New Days

Prologue

Gerry Harding smiled and walked across the vast airport floor. It was surprisingly empty, he usually hated airports. Especially foreign ones. He couldn't understand what anybody was saying. Of all the places he could have ever predicted he would go, The Costa Rican international airport was not one of them.

There were maybe twenty people there including him and his daughter, Sarah who kept complaining about Robert Burke. Gerry knew Robert, he understood everything she said. He was an airhead. They weren't going to the same place though. Sarah was going to Africa for her studies, and he...he was going to Isla Nublar, an Island he had only heard of once from his cousin, who went there on vacation many years before. InGen needed a vet for a reserve on that island. He, of course, was perfect for the job, working at the San Diego zoo for as long as he could remember, and now this "revolutionary" new reserve...he didn't quite know what to expect.

Both their planes left at the same time, Sarah hugged her father and walked off, her beautiful red hair swinging low. It was Two A.M, all he could see is the tail lights getting higher and higher as he boarded his private plane for Reserve staff only. Sitting across from him was a woman no older than Sarah, wearing a black tank top, blue jeans, and sandals. Her short hair was platinum blonde. She carried a black duffle bag, her body was slim but she looked built. She held out her hand, "Melissa Scarborough. It's very nice meeting you." She had a musical voice with a slight southern drawl. It was almost un noticeable.

Chapter 1: Arrival

Harding looked around him as the FASTEN SEATBELT sign lit up. He saw an Asian man who he immediately recognized as Henry Wu, a specialist he had talked to on the phone occasionally and seen at the InGen building's waiting room. In the seat beside him was a rather large man. He squinted to read the nametag..."Nedry" he mouthed to himself. He was the computer specialist according to the report. He waved at the next person he saw. Robert Muldoon was an old friend of Harding's, sometimes he would accompany animals from Kenya to the zoo and others he would ask for advice on dosage and what not. He had even accompanied Sarah on research. Muldoon gave a half smile and yawned tiredly.

The Scarborough girl sat reading a book, it was a Crichton novel, Harding had never really cared for them, they were too similar to the story of his life. Harding decided an hour of sleep would do him good. He layed his head back and felt his eyes get heavier and heavier and finally he was somwhere else. He swore he could have heard somebody talking about dinosaurs. He had always liked dinosaurs. Ever since he was a kid. He was a bird specialist, annd dinosaurs descended from birds, they were right up his alley.

A jerk awoke Gerry Harding, he looked out over the ocean, the full moon illuminating the great waves. It was as though they were crashing into rocks and foaming. Foam....everywhere. He saw a shape in the distance, it was like a triangle rising in the distance. The moon showed clouds hanging above the island. It wasn't long before they were over it...a giant teardrop. The jet flew around and dropped lower he could see foliage, some trees looked almost as though they weren't from this time.

The airstrip was on the west side of the island a few hundred yards away from the beach. The jet came down and made a skidding noise as it came to a halt. Gerry stood up as everyone else exited. He was the last off the jet. Waiting for them all on the side of the airstrip were two very tired, almost annoyed looking, employees standing next to matching jeeps. It was a very ominous scene...Gerry could hear strange sounds in the distance. It was almost as though the jungle was alive with murmuring roars...from another world.

He shifted his bag and walked over to Jeep 18 and hopped in the back. The night breeze blew threw his graying hair. There were high fences on either side of them and thick jungle. He thought back to what he had heard back on the plane. It would definitely be a perfect place to see dinosaurs. He was in the Jeep with Nedry, who was silent in a pissed off sort of way. As far as he understood this guy and a few others had worked on a different island, where they bred the animals for the preserve. He also heard they were forced to leave by aspects out of their control.

The jeep bounced as they passed an immense building with the skeletons of kind of domed pyramids on the roof, but it wasn't complete by any stretch of the imagination the windows were nonexistent. A very large coy pond was in the front. They went through another section of fence and stopped in front of a large, rather nice, hotel. it had a green slanting roof with balconies in front of every door. The building itself was a beige color, illuminated only by the moon.

As soon as Harding was out of his jeep he bolted up the stairs. He was tired and he couldn't handle much more. He reached his room...which was already unlocked,no key required. He dropped his bag on the ground and shuffled to the bed where he flopped down awkwardly. He looked up at the wall and saw a painting...of dinosaurs. He was starting to have his suspisions about this place...what kind of zoo was it? That could wait till he woke up.

Chapter 2: Starting Early PART ONE

Gerry Harding bolted straight up jerking his head from side to side. The sun shone brightly through the large balcony window. The phone was ringing loudly. His ears were ringing, he looked over to the wicker night stand and saw the pale white receiver. He grabbed the phone and thrust it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Gerry!" It was John Hammond. He seemed annoyingly cheerful."How was the ride over? I try to make those as comfortable as possible, spared no expense. I just wanted to tell you that there's no time to relax today."

"What do you mean , John?" Harding had expected to have a tour of some kind to see the animals. He could guess what they were. Some rare species of Tropical birds or Big Cats. He strolled around the the room to the balcony and looked out. There was jungle stretching out into the distance. It was misty everywhere but the sun poked out.

"Well, you'll be treating your first sick patient today. The symptoms have been quite consistent actually. Thank goodness we finally have you here. It's quite startling. We've had to send several species off the Island just because it's so contageous...we just can't figure out how it spreads." Hammond sounded concerned but optimistic at the same time. He was a very strange man, but Harding liked him.

" I'll find out everything you need John. These animals shouldn't be too hard to treat." Hammond laughed a bit , Gerry couldn't figure out why. There was nothing funny about it. Sick animals in a wildlife park looked very bad. "What am I working with today?"

" Don't let this frighten you but you'll be treating a Bar-" The phone made tinny static. Why would Gerry Harding be frightened of treating a bear. With this tropical climate it was probably a Panda." Robert will be accompanying you, I'm sure you've met him before. You'll be safe and sound."

