plans collide!

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

The Runt* has not let me down!

*[Traumador]

I was hoping he'd stick his snout into our affairs not more than a few hours ago, and he just showed up!

Ever since the Runt managed to inflitrate our perimeter the other day, we moved our defence point into a more central location of this mammal environment*. That way Vicsurus [Daspletosaur], and her powerful sense of smell would be able to better detect intruders.

*[building, in this case the University of Calgary's Geology Department]

I was there when Vicsurus detected the Runt, along with several mammals, exiting the mechanical ascender**. The opportunity I'd been awaiting arrived, and it couldn't have been more perfectly timed! Layla [Oviraptor] and Razi [Saurornithoides] had both gone to attend to more "important" matters than the defense of their precious crate, leaving me and Vicsurus to deal with any situations that might arise. Though I technically outranked Vicsurus, Layla had undermined me and formally left Vicsurus in command.

**[elevator]

Any other time I would not have tolerated such an insult, but this time I was willing to bear the disgrace. Layla had handed me everything I needed to ambush her in the Pack's political arena. How could the failure of the Crate be my fault when I was not the one in command? While I was at it, I was about to exact my revenge on the Runt for the defeat I suffered on account of him!

I "entrusted" Vicsurus, as the lead hunter*** to take point and deal with the intruders. She agreed to this course of action so I could mobilize the Crimson Talons, something I very much had in mind. I reminded her not to draw any undue notice to our presence which Vicsurus fully agreed with. The Crate was as good as lost!

***[solider or warrior]

(From the notes of Kirsten Brink, Palaeontology Graduate Student at the University of Calgary)

Traumador is so dead. Assuming I don't beat him to it!

As per his "cunning" plan, we all piled into the elevator and headed directly into the basement, while all the rest of our little "assualt team" split up and snuck off through some restricted maintence corridors (thanks to Carmen the collections manager), I got the fantastic job of being the bait!

I didn't even want to take part in this suicidal scheme in the first place, and yet I get to be the decoy! Which if it sounds great on paper, is even better in real life!

Especially when I saw what I was going to get to distract. I'm off the elevator for two minutes and what should show up? A Tyrannosaurid.

Mind you I guess that makes sense. It'd have the olfactory suite best suited to notice us right away. Sadly for me it is also among the best equipped dinosaurs to finish me off without much fuss.

Oddly enough I was stressing about this role so much on the way down, now that I'm here I'm finding doing distracting things is coming quite naturally. At least with my arms! Who knew my adrenal responses would cause my arms to be as spry as a hummingbird on a Coke truck (don't ask, it's a long story!). Yet my legs seem to be made of cement, I'm so terrified.

Scratch that on the arms. As Mr. or Mrs. (a Mrs. on closer examination) Tyrannosaurid leaned in closer for a look, suddenly my arms decided that what my legs were doing was far better. I froze, which knowing predators is probably better than running at this sort of range.

I feebily put on a smile, and tried to play it cool. "Are you a new arrivial for the Vivus-fossil collection?" Was what I found myself saying.

Obviously Mrs. Tyrannosaurid didn't like that inquiry so much, as I got a full on death roar. You know, like the one the T-Rex in Jurassic Park delievers (only an octave higher). I nearly fainted.

Then it didn't do anything, but ferciously stare at me. For a good minute.

I'll be dared! Traumador's theory that these things weren't going to kill me, due to my being a human (or palaeontologist) seems to have been correct. At least for Tyrannosaurids.

I hope for Caleb's sake the same holds out for the other Coelurosaurs hiding down here.

All I know is I'm going to make my way as far away from this Tyrannosaur as I can, and sneak through another of Carmen's limited access corridors to the key point of Traumador's plan. I'm also hoping Mrs. Tyrannosaurid here doesn't go back to the Crate's storage room right away, as right now having it guarding the elevators works perfectly for us.

(From the margins of Caleb's journal)

I HATE TRAUMADOR!!!

(From the meditations of Valour Velociraptor, chief lieutenant of the Crimson Talons)

It is not everyday that an ambush plays out as you plan. Yet on this day Desdemona and I have been rewarded with our quarry offering itself to us. If I were to go with this metaphor, it is up to me to bring it down. Though in reality I must ensure quite the opposite, for if the Runt or any of his mammalian companions fall today, I hand victory to the scavenger* Layla. I will not stand for her trimphing over me on this day!

