Chapter eight

Calvin spun to the right.

The Liopleurodon followed.

Calvin made a sharp turn to the left.

Wow that Liopleurodon was maneuverable! It spun on a dime, and followed Calvin, it's jaws wide.

"Hobbes where are you?" Calvin asked into the radio. "How you got the MTM?"

Calvin held his breath over the static of the radio, and waited for a reply.

It didn't come.

Calvin decided to take matters into his own hands.

"HEY LIZARD BREATH!" Calvin screamed at the Liopleurodon "Brush your teeth, and take a hike!"

And with that, Calvin did a straight downward dive into the murky depths.

The Liopleurodon didn't follow Calvin this time.

It turned it's enormous head downward, and stared after Calvin, then swam off into the lake.

Calvin jetted deeper into the murky depths of the water.

Just then his watch beeped.

The MTM was near by.

Calvin jetted across the soft mud at the bottom.

He tapped a button on the suit, and a flashlight shone through the darkness.

THERE IT WAS!

It was laying in the muck just a few yards away.

Calvin picked it up.

Just then the MTM made a beep.

Calvin watched a hologram shoot out of it.

APPROACHING REPTILE!

I

That's as far as Calvin got, because just then, through the hologram, Calvin saw a row of jagged teeth rushing toward him.

Calvin screamed.

"AA! Get back! I'm armed!"

Before Calvin could get a good look at the creature, it spun around and disappeared.

Calvin looked around.

The creature was gone.

"Hobbes?" Calvin called. "Hobbes can you hear me?"

No reply.

Calvin turned back to the hologram, and read the message.

APPROACHING REPTILES!

ICHTHYOSAURUS,

Name meaning: Fish Lizard

A representative genus is Ichthyosaurus, from which the group takes its name. Ichthyosaurus, very fishlike in appearance, is especially well known from Jurassic deposits. The body was streamlined; no distinct neck was present, and the head blended smoothly into the body. The limbs were modified into paddle-like organs used to steer the animal. The animal propelled itself by means of a well-developed, fish-like caudal fin and by undulations of the body. The vertebral column, which is formed from disklike elements, bent downward into the lower lobe of the caudal, or tail, fin; the upper lobe was unsupported by bone. Early reconstructions of ichthyosaurs showed them with the spinal column straightened, and it was not until well-preserved material was found that the bent nature of the backbone became apparent. The skull of Ichthyosaurus was long; the jaws were greatly lengthened and armed with numerous sharp teeth. The eyes were very large, and the nostrils were positioned far back on the top of the skull, another adaption to an aquatic existence. Ichthyosaurus was about 3 metres(10 feet) long and was probably able to move through the water at high speeds.

Behavior: Usually, ichthyosaurus traveled in small groups

Diet: Ichthyosaurus probably fed largely on fish and other marine animals.

Just then, Calvin sensed movement all around him.

He looked all around, but couldn't get a fix.

Just then, Calvin sensed movement around where the MTM was laying.

Calvin spun around.

There it was.

The Ichthyosaurus stared at Calvin.

It snapped its beak like jaws, with disapproval.

"Alright, itchy!" Calvin snarled. "What did you do with Hobbes?"

"Who are you talking to, Calvin?" Asked a voice.

Calvin spun around.

Hobbes was sitting atop one of the Ichthyosauruses

"Hobbes what are you doing on that thing?" Calvin asked.

"Riding it, what does it look like I'm doing?" Hobbes said. "These prehistoric dolphins are certainly tame."

"Those aren't dolphins!" Calvin said. "They're Ichthyosauruses!"

"They don't look itchy to me." Hobbes said.

"No, that's their name." Calvin said.

"What kind of idiot would name a marine reptile after an itch?" Asked Hobbes.

"Obviously, the guy who named them got a sudden itch in the middle of the name." Calvin said.

"Oh." Hobbes said.

"Wait a minute!" Calvin said. "why didn't you answer me when I talked to you through the radio?"

"To build up the drama." Said Hobbes.

"Ah." Calvin said.

When Calvin and Hobbes had reached shore, again, they made an agreement.

Hobbes would work along with Calvin. But only if Calvin gave him some kind if defense device.

Calvin handed Hobbes a small laser.

"Here." He said. "This doesn't do much to the predator itself, but it confuses them long enough for us to make a getaway!"

Hobbes took it, and pocketed it in a small pocket in his fur.

"Ok." Calvin said. "We have to go with some of the more famous Dinos that everybody loves. Let's see, we have Stegosaurus checked off. And we have Dilophosaurus, Allosaurus, and that other one who's name starts with an 'M'. Huh... we don't have any sauropods"

"sore-a-what-as?" Hobbes asked, raising an eybrow.

Calvin sighed. "Must I explain everything to you?"

He then opened up a document on sauropods.

