By Our Bootstraps

Right, before we get started… something I'd like to point you in the direction of.

There's a new PP story called The Extinctuary, by an author named KitsunamiFennec - it's a reboot/spiritual successor to the original series. Only one chapter's been published so far… but it's really good. I recommend you check it out.

Drew Luczynski sat in his office, waiting for his team to arrive. Thankfully, they wouldn't be here for another few minutes, so he had some time to himself. Truth be told, he wasn't particularly enthusiastic about what the target for this day's mission was going to be. This time, it was something much smaller-scale, both figuratively and literally. Drew sighed irritably. Whilst he understood the intention – the park's aim was to save extinct species after all (and what better extinct species?), somehow it took the exhilaration out of going on missions… which was half the fun…

"Drew?"

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice, and he turned his head back towards the door to his office in time to see Leon Gilbertson and Adrian Sky standing right there. Leon chuckled nervously. "Nice to see you're paying attention," he then stated before he and Adrian looked around, as if expecting to see other people in the room. Turning to Drew, Adrian asked, "Is it just us today? What are we going after?" Drew sighed, "Theodore's suggested we go after smaller game today – an animal you should all be familiar with." He pressed a button and a picture of a creature that looked somewhat like a turkey only with a large head and beak was projected onto the white board. Adrian nodded, "The dodo – interesting. Bit more recent than we're used to."

Drew nodded, "Yup – apparently, Theodore thought that, after all the big missions, the dodo would make for a nice breather – no large predators, no aggressive herbivores, just a bunch of smallish creatures…" Leon and Adrian looked at each other at Drew's rambling – he was not liking this. Doubtless, Theodore had chosen the target to give an easier mission for Kyle and Nikolai… but why?

As if noticing this, Drew shrugged and said, "Anyway, let's get to the portal – we don't have all the time in the world, do we?" He chuckled at the joke. Adrian rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he said. "Let's get going."

And so, a quarter of an hour later, the rescue trio for the day was ready to go. With a thumbs up from Drew, the attending technician entered in the necessary coordinates, and the portal was summoned. Drew gave a determined look at the portal. "Let's go," he said. And at that, onward the trio went through the portal and into Holocene Mauritius.

They came out on to a tropical beach, with waves lapping on to the shore, and, a short distance away, was the beginnings of a large forest. As they looked around, they could hear the calls of birds echoed through the island as a warm, gentle wind blew onto the beach.

The three looked around the new landscape in barely concealed awe, with Drew saying, "Drink it in, guys – this is gonna be about good as it gets. Very soon, the Portuguese are gonna find this place and they will start eating anything that can't run away… well, the rats and pigs did most of the work."

Sighing, Adrian said, "Amazing, isn't it? Whilst we're standing here, the young Henry VIII is cursing his luck that his father's still alive, Martin Luther is just some trainee priest and the printing press is the hot new thing. And very soon, the Portuguese will find this island – and then things will go to hell, as they always do. We think we've changed, but really, we don't."

Leon looked around curiously, "That reminds me, what point are we in history?" To this, Drew chuckled, "According to Theodore, the answer to that is 'who the hell knows?'. Portal's a blunt weapon, not a precision instrument. We're at some point before the Portuguese arrive on Mauritius, but it could be three days or it could be three years."

They paused, quiet at the enormity of what they were seeing. Drew said, "Anyway, you wanna get looking for stuff?" Leon and Adrian nodded and Adrian said, "Yeah - lead the way" And at that, onward the trio of old friends went across the beach and towards the entrance to the nearby forest.

. . . . .

Now, given that the mission was the easiest they'd ever had – no large predators, no aggressive herbivores… just a bunch of not particularly big or dangerous birds, lizards and chelonians, one would have expected a period of relative tranquility back at the park. Unfortunately… that wasn't the case.

"Keep spraying!", Kyle roared, as the keepers tried to spray the hosepipe in between the giant ungulates, but to no avail. The borissiakia, palaeohypsodontus and pecorans fled in all directions, whilst the anthracotherium remained in their pond, watching the battle tensely. Even the female paraceratherium and their calves kept a good distance.

Over the din from the battling perissodactyls, Kyle sighed. Clearly, Big Roy had taken it upon himself to chase off Gamin, who he had seemingly viewed as an interloper on his territory. Horace, who had been on duty by the Hsanda Gol herbivore paddock, had seen the incident and called security over – with a small-scale mission today, a skeleton crew had been left at the holding pens. Which had been among Drew's better decisions.

So far, Gamin and Big Roy still hadn't quite yet reached the point of physically duking it out, instead choosing to for now bellow loudly and try to see if either of them backed away willingly first. And as the male paraceratheres bellowed at each other, stomping both their front feet upon the ground in alternating fashion, Kyle subconsciously weighed up the odds. At fifteen feet at the shoulder and thirteen tons, Roy was almost twice the size of Gamin, as well as being older and more experienced – and it wasn't hard to imagine how the fight might go if it came to blows. Size and experience were two things that mattered – and, according to Horace, it would end with Gamin badly wounded, possibly mortally so...if he was lucky.

After much snorting and kicking up of dust, the two males moved closer together until they were side by side. Then, entirely without warning, Big Roy swung his neck and slammed it into Gamin's shoulder, knocking him off balance! Gamin bellowed, clearly surprised as he very nearly tipped over entirely before only just barely preventing himself from fully landing on his side or belly. Even though he had received a blow that would kill most animals, Gamin righted himself and bellowed defiantly before returning the favor. Unfortunately, as could only be expected at Gamin's current younger age, the scar backed adolescent's blow was weaker, only briefly disorienting the larger male.

Despite attempts to separate them, the fight continued, as each combatant attempted to wound the other, slamming each other's heads and necks together and raking skin with their small, tusk-like upper teeth. And eventually, with an especially loud bellow of rage, Roy drew back his head and swung it at Gamin once more, this time managing to deal an especially powerful blow to Gamin's ribs with a resounding smack. Gamin bellowed in equal parts shock and rage as he stumbled aside, once again only just barely managing to avoid completely falling over to the ground. At this point, it was all too clear that Gamin was the worse off – he was limping now in his front left leg and bleeding from wounds on his neck and shoulder. And with just how strong the recent blow to his side had been, it was entirely likely he perhaps had a fractured rib or two. Roy, on the other hand, had only sustained a small cut on his ear – a lucky blow from Gamin.