*[to be called a scavenger is among the greatest insults within the Pack]


Yet with my Crimson Talons in tow, I now have a difficult balancing act to accomplish. I must ensure our efforts seem as geniue as possible in warding off the Runt's assault, but at the same time to kill any of his lot would be failure.

My party stumbled across a male mammal as he exited a new passage way in this labrinth. Of all the environments Layla could choose for us to defend, she picks this strange alien one. A hunter's instincts are useless here. The mammals hold all the advantages, and it was once again demonstrated here!

Before any of my hunters pounce the mammal, I quickly assert my authority. "Not yet!" I bark, earning me looks of surprise and scorn. "We shall let him lead us to his accomplices."

This logic sounds wise, and indeed if I were really hunting this mammal it is what I would do. My hunters comply. We chase the mammal just on the edge of attacking distance. This way, in a real hunt we could subdue him at a moments notice.

As we reached the center of the labrinth another mammal, this one female, appears from another of these hidden mammal tunnels. My hunters behind me express their surprise at this repeated phenomenon. The air of confusion aids me in my next deed.

"Halt at the juncture ahead, and establish an ambush point," I order. This is met with near insubordination from Dexter [Dromaeosaurus]. I come to a full stop much to my hunters surprise, who just manage to halt themselves and avoid each other and/or myself, allowing both mammals to disappear around the corner. With our prey now potentially escaping my troop looks to me for an explanation. "Layla's orders were for me to deal with any mammalian intruders personally, as to leave doubt on our connection to the deaths."

This satisfies my hunters more then enough. Each of them knows well enough I am capable of far more subtle and surgical strikes than any other theropod alive today, the benefit of my dedicated training in China.

However they still prepared to escort me on this task. Something I can not allow. Witnesses would destroy what I am about to do. Plus I can now sow the idea of Layla's responsibility. "Layla was quite specific," I state convincingly. "Once we have them cornered only I am to pursue. You are to ensure aid does not reach them in time."

This combat order sounds amateur enough to have come from Layla. Despite being a total scavenger, Layla prides herself on being a great tactitian despite never having once been in battle. The orders she has been giving us for the past few weeks all sounded as foolish if not more so than the one I have made up. My hunters will have no problem being convinced in the debriefing they heard this order from Layla herself to avoid blame being assigned to us.

With my hunters holding a defensive position outside I cautiously venture into the void space* both mammals have entered. I find them not far from the entrance, clearly attempting to entice me to enter.

*[empty warehouse]

I cannot believe the Runt's troop is foolish enough to believe I'd somehow lost their trail let alone that they were losing me. Had this been a real hunt both of them wouldn't have made it but a few steps from their secret passageways.

For the time being it suits my purposes that they enter this enclosed space away from my hunters.

I have them trapped in their own wire nets*. I believe the extent of their plan was to lure us into this space and trap us, thus keeping us from guarding the crate.

*[fence]

Oh how in some ways I wish I weren't using them for my own purposes. It would have been fun to teach them the error in their ways. Not a single Primoridal hunter would have fallen for this trick of theirs for a second. Let alone me.

The male makes a dramatic escape attempt, to try and cover the female's more subtle and slow departure out a door. How he doesn't think I could leap this fence quicker than him I do not know.

With both mammals safely out of my reach, I can clearly see their plan. However it requires the rest of my troop to be in here with me. So I oblige, and signal my hunters to assist me. With them out of view this whole time, it won't be hard to convince them the humans had already escaped, and I'd walked into their trap.

It will be very easy to have Layla reported as the cause of this disgracful outcome.

From the mammals' point of view their plan works perfectly, as I let them escape and the rest of the Talons rush in behind me.

Only to be trapped, as a second human female pounces on the gate behind us from yet another secret passage in this labrinyth.

The other Talons look about in confusion, as from their perspective the trap is incredibly efficient. Not a single one would suspect I would have allowed this to happen. Clearly the mammals legitimately ambushed us.

To add to this illusion, I take several futile pounces at the first mammal female, who remains to taunt us. I take a moment to remember her face. No one who has ever taunted me has lived long to tell the tale.

As they run off thinking how terribly clever they are, I can not help but feel statisfied. Soon they shall help themselves to the crate and its contents. With that they will suffer wounds far deeper than those my ego has endured today!

(From the notes of Kirsten Brink, Palaeontology Graduate Student at the University of Calgary)

It worked! I can't believe it worked!

I give Caleb a high five as we double check the Raptors are indeed sealed in.

Who would have thought Traumador's half thrown together plan would work so well!