SAUROPODS

The various species all shared a similar body plan consisting of a small head on an extremely long neck; a long, massive body housing an enormous gut; thick, pillar-like legs to support the torso; and a very long, tapering, whip-like tail. A massive hip girdle fused to the backbone by four (or in some cases five) sacral vertebrae provided solid support for the body and tail, and the backbone itself was hollowed out at the sides to lighten its weight while still retaining structural strength. Sauropods were previously thought to have spent their time wallowing in shallow water that helped support their ponderous bodies, but some species were apparently better equipped for living on hard ground. The animals' long necks enabled them to crop vegetation from even the tallest trees, in somewhat the same manner as modern giraffes. Their teeth tended to be weak and sparse, and they apparently depended on swallowed stones or bacteria in the gut to help break down the plant matter they ate.

Behavior: Most Sauropods live in groups.

Diet: Plants

Click here for more

"Oh, yeah. Them." Hobbes said.

"Oh yeah." Calvin said sarcastically. "It's Kindergarten, Hobbes!"

"Well, I saw a group of sauropods over by the edge of the forest when we first got here."

"Lets see, you said they were Diplodocus, right?"

"Uuhhh..." Hobbes rolled his eyes around.

"Ok, We need to find those lizard-pods!"

"How might we do that?" Hobbes asked. "The raft is gone, and I'm not going to go back into that water. And don't tell me your MTM can fly across the lake, because I know it can't."

"I never said the MTM could fly." Calvin said.

He clicked around on the MTM for a second, then something shot out.

"But my airplane can!"

Hobbes stared down at Calvin cardboard box unfolding itself from the MTM.

"How on Earth can thing fit in there?" He asked.

"I designed the MTM, similar to a hypercube." Calvin said.

"Ah." Hobbes said.

Calvin and Hobbes crawled into the box.

Calvin started it up, and the flew across the lake.

"Ok." Calvin said. "Shore is a few miles away but we're traveling at 50 mph, so we should be there in thirty or forty minutes."

Hobbes looked behind the box.

"Uh... Could we pick it up a little?" He asked.

"What on Earth for?" Calvin asked. "I don't want to use up to much gas! Gas stations won't be invented for millions of years you know. Are you in some kind of hurry?"

"No, but they are." Hobbes said.

Calvin swung his head around.

YIKES!

There were twenty Plesiosaurs heading right for Calvin and Hobbes' way!

"They look hungry." Calvin said.

"Indeed." Hobbes replied.

"Let us floor it then." Calvin said.

"Yup."

Calvin slammed his fist into the boosters button.

The rockets kicked up, and propelled Calvin and Hobbes farther down the lake.

"How exactly is this thing fueled, Calvin?" Hobbes asked. "Nuclear, I hope."

"I'm afraid not, buddy." Calvin said. "This thing is run by a jug of apple juice I found in the fridge."

Hobbes gave Calvin a blank stare.

"Apple juice?" He jolted. "This thing is being run by apple juice?"

"Yep." Calvin said.

Calvin and Hobbes' discussion was cut short by a Plesiosaur nearly biting the end of Hobbes' tail off.

"Calvin!" Hobbes screamed. "We're only going at 80 mph! This thing has to go faster than that!"

"Yes, it does." Calvin said.

"THEN GO FASTER!" Hobbes screamed.

"I can hit the escape button, sending us screaming across the lake at a mile per second. But it would take away our fuel before we could get to the shore!"

Hobbes looked behind him.

There was a Plesiosaur only inches away from Hobbes face.

Before Calvin could stop him, Hobbes hit the escape button!

The rocket boosters suddenly turned off!

The box was just about to enter the mouth of a Plesiosaur, when they kicked in again, more powerful then ever.

BOOM!

Calvin and Hobbes vanished in a blast of blue fire and smoke.

Calvin and Hobbes watched the numbers on the fuel gauge drop like a brick.

54 percent

33 percent

22 percent

9 percent

The with a cough and a sputter, the rockets gave out.

And Calvin and Hobbes were still miles from the shore.

"AAAAAA!" Calvin and Hobbes screamed as they plummeted toward the lake.

"Quick!" Calvin screamed. "We need some kind of emergency fuel!"

Calvin thought for a second.

"Hobbes! Give me your laser!"

Hobbes handed Calvin the laser.

Calvin opened up the fuel gauge on the side of the box, and began shooting the laser inside.

"Calvin, that's not going to help!" Hobbes screamed.

Just then the rocket boosters began up again.

"Or maybe it will." Hobbes muttered.

Calvin grabbed the wheel, and jerked it upward.

100 percent

87 percent

68 percent

48 percent

29 percent.

1 percent

The rockets gave out again, but this time, Calvin and Hobbes crash landed into the beach on the other side of the lake.

Calvin got up, and stored the plane into the MTM, again.

"Alright." Calvin said. "Now lets go look for those Dinosaurs."

"Oh man!" Hobbes screamed. "doesn't this carnivore frenzy ever stop!"

"What are you talking about, Hobb.."

Just then, a deafening roar broke Calvin and Hobbes' conversation.

The MTM beeped.

APPROACHING DINOSAUR

Ceratosaurus

Name Meaning: Horned Lizard

A genus of large carnivorous dinosaurs found as fossils in Late Jurassic rocks (144 to 163 million years old) of North America. Ceratosaurus was similar to, and perhaps closely related to Allosaurus. Ceratosaurus, however, although weighing up to 2 tons, was slightly smaller than Allosaurus, bore a distinctive horn on its snout and a row of bony plates down the middle of its back, and had four clawed fingers rather than three.

