Gods of the Nile

Drew Luczynski was sitting in his office, waiting. Standing or sitting near him were Leon Gilbertson, Adrian Sky, and Jack and Alice Denham, all of whom were bored. Leon was calmly flipping through his journal, Jack was looking at the ceiling (for no discernible reason) and tapping his feet impatiently, Alice was looking at her watch, and Adrian was looking out of the window. It had been five weeks, since the day of the dodo mission; for the last mission since the park would be opened, it had been decided that something a bit more…. Ostentatious would be the target.

Unfortunately, someone was missing. Suddenly, a voice sarcastically noted, "Well, I'm glad to see you intended to go without me". Everyone in the room turned to see Cynthia walking towards them, a mock-annoyed expression on her face. "Where were you?", a puzzled Jack asked, "You were supposed to be here five minutes ago." In response, she smiled and rolled her eyes, "It's good to see you too, Jack", to which the younger Denham chuckled, before she continued, "Anyway, what are we going after?"

Drew, meanwhile, looked at his ex suspiciously for a solid minute before he eventually cleared his throat. "Today, we're going after a dinosaur that you all should know about," Drew explained, cueing the projector to project an image on the whiteboard of a large theropod with a long crocodile-like head, a long paddle-like tail, and a large sail on its back. Its strikingly draconic appearance was immediately recognisable to most of the team – as if noticing this, Drew said, a smirk on his face, "Spinosaurus – the biggest known terrestrial carnivore." He paused, as if to let the conclusion sink in, before Leon suddenly said, "Longest, Drew – Tyrannosaurus and the big carcharodontosaurids were a bit heavier." Drew sighed, "Thank you Leon – I said biggest because it sounded cooler, but, anyway… Spinosaurus lived in a place called the Kem Kem Beds, in what is now Morocco."

Jack looked curiously at the name and said, "I've heard of that – weren't there a bunch of other big predatory dinosaurs and crocodiles?" Leon said, "Yes there were. Now, multiple big predators in the same ecosystem is not that unusual – in the Mesozoic or just in general. At Kem Kem, however, we've got a lot of large predators… and almost no herbivores. The big reason for this is that the Kem Kem was a mangrove ecosystem, with a big aquatic component in the food web – so the big theropods were mostly eating fish, crocodiles, carrion… or each other."

At this, Jack turned to Drew, chuckled and said, "A swamp full of giant predators? You're spoiling us, fearless leader", sending the room into peals of laughter - even Leon couldn't help smirk. When everyone had regained coherence, Drew stated, "Yeah – fair point. To be honest, I'm just glad to see a challenge again – the dodo mission was a bit… pedestrian for my tastes. You know I love a challenge." The team all looked at each other nervously – they were all very aware of that fact. Almost painfully so. Drew nodded, with a grin on his face "Right then. No time like the present D-bags. Let's get to work!"

And so, they headed to the portal site. An employee entered the time period and location and the portal whirred into life. Drew put the remote in his pocket and, after securing it, turned to his team, who nodded at him, before they went through the portal and into the past.

After the blinding light from the portal dimmed down, the first thing that hit the six adventurers was the heat. As they looked around, they realized that they were standing on the shore of a huge sandy bay. Bordering it was a swampy forest of large tree ferns, with mile after mile of ancient forest stretching behind them. In the undergrowth, they could notice herbaceous ferns, glasswort-like plants, horsetails and primitive flowering plants and the many freshwater channels were lined with cat's tail and choked in floating fern.

"The Kem Kem Beds," Leon said, "a swampy oasis in the middle of a great desert." Jack mock-exasperatedly rolled his eyes and said, "Leon, quit with the poetry." "Looks like the Sundarbans," Alice stated before she then looked at Drew, whilst Cynthia also turned to Drew and asked, "What's the plan?" Drew sighed, "Well…" A pained bellow suddenly cut through the air some distance away, to which Drew said, "We follow that sound."

. . . . .

Following the bellows, they saw a herd of giant sauropods, slightly resembling Custer back at the park, stood some distance away from the bank of the river. Whilst not as gigantic as Custer or the brachiosaurs back at the park, they were still formidably large – the largest of these was roughly eighty feet long. Their skin was a tannish brown with a lighter underbelly, with the younger animals having reddish stripes on their tails, with orange faces and tannish gold lower jaws. Leon said, under his breath, "Paralititan – the big sauropod of the time… and the largest animal in the region." The Paralititan were strangely agitated, stamping and bellowing at something.

As the group quickly, but quietly, rounded the corner, they found out why. A young Paralititan, about thirty feet long, lay stuck to its knees in quicksand. "And that must be why," Leon stated to identify the sauropod. "He must have gotten stuck." Adrian suddenly breathed out. "I think that's the least of his problems, Leon… look."

Suddenly, the water began to churn and a gigantic crocodile emerged from the water; from nose to tail, it must have been thirty feet long. Its head was about five feet long, with a long, narrow snout, a mouth filled with large, pointed teeth, and a rounded bulb-like structure at the end of the nose, like a gharial. Its twenty-five-foot long body was covered in sandy yellow scales, with slightly darker armour plates along its back, ending in an incredibly long, powerful-looking tail. Jack said, almost inaudibly, "I thought Sarcosuchus had gone extinct by now." Leon shook his head, "That's Elosuchus – a related philodosaur. Didn't know they got that big, though." The Elosuchus walked up to the squealing, struggling Paralititan… and suddenly grabbed its leg in! The sauropod screamed in pain as the gigantic crocodile began to try and pull it backwards out of the mud. However, things were about to get worse.

The bushes began to rustle as a giant, reddish orange scaled theropod with black tiger-like stripes walked out of the forest. From head to tail, it must have been over forty feet long. There was a vague resemblance between it and the allosaurus back at the park, but it was far more heavily built, with a bigger, thicker skull. Drew whistled quietly and said, "Carcharodontosaurus. Along with Spinosaurus, it was pretty much the apex predator of these lands." Jack sighed, "Which makes things worse for the Paralititan then."

The Carcharodontosaurus walked up to the Paralititan and grabbed its neck, teeth slashing into the flesh, much to the clear pain of the young sauropod as it began to bellow and squeal with widened eyes. For the next few minutes, the theropod and crocodile engaged in a demented tug-of-war, growling and hissing as each pulled on the squealing Paralititan. The team were painfully aware of the sauropod's piteous squeals, as Jack winced, "Poor thing. They're going to rip him to shreds. I hope you've got a plan, fearless leader." Drew turned to him and smirked, "When have you ever known me to not have a plan? Jack, Leon, you keep the predators occupied. The rest of you, come with me." Jack sighed, "Here goes nothing." Leon nodded his head stoically, drawing out his broadcasting device in the process. "Let me guess," he stated. "Our usual strategy?" Jack nodded. "Yep," he responded before drawing out his airhorn. "Let's get this over with."

By the time Jack and Leon approached the predators, the Elosuchus had let go of the young sauropod's leg and retreated back into the water, clearly having decided that the prospect of food wasn't worth the confrontation. However, the carcharodontosaurus remained. Jack nodded to Leon and the two moved to either side of the predator. Lifting his horn, Jack began blaring it at the carcharodontosaurus which let go of the paralititan's neck and began to advance towards him, snarling angrily. Before it got too close, Leon activated his broadcasting device and played a recording of Demona the allosaurus bellowing, causing the creature to swiftly change trajectory, before Jack began blaring his horn again, continuing the cycle. Eventually, the carcharodontosaurus turned and walked off with an irritated snarl – no meal was worth this trouble.

At the sight of this, Leon winced and looked awkwardly at Jack, "Well that didn't go as expected." Jack sighed, "I suppose it was going to happen eventually."