As he and Carmen head off in another of these magic corridors of hers, I hope he finds this thing of the Pack's and gets rid of it effortlessly.

I'd hate to have gone through all this for nothing!

To be continued with THE CRATE itself...

converging schemes...

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

Enough is enough!

I am a hunter*. More to the point I am a Matriarch**, and the Alpha** of the Crimson Talons. Not some Ornithomimid or Alvarezsaurid commoner for Layla [Oviraptor] to order around!

*[in pack language a hunter is more akin to soldier]
**[A commander and chief within the pack]



Yet she continues to walk about our temporary territory* as though she is a Royal**. What makes her even more insufferable is that the Royal who is present allows her to do so. If I were Vicsurus [Daspletosaur] I would most certainly have shown the Oviraptor who the superior one was.

*[Base of operations]
**[Tyrannosaurid]


Alas, Vicsurus is too disiplined a hunter to go against the orders from the Grand Matriarch. Even the supreme predators of the Primoridals thought that Layla's and Razi [Saurornithoides]'s precious crate was valuable enough to devote half the Crimson Talons to its protection, meaning none of us here could make a move against the smug Oviraptor.


This has made my position all the more difficult, for I am beginning to fail in containing my contempt for Layla. Especially the way she has had the gumption to order my troops around, as though she'd passed the trails and been marked a Crimson Talon.

Reports from Vicsurus of the Runt's* sudden appearance here has caused Layla to worry about security even more than before. Today I had to use all my control not to slash her throat as she did rounds instructing us all in how to ward off enemy intruders. Of all the nerve!!! The cowardly scavenger hasn't once lifted a claw in the heat of battle, and yet treats us frontline hunters like fresh hatchlings!!!

*[Traumador]

Like I said enough was getting to be enough. Despite Layla believing she is about to ascend within the Pack's leadership, I have other plans. Her current authority is only secure if the crate is secure, which is something I very much have a say over!

However my list of true allies in my potential planned treason is thin . Layla and Razi are both political scavengers*! They've undermined the loyalties of many of my Talons, and though the Talons all still unquestioningly follow me into battle, are not all completely devoted to our Pride as they once were. If I actively ordered them into what I planned, some of them might very well turn on me, in hopes of gaining favour with the Pack's leadership and ascend with Layla.

*[an insult similar to being referred to as a weasel]

There was only one in my Pride I could trust my rage and plans with, Valour [Velociraptor]. Despite her martial arts trained calm, Valour was also beginning to wear under Layla's lecturing. The thought of pouncing the Oviraptor had even passed through Valour's crystal clear mind once or twice today.

I vented my anger to Valour when I was certain no one else was within earshot. In her typical manner Valour was unphased by my anger, but for once at the end showed her own feelings. Many in the Pack do not fully trust Valour due to her relative lack of emotion. I must admit initially I did not immediately take a fancy to her when she first earned her place amongst the Talons. As a rule we Dromaeosaurids tend to be a very passionate Pride, and Valour most certainly does not fit this mold. Yet I have come to envy her for her detachment.

When it came time for us to discuss how to sabotage Layla's precious crate, I especially envied her clear minded control. Though I had my own strategy devised, Valour had already concieved a brilliant tactic for integrating the rest of the Talons into transparently helping us. All we needed was for the Runt to make a move against us.

He had demonstrated many times now that this was something that he would most certainly do. When he did so this time, we would make sure he succeeded. Not only would Layla suffer, but the Runt himself would no doubt be devastated by the crate's contents. And this should lead to a complete victory against my enemies with one box! Of course, that's only if it all goes according to plan...

(From Traumador the Tyrannosaur's blog The Tyrannosaur Chronicles)

i'd hit a most stressful... no that's not strong enough word for it. a most terrifying. yeah that'll do... moment in my life.

the crate was now within sight. the only trouble was, i had no idea how i was going to get it away from the primoridals!

the collections manager carmen had taken me through the building's layout, and given me a few ideas of places that might be handy in distracting theropods... but there was a lot of uncertain variables, in particular how many and what types of coelurosaurs were guarding the area. this had me in particularly worried. there was every likelihood that the crimson talons were about, and i knew there was at least one daspletosaur kicking around. worse, i had no idea how i was going to get them ALL away from the crate and remain safe!?!

one thing was certain. i was going to need help... especially given my history with the crimson talons. the pack had vowed it would make me join them one way or another... so walking right into a stronghold of theirs solo just didn't strike me as a good idea!

fortunantely i had a scheduled lunch with two people who might very well be willing and able to help me! my palaeontologist friends caleb and kirsten! man i'm glad last time i met up with them i'd scheduled this lunch date...

concidentally the university's resturant stuck us in the most darkly lit corner, which give it the perfect conspiracy air to plan a heist.

caleb and kirsten were somewhat amused by my immediate launch into my pack/crate woes and how i needed their help. "only you could say hi, by asking us to risk life and limb," kirsten pointed out to me. "we really should bet on such things, 'how long it'll take traum to bring up something perilous."

