbstruck as the computer came to life.
"What is this thing? Is it yours Jason?" Cera said abruptly. Jason's eyes widened fearfully.
"No…it's not mine!" he said almost whispering.
"Then it must be someone else's," Ducky then said innocently.
"YES. It is!"
"Wait a second! Are you saying that there are other humans here?!" Cera jumping to a rather hasty conclusion.
"…Yes Cera! There must be other humans here!" Jason replied completely awestruck.
Everyone's attention was quickly re-diverted back to the laptop which had beeped and a new message had popped up on the screen.
"What does it say?" Littlefoot asked from over Jason's shoulder.
"'Insert disk into drive," Jason read out, "this computer needs a disk to operate."
No sooner had Jason said that, Spike flinched having trodden on something laying in the undergrowth. He flicked his nose in the leaves and pulled out a square, plastic object.
"Spike wait! Give that here, I need that," Jason barked. Spike dropped the disk in Jason's hand and waddled back to where he was standing. Just as Jason was about to slip the disk into the drive, a rustling came from along the path of fallen trees. Snapping the laptop screen back down, Jason placed the disk in his pocket and carried the computer under his arm before leading the way back along the path.
Before long, the group came to what appeared to be an unnatural clearing. The area of fallen trees looked as if some rampaging threehorn had torn through the woods and demolished everything in its path. In the centre of the clearing was what appeared to be some sort of small bunker or hut surrounded by a metal wire fence. The clearing looked as if the bunker had literally fallen on top of the trees and crushed them as pieces of sawn off trees laid sprawled around the area randomly and a few still remained trapped under the building.
"Wow! What is that?" Littlefoot gasped in amazement. Nobody else could say anything. Their words had gotten lodged somewhere in their throats and couldn't seem to flow from their hanging mouths.
"It's…its some sort of base it looks like," Jason whispered.
"Could there be other humans in there?" Ali asked somewhat sheepishly.
"It…it looks deserted," Jason replied as he scanned the clearing for signs of life but found no one.
"You think it's safe?" Petrie cawed nervously but curiosity had already gripped Littlefoot and Jason as they wandered into the clearing. The others hurried after them.
Littlefoot and Jason strolled right up to the metal fence and looked up and down at the one-storey building as the others got in line.
"How do you think this got here Jason?" Littlefoot asked.
"I dunno. Maybe it's got something to do with that weird storm we saw a little while ago, remember?" he replied.
"Oh yeah. Is that why you looked so shocked when you saw it?"
"Yeah. It looked just like the sparks that flew off the time door that I travelled through. Ever since that and that strange dream I had about that old longneck in that room full of sparkling waterfalls I told you about, I've been thinking that maybe humans have travelled here the same way I did. I wonder…" Jason placed the laptop down slowly beside him and raised a hand to examine the fence.
"Hey Petrie. What do you suppose this yellow thing means?" Ducky asked as she eyed a yellow symbol.
"Me no know! Why that human getting hurt by thunder flash?" Petrie replied as he analysed the sign.
"Can you guys hear a faint buzzing noise?" Ali then added as she strained to listen.
"Yeah I do, but I can't see any buzzing stingers around. Maybe Jason knows. Hey Jason! What does this mean?" Cera said just as she saw Jason come into contact with the fence. Jason suddenly jerked upright and began shuddering rather erratically. The group gasped in horror as he continued to shake violently.
"What's happening to him?!" Littlefoot cried desperately.
"He is being thunder-striked!" Ducky yelped helplessly, "Do not touch him otherwise you will be thunder-striked too!" Littlefoot let out a hopeless sigh as he could do nothing but watch Jason jerk around as the electric current flowed through him.
After a few tense seconds, Jason suddenly twitched and as if by a reflex action, his hand snapped off the fence and he was thrown backwards before landing in a crumpled heap in the leaves.
"JASON!!!" Littlefoot cried as he ran to meet him. Jason twitched again and slowly sat up.
"Oh man! What happened?" he said nauseously.
"You were being thunder-striked!" Ducky said worryingly.
"Are you okay?" Ali called to him from across the clearing as she came to join the crowd.
"I think so. My hands are a bit burned but I'm okay," Jason said getting to his feet slowly, "okay, I can safely say the place is protected by an electric fence."
"So what now?" Cera asked. Before anyone could answer, there was a loud bang and shuffling could be heard heading in their direction.
"I think we'd better get out of here!" Jason called as he forced his aching muscles to start moving.
"Quick let's go!" Cera called as she began back-tracking along the path of fallen trees.
"Wait! The laptop," Jason said as he skidded and ran back for the computer that laid on the dry leaves by the fence. He snatched up the laptop and chased after the others as the shuffling grew louder. Puffing and panting, they ran back to the first fallen tree to stop and recover.
"What's all this about?" Ali said between drawing breaths.
"I don't know but I bet the information we need is on this disk," Jason replied slapping his thigh in which the disk rested in his pocket. "C'mon, we'd better get out of here."
"Look! There our old foot-holes!" Petrie cawed.
"How can you see them? It's way too dark," Cera asked trying to stare hard at the ground.