Gamin, as if realizing he had lost, stepped back, lowering his head in submission. After a few nail-biting minutes of silence, Big Roy bellowed aggressively at the younger male, and Gamin went rigid in terror as the larger male came charging towards him – the only thing he could do was turn and retreat. Bellowing in panic, he ran down the hill, as fast as his legs could carry him – Big Roy had stopped after a short distance and bellowed triumphantly, almost as if to say 'and stay away!', before then turning around and confidently lumbering back over to where he'd been feasting prior to his recent altercation.

As Gamin stood weakly at the bottom of the hill, battered and bleeding, Kyle cursed – the younger male would likely need veterinary treatment. Lifting his communicator, Kyle said, "Linda, the paraceratherium fight's over – and Gamin needs treatment."

. . . . . .

Several hours later, Gamin had been led into the paraceratherium barn and sedated, where Linda and Yolanda were treating him. Gamin's wounds had all been cleaned and sutured – the vets were now examining Gamin's left front leg, which he had been limping upon, after being injured in the fight.

Sighing, Linda turned to Kyle and Bristow and said, "We X-rayed his leg and there's a minor fracture in his left shoulder – it'll probably heal, but he'll be limping for quite some time."

Yolanda nodded her head in agreement. "There's a slight fracture on the left side of his rib cage to," she stated, visibly pointing at the spot where Roy's final blow had struck before Gamin's surrender. "It'll probably heal as well, but he'll definitely be feeling that for a while."

Giving the indricothere a once-over, Linda nodded, "I'd say keep an eye on him for a while – we've managed to treat his wounds, but the scars are going to stay with him." Kyle sighed, "I suppose it could be worse."

Turning to the drowsy indricothere, Bristow chuckled, "Don't you worry, mate – I've been in a few scraps in my time and, trust me, scars are a badge of honour. And the more you have, the better." He mock-furtively looked around and whispered, "And, a little pointer here, the ladies dig 'em, too."

Kyle chuckled, whilst Yolanda rolled her eyes and Linda pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed theatrically. "Good grief," she groaned to herself.

. . . . .

Meanwhile, back on late 16th century Mauritius, Drew and his buddies had entered the island forest and were calmly making their way down the path leading deeper and deeper into the area as they searched for animals to rescue. The first ten minutes of travel through this forest proved rather uneventful, but the trio eventually reached a small clearing where several animals were gathered. Positioned on a log were two groups of snail, with one species possessing vaguely cone-shaped brown and white shells and yellow bodies with one black stripe each on the left and right sides of their necks and the other species possessing shorter and dome shaped gold and brown striped shells with grayish bodies. Fluttering around nearby the flowers and other small foliage within the clearing were multiple butterflies with dark brown wings that also had patches of orange and white on them. And finally, basking upon some rocks in the center of the clearing were eight large skinks covered in dark brown scales with tannish gold underbellies and slight hints of reddish orange on their backs. Without even being prompted, Leon started pointing his finger at the animals and identifying them. "The lizards are clearly Mauritian giant skinks," he stated while pointing at the lizards. "The butterflies and snail I'm not as clear on… but I think the butterflies are libythea cinyras, the snails with the dome shaped shells are tropidophora carinata and the ones with the cone shaped shells are rhachis sanguineus." Drew nodded his head. "Let's get to work," he said as he reached into his bag and drew out one of the bug cages he'd brought along for the mission.

For the next ten minutes, Drew, Leon, and Adrian proceeded to get the small gathering of local Mauritian wildlife through the portal, with Leon coaxing the skinks through the portal with offerings of insects, Adrian scooping up the snails into bug cages that were then carried through the portal and into the present, and Drew attracting the butterflies with pots of nectar that he then gently carried through the portal to a specially designed holding area. The creatures, having no real reason to fear them, proved very easy to get caught and sent through the portal.

"It's sad, really," Leon stated once the last of the animals in the clearing had been sent through the portal, "They really didn't have any reason to fear humanity." He shook his head side to side. "It's honestly kind of sad, when you think about it."

Adrian nodded his head. "Sometimes, that's just the way the world is." Leon winced. "Too true," he agreed. "What will be, will be," Drew stated stoically before pointing in the direction of the clearing exit opposite the one they'd entered through. "But fortunately, not only have we gotten these four species a second chance at existence, but there's still time for us to ensure the same for a decent number of other animals on this island. And with that in mind, we'd best keep moving."

And so, onward the trio went, eventually reaching another clearing. In this clearing, they found two flocks of pigeons perched on the tree branches. One flock consisted of a species of greyish white pigeons with dark brown wings, rumps, and tail feathers, and small minty green stripes on the backs of their necks. The other flock, meanwhile, consisted of a pigeon species with dark blue feathers on their bodies, wings, and legs, snowy white feathers on their heads and necks, and resplendent red faces and tail feathers. "The ones with the brown wings are Mauritian wood pigeons," Adrian said as he pointed at the pigeons in question. "And the blue feathered ones are… Mauritius blue pigeons. Yeah, not terribly creative."

Drew nodded his head. "Good on you Adrian," he muttered before looking to Leon. "Still got those pigeon vocals on your gizmo?" Leon nodded his head. "Don't you worry Drew," he stated as he got his broadcasting device set to play the pigeon recording. "I've got you covered." And so, through a mixture of Leon playing his pigeon vocals recording and Adrian and Drew leaving fruit as bait, both flocks of Mauritian pigeon were coaxed down from the trees flew through the portal. "Once the last had gone through, Adrian nodded, "We're off to a good start." Drew nodded his own head in agreement. "Let's keep moving," he stated. "With how easy this mission's currently shaping up to be, we'd best not make it last any longer than it absolutely has to. Not to mention the fact that we probably won't want to be here in the event that today's the day that explorers come to this island for the first time."

