The Jurassic Park Interactive Storytelling Game

Suddenly a Velociraptor came out of nowhere and tackled Darrel to the ground. Darrel screamed as claws dug into his skin and jaws closed around his head.

"Holy shit!" Darrel's second-in-command swore. He lifted his gun to save his leader, but Wu lunged forward and tackled the man to the ground, grabbing his gun.

Harding saw more Velociraptors entering the aquarium. They must have gotten down here through the maintenance entrance.

Wu noticed the other raptors and he released the man he was wrestling. Wu got up and took off running, but the mercenary wasn't so lucky. A raptor noticed the second-in-command trying to crawl away. The raptor leaped upon the man and the dinosaur's victim began to scream.

Harding noticed Grant and Ellie in the elevator, beckoning the survivors to come over to them. Harding, Billy, and Sonya began making their way toward the elevator, knowing it was only a matter of time before they were spotted by the raptors that were now spreading out and patrolling the area.

Wu, however, didn't see Grant and Ellie. He began climbing up to the walkways that hung over the aquarium's tanks in an attempt to get away from the raptors.

Laura Sorkin followed.

Neither of them noticed the dark shape swimming beneath the waters of the nearest tank...

-

Back at the mainland, it seemed like the storm was going to miss them. The sky was still dark and some of the survivors of last night's attack had raided the local bar. They had gotten drunk and were now hanging out on a beach.

Two of the drunks challenged each other to a race to the nearby buoy. As they swam out into the ocean, something large began heading toward them.

"What is that, a log?" one of them asked after they had reached the buoy.

As the shape began moving closer, they got a better look. They recognized what looked like the backside of a huge creature and a crocodile-like head. Their eyes widened in horror. When the head revealed jaws full of teeth, the swimmers screamed and tried to head back to shore. But the creature was too close. One of the swimmers looked back and saw the creature biting down on his buddy, dragging the poor man beneath the now bloody waters.

The swimmer reached shore, exhausted and terrifying. "Crocodile!" he warned the others on the beach.

But it was no crocodile. The man screamed help as a full-sized Baryonyx came out of the water behind him. Teeth bit down on the man's arm and he was thrown helplessly into the air like a doll.

The Baryonyx roared and charged the other people on the beach. They scattered, but could not outrun the carnivorous dinosaur who had just swam from Isla Nublar and was very hungry.

Once the beach was empty of all life except the Baryonyx, the creature began making its way to the nearest settlement... a local fishing village that still had no power.

"Henry!" Sorkin shouted. Wu turned. Sorkin stood at the other end of the walkway, gun in hand, pointed right at him.
"You're coming with me whether you like it or not," Sorkin told him.
Wu glanced down into the tank. He saw a large, black shape moving through the water. The Mosasaurus. Looking back at Sorkin, Wu realized that Sorkin was so focused on him that she hadn't noticed the marine reptile lurking just beneath the surface.
"You can't win," Wu said. "Your plan was poorly executed. Shameful, really. I expected better from you."
Sorkin's face twisted with rage and she fired her gun. Wu felt excruciating pain in his left shoulder. The force of the bullet knocked him onto his back. He screamed.
"Fool," Sorkin spat as she started down the walkway toward him. "Now, get up before I have to put another hole in you."
Wu stared up at his enemy with hatred. "Why don't you just give up?"
Sorkin smiled. "Because I'm like you. I don't just give up."
"Henry!" That was Grant! Wu looked to his left. Dr. Grant stood near the elevator. He raised the gun in his hand and took careful aim. He fired several times in quick succession. Sorkin screamed as the bullets ripped through her. She staggered, but didn't fall. Wu knew what he had to do...

Wu slammed his body into Sorkin. The woman screamed and lost her balance, falling off the walkway and into the water tank below. Wu saw Sorkin go under and surface, gasping for breath and cursing. She then felt something touch her foot and she noticed the dark shape that was moving beneath her. Sorkin's eyes widened in terror. It was the Tylosaurus. Sorkin froze, hoping that the Tylosaurus wouldn't notice her.

"Wu, you bastard!" she screamed, but Wu was already running away. Even he couldn't bear to watch what was about to happen to Sorkin. His shoulder hurt like hell, but he didn't slow down. He climbed down from the walkway and started heading toward the elevator. A raptor shrieked and he knew he had been spotted, but he kept running. Finally, he dashed into the elevator and Grant shut the doors behind him in the face of a pursuing raptor. The last sound Wu heard before the doors closed was Sorkin cursing him and screaming.

Wu tried to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?" Harding asked him.

Wu nodded. "My shoulder got shot though."

Wu then noticed a bag that Harding had with him. "Is that?"

Harding nodded. "Your research."

Wu smiled, ignoring the pain. "At least this wasn't all for nothing."

"I hope it was worth it," Billy scowled. "Good people died for that research."

Ellie glanced around at the faces in the elevator, to make sure everyone was here. Grant, Harding, Billy, Sonya, and Wu. Wait... was that all? This was all that made it?
"We've got to find Sarah and Atlanta now," said Harding in a commanding voice.
Oh yeah, Ellie thought with relief; Sarah and Atlanta were out there somewhere.
Wu took in a breath. He was trembling a little from his confrontation with Sorkin. A hallow light had entered his eyes; Ellie recognized it. It was the kind of look you got when you knew your actions had resulted in the death of another human being. No matter how vile Sorkin had been, human life is human life and taking one away does something to your soul. Ellie almost very sorry for Wu, but then she remembered that it was his actions that resulted in the deaths of most of their group.
Wu took in a steadying breath and said, calmly and complacently, "They could be anywhere in here. Perhaps it would be better if we left and waited for rescue to arrive."
One look at Harding's face told Wu that wasn't an option. He sighed in defeat; "Fine: let's get started."
"We should split up," Sonya suggested. "We'll cover more ground that way."
"No," Grant rebutted. "No more splitting up. We stay together; all of us; from now on. Does everyone understand?"
Everyone nodded assent.
"Good. Now, let's find Sarah and the girl."

The elevator doors opened up and Grant spotted a man standing in the hallway in front of them, pointing a gun at the group. It was one of the mercenaries hired by Biosyn. The man's arm was shaking unsteadily and Grant noticed some bite marks. He realized that the mercenary must have been attacked by a Troodon and escaped, but no unscathed.

"Get away from me!" the man screamed. "Go back to the hell you came from!"

The man was acting paranoid, delusional. He must be hallucinating, Grant though as he recalled the side effects of Troodon venom mentioned by Wu earlier.

"You're not thinking straight," Grant tried to reason. "The animal that bit you was venomous and its venom is making you more violent. Put down the gun and we can help you."

"Lies!" the maddened mercenary screamed. "Do not attempt to deceive me, demon! You will not claim my soul!"