Harding wasn't sure what to think. Protection from a sick Panda? There were so many questions that needed answering. But for now all Harding could think to say was"Okay. I'll leave as soon as possible."

"Oh no, Robert will be taking you straight to the paddock. He should be outside the lodge right now." At this a knock came from the door."I think that's him right now Gerry...good luck." Hammond hung up abruptly. He was a busy man. But he was always secretive, VERY secretive. It was as though he wanted people to know, but they had to find out themselves.

Harding grabbed his medical bag and headed out the door. Muldoon had a slight grin on his face. "Are you ready for this?"

" Yeah, why wouldn't I be? I've dealt with loads of bears."

"Bears?" Muldoon laughed, something he never did. "I guess if you expect these Bears to have scaly, pebbled skin."

"What?!" But Harding was already in the jeep driving off down a concrete road with a big strip in the middle.

Chapter 3: Starting Early PART TWO

"You'll be working with Baryonyx." These words hit Harding pretty hard. Some paleontologist he had worked with before had told him about the discovery. It was actually quite recent...1983. "It's one of the few dinosaurs who ate fish so we thought that characteristic might help diversify the population." It was a dinosaur.But how could they have a dinosaur. Those were extinct. This was all very confusing for Harding.

They passed by the large building he had seen the night before...he now realized it was the vistor's center. The foliage was getting thicker and the road narrower. "Robert, what's that strip in the middle." Harding asked looking down.

"That's the path the tour vehicles we have are going to follow. They'll go aroundthe island so folks can actually see the dinosaurs we have." The path turned a corner and now they were at a straight shot for two gigantic double doors. A large sign above those doors read Jurassic Park. Harding gaped, this was crazy. A park with dinosaurs. He tried to shake the thought out of his head. They had to be animatronic, how could somebody bring dinosaurs back to life? This thought immediately left his mind as they entered the two double doors. "Roll up your window now." Muldoon said urgently. Harding did so as he saw a sign that read Dilophosaurus. Three animals stood across the fence. The first two were about three feet tall and fighting over a piece of red meat, they had a flaming red V shaped crest. Then there was a much larger one, about a foot or two taller than the Jeep. It snapped its head to the side, much like a bird and looked directly at the jeep. It cocked its head to the side and then a large multi-colored frill erupted out of its neck.

The Jeep sped away as a large black glob smacked into the fence on the other side of the road where they were just seconds before." Mother's very territorial." Muldoon sped through the park. They would pass different dinosaurs and go through tunnels. At one point there were even workmen handling a new paddock. But eventually, the foliage got thicker and higher, and the road ahead became much darker. Eventually the river turned to swamp and the two men were swallowed in blackness. There was a tiny red dot ahead. As soon as they passed it, floodlights erupted into life.

"These sensors make it possible for visitors to see the dinosaurs safely and comfortably. Before these floodlights, we had problems with workmen falling into the marsh. But that was about the only problem." Muldoon said reminiscently."This area was meant for Dinosaurs who eat fish. We've discussed the possibility of Spinosaurus...but with such a large animal, precautions have to be made."

They slowed to a stop in front of a concrete tunnel that curved into the mountain like a U-turn for the tour. On the other side of the fence, Harding could see a very large animal. It was breathing very heavily and from the glow of the floodlights he could see that the creature's eyes were rolled back into its head. It was covered in mud, and even though it had serrated teeth it looked very innocent. Harding truely felt sorry for it and at the same time, he felt like a kid again. It was a REAL dinosaur and he was going to nurse it back to health.

There was a door in the tunnel that lead to the enclosure. Muldoon slipped his keycard in the slot. This made Harding realize he didn't bring his with him. He'd have to clip it on when he got back to the hotel. They walked into the shed. It was a small corridor with a door on the side. The whole area was bathed in red light. A circular sign above the door had a silhouette of a Baryonyx skull against a yellow background.

The two men stepped down into muddy earth. It was very chilly in the swamps and there was an awful odor. Muldoon loaded his pistol with a dart. "Tranquilizer...Extremely high dosage for this animal." He pointed and shot. The animal raised its head and let out a loud gurgling sound. But it came from its chest cavity. Harding just realized that the gurgling was his roar. He knew what a Baryonyx sounded like! He was one of the few privelaged people who did!

Harding thought that he might as well get to work. He pulled out his little flashlight and analyzed the beast's gums. Immediately he saw that there was decay and blackness. But that wasn't all it seemed the dinosaur was secreting feces uncontrollably. This didn't look good. There was blood and bone mixed in. There were blisters along its body and it was covered in mud. "I think this dinosaur has some form of dysentery, I'll have to study a little further. I also think it may be having an allergic reaction to something. It's trying to roll the sores off with the mud and dirt."

Muldoon made a face of disgust." I'll have a team bring it to the containment area and we'll further analyze it there. We've had to send all the other ones to Site B." They headed back to the Jeep and went back through the tunnel. "I'm really excited, Robert."

"I was at first too, but trust me, you'll get used to it. That was just a Baryonyx. It eats fish. Wait till you have to treat a sick Tyrannosaur." Harding shivered a little. He hadn't thought about that. But he shrugged it off. He imagined becoming famous. He would be the first person to write a text book on dinosaur health. Of course, he had just started working with them. But at the same time he had started very early.

Chapter 3: Knowledge

Melissa Scarborough strolled down the winding path gazing at the lush foliage. She marveled at the high metallic fence, it's lights blinking red and blue. It was like two different worlds thrust together. " I guess the old man's dream came true."

There were noises, odd noises, like nothing she'd ever heard before. Trumpeting, screechings, and hoots. "So that's what they sound like...interesting." Now she wanted to see what they looked like. She'd never seen a photograph of one before.

The path started to open up. In the distance she could see the brown hay roof of what she assumed was the visitor's center. As she got into the open space she saw a beautiful pond. It was an overcast day, and her hair looked a little more on the silver side. The wind blew and the trees swayed, with the sounds of nature. She saw the entrance, a wooden door frame with tarpolean covering the windows around it...every window.