"you're certain its the pack of the primordial feather?" caleb asked pointedly. he had a bit of a history with the pack too. they'd kick him out of the tyrrell just like me. i assured him there was no question, to which he responded "what's the plan then?"

the tough question. one to which i had an answer, but not the best...

kirsten immediately upon my conclusion agreed it wasn't a great answer. "that is seriously your plan?" i nodded, prompting her to reply. "you seriously expect the two of us to take on a whole swarm of raptors and who knows what else?!!"

i couldn't see any other way. it was better the two of them than me... and not for the selfish reasons that sounds like!

silence took over our lunch for a bit. caleb sat thinking on it all before finally asking. "why don't we ask the lab rats for help too? their presence might help ensure we stay safe."

"no," i answered firmly. despite thinking not being my strongest suit, i had considered the possibility of bringing in other vivus-dinosaurs to help (such as norman). "you'd be bringing something with you that is definitely a meal. to the coelurosaurs that would signal a hunt definitely being on. they'd kill the lot of you without blinking. just the two of you, palaeontologists and all, might throw them off enough."

"i'm afraid it is either you guys going in on your own, or i need a different plan," i admitted guiltily. "i know it is a lot to ask."


"no it isn't traum," kirsten stated calmly. i raised my head in hope which she noticed, and just as i thought she was in, kirsten shouted. "because you're going to need a new plan!"

i was crushed. not that i blame her really. i was asking everything from these guys, and i hadn't always been the best friend to them (more in my actions mind you than my intentions... having a small brain causes one to make some bad descisions, but for all the right reasons... sort of like what i was asking of them...).

suddenly caleb countered kirsten. "we're in."

"what?!?" kirsten spat at caleb.

"true its not the best plan ever," caleb explained. "but given what we know it is the only logical course of action. any attempt to probe the pack's position for more information would be even more dangerous."

"you don't seriously expect me too..." kirsten started, but was interupted by caleb.


"to stand up against a force that is actively attacking our field?" caleb challenged in reference to the science of palaeontology. "the primordials have shown they have no qualms with interferring with our research, science, and field work. now they are using our institutions as fronts for their activites."


"where does it stop. simple smuggling? if they get away with this, what is to stop them from stealing things from our collection while they are at it next time? who's to say they won't start using this cover to start poaching our vivus-fossil collections? to top it all off, their presence here went completely unnoticed, if not for traumador's hard work. this might be our one and only chance to stand up to them."


kirsten thought on that a moment. "what choice do we have but to stand up to them?" caleb asked again, somewhat rhetorically.


"alright," kirsten reluctantly signed on to my little operation. she then threatened me. "if i die trying this little stunt of yours though. i'll, i'll..." she thought for a second, clearly fighting off her anger and fear at the situation. then she came to a decision. "i'll kill you!" she said in a surprisingly playful manner. she wasn't mad or frightened anymore (or at least angry at me in any case). she'd come to the same conclusion as caleb.


if we didn't stand up to the pack, then it would keep acting like they could push any of us around. something i hoped this afternoon might fix...


otherwise kirsten was going to kill me... and i couldn't have that! it would mean she was dead too!


"there's just one little part to the plan i'd like to alter," caleb suddenly cut off that thought. both me and kirsten looked at him puzzled. he'd just convinced us all my course of action was the only option. why was he suddenly suggesting a change. "we're going to grab carmen. you're going to need her help once we do our part." he said, clearly with a scheme in mind...

to be continued with lots of plans in action...

danger in the air...

the pack of the primordial feather was based in the university of calgary, and they'd hidden the mysterious crate 14 somewhere in the geology collections.

for the first time in my life, i was living up to my predatory pedigree. i was the hunter, and the pack the prey.

though to be fair i was needing help... the universities collections manager was taking me deep into her treasure trove, so i could get the drop on the primordials.

as we were walking to check out the more remote corners of the universities bowels, i was busy trying to explain to carmen what i knew about the pack and their crate. which hearing myself say it out loud, wasn't a lot on either. in fact i could easily see how she was thinking i was crazy or over actively imaginative.

