In the year 2010, near the Antarctic, five explorers were in a blizzard, wearing furs and riding dog sleds. The blizzard halted as one of the explorers shouted, "It's an avalanche!"
They quickly headed in the opposite direction, but one of them didn't escape and was buried in snow. When the danger was over, the rest returned to rescue him.
They dug for hours. "The snow piles are deep," the first explorer said. "By the time we rescue him, he'll be frozen."
"Let's dig a little longer," the second explorer said. "If we don't find him, we'll just have to assume that he's dead."
As the third explorer dug, his shovel hit an object. "Over here!" he shouted. "I think I found him! No, that's not him! I don't know what this thing is!"
The explorers looked at the object and were curious. "Let's dig it out from the snow to get a better view," the fourth explorer said.
"What about our friend?" the first explorer asked.
"He's probably dead, " the second explorer said.
Excited, they dug wildly. They finally lifted the object and were astounded. "Wow, it's huge!" the third explorer shouted.
"What is it?" the first explorer asked.
"It's a dinosaur egg!" the fourth explorer answered. "There may be more around here.”
"An egg like that is worth a fortune," the first explorer said.
"It's unbelievable that dinosaurs lived here," the second explorer said.
"Maybe millions of years ago this was a warm climate, which changed, and they died from the cold, and their eggs were frozen," the third explorer said.
"Let's get a crew to search for more," the fourth explorer said.
The crew arrived with digging equipment. Hours into the dig, hundreds of frozen eggs were found and the fifth explorer was found frozen to death.
A month later the U.S. government bought the frozen eggs from the explorers for millions of dollars and shipped them to its huge science laboratory in Washington, D.C.
A year later, a middle-aged scientist named Mark Water, with long brown hair and beard, wearing blue jeans, a laboratory jacket and generic sneakers, talked to a crowd of reporters and scientists from around the world in a laboratory corridor. "What I'm about to show you is a miracle,” he said. “I and a team of scientists have been able to hatch several of the frozen dinosaur eggs that were found months ago. The dinosaurs are babies, but soon they'll be moved to a larger location. Please follow me."
He led the expectant crowd into the laboratory, which was filled with small and large cages, and lab workers attending various equipment and computers, and showed them a cage with five small dinosaurs. Each one was about four feet tall. The crowd was amazed as they looked at the creatures.
Mark pointed at the cage. "These dinosaurs are growing rapidly,” he said. “They're flesh-eaters. The one with the sharp, serrated teeth and sickle claws is a Troodon. She can grow to eight feet tall, and she has binocular vision, which gives her an advantage when hunting for prey, and she's agile. The one with the large head and curved claws on the second toe of each foot is a Dromaeosaurus. She has unusually large teeth, and she's fast, agile and can grow to six feet tall.
"The two with the grasping hands and muscular hind limbs and birdlike appearance are raptors. They have jaws lined with sharp teeth and are strong. They have large sickle claws and binocular vision. They can bring down prey far larger than themselves and grow up to seven feet tall."
From the top of the cage, a man on a ladder threw piles of red meat to the meat eaters, who ran toward it and tore it apart. The crowd was astounded by the appetite they had. "Right now we feed them dead meat," Mark said. "When they're older, we'll feed them live animals."
He showed the crowd a large cage. "These two are Tyrannosaurus,” he said. “For short we call them T-rexes or rexes. They're babies and ten feet now and still growing. They grow to forty feet and can weigh to four to eight tons. Because of their size, they'll be moved shortly. They're the tyrants of the reptiles and are strong hunters that are equipped with extraordinarily powerful jaws. Each tooth is about six to seven inches long. They have powerful hind limbs: Their forelimbs are considered their arms and are also very strong."
Terrified, a woman screamed, "Dinosaurs are coming this way!" The crowd panicked.
"Don't be afraid," Mark said. "They're friendly; those two are plant-eaters and babies. Each is about seven feet tall, and they're constantly growing."
The crowd became amazed as the dinosaurs walked to him, as he fed them peanuts. Mark petted one. "This is a Brachiosaurus,” Mark said. “He's the heaviest animal that ever lived on land. When he's grown, he can weigh up to a hundred-ten tons and will grow up to ninety feet. He has an extremely long neck and legs and has peglike teeth. He uses his neck to reach leaves on trees."
He petted the other. "This is a Triceratops. He doesn't fear any dinosaurs. He uses his enormous horns for defense. They grow to four feet and are sharp. His head is huge and he can grow up to thirty feet and weighs up to six tons."
The two dinosaurs left. Mark showed the crowd the next cage, which was huge and shaped like a bird cage. "In this cage are three pterosaurs. They're flying reptiles and scavengers. They can fly over land and sea. There are three classes, Pterodactyl, Pteranodon and the Quetzalcoatlus, whose wingspan is thirty feet."
He finished showing the dinosaurs and pterosaurs to the crowd. "You said the creatures are going to be moved to a large area. Can you tell me where and when?" a reporter asked.
