Jurassic World: The Animated Series
JW002
"Spinosaurus Rex"
Ajay Sidhu Memorial Game Preserve, South Africa.
Roland Tembo and his assistant, George Lawala, drove their jeep across the grassland and into the small oasis of trees down the river from his lodge.
"Shut it off," he whispered to his driver, who nodded fearfully. Tembo looked up at the large red dinosaur which appeared to be pacing back and forth on the River's edge. It snarled loudly.
Then the animal got down on all fours and snapped angrily at the water.
Roland watched as two hippos surfaced and looked at the dinosaur.
Instinctively the driver backed the jeep up several feet.
Hippos were the most dangerous animals in Africa. It was wise to give them a wide berth. They'd been known to snap crocodiles in half with their jaws.
One of the hippos lunged out of the water and snapped at the dinosaur's jaws. The prehistoric creature pulled back as quickly as it could before the jaws snapped shut inches from his snout.
The hippos weren't intimidated by the larger creature and there were two of them. The crocodilian dinosaur roared in frustration, but backed away from the river. The hippos scared him.
"Smart dinosaur," Roland muttered. The dinosaur could probably take the hippos down, but not without sustaining a lot of injuries while doing so.
Most animals weighed risk-reward before any given action. Obviously the saurian felt that the reward for fighting the hippos didn't outweigh the risk.
Roland's assistant took aim with his elephant gun.
"No, stop," Roland said.
"That thing will kill every animal in the preserve!" he shouted.
"Don't think so," Roland replied. "Those gutsy hippos prove otherwise."
"It won't matter if it kills everything else!" Lawala snapped back.
"If we kill it," Roland said. "Then we're only solving the small problem, and not the bigger one."
"What bigger one?" Lawala gestured towards the giant beast.
"Where did it come from, and are there more?" Roland said. Lawala's dark skin paled. Then he glanced over at the other side of the river.
"Roland," he whispered.
Roland Tembo looked up. The dinosaur was no longer paying attention to the hippos. His eyes were locked onto Lawala and Tembo's jeep.
The dinosaur let out a massive roar, and charged through the river.
"Crap!" Tembo his, shifting into reverse and swerving around. He shifted back into drive and slammed his foot on the gas pedal, the jeep whined for a moment, and began to peel forward…But not fast enough.
The predator's massive claws grabbed ahold of the Jeep's frame, and dug in. With a twist of its arms, the animal flipped the car over.
The massive red dinosaur stepped on the car and let out a triumphant roar.
THREE SLASH MARKS RIP ACROSS SCREEN
John Williams's Classic Jurassic Park theme begins to play, accompanied by the following images.
Jurassic World: The Animated Series Theme song.
Owen Grady riding a motorcycle alongside Blue.
Claire Dearing riding on the back of a Sinoceratops.
Maisie petting Styggy the Stygimoloch.
Alan Grant sketching Blue.
Franklin Webb operating a drone from his laptop.
Zia Rodriguez brushing the teeth of an unconscious Rexy.
Jess Harding yelling angrily at Ian Malcolm.
Rexy stomping out of her Paddock and letting out a Triumphant ROAR!
The Jurassic World Logo. 'The Animated Series' Subtitle beneath it.
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San Heulva Zoo, San Heulva California
"Check it out, Zia," Franklin web said. The Paleo-Vet had just entered the lounge area for the team, adjacent to the zoo's Tyrannosaur paddock. Zia could see Rexy the Tyrannosaurus rex chowing down on her daily goat through the viewing glass partially hidden behind the waterfall.
"This drone is loaded with Rexy's meds," Webb said. "In dart form. We don't have to tranq her, or try to slip the meds into her food anymore. We can use the drone to administer everything we need."
"That's not going to work," Zia said, looking dully at his screen.
"Why not?" Franklin demanded. "It's safer for her, and us, for one thing. And these steel tipped darts are designed to pierce her thick skin. Name one reason why this won't work?"
Rexy looked up at the drone in irritation. She snapped at it.
ERROR! SIGNAL LOST
The warning message lit up Franklin's screen. His face visibly dropped.
"You're flying too low, Rexy can reach the drone," Zia said helpfully, trying very hard not to crack up.
They looked out the window. Rexy opened her mouth and the remains of Franklin's drone fell out next to the goat feeder.