"Petrie's eyesight is a lot more keen than our. He'll be able to show us the way out," Jason said signalling for Petrie to lead the way.
"C'mon, let's get out this place. It's really starting to give me the creeps!"
Chapter 30: Fears Become RealityUpon reaching the edge of the Forest of Fear, the gang made a beeline straight for the Green Meadow whilst everything they had just seen tried to sink in. No one knew what to say due to the mixed emotions that everyone displayed on their faces; most concerning of all was the expression scored into Jason's face like an artist's carving. Littlefoot was trying to guess what Jason was feeling having seen remainders of human life again. There was still a slight ambiguity about the presence of humans being present in the Valley despite seeing the abandoned shelter. Littlefoot could feel a growing concern that Jason would become more isolated as his gaze slowly moved from his face down to the black box he had tucked, rather tightly, under his arm as they past through the penultimate thicket to reach the meadow.
The Green Meadow was buzzing with excited talking about the mysterious noises getting ever closer to the Great Valley. The gang found all their parents in their usual discussion area to debate over the cause of the unnatural sounds that still echoed over their home and creating a growing disturbance. Stopping on the edge of the ring of quarrelling adults, everyone in the group turned and looked at someone else, all with their thoughts focused on the same question. Should they tell the elders what they had just discovered? Doing so, they faced the risk of being scolded for going into the Forest of Fear despite being forbidden to but even more so, what would their reaction be if they knew that there was a potential threat of more humans entering the dinosaur realm? The depressing looks everyone could read from each other told them precisely what they should do, but the biting sensation in the pits of their stomachs told them that it would be better if they pretended that they didn't know anything.
Jason turned on his heels and returned to the last thicket with the others following him one by one. He placed the laptop on the ground and sat between a tree's great, looping roots.
"Jason…You okay?" Petrie said solemnly as he perched above him.
"Yeah, I'm fine Petrie," Jason replied smiling awkwardly.
"What are we going to do? Do you think we should tell them?" Ducky asked hopping forward as Spike strolled into the thicket and headed for the nearest bush.
"I don't know. We'll get in so much trouble we'll probably be restricted to staying at home for ages! We probably won't get to see each other for quite a while if they knew," Littlefoot said shaking his head.
"More worrying than that Littlefoot is how they're gonna take it? If humans really are wandering around outside the Great Valley and causing such a commotion, which we can't prove because we haven't seen anybody else, do you honestly think the elders are gonna just shrug it off like it was nothing?" Jason said without raising his head.
"But we've got that funny black thing. Isn't that proof enough?" Cera jumped in.
"This stuff means nothing Cera. Just because we found a few items that belong to human civilisation doesn't instantly mean humans are here. It could be that they transported a remote base through time as a test and no one else came with it. Or perhaps, they were just sent here with the intension to bring humans but they only teleported their stronghold here and didn't manage to come along with it," Jason answered in a degrading tone.
"So how will we know?" Ali asked still trying desperately to get on top of everything that has just happened.
"We won't, but I think this computer and floppy disk will give us a few answers," Jason said getting to his feet and picking up the laptop. He began to walk out of the thicket as the gang started to follow. Jason then stopped abruptly.
"Guys…do me a favour…let me look at the data on my own. I'll be able to concentrate better if you guys weren't looking over my shoulder all the time," he said sternly without even turning to face them. Everyone exchanged puzzled looks.
"So what do you expect us to do until you're finished, just go off and play and pretend none of this ever happened?" Cera shouted angrily at his back.
"You guys can decide whether we should tell the adults what we know. Whatever you're decision is fine with me because you know I feel the same way about all of this."
"DO you Jason? Are you SURE about that?" Littlefoot asked probingly, adding a little more emphasis to his words than he initially intended. Jason snapped around to face Littlefoot in shock. Littlefoot flinched at his reaction and shrunk back awaiting his answer. He didn't say anything but simply bowed his head and walked out of the thicket towards home.
"You can come and check on me a bit later okay? I'll tell you everything I find…" he called over his shoulder.
The thicket remained eerily quiet as the rest of the gang tried to decide what to do next. After a few minutes pondering and weighing up the pros and cons on whether they should tell the adults, the debate then ended with an uneasy decision.
"So it's settled then. We're gonna tell the grown-ups about the Forest of Fear," Littlefoot said assertively.
"Yep, yep, yep!" Ducky chirped.
"Petrie not like idea but it better that grown-ups know about it," Petrie said apprehensively.
"Yeah, I'm with you guys," Ali said with a broad smile.
"Cera? What's your choice?" Littlefoot asked.
"Well…I do want the adults to know but…"
"But what?"
"Can't we change the story a little? I mean, they don't have to know we went to the Forest of Fear right? If my dad ever found out about us going in there, he'll have my horn!"
"She do have point Littlefoot. Why no tell grown-ups we find human things somewhere else?" Petrie said suddenly changing his tone.
"But what if they ask us to take them there?" Littlefoot protested.
"We could just say…um…Jason said that humans could be anywhere around there and could be dangerous."
"But if we tell them that, they will definitely be worried. Remember that Jason said we don't want to cause a panic otherwise we could get into even more trouble."
