Episode 5x04

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine, but belong to Impossible Pictures™.

The golf field lay green and inviting, almost devoid of life save for golfers, their families, and their carts.

"Fore!" And a shiny white golf ball soared clearly over the field.

Philip Burton was barely able to restrain a grimace. He hated golf – the only other sport he hated more than golf was cricket – and the only reason as to why he was here, was to make a business deal with the chaps from Bridges™, and they were always more responsive when dealing while golfing, the only reason.

It wasn't that Philip was bad at golf – he actually was a reasonably good player for someone of his social stature. It just that he was never able to see the point in it, it was just so stupid!..

"Fore!"

Once again a golf ball sailed over the field – this time it vanished in the beech copse that was edging the field at one side. There was a thunk, and a clunk, and a deep coughing roar... the last sound didn't belong to a well-manage golf field in any incarnation.

"Oh my," Philip said slowly, feeling his spirits actually beginning to lift, as controversial as it sounded, "now this is something unexpected!"

The time anomaly blared throughout the ARC complex. "A time anomaly detected in the Cummings' golf fields," Jess's voice followed the alarm through the speaker-system. "It's, uh, doesn't seem to be going away."

"Thanks, Jess," Matt and Becker, followed closely by Connor and Abby, appeared next to her. "Got these travel routes ready?"

"Actually, Mr. Burton arranged us to have helicopters for just this case of out-of-London emergency," Jess shrugged. "Our Center now has its very own quick response team reaction!"

Connor opened his mouth to say something, but a look from Matt and a glare from Becker stifled this urge, and soon they were on their way. (Somewhat reluctantly – Jess had to admit to herself that her staying to guard the fort while the rest of the team was kind of getting old and unpleasant – Jess remained behind to co-ordinate the efforts.)

In an ironic twist of fate, Philip – who had never liked animals very much to begin with – lately found himself hanging around an ever-growing number of prehistoric beasts. The original animals were rather like golf, actually – rather pointless and unimportant features in the great scheme of life. But compared to the newcomers, well, they were actually well-behaved!

The newcomers in question were the 'wild' dinosaurs that had currently taken overly the golf field. Grunting like so much oversized, overly smelly cattle, they just mulled around, doing nothing.

"And it took the Center to realize that all of these animals were just a side effect – an unpleasant side effect – of the real problem so long why?" Burton muttered sarcastically. "Our Majesty's governmental thinking, no doubt!"

There was a soft chirp, and Philip turned around, somewhat surprised, only to discover a small lizard-bird – well, a dinosaur, naturally – creature looking at him in an inquiring sort of way. For a moment Burton just thought he should bash its' head in with a golf club. But then he remembered that the dinosaurs the ARC field team had encountered had looked rather similar to this one, and that as soon as one of them got tasered down, the rest attacked the field team all at once. And Philip was sure that he wouldn't be able to beat a horde of screaming small bird-dinosaurs of the own, never mind the larger, hornier ones that were occupying the main body of the golf field right now.

Seething with anger and irritation, Burton settled back down to wait for the ARC field team to arrive, forgetting about the smaller reptiles for the moment. This action was going to have consequences, but he didn't know that at the moment.

"I don't believe it! We're flying in a helicopter!" Abby babbled excitedly. "I've never flown in a helicopter before! This is so cool! Guys, isn't it cool?"

"I wouldn't know, because I'm back at the base," Jess's voice sounded genuinely regretful. "Guys?"

"It has its pluses," Matt admitted. "Connor, Becker?"

"Too many bad memories of the past," Becker shook his head dismissively, "I'd rather not go into it. Connor?"

"I'm really sure that Philip gotten the Center these helicopters to prevent Peter from getting that spectroscope," Connor admitted. "And by spectroscope, I mean a device of observatory proportions, from what Jess showed me, it was almost the type used in astronomy, not something more down to earth."

"Isn't he specializing in physics, though?" Abby asked, curious despite himself.

"Yes, but his son is into astronomy instead, and the two Peters, senior and junior, tend to rub off each other, they are quite similar in character too, from what I've heard," Connor continued, a trifle wistfully. "I wonder if my son would be more into technology or dinosaurs – Abby, what do you think?"

Abby blinked – once, twice, and began to turn red, which, considering that she was a natural blonde, was quite vivid indeed.

"Connor," Matt said diplomatically, manoeuvring himself between the young couple, "let's not go there just yet, shall we? First let's go and deal with the dinosaurs, okay?"

"Yes," Connor blinked, realizing that he had messed up somehow again, "let's."