"Has anyone seen my notebook?" Alan Grant asked, walking in from the corridor that led to the team's offices—areas that they tried to avoid, honestly. Between the government job and the San Heulva Zoo hosting agreements, their current job came with so much paperwork that all five members of the task force had almost quit in protest.
"Leather notebook, about so big, contains my notes about Maiasaur nesting habits?" Grant wondered. "I'm supposed to be giving a video lecture to my students in Montana in about 20 minutes and I can't find my notebook."
"Oh, yeah," Zia said. "I borrowed that, it's in the medical bay. I needed the notes on raptor physiology to give Blue her checkup."
Upon hearing her name, the Velociraptor, suddenly darted into the room from the second door, the one that led through the zoo tunnels to the other large animal exhibits (which were currently in the process of being emptied. Rexy made the Elephants and Giraffes nervous, though the rhinos seemed unperturbed by her presence, possibly because of their poor eyesight.) That tunnel also led to one of the zoo's five medical bays, which Zia had appropriated for herself to use in the examination and care of the San Heulva Zoo's three dinosaur residents: Rexy, Blue, and Styggy.
Rexy was on display to the public. Styggy and Blue weren't. Blue had a former cheetah enclosure all to herself as a living space, but she could—and did—escape it so often that they stopped trying to stop her.
There was no point, anyway. Blue always slipped into the zoo tunnels and made her way to the lounge, where her 'pack' hung out. Even Franklin was so used to her slipping in, that he didn't react to her presence.
Blue trotted up to Grant, and the aging paleontologist noticed that she had something in her mouth. She nudged him and handed it to him.
"My…Notebook…" Grant blinked. Blue cocked her head to the side and looked back at Grant curiously.
"Okay, that's weird," Zia said, getting up. Franklin also put down his laptop.
"How did she know that you were looking for it?" Franklin wondered.
"I don't know," Grant said.
Blue snipped irritatedly. Then chirped.
A moment later, Grant's watch chimed.
"Maybe she…was tracking the time?" Zia said. "You always lock yourself in your office at 2pm for the video class with that notebook…Maybe…Blue noticed?"
"She is very clever," Owen said, walking in with bags of food. Blue nudged Grant's elbow in the direction of his office. Grant, realizing that he needed to go start his lecture, turned and bolted down the corridor.
"Veggie burger with…bacon and cheese added," Owen said, looking at Zia weirdly as he handed her the bag.
"You know you're really bad at being a vegetarian, if you add bacon?" Owen asked.
"Not a vegetarian, just like how it tastes," Zia said. "Thanks for getting judgey though."
"Bacon double cheeseburger for Franklin," Owen said, handing the bag to him.
"Chicken salad and a shake for Claire when she gets back," he set Claire's bag on the counter.
"Double Hamburger no buns for Blue," Owen smirked, tossing the two patties at the raptor who gobbled them up eagerly.
"She already had a steak this morning," Zia said.
"If I bring food for everyone except her," Owen said. "What does that say to her about pack dynamics?"
"Touché," Zia replied.
"Yeah, I'm happy with her feeling like she's part of our pack," Franklin said, looking wistfully out the window at his fallen drone.
"You're going to have to get that, you know?" Zia said.
Franklin paled.
"Still nothing, Amanda?" Claire said, coming in from the outside entrance to the lounge. "Okay…Let us know the moment that you hear something. Yeah. Yeah. You too. Bye."
Claire hung up the phone and walked over to Owen, kissing him on the cheek.
"That was your Marine Biologist friend?" Zia asked.
"Yeah," Claire said. "She's been trying to track down the Mosasaur. No luck. It was last seen off of the Santa Monica pier, but it's since vanished."
"Of all of the loose animals," Zia said. "That's the one that worries me the most."
"Me too," Claire said. "If it heads north, it could decide to start preying on Humpbacks or worse."
Blue walked up to Franklin and handed him the remains of his drone.
Franklin and Zia did a double-take.
"Wait, what?" Zia said.
The two of them looked over at the fourth door to the lounge, the one that led out into the Tyrannosaur paddock itself. It was open, where it wasn't before.
Franklin ran over and slammed the door closed.
Zia glanced out into the paddock, but Rexy was now lounging by the waterfall, napping lazily. Blue must have passed right by her.
"What happened to your drone, Franklin?" Claire asked.
"Rexy happened," Franklin answered dumbly.
