FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

CHAPTER NINE

OPERATION EVACUATION

Sethi-Arh woke early the next morning. He slowly sat up to stretched out, working the sleep out of his muscles. Sethi-Arh surveyed his quarters. Without the sun to illuminate the space, it was dark except for the light of space outside the window. Sethi-Arh climbed out of bed and walked over to the window to see what he could see.

Outside in the blackness of space were tiny little dots of light scattered everywhere. The dots of light were slowly passing from the window, as new ones appeared to take their place.

Sethi-Arh placed his elbows on the windowsill and rested his head in his hands. His tail swayed back and forth behind him as his mind slowly awakened. He looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was Monday. He shifted his gaze out into space and stayed like that for almost half an hour until there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened and light from the hallway, flooded in. In the doorway stood Robert wearing his commando gear. There were big pockets filled with items ranging from first aid to combat gear.

Sethi-Arh turned to look at who was paying him a visit. When his eyes caught sight of Robert's clothes, his mind became awake and sharp as he then remembered that the rescue mission was today.

"Breakfast is being served in the mess hall, I hope you are planning to eat before we go," said Robert.

"I'll be there in a minute, can you wait that long?" Sethi-Arh replied.

"I've got nothing else to do right now." Robert said.

Sethi-Arh opened a draw in a desk near his bed. He pulled out tactical gear and put it on before leaving the room. Robert stood outside waiting. When Sethi-Arh stepped out into the hallway, Robert's eyes widened. Sethi-Arh was wearing the same gear when he first met him several years ago. The two walked side by side down the hall. Robert directed Sethi-Arh to the mess hall for breakfast.

Upon arrival to the mess hall, the smell of the morning menu greeted them through the door. They entered through and took in the sight that was before them.

The mess hall was the size of a football stadium. To their right as far as the eye could see were tables, lined up in rows. To their left was a buffet style serving area. The mess hall was full of men talking to each other.

Sethi-Arh and Robert grabbed a tray and selected their meals. Robert picked three pancakes, five pieces of bacon, and a carton of milk. Sethi-Arh had smoked ham, five pieces of bacon, and two cartons of milk.

After they got their breakfast, they then went in search of a place to sit to consume their meal. They looked around to find that many of the tables were full. They were walking towards the back of the mess hall when they came across a table where the rest of the rescue team had gathered. Sethi-Arh and Robert soon joined them as they ate, listening to the team's conversation.

"Darin sure knows how to get himself caught. This is the second time we've been called to save his sorry butt."

"You've got that Charlie. He always seems to be in trouble in some way," said Tom.

"Hay Tom."

"Yeah Chuck." Tom replied.

"What do you think this mission is going to be like?" Chuck asked.

"I don't know, hay Sethi-Arh, what do you think?" Tom asked.

"Well, it's going to be a tough one. We'll be in the enemy's backyard this time. Not to mention that Kreg is watching for us." Sethi-Arh replied.

"Hay Sethi-Arh," Chuck said.

"He's not here. No just kidding, what is it Chuck."

"Not to leave a cloud of uncertainty, but what should we do if one of us is captured?" Chuck asked.

"The best thing to do is to claim that you are a slave, belonging to the Kreg," Sethi-Arh replied.

"What if they ask us what we were doing out?" Tom asked.

"That depends on your surroundings. If you're in a market place, your reason would be that you are gathering food for your master." Sethi-Arh replied.

Robert was eating while Sethi-Arh conversed with the team. He was constantly thinking about what to do if he encountered Kreg. When Sethi-Arh mentioned the best thing to do if captured, he got an idea that would help the team accomplish their objective faster. He quickly finished his breakfast and checked his watch. It was only 7:30 AM, plenty of time before the morning briefing. He left the mess hall and ran to his quarters. He pulled out a silver case and opened it. Inside were various devices in molded foam inserts. He picked a device that looked like a watch. The device was a tracker, allowing someone else to locate the someone wearing a special tracking chip..

Robert closed the case and left the room. He walked back to the mess hall where he almost collided with Sethi-Arh as he was leaving.