Melissa walked in to see a large stone slab with false dinosaur bones plastered into it. There was also a flourescent wall with a murel of a herd of hadrosaurs. Henry never told her those were in the park. She still felt honored that she was in on the secret before everyone else though.

Henry Wu was her Fiance' and she already knew what to expect to find. She knew never to look directly at a Dilophosaurus, she knew a Tyrannosaur couldn't see her if she stood still. But most importantly she knew that there was no negotiating with John Hammond. He was stubborn and there was nothing to say to sway him.

Melissa realized there wasn't anything here for her....yet. She turned around and started jogging along a new path. There was a large strip in the middle, she didn't quite understand why, and then finally she turned and saw them. Two huge doors with a sign above that read "Jurassic Park". Amazed by the thrill she got just looking at those doors made her take a note."Remember to act surprised at Orientation tomorrow."

Chapter 4:Whispers

Dennis Nedry sat licking his fat fingers...he had just devoured a Reeses Peanut butter cup. It was the third he had had in the last minute. He planned to have more. He speradically pressed the channel button on the remote. There was nothing on at all to watch. Just grainy static. "This is a friggin dinosaur reserve. There should be something, anything to watch." He mumbled to himself frowning.

What a great Dang way to spend his only day off. It might actually be more fun to program bugs into the system. Yeah, mess up the system and watch Arnold and Hammond flip their lids. Ooh or accidentally turn off the fences and watch Genarro crap his pants.Nedry snickered at the thought. He didn't care. Ingen would pay him anyway then Biosyn REALLY pay him, and he'd probably be able to do it all again.

Nedry had to take a leak. That was about the only relaxing thing to do on this Island. He didn't care about nature. And he cared much less about Dinosaurs. He was a man of the technology age. Everything ran best with a hard drive and a Linux system. That was his element, he loved it. Behind the keyboard he was God and Hammond knew it. Because the old fool couldn't do it himself. Because he dreamed around flora, fauna, and extinct fauna. He didn't understand. He couldn't comprehend. That meant he was weak. And the weak can never survive. And his worst mistake was letting somebody stronger than him handle...everything.

The flush of the toilet was quickly mixed with a loud knock on the door. Nedry was excited. He needed company, otherwise he felt like he might hang himself. When he opened the door, he saw a tall, pale man in his mid fourties with brown slicked back hair and thick square glasses.

"Hi Dennis....may I come in?" He asked. His voice was about midrange, but it was loud and he had a slight lisp. He seemed nervous.

"Uh...come on in." Dennis said stepping to the side. The strange man hurried in and closed the door hard behind him. Walking into the living room he slumped on the couch. Nedry walked around and finally sat down on the bed. There was silence....this guy was listening for something. Nedry cleared his throat. The man seemed to notice.

"Oh, sorry. I was making sure we were out of ear shot." He held out his hand smiling."I'm Miles...I work for Biosyn too." Nedry felt even more relieved. Now he had something to actually talk about. This day wouldn't be so boring after all. But now it was serious.

"Um." Nedry thought for a moment."What are you doing on this island?"

Miles smiled a smug grin." I'm your contact. You'll report to me and I'll keep Dodgson informed. I'll also be there to make sure you get to the docks on time, I'll even delay the boat if I have to. Either way, my overall goal is making sure you get that," he pointed,"Barbasol can on the boat and get back to your station in time."

"Oh. Well, my last contact was killed. Did you know that?" Miles lost what little color there was in his face."By the very animals living on this island....actually, now that I think about it, they haven't opened the aviary yet so that's a plus." Nedry remembered when Lew told him about what happened to Dan Krain. Dennis was definitely more cautious from then on.

"We'll only be here two weeks. What's the worst that could happen?" Miles asked likeing Nedry a little less from the prior information.

" I don't know. I could test one of my bugs on the raptor enclosure." Nedry smirked. Miles didn't smile at all. He didn't like Nedry's sense of humor. In fact he hated it. That was the last thing he needed, some demented, fat computer hacker running around messing with everything. It made him uneasy. Dodgson would definitely hear about this.

Miles looked up at the clock,it had already been an hour."I'd better get goin' before they miss me at the harbor house. I'll keep in touch use your video monitor to contact me." And with that, Nedry's contact left. He didn't quite know what to think about him. He definitely shared a good sense of humor though.

Chapter 5: Dawn


As the morning sun glinted over the mountain peak. Jurassic Park slowly awoke. The low trumpeting of hadrosaurs could be heard in the distant reaches of the jungle valley. Over on the far side of the river, the hooting of Dilophosaurs began fading little by little. Chittering birds began flying out of their nests to greet the sunrise. It was beautiful.



These took away some of Gerry Harding's anxiety. He had to treat a Dinosaur. Nobody had ever done that before. It wasn't enough that he had to get up extremely early so that he could diagnose, treat, and analyze the creature. If he failed he'd surely be fired, Hammond didn't care, he put so much trust into a man who knew nothing. This trust made him foolish, because he never even gave Harding a chance to research these animals up close.


And so he sat in the passenger's seat of Jeep number 14, eating a granola bar slowly, very slowly. All he could do was stare straight ahead. The thick foliage made a dark tunnel which filtered the light. It was orange and shone brightly from the pink sky. The only other light source was the array of different fence lights. Around every twist and turn he would encounter a new scent. Sometimes dung and sometimes sweet prehistoric flora.


Muldoon made a sharp turn and they were thrown into sunlight. It was beautiful. Harding saw Brachiosaurs in the distance(He read the list of names the night before.) lifting their long necks and graizing on the trees that made up the entire paddock. Drinking in the pond were the Parasaurolophi. They simultaneously rose from the water, majestically eyeing the new addition to the valley.