"And Blue just…Went into the enclosure and got it for you," Zia said. "Has Maisie been teaching her fetch? First Grant's notebook and now Franklin's drone?"
"That's interesting," Owen said, frowning. "It's possible Blue feels like she's not contributing enough to the pack…So she's retrieving stuff that she knows that we need for us."
"Why would she think she's not contributing?" Claire wondered.
"Because, honey…We're kind of a weird pack, and a lot of what we do has no context for her to compare with…So…She's trying to learn," Owen said, smiling at Blue.
She cocked her head, mimicking his head movements.
"I keep saying," Owen said. "Blue is amazing."
She suddenly cocked her head towards the exterior door, and began growling.
The door opened and Crichton Mitchell stepped in. Blue screeched and took a menacing step towards Crichton. Instantly Owen was between the two, his hand up and holding Blue back.
"What the in the Sam Hill is that animal doing in here?!" Mitchell demanded. "I thought that you said that it had its own enclosure!"
"Sam Hill?" Franklin wondered. "The 1800s called, they want their swears back."
"Blue is a social animal," Owen said. "Who also happens to be the last of her kind. Now she's adopted this team as her pack, so she wants to be near her pack. She keeps breaking out of her enclosure and coming here. We stopped trying to stop her, but anyone that she views as not part of the pack has to stay OUT of the lounge, or she'll look at them as a threat. That includes you, Mr. Mitchell."
Mitchell glowered at Blue, who hissed back.
At that moment, Maisie entered from the corridor with the zoo tunnels, holding a bag full of carrots and being followed eagerly by Styggy who was sniffing at the carrots and whining.
Blue let out a series of four sharp raptor barks followed by a low clicking sound.
"Hey Blue," Maisie said, flopping on the couch and handing a carrot to Styggy, who squeaked excitedly.
"So the little girl and her pet dinosaur are fine, but I'm not?!" Mitchell demanded again. Blue began hissing at him again.
Owen shrugged. "Maisie's part of the pack."
Mitchell gestured at Styggy emphatically.
Owen shrugged again.
Mitchell sighed heavily. "Mr. Grady, outside please."
"Hey, sweetie," Claire said flopping on the couch next to Maisie. "How was school?"
Maisie looked slightly downcast.
Instantly Claire, Blue, and Styggy could sense Maisie's mood. The two dinosaurs began to nuzzle her affectionately, while Claire took a hairbrush out of Maisie's backpack and began brushing.
"Anything you want to talk about?" Claire asked.
"Nothing specific," Maisie said, quietly. "It's just really hard to make friends. Everyone thinks I'm the weird girl."
"So?" Zia demanded from across the room, she slid her wheel chair over to Maisie's side. "You are the weird girl. But that's a good thing. Don't be ashamed. Own it. Normalcy is so overrated."
"I was the weird girl too," Claire said. "I had a pet lizard. Do you know how many girls my age had lizards?"
"You had a lizard?" Maisie asked in surprise.
"Her name was Sally Ride," Claire said. "She even went with me to college. Lived in my dorm. She was the best lizard."
"I have never been more attracted to you than right now," Zia said looking at Claire.
Maisie giggled. The dinosaurs seemed satisfied that Maisie was no longer feeling down in the dumps. Styggy started nudging the bag of carrots, while Blue trotted over to the large pile of couch cushions in the corner, and flopped down on it. Yawning and closing her eyes.
"We got a live one, guys," Owen said, entering the lounge.
"Carnivore?" Franklin asked fearfully.
Owen nodded.
"Allosaurus, Baryonyx, or Carnotaurus?" Zia asked, gathering up her things. In a heartbeat Blue was back on her feet, and darted over through the door into the zoo tunnels.
"None of the above," Owen said.
"Well it can't be Rexy or Blue," Zia said. "And those five were the only carnivores Mills brought back."
"Yep," Owen confirmed.
Blue darted back into the room with Zia's medi-kit in her mouth, and trotted up to the vet.
"Pterasaurs?"
"Nope," Owen confirmed. "Spinosaurus."
Claire and Zia suddenly looked confused.
"The Spinosaurus went extinct again before Mills evacuated the island," Claire said.
"Yeah, I know," Owen said. "I saw the list. But we definitely got a Spinosaurus. In South Africa."
There was a dead silence. Then Franklin said what they were all thinking.
"South Africa is not in California," Franklin said dumbly.
