pinpointing concerns...

i found a lead on the pack of the primordial feather's whereabouts here in calgary... from the most unexpected source!

now i needed to see if it would lead me to this crate of theirs (which i had on good authority was something they should not be allowed to keep)!

there was only one person who could help me sort out whether this information was of use, as information was kind of his thing...

that was of course mike the librarian!

i called him to cut down on the time usage rather then go over to his place. he seemed to like the fact i didn't come over uninvited.

i informed him of the coelurosaur sightings in the (most remote section of the) university geology department. "hmmm," mike stated as he loaded up all the information he could find on the department.

man i couldn't believe what mike could find as a librarian. i always used to think librarians just put books on shelves, but in reality they're information sleuths who can find out anything if it is written down ANYWHERE... "there doesn't look like much here. just supply and specimen storage and shipping requisites..."

suddenly mike paused as though to read something. though his response came a lot quicker than it would have from me. mike is a powerhouse reader compared to me it would seem!

"those sneaky little bird like reptiles!" he gleefully stated, much like the hunter who has caught his prey. "there was a recent inbound shipment of a 'crate 14' to the university not too long ago. why didn't it raise any red flags though?"

crate 14 eh... okay, so we now knew not only where the pack was hiding, but where the crate was and what it was called. the only question was what was i going to do about it now?

mike had continued his probing while i was lost in this deep concerned thinking. "of course," he concluded. not that i had been part of the problem. "the crate didn't show up as it was sent through a 'legitimate' agency. tracing it back a few levels, i have to say the pack is well set up. they maintain a whole network of dumby companies to hide their activities. how could they keep them all running i wonder?"

i had my suspicions. the pack of the primordial feather had quite a few movie actors in its ranks. my cousin larry being the biggest among them. with all those big hollywood salaries there was no end to the number of things the pack could probably afford.

"where is the crate being kept?" i asked. hoping mike would not only point me in the right direction, but also hoping he might give me some hints on how to get it away from the pack.

"i'm not sure," he answered.

my info guru had tracked down a top secret mailing, but couldn't tell me to where?!? "i can tell you where it was delivered traumador," mike retorted annoyed, when i questioned his info tracking skills. "but it has only arrived. so it hasn't been logged into the university's collection catalogue. which means it is where ever the collection manager has decided to store it until it is officially added to the collection."

"so the plan is what?" i asked hopefully.

"i don't know!" mike defiantly responded. "i helped you find these guys, just like i said i would. now it is up to you."

i just stood silently on the phone thinking helplessly of what i was going to do next. finally mike offered. "maybe if you track down the geology collections manager they can show you the crate."

i was just about to ask who they were, when mike beat me to the punch (somewhat annoyed i was going to ask). "i'll track them down for you. however you are not to contact me about this whole crate situation again if i do!" he warned. i agreed.

so i'm off to track down this carmen, the university collections manager. hopefully she(?) will be a nice person, and help me out (instead of mike)...

all i know is that this tracking mission has been going relatively well so far... so i'm just waiting for it to go demonstrably wrong!

Meanwhile in the University of Calgary Geology Department...

(From the reflections of Desdemona Deinonychus, Crimson Talon and Pack Matriarch of the Pack of the Primordial Feather)

I yearn for the hunt. One where the quarry would be a certain Oviraptor!

As if it weren't bad enough I have been reduced to a simple watch dog, I have had to put up with Layla being in command. The pack can afford to hire proper mammalian sentries, rather than treat our top warriors as dogs. My hunters are needed on the front line, not guarding a human school.

I had thought Razi [the Saurornithoide]s' arrival signaled that our mission here was important. Unlike Layla, Razi has proved not only how dangerous her planning and cunning are in battle, but she has actually fought in combat. Normally Razi's interest in a plan would indicate it to be of importance to the pack.

Now that I have seen the contents of this great "strategy", to say I am not impressed would be an injustice to the disgust I currently feel!

The only way we Primordial Feathers are going to defeat our enemies is through battle. Not this complicated "stratagem" that Razi and Layla have been obsessed with the past few weeks. The contents of the crate possibly represent a great weapon to the pack, but it is not yet ready for deployment. In fact it could be no where further from!

The "refinement" required to ready it, unlike what Razi tries to assure me, is not going to be quick or easy. After all the intense energy and effort needed to ready it, there is no guarantee that when unleashed, the pack won't be among those it damages.

Adding insult to injury, the contents themselves are a little self indulgent on the part of Razi and her pride. To give into a personal flight of fancy would be a trait I'd expect of the Oviraptor, not Razi. I fear Layla is beginning to rub off on the Troodontid matriarch. They think I'm a idiot, and that I haven't noticed them plotting and scheming together, but I have. I am ready for when they make their grab for power within the pack too.

In the meantime I have the current crate situation to worry about. For whatever reason the Royals have placed a great deal of faith and interest in this mission. Meaning that if they succeed in returning with the crate, both Razi and Layla will receive great favour within the pack's leadership. All the while my efforts and sacrifice will no doubt be downplayed. After all I was merely the guard.

Of course I dare not risk sharing these thoughts with most of my Crimson Talons. Despite their loyalties to me in battle, sadly some of them have ambitions that have set them to ally with those such as Layla or Razi. Especially with Layla, the treacherous scavenger! Meaning I can not currently trust my own hunters.

All but one, my chief lieutenant Valour [Velociraptor]. There is not another Theropod alive today who is such a pure hunter. Valour lives for the hunt, and could not care less for politics. I see eye to eye with her on almost all matters. (Except perhaps on how to emote. Valour's upbringing in China, has brought her up very in control of her feelings in battle. Too much so if you ask me. How can one enjoy the rush of the kill if they are constantly meditating on it? I digress.)

