Dinosaur Blackout (12 page)

Mildred Roost seemed to be focused on the behaviour of the
Stygimoloch
herd. One of these small creatures always watched for predators and kept a short distance away from the others for clear sightlines. They also kept aloof from the hadrosaurs, paying them little attention as the herd made their way to the opposite side of the meadow. Daniel knew from experience that the
Stygimolochs
were headed towards the river, their ritual watering hole.

As he advanced a little closer to the
Stygimolochs
, Pederson coughed. The watcher instantly became alert. Pederson stopped in mid-movement, both hands tight over his mouth, until the plant eater lowered its head and went back to grazing. Slowly, Pederson raised his binoculars. He seemed to be examining the beasts’ hides.

As Daniel sat on the ground, he felt a little tremor. He kept his hand pressed to the earth and waited. Yes, there it was again. Something very large was approaching. He had to warn the others. Just as he stood up and was about to shout, the herds of
Edmontosaurus
and
Stygimolochs
began shifting uneasily. The hadrosaurs moved quickly and disappeared into the trees on the opposite side of the meadow.

Dr. Roost and Mr. Pederson noticed the change and stood on guard. They appeared not to know which direction to take, watching as the
Stygimolochs
moved towards the safety of the trees. Each creature would take a step, then check around for danger. Another step. Another check. Step. Check. Step. Check. One tentative step after another, they progressed back to where they had emerged. They were almost to the edge of the woods when the unmistakeable thunderous roar of a deadly
Tyrannosaurus rex
sounded. A sudden cacophony of noise reached almost deafening levels as various creatures rose to the sky or scrambled for safety, screeching and
bellowing their warnings. The herbivores stampeded away, disappearing into the bush.

Dr. Roost and Mr. Pederson seemed to make an instant decision. They ran hand in hand, their gear pounding against them, following the lead of the
Stygimolochs.
When they reached the edge of the trees, they clung to one another, trying to see what was coming.

Daniel crouched beneath the cycad, trying to figure out where the
T. rex
was headed before he made a move. He didn’t want to step into its path and accidentally find out if the theory about the
T. rex
having poor eyesight was right or not.

The crashing through the dense foliage became louder. All of a sudden, the deadly creature emerged only a few metres from where Pederson and Mildred Roost hid behind a tree. It swung and headed straight for the
Stygimoloch
herd. Mr. Pederson and Dr. Roost were in its path. They seemed to realize it at the same time.

They flung their backpacks off and drew out something that Daniel couldn’t quite see. A bright light streaked across the meadow. Dr. Roost helped Pederson steady it and aim the powerful laser beam into the eyes of the
T. rex.
It roared as if in horrible pain, floundering until it came to a total stop, swivelling its huge head as if to shake away whatever was in its eyes. While Dr. Roost tried to keep the laser beam on the gigantic creature, Mr. Pederson drew something else out of their backpacks.

Moments later, Dr. Roost set the laser down and the pair of them donned hooded gas masks and grabbed canisters from the ground. They pulled at some kind of plugs at the top of the containers and threw them as hard as they could towards the disoriented creature. The
T. rex
continued to advance erratically, unaware of what direction it was headed. It gave another horrendous roar, drooling huge gobbets of saliva from between its long pointy teeth, which resembled deadly grass-cutting scythes. Its orange eyes glared like hazard lights from a semi barrelling down a highway towards them.

Mr. Pederson picked up the laser light again, but it was almost impossible to aim the beam while the
T. rex
jerked and heaved. He joined Dr. Roost, and they kept pitching canisters – maybe twenty in all. As they did so, they backed away as best as they could, ducking behind one tree after another, but the
T. rex
kept advancing in a crazed fashion. Daniel was powerless to help them. All he could do was watch in horror as the
Tyrannosaurus
staggered towards the old couple. Why didn’t they drop the leaf or whatever vegetation they had and get back to the present? They seemed immobilized by terror.

“Drop your plant!” screamed Daniel.

They jerked around at the sound of his voice. Dr. Roost yanked on Ole’s arm and they careened around a tree trunk and fell to their knees. Finally, the enraged beast seemed to be slowing down, but they had run out of ammunition. Then the creature roared again. Pederson dug frantically in his pockets.

All of a sudden, whatever was in the containers took effect. The
T. rex
froze and then crashed to the ground in slow motion. The echoes boomed over the landscape. The loud
Haru-u-umph-ph-ph
it exhaled as it hit the ground sounded like air escaping from a giant balloon. Its head lay only inches away from Dr. Roost and Mr. Pederson.

When Daniel was sure the creature wasn’t moving, he raced towards them.

“No!” Dr. Roost yelled. “Don’t come any closer. You don’t have a mask!”

Daniel stopped in his tracks. While they righted themselves and staggered over to Daniel, he stared at the huge fallen beast. Barely heaving sides indicated it was still breathing, but Daniel wasn’t sure how long the chemical would keep it immobile. They’d better get out of there fast.

When they reached Daniel, Dr. Roost was shivering, and as she drew off her mask, sweat streamed from her forehead. Ole Pederson trembled.

“That was a close one,” he whispered, snatching at his gas mask and letting it hang around his neck.

“What were you thinking?” Daniel demanded, staring from one to the other.

“We wanted to see things up close and do what we could to save the
Stygimoloch
herd,” Dr. Roost gasped out.

“At the cost of your own lives?” Daniel asked. “You two are crazier than I thought.” Daniel realized he was sounding like he was their parent.

