In the Time of Dinosaurs Page 3

  "A giraffe?" Jake asked.

  "Not a giraffe," I said.

  Jake looked a little confused. We all were, but he's the one who gets stuck making the decisions. I felt sorry for him. He'd been right to drag me away from those sea monsters. I should have told him that.

  But poor Rachel. Poor Tobias. What was I ever going to do without Rachel? Rachel had been my best friend forever. I couldn't imagine not seeing her every day.

  I realized I was crying. I guess I had been, off and on, since we'd dragged up out of the sea.

  I felt Jake's arm go around my shoulders. "Don't cry, Cassie. Don't give up on Rachel and Tobias. You know Rachel. If there's a way to survive, she'll find it."

  I wiped my tears. "Yeah. You're right. And we have to focus here."

  He took his arm away and suddenly seemed awkward. I think he expected Marco to make some smirky remark. But Marco has a good heart. He knows when to let things go. Besides, I knew Marco was almost as sad as I was.

  "What should we do, Prince Jake?" Ax wondered. Page 15

  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs "Have I mentioned don't call me prince?" Jake said automatically. "Yes, Prince Jake, you have." Jake looked around. "I guess we go that way," he said, pointing to the

  forest. "But not along that path. Whatever crushed those trees and made these tracks, we don't want to run into it. But obviously, wherever we are -some island somewhere, Africa, South America -wherever we are, there have to be people, right? Just not here on the beach. So let's go find them."

  I found myself looking back at the sea, at the surf that lapped almost peacefully on the coarse dark sand. Was she still alive somehow? Jake was right: If anyone could get swallowed by a whale -or whatever that thing had been -and survive, it was Rachel.

  "I caught a glimpse of a clearing way back in the trees," I said.

  "Could be a village there." Jake led the way into the trees. The sun was shut out by the tall, spreading branches. There were vines hanging down and crawling up the trunks of trees. And huge ferns so big you could hide in them.

  We struck a stream, maybe fifteen feet across. Both banks of the river

  were lined by magnolias, dogwoods, and massive fig trees. "This is not anywhere near being home," I said. "This is more like tropical vegetation."

  "It's humid enough, that's for sure," Marco complained. "I wonder if the water's okay to drink?" Jake asked. Then, with a shrug,

  he dropped to his knees and dipped his hand in. He brought the water to his mouth and sipped. "I guess we can always get a bunch of shots for whatever disease is in

  the water," I said. I dropped beside him and tasted the water. The humidity hadn't seemed so bad down by the ocean. But now it was dehydrating me. I was massively thirsty.

  "It's probably okay," I said. "Usually running water -" FWOOOSH! A huge head exploded from the water. SNAP! A jaw six feet long slammed shut with a sound like steel on steel.

  The jaw snapped shut so close to my face that it grazed my nose. I leaped back. Fell on my butt. Spun, jumped up, and bolted. "That was one big honkin' crocodile!" Marco yelled as he ran beside me. We stopped beneath a huge tree. Four of us, all panting. "That wasn't right," I gasped. "Yeah, no kidding," Marco said. "No, I mean it was too big. The jaw was too long and thin."

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  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs

  "I am really not liking this," Jake muttered. "What were those things in the ocean? What made that footprint? Where on Earth are we that has crocodiles that size? I mean, we've seen crocodiles. That was one way, way big croc."

  "Prince Jake, I am going to demorph," Ax said.

  "Have you been in morph too long?" Jake asked with a frown.

  "No. But I am frightened," Ax replied. "I don't want to have to fight in this weak human body."

  "Yeah, go ahead," Jake said. "Cassie, I don't mean to hit you with this, but you know more about animals than any of us. Whe re the -where on Earth are we?"

  "I don't know," I admitted. "Giant crocodiles, huge, aggressive whales or whatever, like nothing I've ever even heard of, and something big enough to leave a footprint you could turn into a wading pool. I just don't know."