I explained my concerns to her, and quickly she came to my point of view. Something had to be done about the crate. Especially given with how the situation was unfolding at moment. If it succeeded according to the current plan, it would be more of a defeat for our pride. We needed to shift the situation so that it was we Dromaeosaurs who would benefit from the crate. Not the conspiring Razi and Layla.

"Do you have a plan?" Valour asked me cautiously.

With regret I was forced to reply. "Not as of yet. No opportunity has yet presented itself," Valour eyed me with anticipation, suspecting what I was going to say next. "Of course, all great predators must be patient, so they may wait for an opportunity to walk into their 'waiting' ambush."

We discussed a number of possible scenarios and how we might act upon them. Quickly we both agreed we needed an outside distraction to properly act. Yet, at least for the moment, none had presented itself. We could only wait, and hope one would materialize.

Then we would turn this pathetic sitting around into a true hunt!

To be continued...

no go

i'd gotten in touch with my buddy mike the librarian, who i hoped could help me with my current problem.

the pack of the primordial feather was in town, and i had to find them. not that i wanted to really. however my mysterious informer from inside the pack, ruffled feather, insisted they had to be found, and more to the point the crate they were trying to hide.

once i found the primordials and their crate i wasn't sure what was going to happen. not that at moment it was an issue. i had no clue where they were!

that was of course where mike came in... so i headed over to his place. letting myself in, what he left it unlocked! i found mike busy working on his puter.

looking up mike let out a startled. "traumador?!?"

"hi mike!" i happily greeted back, not thinking about his surprise.

"what are you doing here?" mike demanded.

"coming to see how you're doing," i answered. i quickly added. "the door was unlocked, so i figured it was okay i come in."

"no, i mean what are you doing here?!? i have never invited you to my apartment before! how did you know i lived here!" he stated.

oh right that... i guess this was the second time i'd ambushed mike this week. "i looked up your address."

"it's not listed in the phone book," mike warily stated.

"i know!" i whole-heartedly agreed, that made it a bit harder to find mike's place. "i just phoned your library and told them it was an emergency."

"you called my work?" mike stated in horror.

"yeah, and your coworkers are really nice and friendly," i assured him, man i wish my former coworkers had been that fun. they were laughing throughout the whole tale of my adventures with the pack and their stupid crate.

mike shook his head. "how did you even think to do that?"

"you taught me," i complimented him, but that just seemed to make him more upset.

mike stopped and collected himself. "okay, what do you want traumador?"

"to find the pack," i said in an obvious manner.

"well," mike went all sour again. he needs to lighten up if you ask me. "i have had no luck on that mark. i haven't been able to find a trace of them."

i grew slightly disappointed and worried. "so you don't think they are here?"

"quite the contrary!" mike countered me, and started clicking away on his puter. "seriously i can find no trace of the pack in calgary. there should be some sort of clues or tidbits left behind to indicate whether they have or haven't been here sometime. ever."

i looked at him puzzled, prompting him to explain. "no matter what you do nowadays, the instant you do, or in many cases do not do, something it leaves behind information in various nooks and crannies in "the system". even if you are unaware of it."

"really?" i asked kind of scared.

"its why we call it the information age," mike informed me. "and as it is my job to retrieve information, i should be able to find some trace of the primordials in regards to calgary one way or another. only there isn't any."

"where can we look instead?" i was trying to think if the pack worked with anyone we could call for their address...

"you're missing the point, traumador," mike corrected me. "i have looked in all sorts of places. there isn't a single fragment about the pack anywhere," i blinked dumbly at him. "they have systematically gone through every system and removed themselves from the calgary grid. the only reason you would do that is if you were around but trying to hide."

"so we're finished," i stated in defeat.

"no," mike again corrected me. "we've only gotten started. at least if you are serious about this. removing information, ironically leaves new information, i just have to find it and reverse engineer it back to the source."

"cool!" i perked up... though why i was as excited as i was, worried me a bit. it was my hunter instincts kicking in, and i could feel the hunt that was coming... i went to sit down beside mike.

"what do you think you're doing?" mike asked me.

"sitting down?" i answered unsure if it was the right answer.

"not if you are, again, actually serious about finding the pack," mike told me. "i will eventually find a trace of them, but without some sort of triangulation it could take days, weeks, months, maybe even the whole year," that prospect suddenly worried me. "i need you to go do some leg work in the dinosaur community."

"there isn't really a community of vivus dinosaurs around here," i tried to explain to mike. the only place near calgary with a large population of dinosaurs was drumheller.

"i know that," mike stated slightly frustrated. "obviously i didn't teach you enough about information retrieval. a little can be a lot. i don't need you to find a lot of dinosaurs. i just need you to talk to anyone or anything that knows a lot about dinosaurs. surely you know some people in town who deal with dinosaurs or fossils. you need to see if they have heard anything about the pack. that way i'll have a better idea of where to narrow the search."

as a matter of fact i did. that and i'd been meaning to look them up anyway. that settled that, it was time to look up some more old friends...

to be continued... by going to university!

tracking the tracker...

i'd been delayed in calgary, because the pack of the primordial feather. there had been some uncertainty as to whether they were here or not. as of yesterday i had confirmed they were here. which meant i had to somehow find them, and get rid of this crate of theirs that had been causing all the trouble.

the thing is calgary is a big city. i could spend forever looking and not finding hide nor feather of the pack in the process. i was going to need some sort of help if i was going to successful track them down here in cowtown.


fortunantely i knew just the guy to help me out. so i hiked myself down to the bow river, which runs right through the middle of town, to try and find him...

ironic as i needed his help to do some tracking, and yet i needed to track him down too. at least on that front i'd just asked him what his route home from work was...


as i waited i admired the bow. you know it might not be the ocean, but the bow river is a lovely body of water in its own right. living in new zealand a while, i'd forgotten how pretty alberta can be in places. different, but pretty none the less.

after a few minutes the scent i was waiting for slowly grew stronger. man having my t-rex nose rocks when looking for specific people. as long as i'd smelt the person before, i could usually pick them up if they were within a few hundred metres (in a city the volume of human smells restricts me a bit... out in the open it can be a couple kilometres if the wind is right).

