Read The Time Travelers' Handbook Online
Authors: Lottie Stride
The Time Travelers' Handbook (8 page)
The sound of something large and angry crashing through the undergrowth fills your ears. Checking your TT handset, you find you have traveled back over 70 million years. You are standing in a steamy forest of towering conifer, palm, and magnolia trees in an area now known as Hell Creek in Montana. Unfortunately, at the time you have arrived, this area is also Dinosaur Central!
Suddenly, you're face-to-faceâwell, your face to its kneeâwith one of the most ferocious and terrifying dinosaurs in historyâ¦Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Dos And Don'ts
To minimize your chances of ending up as Tyrannosaurus Rex's lunch, here are some life-saving precautions to take:
â¢
Don't
try to hide. Tyrannosaurus Rex has very good eyesight and an excellent sense of smell. It will sniff you out very quickly.
â¢
Do
avoid a Tyrannosaurus Rex's teeth. His powerful jaws are lined with up to 60 of them. Bite marks found on the fossils of other dinosaurs show that Tyrannosaurus Rex can open its massive mouth wide enough to bite off as much as 150 pounds of meat at one timeâwhich is substantially more than the whole of you!
â¢
Don't
let the Tyrannosaurus Rex step on you. A fully grown Tyrannosaurus Rex is massiveâup to 45 feet long, 20 feet tall, and weighing around 8 tons. Even a Tyrannosaurus Rex teenager weighs around 3½ tons.
â¢
Don't
be tempted to stand and fight. Even though, compared to its back limbs, a Tyrannosaurus Rex's front limbs are tiny, you wouldn't stand a chance in a boxing match. Its claws pack a powerful punch. Some dinosaur experts think Tyrannosaurus Rex used its arms for holding struggling preyâand you don't want to prove them right.
â¢
Do
make a run for it. Tyrannosaurus Rex walks on its two powerful back legs, but can't run very fast. It simply doesn't have the muscle power. Its maximum speed is about 11 miles per hour, and it can't even keep that up for very long.
â¢
Do
look out for a dinosaur with a mouth like a duck's bill and stay as far away from it as you can. This is an Edmontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus Rex's favorite food.
No sooner have your feet touched the ground than they leave it again. Somewhat alarmed, you find yourself floating. You're in some kind of spacecraft. You're weightless and confused. Suddenly, you see something outside a windowâa huge, round something, a something you've seen almost every night of your life, but never this closeâthe Moon.
The Moon is so huge and so close, you feel you could almost reach out and touch it. You're on the lunar module
Eagle
that has been launched from the spacecraft
Columbia
. It is a weird-looking contraptionâsilver, yellow, and orangeâwith legs, and it is heading for touchdown on the Moon.
On board with you are two astronautsâNeil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrinâand they're about to become the first people to set foot on the Moon.
Moon Walking for Beginners
Walking on the Moon takes a bit of getting used to. Here are some things to watch out for:
⢠On the Moon, you will weigh six times less than you do on Earth because the force of gravity pulling you toward the Moon's surface is less powerful than the force on Earth.
⢠It is harder to balance on the Moon, and you will have to lean slightly forward more than usual. When you want to stop, it will take you a few steps to do so.
Touchdown
You're lucky to be walking on the Moon at all. You and the astronauts had to maneuver around lots of huge boulders and a big crater before you found a landing place.
Buzz enjoys joggingâwell, bouncingâon the Moon, but you notice that the moon dust doesn't scatter itself randomly like dust does on Earth. Moon dust travels neatly and precisely so the prints left by his boots are very clear. Because there's no wind, rain, or creatures on the Moon, the footprints will probably still be very clear millions of years from now.
Buzz and Neil struggle to plant the U.S. flag on the Moon's surface. They can't dig its pole very far into the ground, but after some struggling, they coax it upright.
Back On Board
Columbia
In the weightless conditions back on
Columbia
, you have time to find out a few things about life in space.
⢠Eating is tricky. You have to strap your meal tray to one of your legs when you eat. The things on the tray have rubber grips to keep them from floating off. The food comes in little vacuum packs, but once you open a pack, you have to grab hold of the food with your hand quickly, or jab a fork into it to stop it from escaping. You have to suck your drinks out of a tube.
⢠One of the astronauts warns you to strap yourself to the toilet seat, but he doesn't warn you about the noise the toilet makes. It's the waste being sucked away to somewhere where it won't float back in again.