  "Okay, fine," he said, obviously frustrated. "Let's try it another way. Ax, you know more about physics and so on than any of us -"

  "More than any human," Ax said. He was de-morphing but was still mostly human.

  "Whatever. Just tell me how an explosion could have blown us all the way to, I don't know, Madagascar or wherever, without killing us."

  "Madagascar?" Marco asked.

  "It couldn't," Ax said simply.

  "Great. Great. That clears everything up just fine. This is nuts." He sighed. He looked at me and shrugged.

  "I don't know," I said. "Maybe when we find some people they can tell us where we are."

  We walked on, heading toward the clearing. The forest had become a frightening place to us. Everything was wrong. Out of place somehow, in some way I couldn't quite explain. How had the storm and rain suddenly become humid sunlight? How had we gone into the water off a beach fronted by a boardwalk and come out at a beach fronted by forest?

  "Maybe it's all a dream," Marco said, as if he'd been reading my thoughts. "In which case, I'd like to dream about a nice, ice-cold Coke." He held out his hand, curved around an imaginary bottle. "Hmm. So much for the dream theory."

  We were almost to the clearing now. I could see bright, buttery sunlight through the trees. But massive ferns blocked my view of the clearing itself.

  "Let's get out from under these trees," I said. "We'll think better in the open. And maybe there will be some people."

  "Too bad they'll speak Madagascarese," Marco said.

  "Shhh!" I froze.

  "What?" Page 17

  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs "Shhhh! Listen!" A grunting, snuffling sound to our left. Then the sound

  of greenery being rustled. Then more snuffling. The sound of... eating? "Something munching leaves," I said. "There's been way too much munching already," Marco muttered. "No, it's okay," I said. "If it eats plants, it won't eat us. Could be a

  cow. If it's a cow, maybe it belongs to someone." "And if it doesn't belong to anyone, maybe we can eat it. I'm starving." We threaded our way cautiously toward the sound. The closer we got, the

  more confident I was. Yes, something was grazing. But did cows eat leaves? No. Deer, maybe?

  I pushed aside a fern frond. And there it was. It was perhaps twenty feet long from head to tail. It stood on four elephantlike legs. It had a long neck that made up a third of its length

  and was balanced by the long tail of equal length. Along its back were bumpy, bony things, like armor plating that only covered that one area. For about two minutes I don't think one of us drew a breath. We just stared. "I think it's a baby," I said. "A baby?" Marco said. "Cassie, it's a dinosaur." Suddenly. Crash! Crash! CRASH! CRASH! From behind us! "HuuuuRROOOOAAARR!" The ground shook from the impact of its huge, taloned feet. The blast of

  its roar shivered the leaves and buckled my knees. I spun around just in time to see it leap. It jumped over us like we weren't even there. Jumped over us with its

  awful, hawklike talons. It landed with one huge foot on the ground and one holding the side of the "little" dinosaur.

  Down came the head. That huge square, familiar head. The Tyrannosaurus opened its massive jaws and closed them at the base of the baby dinosaur's neck.

  I didn't know what was happening. My mind was gone. Gone in out-of-control terror. We ran. Chapter 8 Rachel I was human! A human gasping for air inside the belly of the creature. Page 18

  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs My lungs were screaming and heaving. I was blind. My skin was burning. I was being pum-meled, crushed, smashed, beaten.

  I was getting mad.

  I knew Tobias was there, too, but I had no idea where. He wasn't thought-speaking.
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  Morph! I told myself. But already I was weakening. The human body can't last long without air.

  I tried to focus. But my head was swirling. I wanted to just give up. Why fight it? I was done for.

  Not yet, you're not done for, Rachel, I told myself. Not yet. I might not survive, but by God, I was going to deal with this creature before I went down.

  From far off I could sense the changes occurring. I knew I was growing. But too weak ... too weak ... no time ... no time. And once I dug out I'd find water. Not air.

  Air. I needed air. Some nagging part of my brain kept saying, "Lungs!"

  I felt like saying, "Yes, I know. I'm suffocating. I know all about my lungs. They hurt. They're heaving, gasping, crying for air."

