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Chapter Text

Grant’s alarm clock woke him up with a start. He dragged himself out of bed, got dressed, and, as he always did in the morning, made himself a coffee. He went outside for the day’s edition of the newspaper (March 11th, 1995), and had his breakfast, consisting solely of toast. As he ate his toast, Grant opened the paper and read the first headline.  

10 Killed in Car Bombing Outside Pakistan Mosque

Immediately, Grant closed the paper. Reading about peoples’ grisly deaths was not exactly something he wanted to do while eating - nor would it show the victims much respect. Instead, he wandered into the living room to put on the local news. Except he didn’t. He actually had breakfast watching Saturday morning cartoons. 

It was a normal Floridian morning. Except it wasn’t. Today was a big day. It was his birthday, and he was turning thirty. Besides that, however, it was an even bigger day - the day history would be made, as he and two other palaeontologists, would make history by becoming the world’s first time travellers. 

Providing everything went right. 

After finishing the rest of his morning routine, Grant got into his car and put the key in the ignition, taking himself on his morning commute. Even though it was a Saturday, the roads were still congested - plenty of people in Central Florida worked jobs that weren’t 9 to 5 office jobs. Many people, Grant included, worked in the tourism sector, and that made for a lot of odd working hours. Though Grant didn’t work for one of the three main Central Orlando theme parks, Universal Studios, Sea World, and Disney World (okay, Disney World actually consisted of six theme parks, but whatever). He worked for the Dino Institute, an institute of higher learning, museum, and fossil dig site. Next door was Chester and Hester’s Dino-Rama… the tackiest theme park in Central Florida.

If it could even be called a theme park, that is. Grant was pretty sure it legally couldn’t. 

Chester and Hester were… they were nice enough people. They were just miserly. So, everything in their mom and pop tourist trap suffered for their extreme frugality. One day, someone would be killed there, and Grant was certain of that. 

Grant pulled up at the Dino Institute and parked his car. He sat there, staring ahead for a few minutes, psyching himself up inside his head. 

He was eager to be part of the experiment, but at the same time, something was telling him… that he shouldn’t. That he should back out, take Mary with him, and leave it all to Shirley. But that wouldn’t be fair to Shirley. 

A knock on his car door distracted Grant from his thoughts. It was the middle aged proprietor of the Dino-Rama, Hester, but this time she was without her husband, Chester. Grant wound down his window. 

‘Dr Seeker. Grant. We weren’t expecting you in work today. Can I interest you in some game tokens for when you have your lunch break? We’re having a deal today; five tokens for five dollars -‘

‘Hester, the game tokens are a dollar each anyway, so that’s not really a deal.’ 

‘The deal is you get to buy them in bulk, not that you get money off when you buy them in bulk,’ Hester said. 

Grant nodded. ‘Right,’ he said. He opened his car door and started winding his window back up. ‘I’m sorry, but no. I’m only coming in today because there’s a very important project I’m working on.’ 

‘You’re mounting a new dinosaur, aren’t you?’ asked Hester. 

Grant stood up out of his car. ‘I’m not at liberty to say, Hester,’ said Grant. 

‘You can’t say or you won’t say?’ 

‘I can’t say,’ said Grant. ‘I signed a non-disclosure agreement.’ 

Hester nodded. ‘Interesting,’ she said. ‘Isn’t today your birthday?’ she asked, as Grant locked his car door. ‘The big three - oh?’ 

‘Yes, I am thirty today,’ said Grant. 

‘Come to the Dino-Rama!’ Hester said cheerfully. ‘We can give you the Birthday Discount -‘

‘No thanks, I’m not interested in a dollar off admission.’ 

‘That was last year’s deal. This year, it’s fifty cents off admission!’ 

Grant groaned internally. ‘Still. No thanks.’ 

‘You’re missing out.’ 

‘I don’t think so.’ Grant walked to the entrance of the Dino Institute, his place of work and study. It wasn’t that he disliked Hester Lester, or Chester Lester for that matter, it was just that he’d spent the last almost twelve years here. Studying. Digging. Writing. Reading. Pranking. Falling off roofs. But now all the blood, sweat, and tears he’d put into his work was paying off. 

