WHAMMM! The second Spinosaurus processed this and decided to go back to sleep. Tobias and I stared at the rough-textured creature with the gun. <What the . . . what is thaf>> <I don't know,> Tobias said. <But I can guarantee none of my toy dinosaurs ever carried guns.> Page 53 K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs The creature gazed curiously at us with what seemed to be eyes, although they were mere indentations in its face. From its head a pair of antennae, flexible as whips, grew and began waving toward us. Satisfied after a few seconds of this, the antennae were retracted. "You may not kill those creatures. There are very few left. They are ours. All creatures are ours. All things are ours. What are you?" it asked in a rough, raspy, buzzing voice. It was speaking English. Now, on Star Trek you see aliens speak English all the time. Like that would be normal. But in real life when you encounter an alien speaking English, it's just weird. You figure at the very least they should be speaking Russian or Japanese or something. "Answer." <We're . . . dinosaurs,> I said, feeling fairly idiotic. "You speak now without making sound. Explain."

CRUNCH! The Tyrannosaurus chomped its jaws shut on the tree itself. He began to twist and rip the tree, like a dog with a bone. Rending, tearing, bark flying, white wood pulp chewed to chips. In a few seconds the tree would no longer be between us. And already I was too far morphed to run to another tree. "Grrr-UNCH! Grrr-UNCH! Scree-EEEE-EEEE-crrUNCH! RrrrOOOAAAARRR!" The Tyrannosaurus had gone mad with frustration. It was screaming in rage, ripping, grinding, throwing its huge weight back and forth. Page 25 K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs Shaking the ground. Bruising the air with its insane roar. Just a few seconds more and . . . Crrr-SNAP! The tree fell slowly away, crashing down through layers of vines and ferns. The Tyrannosaurus lunged, mouth open, red tongue lolling, teeth wet with drool. I tried to leap back. I fell. Rolled. Thrashed, out of control. Wings! I had wings! Too late! The mouth came down over me like some kind of earthmover, like a diesel shovel. A prison of teeth all round me. The jaw bit into the dirt itself. A root! Teeth snagged by a root. I flapped, ran, beat, rolled, scrambled. Out between the jaws! Running on osprey talons, running, wings open, flapping. SNAP! Jaws an inch behind my tail. Fly, fly, fly you idiot! Bonk. I never saw the tree trunk. I hit it head-on. I was stunned, senseless, helpless. The Tyrannosaurus roared in triumph. It towered above me, huge, irresistible. Pure destruction. Why had it chased me? I wondered. Why? I was too small, wasn't I? But of course. I'd been in predator morph before. I knew why. Because killing was what it did. Killing was what it was. It had gone beyond food or hunger now. It simply wanted to do what it did best. I

be able to see what's up ahead, up past that herd,> I said. <I'm gonna leapfrog!> <What?> I didn't have time to explain. We reached the Triceratops. One huge bull swung his three-foot-long horns toward us in challenge. I sidestepped him and leaped onto the back of an equally big but less alert female. I leaped! Soared through the air, coiled my legs, timed it just right to slam my legs down on the Triceratops's back, bounced off her, and hurtled another ten feet in the air. From up there I could see the trap. Then I was fall ing.