"Miss? Miss!"
Jocelyne jumped, sitting up instantly: "I'm awake, mom, I'm awake!" she screamed, only to realize that the person who had pulled her out of the dream world wasn't her mother at all.
"Do I look so much like a woman?" Jackson asked, amused.
"A little" the girl replied jokingly.
“Don't say that in front of Abe, please. He'd make fun of me for the rest of my life" the militia leader laughed in turn, and then took a look at the girl's bed: "Did you spend another sleepless night?"
Jocelyne looked awkwardly at her bed, which was flooded with computers, books and electronic devices. "Apparently" she said with a shrug.
Jocelyne's mental condition had been improving for some time. Slightly, sure, but still they were getting better. Although she still had nightmares and was clearly suffering from PTSD symptoms, she had finally stopped trying to stay awake as much as possible. She forced herself to sleep and this was clearly benefici
Sobek emerged beside the ship and rapped three times on the hull. Carnopo, Al, and other dinosaurs quickly got out of the hold and leaned out of the hull to be able to talk to him. "What's going on, pack leader?" they asked; in fact, Sobek normally came at night to avoid attracting attention, so the dinosaurs found it strange that he had come to call them in broad daylight."We are arrive" Sobek replied, pointing to the coastline that was becoming more and more evident on the horizon. "We must prepare for ditching""Ditch... what?"“Ditching, it's… forget it. In any case, given the current trajectory of the ship, we will end up straight into a port... and no, I don't have time to explain you what a port is!"The autopilot was programmed only to follow the naval route. Slowing down and landing near ports was the crew's job. Dinosaurs had no idea how to steer a ship, so they could neither perform such operations nor change course. Therefore it
Sobek barely checked what had happened at the crash site; his mind was focused on swimming in the muddy waters of the river.Even though he couldn't see or hear them, he knew that all the other dinosaurs he had taken from the zoo were around him. This was because he had given them both [Ambush] and [Swim speed].His plan had been simple but brilliant. Sobek could have simply had the ship abandoned in the open sea and then sunk it, but he had preferred to follow another path. In order to go unnoticed, the dinosaurs would have to use [Ambush]; so, however, they would also be invisible to him. And if the river and the sea into which it flowed had been full of ships there would have been the risk that someone would be discovered.Many of the dinosaurs in his pack weren't swimmers, and with [Swim speed] they would end up with a speed they weren't used to. For example, ankylosaurs were not used to moving at more than 10 km/h, but with [Swim speed] they would have reac
While Sobek began his sleep, not very far away ('not far' just for say: we are still talking about hundreds of kilometers, which were nothing for a planet as big as Eden) Jocelyne was having a video call with some of the most important scientists in the world."Forgive me if I disturb you at such a time" she said as she looked at her computer. There were two windows on the screen: on one appeared the faces of Alan Grant, Ian Malcolm and Sarah Hardy, while on the other were Mitch Morgan and Jamie Campbell. In practice, the five scientists who recently had obtained the most significant discoveries: the last two with their studies on Spinosaurus superior and the first three with those on Spinosaurus ingens.“You don't disturb us, Miss Jersey. Rather, we are questioning the reason for your call” Alan replied. He wasn't the only curious one: even the most famous scientists in the world weren't often called by important personalities, so they wondered what had pr
"Robert Oz?" Mitch exclaimed, and his expression didn't seem happy. "I know you""Not for fame, I presume" murmured the man as soon as he entered. “Mr. Morgan, Miss Campbell, Miss Hardy, it's nice to meet you. As for the two of you, it's nice to see you again” he said looking at Ian and Alan. "I'm glad to meet you, Mr. Oz" replied the two. "Do you know each other?" Mitch asked surprised. “Yes, it was a long time ago. After all, we were both biologists. We did some research together, and I introduced him to Ian” Alan explained. "Then he began to take an interest in genetic engineering and we moved away" “Oh… I understand” Mitch said, but suddenly Jamie exclaimed, “Wait a minute! So you are THAT Dr. Robert Oz? The one who was expelled from the scientific community for having theorized the possibility of an awakening of the cognitive abilities of animals?" "My reputation precedes me apparently" Robert grumbled. "I guess you haven't heard much good about me" "You're right" Mitch murmu
[Evolution complete: congratulations, you have evolved to Spinosaurus imperator!]'Groan... I don't know why, but I'd like to sleep another five minutes' Sobek thought stretching. And a little later he understood why."Pack leader! You woke up!" Buck's deep roar made him shake. Shortly after, other rumors reached his ears. "How do you feel?". "Are you hungry?". "Do you want something?".Do you know what it means to wake up and be pestered by questions without even a second to understand something? No? Well, good for you."Shut up!" Sobek roared, rising abruptly. The dinosaurs around him fell silent instantly.Quiet at last, Sobek was able to look around. Buck, Carnopo, Al and many others were surrounding him as if he were an idol just out of a concert, but far beyond dozens and dozens of other dinosaurs were observing the situation from a distance, undecided on how to act.Sobek regretted the times it had evolved with no one around. At least
Finally Sobek turned back to the dinosaurs. As he tried his new skills, many more had arrived. 'Am I wrong or are there more than before I evolved?'.The questions can wait. "Tell me, has something important happened in my absence?" he asked simply.Explaining the dinosaurs for his behavior and evolution was out of the question. For humans, knowing the thoughts of their leaders was important, but for animals it was different. A pack leader didn't act like this: he didn't have to give any explanation for his actions. Even if Sobek was tempted to say 'sorry, now I'm done checking my powers, tell me something nice', this act would have been interpreted to the ears of his subordinates as an act of weakness. For the animals, lowering themselves to the level of others was a sign of ineptitude. Therefore, if Sobek wanted his pack to remain united and steadfast, he always had to be indifferent and sure of himself.Buck stepped forward and spoke for everyone. "We haven't
Finally alone, Sobek was able to devote himself to... well, himself.He would have explain his intentions to the dinosaurs, of course. By using the ability to exchange images and feelings through the [Contract] he was more than certain to make them understand the gravity of the situation. After all, on Internet he could find very suggestive images concerning the problems of pollution and human invasion. If he had used this ability well, the dinosaurs would have fully understood the danger and would have been even more motivated to follow him; after all, their survival was at stake.However, this wasn't the time. Sobek wanted to wait until all of his skills were fully unlocked before giving them the speech. This is because if the dinosaurs had known of the danger posed by humans they would surely have grown impatient, and that would have thwarted his plans.He also wanted to become able to talk to pterosaurs before making any pre-war speeches. Dinosaurs alone cou
Buck didn't return that evening, and neither did the following ones. On the contrary, he continued his journey to north, following the traces left by his old pack.When Sobek had let himself be captured by humans, the tyrannosaurs weren't too far from their refuge: it would take half a day to reach them. But the pack had moved over the months, making the road much longer.Buck, however, had on his side the nose and the instinct of a hunter; with these two weapons that nature had provided him he could track down an ant from many kilometers away. Even if it was a journey lasting several days he could still reach the pack.It went on for two days and two nights without ever stopping. Only on the third day did he allow himself a few hours of rest before sunrise. He did not even hunt: he ate a few bites from an old carcass and then continued on his way.For a wild animal, order from a pack leader was everything. And if you were talking about a respected pack l