Whilst this was happening, Drew, Cynthia, Adrian, and Alice rushed towards the sauropod after getting one of the park Jeeps ready. As the Jeep pulled back, Adrian threw down a corset-like sleeve, which Drew attached to the winch, before wrapping it around the paralititan's torso, with Cynthia equally swiftly wrapping a large belt around its tail. Once this was done, Drew ran towards the Jeep, which Alice was driving, and gave the thumbs up. Alice nodded and began moving slowly forward.

As the Jeep began to move, the Paralititan began to move forward with it; eventually, the sauropod had moved close enough to the edge of the pool to pull himself out. After the Paralititan had done that, Drew detached the sleeve from the winch and the Paralititan, exhausted, stood for a few minutes, wheezing, before limping back towards its herd. Smiling in relief, Drew, Adrian, and the girls turned their heads towards Jack and Leon. "Did you...?" Drew managed to say before he caught sight of Leon and Jack standing awkwardly, the former with a sheepish half grimace and his broadcasting device rather awkwardly held in his hands and the latter with a stoic glare on his face. "Sorry Drew," said Leon. "The carcharodontosaurus left," said Jack, "Apparently, it didn't feel in the mood to play ball with us." Drew sighed. 'Blast,' he thought to himself. But he nodded his head. "That's fine," he said stoically. "I'm sure we'll find him again."

The sound of sauropod bellowing caused the entire team to look in the direction of the paralititan herd, complete with the newly released from the quicksand youngster. With both the elosuchus and carcharodontosaurus gone, now was their best chance to salvage something with the Paralititan. "Ok," said Leon, "How are we gonna get this lot through the portal?"

Drew smiled, "We leave a trail of vegetation – the old ways are generally the best." Stealthily walking up to the paralititan herd, the team left a trail of vegetation leading to a single pile. Once the paralititan had gotten close enough, the team grabbed onto the large pile of vegetation at the end and tossed it through the portal, which the sauropods followed, moving as if a single, unified entity. Drew smiled, "Kyle is gonna be pleased." Drew looked to his team. "Let's keep searching." Jack nodded his head and looked to the rest of the group. "You heard the boss. Let's keep moving." And at that, the team walked further along the riverbanks. So far they appeared to be off to a decent start.

. . . . .

"And he goes and outdoes himself again," Kyle said, silently, as the giant sauropods roamed around the holding pens. Drew had dropped a warning ahead that there was an injured juvenile, who had at this point been separated from the herd and taken to the vet pens to have wounds on its leg and neck treated. Khatin said, quietly, "Paralititan stromeri – in the flesh. One of the largest sauropods of all time."

The giant sauropods had gotten pretty much everyone's attention. Staring at the sauropods in barely concealed awe, Aaron chuckled, "Drew is spoiling us today with these guys." Standing nearby, Cass said, "You'd think, wouldn't you? After all this time, it'd just be routine to us – yet, somehow, it just… isn't", to which Mohinder shrugged, "Yeah – it's always like you're seeing these things for the first time." At the conversation, Kyle shook his head and smiled, "You never get used to it".

"Doooo-doooo."

The sound of this distinctive cooing caused the entire assembled holding pens team to look to their left, eyes widened in surprise at Uilleam the dodo standing nearby, squawking and posturing as if trying to pick a fight with the giant sauropods, who ignored him. Kyle sighed – it turned out the dodos were a) completely fearless and b) rather fighty. Whilst this was initially funny, it got annoying after a while. To further complicate matters, this dodo, Uilleam had proven to be quite the escapologist – and no-one knew why. At that moment, Uilleam leaned his head forward while rearing his body upwards and flapping his wings, trying to make himself look bigger than he actually was. "Doooo-doooo."

Sighing, Kyle looked meaningfully at the keepers and guards on the holding pens team. "Alright," he said. "Who was the last person to exit Birds of Mauritius? And were you absolutely certain you closed the doors all the way when you left?"

The keepers and guards present all looked awkwardly at each other. Already it was starting to look as if this day would be quite eventful indeed.

. . . . .

The rescue team reached the shore in time to find two groups of giant crocodiles basking – they looked vaguely like the mourasuchus back at the park, only with reddish brown scales, with broad, almost duck-like snouts, with large throat pouches like those of a pelican. One was noticeably larger and lighter in colour than the other. Basking alongside them was a group consisting of four species of turtles, whilst a small flock of turkey-sized orange and tan pterosaurs with long, straight beaks, like lapwings, walked along the riverbank, probing through the soil, accompanied by a small flock of flightless aquatic birds covered in grey and white feathers, with some of them possessing resplendent red feathers positioned on the tops of their heads in small 'buzz cut' style crests. Looking at them, Leon said. "The crocodiles are stomatosuchus and laganosuchus. The pterosaurs are leptostomia… whilst the birds are enaliornis – an African species, I presume."

"What about the turtles?" Cynthia asked in curiosity. "What species are they?" Before Leon could say a word, Jack started pointing at each of the four turtle species, "Those ones are dirqadim," he said as he pointed at eight sandy yellow scaled turtles with terrapin-like red and orange shells. "The ones over there are hamadachelys," he then continued as he pointed at nine larger turtles with dark greenish brown shells and lighter chartreuse scales that looked vaguely similar to modern big-headed Amazon river turtles. "And the rest," Jack then stated as he pointed at the remaining two bales of turtle, both of which had reddish brown scales and tannish yellow shells, with one slightly larger than the other, "are galianemys."

Suddenly, a low rumble came from nearby and an entire float of elosuchus hauled themselves out of the water and onto land. The turtles, enaliornis and leptostomia began to move nervously away as the giant crocodilians lay on the beach. Adrian turned to Drew and said, "We getting them through?" Drew nodded and said, quietly, "Adrian, you can take the pterosaurs and birds – the rest of you, pass me one of the bait bags. And get your gizmo set to play one of your crocodile recordings Leon; might come in handy."

After Alice had passed him one of the bait bags filled with fish, Drew walked out on to shore and emptied the entire bag on the shoreline. After a few minutes, he began blaring his airhorn, with Leon playing a recording of a territorial Nile crocodile's bellowing for good measure. All the animals on the beach began to stir in that instant, wary at first from the loud noise, with the elosuchus going on alert by the bellow… however, they caught sight of the contents of the bait bag, at which point the elosuchus, followed closely by the turtles, promptly moved towards the rescue team, all of them eager to get a bite out of the free food lying about. Once they had gotten close enough, Drew activated the portal, sending them through into the present. Once the last of the elosuchus and turtles had gone through, Drew closed the portal. Meanwhile, Adrian had, using a trail of worms, managed to lead the leptostomia and enaliornis flocks through the portal.

The filter-feeding stomatosuchus and laganosuchus had remained behind, uninterested by the smell of meat, but their attention was nonetheless attracted by the horn's blaring. Drew smiled, and began blaring the horn again. The two species, attracted by the noise began to walk towards the duo and the portal – eventually, one by one, they went through the portal, back to the park.

After the crocodiles had been sent through, Drew turned to his team and pointed back towards the river, "I think we might be best getting a canoe – we can travel further in less time in a canoe than we can on foot."

. . . . .

After a brief return to the park, the team returned to Cretaceous Morocco with a large canoe with which to travel the river delta in search of animals. Adrian and Cynthia were manning the oars, whilst Alice, Leon, Jack, and Drew looked for animals. It was decided an oar-powered boat be used instead of a motor-powered one, despite the reduction in speed, because… certain creatures would be attracted to a motor's vibrations – and facing them in the middle of the water would not be an advisable idea.