"Can't we just leave the bit about the Forest of Fear out? Please! Even if the adults do take it well, my dad is going to have me babysitting the twins for the rest of my life! I'll never be able to leave his sight for a second! Please Littlefoot?" Littlefoot sighed. Cera was genuinely concerned that her father would over-react to the news but he didn't like the idea of lying to his grandparents.
"Alright. We'll try to avoid mentioning about the forest. Maybe we could say that we found it laying around somewhere." Cera breathed a big sigh of relief. Littlefoot stood up and looked out into the Green Meadow at the rally of dinosaurs still quarrelling. A feeling of dread shuddered down him as he began walking towards them. Ali hurried to walk beside him and smiled to lift his spirits. He smiled back but the fear was still looming inside making him nervous. Nevertheless, his legs kept moving forward as if they had a mind of their own.
Littlefoot and the gang stopped just outside the ring just as the debate became more heated. Small, quiet discussions had suddenly transformed into shouts and bellows from some dinosaurs as they stared up at the swinging tails of each of the herds. Littlefoot, swallowing hard, stepped forward in between a longneck's legs and looked up at his grandfather. Grandpa Longneck, having just noticing Littlefoot and his friends, broke eye contact with the rest of the dinosaurs to gaze down on him, smiling warmly.
"Hello children. What is the matter? Why aren't you off playing?"
"Grandpa…we…we need to talk to you about something."
"Well, can't it wait Littlefoot? We're in the middle of discussing about the strange, banging noises."
"It's about that Grandpa…we…we think…we might know what is making the noises." Littlefoot gritted his teeth as the circle became deathly silent.
"Really? Do you know something about them?" With a quick glance at the rest of the gang, Littlefoot took a deep breath and began explaining everything they had discovered.
The circle of adults was dumbfounded by Littlefoot's story. Confused chatter broke out amongst them.
"And…you're saying that you, Jason and your friends found some things that belong to humans Littlefoot?" Grandpa Longneck asked slowly.
"Yes Grandpa. A funny black thing and strange cave made of stone," Littlefoot replied.
"Where are they now?" Ducky's mother asked stepping further into the circle.
"Jason's got the black thing…I think be called it…a…a com-com-putterer or something like that," Ali said backing up Littlefoot.
"And what about the stone cave?" Cera's father asked rather sternly. The group fell silent.
"Petrie hear from other flyer that it out in Mysterious Beyond somewhere but nobody in it!" Petrie yelled out quickly. The group glared at him in awe but all quickly nodded.
"Where is Jason now?" Grandma Longneck asked the six of them.
"He's somewhere looking at that…computterer thing. He said it might have a few answers on it," Littlefoot said promptly. Something then quickly snapped in his head.
"Oh! He said we should meet up with him in a little while to check what he's found! Can I go find him Grandpa?"
"Of course Littlefoot, but please return here once you've spoken to him so we can all find out more about the situation."
"Okay Grandpa," Littlefoot chirped as he bounded out of the circle.
Having escaped the piercing eyes of the elders, Littlefoot and the gang stopped in the thicket again and they all sighed heavily with relief. Surprisingly they had taken it very well and no punishment was given out for their disappearances.
"That went much better than I thought it would," Cera said happily.
"Yeah. Only because we left out the most important detail!" Littlefoot criticised but was just as pleased at the ease of the conversion with the adults.
"So what now?" Petrie cawed as he landed behind Cera's neck shield.
"We have to find Jason. I bet he went home to look at it since nearly everybody was in the Green Meadow. C'mon let's go see him," Littlefoot said with a playful leap to his step.
It didn't take the gang long to find Jason tapping away at the keyboard of the laptop under his sleeping spot. As they approached him, Jason waved them over frantically with one hand to hurry them. They all crowded around the tiny machine as strange symbols rolled around the screen, completely impossible for the dinosaurs to decipher.
"How's it going Jason?" Littlefoot asked over his shoulder.
"Not bad. I'm managed to find out a bit about the base in the forest but I'm just looking through some of the profiles. It's just loading up now," he replied. Cera twisted and turned her head in weird angles as the symbols scrolled across the screen.
"What are all those funny black, stick things?"
"They're letters. Humans developed these symbols as a way of communicating. It's the words you speak only written down."
"Like what?" Ali asked just as confused as Cera.
"Like this…" Jason said as he picked up a stick and began scratching a word into the soil.
"What that say?" Petrie asked flying down to inspect it more closely.
"That's how we write your name Littlefoot. If I showed that to another human, they could read it and they'd say your name." The group was amazed; Littlefoot even more so to see his own name scored out in the ground in strange symbols.
"Could you teach us how to use them?" Littlefoot asked merrily.
"Maybe some other time. Hey! The profiles are coming up." Everyone's attention was drawn to the screen as the data Jason had requested appeared. Jason scrolled through the text, reading it out loud to his friends so they knew what it all meant.
"I don't believe it!" Jason yelled out in surprise.
"What?!" the gang all cried in unison.
"All this information is recorded data of a top-secret project set up and run by Red Phoenix Laboratories!"
"Who?" Cera asked.