"Yep," Owen confirmed.
"Isn't that a little bit outside of the EPA's jurisdiction?" Claire asked.
"It is," Owen confirmed. "But the owner of the hunting lodge where the animal has been seen invited us over, personally. As in…Asked for us by name."
"Can I come?" Maisie asked. "I've never been to Africa!"
Owen shook his head. "Maybe next time, sweetie. You just got settled in at school. I don't want to disrupt that."
Maisie visibly drooped. Styggy nuzzled her affectionately, then quietly and surreptitiously pulled a carrot from Maisie's bag.
No one except Blue noticed, and snapped at Styggy in annoyance. The Pachycephalosaur swallowed the carrot and backed away from the dromaesaur, trying to look innocent.
"Miss Harding agreed to look after you while we're gone," Owen said, looking at Claire, who nodded. The two of them had suspected that an overnight trip was an eventuality, and had arranged with Jessica Harding to have her look after Maisie while they were gone, in advance.
"The real question is," Owen said, glancing at Blue. "How do we get Blue to Africa? Because we can't leave her by herself. She's still bonding with the pack; she needs socialization. And she hates cages."
"I got this," Zia said.
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Zia's solution was to put tranquilizers in Blue's evening meal. The raptor simply went to sleep after eating. The group was then loaded into the back of a military transport plane, Blue still sleeping, en route to Africa.
"When I first encountered the animal," Grant said. "I thought it was a Spinosaurus Aegypticus. It made sense given the information I had at the time. But in light of the 2014 discoveries about Spinosaurus…"
"It's a hybrid," Zia said, rifling through her notes. "Henry Wu is a weird sort of perfectionist. The DPG hacked some of his old files. When he was breeding the Spinosaurus, the Gen 1 clones kept coming out 'wrong'."
"Quadrapedial, with a squared angular sail?" Grant guessed.
Zia nodded. "Wu figured that the DNA must have been corrupted."
"Paleontology is largely guesswork," Grant said. "We make guesses based on what we have. Before 2014 we didn't have a complete Spinosaurus skeleton."
"Exactly," Zia said. "But Wu didn't see it that way. He assumed that if it wasn't what it was 'supposed' to look like, then he made it wrong."
"So he scrapped the original clones," Grant guessed.
"And used his hybridization technique to combine the Spinosaurus genes with that of other animals to get it to look 'right'," Zia confirmed. "This animal is a prototype for the Indominus Rex."
"What is it made of?" Grant wondered.
"Several things, actually," Zia said, handing Grant the notebook pages that she'd printed out. "The base genomes are Spinosaurus and T. rex though."
Grant sighed. "That explains its unusual level of aggression towards Rexes. Tyrannosaurs are by and large territorial."
"So it's definitely not a Spinosaurus Aegypticus," Grant said. "More like a…Spinosaurus rex. Damn Henry Wu. His hybrid set paleontology back by 15 years…If he had kept the first gen clones viable…We could have known about the Aquatic Quadraped nature of the Spinosaurus over a decade ago."
"Yeah," Claire said. "But then he'd have had to admit to his violations of the Gene-Guard act."
"Isn't your Indominus rex also a violation of the Gene-Guard act?" Grant asked genuinely curious.
Claire nodded. "Masrani kept getting special permits and temporary stays to allow Jurassic World to clone new species. These eventually culminated in the Indominus."
"Reverse Darwinism," Grant commented. "Survival of the most idiotic."
"You're not wrong," Claire admitted.
"Is he all right?" Grant asked, gesturing towards Franklin, who was curled up in the corner, skin so pale that he looked like a ghost.
"Yeah, he's just a big baby," Zia commented.
"I'm in a flying metal deathtrap with a tranquilized dinosaur who will definitely be anxious when she wakes up." Franklin said,
"Fair enough," Grant said, leaning back and covering his face with his hat. "Wake me when we land."
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"So…," Roland Tembo said, greeting the DPG task force as they exited the military plane. "You're the crack American team."
Owen cocked an eyebrow at Roland Tembo, taking the man in.
"Great," he muttered. "Another Great White Hunter."
"If you're referring to that idiot Ken Wheatly," Tembo replied. "Then I take offense. I didn't have to call you lot in. I could have killed the dinosaur myself. I've taken dinosaurs down before. I was part of the 1997 In-Gen hunting team. I didn't. Because it wouldn't solve the bigger problem of how it got here in the first place. Your job, I believe. It's my land and my preserve, and you're invited guests. Either show proper respect, or leave. I don't care either way."