After several hours of fruitless searching, the only things that had been found were two species of coelacanth that had been sent through the portal using a portal grenade. But soon, as the team continued journeying through the river, Jack suddenly sat bolt upright and said, "Something bumped the boat." Drew gave him a look, "You sure that wasn't your imagination?" Giving her ex a dirty look, Cynthia said, "No, it wasn't… because I felt it too." The team all looked at each other nervously – could a Spinosaurus be paying them a visit? The team looked nervously over the boat to see…

A small reptilian head, similar to that of the nothosaurus back at the park, covered in murky greenish scales, stared curiously back at them from above the surface of the water. Through the murky water, they could see a moderate-length, muscular neck and a muscular, four-flippered body. Leon smiled, "A leptocleidid – a freshwater plesiosaur. There were some indeterminate remains of a plesiosaur discovered in the formation; this species must be what those remains belonged to." The water around them suddenly churned as a small pod of leptocleidids rose into view and swam around the boat. Jack turned to Drew and said, "I know this isn't a Spinosaurus, fearless leader, but you wanna get these guys through the portal?" Drew nodded, "Yup, pass me one of the bait bags."

Jack nodded his head and passed Drew a second bait bag filled with fish, which Drew proceeded to open and reach into for the sake of drawing out some of the contents to be thrown into the water. However, right as Drew had finished drawing out a handful of fish to throw into the water, a leptocleidid bumped the boat from underneath… emptying the bait bag completely and knocking Drew into the water. The leptocleidids immediately began feasting on this unexpected bounty, completely surrounding Drew. Whilst the leptocleidids seemed more curious about him than anything else, Drew knew he had to get back on to the boat as soon as possible – the fish might attract other creatures… He hurriedly swam to the canoe, now under control, grabbed the edge yelled, "Someone help me up!"

Rushing over, Leon and Cynthia each grabbed one of Drew's arms and began to pull him onto the boat. Meanwhile, Jack grabbed a portal grenade, primed it for transport to the aquatic holding pens and tossed it right into the midst of the still feasting plesiosaur pod. By the time it had landed and sent the plesiosaurs through, Leon and Cynthia had already pulled Drew onto the boat. Soaking wet, panting, but still with a wide grin on his face, Drew turned to see his best friend and ex-girlfriend and flashed a thumbs up, "Thanks guys - you really did me a solid back there." Cynthia chuckled. "You're welcome," she said. Leon snorted. "You'd have done the same for me."

A concerned Alice asked, "So… everyone OK?", as a chuckling Jack said, "Seemed like it got really intense," Jack stated. Cynthia smirked and flashed the two siblings a thumbs up. "We're super," she said, to which Drew nodded. "Yep, we're all fine and dandy," he then said before getting up on his feet, grinning ear to ear, even as he stood, soaking wet in the hot sunlight, "Let's keep sailing, shall we?"

. . . . .

At the holding pens, the team was currently gathered around the large freshwater holding tank. All the turtles and crocodilians had been transferred to the holding areas, as had the leptostomia and enaliornis, whilst the coelocanths had been transferred to the holding tanks – Khatin had identified them as mawsonia and axelrodicthys. It was the leptocleidids that had everyone's attention, with all the plesiosaurs swimming about the holding tank. "Well," Kyle stated as he observed the plesiosaurs, "the info packs Leon gave for this mission did say that there was an indeterminate leptocleidid in the Kem Kem…"

"I'll say," Khatin stated as he stared with wide eyed glee at the leptocleidids, clearly fascinated, "Leptocleidids are a remarkable group – the only known freshwater plesiosaurs." Aaron chuckled, "Well, someone's happy." Carmen giggled, "No kidding. I mean, just imagine how the Ancient Egyptians must have thought – they'd have thought they'd been visited by the spawn of Apophis!" The others chuckled – however Khatin had an introspective look on his face, "That would be correct," Khatin stated as he lifted a thoughtful finger to his chin – he thought he'd found the perfect name…

. . . . .

With the portal grenade retrieved, the team resumed canoeing down the river. For about 15 minutes, the trip proved once again uneventful, something that proved a welcome relief to most of the team (but not to Drew). However… eventually, the boat was bumped once again and the rest of the team looked to Drew, who sighed in relief and said, "Pass me the periscope, so we can see what it is." Leon nodded, drew out a portable periscope and handed it to Drew, who lowered it into the river. Looking into the water, he saw a small shoal of thirty-foot greyish-brown sawfish swimming past the canoe. Chuckling, he said, "Onchopristis – the biggest fish in the water around here…and one of ol' Spino's favourite dishes." Jack chuckled, "Let me guess, fearless leader, you wanna send some of them back." Drew smirked, "Yup. Pass me some molluscs – we'll do what I was initially planning to do with the leptocleidids." He then turned his head briefly away from the periscope to look at his teammates, a cheeky grin coming on his face, "And hopefully, none of us will get knocked into the drink this time."

The rest of the team promptly snorted in amusement. "Oh stop," Cynthia groaned in mock annoyance as she gave her ex a light slap on the back of his head. Drew chuckled, clearly unrepentant. He briefly cast his mind back to that first mission, all those years ago and how awkward and uncertain they'd all been – followed by Leon and Jack's little mini-feud. Cynthia (and the tensions she'd had with everyone – most of all him) had thrown things into disarray again… but even then, she'd integrated herself with everybody, including him. He knew that they could never rekindle their relationship, a sentiment he knew she shared (and knew that both parties were better off for that)… but at least they could be friends and colleagues. He chuckled - all in all, he had to admit that things were smoothly...or at least as smoothly as life could ever go at Prehistoric Park.

Once everyone had regained their composure, Jack passed Drew a bait bag filled with crustaceans and molluscs, Drew emptied some of it in the water, attracting the sawfish. Once the shoal were surrounding the canoe, Drew threw down another portal grenade, swallowing the giant sawfish in a burst of light. As Drew retrieved the portal grenade, Leon turned to him and asked, "Right… where to next?" Drew was about to speak when a juvenile onchopristis, only about six feet long, swimming nearby caught his eye. Smiling, Drew said, "Wanna get an extra Onchopristis?" His team mates looked at each other, silently considering the question, before Jack, speaking for the group said, "Eh, why not?" Drew smirked, "Perfect", and Adrian and Cynthia got to work on rowing the canoe in the juvenile onchopristis's direction.

However, as the canoe approached the small sawfish, it suddenly disappeared, as if something had grabbed it and dragged it underwater. The world seemed to go quiet as Jack said, his voice scarcely above a whisper, "What did that?"

Suddenly, the team watched as a large red sail some six feet high emerged from the water like a gigantic dorsal fin, as a dark greenish yellow crocodile-like head, with black stripes, almost six feet long emerged from the water with the struggling fish in its jaws. The team stared, gaping in surprise, as the huge theropod bit down and swallowed the fish whole. As it moved closer, the team could get a better look at it. From head to tail, it was almost sixty feet long… yet, with them in a small canoe, it somehow seemed even bigger, and a long, crocodile-like tail propelled it as it moved sinuously through the water - there was something eerily draconic about its appearance. Eventually, the creature let out a low bellow, the sound reverberating across the surface of the waters around it, before finally diving back into the water, and dropping out of sight.

Once the giant theropod had gone, Alice turned to Leon, and said, in surprised tones, "Was that…a Spinosaurus?", Leon nodded, grinning ear-to-ear, "The longest known terrestrial carnivore." Jack whistled. "I'll say," he muttered. "That thing could eat Gustave for breakfast and still have room for seconds." Turning to Drew, Cynthia said, "I am guessing the plan is follow it." Drew nodded, grinning like a Cheshire cat, "And you would be exactly right." He then pointed proudly in the direction the spinosaurus had disappeared. "Onward, D-bags!"

. . . . .

For the next half hour, the team continued calmly sailing down the river in their canoe in search of the spinosaurus. Unfortunately, they hadn't found… anything, really. "Hate to say this, Drew," said Cynthia. "But I think we've reached a dead end." "Yeah," said Leon, "I think the best option'd be park the canoe and continue on foot." Adrian and the Denhams nodded in agreement and Drew sighed and said, "Yeah – it was starting to get boring anyway," before pointing towards the nearest shore. "We'll dock over there. Then we'll head off on foot to see what we can find."