  And I swear, as I swirled down into the darkness, there came a voice, clear as a bell in my head. My own voice, but from outside of my own head.

  "No, you idiot," it said. "Not your lungs. Duh."

  It was the weirdest thing. But suddenly I could see myself clearly. I even knew that I was halfway morphed. I had blond hair on my head and coarse brown fur on my face. I was crushed inside the gizzard of the beast. A tiny, crumpled bundle of feathers was pressed against me.

  I could see it all. But better than that, I could see what the voice meant. I was enclosed in a cage made up of massive ribs. But right there, just a foot away, was air.

  I drew back my massive paw. The paw of a grizzly bear. A paw that could destroy a man with a single, backhanded swipe. I drew that paw back and I extended my wicked, hooked claws, and I thrust that paw straight out. I twisted and pushed. The twist ripped and the power of the thrust dug my paw deep into the creature's in-sides.

  "HREEEEE-UH!"

  I heard its scream. It reverberated through the flesh that pressed all around me.

  I thrust and twisted.

  "HREEEEE-UH!"

  Another scream. A spasm that wracked the body so powerfully it almost knocked me out.

  But I was not so easily crushed now. I was no longer human. I had finished morphing the grizzly bear. And not even this sea monster could digest a grizzly bear.

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  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs

  With my last ounce of strength, I thrust and twisted.

  SHWOOOOOSH!

  Air!

  Air poured in. I gasped at it. Air!

  I had done it. I had ripped a hole out of the gizzard and penetrated the creature's lungs.

  «Tobias! Breathe! There's air!»

  I went back to work, ripping now with both huge paws. Digging downward to avoid the ribs.

  Suddenly water gushed in. Salt water. Cold and wonderful. I kicked and clawed the opening till it was bigger. Then I tumbled out. I hit bottom. I looked up, dazed and disoriented.

  The creature had beached itself. I was in no more than five or six feet of water. I stood up, my huge bear head broke the surface, and I reared up on my hind legs.

  Tobias was fluttering weakly in the water. I grabbed him up as gently as I could with bear paws. I lumbered toward shore and set him down on dry land.

  «Tobias, are you okay?»

  «Do I look Okay?» he asked.

  «Well . ..»

  «Busted wing. Feathers a mess. Half my tail feathers ripped out or eaten away by stomach acid. I'm a definite mess. On the other hand, I'm alive.»

  «Yeah,» I said. I reared up to my full height and took a look around. I could tell that we had run up into the mouth of a river.

  The riverbanks were steep on our side of the river. My pathetically dim bear vision could barely make out some vague shapes moving on the far bank. I sniffed the air. The grizzly sense of smell is excellent. What I smelled was puzzling. «I'm smelling ... I don't know what. It's like something is missing. Like the air has been scrubbed clean. I smell various trees and plants, but. . . » I shook my huge head. «I don't know. Something I should be smelling, only I'm not»

  Tobias stood up shakily on his talons. «Car exhaust? The smell of fossil fuels burning? The faint smells of backyard pools and grease-belching fast-food restaurants? The smell of human sweat, perfume, garbage? In other words, all the smells of civilization?»

  «Yeah. Exactly. You're right.» I glared at him. «Too right. How did you know? What's going on, Tobias?»

  «Well, my wings and tail are a mess, but my eyes are still working. I can see what you can't.»

  «You can't see smells.»

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  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs «No. But I can see that small herd over across the river. That small herd of hadrosaurs over there.»

  «What is a hadrosaur?» I demanded. I was getting annoyed at the way Tobias sounded. Like he was about to say something important, only he couldn't quite spit it out.

  «Hadrosaurs were a group of duck-billed dinosaurs.»

  «Tobias, would you mind making just a little bit of sense? Dinosaurs?»

  «Yeah. And let's see, if I remember my old dinosaur books, those long-necked things in the water were Elasmosauruses and the thing that you just chewed a hole through was probably a Kronosaurus.»