He walked through the museum wing, curated by his friend-ish, Diana, whose last name was even punnier than his own (her full name was Diana Sore. An awkward name for a palaeontologist for sure). But at least it gave them something to bond over (his own full name was Grant Seeker, a terribly appropriate name for a scientist). 

As he entered his office, he was greeted by his boss, Helen Marsh. ‘Dr Seeker. Happy birthday.’ 

‘You remembered,’ Grant said. He opened the door to his lab and grabbed his lab coat.

‘It’s hard to forget an event I witnessed,’ said Helen. ‘In this case, your birth.’ 

‘Of course,’ Grant muttered as he put on his lab coat. 

‘How are you feeling today?’ asked Helen. ‘Excited? Nervous?’

‘Bit of both,’ Grant said. ‘Chrono-Tech have tested their CTX Rovers, haven’t they? Mary, Shirley, and I aren’t going to, I don’t know, disintegrate into nothing, are we?’ 

‘Yes, Chrono-Tech have tested their technology quite rigorously. And no, you will not disintegrate into nothing,’ said Helen. ‘You’ve seen Back to the Future.’ 

‘Yeah.’ 

‘Think of the CTX Rover as Doc Brown’s DeLorean -‘ 

‘That makes me feel a lot better, Helen,’ Grant said sarcastically.

‘That’s Dr Marsh to you,’ Helen corrected. ‘Remember, formalities, Dr Seeker, for we are at work.’ 

‘Formalities. Right,’ said Grant. 

‘That’s why I’m calling you Dr Seeker instead of Little Grant,’ said Helen. 

‘I thought it was because I was thirty today.’ 

‘Don’t push it,’ said Helen, warningly. 

‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ Grant wandered over to his lab table and pulled out his notebook. 

‘How’s your back?’ asked Helen. 

‘It’s fine,’ said Grant. ‘Healed up in 89.’ 

‘And your neck?’ 

‘It’s fine.’ 

‘And your heart?’ 

It was at that point, Grant looked up from his notes. ‘Dr Marsh. Why are you asking me this?’ 

‘Concern,’ said Helen. 

‘I’ve been cleared to time travel,’ said Grant. ‘Chrono-Tech’s physical -‘

‘I know.’ Helen nodded. ‘I was just making sure.’ 

Grant hummed sceptically. ‘I doubt Jonathan Blaine would send me out on an experimental time travel trip to the Cretaceous period if he knew I had a bad heart and was going to drop down dead on my thirtieth birthday.’ 

‘No,’ Helen agreed. ‘Logically, he wouldn’t.’ 

Grant simply nodded and picked up his notebook. ‘I’m going now,’ he said. 

‘Where?’ Helen demanded. 

‘To… to Shirley. And Mary,’ said Grant. ‘Mary’s my girlfriend. You don’t think I want to be with her?’ 

‘Yes. Of course. Go ahead,’ Helen said. ‘I suppose I’ll be seeing you again when it’s time for the big experiment.’ 

Grant slipped his notebook in his pocket and ran down the hall, passing through the museum out front and the throngs of tourists within. Bill Nye the Science Guy’s voice came from the loudspeaker overhead, talking about the large, recently discovered, carnotaurus skeleton that was in the centre of the room. 

‘Hi. Excuse me. I’m sorry. Busy palaeontologist passing through,’ he said, squeezing past the tourists, visitors, and families. It was a Saturday morning, after all.

In a few hours, Grant would be seeing some of these extinct, fossilised creatures alive and in their natural habitat. All going well, of course.

He saw an arm raised, waving towards him. ‘Grant!’  

‘Mary!’ he called out, rushing as fast as he could over to her. 

Mary took his hand. ‘Are you ready?’

‘For what?’ asked Grant as he checked his watch. ‘The thing isn’t for another two hours.’ 