"Red Phoenix Labs is the conglomerate that was responsible for the viral outbreak all that time ago. Remember the story I told you all about and how I lost my mother. She was working for them at the time. Anyway, this data is a record of the tests and experiments of some sort of developing energy source. I can't figure all of it out but it's got something to do with…!!!" Jason was silenced by the next screen that popped up on screen.
"What is it?" Ali asked flicking between Jason's thunderstruck expression and the illegible symbols.
"This…this is the project my mother was working on! The perpetual energy source! Energy that never runs out! It looks like the project was continued but…mum said the project was scraped due to insufficient fundings. What's going on?" Jason scrolled through more text, graphs and diagrams that didn't make any sense to him. It was far too complicated for him to understand without explanation.
Sifting through more files, Jason then accessed personnel profiles which gave details of those responsible for working on the project. To his shock, most of the scientists' profiles all bore a red box across them reading "deceased". Eager to find more, Jason kept reading through the profiles hoping he would eventually come to his mother's profile. He was shocked to realise that she wasn't on there.
"What! This can't be right! My mother's profile isn't on this database! She was one of the leading scientists on the team! Why isn't she…" Something had just caught Jason's eye. Opening a file named, "High-personnel and other Experiments", Jason looked for links to other documents looking for his mother's profile.
"What? Oh no! Damn it!"
"What's wrong?" Littlefoot asked rubbing his nose as Jason swung his head backwards in anguish, head butted him.
"What's that funny, flashing red thing?" Cera asked poking her head closer.
"It's a security wall. I need level four clearance to pass it."
"Why can you not pass it?" Ducky asked curiously.
"I need a password…it's a special word that will gain me access to the confidential files in this folder. I can't get into the folder without it." Just as Jason began racking in brain for a compatible password, the computer screen began to jitter. It flickered abnormally before turning completely black.
"Oh great! Just great!"
"What happened?" Ali asked worryingly.
"The battery pack's dead. I can't access anymore files until the pack's recharged. Dammit!"
"What now then?" Cera said glumly.
"I think we'd better head back to the Green Meadow and tell the elders about this," Littlefoot said boldly.
"So you told them then?" Jason asked.
"Yeah, they seemed fine about it but they want to hear what you've got to say Jason. We'd better get back to them."
"Okay. C'mon, let's go!" Jason said jumping to his feet. He slammed the lid of the laptop down and followed the gang back to the meadow.
All the adult dinosaurs were eager to hear what Jason had to say about the discovery of the new human items and the base. Littlefoot had already forewarned Jason that Petrie had managed to pull a fast one over on them by telling them that he heard about the base from another flyer. With that in mind, Jason began explaining as well (and as simplistically as he could) the circle of elders that stood awaiting his arrival with baited breath. It wasn't long before the discussion quickly escalated and uncontrollable chatter broke out amongst them all.
"Are you saying that more humans are wandering around the Great Valley right now?" Mr. Threehorn bellowed seriously.
"No sir. What I'm saying is that there is a possibility that humans maybe here but not in the Valley. Perhaps outside, if there are any," Jason replied feeling slightly overpowered. The numerous pairs of eyes locked onto him, absorbing every word wasn't relieving pressure.
"Well…who are these…creatures? These humans?" someone called from behind the group.
"I believe they are a set of people from the Red Phoenix Laboratory Corporation. They specialise in medical and scientific research in the hope of creating revolutionary products to help mankind. They are known worldwide for their work and everyone had at least tried one or two of their merchandise. Anyway, they were also responsible for the outbreak of a virus that killed many humans to the point we feared that the human race would be destroyed completely. I was one of a few survivors of the outbreak and it was one of their machines that brought me here. If humans have managed to teleport themselves to the dinosaur realm, I'd imagine they have set up some sort of base and are examining the terrain."
"But what do they want? Why would they come here?" Ducky's mother suddenly cried.
"I…I don't know…the data on the laptop suggests that they maybe testing the machine that brought me here accidentally. I can't say exactly what they want but I'm just saying that they could be here but there is no real evidence they are…" A loud rumbling echoed over the Valley in which everyone ducked and wailed in fear.
"Could the humans be making these strange earthshake sounds? Could they have caused the rock slides that have prevent me and my herd from migrating up to the High Hills?" Ali's leader asked coarsely.
"If…if they are present then yes…b-but there could be many other explanations."
"But surely if they are creatures of your kind Jason, they will be just as peaceful and helpful as you have been wouldn't they?" Grandpa Longneck asked trying to warm the conversion with a smile.
"I'm afraid not Grandpa. Personnel from the Red Phoenix Lab Corp. cannot be trusted. They're dangerous people who wouldn't understand the way this world works," Jason said gravely, "the business also has its own military. Humans trained to kill intruders who attempt to interfere or pose a threat to their work. I was lucky to escape with my life when I raided their ruined headquarters in my hometown in London." The circle suddenly became erratic and unsettled at these words. Many dinosaurs began firing random questions at Jason, desperate to know more. Trying frantically to answer as many as possible, Jason felt he had done exactly what he had hoped wouldn't happen. He had unintentionally caused a panic and it was spiralling out of control. Grandpa Longneck quickly took over.