"hi mike!" i shouted excitedly as i waved at my librarian friend who finally walked into view.

instinctively he waved back, but yet in total disbelief came his reply. "traumdor?"

he just stood there looking at me in shock. "why are you so surprised to see me?" i asked. "i just phoned you an hour ago."

mike glared in response to this. "yes, and all you did was ask me how i got home from work!" oh yeah, that's right. oops. gotta remember next time to fill in the blanks as to why i'm asking such questions.

i quickly filled mike in on my whole vaccation to canada, and invited him out for a bite to eat so i could fill him in on my pack issues.

we sat down for a nice korean BBQ, one of my favourite human dishes... i don't know what they do differently in their BBQ sauce, but it really excites us t-rexs. larry bought a whole chain of them when he broke out as a big hollywood star.

as i enjoyed this meal, the first one i'd had in years (dunedin doesn't have a cheap korean BBQ place) i told mike what little i knew about the pack's activities and the crate. "okay so let me get this straight," mike clarified at the end of my tale. "you want me to track down a group of dinosaurs, who are off the system, because of some random email you got, from sender unknown. plus these same dinosaurs might or might not still be in the city, and the only lead you have on them you got from an ostrich?!?"

okay, i could see his point, outloud that sounded really stupid. i feabily agreed.

"would it mean i could get out of dinner early if i went to look this all up right now?" mike asked.

i didn't quite understand the question, how could he not be enjoying his BBQ? "uh i guess so," i answered honestly. it was important i try to track down the pack soon.

"perfect!" mike responded, and gobbled down the rest of his meal. as he started to excuse himself from the table. "okay, i'll try to find these dinosaurs for you. you'll get the bill on your way out?"

"uh oh," i had a realization. mike looked at me suspiciously. "you won't mind spotting me on this one would you? i left my wallet in new zealand."

to be continued... with surprising information.

the month of aftermath... (the pack part 5)

it has been almost a month since my cousin larry finally left dunedin after his 2 week long visit of awful.

i'd like to claim that i'd done something amazing with the month of novemeber, and fix all the problems that larry caused with his popping by. the truth is i've been too depressed to care up until lately. i let larry tear apart my life, but i could have easily stopped him by just saying no.

so here i am. a whole month gone by, and so little to show for it...

i've been back to work for the whole month after the 2 week impromptu break caused by larry. though ms. rhonwyn gave me a promotion, she hasn't contacted me since leaving the country, and thus work hasn't been any different on a day to day basis than it was before.

security guarding used to be so thrilling and exciting, but since larry and peter have been harping on about how lowly a position it is i've lost my interest for it. now it's just paying the bills, and a very boring way to do so...

though due to the lack of danger to the displays i've had plenty of time to further my exploration and learning in the museum. watching various films on the maori i'm starting to get a feel for this very interesting and cool culture.

perhaps the coolest thing i've had time to look at and learn more about were the moas. we have more moa skeletons in the natural history gallery than anything else. they give the dinosaurs at the tyrrell a run for their money on most skeletons in one gallery...

so with what i've learned time for some info sharing.

first things first... most moas are NOT known from true fossils!

to be a true fossil you have to be more than 10 000 years old. most moa remains are from within the last 650 years. way too young to be considered true fossils.

however as there are true fossil remains of moas dating millions of years into new zealands past, and the moa went extinct before modern style documentation could record them they are from prehistory, after a fashion.

what are moas?

well moas were large flightless birds from the ratites group. this group includes most large terrestrial flightless birds such as ostriches, emus, cassowarys, and kiwis. these birds all lack proper attachments for flight muscles which explains why they all have such short weak wings, and as a group don't have any flying members.

there were 11 species of moa in modernish times (i mean modern in geologic terms), and all were herbivores. their diets consisted of plants of various sorts. Ferns, flax, leaves, fruits, berries, twigs, and seeds were eaten by on type of moa or another. moa species varied in size from the 1.5 metre Pachyornis to the 3 metre tall Dinornis giganteus.

these largest known land animal of the Cenozoic in a land dominated by not mammals, but dinosaurian ancestors the birds. indeed new zealand was not just home to large land birds, but also the largest bird of prey ever the Haast's Eagle (pictured in the nice painting i found on the innerweb above) which hunted moas.

both the moa and eagle were hunted to extinction after the arrival of the maori people to new zealand. what makes the moa's so significant was their description and reconstruction by sir richard owen. the same guy who would name and describe dinosaurs a few years later (though he got the moas pretty much right... he kinda missed the mark on us dinosaurs).

so yeah after spending a bunch of times wandering through the moa gallery this is some of the info i picked up.

linking all my knowledge i can tell you one more tidbit. moa is not the traditional name for moas. rather the maori before europeans used to call them te kura. the story goes, but i'm not sure i believe it, that when europeans became interested in these bones they'd ask for "more, more". the maori still learning english thought this meant the europeans called the birds moas... yeah i'm not too sure i believe that either, but it's the story...

anyways that's the only highlight of work.