Billy realized that there was no way to talk this guy down. He had to act now. If he was lucky, he could take the mercenary down before the guy killed someone.

He lifted his gun and fired, the bullet soaring through the mercenary's body while the hired gun was raging about the "monsters trying to corrupt him." The Biosyn mercenary fell, but not before instinctively pulling the trigger.

"Grant!" Ellie screamed, trying to pull Grant out of the shot's path. The bullet struck her instead and she hit the floor, bleeding out.

"Dammit!" Billy cursed. He was supposed to protect these people, but he kept failing them. First, their plane got wrecked by the rex. Then, the attack on the hotel. And now, everything that had happened here. He couldn't save D-Caf, Edgar, Oscar, Raul, or Ellie... he slumped back, feeling useless and responsible for all the deaths.

"No!" Grant shouted, rushing to Ellie's side. Harding rushed over as well, checking her injuries and seeing if there was anything he could do about it. There wasn't. Ellie had only seconds to live.

"Ellie, don't go!" Grant screamed, crying. "We were supposed to stick together this time! Please, not like this!"

"I'm sorry for not staying with you all the way," Ellie said weakly. "But carry on for me, okay? Get off this damn island and go home."

"I can't go back without you," Grant told Ellie.

Tears were in Ellie's eyes. "You have to, Alan. These people are depending on you to help them. Especially, Atlanta. She's just a kid. You have to focus on getting them to the mainland safely. Please do that for me."

Grant nodded. "Of course. I love you, Ellie."

Ellie smiled sadly. "I love you too. I'm sorry it has to end now, there was so much I was looking forward to. But I don't regret putting myself in front of that bullet. Goodbye, Alan."

"Goodbye," Grant said, kissing Ellie softly on the lips. When he pulled away, Ellie was gone.

Wu saw Atlanta and Sarah appear, having followed the sound of the gunshots. They froze when they saw the dead mercenary and Ellie's motionless body, Grant weeping over her. For a moment, nobody moved. Then Atlanta walked over and gave Grant a comforting hug. Grant hugged back.

Harding put a hand on Grant's shoulder, but Grant shrugged him off. He pushed Atlanta away and reached down to pick up Ellie's head in his hands. He cried softly.
Harding looked at Billy, "We have to go." There was no time to waste. But Billy was just as uncooperative as Grant. He was slumped against the wall, staring sightlessly at the ceiling.
"Billy," Harding said again. Slowly, Billy turned his gaze onto Harding. "What." His voice was dull and lifeless.
"We can't hang around here. More dinosaurs are on the way. We have to go now," Harding said. Sarah nodded in agreement.
Sarah spoke in a calm and gentle voice: "Alan, I am so sorry about Ellie, but we can't stay here. She'll have died for nothing if we can't find our way out of this place."
Grant said nothing, but slowly he placed Ellie's head down on the cold cement and rose on shaking limbs. Without a word or a glance to anyone, he stumbled through a door. A moment later everyone else followed.
"Where is the way out of this place?" Sonya questioned wearily.
There was no immediate response, eventually Wu answered the question: "I think Grant's got the right idea. If we just keep heading in this direction, we should be out of here in no time."
"Thank you God," Harding murmured.
The group continued down the hallway eventually leading them to the exit. Grant pushed open the doors and stumbled out into the open air. Everyone else followed.
"Did anyone manage to call for help?" Sarah asked.
"I did," Grant stated, his voice flat. He didn't say anything more.
The group wandered back to the car and got in. Harding got behind the wheel and started the engine up. They drove back down the road leading them to the beach.

It was still raining and Harding found it hard to see what was on the road in front of him, so he drove slowly. He didn't want to risk an accident, especially after all that had happened to them. Everyone was silent, the only sounds being from the rain and the car.

Harding heard what sounded like thunder nearby... except that it came without lightning before. Odd. Harding listened closely, trying to hear over the rain. There it was again. The thunder without lightning. It was getting louder and closer.

"Does anyone hear that?" he asked the others. When he got no answer, he decided to focus on his driving.

Maybe it wasn't thunder, Harding thought. Maybe it's... maybe it's a tremor.

Finally, there was lightning. The dark road in front of them was illuminated... revealing the tyrannosaurus rex standing there.

Harding screamed and tried to move out of the colossal animal's way.

And a new sound filled the air. That terrifying roar that filled the rex's victims with fear and dread.

Harding slammed the gearshift into reverse and put his foot to the floor. The Jeep lurched backward. Harding looked into the T-Rex's yellow reptilian eyes. She looked like she was grinning...
The colossal animal leapt forward with surprising agility and began to give chase. Harding spun the Jeep around, the tires skidding through the mud. The front was now facing in the opposite direction. Without missing a beat, recalling his days as a stuntman, Harding slammed the gearshift into forward gear and stomped on the gas. The Jeep lurched forward; the back of Harding's head connected painfully with his headrest. Harding looked in the rear-view mirror; the T-Rex was gaining! Then he heard a callous burst of gunfire and glanced to the side to see Billy opening fire on the pursuing dinosaur. The T-Rex let out a roar of pain as bullets seared its scaly flesh. Thunder roared over their heads.

"Must go faster," Wu told Harding, looking back at the jaws that was closing in on them.

"Shit!" Atlanta screamed. "Shit! Shit!"

"Look out!" Billy shouted, glancing at the road ahead.

Harding, momentarily distracted, saw the fallen tree hanging over the road. There was no way to avoid it. "Down!" he told the others.

Everyone ducked as the car's roof was ripped off by the tree, which itself was smashed by the pursuing rex.

The rex attempted to flip the car over, but couldn't make a good hit. She roared in frustration, the humans feeling her hot breath.

Finally, tired of the chase, the rex let out a final growl and lumbered off, giving up on her prey.

Harding gave a sigh of relief.

Harding drove onward, almost as if in a dream. For several moments there was absolute silence from the occupants in the car as everyone tried to catch their breath. Finally, Harding broke the silence and said,
"We can't go that way with the Rex there. Wu... is there an alternate path to the beach?"
Wu thought for a moment then said, "Yes. Right ahead. There should be a fork in the road..."
A few seconds later they came to the fork. "Now what?" Harding asked.
"Right," Wu told him.
Harding turned right. They drove for about five minutes, the night rain pounding down on them. With the roof gone there was nothing to shield them from the elements, and within seconds everyone was soaking wet - not that they cared.
"Wait," Wu said. "I think it was left."
Harding turned to him, incredulous. "You sent us down the wrong way?!"
Wu rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry... I'm just so tired..."
Harding cursed and turned the car around. That was when he saw it: a Parasaurolophus had lumbered onto the road and was drinking from a puddle in the road. Rain dripped down the animal's magnificent muscular hide. Behind him, Harding heard Atlanta let out a small moan. "Don't worry," he assured her. "It's a Parasaur. They're friendly dinosaurs."
The Parasaur didn't seem to notice the car nor the human occupants; it just went on drinking as though they didn't exist. Finally, after several moments the dinosaur stood upright and lumbered back into the trees. Harding eased forward carefully in case it decided to come back. When the Parasaur's tail had disappeared into the trees, he increased the speed and drove on.