"Please my friends! We must not take our frustration out on Jason. He has merely tried to inform us of the situation that may be at hand but we don't know for sure. Either way, I believe we should heed his warning and be on our guard. If there are humans from this group Jason speaks of here in the dinosaur world, then we must not anger them in case anything misfortunate occurs if they have the ability to cause injury and possibly death also. I advise we all carry on as normal and hopefully all this will settle down." As Grandpa Longneck finished his speech, the ring broke up and everyone strolled off all mumbling amongst their small groups.
Jason flopped down exhausted. He had never been at the centre of such a heated discussion with so many worried and troubled dinosaurs firing questions at him from all angles. The gang closed around him as he puffed in mild relief. Jason looked up at each of them and smiled bravely.
"You alright?" Littlefoot asked sitting down beside him.
"Yeah. That was tough though. So many questions! Whew!" he wheezed.
"Well, I'm glad you told us children," Grandpa Longneck said looking down on all of them.
"Yes. Now that everyone here knows, they will tell others in the Valley and the word will spread. It is best that everyone is informed and are alert rather than something happening unexpectedly," Grandma Longneck agreed with a warm smile. The gang beamed back feeling as if their spirits had been relieved of a mighty load.
"You children should go and play for now. Today has been very hectic and you could all probably do with some fun. Go and enjoy yourselves," Grandma Longneck said invitingly. Everyone's smiles grew wider as Littlefoot and Jason leapt to their feet.
"So what's the game then?" Cera asked.
"Well…we should play…" Jason slurred playfully. He slowly slipped closer to Ali.
"Play what?" Ducky asked, standing poised to run.
"We should play…TAG!!! You're it Cera!" Jason called making a sudden switch and slapping her on the rump.
"Hey! No fair! You were going for Ali!" Cera whined.
"Fooled ya! Nyah, nyah!" he taunted sprinting across the meadow closely followed by everyone else to distance themselves from Cera.
"Oh yeah! I'll get you for that Jason!" she bellowed and gave chase. Jason just giggled and ducked in some long grass as Cera tried to pounce on him but missed and landed heavily on her face. In an instant, the stress and antagonising pain of the circle was lifted and had melted from their thoughts in a fit of laughter.
As the day wore on, Littlefoot, Jason and everyone else soon forgot about the troubles and worries of the earlier discoveries. Rolling around on the soft grass, the game of tag had quickly transformed into a wrestling match with everyone diving on someone else. Jason constantly found himself under attack from Cera and was winded by Spike who pounced on him from behind.
"Okay, okay! I give!" Jason yelled laughing, "Let me outta here will ya?"
"HA!" Cera said cocking her head, "That'll teach you for messing with me!"
"Hey! Spike was doing all the work! You just tripped me over and made him flatten me!"
"So. I still got you didn't I?"
"C'mon you guys! New game! Boys versus girls this time!" Littlefoot called excitedly.
"No fair! There are four boys and only three girls!" Ali whined.
"What you mean? Cera probably as strong as all of us put together!" Petrie cawed.
"Nah! She's just stubborn, not strong," Jason taunted, winking at Littlefoot.
"What's that?! You are so dead!" Cera warned pawing the ground.
"Bring it on rhino girl! Show me what you got!" With that, Cera charged headlong into Jason who quickly leapfrogged over her. Once Jason's feet touched the ground, the two sides rushed at each other.
With the game in full swing, the adults kept a watchful on the meadow's surroundings for anything peculiar. They were all pleased that the rumbling had stopped and they all began to relax and enjoy the warm rays of the late autumn sun as the whipping of the breeze swept the golden leaves of the trees. Eventually, the friendly melee turned into a free-for-all as Cera took on Spike and Ali, Ducky was dangling from Petrie's feet as he desperately tried to lift off the ground and Littlefoot pounced on Jason, pinning him to the floor. Rolling and sprawling on the soft grass, Littlefoot and Jason tumbled around constantly throwing each other off and laughing jovially. Just as Littlefoot rolled over to pin Jason again, a loud, high-pitched wailing suddenly approached them. Littlefoot and Jason looked up to find the threehorn twins, Dinah and Dana, running straight towards them at full speed.
"Whoa twins! Where's the fire?" Jason called from under Littlefoot.
"What's wrong?" Littlefoot asked trying to keep up with their excited little bounds.
"Two-legs! No-ie us-ie! Greeny-foo mooshie! Greeny-foo no-ie no, no!" Dinah squealed.
"Yah, yah! Greeny-foo na-na moosh!" Dana agreed.
"What? What's that about the green food moving?" Jason asked puzzled. The twins quickly darted to Cera leaving Littlefoot and Jason dumbfounded.
"What was that all about?" Littlefoot asked screwing up his face in wonder.
"I dunno," Jason shrugged before he rolled over and threw Littlefoot to the ground, starting the game again. Their joy didn't last for very long as a tremendous roar sounded from across the meadow. Jason, who had managed to get pinned again, looked in the direction of the yelling. He gasped to see something running towards him holding a long silvery stick.
