As the sun rose ever higher in the sky, predator and prey were forced to call a truce. The heat of the Earth's star was making hunting impossible, forcing many creatures to seek either hydration or shelter. Already, a group of dinosaurs had done just that. A mixture of six species, half predator, half prey, those that were normally enemies now stood side by side, all focused on drinking from the shallow pool in front of them. In a nearby pool, a phytosaur worked hard to keep itself submerged, whilst a Fruitachampsa searched for rats to feast upon.

Not all were interested in calling a truce, though. Cresting a nearby hill, the female Poposaurus let out a snarl - this was her territory, and she would not allow any to trespass!

Immediately, the group of assembled dinosaurs turned toward her.

The female archosaur suddenly realized how very alone she was.

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The tiny Cacops eager devoured the grub Ralph had offered, before turning its attention back toward the man. A moment later, another grub was wolfed down.

"Well, I guess they like grubs."

"Amen to that," replied Fiona. "Not suprising, though - most amphibians today enjoy insects."

"True enough...you ever think we'd end up do...this?"

"Working for an acclaimed British Naturalist, on a Carribean Island, caring for animals that are now extinct?"

"...Yeah," replied Ralph. "Did you think you'd end up doing this?"

"Honestly, no. But I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"Me neither. So. how's your attempt to get the Prosalirus to breed going?"

"No so well, unfortunately. Though I think going through the portal might have screwed up their reproductive timers. I mean, a lot of the dinosaurs in the park seem to be trying to mate right now, and some of them arrived here way earlier than others."

"True...Hey, are your parents still asking about what you're doing here?"

"Yes, and I've told them the same thing I told them the last three times they asked: I'm helping breed up endangered amphibian populations for return to the wild. I mean, we are doing that here."

"Yeah, as a side project."

"Must you always put such emphasis on those two words?"

"Yes."

Fiona scowled. "Well, then, do your parents still ask about what you do here?"

Ralph raised an eyebrow at that comment. "Um, my parents are part of the park's maintenance staff - they fixed the leak in your room's roof two weeks ago."

Instantly, Fiona deflated in embarrassment. "Oh, right. I kinda forgot."

Ralph rolled his eyes at that comment. "Figures - you do have a tendency to forget important things."

"Why you little-"

The rest of Fiona's rant was cut off as the female Poposaurus ran past the duo, followed by a large horde of dinosaurs. The horde swiftly gave up its chase, however, as the heat made a prolonged pursuit wasteful, amongst other things. Soon, the horde had returned to its watering hole, where it would remain until security finally rounded them up. Though, all things considered, it probably wouldn't be long until they found another way out of their pens.

XXXXXXXXXX

Further away, a tiny creature began to work its way up a long strand of grass. Once it was at just the right spot, the six legged animal began to dig in. Soon, it had chewed through the top part of the leaf and was moving lower, eager for more. All around it, hundreds of its kind were doing the same, whilst some had begun to lay eggs. Soon, their numbers would explode, likely numbering in the thousands at least. In time, they would find their ranks swelled to the millions.

And all of the was being documented by Paul.

An entomologist straight out of college, Paul had initially expected to see a career with the police, as his father had before him. Though instead of an officer, Paul expected to be part of the forensics' division - examining insects on corpses could give you an idea of when someone had died, and potentially how. And indeed, Paul had briefly worked with the force. However, he had suffered the misfortune of joining at a time when many had applied for the position, and on account of various other issues (including an incident he was sure had been a set up) had been forced to leave early.

Fortunately, the park had snatched him right up, and now, here he was, caring for a swarm of Parapleurites, an ancient variety of grasshopper. Carefully, he had separated the specimens the team had brought back, knowingly or otherwise, into separate holding areas, all themed after different types of grassland. Some took the form of prairies, others pampas, other still the shape of savannah, and the remainder being based upon steppes. The insects had been fed a mixture of both recovered Jurassic plants and modern grasses, to see how they would adapt to the new world they were in. Surprisingly, they had been just as successful with the knew food as with the old ones. In fact, most were gorging themselves on the grass. Inwardly, Paul was proud - this odd fact made them amongst the few creatures so far that could be released into the wild...well, if they weren't creatures that had the potential to upend the food web if they ever got to the mainland.

Oh well, at least they could be fed more easily now.

Finishing the last report he was making, Paul turned his attention toward another holding pen. Now it was time to see that people genus the away team had gotten so worked up about...

XXXXXXXXXXX

Back in the past, Sean was busy trying to figure his way out of this pickle.

Aboard the Mariner, alongside himself, Vera, and Lucas, were a group of Pontolis, as well as a few other creatures that had wondered aboard. In the distance, more of the giant walrus rested on a beach, all good targets to rescue.

Between the ship and that beach, though? A massive group of Macrodelphinus, who seemed to think that the walruses were very tasty. That, of course, made rescuing the pinnipeds rather difficult. Everything they had tried to lure them away so far had been unsuccessful...but maybe that was about to change.

On the deck before him, Sean and his friends were busy messing with an underwater speaker - a replica of the one Nigel had used in the Eocene in his previous adventures. Now, it was time to see if they could use it to help them rescue both the whales and the walruses.

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AN: Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!