otherwise i just sit around here "patrolling" the completely safe and boring museum... there has been no sign of ms. rhonwyn around here. no calls, letters, or even mention of her on any recent memos. so unless she suddenly reappears out of the blue my promotion is just in name only (well okay and pay... can't complain too much i guess... my salary appears to have doubled... but for what work i wonder?)

after stewing in pity for myself i decided i needed to get out more, and change my surroundings. i needed to do something that relaxed myself...

there was one thing that got me out into the beauty of the countryside and the ocean which i hadn't tried in a while...

fishing! which i have to admit calmed me down a lot. it puts you in the moment, and allows your mind to let go the outside world.

you can just take in the tranquility of reality around you. the pristine hills around you. the calm elegance of the water...

and of course trying to catch dinner!!!

which i'd like to claim i'm closer to than my first attempt fishing... how do those spinosaurs do it?

where spinosaurs catch fish... i seem to catch nothing but old discarded footwear!

seriously this isn't funny like in the cartoons!

i've only caught old shoes! i want a fish!!!

so as you can see these fishing retreats only helped with the forgetting my troubles so much.

though i will unlock the spinosaur's secret, and thus get one step closer to being a better tyrannosaur than larry (like to see a big brute like him wait patiently on a pole and line!).

after nearly a whole month of this. work and than the odd fishing outing i grew weary of how my life had become devoid of people.

craig wasn't answering my calls, emails, or even mentioned in recent memos... oh oops sorry wrong tangent... you get the idea though. he'd cut off all contact with me after i was kinda mean to him due to larry messing with my head.

there was one person i could try to patch things up with i decided last week, and after wasting most of the month pouting and stewing i decided to take life by the horns (though hopefully not ceratopsian style horns!) and try to take back some of my old life from my mistakes...

owain, my best friend in new zealand thus far, had been terrified by his encounter with larry simply from true tyrannosaurian language... larry had convinced me this was because owain didn't respect my culture. in reality larry needs to face up to facts, we t-rexs are really scary when we talk (even if you're fluent in our tongue!).

fortunately owain agreed to meet with me so i could explain. though i thought the way things had gone last month i was just getting a more satisfying conclusion to this part of my life. what did i have to lose? i might as well at least get the applogy off my chest before he never called, emailed, memoed... ah nuts!... me again...


i told owain the majority of the story. which he listened to politely. what can i say owain is a real nice guy!

"that sounds like a rough visit man," owain stated at the end of my narrating. "no wonder i haven't heard from you in a little bit."


"i'm so sorry my cousin scarred you, and i didn't contact you in such a long time, and that i'm such a miserable friend!" i blurted all at once.

owain looked at me puzzled for a second in response...

than suddenly he broke out laughing. "traum you're so funny," he chuckled. "you thought i was upset with you too?"

"yeah," i hesitantly responded.

"not to fret my friend," owain assured me. "i won't lie, i could do without seeing your cousin ever again, but i didn't hold it against you. as for your disappearance these things happen. you had some stuff to sort. happens all the time. the important part is you re-emerged!"

i felt relieved, and kinda surprised to be honest. he wasn't mad at me, and for the first time since ms. rhonwyn met larry something to do with my cousin just blew over. no drama. no epic. it was just back to normal.

owain patted me on the head. than kinda embarrassed at the unusualness of the gesture noted. "i'd gave you a shoulder slap, but you don't have very defined shoulders..."

"yeah their kinda anchored around my ribcage," i joked.

"so what are you going to do?" owain asked. "this pack sounds like it might try to muck with you again."

"i don't know," i admitted. i had simply been thinking about what i'd already lost this whole month. owain was right though. the pack could very well return. whether it was just larry or someone else from their ranks.

"well i'm here for you if you need help," owain offered. "just so long as i don't have to take on something like you cousin," he amended.

"thanks. sadly i might need it," i pointed out. "i hope not, but the way my life tends to go..."

than i thought of something owain could maybe help me with right now! "you won't happen to be able to talk to craig, and help me fix that would you?"

owain's face took on a grave look. "he's pretty mad at you, but he won't talk about it. the couple times you've come up he just changes the subject," owain reported.

"oh man," i muttered in sadness. i could only imagine the hurt i'd inflicted on my legal guardian.

not only was inflicting that kind of emotional damage bad enough, but craig had been able to confront larry and make larry back off. craig knew about the pack, and probably could help get clear of whatever schemes they might launch at me.

instead i'd effectively kicked myself out of his life, and worse still craig probably thought that i was now part of the pack.

owain sensed my sadness. "cheer up man. with all of us united down here what can those bird wannabes do to us?" he raised his hand for a high five. "to a united front."

i gave him a high two back. "to a united front," i pretended to say enthusiastically. deep down i knew we didn't stand a chance if the pack really wanted to play rough. especially when our front consisted of just me and owain...

the rest of the afternoon was awesome though, and marked the end of my miserable month of november. me and owain hung out just like before larry's visit.

in fact everything about larry's visit graduated from my present day concern to the past. his visit could do nothing more. good or bad. it just had happened.

i had to face the future, and what the consequences of larry's visit were going to mean...

the first of these arrived in an eeeeemail waiting for me when i got back home to the dell.

it was from mike the librarian . he'd completed a brief for me about the pack. included in it was this symbol... the emblem of the pack of the primordial feather !

this was the face of my possible enemy. though made of individual dinosaurs, mike and craig had both warned me that once a part of the pack you simply became a branch of the pack. meaning that this emblem represented any one of them.