. . . . . .

Leaving the Hsanda Gol herbivore barn, Yolanda walked to the carnivore section conveniently right behind said barn. She had something that she had needed to do, before she had been called in aiding Linda in treating Gamin. She had to give Yenna her pain medicine.

The female hyaenodon had been brought back on the last mission after being nearly… well, pummeled to death was the only right word to use, by an Entelodon, with injuries including two broken ribs, a maimed forelimb and severe internal bleeding. After six hours of surgery, they had managed to treat her and she had been reintroduced to her pack – however, she still had some discomfort from the operation.

As she approached the hyaenodon paddock, she saw the entirety of the pack, including the alpha male, Danian, and the lead female, Moro, sleeping in the sun. Yenna was lying at the edge – easily recognizable from the scars in her side from the surgery. A small smile on her face, Yolanda whistled and the female hyaenodon swiftly woke up. Upon looking Yolanda's way and noticing her, she laboriously got to her feet and walked stiffly over – she knew the routine at this point. Yolanda stuck two pills in a piece of meat and threw it into the enclosure, where the female hyaenodon eagerly ate, before walking off to rejoin her pack and presumably resume her nap. Yolanda nodded her head, smile still on her face. "That's right," she whispered encouragingly. "Those tablets'll make you better, girl." It was strange how personally invested she was getting in this. Since the paraceratherium mission, she'd been working with Yenna long enough to start feeling like she had started bonding with the female hyaenodon. It's nice, she thought to herself, having my own animal parther.

At that moment, a loud pig-like squealing from the paddock directly to the right of the hyaenodon paddock split the air. Yolanda turned her head in that direction just in time to see the two boar entelodonts squaring off, whilst the females and their calves watched nearby, with apparent disinterest. She shook her head side to side – this had been happening for the past week. Whilst it was mostly noise for now, given what male hippos (their closest relatives, believe it or not) could do to each other…. "Always something," she sighed as she drew out her communicator to contact Kyle.

. . . . . .

With the Mauritian pigeons out of the way, the rescue team spent the next half hour trekking deeper into the forest, with the trees growing more thickly spaced and the light below the canopy dimming. "I guess I can kinda see why you'd find today's mission so boring," Leon admitted as he calmly strolled along through the forest alongside his companions. "No kidding," Adrian said. "Hell, the castoroides mission was more exciting – although, to be honest, the change of pace is pretty welcome." Drew rolled his eyes. "Easy for you to say," he grumbled before shaking his head side to side. Suck it up, he thought to himself, This is part of the job description – just get this over with.

"I think I just saw something move inside that tree over there."

At the sound of Leon saying this, Adrian and Drew turned to see a large tree with a large hole built into the trunk. A brief flash of movement alerted them to something inside the hole. Drew turned to his friends, raising a finger to his lips as he did so. "Shh," he hissed, indicating for his friends to be as quiet as possible. Nodding in understanding, Leon and Drew carefully followed Drew as he made his way towards the tree as quietly as possible. After all, despite the fact it was probably nothing terribly dangerous, it never hurt to be careful nonetheless.

Upon finally reaching the tree, all three of the rescue team members looked cautiously inside in time to see a small colony of bats covered in brown fur and with rings of tannish gray fur around their necks, all of them fast asleep within the hollow tree. "I've read about these in my research," Leon whispered. "They're small Mauritian flying foxes. They have very delicate teeth and are believed to have fed on nectar and possibly soft fruit." Drew nodded his head. "There should still be some full nectar bottles in our supply bags," he whispered. "Let's get some out and see if these guys are in the mood for a little snack."

Working as carefully as possible, the rescue team were able to awaken the bats with offerings of nectar from the specially designed nectar bottles they'd brought along. And from there, after thoroughly earning the creatures' trust with the nectar, they summoned the portal and allowed the bats to go flying through in curiosity. Once all the bats had gone through, Drew closed the portal. "Right then," he said. "Let's see if there's anything else in this neck of the woods before we move on."

"I see another tree that could be worth checking out," Adrian stated as he pointed towards another tree with a suitably sized looking hole nearby. "Worth a shot," Leon admitted before he and Drew silently made their way over to the tree alongside Adrian, peeking inside the hole upon arrival in time to see a pair of vaguely striped looking scops owls fast asleep within. "The Mauritius scops owl," Leon whispered. "The largest carnivore on Mauritius prior to human settlement." Adrian let a wry grin come on his face as he looked to Drew. "Looks like we found the local apex predator," he whispered. Drew nodded his head. "Technically." At the sight of the owls seemingly tensing up as if they'd heard something, Drew mentally cursed. "Crap," he stated under his breath. "Forgot how good owls' senses of hearing were." He looked to Leon. "See if you can find a dead rat or two in the supply bags. Considering how useful that was with the heterostrix…"

With two dead rats subsequently drawn out and at the ready, Leon and Adrian carefully dangled said rats directly in front of the tree hole's entrance where the owls could have a clear view of it while Drew stepped back a couple feet and summoned the portal. The sudden bright light of the portal allowed the owls to fully wake up...at which point they then let out a low hoot at the sight of the apparent free food. And at that, they got to their feet and hopped over to the edge of the entrance to their hole, eager to have a bite. And from there, Adrian and Leon tossed the rats over to the portal, with the owls swiftly taking off to give chase, flying right through the portal mere seconds after the two carcasses had vanished through. With both owls now vanished to the safety of the present, Drew closed the portal. "Good work team," he said before checking his watch. "So far, we're making good time," he stated before gesturing towards a stretch of path that hadn't yet been explored. "And now, let's head that way. I get the feeling our current lucky streak is in no hurry to end just yet."

. . . . .