"There you are, I've been looking for you," said Sethi-Arh. "We've been called to the briefing room. The mission will start soon."

Meanwhile, Darin was waking up next the Ebony and Kreg. He listened intently for any sound indicating that someone other than him was up. The only thing he heard was the silence. He then checked to make sure that he was in no contact with Ebony or Kreg. Satisfied that he had the element of stealth, he slowly made his way toward the foot of the bed. He lightly set one foot on the floor, constantly listening for any change in his surroundings. He then set the other foot down and slowly lifted himself off the bed. He then got down on the floor and crawled over to the wall. He began feeling his way over to the door, not daring to turn on a light. Once he found the door, Darin slowly stood up and lightly searched for some kind of opener. His fingers came across some buttons. He then studied them with his fingers, trying to tell what the buttons were. After a minute, he decided to take a chance and pressed the largest one. He crossed his fingers and sure enough, the door opened. Darin bolted out and into the hallway. He then began searching for the escape pods. He walked a few feet down the hallway and came across a display of the deck he was currently on. He searched it for the location of the escape pods and found that they were one deck below him. He wasted no time finding a lift down. When the lift stopped, he quickly got out and found some guards standing nearby. He decided to see what power he had since he now belonged to Kreg. He calmly walked by them; the only thing he received was a stare. He walked by and heard them say something in their native tough. He walked a few more feet before he found what he was looking for. He looked back at the guards then walked down the dark hallway. He then heard footsteps behind him and realized the guards had been watching him. They had seen Darin enter the escape pod hall and were coming to retrieve him.

Darin quickly dove into one of the pods and shut the door. He then pressed a red button that launched the pod. Darin was launched forward and into space where he activated the main thrusters and directed his path toward the planet below.

Meanwhile, Robert followed Sethi-Arh to the briefing room, where they and the rest of the team sat down. The admiral walked in and addressed the team. They were told what to expect during the mission and the possibility of being captured. When he had finished speaking, the team then left the room and headed for the hangar bay. Once there, they went over to a hallway where the escape pods where. They climbed in two to a pod and closed the hatches. They were then launched into space leaving the cruiser far behind. Robert and Sethi-Arh were in the same pod. They said nothing as they sot for the Vlatorran planet. Robert looked out the window and spotted the Star Destroyer that he said Darin was on. He looked below it and spotted something else. Robert got closer to the window to try to tell what it was.

He saw a bright light with a red booster trail behind it. The object was heading for the same planet they were. Robert steered the pod at the unknown object and followed its path. As they drew closer, he noticed that it was an escape pod.

"Who is that?" Robert asked himself.

Robert rejoined the rescue group and continued their decent, all the while looking at the other pod as the air surrounding it flare as it entered the atmosphere.

Darin steered the pod toward a building in a wooded area. He cut the engines and let the pod coast as it hurtled toward the ground. He then braced himself for impact.

At the same time, in the building Darin was shooting towards, a tiger morph had just woken up. He stretched out and wrapped a towel around him. He then walked over to an open window to watch the sun as it rose in the sky.

The tiger was about 6' 9" tall with a very muscular build. He was about to leave when he heard the sound of something falling fast. He looked up and saw a fireball heading for the forest nearby. He watched as is shot over the garden and crash into the ground. The noise woke the tiger's partner, who rolled over and sat up. It was a female tiger about the same height as the male and about the same build.

"What was that John?" she asked.

"I don't know Sheryl." John replied.

John climbed down the stairs to the first floor of the house. He went through the front door and out into the jungle. A large path had been carved into the ground. He followed it as he looked around at the trees that had been ripped out of the ground. John followed the trail and found its creator. In front of him was a large metallic object lying on its side. Steam was rising from the metal as it cooled.

Living on a planet ruled by the Vlatorrans, John was used to seeing strange things in the jungle, but this was by far the strangest. There were no markings to tell whom it belonged to or where it came from.

John continued his inspection of the vessel when a hatch opened. John jumped back in surprise. Once he calmed his nerve, he drew closer to investigate inside. He slowly stuck his head inside and looked around. In the pod was a human child, lying on his side. John was about to get closer but stopped when the child began to move. It groaned and slowly sat up. It was then that John noticed that something was not right with the child.

