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“Emergency! Emergency!” the familiar voice of Isako Chako sounded over the intercom of the Born Free headquarters. “Everyone, get ready for immediate action!”
Throughout the base the members of the Born Free team immediately stopped whatever they were doing and hurried for the hanger bay where the special all-terrain vehicle they drove on their dinosaur-saving missions, also called Born Free, was located.
First there was Gonda ‘Gon’ Akira. A short, slightly overweight man with glasses and a medium-length beard, he was the engineer in charge of keeping the team’s vehicles operational.
Next was Maki Reiko. She was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair, a slender figure and a kindly face. In addition to being the team’s physician she was also an excellent botanist able to identify the Mesozoic Era plants that always indicated when dinosaurs were nearby.
Behind her was Koyama ‘Gara’ Saburo. A thin, gangly man with black hair, he was in charge of the radio equipment.
Next came Kitayama Joji, the team’s commander. He was a tall, strongly-built man whose black hair was swept out at either side like a pair of wings and whose features were solid as stone.
Finally, there was Masaki Maseo, the mascot. Although only ten years old, his knowledge of dinosaurs and way with animals had come in very useful to the group. With him was his inseparable companion, a St. Bernard named Don.
All of them wore the same uniform; a red and white helmet, a light blue coat (in Reiko’s case short-sleeved with white sleeves covering her arms) with matching trousers, black boots for the guys, red boots for Reiko. Except for Gon who wore a gold heart-shaped necklace, each had a coloured ascot around their neck, pink for Reiko and Maseo, green for Gara, and red for Joji. The Born Free brachiosaurus insignia was worn on their belts, helmets and left arms. Strapped to their belts were holsters containing anesthetic pistols.
“What do you guys think we’ll be after today?” Gon asked as the team took the lift down to the hanger bay.
“Something incredibly terrifying and dangerous I’ll bet” Gara grumbled.
Reiko smiled. “You never know, it could be a harmless species of dinosaur.”
“With our luck I doubt it” Gara replied morosely.
“Whatever it turns out to be, we will not fail in our duty to protect all dinosaurs” Joji said firmly.
“Right!” the others all agreed.
Soon afterwards Born Free had docked with Carry Bird, the transport aircraft, and taken off. Once they were in the air, Dr. Masaki appeared on the monitor screen.
“We’ve been contacted by the United States Air Force. This footage was recorded by a reconnaissance craft in New Jersey.”
On-screen Dr. Masaki’s face was replaced by a video recording of a dinosaur wandering through a forest. It walked upright on two legs with scaly brown skin, a thick tail and a long broad head.
“This dinosaur was spotted following a seismic upheaval that caused the ground to rise. We’ve identified it as a Camptosaurus.”
The image changed again, this time to a picture of a Camptosaurus standing against two silhouettes, a human and a St Bernard, for size comparison. A synthesized voice spoke.
“The Camptosaurus is a species of dinosaur that lived about one hundred and fifty-five to one hundred and forty million years ago in the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Periods. It is seven metres long, six metres tall and is a peaceful herbivore.”
“See Gara? Reiko was right, it’s a harmless dinosaur,” said Maseo.
“There are probably some dangerous ones there as well” he groused. “We just don’t know about them yet.”
“The seismic upheaval seems to have stopped but stay alert” Dr. Masaki warned. “Your mission is to find the Camptosaurus and bring it in safely.”
“Understood. Leave it to us” Joji replied.
Carry Bird touched down in New Jersey. Born Free disembarked and drove away.
“Let’s start the search for the dinosaur” said Joji. “What’s the terrain like?”
“A lot of dense woodland and rough ground” Gon replied. “It’ll be slow-going even for Born Free.”
Joji nodded. “Very well. Gara will patrol the area with the Seagull. Reiko and I will go on ahead in the Beagle. Radio in when the dinosaur is spotted.”
“Understood.”
The Seagull, a small helicopter, took off from the back section of Born Free. At the same time a ramp lowered and the Beagle, a scout vehicle, was deployed. Both set off in different directions.
Back aboard the Born Free, Maseo watched both the Beagle and the Seagull as they disappeared into the distance. The usually cheerful boy was frowning. Gon looked at him curiously.
“What’s wrong Maseo?”
“I don’t know. Ever since we got here, I’ve had this bad feeling” he replied. “I hope the others will be all right.”
“They’ll be fine” Gon reassured him. “You even said yourself the Camptosaurus is harmless. It doesn’t even have any horns or spikes like some other herbivores.”