At the holding pens, the skeleton crew that had been assembled to serve as the holding pens team for this day's mission had been made well aware of how today was expected to be a very easy mission. And so far, all the animals that had come through the portal had given them no reason to doubt the truth of these claims. "Drew certainly wasn't kidding when he said this mission would be very low stress," said David Doody as he directed a glance towards Calum Fox. "Pretty much everything is harmless, small or both." Calum nodded in agreement. "You're certainly not wrong," he admitted before looking to the rest of the skeleton crew that had been assembled. "Nevertheless, let's get these animals moved to one of the nocturnal holding areas."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, at the Liaoning herbivore paddock, John Willoby was watching the herbivores going about their daily business. In particular, he was looking at the mother Liaoningosaurus, watching intently over their hatchlings, who were playing and foraging in the water.

Ankylosaurs were solitary animals as a general rule – females would sometimes be drawn together by food or the need for mutual protection, but these associations were ephemeral. The Liaoningosaurus were no different – apparently, females gathered together on lake shores to nest and raise their young, but being mostly solitary outside the nesting season.

Willoby watched the hatchlings play in the water, underneath the watchful eye of their mothers. Once the hatchlings had gotten a bit bigger, the mothers would move on and dissociate, returning to a solitary lifestyle until the next breeding season, where the cycle would begin again. The hatchlings would be moved to live with the other juveniles, until they were big enough to be reintroduced into the main paddock.

A grunt alerted him to an adolescent Liaoningosaurus walking down to the lake to drink, keeping his distance from the mothers and their hatchlings. Roughly eleven feet long, his shoulder spikes were shorter than an adult's. After a few minutes, an adolescent bolong, roughly nine feet long, walked down to the lake, beside the ankylosaur, and began drinking. The ankylosaur paid the new arrival no heed and the two drank side-by-side.

After a few minutes, a low, hooting bellow caused the ankylosaur and iguanodont to turn as a large titanosaur came down and drank at the spot next to the iguanodont. At thirty feet long and seven tons, Chien was heavier than an African bull elephant – yet, compared to the fifty-foot and twenty-ton adult dongbeititan, he was comparatively puny.

At the sight, Willoby chuckled. Yao, Ling and Chien were all adolescents – on the periphery of the groups of their own species, they seemed to spend a lot of time in each other's company. The grumpy Yao, nervous Ling and placid Chien made for an odd trio, but it was one that seemed to work.

The mother liaoningosaurus kept a close watch on the three adolescents – just in case. However, not even Yao was in the mood to start a fight – and they paid the mothers and hatchlings little attention. Eventually, once they had finished, the three adolescents turned to each other and walked off, side-by-side. At this, Willoby couldn't help but chuckle. "Teenagers," he muttered under his breath, "Some things really do cross species."

He then checked his watch. So far, it appeared he'd been on break for a full fifteen minutes. He then looked in the direction of the Morrison Formation exhibit zone. "I've probably got plenty of time to make a quick visit to check up on Forestock," he said to himself as he turned around and started walking in the direction of the Morrison exhibit zone. And indeed, with just how easy and low stress this day's mission was set to be, it probably wouldn't hurt if he took a decent while or so to return to the holding pens, especially with Fox and Doody around to take care of things in his place.

. . . . .

At the exact same time that Willoby was taking note of just how relaxed and easygoing things were shaping up to be at the park this day, Anita Watts was having very similar thoughts as she sat upon a bench inside the Yixian exhibit zone's jungle building. She nodded her head, a relaxed smile on her face as she watched all the animals going about their business. "It's certainly not every day you get some time," she said as she watched them all. And indeed, she had to to admit that, given what most days were like, a day like this where the entire park seemed to have a nice little breather could certainly be appreciated. She chuckled as she observed Chifu and the other beipiaosaurus browsing contentedly upon some of the building's bushes, Mulan and Shang walking alongside the rest of their flock in the midst of foraging for food, Qin and the rest of the caudipteryx similarly pecking about on the ground in search of food, and Toph playfully wrestling with one of the other psittacosaurus youngsters her age. "It will certainly be interesting to see how you all react when guests start coming in here to visit."

The sound of a microraptorine chirping coming from behind her caused Anita to turn her head that way in time to see one of the sinornithosaurus, a male judging by how brightly colored his feathers were, peeking out at her as he stood upon a branch positioned particularly close to the front wall of the aviary where he and the rest of the sinornithosaurus lived. Anita chuckled. This sinornithosaurus in particular was one she was especially quick to recognize as a result of having interacted with him multiple times over the last three weeks that had unfolded since the day of the microraptor mission. His name, as it so happened, was Sun-Tzu, a name Anita had to admit certainly suited him. After all, not only did he seem to serve as the nominal 'lead male' of the flock, but his vaguely tiger-like orange and black striped feather coloring gave him a very warrior-like aura despite his small size, and he often seemed to be rather calm and collected in a way that seemed quite appropriate in light of how his namesake had been a very wise genius when it came to military battle strategy. "It's certainly nice to see you again Sun-Tzu," she eventually said.

The microraptorine chirped again, seemingly nodding his head as if in agreement, before he then turned around, spread his wings, and jumped off to glide over to where the rest of his flock was gathered. Anita nodded her head, happy to see that Sun-Tzu was so far living well at the park alongside the others of his kind. She then checked her watch, taking note of how much time had passed. At this point, she had a feeling she could probably spend at least another ten minutes relaxing here in the Yixian Jungle Building before she resumed her rounds. Especially with how relaxed and easygoing today was currently shaping up to be. But even so, she made sure to keep her communicator on and at full volume for if any emergencies popped up that she'd need to get involved in resolving. After all, even in times of peace, you could never be too careful.

. . . . .

