Here is part 2 which didnt seem to go thru -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]> Sent: Tue, Jan 12, 2021 10:18 pm Subject: Hunting For The Ice Age Part 2
The forest was quiet as they trudged throughthe snow. The path had been cleared recently so the going was easy. He looked around and all he saw was aprimeval forest that stretched off in all directions. “Where are we? We stillon earth?” The lioness pausedfor a moment. “Sort of. This is the earth of 10,000 years ago. It is actually apocket dimension.” “So we’re in another dimension?” Jonathanasked. “Amazing. What exactly IS a pocket dimension? How big is it?” “A pocket dimension is a small reality,” sheexplained. “A complete universe with all it’s own laws of physics.” “No one is quite sure how large it is,” Thelion responded. “It can’t be smaller than my firstapartment,” Jonathan quipped. “How?” the man asked and paused. “I mean.How does someone create their own personal reality?” The lioness gave an almost human shrug. “Wehave no clue. We have several physicists here studying just that question.” After what had only be a few minutes but inthis cold and with all the gear it felt like hours; a building loomed up infront of them. The building that came into view looked tobe an old hunting lodge with walls of worked stone and thick timber beams andcolumns. The roof was of large wooden shingles. It looked to be capable ofwithstanding the worst blizzard. They quickly went inside and the sudden warmthwas a great relief. Electric lights lit the interior showing anodd mix of old and new technology. Wood furniture was arraigned in front of a largestone fireplace. On a wall next to it was a large TV screen showing the worldnews. It hung over a stone fireplace in which burned a good-sized log fire. A wooden desk held a top-of-the-linecomputer. Seated in front of it was a large Dire wolf who was working the mousewith her right, front paw. Two leopards lay stretched out on one couchand a smilodon occupied another. All were watching the news on TV. Anothersmilodon was curled up in a chair that was far too small for her. Yet sheseemed comfortable and sound asleep. With all four legs sticking up in the air. A wolf and a cave lion were sitting at acard table and playing some sort of board game. Another leopard lay on her back in front ofthe fire reading a book. The book itself was floating in the air at eye level.Held there by powers unseen. “People!” The lion announced loudly. “Ourguests have arrived.” “Be nice as they are recording this all fortheir TV show,” the lioness added. The group stirred and a half ton of furcovered predators came at them. She pointed to one of the leopards. Thisfeline had several mystical symbols dyed into her fur. “This is Dr. HelleLivandi our resident expert on the mystical arts. She has come to us fromEstonia.” “Tere tulemast. Meeldiv tutvuda,” theleopardess bowed. “Greetings. I’m pleased to meet you,” she said in a voicewith just a hint of an accent. Mystical arts means you are a mage?”Jonathan asked. The leopard nodded. “A bit of a crude title.I prefer faunalogist as I specialize is animal magic.” “She didn’t need to change when shearrived,” another leopard added in a male voice. “She arrived already afeline.” “This is my natural form,” Helle explained.“I was born a leopard in a previous life.” The lioness pointed to the male leopard. “Thisis Robert Hawkins.” Samantha pointed to two smilodons that werecoming into the room. “The two long tooths are Dr Justine Lebas, one of ourveterinarians. And Dr Aseem Hadad is here to see what the animals whose boneshe’s been excavating for twenty years looks like in the flesh.” Jonathan extended his hand in an almostreflex motion. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The sabertooth looked at the hand for amoment. “I’m sorry. How do felines greet each other.I know wolves and dogs sniff each other’s tails,” Jonathan commented. “And thatis out.” That got a round of laughter and growls hehoped was laughter. Aseem extended his right front leg andJonathan shook it carefully. He got a good look at the paw and found that itwas actually a hand; complete with fingers and a thumb. “Sabā il kẖayr,” the sabertooth said. “Sabā in noor,” Jonathan answered, givingthe appropriate response. Aseem’s ears perked up. “You know Arabic?” “I was on the dig at Gebel el-Silsila for 3seasons.” The man explained. “That’s great,” the smilodon respondedcheerfully. “I was there for seven seasons.” “I noticed that you don’t have a paw. Youhave a hand down to an opposable thumb.” Aseem held up his left leg and waved hisfingers and thumb about. “A complete set on both.” “A compromise Geimhreadh agreed to,” Justineexplained. “For somethings you really need a thumb. “This is Dr Julio Rodriguez from NOAA,” thelion explained and pointed to a man standing nearby. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” the man saidand shook Jacks hand. “I hope it’s not too cold for you here.” “I’ll admit it was shock just how cold it ishere,” Jonathan responded. “That’s why I am here. To study the extremesof the weather,” the scientist explained. “My specialty is cold weather.” "Is it fun being a meteorologisthere?" "The study of the weather isfascinating. The forecasting, not so much." The Doctor admitted. "Oh?" The TV show host asked. "There's only so many ways I can saythat we're gonna have snow,” Julio laughed. “Have you discovered anything exciting sofar?” “Well. So far I’ve discovered fifteen newtypes of snow,” the meteorologist answered. “We’ve got you all a room on the firstfloor,” the lioness added. “So what do you think of our little lair?” Awolf asked. “This used to be the HQ for the old lab but we reworked it tosomething more comfortable.” Jonathan laughed. “Looks like the Ponderosafrom Bonanza. All we need is Lorne Greene and Michael Landon.” The lion and lioness gave a cough that washopefully a laugh. “Did you think we’re living in caves?” Theleopard joked. “Well,” Jonathan said slowly. “The reports does make it sound like that.” “We haven’t given up all of civilization,”she said. “Just certain parts.” “We have all the essentials; food, water,shelter and high speed wifi,” the wolf joked. A dozen humans joined the group. “And here is the two-legged portion of ourgroup.” Introductions were quickly made and Jonathanwas soon overwhelmed with names and affiliations. “This is Professor Debra Andrews fromHostra.” “This is Amanda Berkstein from theUniversity of Stuttgart.” “Francois Utrand.” “From CollégeBois-de-Boulogne.” “From Brookhaven National Labs. She’s tryingto figure out where we are.” “Carnegie Mellon University, dept ofphysics.” “Also trying to figure out where we trulyare.” He quickly lost track of who was who.Thankfully Fred was there dutifully taking notes. Later he would fill Jonathanin. “Do you really run tours?” Jonathan asked.“You’re website mentioned day tours and hotel accommodations.” “Yes,” the leopard responded. “We have theday trippers who come over just for the day. They get a tour and then time forpetting and feeding some of the animals.” “And of course, the obligatory picturetaking,” the leopardess answered. “The school trips are really popular,” theleopard commented. “The kids love all of this.” “They are always fun. Teach them whenthey’re young to appreciate nature and help preserve it,” Amanda said. “We also have guests who stay from a week toa month,” the lioness explained. “What type of people come and stay?” Thehost asked. “Mostly scientists coming to study andtourists who want a really different vacation. We do have a sociologist who is studyingthe tourists. But we also have hunters who come to experience an old-fashionedhunt,” the lion said. “Like a real hunter.” Jonathan shook his head. “Sounds a littletoo hard core for me.” The leopard nodded her head. “It’s only fora few people.”
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