After bringing the canoe to shore, the rescue team eagerly set off on foot to make up for lost time. As luck doulw have it, they managed to find something very quickly – a bunch of scavengers had gathered to confront each other over a dead onchopristis. Positioned to the left of the carcass was a pack of dromaeosaurs with osprey-coloured feathers, whilst positioned to the right was a bask of wolf-sized slate-black-scaled terrestrial crocodilians with protruding fanged teeth. Hissing from some distance away were a flock of marabou-sized azhdarchids with black pycnofibers, whilst a group of iguana-sized terrestrial crocodiles with sandy yellow scales with dark reddish brown scutes along their backs circled round the edges

Leon, naturally, was very quick to identify them all. "The smaller crocodiles are libycosuchus, the larger ones are kaprosuchus, the pterosaurs are alanqa, whilst the dromaeosaurs… there's indeterminate dromaeosaur fossils known from the Kem Kem, so these are likely what they are."

Cynthia nodded her head. "Good job Leon," she said, flashing him a thumbs up with a smile on her face. "Agreed," said Jack before he then looked to Drew. "And right now, I'm getting the feeling that they're not gonna take kindly to more intruders." Drew chuckled, "My thoughts exactly." He then looked to Leon and Alice. "Leon, Alice, get your gizmos ready. I've got a plan."

All of one minute later, all four of the competing groups of predators around the onchopristis carcass stiffened at the sudden sound of an apparent spinosaur bellow, followed by another. Confused and wary, the assembled predators turned their heads to notice the rescue team standing nearby, with Alice and Leon holding onto their respective audio playing machines. The predators all tensed up, with the kaprosuchus and dromaeosaurs snarling and crouching as if about to pounce, the pterosaurs squawking and rearing up to full height, and the libycosuchus hissing and crouching defensively. Alice and Leon smirked, before then playing their spinosaur recordings once again, causing the Kaprosuchus, alanqa and dromaeosaurs to all vocalize in territorial rage before then charging straight at the rescue team. The rescue team stood calmly together as the large predators charged their way, with Drew waiting until the carnivores were only a foot away from reaching them before finally summoning the portal; at which point the dromaeosaurs, pterosaurs and large terrestrial crocodiles went barrelling straight through the portal, moving too fast to stop or change directions. Once they had all gone through, Drew closed the portal and gestured towards the libycosuchus, which were so far still crouching defensively over the onchopristis carcass. "Now we just need to get them to leave that carcass."

"Oh I'll do you one better."

At this, the team looked to Cynthia in time to see her prime a portal grenade and send it rolling towards the libycosuchus. No sooner had the device finally come to a stop directly in front of the still wary libycosuchus and the carcass when it went off, sending the small terrestrial crocodilians and the carcass through in a burst of light. Smiling, Cynthia looked to her friends and teammates. "How's that?" Drew nodded his head, "Pretty good Cynth", before nodding his head. "Come on D-Bags. Let's keep moving," he then said, "The spinosaurus isn't gonna save itself."

Adrian pointed in the direction of where the canoe was still positioned. "What about the canoe?" Drew thought to himself, and then nodded his head. "You and Alice can stay by the canoe for now," he stated, "And see if you can find and trap some smaller animals while you're at it." Then he pointed at Leon, Jack, and Cynthia. "The rest of you guys? You're with me."

. . . . .

"Fascinating," Khatin stated with an excited grin on his face as he and the rest of the staff at the holding pens observed the dromaeosaurs. While the kaprosuchus, libycosuchus, alanqa and onchopristis had been impressive, it was the dromaeosaurs were the ones that were drawing the most attention. "Our second unenlagiines – I can already tell these will be fun to study."

Aaron chuckled, "I bet Jackie's looking forward to working with these guys." Carmen nodded her head in agreement, "Yeah – fingers crossed they're not as difficult as the velociraptors." Hugo snorted, "So long as they don't prove escape artists like Uilleam, I'm sure I'll be content with that." Maria winced at the reminder, "Please don't tempt fate, Hugo."

Kyle exhaled, "Yeah – and speaking of which…", before turning the keeper and security guard who'd recently returned Uilleam to the Birds of Mauritius exhibit building, "Are you absolutely positive you've secured the entrances and exits?" The keeper who'd been involved took a deep breath. "Yes sir," he said, "We did." The guard who'd accompanied, "We even locked both of them this time just to be safe." Nikolai sighed upon hearing this, "Hopefully that will be enough…."

The researchers, meanwhile, were still thoroughly focused on observing the dromaeosaurs. "Just look at their feathers," said one of the researchers. "Almost reminds me of an osprey," said another. "Wonder what we should call them," said a third. "How about Nekhbetosaurus?", asked a fourth researcher, "I mean, Nekhbet was the Egyptian vulture goddess…" A fifth researcher shook her head, "That sounds a little too esoteric. Maybe Anubiraptor will work better?" The sound of Khatin making a slight 'ahem' cough caused his underlings present to all look to him, with a proud smile on his face, "Not bad suggestions…", before he grinned, "But as it so happens, I've got just the idea."

. . . . .

With the dromaeosaurs, pterosaurs and crocodiles sent away to the park, Drew, Jack, Cynthia, and Leon continued walking along the riverbank, leaving Alice and Adrian with the canoe. Within minutes after departure, they noticed a flock of pterosaurs, covered in short, black fur, with a fifteen-foot wingspan. There was a vague resemblance to the eopteranodon back at the park, but these had shorter, more parrot-like beaks and with different-shaped crests. In the males, a hard blood red and vaguely helmet shaped sail of bone and keratin arose almost three feet above their heads, whilst the females had a slightly smaller golden yellow crest each.

Smiling, Leon said, "Afrotapejara – a tapejarid. They're fruit eaters." Drew smiled, "And I think we can make a bit of a detour…" Using a pile of fruit, they lured the pterosaurs through the portal, back to the park.

Walking further through the swamp forest, they eventually came upon a clearing where a herd of tannish-scaled sauropods, almost sixty feet long, with relatively short necks and short, wide skulls, and distinctive sail-like ridges on their backs were browsing on the trees. They were accompanied by a herd of large sandy yellow scaled and black spotted iguanodonts, roughly thirty-five-feet long, with long, hadrosaur-like snouts and sails on their backs and a small group of ashen white scaled ankylosaurs with dark grey underbellies, each about six feet long.

"Rebbachisaurus", Leon said while pointing at the sauropods, "One of the smaller sauropods in these lands." Looking at the iguanodonts, Jack said, confused, "I thought Ouranosaurus was supposed to be extinct by now…" Leon nodded, "It was – however, this isn't Ouranosaurus…it's bigger for one thing. There is evidence that there were iguanodonts on Kem Kem though – and I'm reasonably certain an ankylosaur tooth was discovered in the area as well…"

Suddenly, one of the iguanodonts sniffed the air and hooted, and the rebbachisaurs, ankylosaurs, and the rest of the iguanodonts went on alert. The team looked at each other as the bushes began to rustle…

And two large theropods burst out from the bushes, moving so fast they were practically blurs, and tore towards the herd. All three herbivore species took off in the same direction, moving as if a single, unified entity. The team watched as the theropods snapped at the edge of the herd to weed out weaker individuals. However, this came to no avail – and they stopped, tired as the herd stampeded away from them. Smiling, Drew shook his head and said, "Even the greatest predators fail more often than they succeed."

Now, they could get a better look at the theropods. There was a resemblance to the carcharodontosaurus they had seen earlier – however, they were comparatively smaller, at about thirty feet long, and slightly lighter in colour. Looking at them, Jack said, curiously, "I think I know what these are – they're Sauroniops, right?", to which Leon nodded.