Back in the late 16th century, Drew and his team had come across a creature that they felt would be perhaps slightly more reasonable to be wary around. As they watched cautiously from behind a tree, six large dark brown scaled snakes with slight patches of yellowish off-white scales along various parts of their bodies and dark black stripes across their backs were slithering around on the ground across the larger 'path' the team had been following. Three of them had visibly longer and wider tails then the other three, likely a form of sexual dimorphism. "Round Island burrowing boas," Leon whispered. "A species of constrictor snake endemic to Mauritius. Last seen alive in 1975 on Round Island before being declared extinct as a result of persecution hunting by early settlers and habitat loss caused by soil erosion resulting from overgrazing by imported goats and rabbits." Adrian nodded his head and looked to Drew. "You got a plan for how to rescue these?" Drew was already thinking to himself carefully before Leon then said, "As it so happens, I have an idea that could be useful." Drew raised his eyebrow. "Well I'm certainly open to suggestions," he admitted.

A few minutes later, six large pillowcases stuffed with boiled eggs from the park kitchens, each one with a portal grenade stuffed in alongside the eggs, had been placed upon the ground nearby where the snakes were positioned. "The Round Island burrowing boas are believed to have been egg eaters," Leon whispered to Drew and Adrian from where they were now hiding in wait for the snakes to approach the pillowcases. He pointed at the pillowcases. "And with that in mind, currently I'm hoping for the snakes to approach the pillowcases and coil around them in their efforts at accessing the eggs. So long as they coil around the pillowcases tightly enough, the portal grenades I placed inside them alongside the eggs should go off and send them to the park." Adrian nodded his head, a clearly impressed look on his face. "Something like this would have probably been quite useful for rescuing the boa giganteus back in the Miocene," he admitted, "or the madtsoia for that matter." Drew nodded his head, a similarly impressed look on his face at Leon's inventive means of getting the constrictor snakes to the park. "I certainly won't deny its potential usefulness for this kind of scenario," he admitted, "but for now let's just see if they take the bait and try to constrict the pillowcases."

As the rescue team waited, the snakes eventually seemed to catch a whiff of the eggs inside the pillowcases, at which point all six of them began slithering slowly towards where the pillowcases lay. One by one, the snakes reached the pillowcases, stuck out their forked tongues as if sniffing at the pillowcases and the eggs inside them, and then slowly started coiling around a pillowcase each. And eventually, as the team continued to watch with bated breath, each boa managed, one by one, to activate the portal grenades, at which point they all got sent to the park alongside their respective chosen meals in a burst of light. Leon looked to Drew and Adrian, a proud smile on his face. "Not bad huh?" Drew nodded his head. "I'll give you your props," he said. "This method you thought up certainly worked wonders." Adrian looked in the direction where the snakes had originally been before getting attracted by the bait for Leon's trap. "I'm guessing we'll be moving onward now?" Drew chuckled. "You betcha. Let's keep going."

Soon, the team reached a small pond, where a large flock of multiple waterbirds were gathered. As the rescue team observed the birds from the entrance to the clearing, they managed to take note of a black feathered and red eyed species of coot, a brown and greenish gray feathered species of duck, a gray and white feathered species of night heron, a light brown and white feathered species of sheldgoose, and a reddish brown feathered species of rail with a small ibis-like beak. "I've read about all these," Adrian said as he proceeded to identify the birds. "The coots are Mascarene coots, the ducks are Mascarene teals, the night herons are Mauritius night herons, the sheldgoose are Mauritius sheldgoose, and the ibis beaked rails are red rails." Leon looked to Drew. "Let me guess," he said. "We attract them over with food?" Drew let his trademark grin come on his face. "Read my mind," he chuckled.

And so, after gathering up food from the supply bags, the rescue team walked slowly into view towards the pond and allowed the birds to catch sight of them. As had proven the case for the vast majority of the animals they'd encountered so far, it soon proved almost ludicrously easy to earn the trust of the combined flock of Mauritian waterbirds. And within five minutes, the entire combined flock had eaten their fill and gotten sent through the portal. "Nice work everyone," Drew stated, trademark grin still on his face. "Now let's keep moving. We're really making good time and I'm confident our lucky streak here isn't over yet."

. . . . . .

Nikolai sat by the Ice Age mount herbivore paddock, watching the herbivores go about their daily business. Martha, Ellie and Achilles were browsing close to the mammoth herd – in recent days, the herd had become more tolerant of Martha and Ellie browsing near to them. Perhaps they would be accepted into the herd soon. Lyuba, meanwhile, trumpeted playfully at the tranquilly grazing Achilles, who grunted irritably, but made no move to shoo the calf away. The rest of the paddock's inhabitants were likewise in good spirits, with Cornelius and Hermey once again engaging in a playdate with Rudolph at the wall that separated the main Ice Age Mount herbivore paddock from the neighboring megaloceros paddock, the elasmotherium crash all contentedly browsing on bushes, George and Rataxes up to some easygoing business or other within the 'forest' they shared, and the rest of the herbivores grazing on the grass. "Business as usual," Nikolai muttered to himself, pleased that there was so far no trouble occurring at Ice Age Mount to ruin the current easygoing and relaxing atmosphere going on at the park this day.

Nikolai then got thinking about the forthcoming opening – and how strange this place would be when it was filled with strangers. However, his thoughts drifted to the Novum board and what was going to happen in the wake of the opening. More specifically, he was thinking about the doubts Percival had expressed with Drew.

Now, Percival's general demeanor and that little "stunt" with the workmen had left him with no real love for the man but one of the greatest challenges in life was to admit that the worst people you knew had good points sometimes. And he was correct when he had said that Drew had poor administrative skills – and that this would be a problem if allowed to continue after the park had opened.

Drew's bravado and ability to act in the heat of the moment were all useful when rounding up animals… but the flipside of that was that Drew was impatient and easily bored. He treated administrative stuff as an irrelevance – and seemed apathetic to issues that did not interest him.

He knew that the Novum board had been putting together new personnel – allegedly, the Deputy Keepers would be appointed supervisors, rather than reporting directly to himself, Kyle and Drew, aside from some new people for each keeping division. Some new people were joining for the research division… a couple of names he recognised – covering a wide range of expertise and providing differing perspectives on the park's animals.

And he'd heard whispers from Steve Woodward and Fiona Winters, who knew people high-up in Novum, that the board had been talking about putting some new people in management – whilst he appreciated the possibility of stability, he couldn't help but ponder how Drew would react. Would Drew's ego enable him to tolerate some new people 'stealing his limelight'?