"Well, at present a zoo is being constructed in Southern California. It should be ready in a few months and will be open by summer."
"Who's financing it and how large is it?" a second reporter asked.
"The government. It's being built on hundreds of acres of land."
"Why is the government wasting our tax dollars on this project when people need jobs and better housing?" a third reporter asked.
"Well, the zoo will bring in enormous revenues and will provide thousands of jobs."
"Is it going to be near a city?" a fourth reporter asked.
"Yes, Los Angeles."
"The flesh-eaters are dangerous, especially the rexes. Aren't you and your people worried that they may escape from their cages and attack humans?" a scientist asked.
"It will be impossible for them to break out because their cages will be built of Plexiglas that's three feet thick, and it will be bolted down in concrete. Have you ever seen a roach trapped in a jar? That's how the flesh-eaters will be."
"Since they'll be surrounded by Plexiglas, how are you going to feed them?" a second scientist asked.
"A large tube will be connected to each cage. The tube will be big enough to slide their food through."
"What kind of food?" a third scientist asked.
"Live animals."
"What kind?"
"Ones that reproduce rapidly—rats, deer and other animals that people don't give a damn about."
"Do you think you'll have trouble with the animal rights groups?" a fifth reporter asked.
"Probably."
"What about the non-flesh-eating dinosaurs?" a fourth scientist asked.
"Well, they're not dangerous to humans. They'll be surrounded by high gates that will keep them from wandering off. At night the gates will be electrically charged. Also, we'll have a task force during the day to make certain that they'll not come close to the gates. The task force will be armed with tranquilizer guns, and they'll patrol the area constantly."
"What's the zoo going to be called and is there going to be anything special added?" a sixth reporter asked.
"Yes. A dinosaur museum, food courts, shuttles, rides for kids, gift shops and so forth. We haven't thought of a name yet."
The questions ended, and the awestruck crowd was ushered out.
A few months later, at the beginning of summer, the dinosaur zoo was built. It was called Dinosaur Land and the director was Mark Water. His office there was on the top floor of a ten story museum building and boasted a great mahogany desk and a few computers. From his office window he had a view of the zoo.
One morning, Mark was in his office, shuffling papers, when a man came in. "Good morning, Larry," Mark said. Larry Fisher, the game warden of the zoo, was from England, in his middle thirties, and was dressed in a safari outfit, as was Mark, but with a white derby and a long umbrella.
"Is everything in order?" Mark asked.
"Jolly good, sir," Larry replied, standing at attention.
"Governor Brason should be here shortly to cut the ribbon. He wants to be the first visitor to enter the zoo. There'll be TV cameras and the press will be everywhere on this first day."
Mark's phone rang. He answered it and said, "Okay," and hung up. "Let's leave, Larry. The governor is here."
Outside, by the gate, was a small podium in the middle of a platform, with a standing microphone. Surrounding the platform up front were Brason's Secret Service agents and a large crowd, gathered to hear his speech. Mark and Larry arrived on the platform, and Brason stepped on to it.
They greeted him, and he began his speech: "People of California! We have arrived! This new dinosaur zoo will bring billions of dollars in revenue and thousands of jobs to this state. Standing to my left is Mark Water, a scientist and the director. On my right is the game warden. They made this thing possible by convincing the government to build this zoo in our state. I'll be the first to cut the ribbon and welcome you!"
Inside the zoo, several huge Plexiglas cages had flesh-eating dinosaurs in them. Each cage was a mile in diameter circle and sixty feet high. Inside were trees, grass and plants. Outside the cages were stands from which people were able to get a clear view of the dinosaurs' habitat. They could see them eat their prey and play with their babies.
Near the cages were speakers that told the name, history and physical characteristics of the dinosaurs. The pterosaurs were kept in Plexiglas cages with several small meat-eaters. The cages were high and wide enough for the pterosaurs to fly.
In a large safari park surrounded by miles of fence were the plant-eating dinosaurs. The park had a multitude of trees, plants, and small lakes. Shuttles transported people through it, and the tour guides on them described the dinosaurs. Two armed guards with tranquilizer guns were on each shuttle. Their orders were to shoot any dinosaurs that ran toward their shuttle.
Also in the dinosaur zoo were a large amusement park with many mechanical rides resembling the dinosaurs, theaters showing movies about dinosaurs, fast-food restaurants, food concessions, a mall, hotel, convention center, and the museum. Transportation was provided to take customers to these places.
By a cage, Brason said to Mark and Larry, "Look how that raptor tears apart the deer. Now he's looking at us."
"Just as we're curious about them, they're curious about us," Mark said. "They're powerful animals, cunning, and remarkable hunters."
Some came to the glass and stared. One had animal blood dripping from his mouth. Brason was frightened as it growled, making him back jump slightly. Mark and Larry smirked. "Don't worry, Governor, they can't get out," Mark said.
"How many are in there?" asked Brason.
"A hundred," Mark answered. "We send the live animals through the cage's food-tube. They don't eat all of them right away. They let some habituate and reproduce in there, then hunt and kill them."
Continues...
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