“Yes of course” he said. But despite Gon’s words the bad feeling persisted. Sensing his unease Don padded over and nudged his leg with his snout. Maseo smiled and scratched behind his ears.
Two hours passed with no word from either the Seagull or Beagle. The sense of foreboding had not eased and Maseo was desperate for something to take his mind off it.
His wish was granted when he spotted a reading. “Gon, stop! There’s a dinosaur nearby!”
Gon brought the vehicle to a halt, raised the periscope and peered through it. “I don’t see anything.”
“Let me try.” Maseo looked through the periscope and yelled, “there it is!”
Gon looked again and his jaw dropped. “That’s a dinosaur!”
“Yes. My parents told me about it! It’s a Velociraptor!”
A scale image of the creature appeared on the computer screen. “The Velociraptor is a species of carnivorous dinosaur that lived about ninety million years ago in the Cretaceous Period. It is five feet tall and weighs ten pounds.”
“I didn’t know dinosaurs could be that small” Gon commented.
Maseo laughed. “Sure. There are many small species of dinosaurs.”
Gon sighed. “Well, it’s still our job to capture it.”
“I’ll go,” said Maseo. “Someone should stay on Born Free in case the others try to contact us.”
“Good thinking. Okay go ahead.”
Maseo and Don carefully exited the vehicle and crept towards the Velociraptor which was gnawing away at the carcass of a badger. Despite its small size it was clearly a predator, with a large hooked claw on each foot.
“Keep still Don, don’t scare it” Maseo whispered. He slowly drew his anesthetic pistol, raised it and fired two rapid shots. The capsules exploded as they hit the Velociraptor, sending up clouds of white smoke. Startled, the creature dashed away into the forest.
“After it, Don!”
Don barked eagerly as he chased after the fleeing dinosaur. After just a few minutes they found the unconscious Velociraptor laying on the ground.
“Yay! We did it!”
They brought the creature back to Born Free. Gon peered at it curiously. “It’s the size of a turkey. Maybe we could have it for Thanksgiving dinner.”
Maseo glared at him “Gon!”
“I’m just kidding. There’s no point calling in Carry Donkey for something that small. I’ll rig up something to keep it in until we find the Camptosaurus.”
Just then the console beeped, indicating an incoming transmission. Gon took a seat and brought it up.
“Gon, Maseo, come quickly!”
The Beagle drove through the forest smoothly and steadily with Joji operating the controls and Reiko monitoring the instruments. Although it had been two hours since the group had split up, her attention did not waver. Her patience was rewarded when she got a reading.
“Joji, there’s a dinosaur nearby! Five degrees West.”
“Good. I’ll notify the others when we find it.”
Reiko peered through the canopy and noticed there was a river flowing past them. “The dinosaur isn’t moving. It probably stopped to drink at the river.”
“Then let’s catch up before it moves on.”
The Beagle emerged from the foliage into a clearing and came to a halt. Joji and Reiko stared in dismay at the sight in front of them.
The Camptosaurus was indeed at the river but it was not drinking peacefully. Instead, it was laying on the ground, its eyes half-open. Only the slight rise and fall of its flanks let them know it was still alive.
They immediately exited the Beagle and ran over to the ailing dinosaur, Reiko carrying her medical kit. She crouched next to the Camptosaurus and took out a stethoscope. Placing the resonator against the dinosaur’s skin she listened to its heartbeat and breathing.
“It is very weak” she said. “The heartbeat is erratic and its breathing is shallow.”
“Strange. I don’t see any wounds” Joji said as he inspected the Camptosaurus.
“Its neck is swollen. This could be some kind of disease” Reiko suggested as she put her stethoscope away. “We’ll have to set up a quarantine at the reserve.”
Joji moved around to examine the dinosaur’s head more closely. As he did so the Camptosaurus uttered a low groan and its eyes opened wide. With a sudden burst of strength, it managed to raise its broad head and swing it. Joji was caught completely off-guard and was knocked into the river with a splash!
“Joji!”
“I’m all right” he said as he got up and stepped onto the bank, dripping with water. “It’s just a little…”
His words trailed off and his eyes glazed over then closed. He fell to the ground and lay still.
“Joji!” Reiko exclaimed. She ran over to him and checked his pulse. It was alarmingly faint, as was his breathing. Just then she noticed something on the water’s surface. She looked over and gasped in alarm as she saw several dead fish floating down the river. At once she realized what was happening.
“The river is poisoned!”
Reiko hurried over to her medical kit and quickly but carefully sorted through its contents until she found a hypodermic syringe and a vial of antitoxin. With expert efficiency she loaded the syringe with antitoxin, checked that there were no air bubbles in the fluid and injected it into Joji’s arm.