As the child continued to prop himself up, John then noticed a trail of blood running down the child's right arm. At that moment, the sun decided to show itself, as it cast a bright light into the escape pod, outlining John's figure. The child looked up at him and stretched out his left arm in desperation.

"Help me," he said.

He then collapsed as he blacked out. John quickly removed him from the craft and carried him back to his home. He walked through the jungle up to the back door. Sheryl was standing by the open window, searching for his return. As he emerged from the jungle, his wife's first expression was joy. When she saw he was carrying something, she was then curious. Then when she realized what it was, she was worried.

Sheryl ran downstairs and opened the door for John as he entered. He walked to the family room and laid the child on the couch before standing up again. They both looked at the human, his eyes closed, his breathing slow and shallow. When Sheryl noticed the blood dripping from the boy's fingers, she was quick to examine the cause. She gently moved the boy's right arm and discovered it to be broken and the bone was poking through the skin.

"John, hold his arm up while I go and get the remedy."

John did as he was asked as Sheryl left the room. She came back with a jar of some blue jell. She knelt down next to the wound and scooped out some with two fingers. She then applied it to the wound and spread it around. She then put the child's arm back in place and stroked his hair.

"Where do you think he came from John?" she asked.

"I haven't even the foggiest idea." John replied.

Meanwhile, Kreg was beginning to wake up. He stretched out and sat up. He looked at Ebony and smiled. Kreg then looked to where his slave had been and noticed that there was nothing there. Kreg was furious. He stormed out of the room and made his way to the command deck as he clenched his teeth in anger. When he arrived at his destination, he walked over to the window and the far side of the deck and turned to face the crew who where there.

"WHERE IS HE?" Kreg asked.

"Sir, we received word that an escape pod had been jettisoned. We're preparing a team to...."

"FORGET THE TEAM. IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT DO IT YOURSELF! I'M GOING DOWN THERE AFTER HIM; I WANT EVERYONE TO STAY HERE UNTIL I RETURN!"

Kreg stormed out and headed for his quarters to retrieve some equipment. When he walked in, he found Ebony sitting up and looking at him. She could tell that he was angry and left him to do what he had to. Kreg went over to a storage closet and opened it, inside where gadgets of every kind. Kreg pulled out one gadget and put in on his wrist. It was a pod tracker. The tracker was used to track down escape pods that belonged to the ship that had been fitted with a locator chip.

Kreg then closed the closet and turned to face Ebony. He walked over to her and sat next to her. He stroked her hair and kissed her.

"I'll be back soon," he said.

Kreg then left the room and headed for the escape pods. He climbed into one and launched to begin his hunt.

Meanwhile, Robert and the rescue team had landed in the mountainous region. They climbed out of the pods and did a roll call to ensure everyone was accounted for. After that, Robert took out a WPS (Watch Positioning System). A little dot began to flash on the screen. Robert led the team in that direction through the dense jungle.

Meanwhile, Sheryl had fallen asleep as she was watching over the child. While she slept, the child had woken up. He was looking around when John walked in. John was pleased to see their patient had recovered some. He walked over to him and found his wife asleep on the couch. John smiled and knelt down in front of the child.

"What is your name?" John asked.

"Darin, my name is Darin," the child replied.

"Where are you from?" John asked.

"Earth," Darin replied.

"Well, Darin from earth, I'm John and welcome to Harris."

"Is this planet under the control of the Vlatorrans?" Darin asked.

"Why yes it is. Kreg is the leader of them. He left to claim some prize from...earth," John said quietly as he realized that the child was the prize Kreg wanted.

In a flash, Darin stood up and bolted out of the house and into the jungle. John chased after him up to the back door. He watched as Darin slipped into the jungle and out of sight. He sighed and closed the door.

Meanwhile, Kreg's pod had just landed. He quickly got out and began tracking down the pod Darin had used to escape from him in. He found it a few feet from where he had landed. Kreg looked inside and found it empty. He then looked at the trail the pod had left behind and found tracks in the dirt. He followed it to a house not too far from the crash site. He walked up to the back door and knocked. John answered it and was shocked to find Kreg standing there.