“I admit it was a dodgy decision,” said Ole Pederson.

“Well, are you satisfied now? Can we all go home?” Daniel asked, gritting his teeth. Every fibre in his body vibrated.

Dr. Roost answered lightly. “Yes, I do believe we have enough notes and photographs of the
Stygimolochs
.”

“Enough to work with for now,” Mr. Pederson agreed. He paused for a moment until he had their full attention. “But this is a prime opportunity to study a
T. rex
up close.” He motioned to the giant reptile.

Daniel and Dr. Roost stared at Ole Pederson as if he’d lost his mind. Daniel felt blood rushing into his head from the overload of adrenalin. Dr. Roost seemed to wrestle with her thoughts, while catching her breath.

“Sixty seconds, Ole,” she gasped. “That’s all the time you have. And I mean it. But you have to keep your safety gear on. The gas won’t have dispersed yet.”

He donned his gas mask, grabbed her camera and walked cautiously over to the downed
T. rex
. He took photographs from all angles, while Dr. Roost noted the time on her watch. She removed some of her gear and dropped it on the ground beside them.

Daniel stood helplessly by, scanning their surroundings and praying that no other vicious creatures would appear before Pederson finished. The darkening sky with bits of floating debris worried him too. He pulled the piece of branch from his pocket, ready to leave.

“Time’s up!” Dr. Roost called.

Ole Pederson returned and handed the camera over to Dr. Roost’s outstretched hand. He removed his mask and let it slip to the ground as he wiped his face.

Suddenly, Dr. Roost shrieked. “Oh no, not again!”

Daniel looked in the direction she pointed. A small pack of
Dromaeosaurus
vaulted towards them. Only half a metre high at the hips with sickle-like toe claws, sharp teeth and big eyes, the meat-eaters were considered very smart and would quickly surround the group, then move in for the kill.

“Okay, you two, time to go!” Daniel yelled.

Mildred Roost clutched Ole Pederson’s arm as Daniel stared at them. “And you,” he commanded Pederson. “Drop your plant, whatever it is!”

Mr. Pederson held his hand open with a flower blossom nestled in the palm. He glanced briefly at them both, then at the rapidly approaching pack of carnivores. With a shudder, he tipped his hand and let the flower slide away. At the same time, Daniel dropped his branch. Instant darkness engulfed them.

~

D
aniel’s ears hurt after they returned.
His breathing hadn’t quite returned to normal either, and his throat and lungs were sore. He sat down weakly on the ground. Pederson and Dr. Roost had landed nearby. For a moment, he couldn’t even bear to look at them. The terror of almost losing them was more than he could handle. “Promise me you two won’t ever do anything that crazy again!”

Dr. Roost smoothed out her clothes and cleared her throat, but she didn’t say a word. Pederson coughed quietly, but didn’t answer either.

“Did you two hear me?” he demanded.

“Yes,” they both said meekly.

“Do you know how close we came to being torn to shreds?” he asked.

“Yes,” Mr. Pederson answered feebly. Dr. Roost gave a faint nod.

Daniel realized he had to stop treating his friends like a couple of disobedient kids. He forced himself to take a few slow, deep breaths.

“Where did you get whatever it was in those canisters, anyway?” he asked.

“I have a friend who works at a zoo,” Dr. Roost said gruffly. “Liquid nitrogen.”

Daniel could feel the last of his energy draining away as his adrenalin levels dropped. “Can we call it quits now with the trips back to the past?” he asked.

They nodded. A haunting fear was still evident in their eyes. The three of them wearily gathered their gear.

Daniel whistled for Gypsy, not sure if she was still about or had returned home. She whinnied, though, from the other side of the hill and appeared within moments. He swung himself onto her back and loped home, leaving Mr. Pederson and Dr. Roost to return in his truck. Fatigue overcame Daniel, and he allowed Gypsy to pick her own way back as he slumped forward and rested on her neck.

He wanted to forget the whole ordeal, except that his mind kept mulling over the peculiar bleak skies in the past. The particles in the air behaved like fallout after a fire, although there hadn’t been a burning smell, nor had he noticed any billowing clouds of smoke. The grey-covered sky was more solid and consistent, like a thick blanket. He would have to ask Dr. Roost and Mr. Pederson what they thought might have been the cause. For now, he just wanted to get home and be safe.

Chapter Ten

D
aniel slid off of Gypsy near the corral gate,
and settled her inside with a carrot and some fresh water. He’d revived somewhat during the ride home, but he shivered and headed to the house, where he found himself alone. He made himself a cup of tea. The hot liquid soothed his scratchy throat and warmed him up. While he drank it, he thought about their latest adventure.

Although Daniel wanted to talk to Mr. Pederson about the strange dome of darkness and the dark particles falling from the sky in the prehistoric world, he was surprised at the relief he suddenly felt that the old folks weren’t joining them, and it confused him. He’d never before felt that he needed some distance from Mr. Pederson. Daniel considered how worried he’d been about Mr. Pederson lately and how much he’d miss him if anything ever happened to the old man. He recalled when the two of them first met a couple of winters ago.

Pederson had been anything but friendly – he’d warned Daniel to stay away from his land. He had made an important fossil discovery and wanted to keep Daniel away from it. Eventually, the old man got to know Daniel and warmed to his interest in paleontology. And then Daniel had rescued Mr. Pederson during a winter storm when the old man was very ill with bronchitis. Since then, Ole Pederson had mentored Daniel and the two of them had worked together on the
Edmontosaurus
project, Pederson’s amazing discovery.