Just then, the edge of the electric fence became visible over the next hill. The parasaurs moaned to the Jeep, as if asking them to stay but they had business to attend to. The car slowed to a stop in front of a small gated tunnel with a red and blue button. Muldoon chose red. Apparently it was automatic because as soon as they made it out of the enclosure the tunnel gates closed.

The trail wound on around and Harding could see downhill on his side. There was a similar trail with a tunnel that went into the other paddock, but the entrances were swinging open. There were two men in jump suits, clearly technicians...there must have been some kind of bug with the automatic doors. Harding could hear gurgling water, it sooned turned to a steady roar. Now he could see there was a large helipad and a waterfall emptying into a large pool underneath it.


Gerry looked to the front now and saw there was an incline in the hill and eventually they went into a dark tunnel with dim lights. As they turned a corner, Harding could see a large truck, an 18-wheeler, parked in one spot and a single spot left for them. But that wasn't what caught Harding's eye.


He had to squint but there was blue light coming from the other wall. There was barely room to step out of the jeep but once he managed to Harding stepped slowly towards the light. As he got closer it started to ripple a bit, he could make out four large columns which held up the helipad...and then he saw it. A titanic swimming creature. It's eyes were close to it's mouth, it had a small curving snout with large triangular plates on its top and bottom lips, like a beak. Its head was flat and its gills were extremely large. But what caught Harding off guard was how large it was.He guessed it was about thirty feet long.


A small sign at the bottom of the glass confirmed that it was in fact twenty-nine feet long and its name was Dunkleosteus. It's small eyes glanced down. Harding noticed he was somewhat armored in the front. Harding grinned a bit. This was awesome. "Why is there only one?" He asked.


Muldoon glanced up at the Prehistoric fish and smirked." Those big girls are actually Canibals. And they have a nasty bite, really powerful.But not like our Megalodon."


"You have one of those?" One of Harding's colleagues was a Megalodon expert. The thought of one of those living made him uneasy.


"No, it would be hell trying to make sure it didn't go on a rampage, or go into the ocean. You shouldn't worry anyway, we're gonna hire a marine vetrinarian here soon." Muldoon said matter-of-factly."Now...let's not waste any more time."


They proceeded into two large double doors. They were made of thick metal, so they were heavy. Muldoon typed in some numbers on the lock pad. The doors swung slowly open. Closer, closer and SCREECH the doors stopped when they were half-way through. Muldoon mumbled."I'll kill Nedry one of these days." He spoke louder now." Go on through, the oppening's large enough."


Harding and Muldoon had to slide in sideways, but they made it. The room they were in now was stunning. The way it was shaped, one could see the end of the river flowing over head and then running down into the main view. The ceiling and window were clear plexiglass. From here they could see the helipad, the trail, and the Herbivores graizing in the valley ahead, they could even see the tip top of the unfinished visitor's center.


On a large metallic table in the center was the Baryonyx, washed and sedated. Its pebbled skin was silver, and the front of its snout had similar triangular plates to the Dunkleosteus. The region around it's eyes was dark, almost purple. But even washed, Harding could see the odd bloody rash on the dino's front.


Harding put on gloves and rubbed his hand down to the infected area. It's flesh felt like sandpaper. Rough and coarse, but Harding could feel that there was no moisture whatsoever. It was extremely dry, but warm. Harding moved on to the rash and drew his hand back. It was ice cold and wet...soaking wet. This creature had the worst infection he'd ever encountered.


He turned around and looked at the Handler, his name tag said Regis."Uh, Regis. I think this dinosaur is having an allergic reaction, and a lack of treatment made the site get infected. Can I just ask. What are you feeding it?"

"Well, since Baryonyx eats fish, and we don't know which specifically, we gave it a kind of fish product. It's made from yellow tuna, trout, and I think Blowfish." He paused for a second."Yeah, I think that's it. We added bones to it to make it feel natural"

Harding was shocked. How could they just chop up a blowfish and throw it in there? "Why the hell would you allow this animal to eat poisonous blowfish?"

Regis seemed annoyed."This is a completely new species of animal we had no evidence to suggest that the blowfish could have negative effects on a dinosaur." He seemed quite defensive.

If there was one thing harding couldn't stand it was mistakes. This was a major mistake on Regis's part, and he was the Handler. "You never knew because you never tested it. This was an avoidable mishap. I'll give you this, we DON'T know about these animals, but a poisonous fish is not worth this." He looked to the left." Robert pass me my bag."

Muldoon tossed the bag over to Gerry. When he opened the large leather bag he pulled out a large roll of silk. It was unrolled to reveal an extreme number of syringes."Their all antidotes, I keep four of each. I made them for any worst case scenario." He took the needle and pushed it through the rash. When the syringe was empty Harding pulled it out to reveal a custard colored substance.

"I'm sorry. I truly am." Regis said, breaking the tension.

"Everyone makes mistakes. You just have to think things through is all." Harding said this while he bandaged the wound." There we go. You can call in the loading crew. She's ready to go back to the enclosure. Should be fine in twenty-four hours." Harding smiled at the young Handler."By the way my name's Gerry."

Regis smiled."You can call me Ed."

Chapter 6: After Orientation


Melissa was grateful to leave the ampitheater. She knew her job...hell, she knew the dinosaurs. Everybody made faces of shock and aww. And she attempted to. So did that Gerry Harding guy. He was pretty nice. Unlike that pervert Nedry. He kept coming up to her and cracking tasteless jokes. She hated it, and she was taken already. Unfortunately nobody could know about that.

Her thoughts changed immediately as she entered the Nursery. This was the most finished place she had seen in the whole park. And it had flourescent murrels like downstairs. Hadrosaurs and long-necked dinosaurs. Even a few carnivores, but they were showed as nurturing parents instead of ravenous beasts.

She was seriously surprised how much alike this nursery was to a human nursery. There were several metallic cribs along the walls. Each with a tiny occupant...they were so cute. Then there was also the large ammount of plush toys lying around. One fuzzy bear in particular seemed to be the favorite of all the baby dinosaurs. It was tattered and miscolored...it even had an inky black stain on it. She guessed where that came from.