"so you're telling me all the meat eaters of the world have formed on big giant gang?" carmen asked me. i was going to correct her, and clarify it was just the coelurosaurs. who are as a whole more omnivorous (only the more famous branches are purely meat eating). however i choose not to for simplicity.

carmen still didn't believe me. "why would they choose my collections of all places to hide this 'crate'?"

like so much with the pack, i couldn't tell her. all i knew was that i "needed" to get it away from them. carmen walked confident for a while in her belief we weren't going to find any sign of the pack at all. which seemed to be validated after an hour. we hit every storage room in the department. we even hit sections that belonged to the chemistry, and biology departments.

just as i was losing hope, we walked past a hallway for the third time that we hadn't gone down. "what about down there?" i asked.

"that is just the maintenance corridor," carmen dismissed it. "there is nothing down there but the ventilation systems."

when she saw that i wasn't going to budge, carmen reluctantly agreed to take me down this last hallway. as we walked down it, the difference between it and the others become clear. the whole hallway was lined with pipes that pumped waste air from lab vacuum systems upstairs down here to their filtration systems. to make this controlled, and unnatural, flow of air work, this whole corridor was lined with air intake and outlet vents. giving it a very air conditioned feel.

i instantly hated it! it made my nose go "blind" (much like walking through a mirror funhouse visually)... normally anywhere i go there is something of a sedimentary stack of smells. even though i can't necessarily tell you exactly what an old smell was, i can tell it was there. in this place the rules meant nothing. smells got sucked away, or worse pumped in. rooms and people from upstairs were showing up on my smell radar as though they were right here... it was a very unpleasant.

i was starting to agree with carmen. there was no way a smell reliant coelurosaur would want to camp out down here. till after a couple minutes discomfort i realized something. this would be the perfect "cloaking device" for the pack... or for those who don't watch star trek. these smell cover would make them impossible for a odor based tracker of any sort to find them.

yet there was still no sign of them. that is until we reached the last corner. suddenly a huge shadow approached from around the corner.

"we need to hide!" i whispered panicked, looking around to find there were no rooms to duck into.

carmen grabbed me by the collar and pulled me behind a bunch of loose junk just sitting in the hallway.

a set of loud heavy steps grew close. suddenly a giant full grown cow tyrannosaurid walked into view RIGHT before us!!! my blood rain cold, and i started to vibrate with fear. carmen too grew really panicked, as she started to sweat heavily. which was a really big problem! this daspletosaurus had as good a sense of smell as i did, and she'd pick up carmen's ever increasing scent in moments... (isn't funny how the brain works. here i was petrified with fear, and yet i calmly IDed the dinosaur in front of me...)

as though it was reading my thoughts, the big female tyrannosaurid stopped dead in her tracks before us, and started sniffing the air. with but a tiny twist of its head to the left we would be discovered, and frankly we were dead meat! we had no cover or protection to speak of.
`

it was the worst 10 seconds of my life!!! the daspletosaurus like clock work bent right to wear i'd been standing a moment ago narrowing in on the smell. i knew exactly what she was doing, as i'd done it several times to dan and craig's hamburgers back in my childhood. she was just locking onto the most strong scents. in a moment she'd be able to follow them like a trail back to the strongest concentration of them (aka us sitting right beside her producing the smell in the first place!).
`
just as the daspletosaur was about to look our way, the ventilation roared into action. including the intake right behind us. next thing i knew i could smell me and carmen coming from the direction the daspletosaur had just come from. of course, with its equally powerful nose, the great predator veered right about (not noticing us in the process) having picked up our "getting right passed" it. she let out a really scary growl and stalked off towards the new smell.
`

"we have to get out of here now!" carmen ordered, saying pretty much what i was about to.
`

fortunately there was no sign of pursuit as we doubled back to the more public collections lobby. carmen couldn't fathom how, that alone why, a foreign dinosaur was hiding in her collections. i on the other hand had bigger concerns.

there was no doubt the primordials were hiding out here at the university now. i even knew where. however i was no closer to where the crate was being hidden specifically, that alone how i was going to get at it.

it turned out calming carmen down, i only had half that problem. she was determined to find out what was being hidden in her collections, and got out the plans for the building. there was only one possible room the pack could be hiding in...

looking over the blueprints of the complex, carmen gave me some ideas of ways into the room. the only really issue we were going to have getting in, was the number of theropods no doubt guarding the place.