He shook his head – those thoughts were for the future. For now, it was best to relax and appreciate the period of stability - especially with the paraceratherium incident since resolved.

. . . . .

At Flaming Cliffs, Jack Denham observed the six velociraptors, as they stalked around their paddock.

He began to think. Unlike the dromas, the velociraptor pack had looser associations, with them spending most of their time separately. DNA testing had confirmed that two of the adolescents – Rio and Dakota – were Nezbit and Zenovia's offspring, whilst the two others – Cazadora and Blaze – were unrelated, possibly having travelled with them due to the drought.

It seemed that velociraptors, unlike dromas, mostly lived in pairs, with offspring leaving their parents at adolescence – a different social system, with no real permanent hierarchy. Another difference between the dromas and the raptors was that the raptors were far more aggressive and social interactions were much less harmonious, frequently snapping and bickering amongst themselves.

It was their high aggression – from Nezbit and Zenobia in particular – that meant it was difficult to train them. They learned to back off when the whistle was blown, but that was about it. From observation, Jack thought that he might have some luck with Dakota or Blaze, who were less aggressive than the others, at some point… but that was probably going to be it.

"Having trouble with them again?"

Sighing, Jack turned around to see Colette standing behind him. "What gave it away?", he grumbled in defeat.

Colette silently whistled, walked next to Jack, and directed a glance at the velociraptors. "I'll admit," she said. "You were right when you said you were probably going to struggle with training them."

Jack snorted."Yeah," he grumbled, "That's an understatement – it's proving to be almost impossible" He raised his hands as if in surrender, shaking his head the entire time. "They back off when the whistle gets blown and that's it." He shook his head. "They're too aggressive to attempt anything else – you try, they just attack you."

Colette placed a hand on Jack's shoulder, a rare look of warmth on her face as she worked to reassure her...close friend. "Don't be too down on yourself Jack," she said, "You've said it yourself that it's a process of trial and error – perhaps you'll be able to find a way". Jack let out a slight chuckle. "I certainly hope so."

Suddenly, he became aware of Nezbit staring at him, a cold, aggressive curiosity in his eyes. Even after almost two years of bonding very closely with a pack of dromaeosaurs, he never blinded himself to their true nature – they were smart, vicious predators that, through a lot of effort, he had bonded with. That latter fact was what had kept him safe with Duke and his pack… it wasn't going to work for all of them.

. . . . . .

Back on Mauritius, the rescue team had reached a small clearing that, at closer inspection, contained a medium sized group of black and vaguely pinkish skinned worm-like snakes slithering around the bases of the surrounding trees as if looking for something to eat. Drew raised his eyebrow in confusion at the sight of the odd little creatures. "What the hell are these?"

Leon, naturally, was quick to identify them. "Those are madatyphlops cariei," he stated. "An extinct local species of blind snake. Rather wormlike in appearance, they spend most of their time underground, but some occasionally come above ground to seek food, especially during a rainy day." Adrian nodded his head. "Makes sense," he stated. "Rain would likely flood their burrows and force them to leave in order to stay alive." Drew nodded his head, already reaching for one of the supply bags. "From what I remember reading," he stated as he opened the bag he'd reached for. "Blind snakes are primarily insectivores. Let's see if these guys are willing to take a bite out of the kind of insects the park's kitchens have to offer."

Within seconds, the trio had left a decently sized trail of dead ants and other insects from the park's kitchens, which the blind snakes didn't take long to detect. And as Drew and his friends watched silently, the creatures gingerly ate the insects in the trail as they came closer and closer towards where the three humans had placed an empty cardboard box...which naturally contained the end of the insect trail. And as the trio watched, the entire 'colony' slithered, one by one into the box. And once all the worm-like snakes entered the box, Drew carefully reached forward and closed it before gently picking it up. "And now, I'll just real quick take this to the park," he said as he summoned the portal and headed through to drop off the newly rescued Mauritian blind snakes. For about five minutes, Leon and Adrian waited for Drew to return. Then, finally, the portal reappeared and Drew came strolling back through to join them. "Right then," he said. "Let's keep moving. Times a wasting."

Onward the team went, noticing that now the forest was once again starting to become less thickly crowded with trees and much brighter, indicating that they were nearing the beach. They didn't even have time to make note of this before they came strolling right into a clearing where three species of bird were perched in the branches above their heads – a flock of parrots with red beaks and silvery grey feathers, a flock of doves with greyish feathered and greenish brown feathered bodies and wings, and a flock of starlings coloured similarly to seagulls. At that moment, all the birds were regarding the team with an innocent curiosity. "The parrots are Mascarene grey parakeets," Adrian said, "the doves are Mauritian turtle doves, and the starlings are Mauritius starlings." Leon smiled, "Look how they're looking at us – they're not even afraid… sad it's going to get them wiped out." "Well, good thing we're here, aren't we?", Drew stated before looking to Adrian and Leon. "Start getting out bait – old ways are the best."

The plan made, it took about ten minutes for the rescue team to get all the birds through the portal. "I don't know about you guys," Leon stated, "But I say we're getting a very good haul today. Even if we haven't yet found our target." Drew chuckled. "Well, hopefully it won't be long," he said. "Come on D-Bags. Let's keep searching!" And on that note of confidence, the team continued onward the way they'd been heading. Eventually, after a full half hour, they reached yet another clearing...that seemed oddly empty. Drew raised his eyebrows. "Well this is isn't what I expected..."

A slight rustling from some nearby foliage split the air to the team's left, followed by a vague pigeon-like cooing noise that sounded strangely as if something were saying 'doooo-doooo...' This noise immediately caught the trio's attention. "Thinking what I'm thinking?" Drew asked. "Maybe," Adrian admitted. "What do you say we do Drew?" Leon asked. Drew reached for the supply bags. "Let's get out some fruit and place it in the center of the clearing," he said. "See if that will give our little visitor some incentive to trust us."