"Did you happen to see a human child recently?" Kreg asked.

"Yes, he just ran off into the jungle that way a few moments ago," John replied.

"Thanks," Kreg said.

He ran off in the direction John had pointed out and found Darin's tracks in the dirt. He followed them through the thick jungle at a fast pace. He leapt over fallen logs in a single bound. Kreg moved through the jungle like a well-trained ninja, never stopping. He soon caught a glimpse of Darin, as he climbed over a large log. Kreg smiled to himself and went to flank Darin. He left the trail and went off into the untamed landscape, maintaining sight of Darin, but never giving a hint that he was there.

Darin climbed over logs as fast as he could. Though he had been in track and field in high school for four years, it still was not enough to give him an edge over Kreg. Darin ran as fast as he could once he made it to the grassy field at the far edge of the jungle. He kept low in the field to try to lose anyone following him.

Kreg fumed when he lost sight of Darin when he entered the field. He had been following Darin closely for a while and now lost him. He stood there when he heard voices off in the distance.

"Darin is not far now"

"Where is he?"

"Looks like he went into that grassy field over there."

"Do you have a WPS on him?"

"Yes, he should be towards the middle of the field if I'm reading this right."

Kreg hid in the trees and watched as a group of humans came into view. He recognized the leader to be Robert. He was holding a device that was telling him Darin's location. Kreg smiled as he realized that he was no longer lost on the hunt. All he had to do now was to follow this group and they would lead him to Darin.

The group pressed onward, heading into the field in a single file line. Kreg climbed down silently from the tree and followed them. They emerged from the field into a clearing by a river. The rescue party paused of a rest. Robert was over by the riverbank, filling a canteen with water. After a few minutes, the party pressed on again. As Kreg followed, he recognized they were going into an area known as the Jurassic Experiment Zone. Within that zone were the remains of the Vlatorran genetics facility, where years ago, the Vlatorrans carried out the same thing that John Hammond and InGen did on Isla Sorna. The Vlatorrans were bringing dinosaurs back to life from the fossils they had stole from a museum in Germany during the WWII and from other dinosaur sites in the U.S. The final product, of all of the work put into the project, was equal to that of those produced by InGen. Except for one small thing, the Vlatorran's dinosaurs were created to be able to breed naturally. As time went on the facility fell into disrepair, since the Vlatorran government on longer had needs for it.

Meanwhile, Darin had been in the Jurassic Experiment Zone for over half an hour. He climbed and crawled his way over obstacles as he went deeper into the zone. The jungle was now very quiet, as he carried on with his journey. He climbed to the top of a log that was on top of other logs and saw a herd of twenty Stegosaurus, five of them were as young as maybe two or three years old. The herd was traveling to who knows where. Darin stopped to watch as the herd walked by, observing the young as they walked close to the adults. When the last one passed, Darin resumed his travels. He dropped down a few feet from the high end of the log and walked off in the same direction he had been traveling for the past two hours. He walked for another two hours without seeing another dinosaur. The trees now had moss growing on them and the ground was becoming softer. Darin was now entering the center of the forest. The sunlight was now broken into rays by the treetops, casting a golden light on the ground, announcing the coming of night. By now Darin was becoming tired and in need of rest. He pressed on, hopping to find a good spot by a river soon, if not over the next log.

The sun was beginning to set and the forest became darker. Darin had now been walking for over five hours without rest. His hopes of finding a spot by a river seemed to slip away and the minutes went by. As Darin approached another log, he heard something. He concentrated on the sound. Unable to tell what it was, he climbed over the log to find a clean river, running through. Darin was overjoyed. He ran to the riverbank and cupped his hands to drink. Finally, he could rest until morning. He walked a few yards away from the riverbank, lies down on the soft grass, and fell asleep.