The carcharodontosaur pair snarled in displeasure and stalked off – as they left, Cynthia turned to Drew and asked, "What's the plan?" Noticing the herd regrouping, calmer now after their narrow escape, Drew smirked and said, "We split up – Cynth, you and Leon get the herbivores through the portal. Jack, you're with me. We're gonna follow those carcharodontosaurs."

Their tasks given, Drew and Jack left to track down the Sauroniops, whilst Cynthia and Leon turned to look at the herd of herbivores. Muttering, Leon said, "The herd will still be on edge after the ambush…so we have to make sure not to panic them." Cynthia sighed, "We're not doing this Drew-style? Shame, I was really looking forward to that." Leon shook his head. "No," he grunted in mild irritation. "We do this the safe way." Leon's plan was to leave a trail of vegetation along where the herbivores were browsing and letting the herd follow the trail after first getting their attention with recordings of their bellows. Once they had gotten close enough, Leon activated the portal, enabling the herd to go through the portal, back to the park. Cynthia nodded her head, "Right then. I guess we go meet back up with Jack and Drew?" Leon nodded his head, "Correct."

The sound of additional sauropod bellowing caused the duo to look to their left in time to see a herd of reddish brown scaled titanosaurs with thick armour plating on their backs calmly lumbering along into the clearing. Cynthia raised her eyebrow and whispered, "Are those aegyptosaurus?", as she directed a side glance at Leon. Leon nodded his head, "Yes, they are." He looked to Cynthia, "Get ready to summon the portal again. As Drew would say, this is an opportunity we can't miss."

The plan, as it turned out, was for Leon to first set up a small makeshift 'stream' of water within the clearing and subsequently attract the aegyptosaurus herd's attention to it by playing a recording of the bellowing of Custer. As Leon had hoped, the titanosaurs had proved thirsty enough to pause for a drink; and once the moment came, Leon signalled for Cynthia to open the portal, which she eagerly did. Whilst the aegyptosaurus were initially caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the bright vortex of light, curiosity soon won out over caution, and the herd began to calmly lumber their way, one by one, through the portal. Once they were all gone, Cynthia closed the portal and directed a proud smile towards Leon. "Not bad Leon," she said. Leon let a small smile come on his own face. "Thanks," he said. He then looked back in the direction Drew and Jack had gone. "I suppose now would be a good time to head off to meet back up with Jack and Drew."

. . . . .

Meanwhile, Jack and Drew followed the sauroniops through the swamp forest. For three hours, there were only fleeting glimpses of the carcharodontosaurs, moving through the forest like ghosts; it had been over an hour before they got a good look at one of them.

After about another two hours, Jack turned to Drew and said, "Fearless leader, the trail's running cold. If you want my advice, we're going to have to recalibrate." Drew sighed – as much as he hated to admit it, Jack was right. Blundering through the swamp forest – in an environment like the Kem Kem – was pretty risky. They needed a plan. Drew was about to open his mouth when, suddenly, a smell of rotting meat wafted through the clearing. Smiling, Drew said, "Worry not, mi compadre. I think we got a new lead."

Following the smell took them to an area of parched scrubland, where a dead paralititan, some fifty feet long, lay on the ground with a massive wound on its side. The corpse had begun to bloat, indicating that it was several days old. The sauroniops, now joined by three juveniles, were at the carcass, alongside two different groups of theropod, engaged in a tense standoff.

Of the two other species of theropod, one group (consisting of four adults and five juveniles), at almost twenty-five feet long, looked like giant versions of the masiakasaurus back at the park, only darker in colouration. The next group of theropods were a group of twenty-foot abelisaurs, of all ages and sizes, with black-and-white, leathery skin, snarling at the other two groups.

Smiling, Drew said, "Deltadromeus and rugops – we really have hit the jackpot." At Drew's grin, Jack, smirking, turned to him and said, "Yeah – just what I was thinking. I was also thinking that sauropod isn't too big to be towed." Drew smirked, "You read my mind."

After Drew had contacted the park, he ran towards the dead sauropod, making sure to avoid rousing the wrath of the squabbling theropods, carefully drilled a hole in the thigh and carefully hooked the winch into it; the winch was attached to a park truck on the other side. Drew ran back to the portal and gave the thumbs-up signal and the winch began pulling the sauropod carcass away. The theropods took notice of this and began to move towards it, hissing and snarling, all united in a desire to not lose their meal. Within minutes, the sauropod carcass was yanked through the portal by the truck dragging it. The scavengers, moving too fast to stop and eager to avoid losing their meal, dove through the portal after the carcass and into the present.

Once the last one had gone through, Drew smirked, "And just like that – three species for the price of one." Jack chuckled, "Alright… let's see how Cynthia and Leon have gotten on with the herbivores."

. . . . .

The holding pens were a hubbub of activity – seven new species (none of them particularly small) in one go. The new herbivores – the rebbachisaurus, aegyptosaurus, iguanodonts, and ankylosaurs – had proven to be the easiest to get moving… at least they weren't trying to bite the handlers' arms off. Looking at the iguanodonts, Kyle said, confused, "That's weird. I thought Ouranosaurus had gone extinct by then…" Nodding, Khatin said, "It had. However, there is evidence that there was an iguanodont in Kem Kem – this is, presumably what that is. The ankylosaur… I think a tooth has been found from the Kem Kem. It will be fascinating to study."

"Doooo-doooo."

Eyes widening in surprise, the assembled holding pens team all turned their heads in time to see Uilleam, outside the Birds of Mauritius building for the second time that day as he squawked at the newest arrivals from safely outside the holding pen. "Doooo-doooo," he cooed again, engaging in his comical attempt at an intimidation tactic.

Nikolai directed a half confused and half irritated glance at the keeper and guard who'd worked to get the dodo back to the Birds of Mauritius building earlier that day, "I thought you said that you had both main doorways to Birds of Mauritius secured?" The keeper and guard raised their hands, as the guard said "We did, captain – we checked it several times before we left." Kyle sighed, "Then clearly, either he wasn't leaving through the doorways, or that's not the only means of escape." Khatin shook his head side to side in bemusement, "It's like the compys all over again."

"Doooo-doooo."

At this, Peter Farnsworth sighed. "I'll take him back this time," he grumbled before looking to two other security guards and three keepers. "You guys can come with me. I'm gonna take a look – see if there's anything we overlooked." He looked to Nikolai and Kyle. "With your permission of course." Nikolai and Kyle nodded. "Shouldn't be a problem for now," Kyle stated. "The rest of us should be able to handle things," Nikolai stated, "Hopefully." Khatin chuckled, "Just another day at the park."

. . . . .

Back in the Cretaceous Kem Kem Beds, two hours after rescuing the three predator packs, Drew and Jack met up with Cynthia and Leon, before trekking back to the canoe, where they found Alice and Adrian had found quite a few smaller animals. Drew raised his eyebrow, a clearly impressed look on his face, "Well you two were certainly busy." Alice nodded her head, "Yup." She then gestured towards the traps containing the animals she and Adrian had managed to catch. "Adrian and I figured we'd wait for you to get back and identify them before we sent them to the park." Jack nodded his head. "Sounds like a smart idea to me," he then said before looking meaningfully at Leon, who nodded and walked over to examine the trapped small animals. As he subsequently observed the small animals Alice and Adrian had caught, he took note of a small greenish brown lizard-like crocodilian, two different kinds of snake (one a small, reddish-coloured creature with rudimentary back legs and the other a ball python-sized madtsoiid covered in sandy yellow scales with coal black spots), a small sandy yellow furred shrew-like mammal with prominent canine teeth, a small group of sandy yellow pipid frogs, a small group steely grey and black striped sirenid amphibians, a dozen small reddish brown scaled carnivorous lizards with vaguely frog-like faces, and some greenish grey scaled and yellow spotted sphenodonts.