A few minutes later, a decently sized pile of fruit had been left in the center of the clearing, at which point the rescue team stepped back about three or four feet. And sure enough, exactly as suspected, a dodo came waddling out from where the strange cooing noise had come from. "Wow," said Leon. "A true icon of extinction," Adrian agreed. The bird then turned its head back towards where it had come from. "Doooo-doooo," it cooed. The foliage rustled some more, and then out came thirteen more dodos, who began feeding alongside their compatriot. And not too long after all nine of the dodos had reached the fruit and started gingerly eating, yet more animals began coming into the clearing. First to come to join the dodos were eighteen large parrots, with resplendent red feathered wings and upper bodies, purplish black feathered rumps, tails, and legs, and sky blue feathered heads and necks. Shortly after the birds, a small group of large tortoises with leathery grey skin and darker grey shells all came slowly lumbering out of the foliage and towards the fruit, with two species present among the group – one distinguished by a dome-shaped shell and another with a flattened, saddle-backed shell. All the animals began feeding on the fruit.

Leon, true to form, was quick to identify the rest of the animals that had come into the picture to feast alongside the dodos. "The parrots are all broad-billed parrots," he said. "and the tortoises are domed Mauritius giant tortoises and saddle-backed Mauritius giant tortoises." Drew nodded his head. "Excellent work Leon," he stated. "We're certainly getting the jackpot today," Adrian stated as he continued to observe the calmly feasting animals. "And I'm certainly not gonna let our lucky streak end now," Drew stated. He looked to his friends. "Still got any fruit left? If yes, I have a good feeling just how we're gonna get these guys through the portal."

While the animals continued happily dining, the rescue team set up a large trail of fruit before then summoning the portal right at the very end of the trail. The sound of the portal materializing into existence caused all the animals to look in that direction; and while initially caught off guard by the sight of the sudden unfamiliar vortex of light, they all soon got their attention drawn to the large trail of fruit. The dodo that had first entered the clearing and called the rest of the animals into joining it looked up from the fruit and towards the humans standing nearby the vortex, a look of seeming curiosity in his eyes. Then he looked back at the fruit, stayed silent for a couple minutes, and turned his head back towards the other gathered animals in the clearing. "Doooo-doooo," he cooed. "Doooo-doooo," the rest of the dodos all cooed back in unison before the whole flock followed the trail.

The sight of the dodos happily walking down the trail and eating the fruit seemed to convince the parrots and tortoises to do the same, and for the next few minutes the makeshift procession continued down the trail, feasting happily upon the fruit as they did so. The tortoises, naturally, took longer to reach the portal than the birds, and so were the last to enter. And once the last tortoise had finally entered the portal, Drew closed it. "And just like that, target finally acquired," he stated. Leon nodded his head. "This was actually pretty fun," he admitted. "Even if largely uneventful." Adrian snorted. "Don't get too comfortable," he said. "I somehow don't think this is going to be a trend." Drew chuckled. "Wouldn't have it any other way." He then looked in the direction they'd all been heading before stopping at the current clearing. "Let's keep going," he said. "There's one last little thing I'd like to look at before we go home." Leon and Adrian raised their eyebrows, clearly confused, but eventually decided it was probably best not to question Drew's decision. "If you say so," Leon said. And at that, the trio resumed their trek down the path back to the beach, pausing only to gather up some local palm orchids, bunches of casearia tinifolia, and even a few small tambalacoque saplings and send them all to the holding pens' greenhouse along the way.

When they finally arrived back at the beach, the rescue team couldn't help but let small smiles come on their faces as they once again observed the expanse of sandy dunes. Even now, they still couldn't help but feel in awe at just how beautiful a place the island was. Drew nodded his head. "Drink it in, fellas," he said. "Last good look you're gonna get before humans show up and start fucking everything up."

Leon winced. As unflattering a description that Drew had just used for as much, he certainly couldn't disagree – humans had a habit of screwing it all up. Even Adrian couldn't help but nod his in agreement and shrug. "Well," he said. "At least we fixed this mess." He then took a quick look back towards the ocean. "And on that note," he then stated. "We should probably head back." Leon shuddered, "Yeah." Drew nodded his head in agreement. "It's time to head home," he said as he drew out his portal remote. And at that, the portal was summoned and the team returned to the park.

Upon arrival back at the park, the rescue team was quite happy that everything appeared to be in working order as the skeleton crew at the holding pent were calmly working to round up the dodos, broad-billed parrots, and both species of Mauritian tortoise, who were mostly proving to be co-operative.

"Nice to see everything went well."

At this, the trio looked to see Kyle standing by. With a relieved smile he said, half-exhausted and half-relieved, "Believe me, anything eventful was the last thing we need." At this, Drew raised his eyebrow. "Oookay, Kyle, you're scaring me," he said. "Did something happen whilst we were gone?" Kyle sighed. "I'll tell you all about it later."

At this, Leon and Adrian couldn't help but chuckle, irony not lost on them. Drew, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes in annoyance, but ultimately took a deep breath and kept himself calm. "If you say so," he then stated.

. . . . .

Eventually, all the Mauritius animals had been transferred to their new home – a large building designed to resemble a Mauritian jungle, with a sizable number of modern foliage from the island transported over to the park at great expense and planted inside the building. Rather appropriately, this building had been given the name Birds of Mauritius. The samples of extinct Mauritian flora that the team had collected were being stored in one of the park's greenhouses, with the ultimate aim of planting them in there.

The centerpiece of this single building exhibit zone was a large, walk-through aviary area themed to resemble a Mauritian jungle, which was home to most of the birds and giant tortoises. The dodos, tortoises and broad-billed parrots were rooting around their new home, whilst the parakeets, pigeons, starlings and doves were flying around above and the waterbirds were exploring the new pond they had been given.