i was going to need help. i was going to need organized help. good thing for me i knew just the people who could help me out! as luck would have it, i had arranged to have lunch with them tomorrow!

to be continued with a meal to remember...

collecting an ally

i'd finally found the needle in a haystack... errrr, well i guess the theropods in the big city...
`
the pack of the primordial feather was hiding at the university of calgary, and they'd brought the sinister (and mysterious) crate 14 with them!

now came the hard part (as though finding the sneaky theropods wasn't hard enough!), i was going to have to figure out how to either steal or destroy the crate. all the while making sure i wasn't stolen or destroyed along the way myself!
`
before i could do this safely, i was going to need to know the lay of the land. as the pack was hiding in the geology collection, it made sense to approach the one person who would know the collections way better then the primordials. the geology collections manager.
`
the university of calgary's geology department i have to say, despite being a slightly different visual style, otherwise has a layout perfect for a bad horror movie. its basement is just one step short of a maze, and as of such there were lots of places for the pack to hide. even worse for me, it made finding the collections manager something of a chore.
`
fortunately for me (and my super t-rex nose) not many people came down here for long. so i just had to follow scents that were strongest.

or at least that had been the idea... i followed several scent trails only to find that they led through collections and then right back out of them. lots of people went into the collections area, to probably get stuff out of them, but they didn't stay for long. meaning i was going to have to get lucky and stumble across the smell of the manager... with the risk of accidentally finding the pack while i was at it, way earlier then i'd "planned".

as i followed the 30th or 40th smell (well okay maybe 12th, who cares?!? i lost count, as it was so boring tracking them all!) i came into a collections room that had some draws wide open.

i couldn't help but take a slight peek...

why do i always have to peek?

there was all sorts of cool stuff in there!

the fossils of course took most of my interest. there was some neat stuff, but all smallish (minus one which i'm saving for this weekend's upcoming fossil of the weekend!).

however it was a chunk of shiny rock that quickly became my fixation. for it was shiny and gold colour... in fact i was willing to wager it was gold...

i looked all around me, i'm not sure why mind you, to see if anyone was there. the coast was clear.

some instinct in me (probably a predatory one, which pushed my wild savage ancestors to seize any free resource while the chance was good) compelled me to snatch it. the human trained part of me screamed it was wrong, but than realized why not? the collections were big, it wasn't like anyone was going to notice it missing... besides i had a world tour to fund!

startling me from behind came a loud. "oh no you don't!" as someone nabbed me from behind preventing my running off with the gold.

like a scavenger caught with the meat red mouthed, i spat out the gold. trying to pretend nothing had happened at all.

the woman who'd caught me took one look at the rock and stated amusedly. "the fool's gold, how fitting," she chuckled.

the what? oh no, i realized...

"can the fool explain?" i asked. come to think of it, that was a rather clever salvage on my part.

"why not," the woman graciously accepted. i quickly explained my irrational thinking, and logic. she laughed it off. "oh i wasn't worried about replacing of the pyrite. it's worth less than the ink it was number with. it's just a pain in the neck to have to catalogue everything again 'disappeared'."

i introduced myself, and i learned this nice lady's name was carmen... who was the collections manager!

"now if you'd have taken off with this," carmen held up a different rock from the pyrite's drawer. "then i'd have been annoyed."


i found myself ask by reflex. "is it valuable?" oh man, that must have come off wrong! i seriously didn't want to steal anymore stuff (today... a crate soon perhaps... but nothing from her or the university!)

carmen laughed again. "no," she'd deliberately tried to pull my leg. "i just like the colour of this particular piece!"

"so what can i help you with?" carmen inquired.

"how could you tell i was wanting your help," i answered her with my own question.

carmen smirked. "no one comes down here unless they need something from me."

how to word this properly... "i'm looking for a new item that was added to the collections. probably without your knowledge."... i probably should have mentioned i was looking for a box protected by a bunch of killer dinosaurs.

i didn't though. so carmen took us off into her collections based on my rather vague and cryptic criteria.

though this wasn't the most time efficient way of searching, i did get a cool tour of the whole collections area!

the coolest had to be this. or at least i thought it was until i found out what it was.

take a quick guess right now... what do you think this is?

i liked it because of the weird wrinkles in the rock. however, when i tried to pick it up, i discovered this little wacky piece of "stone" was amongst the heaviest things its size i have ever tried to lift!

if you asked me at that moment i would have thought this veiny mass to be a rock of some kind. i had no idea how scary it was!

carmen barked at me. "quit mucking with that meteorite! i don't want it broken."

i jumped back very startled! of all the things i fear, one of the greatest is meteorites. even long fallen ones like this... yeah it's kind of silly, but just think what happened to my kind 65 million years ago, and hopefully you'll follow my phobia!

it was made of pure iron, explaining why it was so heavy! when i say pure iron, i mean way more pure than it is typically found on planet earth...

next we came to a room with one of those cool boxes with the handling gloves built in... perfect for isolating stuff.

i couldn't resist, and tried to handle the substance in the container. my tiny arms wouldn't fit. yet i still managed to move the stuff in the middle enough to get a "traumador!" from carmen.