Eventually, the car came to a stop and Harding came to an awful realization. "No, no, no..."

"What happened?" Billy asked. "Why did we stop?"

"We ran out of gas," Harding groaned. "We're going to have to walk."

Everyone else groaned as well.

"I don't know how much more I can take," Billy grumbled as he got out. How far is the beach, Wu?"

"A little more than a mile, I think," Wu replied. "Though I'm not sure how long it might take us to get there."

"Want me to carry you?" Sarah asked the tired Atlanta.

"No," Atlanta said, shaking his head. "I'll be fine. Let's just keep going."

The rex roared in the distance.

"Is he close?" Atlanta asked in a whisper.

"She," Wu corrected. "And don't worry, she's far away."

"Good," Sonya nodded. "Hopefully that's one less problem we have to worry about. And the more distance we put between us and the rex, the better."

Grant hadn't said a word in a while. Sonya noticed this and walked over to him.

"I would ask if you're okay, but you're odviously not," she told him. "And I completely understand. You just lost somebody you loved. That has to be painful to process. But right now I need to count on you. We need to count on you. The kid needs to count on you."

"You're right," Grant agreed. "Let's go."

Sonya patted him on the shoulder. "Good man. It's not easy, but you can pull through. I think that's what Ellie would have wanted."

The group of survivors then moved out.

Jess sat on Malcolm's bed in the mathematician's new hospital room. He was teetering on the edge of consciousness; the doctor, Carter, had just given him another dose of morphine to help with the pain, and he was almost out.
"Ian?" Jess asked.
"Mmm?" Malcolm murmured drowsily, his voice slurred.
"Do you think my father and sister are alive?" Her voice trembled even as she said it.
Malcolm forced his eyes open, forced himself into wakefulness. He wanted to say something comforting, but found he couldn't construe the words. All he got out in the end was: "I'm sure they're fine," then fell unconscious.
Jess got up from the bed and walked to the door. Looking out, she saw villagers, men and women, and even some children, hard at work cleaning up the messes of blood and gore in the hallways, barring the windows, and doing their best to make the conditions more bearable for the injured. Jess wanted to help, but the doctor, Carter, had instructed her to stay by Malcolm's side in case he needed something. So she would, but she didn't like it.
This would be a better job for Kelly, she thought. But she knew Kelly was off lending a hand somewhere.
She saw Ray Arnold in the hallway, coming toward her. He had fresh bandages on his arms and chest, and he looked weary and in pain. "Hi," Jess said to him. He looked at her, and offered a smile before passing on. Jess sighed and went back into the room, closing the door behind her.
She reached into her back pocket and pulled a small book out. It was a pocket version of the New Testament her father had bought for her. She opened it and read some of the verses, finding comfort in the reassuring words.

Then a loud roar filled the air, followed by screams. Jess ran over to the window and saw a Baryonyx entering the village, roaring at the small humans trying to get indoors. "Holy shit!" Jess screamed, eyes widening.

She spotted several men with guns firing at the creature. Eduardo was among them. The bullets struck the dinosaur and it roared again, this time in pain. Pissed off and hungry, the dinosaur charged and scattered the men. Jess saw the Baryonyx pin Eduardo and bite down. The man screamed and she closed her eyes, unable to watch.

Jess turned away. She wondered if she should try to find Arnold or Caleb, but she didn't want to leave Malcolm alone. So she chose to stay.

She looked at the pocket bible and got an idea. She bent down on her knees and started praying. For her father. For her sister. For Dr. Malcolm. For everyone. It was the only thing she could think of doing to help her family.

She could still hear the Baryonyx's rampage going on outside and she remembered something that Malcolm had once told her on Isla Nublar.

God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.

And dinosaurs eat man, Jess thought grimly to herself.

Harding led the way through the drudgery, hugging his sides to preserve warmth. Around them the storm raged, unleashing all the might and fury it contained onto the fragile humans below. Each step was an ordeal. At some point they would inevitably collapse from exhaustion, and likely never rise again. Still, Harding kept the group moving with shouts of encouragement. He had to scream in order to be heard above the sound of the gale, and soon his throat began to burn with pain. Still he persisted because what else could he do?
Finally after what felt like hours, Harding spotted the sandy shore through the cracks in the foliage. Encouraged, he quickened his pace, not stopping to see if his companions would do the same. A few minutes later he found himself emerging from the treeline and onto the beach. He looked around; there was no sign of any rescue. Maybe they hadn't come yet, or had been delayed by the storm. One thing was for sure: they couldn't stay out in the open like this. A predator would pick them off before they had the chance to be rescued. Turning, Harding shouted to his companions, "We have to find shelter!"
Sonya, dripping and shivering from the cold, nodded. She pointed to an alcove just ahead; "What about there?" she asked.
Harding studied the alcove and nodded. "Good!" He started toward the small cave, and the others followed.
The inside of the cave was mostly dry. There were a few puddles on the floor, but aside from that, it looked fine. Before he could go in, Harding was restrained by Billy. "Wait," the mercenary said. "We have to make sure it's safe."
Harding nodded. Billy reached into his pocket and pulled out a flare. He lit it and threw it into the cave. Harding peered in. The light of the flare was weak, but it illuminated most of the cave, and from what Harding could see there were no other occupants. Satisfied, he crouched and ducked inside, and the others followed.

Atlanta sat down, feeling tired and cold. She shivered. Sarah sat next to her and Atlanta cuddled up to the woman to stay warm. Harding joined them. They all felt exhausted.

Wu checked the bag with his research to make sure it hadn't been damaged. She sighed in relief when he saw that it was all still intact. After everything that had been lost, he would hated for all this to have been for nothing. He had the journal of Sorkin as well, which was also a win. But as he looked around at the other survivors, he couldn't help but wonder if it was even worth it. Or if they would even get off this island alive. The rescue still hadn't come yet and anything could happen before them.

Billy found some dry pieces of wood at the back of the cave and he made a fire for them to huddle around to stay dry. After everything they've been through, it would be a shame to freeze to death.

"When do you think they'll get here?" Grant asked.

"I imagine that the storm is delaying them," Billy answered honestly. "So it depends when it passes."

Billy heard snoring and he saw that Atlanta had fallen asleep between Sarah and Harding. Good. It would be wise to get some rest.

Grant laid down on the cave's floor. He was quiet, but couldn't sleep.