⢠Floating about, turning somersaults, and doing backflips inside the spacecraft is lots of fun, but being sick in weightless conditions is not.
⢠When you take a space nap, you have to tie yourself down first. There's a lot of highly sensitive equipment around, and one bad dream and one flailing arm in the wrong place could wreck the whole space mission.
It's just after dawn and you've landed at the training ground of an Ancient Roman gladiator school. It's called a
ludus
and is full of sweating, grunting men wearing heavy armor warming up for a hard day's training.
As you watch, you don't notice an older man approaching. Thinking you are a slave, he gives you a clip on the ear and tells you to get on with your work. He is called Ferox, and he is a
magister
or trainer at the school. Quickly, you explain to him that you want to become a gladiator. “It's a tough life,” Ferox laughs. “And I should know, I was a famous gladiator, myself.”
Slaves and Criminals
Most of the gladiators in the
ludus
aren't volunteers. Most of the men and women here are slaves or criminals, others are prisoners of war. They didn't choose to be here, and they can't choose to leave. Gladiators only gain their freedom if they manage to survive several years of fighting.
It's not all bad. At the
ludus
, the gladiators are looked after well, and given food and medical treatment when they need it. They are very competitive and strive to work their way up grades called
paloi
to become the
primus palus
âthe best and most respected gladiator in the
ludus.
A
primus palus
can become as famous as a Superbowl quarterback is today.
In The Arena
Today, there is going to be a big gladiatorial contest in the arena, and Ferox says you can come along to help. As you enter the arena, the roar of 50,000 spectators almost shatters your eardrums. The organizer of the contest smiles and waves at the crowd from his chariot, which is part of the parade. Behind him come the gladiators and the slaves who carry their armor, and then you. The man whose armor you are carrying used to be a soldier, but he was captured during a battle. For three years, he has fought as a gladiator, and today is his last contest. If he survives, he'll be free.
You follow your gladiator down a passage to a room beneath the arena. It's a dark, terrifying place down here. You hear the crowd above baying for blood. Your gladiator has chosen a curved sword, a shield, leg armor, and a helmet. He prefers to dress lightly so he can move around more easily.
Suddenly, a trapdoor opens above you. You hear the roar of the crowd get louder. Your gladiator's last fight is going to be against what looks like a very fierce-looking gladiator who hasn't lost a fight yet. You hit EJECTâthings are about to get messy.
Play
Primus Palus
Back in the future, it's a good idea to stay in fighting shape in case you land back in the arena when you least expect it. Find an open space, like a large yard or park, set up this four-station obstacle course, and train with your friends. Who will be
primus palus
âthe greatest gladiator of all?
You will need:
⢠at least two players ⢠a large old bedsheet (one that can get muddy without anyone getting angry) ⢠large stones ⢠six empty cereal boxes ⢠a tennis ball ⢠a tablespoon ⢠a bucket ⢠a beanbag ⢠a stopwatch
Obstacle One.
Spread out your sheet and place large stones on each corner to anchor it down. Put more along two opposite sides to hold it down, leaving enough slack for gladiators to crawl on their stomachs beneath it. The first one to the other end wins.
Obstacle Two.
Stand the six cereal boxes in a straight line about 20 inches apart. If it is a windy day, fill the boxes with stones. This standing jump sequence is designed to strengthen your legs and improve balance. Competitors need to jump with both feet together over each box without taking an extra step or knocking the boxes over. If they do, they have to start again at the beginning.
Obstacle Three.
Place the spoon and tennis ball on the ground and the bucket 11 yards away from them. This obstacle is a test of both coordination and instinct. Walk as fast as you can toward the bucket, balancing the tennis ball on the spoon. If you drop the ball, you need to start again. When you reach the bucket, turn around so your back is to the bucket, and attempt to throw the ball over your head and into the bucket using the spoon.
Obstacle Four.
Place the beanbag next to the bucket used in Obstacle Three. When a gladiator has successfully thrown the ball into the bucket, he must balance the beanbag on top of his head and run backward along the length of the course to the start without dropping it.
And The Winner Isâ¦
Once you have set up your course and each of the players understands what to do at the various obstacles, the game can begin. Take turns completing the course, one at a time. Practice a few times to work out your tactics. Then, when everyone is ready, take your stopwatch and time each gladiator completing the course. The fastest is the winner and takes the title
primus palus
.
Top Tip:
Every gladiator has different strengths. Time each event separately to find out who is the best at each one.