Drifting through space, the shell blindly obeyed the law of physics which states that an object in motion will remain so unless acted upon by an outside force. The tiny object, no bigger than a mushroom spore, continued on a random trajectory set during the explosion of a space station built by beings whose vast technological capabilities had not been coupled with an ability to get along. The war between Xazia and Ryndylv had completely obliterated both civilizations, and wiped out over 90 percent of all life on their respective home planets.

The shell was a byproduct of that war. It contained a matrix designed to genetically enhance any life form it bonded with, transforming that life form into an all-powerful killing machine.

Although its Xazian creators were extinct, the matrix was programmed to carry on its work without them. It was also very durable; as time would one day be measured on the third planet in the solar system it had just entered, the matrix had survived the rigors of space for over a billion years.

That planet was the one to draw the matrix's attention. Sensing a biosphere on the world, the galactic drifter approached it. It entered the atmosphere, protected from friction by the shell. This crumbled away, a crisp and blackened husk, within about 100 feet of the ground. This left the small pink spore drifting through the air, its programming now fully awakened. Its senses analyzed the planet's rich, diverse ecology.

The small, furry creatures whose descendants would eventually name this planet Earth and themselves humans occupied a fairly insignificant niche in the scheme of things. The matrix totally ignored them as they scurried and hid to stay out of the way of the world's ruling class whose fossil remains would, millions of decades hence, be designated as dinosaurs. It was on these that the alien spore focused its senses.

Modern humans have not yet discovered the species to which the beasts nesting on the beach belonged, although they were descended from dinosaurs known as Baryonyx. Leading a semi-aquatic lifestyle, they fed mostly on fish, ammonites and smaller land animals, along with larger carrion. They were among the very few dinosaurs to actually evolve ears, fanlike appendages that would remind a human of dragon legends. On this particular day, the dinosaurs were busily feasting on an elasmosaur corpse. But they probably wouldn't have noticed the tiny spore drifting over the nesting site anyway. Lightly floating downward to settle on an egg, the matrix began its work.

The ammonite's tentacle whipped out of the shell, grabbing a passing fish. So intent was the creature on its meal that it didn't see approaching danger until it was too late. Predator became prey as the great dinosaur grasped the shell, using her thumb to pry it open. Greedily, she chewed up the meat within.

The opposing thumb was only one of the differences between this creature and her parents and siblings. The alien matrix had changed her in so many ways when it bonded with her in the eggshell. For one thing, at 25 feet long she was nearly as big as the adults were, even though she was only half a year old. She also boasted a larger, more complex brain than any other creature then living on the planet. Even without Xazian programmers feeding information to her brain, the creature’s intelligence was literally unearthly.

She hunted alone, as she had for months. Her rapid growth had unnerved the other nestlings so much they avoided her. Even the adults growled menacingly if she approached too closely. Although dinosaurs had no spoken language, they could sense the concept of ‘outcast’ or ‘misfit’ on an instinctive level, and that she fell into this category.

She, too, knew this. She was more curious and observant of the world around her than the others were. When on land, she would often sniff at the brightly colored plants that they ignored. Her diet was more omnivorous, including plants as well as meat. She ranged farther than they, constantly exploring new territory. She could dive deeper and stay under longer than the others. It would be no exaggeration to say she represented an entirely new species.

Sniffing the breeze, the tyrannosaur picked up the scent. He did not usually bother other meat eaters, but he’d had poor luck hunting that evening, and something in this spoor was slightly different. The predator cautiously moved upwind toward the scent.

Munching on shore vegetation just a little way up river from the herd, the outcast didn’t even see the T-rex peering out of the bush behind her. So intent was she on her meal, she was not aware that she was in danger of becoming one- until the great roar shattered the stillness from behind her.

She felt the tyrannosaur’s powerful jaws champing down on her flank, bellowing in pain as the fangs sank into her flesh. The bite should have crushed her pelvic bone. Instead, the teeth broke off against the bone. Startled, the tyrannosaur lost his grip, and she pulled free of the jaws, swiping at him with her right arm.

Bellowing in pain as her claws raked his flesh, the tyrannosaur staggered back. From a safer distance, the beast eyed her warily, expecting her strength to ebb with the loss of blood. But her bleeding had already stopped and the wound was healing. Within seconds, it looked like an old scar. Accelerated healing was yet another part of her alien legacy. The tyrannosaur had no such advantage, as the blood oozing from the superficial wound in his snout attested.

The two dinosaurs eyed each other, growling. Although the outcast was only about two-thirds of T-rex’s size, she faced him down defiantly, waving her arms, which were much bigger and stronger than his. Having already felt a sample of his strength, the huge predator decided to seek easier prey. Slowly, he backed away and turned, stalking into the night.

Lying upon the land like a white blanket, the morning mist barely reached the knees of the queen as she strode across the plain, a giantess among giants. The beasts with which she shared the world all granted her uncontested right of way. The fact that she was five times the size of an adult T-rex undoubtedly had a lot to do with it. The dinosaurs could not understand an alien matrix restructuring DNA at the subatomic level to create a skeleton that was harder than diamond. They could only see the giant creature made possible by such a property.

At some instinctive level, she knew the stirring she had felt growing stronger within her over the past few days was the mating urge. She wasn’t sure what to do about it. The others of her kind (or at least the kind she had sprung from) still avoided her.

