With the sun now high in the sky, and the temperature starting to become a nuisance, the team took a moment to sit down. In the distance, they could still see the Placerias trudging onwards, trying to reach the rain clouds in the distance. Briefly, the team considered following them some more, but exhaustion ultimately forced their hand. Taking shelter beneath a tree, the boys and men began to pass water and snacks between themselves.
"Those Placerias really are determined to keep on marching," noted Marcus. "How long have we been following them?"
"About two hours, and yes, they are determined," was Tristan's reply. "They must really be thirsty."
"I can't help but agree with you there."
Lucas, meanwhile, was busy quenching his own thirst. Nigel and Sean were gathering seeds and saplings to send to the nursery, while the rest of the crew were on the lookout for any signs of danger.
As the time passed, and the storm clouds grew ever closer, Lucas pondered his time at the park. Part of him was happy to enjoy this little summer retreat, especially since, much to his surprise, he was being paid for his help. He hadn't expected to be compensated for his time, not when he was just helping a friend. It seemed Tiberius felt their actions worthy of reward. Then there was all the photos he was getting of creatures long thought extinct. True, he could not hope to sell them unless the park went public, but still, they were amazing.
Yet another part of him was uncomfortable with how big a secret this was. His parents were both journalists, always looking for stories that would make them rich and famous, even if family and human decency ranked above those other two goals on their lists of priorities. They would have given almost anything to see 'the big scoop' and expose it to the public. Now, here he was, staring at one such possible story, and unable to share it with them. He was under no illusions that they would exploit it, though - Tristan's parents had been his parents' friends long enough that he knew they wouldn't expose such a secret, no matter how much they wanted to. If he told them about this, they would never tell anyone else...well, excluding his sisters.
What really irked Lucas, though, was that he couldn't tell them about this. Nigel had asked all of them to sign a non-disclosure form to ensure that the secret of the park did not get out, which he really couldn't fault them for. Who would not enforce secrecy for something like this? At the same time, though, he regretted being unable to tell his parents about this. There were some things he didn't mind keeping secret from them, like the time he'd once spent a night prior to an exam playing Madden and barely gotten three hours of sleep. This wasn't one of them, however. He felt like he was betraying his parents by not telling them about this. He could only hope Tristan's father would eventually let them in on the secret. If he did, then Lucas wanted to be the ones to break the secret to his parents. It was the only way that felt right.
A rustling behind him alerted pulled Lucas out of his pondering. Unsure whether the creature behind him was a predator or some lost herbivore, he quickly pulled out a cattle prod from his pack and turned behind him. Steeling himself, he began to circle around the tree where he had been resting, until he came upon a cycad clump. Preparing himself to face whatever was hidden there, he pulled away one of the plants.
Before him was the carcass of a dicynodont. The creature had been torn open, with many bite marks all over its body. Atop it was a strange, lizard-like reptile, which was busy tearing into the carcass, occasionally rubbing against the nearby leaves when it tore off a piece of meat. Nearby, a group of cynodonts were busy feeding on some of the leaves, though they kept their distance from the predator. Lucas could tell that these were Boreogomphodon, the same ones they had back at the park. He wasn't sure how some of them had ended up in Arizona, but they were natives to this environment.
As for this creature, he wasn't exactly sure what it was...until he noticed a shed tooth lying with reach of him. Taking out a glove, he covered his left hand, then grabbed the bloody fang. He quickly extracted a very powerful magnifying lens from his pack and began examining the tooth, silently thankful Tristan's father had made such a lens that could make minute yet not microscopic details more visible. As he looked over the tooth, he found groves in it, not unlike those of a gila monster or beaded lizard. Those were the teeth of a venomous predator.
And there was only one venomous creature in this region.
Looking up, Lucas now knew what he was looking at. This was a Uatchitodon, specifically one of the type species, U. kroehleri. The park already had one species of this creature dwelling within it, as several individuals of the second species had been among the many creatures rescued in Triassic Arizona. This one, though, was of the more ancient of the two, as the later species has teeth closer to those of a snake.
More noticeably, this one looked rather thin, and had many parasites visible on it. Clearly, life was rough for this critter.
Lucas looked at the cynodonts, who were still feeding. Perhaps he could get two species for the price of one?
Carefully, he signaled to the rest of the team, who were very surprised to see what Lucas had discovered. Gesturing for them to remain silent, he took out one of the animal carriers they had brought along. Setting it nearby the feeding archosauromorph, he took out possibly the oddest tool one could use for a rescue - his phone. Moving it out into the sunlight, he angled it such that the reflection landed nearby the feeding carnivore, much to its confusion. For a moment, he wasn't sure if it would take the bait.
Luck smiled on him this time, though. The reptile attempt to paw at the light, only for it to move out of the killers grasp. Unwilling to let the light go away, the predator pursued it, until the carnivore found itself trapped in a carrier. With the predator secure, the rest of the team rescued the cynodonts with impunity. In a matter of moments, the animals were all in carriers, ready for transport to the present.
Now revitalized, the team began to move on, though as a method of insurance for later, they covered the dicynodont carcass with a tarp and took it with them. The best bait, after all, was what your targets were familiar with.
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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!