Outside the walk-through aviary, the snails and skinks were all being kept in small terrariums, as were the Round Island burrowing boas. All were exploring their new territories, waiting to be fed. The madatyphlops cariei were likewise contained in a small terrarium nearby, this one filled almost completely with dirt positioned in a way that viewers could get a clear look at them from within their brand new burrows; all of them were now calmly slithering about as they waited for the next time that they'd be fed. The butterflies were flying in a largish glass exhibit nearby. The flying foxes and owls were moved to a night section of the building – the flying foxes were roosting in their new territory, whilst the owls were searching their aviary for food.

The mission had gone smoother than any mission before it had ever gone – and most of the issues back at the park had been resolved. But the staff knew that any peace was temporary – and that, to be honest, was the way they liked it.

Meanwhile, at Drew's office...

"So, I take it the mission went well?" Theodore asked from where he was positioned in his own office chatting with Drew over FaceTime.

Drew shrugged. "I suppose it did," he admitted. "Granted, it was a little too easy for my tastes. Yes, I know everybody else appreciated the breather…" At this, Theodore chuckled. "I'm sure they did." He nodded his head. "I think ."

"I suppose I'll just have to take your word for it," Drew stated with an accepting nod, "But even so, considering how you said the next mission was going to be the last before the opening… perhaps you should let things end on a high note?"

"Oh, don't worry," said Theodore. "You won't be disappointed." Drew raised his eyebrow, clearly intrigued. "You have my attention."

And at that, with a chuckle, Theodore proceeded to tell Drew exactly what he had in mind – and, needless to say, Drew wasn't disappointed. He chuckled – the park had a big day ahead of them…

Rescue tally:

* Broad-Billed Parrot (18; all adults; 9 male, 9 female)

* Dodo (13; all adults; 6 male, 7 female)

* Libythea cinyras (36; all adults; 18 male, 18 female)

* Madatyphlops cariei (19; all adults; 9 male, 10 female)

* Mascarene Coot (13; all adults; 7 male, 6 female)

* Mascarene Grey Parakeet (17; all adults; 8 male, 9 female)

* Mascarene Teal (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female)

* Mauritian Giant Skink (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Mauritian Turtle Dove (26; all adults; 13 male, 13 female)

* Mauritian Wood Pigeon (27; all adults; 14 male, 13 female)

* Mauritius Blue Pigeon (18; all adults; 9 male, 9 female)

* Mauritius Domed Giant Tortoise (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Mauritius Night Heron (9; all adults; 4 male, 5 female)

* Mauritius Scops Owl (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)

* Mauritius sheldgoose (13; all adults; 6 male, 7 female)

* Mauritius starling (19; all adults; 9 male, 10 female)

* Red rail (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Rachis sanguineus (17; all adults; gender undetermined)

* Round Island burrowing boa (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)

* Saddle-backed Mauritius Giant Tortoise (9; all adults; 5 male, 4 female)

* Small Mauritian Flying Fox (36; 13 male, 23 female)

* Tropidophora carinata (13; all adults; gender undetermined)

* Casearia tinifolia (18)

* Palm Orchid (13)

* Sideroxlyon grandiflorum (9)

Next time on Prehistoric Park: Reimagined:

The team go back to Cretaceous Africa.

(A giant crocodile and a large theropod roar at each other)

To a swamp where predators lurk behind every tree

(A huge, sail-backed theropod emerges from the water)

Including the biggest of all

(Two giant sail-backed theropods and two large carcharadontosaurs roar and hiss at each other.)

All next time on Prehistoric Park: Reimagined: Gods of the Nile!

Meanwhile…

"I am telling you, there were three people on that island!"

Captain Diogo Fernandes Pereira sighed as his crewman, Alfonso, a frenzied expression in his eyes, recounted his mad tale. This was something he did not need – it had been a long journey and the last thing he wanted to see was any of the crew starting to go insane.

Three years earlier, he had been appointed master and captain of a privately outfitted ship bound for India – originally part of the 5th Portuguese Indian Armada, they had become separated in Cape Verde after the idiot vice-admiral Antonio de Saldanhna had gotten himself lost. Captain Fernandes had been forced to sail on alone.

Eventually, they had stumbled on an island called Socotra – apparently, in the east, it had been long known… but no European had ever set foot there. The island was strategically well-placed – and he had been surprised to encounter a strong Syriac community on the island, unusual for a predominantly Muslim region. He had wintered there before crossing the Indian Ocean and being charged with protecting the city of Cochin during the battle between the Portuguese garrison and the Zamorin of Calicut.

His report on Socotra had generated much excitement among the Portuguese court – the island's strategic placement enabled it to prey on Arab shipping and shut down the competing spice trade and the existence of a small Christian community made it even more appealing. So, a squadron, under the command of Alfonso de Albuquerque and the 8th Armada, led by Tristato da Cunhuna had been sent to seize the island for Portugal. Fernandes had been appointed master of Albuquerque's ship, the Cirne.

The expedition had been paused at their usual stop on Mozambique Island so Admiral Cunhuna, an explorer himself, could explore Saint Lourenco's Island. Albuquerque, uninterested in exploration, had elected to stay in Mozambique and had temporarily handed over the command of the Cirne to Peirera.

Instead of returning with Cunhuna, the Cirne, with the admiral's blessing, had gone off on their own, sailing a wide arc east of Saint Lourenco's Island in order to return to Mozambique - these were uncharted waters and Pereiera was interested in finding out what lay ahead. This was why Alfonso's story had sounded so insane.

Apparently, Alonso, on lookout duty, had seen three people walking on the shore of an island… before disappearing into a glowing light that looked like floating shards of glass. A scurvy-borne hallucination, probably… but it never hurt to investigate. In addition, they had little water left – so they needed to make a stop anyway. He stood up and prepared to give the order…

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Oh dear…

And that's the meaning of the title "By Our Bootstraps" – it refers to the "bootstrap paradox" - a time paradox in which the consequences of an event in the future travel back in time and causes an event in the past, which in turn causes the first event, forming a causal loop in which each event is caused by the other. Which sums up the ending reveal – Drew, Leon and Adrian cause the event that was the reason they went back in time in the first place.

Savour this, folks, this is gonna be the first and last time we do a timey-wimey thing.