Naturally, he was very quick to get to work on identifying them. "The small crocodilians are araripesuchus," he stated while pointing at the animals in question, "the small snakes with legs are norisophis, the frogs are oumtkoutia, the sirenids are kababisha, and the frog-faced carnivorous lizards are bicuspidon. The mammals, madstoiids, and sphenodonts, on the other hand, are most likely undiscovered species." Jack nodded his head, "Correct." He then looked to Alice. "Well Alice, I guess now we can send them through?"

Alice was just about to respond when the sound of pterosaur shrieking split the air. She and the rest of the team turned their heads in the direction the noise was coming from in time to see a small gathering of pterosaurs squabbling over an almost picked-clean onchopristis. A small flock of vulture-sized azhdarchoids covered in greyish white fur, five of which had resplendent red markings around their eyes while the other five had darker blue markings were defending the carcass from two species of anhuagerids – one with golden yellow beaks and brown and white pycnofibres and a larger group with snowy white pycnofibres with coal black faces, beaks, and underbellies - and six marabou-sized azhdarchoids with greyish white fur, coal black feet, and reddish brown faces with upwards curved beaks. Adrian was quick to identify them. "The azhdarchoids with the eye markings are apatorhamphus," he stated, "the smaller anhanguerids are nicorhynchus, whilst the larger anhanguerids are sirrocopteryx, and the azhdarchoids with the upwards curved beaks are xericeps." Drew nodded his head and turned to Adrian. "Find some way to distract them from the carcass," he stated to Adrian. "Should be enough to get them through." Adrian nodded his head. "I'll see what I can do," he then said as he accepted the bait bag and got to work while the rest of the team got to work on carrying the smaller animals and the canoe through the portal.

The sight of Adrian setting up a large pile of dead fish caught the attention of the pterosaurs. With the lure of the more substantial meal (as opposed to the meagre pickings of the onchopristis), the pterosaurs all began carefully following the trail, eating as many of the fish as they could in the process. Once they got close enough to the rescue team's position, Drew summoned the portal. The sudden burst of light startled the pterosaurs, but the sight of Leon and Alice grabbing onto the small pile of fish at the end of the trail and tossing it through the portal soon caused their chase instincts to activate and they all hurried through the portal after the last of the offered fish.

Once the last of the pterosaurs had gone through, Drew tossed the dead fish through the portal after them and closed it. "Well done everyone," he said. Adrian chuckled. "My pleasure buddy," he said. "Now we just need to the spinosaurus," said Leon, "And I guess carcharodontosaurus." Jack looked to Drew, "So what's the plan now fearless leader?"

Suddenly, a cacophony of hisses, snarls and bellows echoed from a nearby clearing, as if several large creatures were fighting. Drew turned to his team and grinned, "Our plan is follow that sound." Cautiously following the sound to the clearing, they saw a pair of carcharodontosaurus and a pair of spinosaurus squaring off while a Kem Kem iguanodont carcass lay on the ground between them. Clearly, they both wished to eat the carcass. At the sight, Drew grinned, "Two for the price of one." Alice raised her eyebrow, "I thought they were supposed to be piscivores?" Leon nodded, "Mostly, they were – but like all predators, spinosaurs would take any prey."

The spinosaurus pair snarled, rearing up to full height, as they swung their clawed arms and tails… however, the carcharodontosaurus were in no mood to back down. And in that instant, the team also couldn't help but notice how one individual amongst both pairs was slightly taller and had darker coloration than the other; a form of sexual dimorphism perhaps? The predators continued to snarl and make threat displays at each other, whilst Cynthia looked to Drew. "So how are we gonna get these guys through the portal?" Drew smirked, and then pointed at the iguanodont carcass, "The answer's right in front of us." He paused and noticeable grin starting to take form on his face. "I've got a plan…"

. . . . .

Kyle nodded his head as he observed the pterosaurs that were currently milling about the holding pen. "Well," he stated, "at least Drew's letting us have a little breather." Hugo nodded his head, "I can certainly see what you mean boss. They're going to finish things off with a bang, you just know it… it's nice to have a little breather" His three friends nodded in agreement, as did the rest of the holding pens team, to which Aaron said "That sounds like him alright." Nikolai nodded his head, "Too true", before turning to the rest of the team "Let's get these pterosaurs transferred to elsewhere." "You heard Koshkin everyone," Kyle stated as he clapped his hands, "The sooner we've got these guys secured the better…"

"Well it looks like we arrived just in time."

The holding pens team turned their heads in time to see Farnsworth and his team walking into view. "We've got Uilleam back in the Birds of Mauritius building again," said one of the two other guards, "And we think we figured out how he's been getting out," said one of the three keepers involved. "We think he bit through the wire mesh at the rear wall of the coop, forming a small hole for himself to squeeze through." One of the other keepers nodded her head, "We patched it up as best as we could until something more permanent could be arranged - we also placed one of the supply crates against the area with the hole for good measure."

Kyle nodded his head. "We can certainly hope that will be the case," he then stated before looking back at the feasting pterosaurs in the portal site holding pen. "Believe me, the last thing we'll need when the spinosaurus and carcharodontosaurus finally arrive is any annoying distractions."

At that very moment, Kyle's communicator suddenly went off. Kyle instinctively drew it out and answered without checking the ID. "Taymor speaking, over?" He listened carefully to whoever was on the other end. "You need to use the truck to tow another carcass you say?" He listened to the person contacting him, with Nikolai, Khatin, and the assembled keepers, security guards, and researchers watching intently; and then he nodded, "Very well, it can be done. Just let us get these pterosaurs transferred - shouldn't take long." And at that, he hung up his communicator and looked to the rest of the assembled park staff at the holding pens. "That was Drew. He's found the spinosaurus and carcharodontosaurus and he needs to use the holding pens truck to tow a carcass they're fighting over."

. . . . .

After Drew had contacted the park, he looked to his team. "You guys ready?" All five of his teammates nodded their heads, with Jack and Adrian drawing out their airhorns while Leon and Alice drew out their respective audio recording devices, whilst Cynthia meanwhile, clasped her hands together in anticipatory fashion, smiling "You bet we are." At his team's eagerness, Drew grinned, "Perfect. Let's get this done."

And with that, Leon, Adrian, and the Denhams positioned themselves behind the duelling theropods and started letting off noise from their respective devices, with Jack and Leon working to attract the attention of the spinosaurus with blasts of noise from the former's airhorn and recorded spinosaur vocalisations from the latter's broadcasting device while Adrian and Alice handled the carcharadontosaurus similarly. So far, this appeared to be working, with both theropod pairs turning away from the carcass and hissing and snarling at the four humans. With the theropods distracted, Drew and Cynthia ran towards the dead iguanodont, and Drew carefully drilled a hole in the thigh while Cynthia carefully hooked the winch into the hole, attached to the park truck on the other side.

The plan set, Drew and Cynthia ran back to the portal and gave the thumbs-up signal; at which point the winch began pulling the iguanodont carcass away. The sight of this got Leon, Adrian, and the Denhams to halt their noise making gambit and rush off to the side to join back up with Drew and Cynthia. The theropods took notice of the carcass getting dragged away from out the corner of their eyes and began to chase after it, hissing and snarling, all united in a desire to not lose their meal. Within minutes, the iguanodont carcass was yanked through the portal by the truck dragging it. The carcharodontosaurus pair were the first to disappear through the portal after the carcass, following it to the present. Drew smiled as he watched the two tiger-striped theropods vanished through the portal. "Perfect," he stated under his breath before then turning to direct his triumphant grin towards his teammates. "Good work everyone," he said. Then he raised his eyebrow in confusion at the pale looks that were currently on the faces of his teammates. "Ok? What's got you all nervous...?"