"Hurry! Move kid!" it shouted to him raising the stick. Jason threw Littlefoot off him and scrambled to his feet. He charged at the creature. Littlefoot followed Jason's path and gasped in shock. Another human was standing in the meadow with its stick pointing at him.
"No! Don't shoot!" Jason screamed as he dived into the man, tackling him to the ground. The gun was knocked into the air and the shot blasted skywards before landing in the grass between Jason and the man. The shot rang out over the Green Meadow making every inhabitant stare at the two humans, completely thunderstruck.
Once both Jason and the man had recovered from hitting the floor, they both looked up at each other. For a brief second, they were both stunned by each other's presence. Jason then followed the man's eyes down to the shotgun lying at their feet. Their eyes locked again. Suddenly, the man made a quick scramble to his feet but Jason dove onto the weapon picking it up in a roll. With his hands on the shotgun, Jason pointed it directly at the man who instinctively raised his hands in surrender. Silence fell over the meadow as all the dinosaurs stood staring at the two of them utterly bewildered.
"What the hell are you doing kid?!" the man screamed in anguish.
"I was about to ask you the same question," Jason replied coolly.
"Put the gun down! I'm here to save you!"
"Save me? Do you have any idea what you were about to do?!"
"That crazed dinosaur was about to crush you into dust!"
"What! For your information, that "crazed dinosaur" happens to be my friend!"
"C'mon kid. You're mad! He was about to waste you! Now put the gun down…you'd never shoot me!" The man cracked a sinister, little smirk. Jason felt a burning growing inside as he read the smug look on his face. In anger, he cocked the shotgun, loading a live round into the barrel. The man's smile quickly faded. Jason slowly approached the man with the weapon constantly pointing at the man's chest. Without taking his eyes off him, Jason slipped forward and pulled the man's back-up pistol from out of its holder and tossed it behind him.
"What are you doing?" the man protested.
"Shut up! Why did you come here?" Jason barked. He then looked down at the man's right arm and noticed the emblem that was sewn into his uniform.
"That symbol? You're with the Red Phoenix Labs Corporation aren't you?" The man remained silence.
"Answer me!" Jason warned edging the gun closer to his face.
"Yeah, I am. What's it to you?" the man replied arrogantly.
"Are there more of your kind around here?" Before the man answer, the man's left shoulder crackled and a voice was heard.
"Alex, report your status…" The man looked at Jason but he glared back warning him not to touch it. "…Private Alex McNamara report your status immediately…McNamara! Respond!" The radio then crackled with static and then died.
"Humph! Possibly the most technologically enhanced corporation in the entire world and they're resorting to using kid's walkie-talkies," Jason snorted.
"You'd better lower that gun kid. My squad are heading for us now since I didn't respond to my status call," the man smiled again.
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Jason said a little shaky.
"Kid! You'd better not resist coz the squad will not take this very lightly."
"I said SHUT UP!" Jason was beginning to panic. He knew that the squad would come for him. He had to do something quickly. Before he could think, more roars could be heard from across the meadow. The bushes shook violently as if alive.
"FREEZE! DROP YOUR WEAPON!!!" Jason gaped in horror. More men, in the same uniform as his hostage, leapt out from the bushes and held their guns directly at him. Some tore out of the shrubbery on motorcycles, frightening residences and sending them fleeing for their lives. He was completely surrounded from all sides.
"Drop the shotgun kid!" the hostage said haughtily lowering his arms knowing that Jason was no longer a threat. Defeated, Jason lowered the shotgun and dropped it to the ground. The squad quickly advanced on him and pinned him to the floor savagely. In the meantime, all the dinosaurs were utterly horrified but heeding Jason's earlier warning, none of them dared to say anything. The gang had to hold Littlefoot back from charging blindly into the ring of humans who held Jason prisoner.
"Enough! Let him stand!" one man called to the squadron in a dominant voice. The men lifted up off Jason and he stood up painfully to find himself face to face with a tall man who held his head high. He, too, was dressed in uniform but his design made him look much more important. His face bore a large scar down one side and he stood with a menacing posture towering at nearly six foot, seven. His hair was black and shaven with all his features extra large from his large, square shaped head to his massive, black polished boots. Next to him stood a woman with short-length, brown wavy hair. Her face was beautifully toned which was partially hidden by a thin-lipped beret that bore the same glowing, red bird in amongst a red and gold fire. Standing at about five foot, six inches, Jason found her much less intimidating than the man to her right but her glare was still icy. The last man, who stood alongside a vicious-looking Alsatian, looked very young but appeared very strongly built. As he stood next to the man in the centre, he came up to his right shoulder which Jason guessed he must have been about six foot, two or maybe a little taller.
"Who are you people?" Jason asked sternly. For some strange reason, he could sense something familiar about the three dominant looking people that stood in front of him.
"We are members of an elite military that works in conjunction with Red Phoenix Laboratories. I believe you are the target we have been searching for," the large man stated.
"Target? I'm a target!" Jason asked dumbstruck, "What do you want with me?"
"I'm afraid that his classified information. I must say I'm quite impressed you managed to hold one of my team members hostage. It seems we underestimated your abilities. I think an entire team evaluation is required when we get back to base." The man Jason held up lower his head shamefully as the large man's eyes scanned across the black and red uniformed soldiers.