She walked over to each of the cribs. She knew the schedule for this area. Right now was naptime. In exactly ten minutes it would be feeding time. Then she'd play with them. She loved the idea. She never imagined that being a behaviorist would get her this far. But it was happening now. This was her future. In a biological reserve with living breathing dinosaurs.

She noticed that only the smaller breeds of dinosaurs were put in the nursery. She guessed the larger ones were sent out and were nurtured by the adults. A classic example of why Robert Burke was just a crack pot trying to keep people's minds in the past.Dinosaurs were primal creatures ,yes, but they were also nurturing parents.

Scarborough heard a small grunting noise. She walked over to where she heard it. Looking down into the crib she saw a baby Velociraptor. It was actually cute considedering it would one day kill for its food. She knew all about the raptors. She knew how they worked. Henry had told her about them....about how one broke into his bunker on Site B. It was scary. But she looked at this tiny creature and couldn't even consider the possibility that it would be a killer when it matured.

She picked it up out of its crib. And walked over to the refrigerator for its food. Each shelf had food for each different baby. This baby got ground up liver....they never named where the liver came from. The label just read Liver. Another human-like feature of the nursery was the dinosaur food. It was served in plastic baby bottles. As Melissa picked up the bottle she laughed at the thought of female dinosaurs having nipples. Who'd ever heard of such a thing. She'd have to ask Ed about that in the break room.

The baby grabbed the bottle hungrily. It closed its eyes and drank, making small whimpering noises as it did. Melissa looked down at it. She needed a place to sit. She looked over at yet another human feature. This nursery had a rocking chair. It was like everything else in this park. The human world thrust into the prehistoric world.

"Whoa!" She yelped in alarm. The baby stopped sucking and abruptly jumped onto the toy box. It hopped up and down on top. It kept looking back at Melissa and making chirping noises, as though to say, Please open this box. She got up slowly, trying to hold in her affectionate giggling. She lifted the latch on the small purple box. The Raptor, balancing on the edge of the oppened toy box, took a small porcupine toy and tossed it on the ground.

It was so smart and agile, she hoped that maybe it would be different from the others. Maybe it would be a merciful killer. Maybe it would be peacful. Melissa crossed herself because if the baby did that she would fail in the Raptors' social order. All her thoughts went away when she heard a high squeaking sound. She looked down to see the baby with the porcupine's head in its mouth. This put a frown on her face.

Chapter 7: Truths

Ed Regis walked up the stairs toward the hallway where the offices were. He waved at the workmen putting up a large piece of material that read When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth. "They still do in this park." he thought to himself as he lifted off the last step. He looked back and noticed he had tracked a little bit of mud...no wonder the workmen glared at him. He had just delivered the Baryonyx back to its enclosure. It had made a full recovery.

Ed was like the Zoo Keeper. He basically served the dinosaurs' every needs. The only thing he couldn't do was give them medical treatment. He had been with every dinosaur in the park. He remembered the days he had with the Metriacanthosaurus. How strong it was and how it was always kind of merciful with its prey. They sent out a goat. It would walk and graze for a day or two, enjoy paradise. And then there would be a flash of gold and the goat would be dead, before it even knew it was being attacked. Yes, the Metri was beautiful, its whole body was a golden color. Its spine was the same color, but for some odd reason it was reflective, it shone brightly in the sun. That may have been one of his favorite dinosaurs. If only it hadn't gotten sick...

"Oh well." he thought turning the knob and entering Robert Muldoon's office. The office was CLEARLY Robert Muldoon's. On the right wall were all of his guns, each in its own individual glass case, propped up ready to be taken down at any time...like he knew he'd have to use them one day. On the far corner of the left wall was a hat rack with only one hat, Muldoon's fedora, he wore the thing everywhere. But the left wall in its entirety was a digital Map of Isla Nublar. His back wall was a big window, it revealed the entire expansion of the park. Regis saw the top of the main gate and the mountains in the back. His desk was adorned neatly stacked papers and a glass cube with what looked to be the claw of a velociraptor...Regis didn't want to know where that came from.

"Thank you again Joffrey, I'll be sure to let Mr.Hammond know as soon as he gets back." Muldoon said gesturing him out.

"When Hammond gets back? What are you talking about?" Regis asked surprised. Hammond never left the island for anything unless it was extremely important. Regis ran several scenarios through his head. All of which didn't really make sense.

"He has to go to the court hearing. You know, his daughter's getting a divorce. He's gonna try to be there for her and the kids."Muldoon said as though it was nothing. But this was an extremely rare event. He didn't even leave for his closest colleague's funeral.

"So what does that mean?" Regis asked intently.

"It means I'm kind of in charge, you know, he'll only be gone a week." He said conversationally."By the way, he wants the Baryonyx deported."

" What the hell? Harding got him back on his feet real quick, quicker than any of us expected." Regis said. He had watched the Baryonyx grow up since he got to this island.

"I don't know why, he just said he felt it would be better to have a more familiar population. He mentioned Allosaurus and Deinonychus." Muldoon added with a half frown."Sorry Ed, that's just the way it has to be. Joffrey's loading her up right now."

There was silence from Regis. He didn't know what to say. Baryonyx was the third deported species from Jurassic Park. This was getting ridiculous, and Hammond was wasting his money cloning new dinosaurs when he already had a whole park full.

"Anyway," Muldoon interupted his thoughts," what did you need to ask me?"

"Well," Regis said changing his tone."I've noticed that one raptor is exremely agressive. It's like the others are doing her bidding. She'll make a call and they'll follow orders."

"Yes, I've noticed the same thing.They're inteligent. Extremely inteligent, and I know what she's doing. She's trying to break out isn't she?" Muldoon said.

This response took Regis by surprise. This was exactly what he was concerned about. The attacks were constantly aimed at the fences. And when a plan failed The Big One would severely punish whomever was involved.

