Dividing Lines and Separation
"The answer is absolutely no." The cane tapped with finality to the floor. "That is not something I shall ever approve of. In any shape or form."
"Please; I just want to have…what we started extends to this, therefore—"
"NO!" The cane slammed on the floor again, this time more firmly, and with anger. "You dare to desecrate the value and meaning if you do. You shall reduce all that living was to a pointless and sheltered existence. An existence so secretive and terrible you might as well become a murderer."
"How dare you…I just want to explore the possibilities. My legs are gone, yes that is true, but this is not about me. What you have can bring—"
"Never! I shall never, ever make such a choice." A weary sigh. Tap, tap, tap, went the cane towards the door. "We are finished."
"You cannot…you cannot do this to me. We agreed…together…we…"
"That we would make the future but not this kind of future." The man paused in the open doorway and turned so he half faced the other. "I do not blame people for the mistakes that they make, but I do ask that they pay for them. I shall not be the one to pay for anything that you do. As of this moment, I don't know who you are and cut you completely away."
"Don't…please…"
The door shut on the other's sobbing and pleading.
(Years later)
He was dying. His eyes did not work like they used to. His ears were a different story. He heard many things now. His body was failing him. He was confined to his bed more and more than before. The cane still remained close but that was not used much these days.
The door opened. A squeak. The sound of wheels on the wooden floorboards. "John? John, my goodness." He knew that voice. It too was older, but sounded a little better than he probably did.
"It's…you…at last."
"Oh, John, but when I heard…"
"The park…I gave it over to another…he will do it. I know he will…make it…"
"John please, what did you want me for? When last we talked…"
"Too late for any debates or…or quarrels. I just…wanted to say…goodbye to you…my friend."
"Goodbye?"
"Yes. Just wanted to make some peace between us." He coughed. "Made…mistakes. Both of us. But still, it…it's a dream. So much work…all that I wanted was…"
"I know, I know."
"My cane…where?"
"Its right here," the other said. "By the bed. Why?"
"To remember me…by. Take it…my friend."
"I…thank you. John…I…"
"Whatever you do," the other said taking a deeper breath, though not without struggle, "don't," he shuddered exhaling, "don't be foolish. Be…be wiser. Leave…leave a better world. A better one." He sighed and quietly fell asleep.
"I will John. I promise that, should anything happen, to your dream, I will continue it. I swear it. We both made compromises but I did only what needed doing as did you." He sighed rolling the cane in his hand. He coughed; time for his medication. "Goodbye." With that the cane was stuffed in a sleeve of the wheelchair and his assistant quietly maneuvered him out of the room. He was the last person to converse with John Hammond on his death bed.
Some years later he saw it on the news: "Jurassic World – Fallen."
. . . . .
(Isla Nublar, 120 miles off the coast of Costa Rica, 11 pm)
What in heaven's name were they doing here? In the middle of very stormy weather in a submersible? It all sounded simple on paper or in the discussion, but to actually be here…
He was just a mercenary true, but not cannon fodder; neither he nor his partner in the submersible, or the guys upstairs waiting for the delivery. The mini sub glided gently forward, its sonar the only noise beneath the waves as they pressed forward in the darkness. Suddenly the curtain of shadows split down the middle and began to open. The opening to the lagoon widened enough for the submersible to easily enter. The hunt began for their objective.
One of the pair, not the driver but the secondary operator, began to breathe faster and glance around nervously. "Relax," his partner said, "just breathe. Anything in here would be long dead by now." He settled down a little but still looked around. This was because the lights from the front of the sub were sweeping around for the object of their hunt. It was impossible not to know it when they saw it, but this area was massive. How long would it take before…?
There, on the bottom of the lagoon to their left. "There she is," said the pilot, "Indominus Rex." His partner maneuvered the joystick on his left with practiced skill and took hold of closest rib bone. The pilot then extended the circular saw and began to horizontally cut through the rib until it came free. The co-pilot then detached the claw from the arm and the inflatable attached to it carried it to the surface where the team would be waiting.
Outside the lagoon was thunder, lightning, and wind. "Marine 1 has it, proceed to retrieval Air 1," stated the technician near the controls for the lagoon entrance. The helicopter, primed and ready for this moment, ascended and flew out over the water. The yellow bag was impossible to miss. They had it onboard, and in its container within mere minutes, which was good; they didn't want to stay here too long. The storm was an inconvenience but it also covered their presence here. This was private land, now restricted, after the "incident" that had resulted in the condemning and abandonment of the park.
"Package has been retrieved Marine 1. Proceed to exit the lagoon so that entrance may be closed." The technician's nimble fingers manipulated the icons on his tablet so that all he need do was press once and the entrance would seal itself shut; make it look like it never happened.