Billy checked his gun. He had very little ammo left, so he had to make each bullet count. Hopefully, he wouldn't need to use his gun. He heard squeaking sounds and he saw several compys running into the cave. They curled up around the fire. They made Billy uneasy, but he doubted that they were a threat. It looked like they just wanted to wait out the storm too. It was the bigger dinos that he was worried about.

Soon Wu and the Hardings were sleeping as well, their exhaustion kicking it. The only ones awake were Billy, Sonya, and maybe Grant.

"I don't think I've said it yet, but I'm sorry about Raul," Billy said to Sonya as he watched the cave's entrance.

"I didn't know him well," Sonya told him. "But he still didn't deserve to die."

Billy nodded. "Still, it's up to us to get the others home. I think we're the only ones capable of protecting them."

"And each other," Sonya added. "I understand that you lost people close to you, Billy. But I appreciate that you were able to keep it together. For them."

"They're my responsibility. It's what Oscar would have wanted."

"Billy, get some sleep."

"What?"

"You deserve it. I'll keep watch."

Billy hesitated, trying to decide if he should trust her or not. He remembered that her former employers, Biosyn, did try to kill her as well. And so far Sonya had been nothing but cooperative. "Alright. I trust you. Thanks."

He nodded at Sonya respectfully and laid down, closing his eyes. Sonya kept watch, ready to defend these people with her life if she had to.

Trey had heard the commotion outside, the roaring and the screaming, and dropped what he was doing, which had been boarding up a window, and ran outside. He was astonished and shocked by what he saw. A baryonyx stood on the beach, attacking anyone in sight. Even as Trey watched, the megaton beast lashed a woman with its talons. A second layer the woman fell dead, her blood staining the white sand. The baryonyx roared again.
Trey thought about going back inside, hiding. But he couldn’t just leave these people to die. It was his time to do something. He looked around and saw a gun lying on the beach and he ran to it, plucking it from the ground. He turned the weapon over in his hands, trying to get an understanding for it. When he looked back up, the baryonyx was looking at him with those reptilian eyes.

Before Trey could fire, a sound caught his attention and the dinosaur's attention as well. Trey noticed lights in the night sky approaching. Helicopters, he realized. They were helicopters.

The Baryonyx forgot Trey and roared at the helicopters above him. Lights shined down on the theropod. The Baryonyx's roars were then drowned out by the sounds of gunfire. Bullets struck the flesh of the dinosaur and the creature roared in pain.

The helicopters continued to fire down on the Baryonyx and several spectators gave a cheer. Help had finally arrived.

The Baryonyx spun around and tried to flee, but the helicopters pursued. Trey let out a sigh of relief and relaxed.

Howard King ran through the jungle, lungs searing and muscles burning with effort. The dinosaur was right behind him. He could feel its rancid breath on the back of his neck. He pushed himself to run faster; maybe, just maybe he could make it.
The next moment, he felt himself pushed to the ground. The dinosaur roared in triumph as it stood atop his back. Howard rolled over, and threw his hands up in a vain attempt to protect his face from the jaws and teeth. He felt teeth close around his neck, and he screamed. Then he opened his eyes. The jungle was gone. The dinosaur was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a woman hunched over him, her face inches from his own. Her hands were on his cheeks. She was speaking but the words seemed distant. Slowly, Howard began to calm down. He stopped thrashing, and his heartbeat calmed. He was able to take in his surroundings: small room, white walls. He was lying on a bed with soft sheets draped over him. And the woman- she was his wife. And she was talking to him; telling him it was okay and that he was safe.
Howard began to weep.

The Baryonyx gave a dying roar and collapsed from his injuries, his body full of bullet holes. Having lost too much blood and sustained too many wounds, the great creature fell. The corpse rested motionless, the threat of the dinosaur over.

After making sure that the danger was successfully neutralized, the helicopters circled the fishing village and finally landed. Soldiers climbed out. Their arrival filled others with hope.

The situation was finally under control.

-

The storm had finally passed. The sky was still full of dark clouds, but at least the rain had ended.

Sonya didn’t let her guard down. Not after everything that had happened. Then she heard something. And she smiled.

She went over to the sleeping Billy and poked him. “Hey, Billy.”

“What?” the man asked sleepily, yawning.

“Do you hear that?” Sonya asked, listening.

Billy listened as well and heard it too. “Helicopters,” he realized. “Helicopters!”

He quickly woke the others up and ran onto the beach, firing a flare into the air. Thankfully, that got the attention of the rescue helicopters.

The survivors shouted and waved their arms as one of the helicopters circled overhead. A ladder was dropped down for them to climb up.

“You first,” Harding told Atlanta. The girl nodded and started climbing. Sarah was next, following Atlanta up into the helicopter.

Grant looked back into the jungle before he started climbing, but then he froze when he heard a familiar sound.

A familiar hooting sound.

“Oh no,” Grant realized in horror. They weren’t out of this yet.

Billy had heard the sound, too. He pivoted on his heel to face the dark jungle, the trees still swaying in the wind. As he stood there, watching, about five or six small dinosaurs emerged from the foliage and stood there, staring at the humans. Billy shivered, and it wasn’t because of the cold wind.
Then, the dinosaurs charged, sprinting toward him at full speed. Billy leveled his AK, took aim, and fired. A spray of bullets swept through the pack, downing two of the predators. There was still three left. Billy pulled the trigger, but nothing happened; he was out of bullets. “Sonya!” He cried.

"Get to the helicopter, Billy!" Sonya shouted, pulling out her own gun. But before she could fire, the dinosaurs fired their own projectiles. One of the creatures snapped their head back and shot a black glob at Sonya. She ducked the first one, but the second glob struck her right in the face. Sonya screamed in pain as she was blinded by the poisonous spit. She lost her balance and fell back, clawing at her face in vain.

"No!" Billy screamed. He considered charging toward the dinosaurs, but he knew that it would only get him killed. Sonya might distract the dinosaurs for a while and his responsibility was still protecting Wu's group. Fighting back tears, he made sure that Harding and Wu were climbing up the ladder to safety.

Sonya screamed as the dinosaurs starting feasting on her. Billy tried to ignore her death cries and he turned away to start climbing as well, but then a glob of venom struck his shoulder. He hissed in pain, but fought against it and began heading up toward the helicopter. One of the dinosaurs continued spitting poison at him, but eventually gave up and focused on her fallen prey. Sonya's screams were finally silenced.

"I'm sorry," Billy said quietly to himself.