"Yes. And,uh, I just wanted to ask if we could have them moved to containment. Where I could observe them closer."

"I'd rather have them deported to Site B where they belong."

"Robert, we have the resources and the space. The containment area is safe and secure and I can get inside their heads and see what makes 'em tick." Regis said, he really needed this to be done so he could make adjustments in diet, maybe even their habitat.

"Fine, it'll be done tomorrow. But I don't like it." He was dead serious. But Regis was already getting up to leave. "Regis, they'll take advantage of the opportunity. Imagine one of them roaming free, the consequences would be-"

"We'll never know unless we do the research." Regis said shutting the door. Muldoon slammed his fist on the desk knocking off every paper on it. If anything happened it was his fault...all his fault.
__________________

Chapter 8: Massacre

The Jeep bounced up and down on the service road. The sun was beginning to set over the Park, the sky was red and it cast an ominous glow across the entirety of the island. And the trees swayed back and forth in the coming wind. It was an omen of sorts.

Robert Muldoon sat in the passenger's seat loading his tranquilizer cursing under his breath. Gerry Harding sat behind the wheel, watching the road closely, his headlights were blazing. He kept gazing at the passing signs."So, which paddock are we going to tonight?"

"The Raptor paddock, man, the bloody raptor paddock!" Muldoon yelled in an angry outburst.

This threw Harding off guard. Muldoon had never talked to him like that before, he was usually so calm and collective. The two men sat in silence...and finally.

"They're definitely gonna need your expertise on this one Gerry." Muldoon said quietly. "It's sickening...awful...and I'm gonna get blamed for it."

"Robert, what are you talking about?" Harding asked, he'd never seen Robert Muldoon get shaken about anything before. He looked outside and saw the logo with the black imprint of a Velociraptor's foot bone. There were two armored vans up ahead. Each was shaking, as though they were being rammed from the inside.

As Harding rolled to a stop, Muldoon pointed out to the left, on Harding's side. The red light couldn't mask the horrific scene. There was gore everywhere. The fence dripped red with blood. And mangled corpses lay motionless on the ground. "Oh my god." Harding said. His mouth hung open in shock. Never in his life had he seen anything like this. He'd never forget this.

It was time to bite the bullet and remove himself from the vehicle. As soon as he oppened the door he smelled the air. A rank, god-awful odor hung fresh in the location of the event. It was like a crime scene. He walked over to the six men working around the vans. He looked inside each...there were two velociraptors snarling and ramming their bodies against the walls inside. They were spotless except for...burns...across their bodies.

"When we came here," the workmen said."those two killers were trying to jump the fence." He said this with disgusted conviction.

"The body count is five. I guess they ganged up on the others and took 'em out." One of the others said."Thankfully we got them with a mild tranq...but as you can see that didn't last long."

"Wait, you say there are only five right?" Muldoon said losing color in his face.

"Dead? Yes sir." These are the only two.

"That can't be right!" Muldoon grunted as he ran to the fence, he ducked under it, clenching his tranquilizer rifle. Harding followed close behind to inspect the bodies. They were all frozen in unnatural positions. It looked like one had its kneck broken, part of the flesh ripped out revealing meat and bone. Harding shivered, another one had it's stomach cut open...with precision. The raptors had perfect aim.

"There were eight." Muldoon said suddenly. He was crouched over one, apparently counting all the others. He pointed at a pair of bloody tracks."It went to the tree." Muldoon went to the tree to see what was going on there. Gerry walked over to the prints and examined them. They were fresh...which meant this raptor had only done it within the last half hour."Nothing in the tree.

"How long have you guys been here?" Harding asked intently.

"About thirty minutes, why?" the workmen said.

"Because you were here when the killer escaped." Harding said.

"Harding's right," Muldoon said."She killed those raptors and used the other two as a distraction. She jumped into that tree and ran off." Muldoon started getting angrier with every word.He ran over to the vans and looked inside. His face started turning read.

Harding followed close behind."So which one's loose?"

Muldoon was breathing hard. This wasn't good for him, much less the park staff and the other animals. He never saw this coming, but it did, and unexpectedly too.

"It was the Big One..."

Chapter 9:Lock Down

"Bye Andrea, get plenty of sleep." Melissa scarborough said waving to the last of the nurses. They worked hard to keep things flowing. Everything went according to schedule while they were there. Especially on days like that one when all the babies were excited and hyper-active. Melissa appreciated every bit of help. She even called them PaleoNurses.

Melissa gasped whenthe thick steel bars drifted slowly down to rest on the windows. She didn't know what to think until she saw the blue electric glow begin emmiting from them. Something was wrong...and it wasn't good.

Ray Arnold's voice came across the loud speakers."Attention all personell. We are currently in security lock down. One of the animals has escaped. We are doing everything we can to aprehend it, but for now we ask that you stay at your current post. All Exterior Staff, get to the nearest building or maintenence shed. Thank You."

She looked over at all the cribs, the baby dinos were all asleep. By now it was time for her to leave. The night staff should be here by now. The interior night lights came on so as not to wake the babie, Melissa reached over and swithced on a lamp. Outside the flood lights came on illuminating the park in white light.

Patty Martin popped her head in."Knock knock!"

Melissa jumped, it was the nursery night care worker. Patty Martin, an older woman in her mid fifties, she had curly brown hair and pink spectacles. Melissa had met her on several occasions, she was very wise in her years, and extremely motherly. She should be, she had three kids.

"Patty, you scared me for a second." Melissa said laughing.

"I bet it's the lockdown?" Patty said understandingly." Well let me tell you, I've been through three and the first two were just those Brachiosaurs and the third happened the night before you arrived, it was just a Triceratops. But now we have red strips on our Jeeps to ensure they don't become violent anymore. We don't know why it works, it just does. So I doubt it could be anything more than a confused herbivore."