"i see what the palaeo people are on about. you dinosaurs being a real hand full," as she corrected what i'd done.

"speaking of which," i decided to end our search on my desired quarter, rather then have carmen kick me out (due to touching stuff i shouldn't be... got to work on that!). "the item we're looking for. it was smuggled into the university by some particularly troublesome dinosaurs."

carmen shushed me with her finger... her FINGER! no one has done that to me for a long time! i thought i was getting better at not yammering all the time... "that is the silliest thing i've heard, hmmm at least today," she stated. "none of the lab rats are clever enough to have planted anything down here. that alone have anything worth to hide."

"it wasn't the rats," i clarified agreeing with her disbelief. the vivus-dinosaurs kept here at the university legitimately couldn't have pulled something like the crate.

"not the rats?" she asked unsure what i meant. "what other dinosaurs could it have been?"

oh man. well at least we'd have time for the story as we checked out the more hidden sections of the collections...

to be continued with monsters in the maze...

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...

fossil of the weekend! #61

a cast skeleton of a dromaeosaurus at the tyrrell museum.

"fossil" of the weekend! #60

a cast skeleton of an elephant bird and its egg (i didn't catch whether it was aepyornis or mullerornis though... that and there is really debate on whether there were 4 types of elephant bird or any other number down to 1?).

i put the " marks around fossil in this fossil of the weekend, as elephant birds aren't really that old. these bones would have at most been 10's of thousands years old. in all likelihood they are a lot newer then at. elephant birds were wiped out by humans, and as of such typically their remains are a lot newer then the average fossil...

super star (asteriod, more like it!) encounter...

so i'd hit a bunch of dead ends (here AND here...) in trying to find some information on the pack of the primordial feather. this meant that mike, the librarian, wasn't going to be able to help me track the primordials down here in town, that alone their mysterious crate.

i was feeling kind of hopeless as i made my way out of the university of calgary. how on earth was i going to find a handful of dinosaurs in a giant city like calgary? especially when they were trying to hide!

pulling me momentarily out of my depression, was a man that walked by me in the science building's lobby. it took my tiny brain a minute to click into who he was, but i thought he looked familiar...

then it hit me, and i sprinted after him...

"doctor hildebrand?" i called, and fortunately for me i remembered right!

dr. alan hildebrand turned around and was slightly puzzled to see me (i assume more because he is not used to dinosaurs calling him down, rather then hearing his name) "yes," he said to confirm it was him. "how can i help you?"

i'd never met dr. hilderbrand before, but knew him by reputation and from his many appearances on science documentaries.

i quickly introduced myself, and he was kind enough to put up with my fanboy yammering for a couple of minutes.

why was i so in awe of meeting dr. hilderbrand you might ask?

well i shall answer that question... even if you didn't ask it!

in short he is one of "the dudes" when it comes to asteroid research...

why his meteorite work is of interest to me in particular (not that asteroids aren't cool in their own right!) is that his most famous discovery related to space rocks was the one that (may) have wiped out the dinosaurs!

you have probably heard this idea...

a really big asteroid hit the earth 65 million years ago at the end of the cretaceous period (this impact in fact "caused" the end of the cretaceous as the extinction is what geologists used to define the periods end), and the damage its crashing into our planet was so powerful it devastated every known ecosystem of the time!

the asteroid gets lots of the blame, but in some ways it was the earth's "fault" things got so bad after the interstellar accident. the meteorite was going so fast and had so much energy that it exploded and vaporized when it hit the planet.

well this kicked a lot of things up into the air (and possibly higher then that!) ranging from dust to outright molten rock! that's right this was so big an impact that sky filled up with something very much like lava, which then rained down just like evaporated water normally does when it gets to heavy to stay in the air.

if the earth had been made of different stuff, this wouldn't have happened. so this is why i say the bad things that followed are as much due to do with the earth as the asteroid.

