Rick called to Con as softly as he could and still be heard over the herd's noise. "Come this way, but slowly." A Tyrannosaur cocked its head in his direction.
Con walked toward Rick and Joe, her eyes never leav-ing the advancing monsters. The huge pair came closer. Rick found himself staring at their legs, a combination of birdlike form with an elephant's mass and power. The three sharp, curved toe claws caught his eye at each step.
The pair came closer still. Rick had to bend his neck to see their enormous heads. Their partly open jaws re-vealed six-inch teeth surrounding maws so large a child could hide inside. Beneath horny ridges, yellow-green eyes scanned the landscape, seeing it from a treetop per-spective. Rick tried to imagine the view from those eyes. What do we seem like to them? He wondered if they might slay the way a bored child idly squashes an ant, without interest or malice.
Still following the terrifying heads for some clue to their intention, Rick arched his neck backward. The near-est of the pair passed within five yards of him. Rick could hear its breathing, smell the sweet odor of rancid meat, feel the warmth of his urine as it trickled down his leg.
Then the Tyrannosaurs were retreating, still following the herd. Rick had to duck a swaying tail as they de-parted. He took a deep breath, turned off his gun's tar-geting, and looked around him. Joe's hands were shaking violently. Con's eyes were wide with excitement and ter-ror. Even as he watched, the terror faded and the excite-ment grew. "Wow!" she said in wonder. "Wow!" Rick, Con, and Joe stood immobile and silent for sev-eral minutes, watching the departing herd. Finally, Joe said, "Maybe we should go back." No one said a word. They just started walking toward the plane. About half-way there, Rick saw a flash of movement in a clump of bushes about thirty yards to the left.
"Hold up, Joe."
"What did you see?" Joe asked.
"A chance to bag Pandit a dinosaur. See that clump of bushes over there?" said Rick, pointing.
"Yeah."
"Set your gun at the lowest power and at a wide dis-persal, then shoot the bushes to give them a good shake. I'll try to get whatever's scared out."
"Got ya," said Joe. "Tell me when you're ready."
Rick adjusted his gun to fire rapid bursts, then said, "Now!"
Joe fired, scattering leaves into the air. Three brown forms sped away. Rick followed them with his gun, rak-ing the ground with shots.
"Did you get anything?" asked Joe.
"I think I hear something thrashing about." Rick ran to the site of the shaking foliage to fire one more shot. As Rick looked down at the animal at his feet, a wave of regret briefly passed over him. Even in death, the lithe creature appeared graceful and dynamic. Rick consoled himself in the knowledge that, in less than a million years, all its kind would be extinct. At least now, people would hear of them. Joe and Con walked over to see what he had hit. Joe laughed, "You got a bird."
"I did not," replied Rick. "Some dinosaurs had feath-ers." Joe examined the dead creature and noted its clawed hands and long tail. "I guess you're right."
"What is it?" asked Con.
"Some kind of Saurornithoidid," said Rick, "a small carnivore. ' Saurornithoides' means 'birdlike reptile,' so Joe wasn't that far off." Rick lifted the animal and slung it over his shoulder. It was about five feet long, but most of that was a long neck and an even longer tail.
"Is the cook really going to serve that?" asked Con, taken aback.
"I thought you'd eat anything," said Joe.
Con flashed him a dirty look.
"Pandit won't get it until after I dissect it," said Rick.
"Oh gross!" said Con. "I'll eat lots of rolls instead."
"I AM MOST gratified by your addition to our menu," said Pandit, eyeing Rick's catch with appreciation. "Two trips, and each time you return in triumph."
"Just doin' my job," replied Rick, grinning broadly.
"And now I must do mine," said Pandit as he surveyed the dinosaur. He took up his carving knife. "This will be most challenging."
"Hold it," said Rick. "I want to study this before you start slicing and dicing."
"I hope you are a quick study, dinner is in two hours."
Rick looked at his specimen, feeling chagrined by its ignoble fate. Oh well, it wouldn't keep for two weeks without refrigeration. He made mental notes as he did a quick field examination. The oily feathers were either light or medium brown, giving the animal a mottled ap-pearance. They were like the short breast feathers of a duck, designed for warmth, not flight. Rick estimated the dinosaur's weight to be around forty pounds. The animal looked built for speed, slim with long legs. The feet had three forward-facing toes and a fourth vestigial one in the rear. All the toes were clawed, but the inner claw was enlarged and curved. It was a slashing claw, which was held above the ground when the animal walked or ran. The forearms looked designed for catching prey. They were long and ended in hands with three long fingers tipped with long sharp claws.
Rick turned his attention to the head. Mounted on a long, supple neck, it, too, seemed designed for catching prey. The skull was slender, with a long snout. The brain-case was large for a dinosaur; Saurornithoidids were the intellectuals of the Cretaceous. Rick counted thirty-eight pointed teeth in the upper jaw, forty in the lower. These were sharp and curved, with serrations on the back. The most prominent features of the head were the very large yellow-brown eyes, the eyes of a creature of the night. Their position allowed binocular vision.
Rick saw a predator adapted to hunt active small prey, probably the nocturnal mammals of the period. It looked quick and agile. The feathers indicated that it was warm-blooded.
Conscious that Pandit was impatiently watching, he opened the chest cavity. The two items that interested him most were the heart and the stomach contents. The heart, as he suspected, had four chambers. It was another indication the animal was warm-blooded. Rick slit open the stomach next. It contained several partly digested hairy bodies.
"Must you do this in my kitchen?" protested Pandit. "Those little vermin are most unsanitary."
"Have some respect for your ancestors."
"Those cannot be my ancestors," said Pandit. "My an-cestors got away." Rick placed the remaining viscera in a bucket for later study. "You sure know how to spoil a guy's fun, Pandit. I trust you don't want the head, hands, and feet."
"Please take them and let me cook."
Rick cut off his specimens, then turned the severed head in his hand. "I think I'll name this Noctecorreptus greightonae."
"How modest," said Pandit, "You should name it after yourself."
"That's not allowed."
"Why not?"
"It's against the rules of taxonomy."
"So you honor Mr. Greighton instead."
" Miss Greighton," corrected Rick.
"I see," said Pandit with a hint of a smile, "but what does the 'Noctecorreptus' part mean?"
"Nightstalker."
NOCTECORREPTUS GREIGHTONAE MADE its appearance at the dining pavilion in the form of heavily spiced cubes, stir-fried with vegetables and served over rice. All of Pandit's skill could not disguise the meat's strong, gamy taste. The dish was pronounced "interesting" by the guest of honor, who, like Sara and Peter Green, took only a bite before turning to other fare. Even Con left most of the meat untouched. Only James, aware that this entree would end up featured on the staff's menu of leftovers, finished his serving.
The dinosaur's main contribution to the meal was a topic of conversation. Here it was more successful. There was a lot of lighthearted banter about Con's adventures, and everyone was in a good mood. Peter Green was ob-viously pleased. By the time Rick cleared the dessert dishes, he sensed that his place on Montana Isle was se-cure. He went back to the staff area feeling content. So what if I dine on leftovers