During the night, the Stegosaurus herd Darin had seen earlier, approached the same river. The herd's leader walked to the riverbank, he lowered himself and drank from it. The rest of the herd did the same. The leader then stood up and turned to walk away when he stopped. In front of him, on the ground was a creature he had never seen before. Curious, he walked over to investigate. He stood next to Darin, looking at him as he shivered in the cool night air. The leader then stood parallel with Darin and lay down next to him. He called the rest of the herd over, where the circled around him and the boy. The herd's young joined Darin in the center. The adults lay on the ground, forming a protective wall around their young. The younglings were interested in their new sleeping companion. They sniffed and examined Darin from head to toe. After their examination, the young snuggled up next to Darin. They immediately felt his body heat and snuggled even closer. They closed their eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, the rescue party set up camp for the night. The men started a fire in the middle of the camp and put large stones around it. Sethi-Arh and Robert were standing on a log, looking out into the never-ending jungle.

"Do you think we'll ever find him?" Robert asked.

"We can and we will. I am not leaving until we do," Sethi-Arh replied. "I wonder how Darin is holding out."

"He's probably doing fine," Robert said.

"Jasmine is going to get a kick out of the story I have for her when we get back," said Sethi-Arh. "Come on, it's getting late. We should head back to the camp."

They walked back to the campsite and went into the tent that they shared. Robert and Sethi-Arh crawled into their sleeping bags for the night. Outside, the men went into their tents and zipped up the entrance.

Meanwhile, Kreg set up his shelter and crawled inside. He contacted the research team that once worked in the Jurassic Experiment Zone and asked them what dinosaurs were living there.

"Oh there are Stegosauruses, Brachiosaurus, Spinosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Triceratops, and Raptors." A researcher replied.

"Thanks, Kreg out."

Kreg laid back and closed his eyes to sleep.

Meanwhile, a group of three raptors located the herd of Stegosaurus that surrounded Darin. The raptor's skin was a dark greenish blue with a white strip running down the sides of their necks to their tails. They had been scouting for food when they spotted Darin entering their half of the jungle and tracked him to the point where he stopped to watch the herd pass. At that moment, they abandoned following Darin to hunt him another day and went off to hunt for bigger prey.

One raptor stuck out its head and sniffed the air. Then faced the others and made a squawking sound. The others replied; they had found their prey. The raptors then went off into the jungle to plan their next step in catching the human.

Darin woke up the next morning to the sound of heavy footsteps. He opened his eyes and could not believe what he saw; the herd of Stegosaurus had circled around him during the night. Darin sat up and looked around.

The Stegosaurus were standing up and stretching out. The younglings were waking too. They nuzzled Darin's arm as they stood up.

Meanwhile, the rescue team was waking up to Robert shouting to them.

"Get up men, Darin is on the move again!"

The men groaned as they forced themselves awake. The packed up their tents and slung their packs on the backs before they set off again.

At the same time, Kreg was awakened by Robert's shouts. He scrambled to prepare to leave before the rescue team set off. He stuffed his shelter into a bag and put the bag in a medium sized pack. He put his arms through the shoulder straps and watched as the rescue team hiked down Darin's trail. He followed them silently at a distance.

Meanwhile, Darin stood up and walked over to the riverbank for a drink then ran off into the woods again, unaware that he was being followed.

The raptors were awake earlier that morning, watching as the herd began to stir awake. They watched Darin drink from the river, then bolt into the woods, where they then took chase. The three split up, one left, the other right, and one behind their prey.

Darin heard something behind him and turned to look. When he spotted the raptor, his eyes went wide. He then took off running as fast as he could go. The raptor took chase in an all out sprint.

Darin was becoming tired, his legs protesting to this game of cat and mouse. However, his mind told him otherwise, promising death to come swiftly if he should stop. Over logs and across small creaks he ran, never once looking back at the interment of death following him. Darin ran until he suddenly tripped. He looked up and saw all around him, nets of eggs. Darin was over come with fear; he had just stumbled into the raptors nesting ground. All those who entered these were met with a painless death.