Had she understood the strange-scented wetness exuding from beneath the base of her tail, she would have known it was the solution to her problem. As the mist evaporated under the morning sun’s glare, she could see two males approaching her from different directions. The scent was having a definite effect on them. Their earlier fear had been replaced by a powerful, eager lust.

Nearing the huge female, they began growling and snapping in a mutual display of pheromone-induced fierceness. Then the titans charged each other. Slamming together, they grappled, each one trying to push his opponent backwards. In the way of animals fighting with their own kind for mating privileges, they did not seriously wound each other with their claws and fangs. Instead, they locked themselves into a multi-ton shoving match, their great hind claws digging into the earth to secure a foothold.

Both stood immobile for a few minutes as the giantess watched. At last, one of them slowly began to give way to the inexorable power of his opponent. He staggered back, falling to the ground. In the next second, the other’s jaws were loosely clamped on his throat. The vanquished one emitted the loud, bleating call of surrender. The victor then allowed him to get up and flee into the forest.

The female leviathan lay on her back, ready and waiting for the pheromone-mad male. He seemed not to notice her great size as he mounted her.

Little Gorgo (as humans would one day name him) charged frantically through the forest, trying to evade the snapping jaws of the daspletosaurus. He could feel the beast’s hot breath on his back. Although smaller than its close relative Tyrannosaurus Rex, The predator was still over four times Gorgo’s size. It was rapidly closing the gap between itself and its intended prey.

The huge roar that shattered the air in the next instant would have dwarfed that of the largest T-rex. Startled, the daspletosaur looked up- right into the face of a gigantic duplicate of the creature it had been chasing. Turning quickly the predator attempted to flee. Gorgo’s mother, however, was even quicker as she lashed out with her great foreclaw. She caught the beast on the side, sending it sailing at least 100 feet through the air. It landed in a quivering heap, its neck broken.

It had been a long trip from the home system. The Ryndylvian war machine approached the planet, following the Xazian spore. Its sensors had detected the spore's trail a little while after blowing up the space station. Although it had been damaged in the battle, the fully automated craft was not completely incapacitated. Powering down to save precious energy, it had followed the Xazian life sign.

When the craft entered the Earth's atmosphere it experienced a short, due to the damage sustained a billion years earlier. Losing control, the craft plummeted into the ocean. Settling to the bottom, it spent the next few years on its self-repair sub routines.

Gorgo and his mother swam beneath the ocean's surface, keeping their eyes out for giant squid. The cub followed his mother eagerly. He always enjoyed these hunting trips immensely. His attention was focused on potential prey. Neither he nor his mother noticed the metallic object on the ocean floor. But it detected them and their Xazian genetic structure immediately. It began following the creatures, choosing discrete observation over dramatic confrontation.

The robot was still observing the creatures several hours later. It had noted several other large creatures, both in the deeper sea and the shallows, where they now were. Nothing, however, anywhere near as big as the largest of the two beasts it was following.

Finally noticing the strange moving object behind him, the cub turned to investigate. The robot froze as the reptile approached. Sniffing at the object, he growled softly as if sensing its alien nature. A beam of bright electrical energy lanced out, enveloping Gorgo in its brilliance. He collapsed with a cry of pain.

Hearing her offspring’s distress, Mama Gorgo charged with a speed that belied her great size. Swiping her paw at the machine, she sent it tumbling end over end. Recovering, the robot sent another energy bolt at her. With an ear-splitting roar, she reached for the Ryndylvian device. As she grabbed it, it generated a field that burned her hands. Howling, she threw it. It landed in a coral reef with a crash, rolling to a stop.

As the snarling leviathan approached, another beam radiated from the robot, striking her full in the chest. Reeling, she managed to take another step as the ray seared her flesh. She slumped to all fours, but continued crawling toward her enemy.

So intent was the machine on its larger opponent that it failed to register the activity of the smaller one. Gorgo Jr., who had only been stunned by the beam, had recovered and was now charging at the mechanical invader. It remained unaware of this until he crashed into it.

Gorgo rent and tore at the great machine, his rage fueling his strength. His claws crushed the metal casing as if it were an aluminum can. He continued smashing the robot, undaunted by the bursts of sparks and electric shocks that splattered his hide.

The Ryndylvian war machine's internal circuitry was damaged beyond its ability to repair. It went into a self-destruct mode and began imploding, creating a warp in the fabric of space and time, sucking in the two Gorgos and trapping them in stasis, along with a few stray fish. No longer being part of the space-time continuum, they were not visible to the creatures within it. They were also unaffected by the explosion.

The same could not be said for the rest of the planet. The blast, equivalent to several hundred nuclear bombs, killed everything within a thousand-mile radius. Tons of dust and water vapor were lobbed into the atmosphere, playing havoc with the world’s ecology. Between sixty and seventy percent of all animal life disappeared within the next few months, including all the dinosaurs.

As for the Gorgos, they were kept in stasis for about 65 million years, although it was scarcely an instant to them. When they popped out, a tiny portion of the force that had created the original explosion came with them. A salvage vessel called the Triton was almost destroyed in the resulting tempest.

Fighting to keep their ship afloat, partners Joe Ryan and Sam Slade had no idea of the true origins of the turbulence- and even less regarding the creatures it brought with it, or the impact the beasts would have on their own lives.