Billy climbed up the rest of the ladder, and was greeted by Sarah who helped him into the chopper.
“Where’s Sonya?” The behaviourist asked.
Billy merely shook his head, unable and unwilling to form words.
Sarah staggered back in shock, and fell into her seat. A mercenary strapped on her seatbelt. Billy was told to sit down. He complied, wordlessly, too numb to do anything else. He realized, slowly, that they were escaping. This chopper would take them back to the mainland. Far away from the dinosaurs. He felt it should be a moment of great celebration, but he hardly felt like celebrating. His friends Oscar and D-Caf, Edgar, Sattler, and now Sonya - none of them would be coming back.
What a waste, he thought miserably. What a terrible, terrible waste.
Then he looked up, and saw Henry Wu standing by the open door. An intense rage, blinding and fierce, swept over Billy. Without thinking he jumped from his seat and pushed Henry Wu, hard. The scientist staggered, eyes wide as he began to fall. He flailed desperately for something, anything to catch himself on.

Wu grabbed Billy's shirt and accidentally pulled the man out of the helicopter with him. Wu cried out as he fell, but luckily his fall was broken by the ocean below. Billy struck the water next to Wu.

"Damn you!" Billy screamed as he surfaced. "She's dead! They're all dead! Because of that research you value more than human life! This is all your fault!"

Wu tried to swim away from the maddened Billy. He heard the others calling him from the helicopter. Billy grabbed Wu and tried to push his head under the water. Wu tried to fight back, but it was no use. Billy had lost it.

Then there was another sound. A gunshot. Wu felt Billy's hands release him and he saw the man's motionless body floating in the water. Wu also felt something on him. He had blood on his hands. Billy's blood.

No. Not just Billy. D-Caf. Edgar. Oscar. Ellie. Sonya. Wu was guilty. It took a moment for Wu to realize that the ladder had been lowered down to him. Wu climbed back in and took his seat.

"Are you okay?" Harding asked.

Wu didn't reply. In fact, he didn't say anything for the rest of the trip back to the mainland.

A few days ago Wu had said the Isla Nublar Incident was only the beginning. But this was not what he wanted. This was not what he wanted at all.

He couldn't look Grant in the eyes anymore. Grant had lost the woman he loved because Wu had talked them into coming with him. Maybe Grant didn't blame him. But Wu blamed himself.

It should have been an easy in and out. But everything went wrong and people paid for it with their lives.

And now it was time to go home. They had people waiting for them in Costa Rica. People they didn't know had suffered tragedy as well.

Ian Malcolm opened his eyes, and saw Alan Grant sitting in a chair next to his bed.
“Morning,” Malcolm said. It was, indeed, morning time. Sunlight was creeping in through the blinds and falling across Malcolm’s bed. It brought an unexpected cheerfulness to the otherwise downtrodden hospital room.
“So how did it go?” Malcolm asked. “Did you get doctor Wu’s research?”
Grant didn’t look at Malcolm. He barely seemed to move. Malcolm recognized the dazed look in Grant’s eyes; it was the glare of a man who had lost everything.
“Ellie’s dead,” Grant said.
Malcolm stared at him, unable to believe what the man had said. “What?”
Grant stared at the floor, silent.
“I’m sorry,” Malcolm said. “Alan, I can’t believe...”
“Wu got the research,” Grant said. A note of unconcealed bitterness entered his voice. “According to him it was a successful mission.”
“Edgar? The mercenaries?” Malcolm asked.
Grant shook his head. “All dead. Every single one.”
“Wu won’t get away with this,” Malcolm vowed. He was trembling with anger, something he rarely - never - did. “We’ll make him pay. And InGen. We’ll sue them all. Sue ‘em right into the ground...”
“What’s the point?” Grant asked, his voice hollow, devoid of all emotion. “It won’t change anything. Ellie is still dead.”
“But we can stop them. From doing something like this again. We can prevent more deaths,” Malcolm said.
Grant merely shrugged, and Malcolm knew that Grant had lost any will to keep fighting. As far as he was concerned, nothing mattered anymore.

Jess was shaken awake. Opening her eyes, she saw two familiar faces smiling down at her.

“Dad! Sarah!”

Jess leaped up and hugged her family tightly, refusing to let them go. She was overcome with relief.

Then she saw somebody at Sarah’s side. A Costa Rican girl her age that she didn’t recognize.

“Who’s this?” Jess asked.

“Jess, meet Atlanta Cruz,” her father introduced. “We’re adopting her. She’s going to be your new sister.”

Jess smiled at Atlanta. “Welcome to the Harding family. It’s nice to meet you.”

Atlanta returned the smile. “You too.”

“Come on girls,” Harding told his daughters. “Let’s go home.”

-

Elena Morales was tending to the wounded. Thankfully, they had no shortage of medical supplies thanks to the arrival of the military.

Somebody cleared his throat and Elena turned around. It was one of the Americans, Dr. Alan Grant.

“Yes? Can I help you?

“Ms. Morales, it’s about your brother, Oscar…”

Elena listened. And then she started to cry.

-

Malcolm demanded that he get out of bed to see the Hardings off. Tim and Lex had already left, Trey was taking them to their parents. But he was not going to miss saying goodbye to Dr. Harding and his family with Kelly.

Dr. Carter accompanied Malcolm and helped him out.

“Goodbye, Ian,” Jess said, hugging Malcolm. “Thanks for everything.”

Malcolm affectionately ruffled her hair. “No problem, Jess.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Kelly told Jess with a smile.

Harding and Malcolm shook hands. “Where are you heading to?” Malcolm asked.

“San Diego,” Harding explained. “Maybe the zoo will give me my old job back. I’ve had enough dinosaurs for a lifetime.”

Malcolm cracked a smile. “Me too. I hope to see you around.”

“What you did for Jess means a lot,” Harding told him. “You’ll always be a family friend.”

Jess remembered something. “I almost forgot!” She handed a slip of paper to Malcolm. It had numbers on it.

“What’s this?”

“Sarah’s phone number.”

“Jess!” Sarah blushed, embarrassed. Atlanta and Kelly giggled.

Malcolm watched the Hardings leave. Jess turned back to wave goodbye and Sarah looked back to offer a kind smile that Malcolm responded to with a wink.

“Come on Dr. Malcolm,” Carter interrupted, leading Malcolm away. “Back to bed.”

Kelly took Malcolm’s hand, smiling up at her father. “Whatever happens next, we’ll do it together. Right?”

Malcolm nodded. “Right.”

-

Ingen, the EPA, the FBI, the Costa Rican government, and even the United States military took part in the covering up of the mainland incidents, blaming it on wild animal attacks in order to prevent the truth from getting out. The survivors were interviewed, debriefed, and sworn into secrecy under threat of lawsuit or prosecution. This whole affair was a disaster and would be a major international embarrassment if it became public knowledge. The bodies of the dinosaurs were put in piles and destroyed with flamethrowers, the corpses being reduced to ashes as the real story was swept under the rug…

Wu watched the burnings from a helicopter. He hadn’t talked to Harding or Grant since they landed, he couldn’t face either of them. He was able to secure a flight back to San Diego with Ray Arnold, where Peter Ludlow would be waiting for him. Wu was sure that he wouldn’t be blamed. The deceased Hammond was a convenient scapegoat and Wu was too valuable to the company, especially during troubled times.