Darin stood up and ran again away from the nests. He looked back to see the raptor still chasing him. Darin poured it all on and sprinted as if his life depended upon it, literally. He ran into a clearing when suddenly, two more raptors jumped out at him. Darin slid to a stop. The third cut off Darin's escape, followed by a forth, then a fifth. It was happening so fast, that before Darin could even think eight fierce and growling raptors had surrounded him. Then another raptor appeared. Darin assumed that is was a female. The raptor was a mild peach color with two light black stripes running from the top of her head to her tail. Darin concluded that the other raptor were male.

The female began to step closer; she was challenging him. Darin had seen this before in the movie "Jurassic Park III". He remembered what Sam Neill's character did when at the very end of the movie when he and three others were surrounded and being challenged as he was. They all got down on their knees and allowed the raptor to come in close.

Darin did the same thing; he got on his knees and stayed completely still. The female moved in close and then stared him in the eye. She then sniffed and pushed his head from side to side, then held the top of her head against Darin's forehead. Darin was trembling by now; uncertain if this was going to be his final day.

When out of nowhere, two three-clawed finger hands gripped his shoulders and a tong then ran across his right cheek. Darin was confused by this gesture. He slowly looked up at the raptor, his eyes pleading for mercy and asking why, all at the same time. Then it happened again, this time slower. Darin was now in a fog; was this raptor kissing him or tasting him. The raptor then pushed him onto the ground. He then felt clawed-hands pulling his legs and laying them flat on the ground. Darin was too afraid to protest and allowed the raptors to do what they wanted. The female then lowered herself on top of him. She kissed him a few more times before she rubbed her head against his cheek. She wrapped her arms around him in a form of a hug.

Darin's mind was in an ocean of confusion. What was going on? Why is this raptor advancing on him? So many question and so few answers.

Then, just as soon as it all started, the female lifted off him and disappeared into the jungle. The males followed her, leaving Darin behind. He stood up, thankful that is was all over. He made up for lost time by jogging. He then came to the edge of a valley. He looked out and saw an abandoned compound not to far off in the distance.

"That looks like a good enough spot to wait for a rescue." Darin thought.

He carefully climbed down to the bottom of the valley. He then made his way over to the compound. He was shocked when he came into view of the structure.

All around the front were the remains of vehicles: trucks, cars, and jeeps. As Darin walked by them, he noticed that every window on each vehicle was broken. The vehicles looked like they still ran, but how long they had remained stationary could affect that.

Darin walked toward the compound and approached a set of stairs leading up to the front entrance. He stood on the first step and looked the structure over. The jungle was in the process of claiming the building; vines grew where glass had once been. Rust was everywhere; doors were falling off their hinges. However, despite these signs of deterioration, the building seemed structurally sound.

Darin climbed up the remaining stairs and entered the compound lobby. Sunlight was coming through the holes in the roof. Vines hung down from I-beams and the floor was covered with debris. In front on the right wall, was a welcome desk dusted with leaves and kicked up dirt, despite the fact that the floor was made out of concrete. A black phone was on the desk, the numbers facing the entrance.

Darin walked past the desk and up a set of stairs that creaked as he walked up to the second floor. He then went down a hallway that was lit by the sunlight coming through the windows. The air smelled of dust and decomposing leaves. At the end of the hallway, a door stood open. With curiosity getting the best of him, Darin went to look. He walked through the doorway onto a catwalk and was shocked at what he found, an abandoned lab.

The lab appeared to be about the size of a small gym. The catwalk went round the middle portion of the lab. On the floor, lined up in two columns, were some strange looking machines. The machines were shaped like tear drops, except that the pointy top and rounded bottom had been cut off. Round clear circles covered the middle part of the machine's table. From the ceiling, ten robotic arms hung from two I-beams. Wires ran from every direction and connected to the robotic arms.

Darin climbed down a set of steel stairs to the lab floor where he found it covered with leaves and things from the lab. The sight of how everything on the floor was laying suggested that at one time there was a great need for those who once worked here to suddenly leave. The thought of why made his spine tingle.

He walked by the machines, some of which were open and reviled what was under those that remained closed. Darin then realized that the machines were incubators. He looked inside them and found eggs in various conditions.

The floor was scattered with eggshells near the machines and made a loud cracking noise when stepped on.