"Okay," Owen said.
"What?" Roland glared at Zia, who was glaring at him.
"I don't have a lot of respect for trophy hunters," Zia said.
"You're breaking my heart," Roland said rolling his eyes.
A groggy Blue staggered out of the plane, yawning, as though she wanted some coffee. Roland's reaction was instantaneous. He raised his rifle at the animal reflexively.
"WHOA!" Owen stepped in front of the rifle. "Do not shoot my raptor. Please."
Roland shook his head and gestured towards the two jeeps that were waiting for the group.
"I'll ride my motorcycle," Owen said. "So Blue can maintain pace. She's our tracker. You said in your email that you got a piece of the dinosaur?"
"A tooth," Roland confirmed. "Embedded in my jeep, it's back at the game preserve."
Owen grabbed a bit of meat from his fanny pack and tossed it at Blue, who sleepily snapped it out of the air, and yawned again.
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"Zia," Claire said as the jeeps rumbled forward. Grant was driving theirs, while Franklin was riding with Roland. "I know that playing nice isn't exactly your…Style…But Mr. Tembo is right. He could have killed the S. rex, and didn't. He asked for our help. So please…Don't antagonize him."
"Claire he's a trophy hunter!" Zia snapped.
"Which isn't a bad thing," Grant said.
Claire nodded. "These countries often rely on the revenue brought in by trophy hunters. They provide massive boosts to the economies, and more importantly to the Animal Conservation areas protecting the endangered species. Many places, including Tembo's reserve, sell the right to hunt rogue animals, or older sick ones in order to bring in revenue to help the species as a whole. It's always about the bigger picture."
Zia looked shocked. "I never would have pegged you as…a hunting apologist."
"My dad is an avid hunter," Claire said. "He taught me how to shoot. And most importantly, he taught me how important responsible hunting truly is. I'm not defending poachers. I'd just as soon feed poachers to Rexy. People who hunt rhinos for their horns or elephants for their tusks are awful. But responsible trophy hunters help far more animals than they shoot, by the nature of how these preserves work."
"The local villages and tribes don't care about the animals," Grant said. "They care about feeding their families and taking care of their communities. So when Westerners show up and try to convince them to not shoot elephants—Or say, in my case, dig up old dinosaur bones—There needs to be a proper motivator for them, or they're just going to ignore you, and do what is best for their families."
Zia was silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry," she said after a moment.
"Don't tell me," Claire said smiling. "Tell Roland. You know his preserve spent four million last year on cheetah breeding programs?"
Zia nodded.
"If it helps," Claire said. "I'm pro-responsible hunting, but I don't particularly have the stomach for it myself. Never have."
Zia smiled.
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Roland stared blankly at Zia.
"I…Appreciate that," he said, hesitantly. "It takes a lot of humility to apologize to someone who doesn't share your core values. You and I probably won't ever see eye to eye…But I can respect your convictions."
"The tooth is inside the lodge. That thing, stays outside," Roland pointed at Blue, who hissed.
"It's fine," Owen said, pulling out a large rat from his fanny pack. "Blue, stay."
The raptor looked incredibly annoyed, but quietly chose a spot in the shade of a tree. Owen tossed her the rat.
The DPG task force entered the lodge, which was a massive open-air bungalow. There were various animal heads mounted on the wall. Zia failed to hide her disgust at the sight of them.
Owen noticed a pile of letters by the front desk.
He snatched up one of the letters, frowning.
"Bio-Syn?" He asked Roland.
"Yeah," Roland said rolling his eyes. "They want to buy my property. They've already bought out several of my neighbor lodges. But business is good, and this land belonged to my late friend Ajay's family. I will not sell."
"Oh…God," Owen said frowning. He glanced over at Claire, Zia, and Franklin. "You don't think that…They're Scooby Dooing you?"
Dawning looks of horror appeared on the faces of the DPG members.
"I'm sorry, what?" Roland asked.
"They let loose the dinosaur onto your land in order to try and scare you off of it, in order to make you sell," Claire explained.
"That's a terrible plan," Roland said. "What if I just decided to shoot the dinosaur?"
"You might end up just making it mad," Grant said. "I've encountered the animal before, and I saw it shrug off bullets from elephant guns."
