New World

Darcy’s high boots were covered in a layer of thick mud, as a result of her not looking where she stepped. She had been out on the jeep with her mentor, Marvin Gates, and a few soldiers when she spotted a dinosaur carcass that was so unlike any she’d seen before. She wanted to get a closer look and snap a few pictures, so she could show it to Harry. She was so excited that she didn’t watch where she was going and stepped straight into a muddy sink hole.

Luckily, Marvin was a relaxed man and instead of scolding her for not doing exactly what she was told, he laughed at her, even though the soldiers weren’t laughing. Marvin admired Darcy’s curiosity and it was one of the reasons he’d chosen her to be his apprentice. She was always so willing to learn and he, of course, was always ready to teach. They were a perfect paleontologist pair, and Darcy was always thrilled to share their findings with Harry.

When they got back to the colony, safely inside Atello’s electric fence, Darcy ran straight to Harry, eager to tell him about everything they had seen. She didn’t care that she had dabs of mud on her cheeks and her boots were so heavy with it that she could hardly walk.

Kicking off her shoes, she all but ran into the lab, careful not to knock anything over. If anyone else had been in there, they would have yelled at Darcy, but luckily for her, Harry was alone.

When he saw her running towards him, he immediately put down the egg shell he was about to examine under a microscope, and turned to her with a bright smile.

“I take it your scout went well,” Harry said, admiring the way her eager smile lit up her face. She loved dinosaurs even more than he did, and as jealous as he was that she got the mentorship instead of him, he was happy that she had it. He only wanted the best for Darcy, and Marvin Gates was the best teacher that both the past and present had to offer.

“It was incredible, Haz,” Darcy exclaimed, nearly out of breath. “I saw the most curious carcass The bones were all misshapen and the blood was so thick it was like goo.”

“Nice visual.”

“I’m serious, Harry. I managed to get a few photos before…” She trailed off, as she let her eyes fall to the left and away from Harry. She knew he’d have quite a laugh at the thought of her knee deep in mud, and if having Marvin Gates laughing at her expense wasn’t bad enough, Harry laughing would be twice that.

“Before what?” he asked, biting his lip in a playful smile.

“Nothing. It’s nothing, really.”

“Tell me.”

“I can’t.”

“Darce, please,” Harry said, as he batted his eyelashes at her. “Please, tell me.”

She knew she was powerless to resist his convincing eyes, and in a matter of seconds, she spilled. “Before I stepped into sink hole.”

“A sink hole?” Harry said, laughter sputtering from between his lips. “Like the kind filled with mud?”

She nodded.

“Oh, that’s great.” Harry buckled over in laughter, making a much bigger show about it than he needed to. “Please tell me someone got a photo.”

“No, Harry. No one got a photo. Now, if you don’t stop laughing, I won’t show you the pictures I got.”

Harry immediately quieted, as if he’d never been laughing at all. Just like Darcy, Harry had a love of learning new things, and her promise of strange dinosaur carcass photographs had intrigued him, just like she knew it would.

When he’d quieted down, she showed him the photos, admiring the way his eyes lit up when they landed on them. She wished that he could have gone out on the Jeep with them, so he could have seen it in person like she had, but they only wanted one young person out at time, which was part of Colonel Morris’s orders, as he didn’t want too many of their young scientists killed should anything go wrong. Even with him sending his best soldiers out with them, he knew that nothing was certain and he couldn’t guarantee their safety, so he never wanted to send out more than what was needed.

It was part of the reason Harry didn’t want Elena to get the mentorship. He knew that she’d be going out on missions all the time, and he never knew which one would be her last. She was his best friend, and he always worried about her. Even at night, he wondered if she was safe and sound in her bed or being mauled by a monster. As much as he loved dinosaurs, he knew how dangerous they could be, and he knew one could take Elena way at any minute, especially when she was out on the Jeep. Even with the soldier protecting her, he still worried.

“Those are amazing, Darce,” he said, after she pulled the camera away. “What do you think it was?”

She shook her head. “I have no idea. Mr. Gates said it was probably a velociraptor whose herd turned on him, but I couldn’t be sure. The body was too mangled. He seemed to know what he was talking about, though.”

“What if it wasn’t? What if it was something totally undiscovered and you missed your chance to have it named after you?”

Harry looked at her with a playful, challenging smile, and she knew he was only kidding. He always joked with her and made their work seem light, which was one of the reasons they got along so well.

“Well, then I suppose there are more out there, and there will be plenty more opportunities for me to discover one.”

Harry chuckled. “That’s just what the world needs. A Darcisaurus Rex.”

Darcy slapped her hand across his chest, and he jumped back, hissing in his fake pain. She rolled her eyes at him, but couldn’t help but laugh. She decided to let that one go, but if he tried to come up with anymore jokes at her expense, he might just be eating dinner alone.