The Monster of Ojo Alamo- Prologue

Temp. Ship Lazarus Log-
   Early Paleocene, February 2, 65,180,030 BCE
    New Mexico, USA - 22:50:03

    Moonlight beamed down onto the half finished structure as it sat on the rim of the valley. The valley was formed by the impact of large meteorite, one milion years prior, then expanded over time by runoff flowing east from the nearby mountains. In it flowed a large, central river which widened in the center of the valley into a large lake; which separated the wetter Southern woodlands from the driers scrublands to the north. The explorers who'd originally found it cristened it "Crater Valley".
    If these same explorers had gone back a little over three thousand years earlier they'd have found a thriving dinosaur population. In the savanna would've been several species of multi-ton, horned ceratopsians intermixed with flocks of smaller, ostrich-like herbivores, ornithomimosaurs. In the forests smaller, more scattered groups of hadrosaurs would've browsed on both ground vegetation and low branches while remaining ever watchful of roving packs of tyrannosaurs and raptors. Occassionally the giant, long-neck sauropod, alamosaurus, would've passed through in great herds to feed and drinking before moving on in their constant search for food while high above soared giraffe-sized pterosaurs scanning the landscape for carrion like modern vultures. But they were gone now, the meteor which formed their home ultimately foreshadowing their demise.
    But the ones here now weren't interested in "sight-seeing". They were fully automitived construction drones, sent ahead of time to build a sort of service station or rest stop for time travelers, people on their way to the Paleozoic Colonies some two hundred million years further back in time. The drones, which bore some resemblence to fork-lifts, worked well into the night; using lifts first to carry materials before positioning them with four, articulate arms. The local wildlife was kept out by a twelve foot electric fence, as well as a squad of roving security drones trotting along the perimeter on four legs. They were armed with an arsenal of flash-grenades, tasers, pellet guns, and chemical deterents; all of which were, by law, non-lethal.
    That night, one particular drone was patroling outside the perimeter fence when it recieved a message from another security drone to investigate something peculiar. It arrived at the section of fence where its fellow drone was waiting to find branches wedged into the electrical wires, making a large hole in the array. The drones looked the damage over and collectively reasoned in their simple, artificial minds that it was caused by a recent storm as similar damage had occured in several other parts of the fence.
The two drones each deployed a pair of arms to set about repairing the hole. The drone outside removed the branches, while the other began reconnecting the wires. But before it could finish something caught the attention of its orb-like, back mounted camera. It was the shape of animal about as big as a dog, but the creature was to fast and far away for the drone to get a good look. Abandoning its partner, the security drone moved over to where the fast creature had been. It lowered itself close to the ground and examined the tracks closely. They were small with three toes, the inner one being raised off the ground.
    Then came a bright flash, followed by a bang and a loud, booming sound like thunder. The drone galloped back over in time to see a collossal figure standing fourteen feet high roar with rage before baring down on its fellow drone. The creature picked the helpless robot up in its massive jaws and shaking it like a rag doll. Pieces flew in all directions as the robot was torn apart by the sheer force of the creature shaking its jaws. What was left of the drone was hurled against a nearby tree and exploded in a flurry of sparks. The surviving drone recorded the whole attack. The footage was sent off to the main computer then to its human supervisors in the future. It was offical, there was a dinosaur in Crater Valley.