Back in the control floor of the ARC, Jess felt just as bothered by Connor's statement as Abby did, albeit for different reasons. Ever since Connor, Abby and the others had attended the wedding of Jenny Lewis, it was clear that the concept of married life was never too far away from Connor's mental process; it was amazing, really, that he wasn't asking for advice about it from other men, or even his parents, perhaps.

Jess, however, didn't care about Connor's procrastination, not at this point in time. It was Becker's response, or rather lack of it, which bothered her more. True, while Connor and Abby had been exposed to Jess's wedding extravaganza, she and Becker had to defuse one of Ethan Dombrowski's mega-sized nail bombs, but still... even Matt was reacting with some emotion to Connor's statement, but Becker just didn't. He practically ignored it.

Becker... Jess knew that he was a good man as well as a manly man and very well built (not that she had been sneaking peaks, she hadn't), but... did he want to be a father? From what Jess could see so far, Becker wasn't a man about town, rather a complete opposite, but otherwise he seemed to be quite happy in being a bachelor, and... and where did it leave her?

Well, not with too many dating opportunities inside the job, that's for sure. Possibly lonely too, and Jess had no intent of being an old maid. But what to do about that, though?

"Becker?" she spoke into her mouthpiece, "when you get back... can we please talk?"

Becker responded in silence so profound, that Jess began to grow nervous that she had accidentally switched her speaker system off. Finally, to her relief, Becker replied:

"...I guess. Once we've dealt with the dinosaurs, and I can tell you right now, that they're going to be a handful!"

"Deal," Jess exhaled in relief. "By the way, what sort of dinosaurs are they?"

"Big."

"Yes, Becker, we can see that they're big, about as big as our mammoth," Connor snapped angrily, as he searched through his database for a match. "You don't have to be stating the obvious!"

"Actually, I was talking to Jess," Becker explained, patiently. "Anyways, what are you so huffy about? Obvious, these are triceratopses, no?"

"Oh. Oh, no. Triceratops had three horns – two on the brows and one on the nose. These ones have only brow horns, no nasal one!"

"So, does it make them biceratopses, duoceratopses, some sort of a triceratops ancestor?" Becker wasn't backing down. "What?"

"Eureka! You're right! Zuniceratops!" Connor exclaimed giddily. "A distant triceratops ancestor, I suppose. Early Cretaceous, 110 – 90 MYA."

"Great, now all that we need is to find the time anomaly and we're all set to go," Becker said cheerfully. "Matt, are you ready to lead us now?"

"Sure," Matt replied absent-mindedly, "by the way, Connor – these dinosaurs seem to be happier in a woodland than a grassland, so why are they out here and not in those trees? Becker, you got any more of these sting grenades that you've talked about?"

"Sure, want me to throw one?" Becker asked, almost eagerly (for him, anyways).

"If you can reach it from here – knock yourself out," Matt shrugged in reply.

"Will do," Becker seemed to rise to the challenge. He pulled out a grenade, stepped into a classical (to a lay-person's eyes anyways) throwing poise, prepared to throat and then... whirled around, throwing the missile up at the roof. T

The grenade struck the roof and exploded, spreading rubber pellets into all direction, but the dinosaur had already leapt off of it, landing safely on the ground, beyond the pellets' reach. Then it leapt once again, just as Becker and Matt and others were whirling around, their tasers ready to fire, and landed right behind the people once more, its jaws snapping shut... on Becker's taser that the man used to block the dinosaur's lunge just in the nick of time. The metal groaned, a swarm of sparks shot into the air, and the dinosaur fled, squawking indignantly.

"Raptors. Well, a raptor," Connor muttered despondently, "and there are probably others. Oh, damn."

"Jess," the commlink came to life, startling Jess somewhat, "we might be dealing with raptors inside the golf club's building. Can you hack into the building's security system to check?"

"Already on it," Jess confessed, "only the security system here isn't very extensive, it is covering only several apparent key points, and that is it."

"So? These are raptors, not burglars!"

"And the security system here is designed to deal with the latter, not the former!" Jess shot back. "The raptors aren't particularly interested in the manager's office or-"

"Or?"

"I think I caught something near the fire exit's staircase, some sort of a shadow," Jess confessed. "I'm sending Connor's the building's plans now."

"And we're on it."

The inside of the golf club building everything seemed to be orderly, if one were to ignore the mess left by people fleeing in a hurry. "Okay, the raptors – if they are here – are sticking to the higher ground," Matt said thoughtfully, "Connor, Abby – you've dealt with in the Cretaceous, right?"

