CHAPTER 128
Dr. Conners was restrained under a meaty foot that was clad in scales and pressed with a force that nearly crushed his chest flat. As he strained for a breath he saw Dianna suffer a similar hold of submission. A velociraptor rushed in and kicked their shotguns away from them. A moment later Dr. Conners felt his pistol being chewed out of its holster. Gaining a sense of the shape and size of the foot that pinned him Bryce knew it was not a velociraptor that stood on his back. It was one of the other two creatures. It was a utahraptor.
Upon being disarmed he felt the foot lift away and then a hot breath on the back of his neck. He didn't dare move. Claws snagged at his clothing and rolled him over. The maneuver was not gentle. Staring face to face with the twenty foot long beast Dr. Conners felt terror and awe. He had not been this close to a conscious specimen since they were hatchlings. The rest of the time he had either examined them fully tranquilized and in restraints or from a distance while they hid in the shadows.
The utahraptors never seemed to like being seen. They never even hunted or killed while being watched. Now Dr. Conners was staring at the snarling teeth of something that looked like an oversized velociraptor with the skin of a turkey vulture stretched over its body.
Dr. Wu had manufactured three slightly different versions of the beast. It was a common practice when he was working in the prototype phase. Often one genetic makeup turned out to be heartier and less flawed than the others. Originally several dozen utahraptor embryos had been engineered and made it to the incubation stage. Only ten hatched, and of those ten three survived more than a matter of hours or days. Save for the three viable specimens they suffered everything from heart and respiratory issues to an unexplainable failure to thrive.
As a result of their genetic variances each of the three utahraptors bore notable differences in their physical characteristics. The creature that was looming over Dr. Conners had more of a stubbly plumage and was scalier than the other two.
The utahraptor's eyes narrowed as it examined Dr. Conners. One hot breath after the next wafted into his face as the beast's curling lips came so close they brushed Bryce's chin. It proceeded to sniff his body up and down. The whole while Dr. Conners remained still and silent.
When the utahraptor was done smelling him it nipped into his lapels and pulled him to his feet. Bryce dangled a few inches off the ground before being dropped on the soles of his boots. When he hit the mud he stumbled and almost fell until collecting his balance.
Risking a brief side glance he saw that Dianna was on her feet as well. The utahraptor that had stood her up was bulkier and overall more muscular. Its feathers were thicker and more developed. Though the sides of its neck were stubbly like the other, it had a thick mohawk along its cervical vertebra and a bushy torso.
Dr. Conners was nudged in the shoulder. He didn't understand at first, but after two more forceful shoves he realized the stubbly utahraptor wanted him to turn around.
Next to him he heard Dianna breath, "Bryce, what the hell do they want?"
He whispered, "turn around."
She followed his lead and they both did an about face. Neither of them risked looking behind them for fear of committing some kind of offense. At the same time it was eating at both of them not to know what the utahraptors were going to do next.