For several tense moments she waited anxiously for the antitoxin to take effect. Then Joji’s breathing and pulse began to return to normal. She sighed in relief. After one final check to make sure he was all right she activated her helmet microphone.
“Gon, Maseo, come quickly!”
“What’s wrong Reiko?” Gon asked.
“We’ve found the Camptosaurus. It’s been poisoned by contaminated river water” Reiko explained. “Joji was also poisoned but I’ve given him an antitoxin. He’s unconscious but he’ll be all right. I need more antitoxin for the Camptosaurus.”
“Hold on, we’ll be right there” said Gon. He started the engine and Born Free set off. Maseo sat at the console and gripped it so hard his knuckles turned white. As if sensing his distress Reiko spoke up.
“Don’t worry about Joji. He’ll be fine, he just needs to lay quiet for a while.”
Maseo smiled. “Thanks Reiko.”
Meanwhile Gara was surveying the ground below him from his vantage point up in the Seagull. A river wound away into the distance, gleaming brightly in the sunlight. There was no sign of the Camptosaurus but he kept looking. He felt a little relieved; up in the sky the dinosaurs couldn’t get him.
[But Pterosaurs still can.] He shuddered at the thought of the winged creatures with their sharp claws and pointed beaks. [I just hope there aren’t any around here. Chako didn’t say anything about that but you never know…]
He was brought out of his musings as he spotted something strange-looking. Below him was a mass of blue objects that stuck out like a sore thumb in the greens and browns of the forest. Curious he lowered the Seagull for a closer look.
At the base of a raised lump of earth was a cluster of blue chemical drums. To his dismay Gara saw that some of the drums were laying in the river. A green liquid was leaking out of them into the water.
[That can’t be good. I need to get that stuff out of the river but how?]
“Wait, that’s it! The net” he said aloud. Gara hit a button and a hatch opened on the Seagull’s underside. A net attached to a cable lowered and he carefully used it to scoop up the drums.
“Just like fishing” he said as he deposited the drums on the ground a safe distance from the river. “I’d better tell the others.”
Born Free emerged into the clearing and came to a stop. Gon and Maseo scrambled out. Reiko was tending to the Camptosaurus while Joji was laying on the ground. By now he had regained consciousness but he was still weak from the poisoning.
“Joji” Maseo exclaimed as he hurried over to the team’s leader and crouched beside him.
“I’m all right Maseo” he said. “Thanks to Reiko. If it hadn’t been for her quick actions, I’d be dead.”
The boy stood up and ran to Reiko and hugged her tightly. “Thank you so much for saving Joji” he said, tears flowing down his face.
“It’s okay” she said gently.
Gon walked over and handed her a box of medical supplies. “Is this what you need?”
“That’s it. Thank you” she said as she took it from him. She opened the box and took out a veterinary syringe which she quickly loaded with antitoxin and injected into the Camptosaurus. After a few moments she checked its vital signs. Reiko smiled and turned to look at the others. “The Camptosaurus’s heartbeat is stable and it’s breathing is stronger.”
“Then it’s going to be okay?” Maseo asked.
“Yes.”
He cheered happily and the adults all smiled fondly. Just then they all heard an incoming transmission on their helmet microphones.
“Guys, this is Gara. I’ve just found something…”
Born Free contacted the Environmental Protection Agency and notified them of what Gara had found. A team was immediately dispatched to join them.
It turned out that the drums contained toxic waste. They had been buried years ago but had been brought to the surface by the same seismic upheaval that had caused the ground to rise. In the process some of the drums had been damaged, causing the toxic waste to leak into the river. The EPA team hastily secured the drums for proper disposal and began environmental remediation procedures. They informed Born Free that they would inspect the surrounding area to see if any more disposal sites had been similarly disturbed.
Carry Donkey was called in. By the time it arrived Joji had recovered enough to stand up. He and the others watched as the massive airship came to a stop above the sleeping Camptosaurus and lowered its cage. The two halves closed together around the dinosaur and lifted it up into the air until it was safely aboard.
Next a smaller harness was lowered down. Maeo strapped the Velociraptor into it and the small dinosaur was also raised up into the airship.
“Bye little guy” Maseo called as he waved.
“This was a most successful mission” said Joji. “We saved two dinosaurs and saved this place from an environmental disaster. Well done everyone.”
“Thanks commander.”
“Let’s get back to base.”
The team got back aboard Born Free. Soon they had docked with Carry Bird and were heading back to their headquarters to await their next mission, whatever it may be.