"You're the best Patty!" Melissa said. She'd really only expected to socialize with Henry only. Nobody else was supposed to be important, but she slowly began changing her mind. Gerry Harding was really nice to her, he reminded her of a father, Patty was her best friend, and Jophrey would always bring her coffee and a donut in the morning. He was so sweet, besides that he would just sit around and talk to her while she took care of the babies.

"So, how have the little ones been today?" Patty asked looking at the clipboard Melissa had signed throughout the day. It was extremely important to ensure these babies KNEW they were in captivity, and so they had strict feeding schedules. The only freedom they had was a large tub of water in the back corner of the room. Thankfully, the babies didn't understand what was and wasn't prey...yet.

"They were excited today, they couldn't sit still. I don't understand why, they were just all over the place. Thank goodness we have Paleo Nurses." Melissa said, smiling at the last part. Patty laughed, genuinely. Not many people enjoyed that. Not even Jophrey. It was refreshing to finally have somebody appreciate her humor."Could you hold on a sec? I'm gonna go get a salad, I'm pretty hungry."

Patty smiled her beautiful white smile."It's fine with me. I don't think these babies are going to do anything tonight." Melissa smiled back and began walking out into the hallway."And Melissa!" Patty added.

"Yeah Patty?"

"You're doing an amazing job." She smiled bigger, revealing her age a little bit.

Chapter 10: Devil in the Flesh

The Sky outside Ingen's New York Branch flashed with lightning and rain pounded against the wall to wall window behind John Hammond. The lighting in his office was dim and he had a lot of thinking to do. This wasn't a good time for him or his family. His daughter was in the middle of a nasty divorce and he was going to be in New York for the next week. The kids, his grandchildren, were stuck in the middle of it all. Then there was his soon to be ex son-in-law, Don Murphy.

Don had never really been nice to his youngest child, Tim. He'd always hated him for his brilliance. Tim had told him all sorts of stories about Don. In one incident, Don had gotten drunk and kept calling Tim useless, that's when he started telling Tim he always had dinosaurs on the brain. He would always call Tim out on that, and never apologized. The Divorce started because of Don in an incident where Tim challenged a museum's display of Tyranosaurus Rex...there weren't enough Vertebrae. Don argued that the Museum knew better than he did, but when he went and asked a currator, it turned out Tim was right. Don couldn't stand it. Tim couldn't exactly stand up for himself.

But he didn't have to worry about that now, by Friday Julia Hammond Murphy would be Julia Hammond again, and Don Murphy would have zero custody of the kids...if everything went well. Hammond had tried to get the kids' minds off of it. He drove Tim and Lex to the local science expo in a limousine. He took them to the zoo, he took Lex to softball practice, and when that wasn't enough he gave them something to look forward too. He told them he was going to let them come stay that weekend at his new reserve on Isla Nublar....never telling them what lived there.

He smiled at his way of building anticipation. This look faded away as the door to his office swung open, revealing a tall man with slicked back hair and a fedora in his left hand. "Hello John." he said, his voice came out raspily. He had been a chain smoker for the longest time so Hammond knew why.

"Dodgson..." Hammond said quietly. He was disgusted, how could this man be in his office. Lewis Dodgson, was of course notorious in the industry. Known for the highest calibur in corporate espionage. He was an enemy to eveyone around him, even the people who worked for him were never totally safe. And now as he walked towards the Red Oak desk, Hammond knew he wasn't safe either.

"I just came here to make sure you didn't plan on taking my proposition....it's not too late." Dodgson said with his devilish smile.

"Whatever closed door conversation we had a year ago doesn't exist now. Does that answer your question?" Hammond replied wrily.

"John, stop being so cynical. What's the harm in sharing your idea with my company?" he said with a dark look on his face.

"Lewis, when you go and perform illegal actions it is not only detrimental to those involved but also to the company you work for, therefore, Ingen does not need you and definitely does not want you." Hammond said triumphantly. Dodgson seemed taken aback by these words. How dare somebody speak to him that way.

"Look Hammond, I've tryed time and time again to convince you to share your product, but you just won't let through. So either you share it with me or I take it from you." Dodgson said angrily his face turning red.

Hammond's face turned serious now."I will not be threatened by somebody as low as you Lewis. You come into my office telling me what I should do-"

"Oh you don't understand how much you should John. I have people everywhere and I'm not afraid to take your butt down." Dodgson spat.

"It won't be that easy Lewis, I've got everything that you don't. You lose." Hammond said exasperated.

Dodgson was infuriated. In only five minutes Hammond had managed to push him to the edge."Fine then Hammond! Don't give me the product! But all I have to say is enjoy your damned company while you can!"

"I certainly will." Hammond said calmly." And enjoy always coming in second place." Hammond turned to look out the window.

Dodgson began reaching for the pistol in his pocket but stopped when the doors behind him oppened and two kids entered."Grandpa we brought you a milkshake."The boy said.

"Timmy, he's in a meeting." The older girl said.

" No no kids, our meeting's over, he's leaving now." Hammond said with a genuine smile. Dodgson stormed out muttering to himself. Hopefully, Nedry would do his job by Friday or Saturday. He'd get what he needed and Hammond would be none the wiser. Then, as he walked into the heavy rain, Dodgson thought about what he could have done in the office.....he never really liked kids.