A sudden crocodile-like hissing behind him caused his eyes to widen, and he slowly turned his head to look behind him in time to notice that the spinosaurus pair had not only stopped running towards the portal, but were also glaring intently in his direction...and he was in very close proximity to them "Oh fu..."

With a sudden roar, the female spinosaurus suddenly snapped her head forward and clenched her jaws tightly around the top of Drew's backpack, lifting him clean off his feet and into the air! "Whoa!" Drew shrieked in surprise as he was lifted, smelling the theropod's hot, fetid breath. He blanched at the thought of what might happen – he knew that spinosaurs were mostly fish-eaters, but they wouldn't pass up a different kind of prey… in this case, the prey would be him.

The rest of the team were understandably just as horrified as Drew at the possibility. "Drew!" Cynthia screamed, a look of horror on her face as she saw her ex dangling from the female spinosaurus's jaws, before turning to Jack, "Jack, from what I've been told, you're the one who usually takes charge in situations like this. Got any ideas?" At this, all eyes were on Jack, who seemed briefly unsure of what to do...until he then narrowed his eyes determinedly and grinned, "You got an airhorn, Cynthia? 'Cos I know just the thing…"

Meanwhile, the female Spinosaurus bit down on Drew's backpack further, ready to throw back her head and swallow him whole. Drew closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He'd had plenty of near-death experiences – but this one was not looking good for him. 'So this is where it ends for me,' he thought to himself. 'Eaten by spinosaurs in Cretaceous Morocco...'

Suddenly, the spinosaurs went rigid as a barrage of noise – both airhorn blares and allosaur growling came through the air. Narrowing their eyes, the spinosaurs turned their heads to allow themselves and Drew to see all five of Drew's teammates standing nearby the portal with determined glares on their faces, with Alice and Leon holding tightly onto their audio player and broadcasting device while Jack, Adrian, and Cynthia pointed an airhorn each in the spinosaurs' direction. Cynthia clenched her fists tightly upon her airhorn, her green eyes narrowed into a withering glare. "Drop him," she hissed. "You heard the lady," Jack said, a smirk on his face, "Fangs off". All five of the subordinate rescue team members unleashed a full barrage of sound at them.

This seemed to be just enough to really get the spinosaurus angry, as they both promptly bellowed like some great, ancient dragons, with the female releasing Drew, before charging the humans. But Drew's five teammates stood, rooted to the spot, showing no sign of fear, and finally, as the two spinosaurus were seconds away from snapping them up, they all dived away just in time for both the angry spinosaurs to go barrelling straight through the portal. Once they had both gone through, Cynthia closed it, before rushing over to Drew, with the rest of the team following.

"You ok buddy?" Leon asked as Drew got back on his feet. "You really had us scared," Cynthia stated as she directed an equal parts relieved, irritated, and frightened stare right in Drew's face. "No kidding, fearless leader," Jack stated, chuckling immediately afterward. "I mean, needing us to rescue you twice in one mission? Looks to me like you're slipping!" Alice, Leon, and Adrian rolled their eyes, and Cynthia directed a withering glare towards Jack. But Drew only chuckled, "The animals just got lucky this mission", before smiling gratefully at his team, "Don't worry guys. I'm alright." He looked around the area and said, "Not only did you get the job done…", before directing a grateful smile to his team, "But you saved my bacon," he said, "You could have all died trying to save us."

Cynthia chuckled, "To quote a surprisingly wise man, we're a team. Watching each other's backs is what we do." she then stated, before turning to the rest of her teammates, who smiled. It was Alice, who spoke next, "So what now Drew?" Drew nodded his head, "We go home. We've got our target and a decent haul – I say our business is finished here. For now."

"You heard the man," said Jack, flashing Drew a thumbs-up. "Let's get back to the park." And at that, the portal was once again summoned as the entire rescue team walked through to the present…. However… their problems weren't all taken care of.

Sure enough, upon arrival, the first sigh that greeted them was the spinosaurus and carcharodontosaurus squaring off over the iguanodont carcass. Wisely choosing not to involve themselves this time, the rescue team swiftly, yet carefully climbed up the nearby exit ladder to the walkway where the holding pens team were gathered, some of them already working to spray at the four newly arrived giant theropods with water hoses to try to get them distracted. "So," Kyle stated with his arms folded across his chest. "I take it the mission proved eventful?"

Drew chuckled, "Is that a rhetorical question?" Kyle rolled his eyes, "I take it that's a yes." Leon rolled his eyes at Drew's flippancy. "How did things go here?", he then asked, hoping to perhaps keep things civil. Kyle sighed, "Well, here, it was certainly… eventful." Nikolai nodded his head in agreement, "Da. And it wasn't just all the large predators – Ulieam decided to pay us several... unscheduled visits." Drew raised his eyebrow in amusement, "He's still managing to get out?" Leon whistled, "And I thought the compies were annoying."

"Well for what it's worth," Nikolai then stated before pointing at Farnsworth, "Farnsworth has figured out how Uilleam was getting out and has put a temporary obstruction in place. That should be enough until we can put something a bit more permanent." Farnsworth nodded his head. "That supply crate we put up against the wall was pretty heavy," he admitted, "It should be enough..."

"HOW IS HE OUT AGAIN?!"

Eyes widening, everyone turned to see Uilleam, who was now standing at the main doorway to the portal site and engaging in his comical 'intimidation display' in his newest efforts at challenging a much larger animal to fight him. Farnsworth sighed and said, "Aaand it wasn't." Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed irritably, "Son of a..."

"Doooo-doooo."

Drew chuckled. "Yep," he stated, "just another day at Prehistoric Park." All the other staff groaned and rolled their eyes. But even so, they all had to admit, this day had certainly proved eventful.

. . . . .

Two hours later, once all the chaos had wound down, all the newly recued animals had been transferred to their new homes within the newly constructed Kem Kem Beds exhibit zone, also known informally as the Trail of Pharaohs exhibition. Positioned at the front entrance of this exhibit zone was a large building themed after the Cretaceous Egypt desert swamps. And it was in this building that all the smaller animals now dwelled. In the center was a large pit themed paddock with a bridge built over it for staff and guests to cross over; and within this pit was a sandy island structure surrounded by water that the kaprosuchus were currently exploring as they scouted their new territory and seeked out their next meal.

Four terrariums were built into the wall to the left of the kaprosuchus pit, and these served as home for all the smallest reptiles rescued, with the libycosuchus and bicuspidon scouting about their new homes in search of their next meal in the two leftmost terrariums, the norisophis slithering about their new surroundings within the terrarium on the far right end of the wall, and the newly discovered sphenodonts (which Jack had proudly dubbed khufudon aegypticus) lounging about on small stones and miniature logs within their own brand new terrarium home directly to the left of the norisophis terrarium. Positioned directly in between the khufudon and bicuspidon terrariums, meanwhile, was a penguin-style alcove paddock that served as home for the enaliornis, with ten of the birds swimming about the waters of their new home in curiosity while the remaining four rested peacefully upon the land structure built into the paddock's back wall.

A similar exhibit plan could be found upon the wall to the right of the kaprosuchus pit. Two of the terrariums built into this wall served as home for the two Cretaceous Egyptian amphibians, with the kababisha all swimming about in a water terrarium while the oumtkoutia were all either swimming in the small 'pond' within the centre of their terrarium or basking on the rocks on theirs. A large terrarium positioned directly to the left of the oumtkoutia terrarium served as home to the newly discovered madtsoiids (which Leon had dubbed nephthophis baharijensis), all of which were now currently slithering slowly about the terrarium's interior as they explored their new home. The newly discovered Kem Kem mammals (which Alice had dubbed aegyptotherium besi) now dwelled inside a small alcove style exhibit to the right of the kababisha tank, which they were all currently eagerly exploring as they searched for food and kept watch for threats. And positioned in between the aegyptotherium and nephthophis exhibits was a large reinforced glass window that would allow those who looked through it to see an appropriately sized swamp-themed aviary exhibit that now served as home for the leptostomia, with all 19 of the small pterosaurs flying throughout their new home to explore their new surroundings.