in its centre a tyrannosaur skull incarnation of coelurosaur power, floating above a theropod foot print made of feathers. surrounding this were orbiting talons and feathers. i understood the composition on a... i guess instinctive level... it was the symbol of hunters. of dinosaurs who weren't afraid to do what ever it took to get what they wanted.

i only hope that i never see this emblem again...

doing the right thing... (the visitor part 14) (the pack part 4)

a lot has happened, and even more has come to light, during my cousin larry's ambush visit to dunedin. my life hasn't been this turbulent or unpredictable since i was laid off from the tyrrell museum (which was apparently larry's fault!).

i currently face a HUGE problem created by larry for larry. if craig is right, and thus far all the evidence says he is, than larry's sole purpose for popping by has been to strong arm me into joining the so-called the pack of the primordial feather. a group of all the surviving coelurosaurs left in the modern world.

the problem lies in two parts. so far everyone i've talked to about this pack has built them all up to be almost as big a bunch of JERKs as larry himself. i don't really want to join a group made of such unnice or uncool dinosaurs. however on the other side larry has manipulated events (and in particular my nemesis the germ-man) so that i'm not really welcome in new zealand any more. even most of my new friends in new zealand want nothing more to do with me thanks to larry.

so where does that leave me... either i'm left with JERKs in my life or no one at all...

i needed to make a decision, and i needed to make it fast!

the reason i needed to make it fast is i had larry in tow on a walk up to a special spot i'd picked to make a point... the problem was i wasn't quite sure what that point was yet. i just knew the spot i'd picked was key... somehow... somehow it was important to solving this whole problem.

as we wandered up higher into the botanic garden i could tell larry was getting suspicious. this time yesterday he had me whipped up into a pro tyrannosaur/down with humans hysteria. so much so that when my legal guardian craig tried to help me with larry's visit i turned on him...

had craig not shown up when he did i was moments from happily joining the pack... and larry knew it. what larry couldn't figure out was my sudden distance and secrecy.

"where are you taking me cousin?" he finally grew impatient enough to break the thus far silent hike up the hill of the garden.

"to a place in the garden i know you'll like," i replied knowing it was hardly an answer, but i hadn't figured out what i was even going to do yet!

we grew close to my destination. a million thoughts were racing through my tiny brain... what if i did or didn't join the pack? what would craig think of me? what of my new promotion at the otago museum? could i make dinosaur friends in the pack? would i have to put up with larry a lot in the pack? would being in the pack help me in my quest to court lillian the albertosaur.

i could see benefits either way. the pack promised me a high profile museum job. at the same time i'd earned a slight promotion in my current job at the otago museum, and that seemed to me equally good. not because it was the most important position in the museum (in fact at moment i had no clue what my new job was...), but because i had earned it. ms. rhonwyn wasn't forced to make me her assistant. she trusted me to do... uh er... whatever is was going to get me to do...

drawing me out of the endless debate in my tiny brain as we walked by the road, a car passed by. i could see that clearly the two occupants of the car had noticed me and especially larry. they pointed and stared, and for a moment they appeared to be in wonder and awe at his majesty.

than suddenly the reality of what they were seeing hit them. i saw their faces go from excited to terror. they recalled all the bad things they'd been seeing and hearing on the news about us every night. the car swerved as far from us as it could as they passed by. clearly worried larry would repeat his attack on a car on their car...

was that what i'd be signing up for?

craig and even to an extent peter had painted a very bleak picture of pack members, but seeing the gap between larry and the modern world was the clincher!

i didn't want to wind up a lonely left over of a time gone 65 million years ago. i didn't want my existence to be soley based on the deeds and exploits of relatives who were now nothing more than permineralized bones buried in the ground or collecting dust in a museum. i wanted to live in the now, and to somehow redefine what it is to be a dinosaur. more important to be a tyrannosaur! not live with what other people think it should be, or was once upon a time...

that was something i couldn't do in larry's pack! there i'd just become one of them... a sterotypical tyrannosaur.

interrupting my fixation on this realization my "cell" phone rang... i stopped to answer it. larry didn't notice and kept walking... fortunate for me. as he'd have been really mad had he heard the brief conversation that was to come...

"traumador?" mike the librarian's voice came over the phone urgently. "you gotta hear this before you make up your mind on the pack of the primordial feather!"

i'd asked mike to look up any information he could "dig up" on the pack. i hadn't expected such a quick reply!

"the pack didn't pop up in any public records which in and of itself is weird, but when i went into section 241's (the top secret order of librarians mike is a part of... ah nuts! forget i told you that please!) archive of hidden knowledge i dredged up a whole case file!" mike urgently told me. "this is big traum. the section doesn't form case files on just anyone. especially in that archive!"

"remember how you were telling me that you thought the pack was meddling and manipulating things in the palaeontologic community. you're sources didn't even scratch the surface!" mike went on.

"what do you mean?" i whispered afraid of larry overhearing me.

"traum these guys are sorta like a dinosaur mafia. it's a tight knit family only run organization. it makes sure the family is on top in everything dinosaurian related. no matter what it takes to ensure this..."

"once your a member of the pack traum, you're not an individual anymore. you're a foot soldier for the cause. you work where they tell you to work, you hang out with who they tell you to hang out with, you mate with who they tell you to mate with, and you do the dirty work they give you," mike warned me. "and they've done a lot of dirty work in their time!"

"such as?" i asked looking all around me to make sure no one was listening in.

"well to be fair i haven't read much beyond the case file brief, but let's see...," he said as the sound of flipping paper came over the phone. "just going off some of the titles... they intervened in sue the tyrannosaur's auction somehow. uh the pack jointly forcing all tyrannosaurids to boycott starring in jurassic park 3. they've also been actively pushing for a more pro dinosaur stance in a number of circles. be they education systems, hollywood, or even some politicians!

