By Pamela Love
Despite the engineers’ best efforts, time drones have a loud buzz. So when Hanover’s time drone popped in early one sunny Cretaceous morning, it was noticed immediately.
Not by the dinosaurs the drone’s owners sought, who were not in the area, nor the flies swarming a chunk of rotting fruit on a tree branch, who were entranced by the sickly-sweet smell of their meal. However, a gray-scaled, four-legged creature scrambling up the trunk in their direction flinched. She looked around, then lashed her tail as the drone descended through the leaves, pausing to hover next to her.
Never having seen anything like it before, she froze, trusting her natural camouflage to do its work.
It failed.
“See that?” Leo pointed to the screen. Hanover bent closer. “That’s a new species! Or, wait. With that crest and claws—maybe even a new genus!”
Leo’s fingers trembled with excitement. He wanted to dance, but didn’t dare risk it for fear he’d hit the button controlling the drone’s movements in the past—or the man who paid his salary in the present.
Even Hanover’s jaw dropped, and Leo’s boss was a hard man to impress. “A new kind of dinosaur? Awesome. It’s so small, though. Hey, is this a baby dinosaur? Nobody’s gotten footage of one of those yet. Get this uploaded before somebody beats me to it.”
Leo shook his head. “See how its legs sprawl out? A dinosaur’s legs are directly underneath its body.”
Hanover frowned, running a hand through his graying hair. “You’re wasting time on a lizard?”
“A previously undiscovered one! Please, Mr. Hanover. Let’s watch it, just for a few minutes. There’s so much we don’t know about any prehistoric animal’s behavior.”
Hanover banged his fist on the desk. “I paid for that extremely expensive drone, and we’ve only got fifty minutes before it self-destructs. My priority is filming dinosaurs. Your priority should be keeping your job. Nobody cares what some lizard did. Find me a dinosaur!”
The drone shot upward, panicking the subject of the men’s dispute. Opening her jaws, she blasted fire in its direction. Too far away to sustain any damage, it continued its flight into the treetops.
Once more feeling secure, the young dragon continued her own quest—for breakfast.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This is the first story in the “Time Drone Trouble” series. Hanover and Leo’s next story is called “Promises”.
Can’t wait to see the next segment!
You packed a lot into this! Loved it! Hilarious that the men didn’t even notice what they had.
True–but Leo was right that it was a different genus!
That. Was. Fantastic!! :D
Glad you enjoyed it!
Perfectly executed.
Thanks for the compliment!
Very nice. A little more patience would have paid off for Hanover
Wait and see what happens to Hanover and Leo in the sequel story, “Promises”, which takes place minutes after this one.
greedy, impatient men are always a great character, good fun on hump day,
Hanover was a lot of fun to write. The sequel story, “Promises”, shows him off even more.