Three smaller paddocks directly behind the kaprosuchus pit, all of them consisting of land portions and appropriately sized man-made ponds, now served as home for the dirqadim, both species of galianemys, and the hamadachelys, with all four species of Kem Kem turtles calmly swimming about or lounging on their paddocks' land portions as they saw fit.

Three appropriately sized tanks were built into the building's rear wall directly behind the three turtle paddocks, and these tanks served as home for the three rescued species of Cretaceous Egyptian fish. At that moment, the axelrodichthys and mawsonia all swam lazily about through the waters of their new homes while the onchopristis were skulking about on the sand at the very bottom of their own tank.

Finally, a moderately sized paddock positioned directly in between the kaprosuchus pit and the building's front entrance served as home for the araripesuchus, with all thirteen of the small terrestrial crocodilians sniffing about at the edges of their new makeshift island home within said paddock.

Directly behind this building, in the very centre of the exhibit zone, was a large paddock that now, as per unspoken tradition, served as home for the large herbivores. At that very moment, all the sauropods, plus the newly named baqarasaurus hathori and khnemusaurus maroccanus, were calmly drinking or bathing at the paddock's lake, browsing upon the foliage, or basking in the sun. To the right of this paddock were two large enclosures, one of them a large cluster of aviary exhibits and the other a large water-filled tank. The aviary cluster was now home for the larger Kem Kem pterosaurs – the afrotapejara had an aviary of their own, whilst the anhuagerids and azhdarhcoids each shared an aviary. All the pterosaurs were either roosting or looking for food. The tank, meanwhile, was now home to the plesiosaurs, which Khatin had dubbed apophisaurus riparia; and at that very moment, all eight of the small plesiosaurs were leisurely swimming about to scout the boundaries of their new territories.

To the left of the main herbivore paddock were three large paddocks that now served as home for the three massive Cretaceous Egypt crocodilians. All three floats were currently happily making themselves at home, with the elosuchus in the centremost paddock, feasting upon a freshly provided cow carcass, the laganosuchus in the paddock to the right all swimming leisurely through the waters of their paddock's massive lake, and the stomatosuchus in the paddock to the left all lazily basking upon the sandy shores of their own residence.

But it was the six large paddocks at the exhibit zone's rear portion that were the main selling point of this zone – these were home to the Kem Kem carnivores. The leftmost paddock of this bunch was home for the newly named osirobator pack, which were all currently feasting upon a freshly provided sheep carcass. The rightmost paddock served as home for the deltadromeus, with the five youngsters all happily playing around in their new surroundings while their parents basked in the sun. The paddock to the right of the osirobator paddock was where the rugops now dwelled, with the abelisaur pack feasting upon a freshly provided cow carcass. The paddock to the left of the deltadromeus was now home to the sauroniops, with the entire family currently drinking contentedly from their paddock's lake.

The two largest paddocks, in the middle of this cluster, served as home for the carcharodontosaurus and spinosaurus. At that moment, Narmer and Neithhotep the carcharodontosaurus were in the midst of feasting ravenously upon a freshly provided cow carcass in the paddock to the right of the rugops paddock, whereas Tutankhamen and Ankhesenamun the spinosaurus were currently basking in the waters as they waited for their next meal, as Leon watched them intently.

The mood was overall rather buoyant – there was so much on the horizon for everyone to look forward to. With the phase's final mission over and done with, the park could now focus entirely on preparing for opening day – which wasn't probably going to take long. However, they all knew that, at a place like Prehistoric Park, things only tended to be peaceful for so long...

Rescue Tally:

* Aegyptosaurus baharijensis (17; 9 adults, 8 youngsters; 7 male, 10 female)

* Aegyptotherium besi (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Afrotapejara zouhri (9; all adults; 5 male, 4 female)

* Alanqa saharica (7; all adults; 3 male, 4 female)

* Apatorhamphus gyrostega (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Apophisaurus riparia (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

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

* Axelrodichthys araripensis (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Bicuspidon hogreli (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female)

* Baqarasaurus hathori (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 6 male, 7 female)

* Carcharodontosaurus saharicus (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)

* Deltadromeus agilis (9; 4 adults, 5 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Dirqadim schaefferi (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Elosuchus cherifiensis (9; 6 adults, 3 youngsters; 3 male, 6 female)

* Enaliornis maroccanus (14; all adults; 7 male, 7 female)

* Galianemys emringeri (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Galianemys whitei (12; all adults; 6 male, 6 female)

* Hamadachelys escuilliei (9; all adults; 4 male, 5 female)

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

* Kaprosuchus saharicus (7; all adults; 3 male, 4 female)

* Khnemusaurus maroccanus (7; all adults; 3 male, 4 female)

* Khufudon aegypticus (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Laganosuchus thaumastos (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)

* Leptostomia begaaensis (19; all adults; 9 male, 10 female)

* Libycosuchus brevirostris (16; all adults; 8 male, 8 female)

* Mawsonia lavocati (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)

* Nephthophis baharijensis (5; all adults; 3 male, 2 female)

* Nicorhynchus fluviferox (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

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

* Onchopristis numidus (7; all adults; 4 male, 3 female)

* Osirobator baharijensis (9; 4 adults, 5 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Oumtkoutia anae (10; all adults; 5 male, 5 female)

* Paralititan stromeri (13; 7 adults, 6 youngsters; 5 male, 8 female)

* Rebbachisaurus garasbae (9; 6 adults, 3 youngsters; 4 male, 5 female)

* Rugops primus (10; 6 adults, 4 youngsters; 5 male, 5 female)

* Sauroniops pachytholus (5; 2 adults, 3 youngsters; 2 male, 3 female)

* Sirrocopteryx moroccensis (8; all adults; 4 male, 4 female)

* Spinosaurus aegyptiacus (2; all adults; 1 male, 1 female)

* Stomatosuchus inermis (4; all adults; 2 male, 2 female)

* Xericeps curviostra (6; all adults; 3 male, 3 female)

Next time on Prehistoric Park Reimagined:

Two weeks remain before the park is set to finally open to the public.

(Some of the workmen make some finishing touches in painting the sign above the main entrance to the park.)

And it's so far looking as if it will all be smooth sailing from here.

(Drew looks proudly at the newly finished Main Street Entrance Zone from nearby the park's main entrance gate.)

But even in times like this...

(Uilleam squawks at a confused Rommel)

...there's always the potential for things to go wrong.

(Nezbit and Duke hiss at each other.)

And with yet another mass breakout set to unfold...

(Matilda charges the Ice Age Mount herbivores.)

...and enemies both old...

(The hyaenodon pack and entelodon sounder snarl and squeal at each other as a frightened Yolanda stands in between them.)

...and new...

(The cave hyena pack whoop and snarl angrily at Simba and Nala, who roar loudly at them in response.)

...clashing against each other...

(An angry Terrence and equally angry Tut roar and hiss at each other.)

...the park must once again be pushed to its limits...

(A bellowing Gideon follows after the rest of the stegosaurus away from the wreckage of the majority of the park's jeeps within the park's staff garage.)

...and give birth to some truly unlikely partnerships...

(Martha and Achilles trumpet and bellow at a roaring Matilda as they stand protectively between her and Lyuba.)

...to avoid being completely consumed by a terrible disaster...

(Drew, Cynthia, Jack, and Colette, alongside the dromas, stand tensely while confronting the velociraptors.)

...when otherwise so close...

(Duke and Nezbit fight.)

...to achieving one of its greatest triumphs.

(A shrieking Nezbit lunges at the camera, jaws and claws at the ready!)

All next time, on Prehistoric Park Reimagined: Chaos Rising!