The tech stared out the entrance of their cave, his eyes wide and his face white. Regina kept her rifle ready, just in case, but there wasn't all that big a risk of anything attacking them right now. That creature was much too big to get them, and no raptors would dare come this close with that thing stomping around.

"How... how long should we wait?" The tech stammered.

"Not too long." Regina replied. "If that thing did go away, raptors could return at any time."

"Alright..." The tech said. "But... did that thing just go back to our boats?"

"I think so." Regina said. "We might have landed in its territory."

"...so we're screwed, then!" The tech said. "We need to get back there and send this place back to the... oh god..." His face went even more pale. "...what if they did it already? What if we're in the Cretaceous right now? We're screwed!"

Regina groaned at his panicking. Though... that wasn't out of the realm of possibility. Her superiors were already willing to leave Dylan and Paula to die in the Cretaceous, so who's to say they wouldn't leave Regina and this man behind too?

"...quiet, you'll attract predators." Regina said, keeping her eyes on the entrance of the cave.

"...sorry." The tech said, embarrassedly collecting himself. "...I'm Chris, by the way."

"Right. Regina." Regina replied. "Alright, let's go."

"...but that thing can't have gone far. It'll see us!" Chris protested.

"If it went to the boats, it's going after the rest of us. Do you want it on your head that you sat here and let them become dinner?" Regina asked.

"...what do we do? How can we beat it?" Chris asked.

"I don't know." Regina admitted, remembering her past encounters with such superpredators. She had no gas valves to set ablaze this time. "And I doubt they do either, which is why we need to go help."

There was a pause.

"...alright." Chris finally said.

Regina emerged first from the cave, rifle up, and looked around. The creature was nowhere to be found, and there were no signs of raptors. Regina paused, then beckoned for Chris to follow. He looked like he'd rather stay in the hole forever, but he slowly emerged and followed her.

They slowly made their way through the forest, Regina with her rifle at the ready and Chris nervously following close. He stepped on far too many twigs and dried leaves for Regina's liking. He was making noise to attract everything in the area. But, luckily, there was no sign of anything, and the heavy footsteps were nowhere to be heard. For the moment, it appeared that they were safe.

After several tense minutes, they made it to the clearing.

Broken half eaten bodies were strewn about, blood soaking the sand, along with several dead raptors. The whole area smelled of spent ammunition and blood. The massive creature's footprints littered the area, some bodies crushed into them.

"Oh crap, no!" Chris exclaimed.

Before Regina could admonish him for making such noise, he ran to the One Way Ticket equipment. Or at least, what was left of it. The obelisk part had several bullet holes in it, the cables had been crushed by a footstep of the massive creature, and the its power supply was on its side and mangled beyond repair. Regina also noticed that two of the boats were on their sides and mangled beyond repair, but thankfully, the timegate boat as safe.

"Oooohhh crap oh crap oh crap, oh no." Chris said, prying open a panel of the obelisk. "No, no, no..."

"...good news?" Regina asked.

"Does it look like... no, it's not good news!" Chris said, panic clear in his voice. "These damn... see this?" He yanked what looked like some kind of drive belt from the obelisk, broken. "Useless. And... and these?" One by one, he reached in and tossed out a total of four bullet-riddled electromagnets. "Nope! And... and the power supply!" He motioned at its remains. "The whole plan is done!"

"Calm down, we can get more of these." Regina hissed, looking around for signs of anything attracted by his rant. "Three million years plus a few minutes? We're not exactly on a time constraint here."

But suddenly, the footsteps began to get closer again.

"...couldn't disagree more." Chris said his voice breaking with fear.

The footsteps were getting closer, but it was impossible to tell from which area of the jungle the creature was coming from. There was only one safe option.

"Into a boat!" Regina ordered, yanking Chris from the obelisk. He stumbled from fear, but followed Regina as she ran into the water, noisily splashing as she ran for the nearest boat – the same transport boat she came from. She climbed in, with Chris close behind. She helped him in, and just as he climbed in, the massive creature entered the clearing.

Chris opened his mouth to panic, but Regina quickly clasped her hand over it and dragged him to the front of the boat.

"Quiet! That thing can't see us from this angle!" She whispered angrily.

And indeed it couldn't. On her knees, Chris seated in front of her with her hand over his mouth, she watched the creature's legs slowly walk in their general direction. She had to restrain Chris, but she herself began to feel fear. Sweat began to drip down her face. How developed was this one's sense of smell? She knew the Rex was second only to the turkey vulture in that aspect, if Jurassic Park was factual, but what about this thing? Could it distinguish them from all the other human smells in this clearing?

The creature stopped just a few feet from the waterline, and all was deathly silent save for the gentle splashing of the water on the shore.

Finally, the creature began to walk to the right, disappearing from view. Chris began to calm down, but immediately tensed up again when it came back into view, a dozen or so feet further away, sniffing the body of a raptor. Regina tightened her hold on Chris as they both realized the same thing – its head was near the ground, it could see them from this angle if it turned around.

But it didn't. After sniffing the body for a few seconds it stood right up, and walked back into the forest. After almost a minute, its footsteps were gone.

Seconds passed like hours as the two of them watched the empty shore. But finally, Regina released Chris. Chris immediately began gasping for air, almost hyperventilating from the ordeal. Regina, meanwhile, looked at the broken One Way Ticket equipment. What were they going to do now? They could take the Timegate back and get new equipment, but after what happened, she doubted her superiors would try this again after this colossal failure. That meant trying to make repairs.

"What parts would you need to fix that thing?" Regina asked quietly.

Chris looked at her like she was insane. When he saw she was serious, he just shrugged helplessly.

"I guess... four electromagnets?" He asked. "Some cables, a new power supply, and a new drive belt. And that's assuming I didn't miss any damage. Why? Know a good hardware store around here?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Regina replied. "Got a map of this world?"

This world had several Third Energy research installations that could potentially have those parts, but what interested Regina was the place she left Dylan and Paula. Maybe they were in a moment of time before the explosion. Maybe she could move that computer, change the past.

Chris pulled out his PDA and handed it to Regina.

"Just what you did up for us." He said.

Neither Regina nor Dylan had the foresight of taking one of the maps when they came here, so she had to give her superiors one she drew from memory.

"Right here." Regina said, pointing to where she left Dylan and Paula. "This is where the Timegate I used was. It's our best bet of finding the kinds of parts you need."

Chris's face said it all. That installation was quite a distance from where they were. Getting there would be an ordeal.

"It's our surest bet." Regina said.

Chris just gulped nervously, and took his PDA back.

Regina felt somewhat guilty. They could probably find those parts at a much closer installation. Every step they took in this world could be their last, and the destination she chose was one of the furthest possible. But she didn't care. She made a promise, and she intended to keep it.

"That thing must be gone by now, come on." Regina said, and began to walk off the boat.