"And it might not be the only animal they have," Owen said.
Roland nodded in agreement.
"All right…Then let's…"
Blue began letting out a series of sharp short raptor barks from outside.
"Blue's calling for help," Grant said, instantly recognizing that call, as it had been the first one he'd ever learned.
The DPG team ran outside to see Blue, atop one of the vehicles, hissing at the large red colored Spinosaurus rex.
Owen took aim with his own rifle, and let out a sharp whistle.
Blue launched at the Spinosaurus's head, leaping onto its back and clawing at its neck, before jumping off and landing at Owen's side. It hissed at the Spinosaur, who charged towards them.
Owen and Roland both took aim with their rifles and shot at the dinosaur, who staggered back in pain, but it did not appear to take the wind out of it. The Spinosaurus surged forward.
"Back in the lodge!" Claire called out, even as Roland and Owen were reloading. The group retreated backwards into the lodge, Roland and Owen firing at the Spinosaurus again, which again, shrugged off the bullets as little more than bee stings.
Once inside, Franklin and Blue slammed the large cedarwood double doors closed and backed up.
"Pretty sure it can get through that," Zia said.
"Possibly," Roland said. "But it can't fit. And the wood is a façade. This building is a solid steel frame."
As if in response, the building shook, violently, and the sound of the Spinosaurus rex roaring at them could be heard outside.
"This thing is not like any carnivore I've ever encountered," Roland said. "Most predators seek easy prey, but this thing is relentless."
"It's a hybrid," Grant said. "A fusion of multiple dinosaur DNA patterns. But primarily that of a Spinosaurus Aegypticus and a Tyrannosaurus rex. Two of the largest carnivores that ever walked our planet."
"Paleontologist," Roland grunted. "I knew one once. Got eaten by a T. rex."
"Fortunately," Grant said. "I haven't been eaten…I wonder…What has the Spinosaurus been eating?"
"Anything it can get ahold of," Roland said. Blue suddenly hissed at one of the large open windows. The Spinosaurus was circling the lodge, it glared at them with murderous intent.
"Crocodiles, fish, giraffes, and wildebeast mostly," Roland continued. "It can't catch my cheetahs or leopards. They're too fast. It mostly sticks to the river."
"Spinosaurus is an icthyvore," Grant said. "They mostly ate fish. T. rex preferred land prey. Triceratops and Edmontosaurus were known to be favorites."
"And goats," Franklin chimed in.
"I think that's a quirk specific to Rexy," Grant said smiling. "But my point is this…As a hybrid…Which does the Spinosaurus rex prefer? Land prey, or fish?"
"Probably fish," Claire said. "It's easier to digest, and if the S. rex has a digestive system that is basically a Spinosaur and a T. rex combined, the fish would be easier on it's stomach."
"If it prefers fish," Tembo asked. "Then why does it keep going after land prey like us?"
"It has to?" Franklin guessed. "It doesn't know how to fish…"
"Or it can't…" Roland said. "Physically can't…Like…The tyrannosaur in it has dulled one of the spinosaur adaptations that is normally used to hunt…"
"Spinosaurus has pores on the tip of it's snout," Grant said "Connected to nerves that allow it to-,"
Grant never finished his thought. Roland shoved Blue aside—The raptor, whose attention was focused on the outside, was not expecting it, and so actually was shoved aside by the smaller human—Roland then took aim with his gun, and fired just as the Spinosaurus's head smashed through the window and snapped its crocodile-like jaws shut.
Spiny staggered back. This shot had hurt a lot worse. It was near its snout, which was fairly sensitive.
Roland suddenly tossed his elephant gun aside and ran to the gun cabinet on the far side of the room, pulling out a high-caliber tranquilizer gun.
"You're not gonna kill it?" Zia asked, genuinely surprised.
"While it would definitely make for a fantastic trophy," Roland said. "I think I have a better idea."
Roland fired at the distracted Spinosaurus. The dart landed in its neck.
"In about an hour," Roland said, firing a second shot. "It should be taking quite a lovely nap."
He glanced at Zia.
"You're the vet, right," Roland asked. She nodded.
"Get ready to vet," he replied smiling.
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"You were right, Owen," Zia said shaking her head. "Those elephant guns didn't harm him at all. The bullets barely broke skin. He's gonna be fine."
"He?" Claire asked.