But as much as Wu could blame Sorkin or Dodgson for everything, he still knew that some of the guilt was his. And there was something that troubled him. What had happened to Dodgson? Was he still alive? Did he escape? With Raul, Lawala, and Sonya dead, he had nothing to expose Biosyn’s involvement with. The testimony of the survivors would not be good enough without actual proof. Maybe there was some back on Isla Nublar, but there was no way Wu was going back there.

But the most important question on Wu’s mind was… Is it really over?

-

Two months later…

Santa Fe Institute, New Mexico

“Consider the numbers,” Malcolm said, leaning on the podium, staring forward at his audience. “On our planet there are currently fifty million species of plants and animals. We think that is a remarkable diversity, yet it is nothing compared to what has existed before. We estimate that there have been fifty billion species on this planet since life began. That means that for every thousand species that ever existed on the planet, only one remains today. Thus 99.9 percent of all species that ever lived are extinct. And mass killings account for only five percent of that total. The overwhelming majority of species died one at a time. The truth is that life on Earth is marked by a continuous, steady rate of extinction. By and large, the average lifespan of a species is four million years. For mammals, it is a million years. Then the species vanishes. So the real pattern is one of species rising, flourishing, and dying out in a few million years. On average, one species a day has become extinct throughout the history of life on the Earth. But why? What leads to the rise and decline of earth's species in a four-million-year life cycle? One answer is that we do not recognize how continuously active our planet is. just in the last fifty thousand years - a geological blink of an eye - the rain forests have severely contracted, then expanded again. Rain forests aren’t an ageless feature of the planet; they’re actually rather new. As recently as ten thousand years ago, when there were human hunters on the American continent, an ice pack extended as far down as New York City. Many animals became extinct during that time. So most of Earth’s history shows animals living and dying against a very active background. That probably explains ninety percent of extinctions. If the seas dry up, or become more salty, then of course ocean plankton will all die. But complex animals like dinosaurs are another matter, because complex animals have insulated themselves - literally and figuratively - against such changes. Why do complex animals die out? Why don’t they adjust? Physically, they seem to have the capacity to survive. There appears to be no reason why they should die. And yet they do. What I wish to propose is that complex animals become extinct not because of a change in their physical adaptation to their environment, but because of their behavior. I would suggest that the latest thinking ill chaos theory, or nonlinear dynamics, provides tantalizing hints to how this happens. It suggests to us that behavior of complex animals can change very rapidly, and not always for the better. It suggests that behavior can cease to be responsive to the environment, and lead to decline and death. It suggests that animals may stop adapting. Is this what happened to the dinosaurs? Is this the true cause of their disappearance? We may never know. But it is no accident that human beings are so interested in dinosaur extinction. The decline of the dinosaurs allowed mammals - including us - to flourish. And that leads us to wonder whether the disappearance of the dinosaurs is going to be repeated, sooner or later, by us as well. Whether at the deepest level the fault lies not in blind fate-in some fiery meteor from the skies - but in our own behavior. At the moment, we have no answer.”

And then he smiled.

“But I have a few suggestions,” he said. “Of the self-organizing behaviors, two are of particular interest to the study of evolution. One is adaptation. We see it everywhere. Corporations adapt to the marketplace, brain cells adapt to signal traffic, the immune system adapts to infection, animals adapt to their food supply. We have come to think that the ability to adapt is characteristic of complex systems - and may be one reason why evolution seems to lead toward more complex organisms.”

He shifted at the podium, transferring his weight onto his cane. “But even more important is the way complex systems seem to strike a balance between the need for order and the imperative to change. Complex systems tend to locate themselves at a place we call ‘the edge of chaos.’ We imagine the edge of chaos as a place where there is enough innovation to keep a living system vibrant, and enough stability to keep it from collapsing into anarchy. It is a zone of conflict and upheaval, where the old and the new are constantly at War. Finding the balance point must be a delicate matter - if a living system drifts too close, it risks falling over into incoherence and dissolution; but if the system moves too far away from the edge, it becomes rigid, frozen, totalitarian. Both conditions lead to extinction. Too much change is as destructive as too little. Only at the edge of chaos can complex systems flourish.”

He paused. “And, by implication, extinction is the inevitable result of one or the other strategy - too much change, or too little.”

In the audience, heads were nodding. This was familiar thinking to most of the researchers present.

“Unfortunately,” Malcolm continued, “the gap between this theoretical construct and the fact of extinction is vast. We have no way to know if our thinking is correct. The fossil record can tell us that an animal became extinct at a certain time, but not why. Computer simulations are of limited value. Nor can we perform experiments on living organisms. Thus, we are obliged to admit that extinction - untestable, unsuited for experiment - may not be a scientific subject at all. And this may explain why the subject has been embroiled in the most intense religious and political controversy. I would remind you that there is no religious debate about the functions of the pancreas. But about extinction, there has been perpetual controversy for two hundred years. And I wonder how it is to be solved if -Yes? What is it?”

At the back of the room, a hand had gone up, waving impatiently. Malcolm frowned, visibly annoyed. The tradition at the Institute was that questions were held until the presentation ended; it was poor form to interrupt a speaker. “You had a question?” Malcolm asked.

From the back of the room, a young man in his early thirties stood. “An observation, actually.”

The speaker was dark and thin, dressed in khaki shirt and shorts, precise in his movements and manner. Malcolm recognized him as a paleontologist from Berkeley named Levine, who was spending the Summer at the Institute. Malcolm had never spoken to him, but he knew his reputation: Levine was generally agreed to be the best paleontologist of his generation, perhaps the best in the world. But most people at the Institute disliked him, finding him pompous and arrogant.

“I agree,” Levine continued, “that the fossil record is not helpful in addressing extinction. Particularly if your thesis is that behavior is the cause of extinction - because bones don’t tell us much about behavior. But I disagree that your behavioral thesis is untestable. In point of fact, it implies an outcome. Although perhaps you haven’t yet thought of it.”

The room was silent. At the podium, Malcolm frowned. The eminent mathematician was not accustomed to being told he had not thought through his ideas. “What’s your point?” he asked.

Levine appeared indifferent to the tension in the room. “Just this. During the Cretaceous, dinosauria were widely distributed across the planet. We have found their remains on every continent, and in every climatic zone - even in the Antarctic. Now, if their extinction was really the result of their behavior, and not the consequence of a catastrophe, or a disease, or a change in plant life, or any of the other broad-scale explanations that have been proposed, then it seems to me highly unlikely that they all changed their behavior at the same time, everywhere. And that in turn means that there may well be some remnants of these animals still alive on the earth. Why couldn’t you look for them?”