‘Final checks, you dork.’ Mary nudged him teasingly, but stopped when she saw his expression. ‘Is something wrong?’ she asked. ‘Or are you worried I forgot your birthday?’ 

‘I’m just… excited,’ said Grant. He slipped through an employee door, and Mary followed him through. 

‘Ah yes. The look of excitement,’ said Mary. ‘You do look very excited.’ 

‘Hm. Sarcasm.’ 

‘Seriously, babe, what’s wrong?’

‘You don’t call me “babe”,’ said Grant. 

‘What’s eating you, Gilbert Grape?’ asked Mary. 

‘Nothing. I’m just excited,’ said Grant. ‘Nervous. Too. I mean, I’ve dedicated my whole life to the study of dinosaurs. What if I don’t… Mary, what if the Cretaceous period doesn’t live up to my expectations?’ 

Mary squeezed Grant’s hand. ‘It will. Like you said, you’ve studied dinosaurs your whole life. And now you’re having the chance to see them. In the scales.’ 

‘And feathers,’ Grant pointed out. ‘Archaeopteryx definitely had feathers. And if archaeopteryx did, there’s a good chance other dinosaurs did as well. My parents were, and are, proponents of the “birds evolved from dinosaurs” theory proposed back in 1860. And so am I.’ 

‘I’m not saying you’re not right about that, but -‘

‘If I can’t convince you, you need to read Robert Bakker,’ said Grant. ‘I know it’s almost ten years old at this point, but his book, The Dinosaur Heresies, argues for the evidence that shows dinosaurs are closer to birds than they are reptiles, and -‘ 

‘I’m going to stop you there, Grant,’ said Mary. 

‘Any particular reason?’ 

‘No, I just want to stop you.’ 

Grant huffed. 

‘Look, you can talk to me all you like about your dinosaur theories, but you can do it after the big time travel experiment,’ said Mary. ‘I know you can talk for hours about dinosaurs, but you can’t do that today. You might miss the experiment -‘

‘It’s a time travel experiment, Mary,’ said Grant. ‘With a time machine.’ 

‘That needs someone to be in it,’ said Mary.

‘What if I backed out?’ 

‘Well, that’s your prerogative. Nobody is asking you to stay. Though you are under an NDA, just as Shirley and I are.’ 

Grant sighed.

‘I’m sure you’ll feel better about time travelling as we prepare for it,’ said Mary. She pecked him on the cheek. ‘Come on. We have to meet Shirley anyway.’ She pulled an access card from her pocket.

‘What’s that?’ asked Grant. 

‘Don’t tell me you forgot your access card,’ said Mary. She shook her head. ‘Oh, Grant-kun, what are we going to do with you?’ 

They came to a door labelled “Top Secret”. Mary swiped her access card and the door opened to a dark, barely lit corridor. So, down they went.

Down. And further down.

And Grant was pretty sure the corridor was sloping at this point. And when he made a wrong step and slid down some stairs, he was definitely sure they were underground. 

Mary just laughed and helped him to his feet. And they turned a corner and walked down another dimly lit corridor. But at the end, there was light.

Grant stumbled out into the light to see Shirley Woo, his colleague, and the enigmatic and seldom seen CEO of the Chrono-Tech corporation, Jonathan Blaine. 

‘Dr Seeker,’ Jonathan Blaine greeted. ‘Dr Wakayama. Welcome to the Time Tunnel.’ 

His eyes still adjusting to the light, Grant looked around. It was still poorly lit, but much better than the secret tunnels to get down here. There were pipes and tubing all over the place. Vats, cylinders. And the flooring seemed to be made of metal grates. He looked up at the piping - one of the labels caught his eye. 

‘Flux Duct?’ he asked. ‘Dr Blaine, have you been watching too much Back to the Future? You know, Doc Brown’s Flux Capacitor?’  

Jonathan Blaine waved his hand dismissively. ‘No, no. Of course not.’ 

Grant narrowed his eyes slightly.  

‘In just two hours time, you three palaeontologists will be making history -‘

‘I’m a palaeoecologist,’ Shirley interrupted. 