"Confirmed," Zia said. "Definitely male."
"And definitely not the original Spinosaurus rex from Sorna," Franklin said, standing as far away from the Spinosaurus's head as possible, and examining his tablet.
"No tracking implant," Franklin confirmed. "Someone else made this guy."
"Bio-Syn," Claire said. "It has to be…They've been trying to catch up on dinosaur cloning research for decades. All they needed was some DNA samples. Which they must have gotten from Mills stupid auction."
"And now they're trying to scare me off of my land?" Roland said. "Why?"
"I think I know," Owen said. "Trophy hunting defines the economy around here, and who wouldn't want to trophy hunt some dinosaurs?"
"It is the ultimate challenge," Roland admitted.
"But also a flagrant violation of the Gene-Guard Act," Zia said, frowning. "Cloning new species is illegal."
Roland nodded. "Yes. But nobody said that Bio-Syn was going for a legal trophy hunting operation."
"We need to shut them down!" Zia said, as Blue trotted over to Roland, curiously sniffing at the hunter.
"My dear, we don't have anything more than circumstantial evidence to use against him," Roland said. He glanced at the raptor, who was sniffing at him.
"Get away from me," he said. "Shoe."
Blue let out four hesitant sounding barks followed by a low clicking sound. Owen, Grant, and Zia snapped their heads toward Blue, who continued to look at Roland curiously.
"What if we beat them at their own game?" Owen asked.
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Three weeks later…
George Lawala and Roland Tembo's jeep pulled up to a large steel fence at the edge of his property. A man dressed in a red shirt and sunglasses was staring at the steel fence, scratching his head.
"Hello Mr. Dodgson," Roland said, smirking. "Is something the matter?"
"Where did this fence come from?" Dodgson demanded.
"I had it put up," Roland said. "I was afraid that some of your animals might have accidentally wandered into my property. We wouldn't want that, now, would we?"
Dodgson fumed. "I take it then that you're turning down my offer to sell your land?"
"Most assuredly, yes," Tembo replied. "In fact, I'd wager that my lodge is going to get a massive influx of tourists after I come back from my holiday."
"What do you mean?" Dodgson asked.
"You heard about that ecological disaster in California?" Roland said. "All of the dinosaurs running out and about? Well, I've been invited to join the team that is supposed to deal with that. In exchange, I get to legally transport some of the dinosaurs we collect to my lodge."
"What?" Dodgson said blankly.
"About a year from now," Tembo said, smirking. "I'm going to have the world's first dinosaur trophy hunting lodge. It's already cleared with the UN and the South African government. That's the other reason for the fence. Can't have my beauties wandering over to your property. I can't imagine the damage they might cause."
Dodgson was now red with fury.
"Have a great day, Mr. Dodgson," Roland said, as Lawala drove off.
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Lewis Dodgson stormed into the massive warehouse past over a dozen caged Chasmosaurus, Struthiomimus, Kaprosuchus, Monolophosaurus, and Kentrosaurus. A very large animal roared from within the largest cage at the far corner of the warehouse.
Dodgson ignored the angry animals and stormed up the staircase to the upper level of his warehouse, a pristine white science lab with eggs and embryos all about it. A dark haired man wearing a black sweater and a Labcoat stood hunched over a beaker.
"That DPG group," Dodgson said. "They've ruined everything. They recruited Tembo, and used their influence with the UN to get himself a legal version of what we've been planning. And I think Tembo stole our Spinosaurus too."
"I told you not to act like a cartoon villain and unleash it on his property," Henry Wu replied, in annoyance. "And so you were foiled by those meddling kids and their little velociraptor too. Next time try to avoid being such a cliché."
"I think that I ought to arrange a little accident for the DPG," Dodgson said. "Maybe some airborne rabies or something…"
"Don't you dare!" Wu said, spinning around. "Need I remind you that the DPG is currently in possession of the most valuable genetic resource on the planet? If she gets damaged, then she's useless to us."
"Fine," Dodgson said. "But we're going to need to deal with them eventually."
"I agree," Wu said. "But not just yet. Let them do some of our work for us. Then we'll deal with them. In the meantime…If our trophy-hunting operation here is a bust…Let's have these assets moved to the Texas storage facility."
Dodgson nodded, as Wu turned his attention towards the paper on his desk. A layout of the San Heulva Zoo.
To be continued…