MenoSaurus: Another Dimension

By S J House and Zoran Zlaticanin

Rex is racing to master the secrets of time and space, in order to defeat the Mantoid menace. He is shocked to learn there is only one way to wipe out the enemy. In order to save the Earth, he must travel to the end of time and exterminate the dark energy that gives the Mantoids their power. But as dark energy is the glue that holds everything together, how can he do it without destroying the universe itself?

• Language: English
• Publisher: S J HOUSE
• Release date: Sep 10, 2020

Book preview

Apocalyptic

Chapter One

Reentry

Space warps. For time is not linear in this current form; Mother Earth spins; a strong gravitational pull wins; burning, heated rock jettisons toward Earth, slingshot from an atomic blast. Fire incinerates the skyline. I try to focus, eyes fixed on Rion as I go through rebirth protocol for the second time in my life. Encased in a crystal-green liquid, my body spins inside the Mantoid embryo core hurtling toward Earth, and the G-force pulls through my chest. I shudder violently like an astronaut returning from a deep-space venture. I hear the countdown in the reptile language, sounding off every single step, in a haunting methodical tone: Ten, nine, eight …

Tyrann floats like a baby in a womb, shrinking to the shape of a fetus lizard, hands clasped, eyes squinted shut, tail curled.

Rion is lifeless in his nonorganic form, in shock mode. His eyes are vacant. I watch him closely; the weirdness of it all seems to sharpen my sight and my electric mind. Suddenly, to my astonishment, Orion—the hunter, named after the star constellation—opens his mouth wide. His orange pupils circle in a spooky fashion, as if he’s a circus machine. To my sheer amazement, a white orb of sparkling light appears from his mouth.

I’m transfixed; paralysis grips me as I watch the ball of light hovering next to Rion. A tear leaves my eye; the light transforms into my father in ghostly outline. He smiles at me gently, his eyes giving me a loving, knowing look, as if to say, Everything will be OK, Rex. He nods, gesturing toward me. I gasp, eyes wide. I try to reach out, try to touch his spirit.

I feel myself being pulled away from him now by the forces of nature, cells reproducing. I begin to regrow; visions of evolution race through my brain. I see time flashing before me. Fish swim through oceans, then crawl on all fours onto land; the jaws of Tyrannosaurus Rex snap at me; monkeys spring to trees; early man lights fire.

We hit the ground like a crashing, seven-story aero-cruise plane. The force of impact ripples through the embryo core, creating shock waves that would cause tsunamis hundreds of feet high. We score through the city like a magnitude ten earthquake, ripping up tarmac, imploding buildings to dust that are caught in our path.

My father returns to a ball of light, sucked back into Rion’s mouth. Rion jerks with the force, gulping his throat. His orange pupils swirl in their sockets. He returns to shock mode.

Rebirth protocol malfunction flashes in red.

I feel us come to an abrupt stop. I open my eyes and reach out a hand, desperately gasping for breath, then slump back. My head feels heavy. Everything fades to black.

Chapter Two

Jurassic Manhattan

Several weeks later …

Over Manhattan Island, New York, in the year 3017, the sun rises into a Grandidierite sky. Its glare bursts across the Hudson River, dappling a strip of golden green. There’s no wind or boats. The water is dead calm. Flying low in this hazy light comes a large flock of migrating geese. The sounds of their honks grow louder as they approach. Their soft feathers almost brush the river, creating shimmering shadows upon its surface.

Without warning, the water explodes as something like a blue whale breaches. Its bulk blots out the sun, darkening the sky, as its long neck soars toward the flock of geese. They cry out, met by colossal jaws that clamp hard around their bodies, gobbling them, feathers and all, in a single bite. The Plesiosaur lets out an echoing moan as its hulking mass crashes back into the Hudson, creating surging swells. Returning to the deep, it passes other marine reptiles, extinct for millions of years, but which now hunt and swim within this new prehistoric domain. A hundred-ton Megatooth shark looms from shadows, chasing a shoal of fish, biting one clean in half.

Back above the river’s surface, an aero-chopper’s engines hum at a safe distance. Polished aero-boots hang over the sides. Laser weapons are raised. A pretty African-American woman with long black hair and rosy red lips watches in amazement.

She gasps. Did you see that? she shouts over the hum of air engines. It was a Plesiosaur, must have been at least thirty-five feet in size. It’s been extinct for millions of years, since the late Cretaceous period. This is just amazing! She smiles, unable to contain her excitement.

Ruby Stark is a paleontologist, brought in by the US government to assist the marines dealing with the prehistoric outbreak in New York City. She is to track and document all of its new inhabitants.