‘And I’m a palaeobotanist,’ said Mary. ‘Like Laura Dern’s character in Jurassic Park, but I chose my career path before Jurassic Park, of course.’ 

‘What about you?’ Jonathan Blaine pointed to Grant. ‘Any more interruptions from you?’ 

‘Uh. No,’ said Grant. ‘I am a palaeontologist.’ 

‘Whatever your jobs are, you study prehistoric life,’ said Jonathan Blaine. ‘And you’re going to be time travelling back to the Cretaceous period in two hours -‘

‘Why not the Devonian period?’ asked Mary. ‘What have you got against trilobites?’ 

‘We don’t know if we can travel that far back yet,’ Jonathan Blaine said. ‘Now -‘

‘Are you sure you didn’t get the idea for the Flux Duct from Back to the Future?’ asked Shirley.

Jonathan Blaine looked at the three scientists in front of him. Two women, one man - all troublesome. ‘Yes. I didn’t,’ he said. ‘Now. Let me, without any further interruptions or comments, brief you on what will be happening today.’ 

Grant put his hand up like he was a small child in a classroom. ‘It’s my birthday today. I’m thirty.’ 

‘How nice for you,’ said Jonathan Blaine. He sighed in resignation and concluded to himself that palaeontologists were nothing but grown up children who had never left their dinosaur phase.

Chapter Text

While the team from Chrono-Tech made their final tests and preparations, Grant and his colleagues received a briefing from Jonathan Blaine. 

‘We’re sending you back sixty-six million years,’ he said. ‘It’s as far back as we know we can get the Rover without compromising the onboard computer. Plus we know you’ll be safe as there’s a million years between you and the extinction event.’ 

‘But not the t-rex,’ said Shirley.

‘Don’t worry about the t-rex,’ said Jonathan Blaine. ‘The onboard computers have an AI that tells technicians monitoring the Rovers,’ he gestured to the team working over on the CTX Rover in the middle of the Time Tunnel, ‘whether any dinosaur you’ll come across is a herbivore or a carnivore. And if it’s a carnivore, well, we’ll get you out of there.’ 

‘We’re going to die,’ said Grant. 

‘No. No. You won’t die,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

‘No offence, Mr Blaine, and you are a Mr,’ said Shirley, ‘but you didn’t invent this technology. You didn’t even work on it. They did.’ She pointed at the team working on the CTX Rover. ‘You merely funded it. You don’t take responsibility for it - you just sit back and chill out while all the people who built up this knowledge, the physicists, the engineers, the electricians, the palaeontologists… you let them. So you could be the first person out there to achieve time travel.’ 

‘No, that’s not right, we’re doing things nobody else has done before,’ Jonathan Blaine said irritatedly. ‘Going places where no man has gone before -‘

‘Take it easy, Captain Kirk,’ said Mary. 

‘You may well be going places nobody’s gone before,’ said Shirley, ‘but-but have you thought about whether it’s a good idea or not?’ 

‘Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should,’ said Grant. When everyone turned to look at him, he shrugged and said, ‘It’s, uh, it’s from Jurassic Park. I’m sorry, it just felt that’s where this conversation was going.’ 

‘Well, Jeff Goldblum is right on this occasion,’ said Shirley.

‘I thought being palaeontologists, you would want to see a real live dinosaur in it’s natural habitat,’ said Jonathan Blaine. ‘What we’re doing isn’t Jurassic Park.’ 

‘No. But there’s an ethical can of worms here that you’ve just put out the way,’ said Shirley. 

‘Shirley’s right. The tyre tracks,’ said Grant. ‘Won’t palaeontologists find it odd that there’s fossilised tyre tracks? And what if the tyres, I don’t know, what if they kill a compsognathus?’ 

‘It won’t kill a compsognathus.’ 

‘I mean, besides the fact that compsognathus lived in the Jurassic Period and in Europe, you can’t be so sure it wouldn’t kill a dinosaur of a similar height.’ 

