On the other side of the portal, Nigel and Jeremy are in the Carboniferous forest of England, which looks practically indistinguishable from his prior visit to Prehistoric Scotland.

POV: Jeremy Wade

The swamp that I am in now is unlike anything I have ever seen. The types of plants here are mostly extinct in the modern era, and we have traveled so far back in time that most animals common today do not even exist yet. Only basal amniotes and amphibians exist among the vertabrates, while numerous species of arthropods dominate the land.

Those early vertebrates are already out and active, some feeding on basal roaches, others cowering under dead longs or climbing trees. Most of them I cannot identify, but Nigel does recognize one species - a green and yellow creature he idnetifies as Weslothiana, the most famous fossil of which is known as Lizzie the Lizard. He can only identify this variety because several stowed away when he last visited Carboniferous Scotland, only showing up which he was searching for a dinocephalian.

While these creatures are small, and most certainly not our target, rescuing them would be good practice for when we find our quarry.

Back at the park, Sean is hard at working helping his friends and siblings fix up the park...which currently includes helping Cassandra get the hang of things.

Cassandra watched as a pair of brightly colored dinosaurs - males, she assumed - charged each other, each trying to shove the other away, while other, drabber individuals watched on.

"So, these are members of the prosauropod species known as Sarahsaurus?"

Sean nodded. "Yeah."

"I see. Interesting species. So, what task were you assigned to perfomr iwth them?"

"Move their biological waste to a location where it can be sorted and processed for future applications."

"Sorted and processed biological waste...wait, you have to shovel their dung?"

"Were the shovels and wheel barrels not good enough hints? And you could study some after we're done. No one has ever written a report on fresh dung from this species."

"That is an overly narrow field, but I woulnd't mind being the first to write something there. Let's get to work!"

Without another word, the duo entered the exhibit and started shoveling the nearest and largest pile of crap into one of the wheelbarrels. One of the dinosaurs was already watching them, which at least meant that the rest of the herd wouldn't suddenly gang up on them unless something major went wrong.

"I must ask, why are you getting bussed around for so many tasks? Surely the park has enough people to handle so many animals."

"I think a slow mission for us is when the final rescue count comes in at less than fifty animals," was Sean's response. "Plus Nigel has been having trouble getting new hires after that new disease showed up in Wuhan and took the world by storm. Our dad actually told us he wouldn't let us come back from the park until things have calmed down. Which could take maybe a year."

"Well, nobody predicted there would be a global pandemic - or that most nations would fail to take adequate precautions to prevent the disease from spreading too fast. And that outbreak happened so long ago relative to me that we couldn't have told you about it because it was lost to history."

"Yeah. To think we might've had a businessman in charge of this."

"Was he the president who passed away last year?"

"Nah, he was the guy our deceased presidnet ran against. Now his VP is in charge, so we're stuck with him in power. If he plays his cards right, he might get two full terms after this blows over."

"I see. Well, I can only wonder if this deceased man..."

"Edgar Sitwell"

"-if Mr. Sitwell would've handled this with a firm grip or an ineffectual touch."

"Eh, that's not really something I want to go into."

"Well, then what are your sibligns doing?"

"Tristan's probably helping the security team."

"Oh really?"

Amelia examined the sphere in her hands, careful to treat it with the utmost care.

Only once she was certain she had looke over every centimeter of the sphere did she set it down and glance at Tristan.

"So, this is a sling launched explosive?"

"Yes, Mrs. Nowak. It was from one of those people who came from another universe."

"The fact I can hear you say that and it makes perfect sense makes me wonder if I chose the wrong career."

"Well, why did you work come here?"

Amelia thought for a moment. "Truth be told, I thought it kinda cool. Plus everyone loves dinosaurs."

"That they do. So, you think that we could use any of this to help out with containing animals at the park?"

"As head of security, I think most of these are overkill for sedating any animals we come across, though that...ropecaster...might be useful in subduing creatures."

"Non-lethal weapons are the way to go. Except for those...monsters from that big cactus forest."

Amelia did not miss how the boy flinched when he talked about those creatures. Clearly, he didn't have any fond memories of them.

Still, it seemed he wasn't willing to go overboard in preparing to face them just yet. Good thing - this park wasn't the place for strong military. Even if she was ex-military.

Back in the past, Nigel and Jeremy had successfully corralled most of the lizardlike animals into holding cages, leaving only a few hiding on top of a set of large rocks.

Cautiously, the duo approached the rocks, trying not to disturb the creatures.

For moment, it seemed like they would capture the amniotes.

Then the rocks started to move - raising themselves upwards, at which point they resolved themselves into forms that Nigel and Jeremy recognized very well...

AN: Short chapter, I know, but I need to get back in the swing of things.

Read and Review! This is Flameal15k, signing off!