"Wrong," Connor admitted, guiltily, "well, half-wrong anyways. The raptors we've dealt before were shorter in height, and their plumage was bluer than this one's. This might be a different species – kind of like that tree creeper creature."

"Or, what Connor's trying to say, we haven't met this species of raptor ever," Abby explained curtly, "so any guesses how it – or they – will behave will most likely be unjustified and possibly wrong, yes."

"Well, they're sticking to higher ground," Becker said thoughtfully, "and to the trees too, I suppose. Don't get why they hadn't tried to make some sort of a pincer movement from here and the trees...maybe they're not smart enough to figure it out..."

"If they're anything like the raptors we met in the Cretaceous...and odds are that they are...they would be," Abby said with finality. "Consequently, the question is – why haven't they?"

"Maybe the time anomaly is there," Connor suggested, "only we're too far from there for my device to make a reading..." he moved absent-mindedly closer to the window only to be knocked by Becker – and in a nick of time as a raptor dove through it, followed closely by the horned herbivore. The raptor's leap carried it right through the window, shattering it in the process, but the horned dinosaur, as it followed the carnivore in a mad rush, got stuck in the widened hole all the same...and wasn't bright enough to realize what had happened, as it continued to bellow challenges to the canny carnivore, even as the latter got onto its own feet and rushed for the doorway.

"After it," Matt shouted to Abby.

They were too late.

Like a red-feathered missile the raptor had tore through the doorway, raced around the building, and literally slammed into the zuniceratops, biting and clawing into its' skin and flesh. The pain and the fear caused the latter to jerk backwards, freeing itself from the hole in the club's wall in which it was stuck, but all was in vain: the raptor drew it foot backwards and stabbed upwards, right into the herbivore's neck. It was over in a blink of an eye – the raptor's talon sank into the zuniceratops' neck completely, and then withdrew, and the zuniceratops collapsed in a fountain of blood.

Slowly, the raptor raised its head upwards, towards the roof and shrieked loudly – and was echoed back. Within moments, another slightly smaller raptor, carrying something in its jaws, jumped and joined the first hunter, and when it released the jaws that something was identified as a raptor juvenile – its partial plumage being yellowish, rather than reddish in hue.

"Well, that settles it," Abby admitted, even as she moved to block Becker's shot (by accident, no doubt). "The raptors we usually saw tended to eat their young, not care for it."

"A different species, for sure," Connor shrugged. "I mean, since we stayed in northern Africa, and these animals seem to come from the western USA, that makes sense. If only we could get tissue samples..."

"And as interesting that might be, Connor, maybe you should start thinking about getting this situation under control. You too, Anderson," Philip Burton said from behind the foursome as he appeared from inside the clubhouse. Then he saw the raptors feeding and blinked. "And this is why I don't generally approve of hosting dinosaurs and prehistoric insects in the Center."

There was a general pause as Connor, Matt and the others digested the appearance of their leader in their midst. "Sir," Matt finally said, trying to sound more differential than his usual approach to Burton, "how did you end up here?"

"Came to negotiate a business deal over some golf," Burton shrugged, "and got caught in all the excitement. Got to admit, if this is a regular day for you, then you're all made of sterner staff than the usual person. Anyways, what is the strategy?"

"We need to find the time anomaly first, and with a herd of unpredictable horned dinosaurs on one hand, and overly smart raptor family on the other, it might be a bit tricky," Matt admitted.

"Well, initially they all did come from the trees over there," Burton confessed, "so odds are that that is where they need to go again."

The others looked at each other, except for Becker, who was busy interacting with Jess instead. "Sounds like a plan...or beginnings of one, sir," he admitted, finally. "That said, any of us have ideas as to how to drive the uniceratopses that way?"

"That's zuniceratopses to you, Becker!" Connor snapped, "and no, we don't have a plan!"

"Speak for yourself, Connor, I actually do...or the beginnings of one, rather," Matt spoke up for the first time since Burton had run into them.

"Oh? And what it is?" Connor wasn't backing down without a fight or at least an argument. "Enlighten us, please."

"A stampede."

There was a pause as the others thought it over. "What do you mean, 'a stampede'?" Connor spoke in a voice that implied that he wouldn't like the answer.

"We stampede them in the direction of the time anomaly," Matt explained patiently, "I think I have almost worked out the way how to do it, too."

"I don't like it," Connor replied, grudgingly. "The last time there was a stampede it was the embolotheres... and Helen Cutter of all people had to save our asses..."

