NO SLOWING DOWN

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Eventually, the Mariner begins to slow as it approaches a group of fish. The three teens look around, trying to see if they can find their target.

"Time to go take the plunge," remarks Lucas.

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In the water, the four explorers find themselves in a world both familiar and alien. While many fish swim about, ammonites also occupy the water in a fair amount of diversity.

And preying on them are some truly strange beasts: amid the fish is a huge eel like creature with a furry back. Others of its kind are on the approach, eager to snatch a meal.

"This is Listracanthus," remarks Nigel, "one of the weirdest cartilaginous fish to ever live. These creatures are almost extinct, so they'll make perfect residents for the park."

"How do we catch one?" asks Marcus.

"Like this!" responds Tristan, who attaches one of the portal floaters to the furry eel. A moment later, the creatue is lifted into the present.

Several flashes of light later, and the part of the ocean they areswimming in is soon devoid of life.

"Well, onto the next one!" remarks Tristan.

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While the boys ready to continue their search for the giant ichthyosaur, the girls are busy acclimating the new arrivals.

The girls are dumping fish into the holding tanks. The eel-like predators quickly reduce the fish to scales and the occasional fin.

"Okay, I get the ichthyosaurs, but when did this thing appear?" asks a confused and somewhat nervous Alice.

"Well, remember, Nigel's target is from the Middle Triassic," remarks Michelle. "This is a time when the great sea reptiles are only just starting to assert their dominance. Fish like these are hold-overs from the Paleozoic, where fish alone were the rulers of the sea."

"Point made."

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While the girls finish up with the Listracanthus, Bob is watching some of the older residents.

Bob stares across an open plain. Aside from the sound of the wind, it is eerily silent.

The silence is soon shattered, however, by the sound of two giant beasts colliding. Dust rises for a moment, before parting, revealing the source of the commotion: a pair of ceratopsians locked in combat.

The two beasts struggle for a moment, trying to push each-other back. Then, when seems to yield, only to push forward with renewed vigor, sending his opponent back a few feet. The fight resumes in earnest, and there is still no sign as to who will be the victor.

Nearby, a few more of the giants watch as their brethren duel, curious as to the victor. One, however, pays no heed to the battle mere feet away from it, instead focusing on the more immediate issue of filling its belly. Already, it has devoured are large amount of the fodder provided for it, including a few potatoes.

Bob, who can see all of this from where he is sitting, can only smile.

"I thought these fellers would have some of the same problems we had with Theo, but they're much better behaved than him. Maybe it's because they have more of their own kind to work out their issues with? Whatever the reason, I'm not complaining."

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Speaking of Theo, Susan is busy trying something out with him.

At Triceratops Creek, Theo is approaching the entrance to his exhibit. In front of him is something he has never seen before: a ball. It's bright pink, and bigger than a person.

The ceratopsian is perplexed by the sight of the object. It's bright color initially leaves him wary of it, but soon curiosity gets the better of him. After approaching it for a few moments, the ceratopsian is now only a few feet away from the ball. After examining it for a moment, he nudges it with his snout, causing it to bounce and roll for a moment. When nothing happens, Theo repeats the process. Soon, he's chasing it across his exhibit.

Just outside his exhibit, Suzanne is watching the ceratopsian playing with his new toy. A smile is now on her face.

"I thought he might like that. Bob's been having trouble trying to find time to spar with Theo, so I decided to see if I could add a different way for him to blow off steam. As you can see, it's working very well."

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In a different part of the park, some of the younger recruits have other business to attend to.

At one of the park's beaches, all was calm. While the rest of the island was filled with life, be it native animals or the park's temporally displaced residents, this beach alone was barren of life. No birds, no crabs, no otters, no lizards, there wasn't even a single bug on the beach. All of the life on this beach had apparently been wiped away.

But looks could be deceiving.

Almost imperceptibly, some of the sand begin to move. It appeared as if an antlion had begun to build a trap. Then, after a few moments of struggling, a tiny, beaked head popped out of the sand, followed by a shelled body, four fins and a tail.

The tiny turtle rested for just a moment before beginning the most dangerous part of its life: the crawl to the sea. It was followed by more of its kind, which had emerged directly after it: they were its siblings, just as eager as it was to reach the sea.

And they were not alone: all across the beach, hundreds of turtles were beginning to emerge from buried nests, following instincts that told them to head toward the great body of water before them. There, they would be safe from predators: their fins, while ungainly on land, made them graceful swimmers.

Soon, thousands of turtle hatchlings were on the run, turning the beach into a squirming mass of reptilian bodies, eager to reach the sea. In fact, the first to escape their nests had already reached the ocean. It was a scene that played itself out many times in the last 157 million years. Hordes of turtles would emerge from the sand and make a mad dash for the sea. It was an effective reproductive strategy: by having so many eggs hatch, at synchronized times, surely, some would survive, even if a nest was discovered before the eggs could hatch.

Now, though, something completely unexpected had happened: the eggs had hatched, the hatchlings had begun the march toward the sea... and yet, not a single one had fallen prey to a predator. In fact, the nearest predator was only a few meters away and could see the hatchlings, but chose to ignore them, favoring instead a large turkey leg it had in it's mouth.

Right next to the voracious troodont, Violet and Eileen watched as the tiny turtles marched into the sea. Behind them, a horde of sea birds were gorging on a shark carcass. The girls took a glance at the turtles, then focused on each other.

"Looks like our plan was a success," remarked Eileen.

"Yes it was. Looks like we can add Toxochelys to the Park's breeding successes."

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AN: Read and review. The scene at the end will be elaborated on later in the story. Also, I have another poll up, so please check it out.

This is Flameal15k, signing off.