"What are you guys doing here? You have no right to be here! Who the hell do you think you are!" Jason yelled.
"We don't have a right? Listen to that kid talk!" the young man with the dog taunted.
"Sergeant! Shut it!" the woman barked, "Now, what's your name?"
"Why should I tell you?" Jason replied childishly. His mind quickly flicked to the safety of all the inhabitants of the meadow who all stood crept silently forward.
"We require you to return with us to the base for questioning. Please, do not offer any resistance or we will be forced to use drastic measures," the tall man forewarned.
"I'm not going anywhere! I'm staying right here!" Jason shouted back. His anger was building.
"Don't be stupid kid! We don't wanna harm you! It'll be a waste of ammo," the dog-trainer jumped forward. The dog stood on all fours, ready to pounce on command.
"I can't go! No one will allow me!"
"What do you mean by that?" the woman asked inquisitively. Jason rolled his arms around the field at all the dinosaurs standing around them. The squad looked around to see many different dinosaurs ranging from clubtails to longneck to threehorns all staring at the small ring they had formed around Jason.
"Are you saying these dinosaurs won't let you go?" the woman asked flicking her hair out of her eyes.
"These are my friends and family. I've already warned them that humans could be wandering around the area. Can't you see? They're all scared stiff of you since I told them they you kill indiscriminately."
"What! What do you mean you "told" them?" the woman continued.
"They're not dumb animals like we used to think. These dinosaurs are intelligent and sophisticated creatures that have real feelings and talk!"
"What's that?! You're insane kid!"
"It's true! I'm not lying!"
"You…"
"Enough!" the large man bellowed, "Whether or not what you say is true is neither here nor there. We are here to retrieve you and return to base. Now, don't make this difficult."
Jason edged back. He looked deep into the man's eyes for an understanding but he got no response. Instead, he heard the woman to the leader's left gasp silently and focus on something just beyond him. Jason looked around to see Littlefoot trying to push his way through the circle.
"Littlefoot! Wait! Don't hurt him!" Jason begged.
"Stand down!" the leader barked. The edge of the circle folded and Littlefoot ran to stand beside Jason. Jason stroked his head lovingly. He was greatly relieved to have him standing next to him.
"Are you okay Jason? Did they hurt you?" Littlefoot whispered.
"Nah! They're just big bullies! Don't worry," Jason said calmly. The squadron were flabbergasted. They all fidgeted and leaned in closer to Jason and Littlefoot. Feeling extremely self-conscious and vulnerable, Littlefoot shrunk closer to Jason to distance himself from the prying eyes of the soldiers.
"Did…? Did that dinosaur just speak?" the woman asked thunderstruck.
"Indeed he did!" Jason replied complacently.
"Why are you being so horrible? Why do you need to take Jason away?" Littlefoot called sympathetically. No one could answer. They were all to dumbstruck at Littlefoot's speech to speak themselves.
"Incredible! That long-necked dinosaur just spoke!"
"I told you! Dinosaurs are much more sophisticated that we thought." The woman slowly approached Littlefoot, bent down and looked at him.
"What's your name?"
"L-Littlefoot…" he replied a little worried.
"Hello Littlefoot. I'm Lieutenant Jill Fielding. Nice to meet you." Littlefoot shied which, in turn, made Jason smile.
"Captain, It's true! He's genuinely speaking freely! He can understand me!" she said turning to the tall man in the centre.
"Alright lieutenant. Return to your position please," the captain said calmly. As she stood up to stand back where she was, the captain's radio suddenly crackled.
"Calling Captain David Hunter. Come in Captain Hunter." He reached for his radio strapped to his shoulder.
"Hunter here. What's the problem?"
"Captain, it's Westwood. We're still awaiting the uploading of the target. What's taking so long?"
"Minor set back. We're running a little late that originally stated. Currently conversing with target. Uploading will take place ASAP."
"Good. Preparations for the next phase of the expedition are complete. We can launch as scheduled."
"Excellent! I'm heading back now! Hunter out." The transmission ended and the captain replaced the radio back under his shoulder strap.
"Right. We've wasted enough time. Please accompany us to the base. Your friend will have to stay here."
"What! No way! I'm not going anywhere!" Jason shouted signalling for Littlefoot to back up a little.
"You are coming now! Sergeant Stone! Hostile recovery tactic sigma-twelve."
"Yes sir!" the man with the dog replied and moved around the outside of the circle.
"No!"
"Look…Jason is it? You got to come with us. It will be a lot easier if you just come along quietly," Lieutenant Fielding pleaded.
"I'm not going anywhere! I've told you!" Jason argued. He then looked up at the captain whose sight was fixed on something past him.
"I'm not moving! And…just what are you looking at?" he followed the captain's gaze.
"Jason no!" he yelled a split second too late. Jason had already turned to see the sergeant pointing a rifle at him. In a panic, Jason ducked just as the sergeant fired. The entire field gasped as a small dart shot past his face, striking another man on a motorbike in the chest. The man collapsed, throwing the motorbike at Jason's feet.
