As Everett braced for the searing pain he knew was coming, a miracle came from the same area where the tree sloth had disappeared to. The raptor’s flight toward Carl’s prone body was snatched away at the last moment by a blur of white, yellow, and red feathers. He rolled away and saw that the raptor’s trajectory had been altered big time. He shook his head and then focused on the commotion in front of him. The alpha leader of the Velociraptors was in a quandary as it it hissed at the large roc confronting it. The great bird was now the one doing the circling. Its small wings flapped as it cawed and screeched at the raptor, daring it to charge. The large talons of the roc were scratching away the undergrowth as it was preparing to charge like a bull. Still the raptor held its ground as it hissed out raptor epithets at the large chickenlike bird.
“I’ll be damned,” he mumbled when he saw that it was the same roc that he had saved the previous month. The deep scratches that the giant panther had etched into its large beak were the telling factor in his identification. The deep gouges were now a blur as the beak opened and then the roc screamed and attacked.
The raptor knew it was outmatched fighting alone. It threw the spear like an Olympic athlete and, like the terrorists of Everett’s own time, it ran away from superior firepower — that being the enormous, sharpened beak of the roc. The large chicken knew not to press its luck with pursuit. It had the instincts to know that the alpha raptor had many friends in the jungles and one roc against a flock had no chance. The roc skid to a stop as the raptor vanished into the bush lining the game trail.
Everett had a hard time getting his heart to slow after the close call. He watched the roc as it scratched the earth with its giant talons as it mocked the flight of its mortal enemy. The giant turned to face Everett. Its yellow eyes blinked in rapid movement. The long neck of the bird craned higher to get a better look at Carl. The rooster took a few tentative steps toward the man who had saved its life. The small wings flapped twice as it stopped only feet away. Everett sheaved the knife and then ventured a step closer to his savior. He stopped when the roc suddenly chirped. Everett’s eyes went wide for a moment as he didn’t know if that was a greeting or a warning that he was getting too close. The long legs and powerful thighs of the roc remained still as Carl held out a hand toward the scarred beak. The roc leaned over and Everett gently touched the deep gouges that had been close to a death sentence from the earlier confrontation with the large panther. The roc blinked its yellow eyes as Carl’s hand came into contact with the hard surface of the beak.
“Well, I guess thanks are in order,” he said as his large hand slid easily over the rough surface of the roc’s large and menacing beak. It opened its mouth and then it squawked lightly as its head bent lower at Carl’s touch.
Erebus took that moment to awaken from its nightly slumber and announce that it was now fully awake. The explosion of ash and rock flew from the mouth of the crater, and three other smaller mounts close to Erebus did the same. The ash cloud formed immediately and slid down the facing of not one, but four volcanoes. The earth moved and then quickly settled as the ashfall became heavier.
The large and curving beak of the roc nudged its equally large head against Everett’s hand. The man smiled and then patted the giant on its head as the world became darker around them. They heard other frightened beasts of the eastern and southern plains as they stampeded away from the death and destruction falling from the skies over their heads.
“Looks like we won’t have very much time to sort out this new friendship we have here, my friend.”
The roc squawked again and then nuzzled Everett’s hand even harder than before. Then, as the ash cloud grew heavier, the giant raised its head to the sky and screeched. The sound initially came out high-pitched, but ended in a deep bass sound that reverberated against the stark skies. Carl smiled as the roc looked back at him, its red-feathered head dipping to his hand once more.
“You sound like an old-fashioned foghorn, you know that,” he said as he scratched at the roc’s feathers on the side of its head. He laughed when he realized he had just come up with a name for his new friend. He pushed the roc toward the game trail.
Erebus rumbled and her three sisters did the same.
“Come on, Foghorn Leghorn, let’s find some cover.”
Xavier Morales watched as the tractor slowly moved onto the floor of the makeshift laboratory. He saw Jack Collins and Henri Farbeaux at the front as Collins controlled the tractor and its six-trailer load by remote control. Henri stood opposite him with Jenks and Charlie Ellenshaw bringing up the rear near the first trailer. He saw that all but Ellenshaw had M-4 assault rifles slung on their packs. Their white environmental suits gleamed in the multicolored brightness of the powered-up doorway. The procession halted as they came within fifty feet of the doorway. The steel door slowly closed behind them. He watched as Collins looked first at the large monitor and Morales as he viewed from Nellis, and then he glanced up at the observation room where the gathered department heads watched on nervously. He looked but knew Sarah wouldn’t be there and his hindsight regrets doubled. Niles nodded and Alice gave them a small, sad wave of her elegant hand.
“Los Angeles, this is Group control, we’re ready to power up to one hundred and fifteen percent. Are we a go?” Morales asked as his team of technicians excitedly watched from Nevada.
“Group, we are green across the board, ready on your command,” came the reply from the submarine laying tied up at the dock.
“All observers, please lower your eye protection,” Xavier ordered. Sunglasses were placed on faces throughout the observation room and the platform area. “Dimensional Raiders, lower your visors and prepare for power-up.”
Collins shot a look at the monitor and Xavier at the mention of the moniker Raiders, but lowered his visor anyway. Charlie smiled as he secretly loved the new nickname.
“Inject the nitrogen into the doorway,” Virginia ordered from her station as her eyes settled on Master Chief Jenks, who glanced over at her and then nodded his helmeted head. That was when they all heard a frightening sound as the large pumps injected liquid nitrogen into the spinning doorway. The noise was overpowering as the coolant spread through the system to cool it while the lasers cut a dimensional path through time and space. Without the coolant the team would walk into the power of the sun.
“Begin collider sequence, five thousand RPMs first.” Alice closed her eyes in the scientists’ silent prayer of, God, I hope we know what it is we are doing.
Inside the large spinning wheel of the doorway the trapped atoms started racing around the interior of the wheel and then another from stream of protons from the opposing end. Both came on at the speed of sound as they passed each other. With every revolution the two particles came closer and closer together. It was only the sheer brilliance of Europa that timed the sequence perfectly and kept the two from colliding before the doorway was fully open. They needed the power of the colliding atoms and protons to punch a hole large enough out of this time dimension and into the desired target of Antarctica of 227,000 years ago.
Inside the observation room some of the department heads turned and they had to smile as Will, Sarah, Anya, and Jason entered. The director looked their way and nodded. He knew he would never be able to keep them out anyway. They had to know if their friends made it through the doorway and he couldn’t blame them in the least. He turned and saw Jack and the others looking up at him. Collins saluted and then nodded that they were as ready as they would ever be.