"okay here we go..." mike said satisfied with his informational discovery. "now i'm into the more controversial stuff.

"they've forcible blackmailed or threatened several museums not to put up new dinosaur or other fossil remain displays, in favour of inferior or less popular coelurosaur exhibits. the pack has also been fighting some sort of media/cultural popularity 'cold war' with a group of south american meat eating dinosaurs. ah and this is a big recent folder..." mike groaned lifting what must have been a massive set of papers.

"the pack has systematically been undermining and sabotaging the efforts of a number of specific dinosaurs. wow there's alot of files!" mike's voice gave away just how big a folder he was looking at. "let's see if we can find out who some are... ah okay... here's some of the latest ones."

"lance lambeosaur... one grace carcharodontosaurus... wayne edmontonia... hmmm perstephanie the polacanthus... crichton kentrosaur... jade and sapphire the protoceratops... uh lillian the albertosaur... brutus brachiosaur... hogan the muttaburrasaurus... amy the amargasaurus... a sarge stegosaur... and the psittacosaur triplets... to name a just a few."

"why lillian?" i murmured to myself. the dinosaur venus, and pack was out to crush her at all costs...

"what?" mike had heard me mumble.

"why is the pack targeting all of them?" i clarified my concern at this new news. i knew why they'd targeted lillian. she hadn't joined the pack when they asked her. all these other dinosaurs, apart from the carcharodontosaur, weren't even theropods that alone coelurosaurs though! what could the pack have against them?

"well having not read any of these specifically i couldn't say exactly," mike admitted. "give me a sec."

i wasn't sure i had a "sec". up ahead of me unseen on the path i heard larry's growls of annoyance and confusion. he clearly had noticed my not being him anymore...

"okay just going off the each files brief, some of which aren't so good, i can tell you..." mike said as he speed read... when i say speed read i mean it. if mike were a superhero one of his powers is super reading!

"looks like a bunch of them tried to rat out or expose the pack. that's the edmontonia, protoceratops, and psittacosaurs in particular. the brachiosaur apparently has been a thorn in larry and the other actor pack members' sides by stressing dinosaur relations with film makers since jurassic park . they appear to doing some really covert stuff to the carcharodontosaurus it doesn't even know about, to get it to take sides on this "cold war". hmmmm interesting," mike was very puzzled by something. "the lambeosaur appears to be one of the pack's biggest adversaries, but the brief doesn't say why... other than he works for someone named paradigm."

paradigm... that name rang a bell! i just couldn't put my claw on why... i'd definitely heard it before, and i had a feeling i'd even met this person... but when? i had to be from my tyrrell days, but i wasn't sure how or why...

"i'll have to read this more in depth traum before i can tell you much more," mike confessed. "there is just one more thing i can tell you right now..."

"what?" i asked aware i was running out of time.

"well section 241 has only been able to uncover these motivations behind the packs activities, and in fact their very existence. they have a much more secret and pressing agenda than just coelurosaur domination of the museum world," mike stated.

"what is it?" i asked.

"that's the thing traum," mike replied. "no one outside the pack knows. whatever their up to, and whatever their about, beyond their methods is not known by any none coelurosaur."

though what mike told me painted an even darker picture of what i was about to do, i was very grateful to have such a good friend... especially now when i needed it most. "thank you micheal," i sincerely stated. "don't stress the details immediately. it has been a big help!"

"i appreciate the times you've help me find information when i've come at you out of the blue," i added. ahead of me i could hear larry stomping back towards me. dread tingled up and down my spine as i realized what i must do next... "if you don't hear from me after today i just want you to know how much you're help has meant to me."

"what are you talking about?" mike asked concerned. than he figured something out, and his voice grew desperate. "wait traum you're not going to accept his off..."

larry was upon me. "thanks for everything mike," i concluded. "i have to go now." i finished hanging up on what might be my last phone call from my own phone again.

"where were you?" larry demanded.

"sorry i had an important phone call. one that i had to take," i dryily answered. my whole body was null with fear at what i was about to do. "come on we're almost at my spot."

i lead larry back in the direction of where he'd come from.

we arrived in the clearing in front of the gardens aviary. how fitting that i should end up here to finish larry's visit. this was where i'd been when ben first called me to tell me of larry's arrival.

"i've been here already," larry grumbled. "what is so spectacular about it?" larry's contempt for me crept back into his voice. or maybe i just hadn't been noticing it lately out of hope that maybe he'd finally been respecting me.

"i thought be surrounded by our relatives would be a good setting for our discussion as to my future in the pack," i informed larry. out of all the thinking i'd been doing today that was all i was able to come up with even in my own mind for why i chose this spot...

larry took a menacing step closer. his 5 tonne bulk shuck the ground with a loud vibration. he glared in closer at the various birds kept in the aviary.

"their hardly worthy of being considered our relatives," larry dismissed the birds, who squawked and screamed in alarm to larry's close proximity. "their so small and pathetic. the disgusting noises of fear they make. their allowing humans to trap and enslave them. we we're made of hardier stuff than these embarrassing creatures."

for some reason hearing larry being as mean to another as he was normally to me eased my fears. in fact i suddenly felt a strange calm come about me... what was this? i was about to confront a full grown 15 metre long tyrannosaur bull... had i gone insane? or was it more than that? had larry actually awoke my dormant dinosaurian instincts?

whatever the cause my words were free of emotion or uneasiness. "is that what you think of them. small and pathetic?"

larry's head craned at me in bewilderment. i wasn't sure if he was confused as to the nature of my question or simply that i questioned him in the first place. "of course. look at them. most of them are no bigger than my toe claw."