there was only one thing worse then raining lava (which no doubt did untold damage... which we find evidence of all over the world in rocks of this era), and was the smaller lighter dust and dirt that continued to float. after the heavier fiery stuff fell out of the sky (causing forest fires ALL over the world at the same time!!!), the cloud of dust lingered in the sky and blocked out all the light.

meaning there was no sun for plants to use in making food. if you get rid of plants the whole animal food chain falls apart!

this caused the final extinction of the dinosaurs (i say final, as the vast majority of dinosaurs species had gone extinct well before this event during our 160 million year existence, only the last few families still alive at this point were alive to be killed... which sounds weird i know, but is true!), and numerous other creatures of the time.

this whole sequence of events has pretty much been accepted by science. even people who don't know a lot about dinosaurs or palaeontology can tell you the rough story. however this wasn't always the case...

when this theory was first proposed by geologist walter alvarez and his father, super famous nobel prize winning physicist, luis alvarez it was hotly contested. one of the key problems they had in proving their theory, was where did the asteroid hit?

this is the part of the story where dr. hildebrand played a key role... though not at first.

a few years before the alvarez's proposed an asteroid impact 65 million years ago, in 1978 the crater site was indirectly discovered by geologist glen penfield. he recognized a number of anomalies in the local geography of the yucatán peninsula of southern mexico (i used to call yucatán the little alligator mouth at the bottom of north america...).

however due to an inability to get access to sites and better samples he was unable to work out what exactly he had stumbled across. penfield wrote up a paper about what he could only see as a cataclysmic event in the cretaceous, but suspected the final answer would be extraordinary...

many years later enter, then a grad student, alan hildebrand. he grew very interested in the theory of an asteroid impact and began trying to find the prehistoric crater as his grad project. unaware of glen penfield's work in mexico, hildebrand slowly began to close in on equatorial america as the most likely site. recognizing clues in haiti, hildebrand might have closed in on mexico by himself, but he then learned of glen penfield's findings.

hildebrand approached penfield, and the two resumed penfield's abandoned search from over a decade previous. it was a historic team up, and with hildebrand in america he could get access to the one thing penfield couldn't in mexico. old drill samples stored state side. analyzing these samples the two published on how they believed yucatán was the site of the meteorite's landing.

they would be proven correct. a later satellite survey from outer space would detect a still visible (underground buried mind you, but it was undistorted millions of years later and thus visible when you look through the rock with sensors) a nearly perfect circular crater.

so like many of the biggest discoveries, it took a lot of people to get to the truth. one of whom i was shaking the hand of here today!

it was really cool to get to meet dr. hildebrand. sadly he didn't have time for a chat. i only really got to introduce myself.

"well it was nice to meet you," dr. hildebrand said in conclusion. i thanked him for his time, and expected to be on my own way... then he caught me totally by surprise with another sentence. "hopefully i'll bump into you down in collections soon."

"what?" i asked in total confusion. then i thought i understood "oh no i don't work here at the university. they don't have an theropod 'lab rats'."

this seemed to make sense to dr. hildebrand. "that explains why i hadn't seen any of you guys down there before."

"guys?" i asked not following.

"your friends," dr. hildebrand offered, hoping i'd know what he was talking about. obviously my lack of following him came across. "all you theropods down in the geology collections."

did he just say what i think he did!?!

i begged dr. hildebrand to explain... i couldn't believe it, not only was he an asteroid guru, he may have just lead me right to the crate i so desperately was trying to find!

while going into the deep bowels of the uni's geology department's collections dr. hildebrand said he'd encountered a group of theropod dinosaurs in one of the more remote corridors of the basement. he figured they were just part of the palaeo departments dinosaur lab rat collection.

"were they coelurosaurs?" i asked.

"well i'm no expert," dr. hildebrand warned as he thought about it a second. "now that you mention it, if i had to go off my momentary observations, yes i would say they all were."

"thank you so much!!!" i said completely sincere to dr. hildebrand. "you have been a HUGE help! i have to go though."

before he could ask any questions, i sprinted away from dr. hildebrand. i needed to find a phone. i might have just found the elusive clue we needed to track down the pack! would it allow mike to pinpoint the primordials? i needed to find out right away, and so off i went...

thinking about now, i guess it was a little rude of my to run off on dr. hildebrand. it was for a good reason... hopefully i'll get to meet him again and explain my reasons...

however now i had a pack hunt on my claws...

to be continued... with a lead?