‘I can be sure,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

Almost at that moment, Helen Marsh arrived. ‘Here’s my intrepid time travellers.’ 

‘I wouldn’t say “intrepid”…’ said Grant. 

‘He’s saying we wouldn’t kill a compsognathus,’ said Shirley. 

‘Well, as compsognathus lived in Europe and we are in America, I would say he’s correct,’ said Helen. 

Shirley grunted to show her dissatisfaction.

‘Please, familiarise yourselves with the CTX Time Rover and its features,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

Grant approached the CTX Rover, not quite knowing what to make of it. It looked kind of like an off-road car with its chunky wheels and thick tread tyres, but kind of not in that it had three rows of four seats each. It held twelve people, but he, Mary, and Shirley were only three. Another thing Grant noticed about the CTX Rover was that there was no steering wheel, no brakes, no clutch, no accelerator… no nothing. 

‘Uh… why is there no steering wheel? How do we drive it?’ he asked. 

‘Oh, you won’t be driving,’ said Jonathan Blaine. ‘I will.’ 

‘What do you mean?’ asked Grant. 

‘The CTX Rover is not designed to be driven, but operated remotely -‘ 

‘It’s a full sized radio controlled car,’ said Shirley. ‘But how’s that going to work in the Cretaceous period?’ She asked. ‘Where there are no radio waves?’ 

‘That information is proprietary,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

Shirley rolled her eyes. ‘Of course it is.’ 

‘And how is it going to time travel?’ asked Mary. ‘I see no Flux Capaictor here. Unless under the hood is like the TARDIS.’ 

‘Under the hood, it’s all electrical. Absolutely no gas involved,’ said Jonathan Blaine. ‘So, don’t worry about that, you won’t be travelling using the ancestors of the dinosaurs you’re about to view.’ 

‘Fossil fuels come from the Carboniferous Period,’ said Shirley, in the Palaeozoic Era. We’re going to the Cretaceous Period, which is from the Mesozoic Era, two periods separated by, roughly, two hundred and ten million years, and the Permian, Triassic, and Jurassic periods, as well as the fourth mass extinction event.’ 

‘Yes, that’s… right,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

‘You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?’ asked Shirley.

‘And we’re off to a great start,’ said Mary, sarcastically.

‘Please don’t argue with Chrono-Tech. We would like to maintain a good relationship,’ said Helen. 

‘Of course, Dr Marsh. But you did buy Chrono-Tech out,’ said Shirley, ’so the relationship would be a good one anyway.’ 

‘Please,’ said Helen. 

‘I’ll go and make my final checks in the control room,’ said Jonathan Blaine. ‘Take your seats in the CTX Rover, wherever you’d like. Put any loose items into the pouch in front of you and please wear your seatbelts. Remember, there were no roads sixty-six million years ago.’ 

Grant took a seat in the middle of the middle row, next to Mary. From his lab coat pockets, he took several items - pens, pencils, notebooks, a paleontological map of Diggs County and the surrounding areas, dinosaur figures, game tokens from the Dino-Rama -

‘Why do you have so much crap in your pockets?’ asked Mary. 

Grant shook his head. ‘I don’t know.’

He buckled up his seatbelt and looked up. There were five pipes, each with colour-coded words. From left to right, they read: Reclaimed Time Flux (in black) Magnetic Coil Exhaust (in orange), Flux Duct (in green), Excess Flux (in yellow), and Dynamic Time Flux (in maroon).

Helen walked over to the CTX Rover. ‘You three are doing science a great service, today,’ she said. ‘You should be proud. I’m proud of all of you.’ 

‘But not me, right?’ asked Grant. 

‘I’ve known you your entire life, Dr Seeker. I’m proud of you,’ said Helen. ‘And I’m proud of Dr Wakayama. And Dr Woo. You’re all incredibly brave scientists.’

A pause. 

‘Good luck out there.’ 

Jonathan Blaine’s voice came through the speakers on the CTX Rover. ‘Can anyone hear me?’ 

‘We hear you,’ said Shirley. ‘I have a question though.’ 

‘Go ahead.’ 