  «Yeah. Right.» I waited for him to laugh at his own joke. Only he didn't laugh. «Dinosaurs?»

  «Yeah. Dinosaurs.»

  «Oh, man. Tobias, we are gonna need some better morphs.»

  Tobias I was in pain. I didn't want to mention it, though. What was the point? I had very few morphs, unlike the others. We were on land now. A dolphin

  morph wasn't any use. The only useful morph I had was my human one.

  But somehow a human body seemed pathetically weak in a world of dinosaurs. At least in my own hawk body I could fly away from danger. Unfortunately, my hawk body was a mess. «Now what do we do?» Rachel wondered. «What about the others? Do you

  think they made it?» «I don't know.» I tried to extend my broken wing. «Ahh!» «Does it hurt?» «Not really,» I lied. High above me the huge bear head looked down at me. «Why don't you morph

  to human, then morph back to your bird body? The new hawk body will be constructed from the DNA and should be fine. Just like what happens when we injure a morphed body.»

  «Okay.»

  It felt weird going human. I'd only done it a few times since the Ellimist had given me back my morphing power. Now I felt my feathers itching as they melted into flesh. My sight grew

  dim, my hearing became muddy. I rose up, tall, large, clunky, awkward . . . human.

  "At least the pain is gone now," I said. "Now to get feathery again." A few minutes later, I was my normal -okay, my abnormal -self. Unfortunately . . .

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  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs «Aaaaahh! Oww! It just hurts worse!»

  «This makes no sense!» Rachel said, sounding outraged. I laughed grimly. «Rachel, in case you haven't noticed, our lives stopped making sense that day we walked through the construction site and had a spaceship land in front of us. Maybe it's some effect from the time travel -if that's what's happened to us. I'll be sure and ask Ax, if we ever see him again. Or maybe the Ellimist messed me up when he gave me back my powers. It'd be a relief to think that guy is capable of screwing up.»

  «Then morph to human. We have to get going. Don't ask me where.»

  «No. I need to heal. That will take time. I have to stay in my own body for it to heal. But first I need you to set my broken wing.» «What? I'm not Cassie!» «You've seen her do it. So have I.» «Oh, man,» Rachel moaned. «What am I going to use for bandages?» «Part of your morphing outfit. That and some twigs.» «Oh, man,» Rachel said again. «I wish Cassie were here.» She began to demorph. The massive shoulders and head, the lumbering

  haunches, the shaggy fur, the huge, powerful paws, all shrank and

  melted. Gradually a very beautiful human girl emerged. Rachel looked down at her morphing outfit. It was a black, one-piece leotard. "Okay, so I go to the bare midriff look," she said.

  She tried to
tear a hole in the fabric. "My fingernails are too short."

  «Here. Bend down.» She bent close and I used my beak to make a tear in the fabric. From that first tear Rachel quickly ripped off three strips of black

  nylon. "I just have one thing to say, Tobias. Don't break another wing. I mean, this doesn't look bad -it could actually be kind of a fashion statement -but any more and we'd be getting embarrassing."

  «Hey, I'm a hawk, remember? I would never even look.»

  "Yeah, right." She gathered up some twigs that had been deposited along the river's edge. "What do you think? These okay?" «Should be. Now, look, all you have to do is straighten out my wing.

  Make sure the bone is lined up straight. Otherwise it'll heal crooked and I'll spend the rest of my life flying around in circles.» Rachel looked alarmed.

  «Just a joke, Rachel,» I said. But silently I added, I hope. She took my broken wing very gently. "I can tell where it's broken. I'll straighten it, then put a stick on each side and tie it up, right?"

  «Yep. Nothing to it.» Rachel took a deep breath. "On the count of three. One . . . two ..." Page 22

  K[1]._A._Applegate_-_Megamorphs_02_-_In_The_Time_of_Dinosaurs «Aaaahhh!» I yelled, as sharp pain shot up my wing. "Sorry! Sorry!" she cried. «Just get it over with!» I yelled. She held the bone in place with one hand. It hadn't broken into separate