Triceratops separated from the herd and headed in her direction. Con stepped out of its path. Then, as Rick watched in horror, she advanced and touched the creature's tail. She turned her gaze back at Rick with a look of triumph in her eyes.
The herd thinned out, and Rick was beginning to relax a bit when he spotted a pair of
'Yeah, I sure do,' asked Joe softly. 'Right out of some movie.'
'You lock on the left one. I'll take the right. Don't shoot unless we have to.' Rick aimed his gun and pulled the targeting trigger. The weapon came alive in his hand and tracked the huge carnivore as it advanced. He called to Con, who was still watching the herd. 'Con, stay perfectly still.'
'Why?' she called back. Then she froze in terror.
Even at a hundred yards away, the Tyrannosaurs seemed nightmarishly large. Rising eighteen feet above the ground, they moved with a powerful grace that seemed impossible for such massive animals. Their heads scanned about in an alert, watchful manner as they walked, keeping pace with the herd. Their path headed directly toward Con.
Rick called to Con as softly as he could and still be heard over the herd's noise. 'Come this way, but slowly.' A Tyrannosaur cocked its head in his direction.
Con walked toward Rick and Joe, her eyes never leav-ing the advancing monsters. The huge pair came closer. Rick found himself staring at their legs, a combination of birdlike form with an elephant's mass and power. The three sharp, curved toe claws caught his eye at each step.
The pair came closer still. Rick had to bend his neck to see their enormous heads. Their partly open jaws re-vealed six-inch teeth surrounding maws so large a child could hide inside. Beneath horny ridges, yellow-green eyes scanned the landscape, seeing it from a treetop per-spective. Rick tried to imagine the view from those eyes.
Still following the terrifying heads for some clue to their intention, Rick arched his neck backward. The near-est of the pair passed within five yards of him. Rick could hear its breathing, smell the sweet odor of rancid meat, feel the warmth of his urine as it trickled down his leg.
Then the Tyrannosaurs were retreating, still following the herd. Rick had to duck a swaying tail as they de-parted. He took a deep breath, turned off his gun's tar-geting, and looked around him. Joe's hands were shaking violently. Con's eyes were wide with excitement and ter-ror. Even as he watched, the terror faded and the excite-ment grew. 'Wow!' she said in wonder. 'Wow!' Rick, Con, and Joe stood immobile and silent for sev-eral minutes, watching the departing herd. Finally, Joe said, 'Maybe we should go back.' No one said a word. They just started walking toward the plane. About half-way there, Rick saw a flash of movement in a clump of bushes about thirty yards to the left.
'Hold up, Joe.'
'What did you see?' Joe asked.
'A chance to bag Pandit a dinosaur. See that clump of bushes over there?' said Rick, pointing.
'Yeah.'
'Set your gun at the lowest power and at a wide dis-persal, then shoot the bushes to give them a good shake. I'll try to get whatever's scared out.'
'Got ya,' said Joe. 'Tell me when you're ready.'
Rick adjusted his gun to fire rapid bursts, then said, 'Now!'
Joe fired, scattering leaves into the air. Three brown forms sped away. Rick followed them with his gun, rak-ing the ground with shots.
'Did you get anything?' asked Joe.
'I think I hear something thrashing about.' Rick ran to the site of the shaking foliage to fire one more shot. As Rick looked down at the animal at his feet, a wave of regret briefly passed over him. Even in death, the lithe creature appeared graceful and dynamic. Rick consoled himself in the knowledge that, in less than a million years, all its kind would be extinct. At least now, people would hear of them. Joe and Con walked over to see what he had hit. Joe laughed, 'You got a bird.'
'I did not,' replied Rick. 'Some dinosaurs had feath-ers.' Joe examined the dead creature and noted its clawed hands and long tail. 'I guess you're right.'
'What is it?' asked Con.