Behavior: Ceratosaurus was a solitary hunter

Diet: Meat (Duh)

Click here for more

Calvin gulped, and turned around.

There, standing above Calvin and Hobbes, just a few yards away, was a eight foot tall, nineteen feet long Dinosaur. It's eyes were small, and hatful. It was a bright orange with some black stripes, not unlike Hobbes, only the stripes were a little more faded. Quite distinct on the animal was the small horn sticking up from it's snout.

"WOW!" Calvin shouted. "a real live Ceratosaurus! Oh man the public will die for a video of one of these!"

"...And through it all, The hyperactive, whiny, small child continued to think about the general public." Hobbes said.

The Ceratosaurus opened its mouth to shocking amount, and roared.

It didn't sound like the Allosaurus. It was more of a really, really loud and really, really, long version of thunder.

"Ok," Calvin said. "I'll launch the probe, and then we can all calmly RUN FOR OUR LIVES!"

The Ceratosaurus started toward Calvin and Hobbes at a quick burst of speed.

Calvin and Hobbes screamed, and bolted away.

A few Compies scurried out of the way as Calvin and Hobbes zoomed back into the undergrowth.

Aerial Probe launched

The small probe shot out of the MTM, and flew off.

Calvin and Hobbes exited the forest, and came into tight forest of trees.

Calvin and Hobbes maneuvered through the trees.

"STOP!" Calvin yelled.

Calvin and Hobbes roared to a stop.

"That thing can't follow us in here! It's to massive!"

"Are you sure?" Hobbes panted.

"Positive." Calvin said.

Just then the Ceratosaurus burst from the undergrowth.

It stared at Calvin and Hobbes through the trees.

"TEE HEE!" Calvin shouted at it. "You can't get us in here, horny! HAW! HAW! Take a Hike, you orange striped mess! No offense, Hobbes."

"None taken." Hobbes said.

The Ceratosaurus gave Calvin and Hobbes a blank stare.

Then with a crack, and a boom, The Ceratosaurus snapped a tree over like a twig in soft dirt.

Calvin and Hobbes stared in quiet shock as the Ceratosaurus plowed a path for the duo.

"RUN SOME MORE!" Calvin screamed, and they rushed off.

Calvin and Hobbes rushed out of the forest.

At the edge of the forest were a herd of...

"Apatosaurus!" Calvin screamed. "INTO THE HERD!"

Calvin and Hobbes rushed into the herd.

The Apatosaurus looked down at Calvin and Hobbes with their gentle eyes.

Just then, the Ceratosaurus burst from the forest.

All at once, Ceratosaurus looked like a compy compared to the giant Apatosaurus

The sauropods made threatening gestures at the Ceratosaurus.

Some of the males had turned to the Ceratosaurus, and had made a loud, high pitched screech.

The Ceratosaurus shook its head in confusion, as the Apatosauruses screamed and shrieked at the predator.

At last, the confused Ceratosaurus staggered back into the undergrowth, out of sight.

The Aerial Probe landed back into Calvin's hands, and Calvin stored it back into the MTM.

MTM listings of Dinosaurs from the Jurassic

Dilophosaurs (CHECK)

Diplodocus

Allosaurus (CHECK)

Stegosaurus (CHECK)

Compsognathus (CHECK)

Brachiosaurus

Ceratosaurus (CHECK)

Anatosaurus (CHECK)

Hypsilophodon

Camarasaurus

"Only four more Dinosaurs until our quest for the Jurassic is complete." Calvin said.

"Goody." Hobbes said.

"First let's go over our Apatosaur info!"

APATOSAURUS

Name Meaning: deceptive lizard

formerly Brontosaurus, A genus of giant herbivorous dinosaurs, one of the largest land animals of all time, found in Late Jurassic deposits of North America and Europe (163 to 144 million years ago). Apatosaurus weighed as much as 30 tons and was as much as 21 m (70 feet) long, including its long neck and tail. It had four massive and pillar like legs.

Behavior: Roamed in herds

Diet: plants, Dunderhead

Click here for more

"Well," Calvin said. "shall we continue?"

"Um." Hobbes looked up at the Apatosaurus. "Could we take a break from all the Dinosaurs, for a while, and follow the herd?"

"Well," Calvin looked down at his watch. The time traveling had made it zoom crazily to fit the exact time. It was 8:30. "Yeah. Maybe we could spend the night on one of these guys."

With great effort, Calvin and Hobbes crawled up one of the Apatosaurus. And no, I don't know how they did it. Anyway, the crawled up onto the back, and laid down.

After a while, the stars came out, and stretched across the sky.

"Hobbes?" Calvin asked.

"Mmm?"

"Do you think that these are the same stars we look at every night in 2005?"

There was a moment of silence.

Hobbes thought about that.

"Can't say." He said. "I hear that stars last a long time but I didn't know they could last 144 million years. I don't know."

And with that, Calvin and Hobbes fell asleep on the back of one of the huge roaming Dinosaurs.