Standing up slowly, Jason looked around to see everyone on the ground. In a quick decision, Jason snatched at the bike, revved the engine before tearing away to escape into the surrounding thicket. The squadron opened fire in retaliation forcing everyone to in the area to flee in terror.
"Hold your fire! No casualties remember! Don't harm him. Professor needs him alive!" The captain yelled above the gunfire.
"After him!" Sergeant Stone ordered. Instantly, the remaining bikers took off after Jason.
"Ready Shock Rockets!" Captain Hunter barked as the sergeant released the Alsatian off its lead to give chase. The remaining soldiers pulled out a large rocket-launcher and loaded it.
"Shock Rockets ready! Target locked!" one man reported.
"FIRE!"
"Nnnnnoooooo!" Littlefoot cried as the rocket was fired. The rocket spun around the chasing men and struck Jason's bike. A massive electrical discharge crackled over the motor causing it to die instantaneously. The bike screeched to a halt, throwing Jason to the ground. With the bikers and the guard dog still giving chase, Jason quickly jumped up and dived into the thicket and out of sight.
The rest of the squadron followed leaving all the dinosaurs extremely shocked and confused.
"Jason!" Littlefoot called after the crowd.
"What going on? Me really confused," Petrie cawed in awe.
"What do those humans want with Jason?" Ali asked worryingly.
"C'mon! We've got to help him!" Littlefoot cried breaking into a run.
"Littlefoot no!" Grandpa Longneck shouted after him but he pretended he didn't hear as he entered the thicket. The rest of the gang followed him despite their parents pleading with them to come back.
The thicket was eerily quiet as the gang searched the trees for Jason.
"Jason?…Jason? Where are you?" Littlefoot called.
"Ssshhhhh! Littlefoot! Do you WANT those humans to catch you?" Cera hissed telling him to keep his voice down.
"We have to find him! Otherwise those humans could do anything to him!" Littlefoot replied, his eyes wide and fearful.
"I do hope he is okay," Ducky sighed. The gang were suddenly stopped by a strange sound.
"What that noise?" Petrie croaked. The gang stood still and looked around. Suddenly, something dropped down from the trees behind them making them all jump. Ali squealed but someone cupped a hand over her mouth.
"Ssshhh! Quiet Ali! It's me."
"Jason!" Littlefoot cried but quickly silenced realising he was talking too loud again.
"You okay?" Petrie asked perching on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Those goons are gonna have to do better than that," Jason sniggered, "C'mon let's get out of…" He was stopped in mid speech and flinched. The gang looked up to see Jason thrust a hand up to his neck and tugged at something there. He, then, suddenly dropped to his knees and collapsed limply. The gang were horrified and stood staring at Jason's motionless body as he lay on the red and gold leaf-litter that carpeted the ground. Littlefoot gasped as two figures approached, picked Jason up and began to stroll out of the thicket.
"Captain! Confirmed that the target has been neutralised. Heading back to base now!" the free man reported into his radio.
"Good work! We are already heading back. Meet you back there. Hunter, over and out!"
As the men walked out into the open, the man carrying Jason on his shoulder felt something snag on his dangling arm.
"Let him go!" Littlefoot ordered through clenched teeth that were hooked on Jason's sleeve.
"Get out of it brat!" the man barked trying to pull Littlefoot off.
"L-L…L-Lit…tle…foot…" Jason suddenly whispered in a sleepy voice. Littlefoot gasped.
"Jason?" Just as he released Jason in shock, the free man struck Littlefoot across the face with the butt of his rifle. Littlefoot winced at the force of the blow and fell to his knees. As the men strolled out of sight, the gang reformed around Littlefoot as he slowly stood up, his eyes watering.
"Littlefoot! Are you alright?" Ducky called hopping from Spike's back to Littlefoot's.
"Yeah, I'm okay," he replied shaking his head to rid himself of the daze.
"What did they do? Is Jason…?" Ali cried desperately.
"No. He's not dead. He spoke to me," Littlefoot replied.
"Maybe he's not dead yet but he could be…" Cera said mournfully.
"Cera! You no say such awful thing about Jason!" Petrie scowled.
"What! He could be…Hey! Spike! What are you doing?" she said almost tripping over Spike who had settled down rather comfortably behind her.
"Spike! This is no time for sleep!" Ducky scorned.
"Hey look," Ali said looking closely at Spike, "what's that thing?" Everyone bent down to look at the strange, clear, feathery object by Spike's chin. A thick, colourless liquid was seeping out the tip of the sharpened end.
"That thing look like buzzing stinger! But…it not alive?" Petrie exclaimed tapping the plastic cartridge with a finger cautiously.
"Yeah. That's the thing that was in Jason when those humans took him away," Littlefoot said. Something suddenly snapped that made him sigh a little relieved.
"Jason's not dead! He's just sleeping!" Littlefoot suddenly blurted.
"You mean that buzzing stinger thing just put him to sleep?" Ali asked feeling just as relieved.
"Yeah. Spike must have had some of that funny smelling water," Littlefoot said, "c'mon, we've got to do something about Jason."
"Like what?" Cera asked just as Spike woke up completely disorientated.
"We've got to get Jason back!"