‘What does CTX stand for?’ 

‘… That’s not important,’ said Jonathan Blaine, hurriedly. 

‘Is it true,’ said Mary, ‘that it stands for “Countdown to Extinction”?’ 

‘We’re going to begin the experiment now,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

The CTX Rover began vibrating as it jumped to life.

Grant looked around nervously, not quite sure what to make of the whole experience. He looked at Mary next to him, adjusting her bra strap. She looked cool and calm and collected. He'd never known her not to be.

The rover moved forward a few feet and a technician stepped forward.

'You're gonna want to pull on the yellow safety tab -'

'This isn't a theme park,' said Shirley. 'We are in the sub-basement facility of an educational institution.' 

'Yeah, but you're going to be time travelling to a time where there were no roads,' said the technician. 'The last thing anyone wants is for you to be thrown out of the vehicle and eaten by a raptor or something.'

Shirley, clearly not wanting to, pulled on the strap of her seatbelt. It was secure. 

The technician then turned his attention to Mary and Grant. 

Grant looked down at his seatbelt for the yellow strap. When he found it, he gave it a good tug. 

Mary did the same. 

'Alright, we are good to go,' said the technician. 

Once again, the CTX Rover moved forward, but stopped just before reaching the time tunnel. 

'This is Jonathan Blaine.' 

'Yep,' Shirley acknowledged. 

'I will be monitoring your every move once you pass through the transport field at the end of the time tunnel, and I will do my best to steer you out of any danger you may face in the Cretaceous period,' he said. 'Good luck out there.'

The CTX Rover lurched forwards into the time tunnel. 

Grant looked around and noticed the time tunnel kind of resembled the inside of a toaster. He couldn't study it though, the CTX Rover was moving about, up and down, side to side, like a boat on stormy waters. It made him feel sick. 

Mary put her hand on his.

A crack of light, fog, and some strobing indicated they'd made it through the transport field. Almost mowing down a large creature Grant thought resembled a styracosaurus indicated they had indeed made it to the Cretaceous period. 

'Computer, what was that?' came the voice of Jonathan Blaine. 

Styracosaurus, came an automated voice that sounded almost like a female MacinTalk. 

The styracosaurus moved its head and looked right at everyone. 

'Whoa,' was all Grant could say. His heart was beating so quickly, it was the only way he knew he wasn't dead. Or dreaming. This was really real. He really was face to face with a styracosaurus. It was everything he could ever have dreamed of, ever since he was a dorky little boy with braces and headgear and no friends. Everything his parents could have dreamed for him, ever since they first realised they were having him when his mother went into labour at a dig site. That was thirty years ago today. Thirty years of his life, leading right up to this moment.

'I know,' said Mary. Styracosaurus wasn't her favourite dinosaur, but it was still hard for her to not be overawed in the moment. 

'Holy shit,' Shirley cursed. 'That's a styracosaurus. It's an actual styracosaurus.' She pulled a disposable camera from the pouch in front and took a picture. 

The styracosaurus backed away in shock, and made a strange noise - not a roar, not a growl. It was somewhat similar to a boom, the mating call of an ostrich. 

That noise puzzled Grant, until he realised, he was one of only three humans so far to have heard the sound of a dinosaur - any sound from any dinosaur. His mother had always told him it was humbling to break open a rock and see what only one human had seen, what the world hadn't for millions of years. And after breaking open his own rocks and fossils, he had to agree. But hearing it? That was even better. 

'Alright, let's move you along,' said Jonathan Blaine. 

The CTX Rover started moving slowly away from the styracosaurus. 

'Lots of plants here,' said Grant. 

'Beautiful plants,' said Mary. 'Oh my goodness. Some plants are still around today. I've seen them, Grant walking into - cycad!' Mary shouted happily, pointing at a small plant with a stubby little stunk and long stiff green leaves. 'They date back to the Triassic period. They're here!'

'It's just a plant,' said Grant, 'no need to get worked up' - 

'I'm a palaeobotanist,' said Mary. 'I'll get as worked up about a Triassic period plant as I want to.'