"Yes, well, if you can duplicate her feat by manifesting a time anomaly in mid-air, then you're welcome to do it," Becker snapped, and stopped, when he saw the look on Connor's face. "You can do it?"

"I'm going to try," Connor replied, resolve evident in his face. "'Cause the idea of stampede – it's just wrong. Everybody – stand back, all the same." He pulled out the time anomaly sealing device and began to press the sequence of buttons on it. "I'm not quite sure if I'll be able to accomplish it, though."

"Then, Connor, maybe you shouldn't-" Abby began, but Connor didn't listen to her: he finished his sequence, his device whirled, clicked, and flashed...

...and suddenly the ARC field team plus Burton found themselves very definitely not on a golf course, but right in the middle of a thick, prehistoric, broadleaf forest, right alongside the dinosaurs. The herd of the herbivores took one look around, then took a sniff, and fled deeper into the depths sylvan depths. So did the raptors, actually, but in a slightly different direction from the herbivores, and at a much faster speed (the bigger raptor once more carried the juvenile in its jaws).

"Er, what's going on here?" Connor blinked. "And, uh, do I smell smoke?"

"We can see it," Becker said slowly, looking at the shadows dancing beneath the trees and moving rapidly towards them, "and flames too. Connor, we're standing in the path of a forest fire – get us out now!"

"I'm trying," Connor said desperately, pressing a new sequence of buttons, and with a pop the five people abruptly found themselves not in early Cretaceous North America as before, but back in the modern England, right back where they've started, on the golf course.

And the raptors were back, having emerged from the trees. They did look exhausted (even the juvenile), but they were raptors. And then-

"Guys!" Jess' desperate cry tore over their eardrums. "Where are you?"

"Jess, we're here," Matt said with a grimace, "and Mr. Burton's with us as well, so can you please tone your excitement just a little?"

"Sorry, you guys," Jess continued to babble, almost desperately, "it's just that you were gone, and the time anomaly's gone, and-"

"Wait, the time anomaly's gone?" Matt said, slowly.

"Yes!" Jess said firmly. "Wait, you didn't close it?"

"Um, we did, but in a different way from before," Matt replied, carefully, "hence why we couldn't respond to you earlier. Sorry about that, by the way. Kinks need to be worked out of a new method – a lot of them."

"Oh. Good. Um, did you say Mr. Burton is there with you?"

"Yes, so can you send some back-up, please?" Becker spoke carefully for the first time since their impromptu though brief trip to the Cretaceous. "Like... four minutes ago?"

"Already have," Jess actually managed to sound huffy for once. "Believe it!"

And Jess had. Very quickly the helicopters had descended, bringing back-up, which was no longer required, as the dinosaurs were either gone, or too tired to put much of a fight. "Well, all ends well that ends well," Becker said, clearly relieved to see it all being over. "Connor, you going to send the raptors back or what?"

"Later, back at the labs to ensure they don't get sent back to the forest fire," Connor said serenely. "That is if Michael Gallo allows me to-"

Connor didn't finish. As Becker's subordinate began to haul the tranquilized raptor family away, a heavy foot slammed down through the trees, and several tons of enraged behemoth began to rapidly approach them, looking rather pissed.

"Connor, honey, what is that thing?" Abby squeaked, as a bipedal dinosaur looking like a cross between a turkey and a giant sloth, almost funny except for those giant claws on its forelimbs. And it was tall, far, far taller than the raptors or even the horned dinosaurs. "What is it?"

"A segnosaur!" Connor sounded raptured by sight. "I never thought I see one alive or dead. Wow!"

"Is it dangerous?" Becker muttered quietly.

"It's – it's a giant herbivorous cousin of the raptors," Connor admitted, "and it looks to be rather possessive and territorial, but, anyways," he turned to Abby, "now that I've actually seen it, there's only one thing left to do – Abby Maitland, would you marry me?"

There was a pause as everyone just stared at the couple, and then Abby did the unexpected – she sort of froze, blinked a couple of times, and fainted. This, however, was somewhat overshadowed by the segnosaur, as it abruptly collapsed with a crash.

"I, I didn't do that," Connor muttered, lamely.

"I know," Burton nodded in agreement even as he handed the tranquilizer gun to the young man, "I did. And by the way, if you two do get married, can I sing at your wedding? I always wanted to sing at a wedding, you know?"

Connor blinked and just nodded in agreement.

"Our hero," Matt wryly whispered to Becker, who just nodded, his eyes narrowed deep in thought.

To be continued...