To understand the situation in more detail, the government called her, because what she doesn’t know about dinosaurs isn’t worth knowing. For her sixth birthday, her father had bought her models of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops. These were token presents before the main gift: a pink hover-bike, complete with aero-stabilizers, outside in the hallway. But to her father’s dismay, Ruby ignored the bike. All she did was play with those two dinosaurs until bedtime. When her father looked in on her, she’d fallen asleep with them clasped in her hands above the blankets. He shook his head in disbelief as he closed the door quietly.

****

This new dinosaur freak show might be amazing for you, girlie, grunts a resentful voice in the aero-chopper, but it’s not so great for us!

Lieutenant RainHorn glares at Ruby, making her feel uncomfortable. Eventually, he looks away, back down at the river, while holding on to a heavily bandaged hand. He rubs it gently as if still painful.

OK, marines, let’s head over the city. Show Miss … Miss … what’s your name again, girlie?

Ruby cuts RainHorn a disapproving look. It’s Stark, Ruby Stark.

OK, girlie, whatever. RainHorn glares at her. Let’s move, marines.

Copy that, Lieutenant, confirms the pilot, pulling on the fly stick to gain altitude.

Ruby gazes toward the clouds, in awe of the green Grandidierite sky. It radiates a scintillating aurora of northern lights; crystalline patterns dance across the air. Shards of boulders speed past, circling the Earth like Saturn’s rings.

Ruby turns to a young marine. The sky color is like the northern lights. Do you know what’s causing it?

No, ma’am. It’s been there since the great explosion, but nobody knows why. They’ve got scientists working around the clock trying to figure it out, but no one has yet.

It’s beautiful, she says, smiling.

You think? replies the marine, wiping the back of his neck. Personally, I can’t take the heat. Since it’s been there, the temperature in the city has hit close to a hundred and twenty degrees. I miss a breeze and the blue sky myself, ma’am.

RainHorn slants her an evil stare, then mops his brow.

The aero-chopper pulls up, soaring across the Hudson and over the Brooklyn Aero-Bridge. Ruby stares down to see the bridge barricaded off. Steel plates tower into the sky at both ends. They had been put in place to ensure that whatever is on the island will stay on the island. Heavily armed robot cops stand guard. Red and blue lights swirl. Terrain vehicles are backed up, loaded with arsenals of weapons.

Ruby turns to another marine, avoiding eye contact with RainHorn. Are all the aero-bridges into the city blocked off?

Yes, ma’am, replies the soldier. The island is completely sealed; the only way in or out is by air, and it’s been declared a no-fly zone.

OK. So the people are safe on the other side, right?

Not from the flyers, answers the young marine, shaking his head.

The flyers? Ruby questions.

Yeah. Take a look, Miss Stark. The marine points. Over there.

Ruby gasps at the sight of enormous, leathery dragon wings riding thermals over the city. The prehistoric beasts dive-bomb between buildings, letting out haunting screeches.

My Gosh, she whispers softly. They’re Quetzalcoatlus Pterosaurs.

Quetza-what? shouts another marine.

Quetzalcoatlus, explains Ruby. They’re the largest Pterosaurs on record, from the late Cretaceous period. My Goodness, these things are enormous! Wingspans of over thirty-nine feet, bigger than aero-cars! What are you people doing to stop them from killing civilians? How many are there? How many have you seen?

The marine opens his mouth to respond but is immediately cut off by RainHorn.

I’ve seen enough of my men carried away to be eaten by these things, girlie, to last me a lifetime!

Ruby is about to reply, but she’s interrupted by the copilot’s voice behind her.

We’re entering the zone, people; everybody lock and load. Get ready to aero-boot any minute now.

The aero-chopper dives hard right, rushing between futuristic skyscrapers.

Ruby gasps at the sights before her eyes, holding a slender hand to her open mouth.

The aero-chopper flies over the Empire State Building, vines snaking up its sides, splaying out emerald-green leaves the size of boat sails. In the streets below, the sidewalks are covered in grasses, prehistoric plants, and ferns. More vines twine up streetlights. As the aero-chopper descends toward the ground, she points to a herd of Iguanodons that stand on hind legs moaning at the aero-choppers. They lower their hooves, thudding to all fours, letting out grunting cries and quickly bounding away.

You don’t want to startle those when you’re on the ground, says the young marine with a grimace. They got a real bad temper with sharp claws to match.

They’re herbivores, plant eaters, shouts Ruby. They don’t eat meat.

It don’t matter down there, Miss Stark, shouts another marine. Plant or meat eaters, everything wants to kill you stone dead.

OK, we’re in the drop zone, people! shouts the pilot.

Is that Times Square? Ruby points as the aero-chopper flies past. She notices the iconic surroundings masked in Cretaceous plants.

A marine confirms with a nod. Stay close, Miss Stark, he says with an intense expression on his face, then checks his laser weapon.

Ruby nervously nods in agreement.

OK, that’s far enough! shouts RainHorn. "Let’s move,