"Roger that," said the driver. And amen. It wasn't that he was concerned about anything so much as the dark. With the objective complete, the darkness seemed to have grown more oppressive. All that he wanted to do now was leave. With that, he quietly put the sub in reverse and switched off the lights. They didn't need to see to know where they were going. His companion sighed in relief beside him. Homeward bound at last.
The helicopter had landed, they were just waiting for their companion to finish his task. Thunder boomed but that was not the reason he jumped and looked nervously behind him. He thought he heard a whistling hoot or something of that nature. It was possible that some of the animals were still here, but after all this time…
It was the weather playing on his nerves; that, and the desire to not be found here by the authorities. It was a snatch-grab op with no legal protection. But since when did mercenaries concern themselves with legal matters? He turned back to the tablet. BLIP.
Gone. He blinked. The signal and icon were gone. What? "Marine 1 please confirm that last." Nothing. "Marine 1, I need to close the gate, please respond." Still nothing. He pressed the headset harder against his ears. The thunder and lighting did not make it any easier to hear. "Marine 1, please respond." Then, "Marine 1, I am closing the gate. Please confirm your position."
His attention was diverted. Shouting. The men in the chopper were gesturing frantically. Their mouths moved, but the wind had picked up, and the thunder overwhelmed their voices. "What?" he called back. "I can't hear them." The yelling was a bit audible now but still unintelligible. "What?! I! Can't! Hear you!" Lightning flashed and some inner sense told him to look back when the flash also illuminated the eyes of others in the aircraft.
GROOOOAAAAR! He screamed but the noise was lost in the roar of the Tyrannosaurus Rex that had somehow snuck up on the site without them seeing it. The technician did the only sensible thing: he turned and ran. The chopper promptly lifted off with the man desperately throwing off his headset and dropping the tablet so as to run faster. The wind hindered his efforts raking and pulling on his yellow windbreaker. The Tyrannosaur struggled too owing to the slippery nature of the cement in the rain. Still, it kept up a good pursuit knocking aside an overturned vehicle in its way while its prey desperately tried to reach the metal ladder before he ran out of road. The helicopter was rising higher now. There was but a few feet of ladder trailing the ground. Come on! he willed his feet. Finally, just as the ladder was about to clear the ground he jumped, a do-or-die effort, and caught the metal rungs.
He laughed hysterically in relief. Chonk! The helicopter reeled in midair from the sudden jolt. The lights quickly angled downward illuminated the jaws of the Tyrannosaur clamped down on the ladder. The animal shook its head back and forth relentlessly, straining the helicopter's ability to stay aloft and threatening to dislodge the desperate man clinging beneath its undercarriage. "We're gonna stall!" yelled the pilot. "Cut the ladder now!"
The technician cried out in fear and panic when he saw one of the men leaning out as best he could extending a long knife towards the rope. "No! No wait, wait, wait, wait!" The Tyrannosaur gave another brutal yank down on the ladder.
"Come on man! Give 'im a chance!" yelled another trying to keep the one man from slashing the ropes.
"CUT IT NOW!" yelled the pilot. Chang! The helicopter suddenly surged up and stabilized under the pilot's skilled hands. The knife-wielder withdrew from the ladder just before he would have begun to cut it.
The Tyrannosaurus gave a fearsome roar but it was in vain. The ladder had snapped clean in two leaving the remaining three feet, with the lone man on it, attached to the chopper. The man gave a cheer and shook his fist in celebration laughing hysterically along with the others in the chopper. "Yeah-ah-ah-ah! Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"
WHOOM! The water exploded with jaws that could eat an infant blue whale whole with no trouble whatsoever. Crack! They snapped together over the remaining ladder and then fell back down into the water breaking off the rest from the chopper and taking the technician with them. The mercenaries still on board the helicopter looked down at the black, surging, wind-battered waves. Not one did not feel a sense of dread or shock. It was still alive, even after all this time. In their desperation to escape, they hadn't even begun to consider…
They all sat back, exhaled. "Report back. DNA sample secured. Tell the man we're comin' home." Unknown to the chopper, a small wake followed it. Due to the interruption by the T. Rex, the sequence for shutting the lagoon entrance had stalled at only 54% completion. Having not fed in some time since its last massive meal, the marine predator had consumed the sub and its occupants, and then the lone man on the ladder, but its appetite was not close to satisfied. A new current flowed through its home and it followed it out to the source of its origin. Amidst the storm, the Mosasaurus simply swam out of the lagoon and into the open ocean. By the time it would be discovered, if it ever was, it would be long gone from Isla Nublar.
Free. At last.