Darin walked toward the back of the lab where there were large cylinders in the same layout as the incubators. The cylinders were metal at the top and bottom. In the middle was clear Plexiglas. The cylinders had been filled with water, all though some had begun to leak. Inside them, floating in the cylinders were baby dinosaurs, still in the development stage.

Darin walked down the line, looking at each cylinder. What kind of dinosaurs they were remained a mystery. However, Darin did not have the time to figure it out and did not want to in fear that such knowledge would cause him to wet himself.

He was almost at the end when he saw something unusual. Three cylinders from the end, a fully developed Velociraptor head stood motionless.

Darin stopped to look at it. He recognized it to belong to a male, like the one he saw earlier. He stepped toward it for a closer look. The head appeared to be inside the cylinder that was completely filled with water.

Suddenly, the raptor's eye moved and looked at him. Darin froze; his mind began to race, trying to come up with a rational reason for why the eye had just moved. Then the head jerked back and then lunged out at him between two cylinders, which held the creature back. Darin backed away and screamed. He ran to the back of the lab, the Velociraptor followed him and then jumped out between two cylinders, one of which had been broken.

Darin turned left and went down a hallway. He slowed when he saw an open door. He quickly went over his options if the door led to a dead end and concluded that either way, he would be dead. He ran down the hall of the open door and stopped when he saw a dead end coming up. He looked to his right and saw another path. He ran into an area where there were cages along the walls. He then heard the raptor coming behind him, turned left, and ran down to a closed door that probably led out of the room. He tried to open the door but it was locked. Darin turned around to see the raptor skid to a stop and look at him. Darin looked to his right and saw a cage door wide open. He made a move for it just as the raptor came charging at him.

Darin almost had the door closed when the raptor slammed into it. Darin pushed against the door as the raptor pushed against it to open. The raptor groaned as he began to push harder. Darin was pushed back into a corner of the cage as the door swung around to trap him there. The raptor was then trying to bite him through the steel screen. Then the raptor looked up and made a sound that sounded almost like a laugh. Darin followed the raptor's gaze and saw that it was looking at the top of the cage door.

"Oh crap!" Darin said.

He then felt the cage door shake. Darin looked to find the raptor had set one foot on the cage door to start climbing toward the top. It was then that Darin got an idea. Once the raptor had placed his other foot onto the cage door, Darin pushed as hard as he could and swung the door all the way around to trap the raptor in a corner. He then locked the door like that and ran for the lab. He then suddenly stopped when he heard a distressing call come from the raptor. The call sounded like a mild pitched chirping. The sound echoed throughout the compound. Darin realized that it was calling for help. He ran to the front entrance and into the woods.

The raptor continued to call for help as it climbed up and over the door. He then ran out the front entrance and stopped on the third from last step where he called all the other raptors nearby.

The call sounded like he was trying to talk through his nose but deeper in tone and much louder. The other raptors got the message and headed off into the jungle.

Darin ran into another grassy field where some dinosaurs were feeding. As Darin got closer to them, they began to run away in a stampede. Darin followed them into the jungle on the other side of the field. The raptors entered the field at that moment. They sprinted after the stampede across the field and into the jungle.

Darin began to climb a tree that was a good distance from the edge. He gripped the think vines that grew around it up to the top to hide from the raptors. He held onto a think branch tightly and kept very quiet. He then heard the raptors as they entered his part of the jungle. They circled his tree and looked up. Darin watched as they orbited his hiding place, claws ready to grab him if he should fall.

Meanwhile, the rescue team came to the edge of the valley and saw the compound ahead. Robert brought out a pair of binoculars and zoomed in on it. He scanned it for any sign that suggested Darin had recently been there. When he found none, he decided to go and investigate the compound further.

"That compound there looks promising. Darin might have barricaded himself there." Robert said.

He led the team down into the valley and over toward the compound. When they emerged from the edge of the jungle, they stood in shock at the condition everything was in.

"Whoa! Looks like a riot went through here," said one of the team members.

Robert took out his tracker. It was pointing toward the compound. Robert shifted his gaze from the tracker to the compound. The building was in terrible shape but still provided some protection from the elements.