“You could,” Malcolm said coldly, “if that amused you. And if you had no more compelling use for your time.”

“No, no,” Levine said earnestly. “I’m quite serious. What if the dinosaurs did not become extinct? What if they still exist? Somewhere in an isolated spot on the planet.”

“You’re talking about a Lost World,” Malcolm said, and heads in the room nodded knowingly.

“No,” Levine said stubbornly. “I am speaking literally.”

“Then you’re badly deluded,” Malcolm said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. He turned away from the audience, and walked slowly to the blackboard. “Now, if we consider the implications of the edge of chaos, we may begin by asking ourselves, what is the minimal unit of life? Most contemporary definitions of life would include the presence of DNA, but there are two examples which suggest to us that this definition is too narrow. If you consider viruses and so-called prions, it is clear that life may in fact exist without DNA…”

At the back of the room, Levine stared for a moment. Then, reluctantly he sat down, and began to make notes.

(Almost there...)

Teddy, the intern, knocked on Ludlow’s door.
Ludlow’s didn’t look up from his desk. “What is it?” He was irritable. These last few weeks had been very difficult and painful, but now, it seemed, he finally had everything under control.
“We have a situation,” Teddy informed him.
Ludlow’s heart skipped a beat. A situation? What had gone wrong this time?! “I’m coming.” He stood up and followed Teddy out of the room and down a hallway. They went into the office. The TV was on. Ludlow approached it to see what was on. It was a talk show. The camera was fixed on the host. The host said the name of the guest, and Ludlow froze. Then the camera panned to the left, revealing the guest. It was Gerry Harding.

VETERINARIAN CLAIMS INGEN CLONED DINOSAURS

Grant read the article, sighing. What was Harding doing? InGen would surely discredit him, make him look out to be a liar.

But perhaps the truth should be known. Grant hated telling others that Ellie had died in an accident. He hated lying about what had happened to her.

But what else could he do? Putting the article aside and finishing his beer, Grant exited his trailer.

Now that he was back in Montana, he had a lot of work to do.

-

It was time. They were emerging.

A hand broke through the eggshell, clawing at the air. The baby Troodon forced its way into the outside world, announcing its arrival with a long hiss.

The siblings began to come out as well, hatching from their eggs.

“Welcome to the world, little fellas,” Lewis Dodgson said to the batch, smiling.

-

Wu looked out of the helicopter. He hadn’t talked much during the ride. The Isla Nublar Incident was still fresh in his mind.

While the other survivors tried to move on with their lives, Wu had to deal with the aftermath. Isla Nublar was now restricted to InGen while the Costa Rican and United States governments argued over the fate of the island. Most likely, it would be quarantined and contained. The lysine contingency should have taken effect, but Wu suspected that Sorkin must have something to do with that. The United States government wanted the creatures destroyed, but the Costa Ricans insisted that a napalm bombing was out of the question. So for now the island would lay undisturbed and it was probably best that way.

There were rumors that there were still some dinosaurs on the Costa Rican mainland, but nothing confirmed. There was also an investigation into Biosyn, but no prosecuting evidence came up.

A few weeks ago Wu had attended the funeral of John Hammond, though there was no body to bury. Hammond’s grandchildren and even Benjamin Lockwood, Hammond’s old partner, paid their respects. Ludlow gave a eulogy.

“You know what was the first attraction John Hammond ever built when he came down south from Scotland?” the new CEO of InGen asked. “It was a Flea Circus. He had a trapeze, a carousel, and a seesaw. They were all motorized of course, but people would swear they could see the fleas. Clown fleas, high wire fleas, fleas on parade… But my uncle wanted to give them something real, something that wasn’t an illusion, something they could see and touch. John Hammond had a dream. And like John himself, the dream was grand, it was outsized. It was bold. It was impractical. It was… not to be.”

Ludlow promised to do his uncle’s memory justice, to save the company and honor Hammond’s dreams. Afterwards, Wu saw Ludlow talking to Lockwood, who gave Ludlow a cane topped with a mosquito trapped in amber that belonged to Hammond.

And now Ludlow had sent Wu to handle operations off the coast of Costa Rica. Although they were no longer allowed on Isla Nublar, there was another island that Wu could now see in the distance.

“There it is,” he said to himself.

Site B.

The End…

Time for the next installment, which is a prequel to The Lost World...

Site B Staff:

Abby Nakajima and Derek Hoyle - A pair of scientists employed by InGen to help clone their dinosaurs on Isla Sorna.
Artie Bridges - A scientist who became the head of the radio station.
Dr. Gustavus - An InGen scientist who conducts private experiments in his private bunker on Isla Sorna and genetically alters dinosaurs to his specifications.
Jane Powers - The head of public relations for InGen, taking the place of the previous manager.
Kathy - A nursery worker who raised the new-born dinosaurs to maturity.
Lori Ruso - An embryologist supervising InGen’s cloning facility on Isla Sorna.
Norman Atherton - The chief geneticist in the starting years of InGen before he was replaced by his student Henry Wu.

(Trey Roland, John "Ray" Arnold, Henry Wu, the Hardings, Richard Levine, Peter Ludlow, Biosyn, and Laura Sorkin could or will return)

InGen's List:

Apatosaurus excelsus
Baryonyx walkeri
Brachiosaurus brancai
Carnotaurus sastrei
Cearadactylus atrox
Compsognathus triassicus
Dilophosaurus venenifer
Edmontosaurus annectens
Euoplocephalus tutus
Gallimimus bullatus
Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis
Iguanodon bernissartensis
Maiasaura peeblesorum
Mamenchisaurus sinocanadorum
Microceratops gobiensis
Mussaurus patagonicus
Othnielia rex
Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensis
Parasaurolophus walkeri
Pteranodon longiceps
Stegosaurus stenops
Triceratops horridus
Troodon pectinodon
Tylosaurus proriger
Tyrannosaurus rex
Velociraptor antirrhopus

An Act of God

Synopsis: Two months have passed since the Isla Nublar Incident. Site A has abandoned, but on Isla Sorna business continues as usual. The future of InGen and what will happen to their research is uncertain, but the staff assigned to the compound and worker village of Site B try to act like nothing has happened, proceeding with their studies that they are reluctant to give up. A decision has not yet been reached on what will happen to the facilities on Isla Sorna or the creatures that were created there. However, Henry Wu and many other InGen personnel are being sent to the second island by Peter Ludlow, who hopes that something of value could come from the activities there, making up for the disaster that was Jurassic Park and saving the company from the bankruptcy that threatens them. Officially, the laboratories on Site B will be abandoned because of Hurricane Clarissa, which resulted in the island's evacuation and the dinosaurs being left behind. Unofficially, there is more to the story...