"those words have been used to describe me before," i told him matter of fact. "when compared to other tyrannosaurs or dinosaurs in general. many have used those words to describe me, including you."

larry growled a little. i was unphased. "does that mean i'm unworthy of being considered your relative too? does that mean i'm not worthy of being considered a coelurosaur?"

"of course not cousin," larry's voice oozed of rage. "you're a tyrannosaur. one who might have a great deal of stature and wisdom to gain compared to the rest of us," he maliciously defended his past insults of me. "but we tyrannosaurs are the apex of coelurosaur evolution."

somehow my courage increased. "funny because the last time i checked larry, birds were the ultimate incarnation of the coelurosaur family, and we tyrannosaurs being the furthest from them evolutionarily are close to being unworthy of membership in the family."

"evolution is not a linear progression," larry countered his temper had gone down for some reason. i couldn't tell what it was yet. "just because birds emerged from our family line last doesn't make them superior. success does."

i bite my tongue on that last point. i wasn't here to get into an evolutionary or semantic argument with larry. birds had done far better geologically than us tyrannosaurs or any other coelurosaurs...

one thing i noted of importance. birds clearly weren't members or even eligible for membership within the pack...

larry sensed my holding back, and the hunter in him mistook this for weakness. he leaned towards me, and tried to take the initiative.

"enough," he ordered about the already ended debate. "we've delayed long enough, and i've allowed you to bring me here to this 'special place'. now i grow weary of the delays! the pack welcomes you in with open paws. go collect your things. we fly out of the country tonight to your new place."

"no," i stated defiantly.

"what do you mean no?" larry dryly replied.

"i mean no. no i'm not going to get my things. no we're not flying out of here tonight, and no i'm certainly not joining the pack," i refuted. larry's neck began to arch in anger. i added quickly. "not till you answer some very key questions."

"you and your questions," larry spat. "why can't you just do things without so many questions?!?"

"that's hardly fair larry. not all of us have an inside angle on each other like you do. i tried to ask peter bond about you, but he won't tell me anywhere near as much about you as he told you about me! if you want me to do something than i want answers," i replied straight laced.

a growl issued deep within larry's chest. just like the one he'd had when craig confronted him.

"very well," he sneered. "but only because we are family."

_

"why did you lie to me about your purpose of visiting?" i requested. "why did you lie and say you were filming with peter jackson?"

_

"how did you find out there was no movie?" larry's eye fixated on me as though he were trying to read my mind. "it was a convenient cover story to not raise your suspicions. i couldn't afford your turning me away."

_

"if it was so important i join the pack why not just ask me right away?" i challenged that logic.

"don't think i don't know of the friction between us cousin," he pointed out. "i knew that if i simply asked you, you'd have rejected it off claw, and i would have failed to bring into the pack."

_

"if you know about the friction than why do you think i'd want to join the pack if its run by you?" i asked.

_

larry laughed (well the tyrannosaur equivalent anyway). "you think i'm the leader of the pack? oh that's rich."

_

"you aren't?" i stated in shock... larry was the only dinosaur i could think of that could be that ruthless...

_

"no i'm not," larry replied. "so if that is your quam than let us get ready to leave. the pack is lead by my mate teresa."

_

teresa?!? of course! in theropods (like birds) females were the leaders, and of living coelurosaurs teresa was by far the scariest one of all!!!

_

i couldn't let the momentum go. larry was finally giving me real answers and information.

_

"if i go with you what is the 'tribute' i'd have to pay the pack?" i needed to know. craig had warned me of the pack demanding some sort of payment if i became a member. unfortunately i snapped at craig and he didn't tell me what it was. now larry was going to have to be up front with this hidden cost.
_
the growl returned as larry menaced over me. "who has been telling you these things?"

_

"no one you know," i answered truthfully. "it doesn't stop me from knowing some of the truth... what is the tribute?"

_

"nothing you'd miss to greatly after giving it up," larry tried to dodge answering.

i'd made a guess already based on the info mike had just given me what the 'tribute' was... but with a brain as small as mine i could have been grossly wrong in my guess. i'd already made larry angry with me again; i had nothing more to lose. "in which case consider you're tribute paid, and i'll be staying here in dunedin at the otago museum as a casual member."

_

"you can't do that," larry hissed.

_

"why not?" i naively questioned. "i wouldn't miss anything in that arrangement."

_

"to be a member of the pack you have to swear total loyalty to the coelurosaur cause," larry retorted.

_

wow i'd guessed right. "well than we have a problem," i stated.

if i thought i'd made larry angry thus far i was wrong! he leaned right in and his lips curled up further than they had when he menaced craig... his growl was more of an audible throat roar.

"what problem might that be?" larry intimidating asked.

my calm was gone. fear seeped back into my body. yet i couldn't give in. i had to make a stand. "i won't pay you that tribute."

"i beg to differ," larry growled.

"you can't," i countered with as confident a voice as i could muster. "no matter what you do to me here today you'll never get my loyalty, and you want to know why?"

larry's chest began to vibrate like a crocodile growling in water from his own current growl.

"because if there's one thing my life has taught me, it's that you have to be loyal to yourself," i quoted something i thought craig would have said. "and i am not one of you!"

i was still full of fear and dread, but something worked it's way into my voice. i wasn't sure what it was, but i grew more confident in what i said. "you came here destroying, manipulating, and discrediting my life all to try and make me like you. but you failed... and failed how!!! you know why? because that's not who i am inside!" my voice raised in volume.