Chapter 11: Out with a Whimper

She sped gracefully through the jungle leaping over fallen trees. She landed hard again, throwing dust into the air in a dark cloud, invisible in the night, but the lights behind her pushed through the dust. She hated herself for this, she could've gone so much farther. It was all her fault she was here, being chased. Her bloody footprints were not easy to cover up. The roaring and shouting grew louder and louder. She sped up not looking back. Up ahead she could see the lines of the fence that held her in, and a large building in front of that. There was a man smoking a cigarette by the fence. She could get over it, but her captors could not. In a huge leap she flew onto a high branch and came down on the other side of the fence, directly beside the smoking man. She stared him down, fresh prey and a way to taunt the ones who pursued her. She jumped onto him and they both rolled into the wall of the building. CRASH! FZZT! Her captors went straight through the fence and oppened fire, all around her darts began bouncing off the wall. IT WAS HER TIME. He raised her head, baring her razor sharp teeth, but as she began to growl she felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She looked out to see the tall man in the hat...as her world began to fade away she started contemplating revenge.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miles stood up wild eyed, breathing hard."OW! Dammit!" He had been holding the cigarette's lit end in between his fingers. He was in shock, he couldn't believe what just happened. He looked down at the creature. It was a raptor. He took it all in. That thing on the ground had just tried to kill him. He looked up and squinted through the lights. He could make see the outline of the jeep. And now, coming to him, was a very angry Robert Muldoon.

"What the HELL were you doing out here?! We're on lock down! You're supposed to be in your living quarters! Which, by the way, is by the docks, where you work, Dang it! What were you doing here?!" He could see that Miles was quite shaken, not only by the raptor, but now by his words. He was pale, very pale.

"I..." His voice was raspy and constricted." I was visiting Nedry....and I....had to smoke so....."

"Dennis Nedry is at his post in the Visitor's Center." Muldoon said hotly.

"Yeah, I know.....sor-" He began, but one of the animal containment trucks drove around the corner. And he shut up immediately. Muldoon no longer cared about why he was there. The truck backed up extremely close to the Raptor. The back doors swung open and a claw shuddered out. As it lowered and clamped down around the Raptor, Muldoon pulled out his Radio.

"Okay Ed, change of plans. We move all the raptors to the observation facility tonight." Muldoon said solemnly.

"Fine then, I'll dispatch a team to help with security."

"Yeah, I think that would be best." Said Muldoon, and with a click he turned his radio off. The only reason he was letting Regis do this was because the research facility doubled as an electrified holding pen.....

Chapter 12: An End and a Beginning

Thunder rumbled all around the sky was dark. It was 8 AM and the events of the previous night still lingered with Melissa Scarborough.....Joffrey was dead. A good man slaughtered, just trying to do his job. Melissa had hoped that maybe the creatures would have been peacful. Her hopes were crushed. And now she stood on the helipad with an umbrella and her fiance, Henry Wu. She had talked with John Hammond over the phone that morning, and they both agreed she could no longer work in Jurassic Park.

"Mel, you don't have to do this." Wu said. He didn't want her gone. He loved her......he thought he did.

"Henry," She said through tears."Just come with me. We don't have to have all this. We can live normal lives. I swear we can."

"Melissa, you haven't given this any thought." He said with a frown.

"Yes I have. Joffrey was good. He didn't deserve this. And I never would have known or cared if I hadn't signed on for this Dang job." She cried.

The Helicopter came into view over head, it would land soon.

" It's not too late. We could stay here." He said.

" The only reason I'd stay was for his funeral. But he'll never have one." She choked.

The Helicopter landed. Melissa pulled on Wu's arm. He stayed perfectly still. She persisted still, but he was motionless. Worse still, he was emotionless."I love you." She said with a last ditch effort.

"Yeah." He said blankly. And as she climbed into the chopper, she saw him stalk back to the jeep. She was soon joined by another employee. It was Ed Regis. She had never really met him. She never cared to. As the helicopter rose into the air. She could've sworn she heard somebody yell the words, I love you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Muldoon sat in his office wiping his eyes a bit. It was all his fault Joffrey was dead.He had failed to think about how intelligent the Big One truly was. But now he had to get everything in order. Hammond had decided not to fire him....he was too lucky.

The tears turned to rage once he thought of Regis. He had not taken responsibility for his actions and promptly left. In fact, Regis blamed Muldoon for everything. Now he had to clean everything up, he had a fence to repair, he had orders to make, and most importantly, he had to see that no more raptors escaped.

But it was Wednesday, and anything could happen by the time Hammond returned. Muldoon stood up and walked around his desk and out of his office. The Huge skeletons had been placed in the lobby. Muldoon looked down at every body....nobody was happy. Not one person. He was at least happy that so many people mourned for Joffrey. Even those who never truly knew him. That poor southern girl took it really hard.

Something caught his eye. It was Gerry Harding walking slowly up the stairs. A frown shown clearly on his face. It disappeared slightly when he saw muldoon on the steps. He made a half smile."Hey."

"Hi." Said Muldoon gruffly. Thunder clapped loudly overhead.

Awkward silence ensued. Neither of them knew what to say. But they were both glad to have a person who felt the same."Wel....." Said Harding.

"They should all be destroyed." Muldoon said. Harding smiled.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
John Hammond sat and stared out at all of New York City from his Penthouse. Liability....that was the word on his mind. It was at this point he had to find a solution. And the only one he could think of was to bend under pressure before Gennaro found out.

He picked up the phone now and contemplated what he was about to do. Hopefully.....the answer on all ends would be yes. He scanned for the number through the phone book. Mackenzie, Madis, Marles-too far.

He thought of other people he could use to assemble the team.....who had he heard of.....he began dialing the number. He'd need consultants he'd never spoke to before, and more importantly had never heard of his idea. But they had to be experts.

As the phone began ringing, he thought of a reason they should be there. Ah, he'd tell them only what he needed them to know. They were consultants........on holiday in an Island Resort....yes very clever....very clever indeed. Hammond smiled a bit. He heard somebody pick up the phone.

"Hello, may I speak with Ian Malcolm?"

--------------------
THE END
============

Always did like prequels as it gives so much material to work with given in both the movies and books, we only got information about the formation of the park(s) in passing.

Tarbtano wrote:

Always did like prequels as it gives so much material to work with given in both the movies and books, we only got information about the formation of the park(s) in passing.

Thanks for giving the old girl a read. And I totally agree with you! I also just enjoy how exciting the ("mundane") tasks they have to do ,on an island filled with dinosaurs, are.