Isla Nublar - 120 Miles West of Costa Rica

RESTRICTED BY THE UNITED STATES AND COSTA RICAN GOVERNMENT

Inside the aquarium, bursts of gunfire and raptor shrieks could be heard. A team of armed individuals was searching the place, defending themselves when they needed to. They had ran afoul with the island's raptor population several times, but had luckily taken no causalities yet. In the building they were currently search several bodies had been found that had been so chewed up by compys that they were no longer recognizable.

Finally they came across the room they were looking for. The door was locked from the inside, an attempt to barricade themselves from the creatures prowling the hallways. One of the individuals knocked on the door, no response.

"Clear out of the way," another said, grabbing a fire axe from the wall. With it the man hacked at the door with the axe and forced his way inside.

It was a control room. This was perhaps the only building on the island that had power, the only building where somebody could call for help. That's what a team of survivors lead by Henry Wu had done. And that is why these people were here, responding to a call they got from the island.

Laura Sorkin's unconscious body rested in a chair, the phone in her hand.

-

When Laura Sorkin finally awoke, the first thing she heard was water. She realized that she was on a boat. Looking around, she saw that she was resting on a cot. Her various injuries had been bandaged and treated. There was another sound that Sorkin realized was people talking.

Then somebody walked up to her and offered the woman some water. Sorkin's throat was incredibly dry, so she immediately accepted the offer and drank the refreshing liquid up. Then she recognized the person who had given her the water. She smiled.

"Caleb."

"Hey mom. How are you feeling?"

"Better," Sorkin replied. She remembered now. Being pushed into the tylosaur tank by Wu. Being left there to die. Managing to climb out before she could be killed. Sneaking past raptors and sealing herself off in the control room. Calling her son for help before passing out from exhaustion.

"You didn't come alone," she told Caleb. "Who are your friends?"

"Activists," Caleb explained. "You know, Earth First."

Sorkin had heard of Earth First before, but she didn't know her son had been associated with them. They considered themselves environmentalists. Others would prefer terms like professional saboteurs and criminals. Sorkin was once an animal-rights activist herself and though she didn't always approve of the group's extreme methods, she wasn't really one to talk.

"Rest up," Caleb told Sorkin. "We can talk later."

Sorkin nodded and Caleb left. She closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep. Despite Wu's best efforts, she was still alive. And with her knowledge of InGen, Earth First may have just found themselves a valuable ally. Especially concerning the company's other base of operations... Site B.

Peter Ludlow exited from the meeting in a cheerful mood. Official meetings such as these, were normally quite tedious, but this one had been anything but. All in all, Ludlow was in a good mood. That was until he saw the man standing at the end of the hall, glowering at him with unconcealed contempt in his eyes. Gerry Harding. Ludlow pretended not to notice him - began to turn away - but then his butler, William, intercepted him.
"Visitor for you, sir," William said.
Ludlow sighed and took a deep breath. "Thank you William." He turned, and began to walk slowly toward Harding.
"Mr. Harding," he said diplomatically, with a slight dip of his chin. "What brings you-"
"You know exactly what," Harding spat, before he could finish.
Ludlow pulled up short. "You violated our non-disclosure agreement," he stated, cocking his head ever so slightly to the side.
"I did," Harding agreed.
"I don't think you understand the weight of your actions." Ludlow pressed his fingers together. "That, or you simply don't care."
"I did the right thing, and you made me look like a fool because of it," Harding said contemptuously. "You made me look insane."
"No," Ludlow said. "You made yourself look insane. Without any evidence to back up your absurd claims, can you really be surprised that no one believed you?"
"I have the testimonies of over fifty Costa Ricans, who witnessed firsthand the events that took place," Harding replied.
Ludlow smirked. "And who's going to believe the ramblings of a bunch of Costa Ricans?"
"I also have the report from that doctor, Carter."
That gave Ludlow pause. "You've spoken to Roberta Carter?"
Harding grinned. "She and I are going to work together to expose these lies."
Ludlow frowned. This could be bad. One man's feverish claims could be easily dismissed. But if he had the backing of another prominent figure in the medical community... that could make trouble.
Ludlow told himself to remain calm, and smiled. "Dr. Carter's mother is very ill."
Now it was Harding's turn to appear confused. "What?"
"She has a rare disease. Virtually incurable. However, I think I may have the cure. And I will give it to Dr. Carter, so long as she promises to respect our non-disclosure agreement."
Harding seethed with rage. "You can't silence us! Not for good. There will always be leaks. Always be lose ends."
"All lose ends can be tied, Mr. Harding."
While Harding tried to think of a retort, Ludlow decided he'd had enough of this conversation and swiftly turned away. As he strode down the marble hall, he fully intended to forget the matter completely. There was nothing Harding or anyone could do.

Henry Wu looked through the journal that had once belonged to Laura Sorkin. He had recovered it on Isla Nublar, along with the rest of his research. Sorkin had kept many secrets from everyone else. Then again, so had Wu.

Wu put away the journal as the helicopter started to land. A welcoming committee awaited him. As Wu got out he was greeted by a woman in a lab coat.

"Welcome to Isla Sorna, Dr. Wu," the woman said as he shook her hand. "I'm Lori Ruso, high supervisor of the InGen facilities here. It is an honor to have you with us."

"I wish the circumstances were better though," Wu said.

"How long has it been since you've been at Site B?" Ruso asked.

"I don't remember," Wu answered. "Months, at least. My last visit must have been when they started shipping specimens to the park. After that, Hammond needed me almost 24/7 at Site A to make sure the resort opened by the deadline."

"I was sorry to hear about Hammond," Ruso said sadly. "It's a shame what happened."

"How much have you heard?"

"Just rumors, unfortunately. The board is being careful with how much they tell us. But you were there, right?"

Wu nodded. "Yeah... I was there."

"Usually our staff is only as large as it needs to be," Ruso told Wu. "But with all the personnel that Ludlow is sending, we might be overstaffed. But better to have more help than less help, right?"

"Are you certain that the dinosaurs on this island aren't breeding?" Wu wanted to know. "I heard that you release them into the wild to mature because of contamination issues. We don't want a population that's reproducing out there."

"We... aren't completely sure," Ruso admitted. "But we're taking action to confirm it. John Arnold, the chief engineer Hammond hired for Site A, is helping us with that problem. Do you know him?"

Wu nodded. "Is a man named Trey Roland here as well?"

"Oh yes," Ruso quickly admitted. "It's been all hands on deck. We've assigned Roland with our other maintenance teams. Even Dr. Atherton is here..."

"Norman Atherton?" Wu asked. "Chief geneticist in InGen's early years?"

"Yes. Wasn't he your mentor?"

Wu smiled for the first time that day. "He taught me everything I know."

"Well, then you must see him. I'll take you there."

Ruso and Wu got in a jeep. Behind them, the helicopter took off and headed back to the mainland as Ruso's jeep headed down the dirt road into the jungle.