"i don't destroy, manipulate, or discredit to get want i want. i try to do what's right. not even to get what i want, but because it is what i want. i want to do the right thing, period!" i stated. "you and your pack are totally the opposite of that, and i don't want anything to do with you."

"you ungrateful piece of..." larry cursed. "due you realize how patient we have been with you?!? how much we your family have been embarrassed and humiliated by your constant pathetic antics trying to "do the right thing" and exist among humans."

"you're a disgrace to us tyrannosaurs, and we're telling you it's over. your constant buffoonery and mockery of our reputation as a species makes us look weak in the eyes of our enemies... we give you the offer of a lifetime to redeem yourself, and instead you turn it down and insult us in one gesture! it ends here!" larry menaced.

"how's that?" i asked realizing where this was going to lead. i only hoped that somehow i'd redeemed myself. especially with craig...

larry's head moved closer, and he's eyes gave away his killer motivation.

"by killing me," i laughed. not out of bravery, but of sheer terror. yet i sounded very mocking and confident.

larry paused, and craned back. "what's so funny about that whelp?"

oh man! i thought i was dead. suddenly i might have a chance to live... if i could just think fast! oh brain the size of a peanut why weren't you working faster!!!

suddenly it hit me! "oh nothing," my voice unintentionally cracked. "i just wonder how your going to explain my death."

"to who?" came larry's natural response to my bluff... who indeed? i was working on it as fast as i could...

than i fixated on the one name that was still in my mind from talking to mike. when mike had said it, it conjured in my mind the memory of someone important. someone dinosaurs would know. someone larry should fear. i didn't know why. i couldn't even remember who this person was, but i was going to risk it all on simply name recognition. "paradigm."

larry's body thrust forward towards me... i expected my life to flash before my eyes like they say happens in movies as larry's great maw opened wide, and i could see straight down his bottomless insides of death...

instead of the 4000 pounds per square inch crushing down on me as i expected a deafening roar assaulted my ears... larry was death screaming at me in tyrannosaurese... just as he had craig. the message was clear. had i not just chosen to say paradigm i would have been dead as i anticipated.

"since when have you maintained contact with paradigm?" larry's voice revealed utter contempt for this paradigm person. his statement also proved that i had met paradigm. now i really wish i could remember.

"that's not your concern," i said mimicking what they'd say on TV... i just hoped larry the actor wouldn't see through my poor performance.

"had i known you were in league with paradigm and craig i would not have been so 'gentle' in my approach," larry threatened me.

"your mistake," i jeered back, but i worried i was overplaying my fake confidence.

he just stood there glaring at me. a understandable awkward silence enveloped us.

clearly this had never happened to larry before. he just stood there for minutes staring at me unsure of what to do in this case of a pack inductee refusing completely.

i decided i needed to break the stand off. partially cause i didn't know what to do in this circumstance either... kinda odd that i can sympathize with larry, but it's true. TV only shows the easy part of epic confrontations. what does one do when both sides tie?

"uh maybe you should just be going now, and catch that flight tonight," i offered.

larry reluctantly turned to do so. though i could see he was still contemplating the situation, and thinking of something. something i'm sure i wasn't going to like.

as he started to walk away he crooked his head back towards me. "this isn't over," he stated.

hmmm right when i thought that real life wasn't like TV. larry was pulling a "next time gadget!" on me?

"i'm happy that a reject little runt like you won't be part of our glorious enterprise, but the others won't see it that way. no coelurosaur has ever denied us, and their not going to let it end here," larry warned me as he walked off. "they'll do whatever it takes to get you into the pack. you'll wish you had taken my offer and joined willingly. the tribute we'll extract for this insult will be worse than anything you can imagine."

i could tell larry was telling the truth. mostly in that he was somewhat happy by these turnings of events. that i wasn't going to be part of their little coelursaur only club. that he wasn't going to have to put up with me. that i was going to be made to suffer if the pack had its way. that he was going to get to watch and savour their efforts to crush me...

this was the future i'd chosen i realized. it wasn't a happy one, but joining the pack would have been worse... far worse. i'd have been selling out.

with this new realization i taunted. "the pack couldn't do anything worse to me, than me forgetting what true coelurosaurs are supposed to be like," as i walked up to the closest bird cage and chirped at the finch within. my "tiny" "pathetic" relative, the offspring of all us saurian coelurosaurs, happily sang back at me.

larry unphased by the slight hope i flaunted in his face called back "say hello to paradigm for me. while you're at it tell the professor that he can't protect you and your adopter forever. we know his reach isn't as all encompassing like he wants us to think. when he lets his guard down for a second, you better watch your back cousin."

"in fact i'd start watching it regardless cousin. we'll be watching you like, well hawks," larry seemed to crack a joke for the first time his whole visit. "the instant we sense weakness we'll pounce."

"good day cousin," larry mockingly saluted as he disappeared behind the bush, and finally exited my life in dunedin... at least for now...

i let off a great sigh. somehow i'd survived my great gamble with larry, and the pack with my life...

yet had i?

there was so much i didn't know that i now really needed too!

i needed to find out everything i could about this pack of the primordial feather...

more to the point i needed to find out who this paradigm was, and more importantly contact him (i think him. that's how larry had addressed them anyway...)... it seemed that my well being was tied to this person, and at moment they didn't even know it.

one thing was for sure as of this point my life in new zealand was NOTHING like it had been before...

larry and the pack had set out to destroy and uproot my life so they could transplant me into themself. in that goal they'd partially succeeded. my life was in shambles. the damage may have been unsalvageable, but it was still my life!

more importantly they'd succeeded in one thing they hadn't counted on. i finally knew who i was as a tyrannosaur, and what i must do with myself in that role!

the end... i hope!