'Leave her be,' said Shirley, turning around to take a photo of the plant. 'It's not hurting anyone.'

'Not like that,' Mary looked queasy as she pointed out a bipedal theropod dinosaur snacking on another one. 

'What is that?' asked Grant.

'Disgusting,' said Shirley.

Alioramus, said the computer.

‘We’re going to get you out before the alioramus notices you’re here,’ said Jonathan Blaine as the CTX Rover drove away. Before it did, however, Shirley took a photo.

'Where the hell are we?' asked Grant. 'I thought we were in Florida. Wasn't alioramus discovered in Mongolia?

'Pangaea.' Shirley shrugged. 'I mean, it could be right,' she said. 'Pangaea started to break apart in the Triassic period. We're in the Cretaceous. The continents didn't shift entirely over a hundred and sixty-five million years from then to now, and we could still be a little off by a few million years or so. It's estimated that Europe didn't break from America until around the Palaeogene period, which was after the meteor strike that killed the dinosaurs. That means there's still a land bridge for them to cross.' She paused. 'Though why they'd want to is another question.'

‘Didn’t the styracosaurus live seventy million years ago?’ asked Mary. ‘Or, I mean, four million years ago?’

‘Maybe we carbon dated wrong,’ Grant suggested. ‘I dunno.’ 

The CTX Rover slowed down and came to a stop near another dinosaur. 

‘Computer, identify.’ 

Iguanodon.

Grant’s head shot up and he looked around. ‘Where?!’ 

Then he saw it. If he had sunglasses on, he’d be whipping them off, just like Alan Grant in Jurassic Park.

The iguanodon didn’t look like anything Grant had ever imagined. 

It looked better. 

All Grant could do was stare at it, agog. It was there, eating from a tree. Quadrupedal. All legs on the floor. The thumb spike was visible - how could it not be? It was bigger than Grant’s own hand. 

He needed a closer look at the creature he’d devoted his whole life to studying. He unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the CTX Rover. 

‘Grant, what the hell are you doing?’ asked Mary. 

‘Don’t worry, it’s a vegetarian!’ said Grant, running closer to the iguanodon. 

‘It’s got a thumb spike it could stab you with, you dolt!’ Shirley said, taking a photo anyway. 

Grant stopped and looked up in awe at the dinosaur. 

The dinosaur had clearly also noticed Grant, as it had stopped eating. It looked down curiously at Grant. 

Grant put his hands up. ‘No, no! It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.’ 

‘Grant Seeker, get back in the CTX Rover!’ Came the commanding voice of Helen Marsh. 

‘How do they know -?’ asked Shirley. 

‘We can hear everything,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

‘How can you hear us?’ asked Mary. 

‘That information is proprietary,’ said Jonathan Blaine. 

‘Dr Seeker, please leave the iguanodon alone and return to the vehicle at once,’ Helen said. ‘You are in a time period no human has ever seen, that no human was ever meant to see. These creatures do not know you are a human. The carnivores will want to eat you, and even the herbivores may wish to fight you. We do not know how they will react. Being in the CTX Rover is the only thing that will guarantee your safety.’ 

Grant sighed. Ultimately, he knew Helen was right. He just wished he could have more time with the iguanodon to see more of its behaviours. Instead, he simply walked over to the CTX Rover. 

‘You’re doing the right thing, Grant,’ said Shirley. 

Grant nodded. ‘Yeah, I know. Logically, I mean - I think I just let my emotions get -‘

He was interrupted by what sounded like a low crocodilian growl, and the call of what could only be described as a demonically possessed farm chicken with a deep voice. 

As Grant hopped into the CTX Rover, there he saw it. Behind them. 

‘Uh… girls…’ 

It was a huge dinosaur, at least fifteen feet tall. Red. Demonic. Sharp teeth. Horns on its head. And wearing a very angry, and hungry, expression on its face. It wanted lunch, and Grant, Shirley, and Mary were it. 

Carnotaurus,’ said the computer.