"Looks like Darin is inside. Come on men." Robert said.

He and the rest of the team went inside the compound. Robert was looked at the floor and was pleased when he found footprints on the dirt-covered floor. He followed them up the stairs and down the hall. They paused for a moment to survey the lab. They were about to go down the stairs when Robert's tracker beeped. He pulled it out and said something under his breath. There on the screen was a message that said, "Tracking error. Re-locating target." After a few seconds the Darin's real location was shown.

"Darn tracker. Men, the tracker goofed. He's not here." Robert said.

"Well then where is he?" someone asked.

"Outside. Looks like he's to the west of here." Robert replied.

Robert led the team back to the front entrance and out of the compound.

Meanwhile, Kreg had been following the team and saw them enter the compound. He was about to follow them inside when he saw them coming back. He quickly hid under some shrubs and watched as the team exited the building and head back into the jungle. Kreg silently crawled out from under the shrub and followed them. They soon came to the edge of a grassy field. Robert checked the tracker again. No error this time. They walked through the field, keeping alert for raptors. They then emerged from the field into a small clearing. The team had just entered the center of it when a raptor jumped out at them. The men stopped in shock, when another jumped out, then another, then another. Soon there were seven male raptors surrounding them. Then the female appeared. She stepped forward into the sunlight. Robert immediately recognized what was going on.

"Everybody get down, she's challenging us," he said.

The team got down on their knees and sat there motionless as the female walked closer. Some of the men were shaking with fear. With each step the raptor took, they all trembled in terror. Suddenly, it became too much for one of them. A stocky man turned and made a run for it, only to be blocked by two raptors who grabbed him with their hands.

The female watched as the man struggled to break free only to receive a growl. Satisfied that the man was detained, the female approached Robert. She smelled him and pushed his head from side to side. She then backed off some and looked at him before disappearing into the jungle. The other raptors stayed where they were, even after the female had left. They hissed and snarled, using fear to keep the team from escaping. The raptors that held one of the team's men came dragging the man toward rest of the team and dropped him there before taking their place in the circle again.

The hours began to tick by. Soon other raptors came to relieved those that had been watching the team. Afternoon came and went. Some of the men had fallen asleep and fell over. Some of the raptors were about to pounce on them but some invisible force held them back.

Before long, it was evening and the sun was beginning to set. Sethi-Arh and Robert were the only ones still kneeling. Robert told the rest of the team not to set up came in fear of endangering themselves if the raptors should strike at them during the activity that would come if they did.

As the sun set on the horizon, Robert began to feel tired. He began to lean against Sethi-Arh, who wrapped an arm around him. Soon he too lay on the ground, with Robert beside him. As night came, the team drifted off to sleep. The raptors that surrounded them came closer and lay around the team.

Meanwhile, Kreg was talking to a raptor through a translator. Whenever the raptor spoke to him, Kreg recorded it and played it back through the device using headphones. When Kreg went to reply, he spoke into the translator and played it back to the raptor.

"You caught a group of humans? Where?" Kreg asked.

"One is cornered in a tree, the others are surrounded in a clearing," the raptor replied.

"Great, now do you remember what to do in the morning as part of the plan?" Kreg asked.

"I am to catch this "Darin" as he climbs out of the tree and take him over to the others. Where you will have some of your kind come a take them out of our home," the raptor replied.

"Excellent. I see a bright future for you raptors," said Kreg.

"I must be going, one of our females is about to go into heat. I do not wish to miss it," said the raptor.

The raptor departed and disappeared into the darkening jungle. Kreg switched on his communicator and contacted the commander of the Vlatorran infantry. He told the commander to have a ranger force ready to detain some fugitives in the morning. Kreg then switched the communicator off and set up his shelter for the night. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Darin was sleeping soundly in the treetops. He laid his back against a wide tree limb, his hands hanging in the air. While he slept, the same female raptor that had laid on top of him, climbed up into the tree to sleep with him. The raptor had been attracted to him ever since she laid eyes on him. She dug her claws into the tree and lay on the same limb Darin laid. She kissed his cheek before she slowly drifted off to sleep.