The assassin focused in on his target. It was going to be easy. The target was concentrating so hard, there was no way he’d notice the stealthy footfalls of the assassin as he came at the target from behind. It was going to be the easiest job the assassin had had in ages. So easy, in fact, he wondered if he should delay it until the target could at least put up a bit of a fight.
Nah, he’d destroy him now anyway.
Then he could go dirt bike riding.
The assassin crept closer and closer. The dinosaur mask he was wearing was getting hot, and the eyeholes kept moving. He could only hope the target was still in sight. He couldn’t actually tell for sure. The target was using a handheld power tool, so there would be no way of hearing the assassin move with the stealth of a tiger and the weightlessness of something really light – maybe a feather – yeah, a feather. The target would be mincemeat and not even know how he got minced, this assassin was that good.
Two more footsteps and the target would be done, good and proper . . .
Unexpectedly, the target turned around, brandishing what looked like a dentist’s drill, and shouted ‘Riiiiiiiillley!’ really loud.
Riley the assassin jumped a mile into the air in fright.
His best friend Robert, aka the target, howled with laughter. ‘Awesome mask. Is it meant to be an allosaurus?’
Riley ripped off the mask. ‘I don’t know. I just picked it up at the museum shop. I thought I’d actually scare you this time.’
Robert smirked. ‘Good luck with that, mate.’
‘But I was sure I’d got you. You were so busy looking at that boring old rock.’
Robert was shocked. ‘This is no boring old rock! This is the most exciting rock ever.’
Riley raised an eyebrow.
‘C’mon mate, you know what’s inside this rock, don’t you?’
‘A whole lot of smaller rocks squashed together?’ said Riley, playing dumb.
‘Nup,’ answered Robert. ‘Inside this rock is a dinosaur fossil, which is what makes this rock so awesome. Didn’t you listen when we went out with the palaeontologist this morning?’
‘Kind of. Well, not really. Out the window I could see some excellent trails that would be good for dirt-biking.’
Robert was still holding the rock. He hadn’t finished trying to convince his friend of how amazing fossils were. ‘Once upon a time, this fossil was a part of a real-life dinosaur that roamed prehistoric Australia. It might have been a huge carnivore the size of four elephants or a scrawny feathered herbivore the size of an oversized rooster. That’s what I want to find out.’
Riley was still not convinced. ‘Who cares? They lived ages ago.’
Robert grinned. ‘Exactly. That’s what makes it so exciting!’
‘Speaking of exciting, wanna go dirt bike riding?’ asked his best friend, completely missing the point.
‘Later. I just want to spend a bit more time with this guy,’ said Robert, looking fondly at the rock in his hand. ‘But if you find the best tracks, you can count on a race later on.’
Riley gave his mate a friendly whack on the back of the head with the dinosaur mask. ‘You bet. And then you’ll really be scared. Scared of my speed and skill!’
Robert smiled as Riley trudged out the door of the dinosaur fossil laboratory and out into the glaring Queensland sunshine. He turned to an impressive-looking figure in the corner of the lab – a large fossil of the leg of a titanosaur, which had been affectionately named Wade. The poor ’saur was currently missing a head, a tail and quite a few bits in-between, but the size of its leg made it clear that once upon a time, this enormous dinosaur was probably the size of a small building!
‘Wade, not everyone loves dinosaurs the way I do. I don’t understand it, but I have to accept it. Now, if you’re lucky, in this rock I might just uncover another piece of you. That’d be good, wouldn’t it? I know you’d like to be more than just a large leg. Let’s see if I can help you with that.’
Robert turned on the drill, which was actually called an air scribe, a specialised tool used to help remove rock from around fossils, and once again focused on his special task.
For Robert Irwin, life didn’t get much better than this. Here he was in a dino laboratory in outback Australia, helping to uncover new fossils at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs, the only museum dedicated solely to Australian dinosaurs.
Best birthday present ever!