Prologue
A storm is building in the northwest pacific basin as elements combine to form a perfect instability. Sea surface temperatures rise and saturate the troposphere. Atmospheric instability driven by the Coriolis force develop the optimal low pressure centre.
The storm rages over the island a destructive mixture of forces serving one purpose, to be furious. it builds the swells and forces hundreds of waves to pound against the rocky shore.
Her torrential downpour softens the soil before winds rip and roars against its trees. She rages, without rest and without mercy. Is her rage just, or is she wicked with anger. What line had been crossed?
Pooling rain water streams over the concrete surface as bits of rubble and brick lay strewn across the bowls of the hallway. A fallen tree stalk lays thrusted trough brick construct.
Where once was wall there now is a gaping hole, a path from the dark bowls of its storm ridden forest.
A messy pattern of muddy footprints lay left behind on the floor. For the first time in 65 million years the barriers of time and matter lay broken and exposed. Dinosaur and man once separated, together.
Chapter 1
Skeletons
— The first
December 1990,
In an underground basement long corridors span the circular built undisclosed InGen facility. Unlike the Island its built on Its cold, gray and without character. Small windows run like dashed bars along the top of the interior walls providing a view to the outside world. Rain drops bead upon the small window as the dark night sky rages in the background. Inside it is still. A radio from a security guard station at the end of the hall echoes soft, whisper like commentary of a football game being played somewhere else in the world. The night guard sits at his post his eyes are barely open and he hardly gives notice to the events of the game.
A few yards down the passage the concrete walls give way to a large cage like enclosure. Thick steel bars separate the corridor from the lush green foliage inside. Ferns, palms and brown dirt contrast the rest of the buildings grey esthetic. Along the interior wall, glass panels reflect the halogen lights hanging from the enclosure's roof. The windows are tinted and lead to an observation deck overlooking the interior of the cage. Inside the observation deck, blinking lights light up a control panel from which cables run like snakes to all sorts of surveillance cameras, control systems and loudspeakers. A door reveals a small office at the end of the room. The large windows of the observation deck are tilted forward and provide a panoramic view into the enclosure. Its an indoor Velociraptor Paddock...
A cart wheel squeaks and interrupts the echo of stats and scores coming from the guard station radio. A soft waisted middle aged man dressed in dark grey overalls is whistling while he pushes a stainless steel cart down the long corridor. His hair is long, messy and oily. Droplets of spaghetti sauce stain his uniform. The guard sits upright and rubs his eyes with his finger tips while clearing his throat. The worker stops at the guard station and greets the night guard enthusiastically.
"Hi Ramos. Those idiots have no game man, sure glad I didn't put any money on those losers,could have lost all my vacation savings. Mom would have my head in a vice if that went down"
"Yeh Ronda would beat your sorry ass" replies Ramos laughing from his stomach and fidgets slightly providing some animation to his statue like demeanor.
"Don't be joking about that kida of thing though man... Ronda comes from a long line of woman able to put on a real hurting on a man if they wanted to, You do'in anything for Christmas" asks feeder Phill
"Nah, Donna the eldest is away for the holiday at college, younger one Sam, wants to spend it with her mother so, I actually put my name forward for some extra shifts, can do with some green in my pocket"
"Oh heck no, I love getting away from this science fair shitshow, better you than me man. This place and its creatures give me the creeps, they aint normal man... these things look at you, like look at you.
Don't make like you don't know what I mean man?
, time to feed the monster, see you later man.
Feeder Phil stands upright before applying his weight to the cart and setting it in motion moving forward down along the passageway, in the direction of It.
"Hi Phill wait up I'll walk you down, I have to start my rounds soon anyway. Might as well join you down" Ramos takes a walkie-talkie from its charge cradle and clips it to his black leather belt. He places his InGen access card in his trouser pocket. On the card it reads 'Site B - Security - level 2 structure'
The animal behaviorist is working late tonight, she sits behind a desk writing in a black leather bonded journal. Outside rain drops fall hard against the long horizontal windows that run along the ceiling of her small office. Lightning flashes and is shortly followed by the far off echo of thunder.
She sits still... and focused
She has become use to the tropical storms her work environment offers up so frequently use to the low tone of the room. a Desk lamp lights the mahogany desk just enough to barely cover the whole surface with light.
Emotionless, composed yet slightly anxious she writes her words on the paper. She must focus... don't let the emotions in, don't let it cloud your writing. Focus
The door over her right shoulder is wedged open enough to reveal to her the paddock viewing area. Beyond the door tall sheets of bulletproof glass are tall blades of grass and Palm leaves.
They quiver, slightly.
She pauses and holds her breath '... something is wrong'
Ramos the guard and Feeder Phillip approach the barred prison grate like section to the open end part of the paddock. Oblivious to the situation about to ascend on them they continue to banter back and forth. Their behavior is one of habit, a ritual that had been repeated many nights before like a sheet of music being performed in sequence.
It was their last nightly interact.
"see you later"
"Later man, write down the score when that nightmare ends and don't forget to tell me at shift end" Feeder Phill opens the cart lid revealing the thick and fatty cuts of meat. The odour is strong and makes his eyes water.
Ramos has walked well past the paddock and turns back to the Phill before speaking out to him loudly
"hey Phill...who do you think is going to take it in the 4th?"
Feeder Phill turns towards Ramos enough to look over his left shoulder.
He bends forward to support his weight over the cart, sniffs and then swallows the saliva that had built up in his mouth...
His focus broken
She can clearly hear the banter between the guard and the feeder through the observation deck and into the office.
'Are they willfully oblivious to the danger?'
She rushes up but then pauses and doubles back to the desk and in a swift singular movement closes her journal and stores it in her leather sling bag. She enters from the office into the Paddock area.
Blades of grass and branches flick in sequence, like dominoes cascading in a straight line. Its attention focuses to the front of the enclosure as he moves.
She sees it move from the rear of the paddock to the front
'the feeder!'
Standing upright between the cart and the enclosure he has his back turned towards the cage
In a blink of an eye it grabs Phil by his left leg
It snatches his calf at the achilles and pulls it through the bars as flesh bends in agony and bones break snapping in augmentation.
Sharp screams and loud gongs by arms, a skull and leg banging against steel bars echo in the hollow corridor.
Red blood and flesh start to cover rough grey concrete
It growls, rips and tears.
Phill's screams are shriek and he frantically strikes and grabs air from his surroundings to come loose from her.
He looses his leg and later his life due to exsanguination.
— On The horizon
San Fransisco 2015
Stephan's Donaldson sits patiently on an expensive brown leather chair. The lobby of the Bay Plaza Hotel is strewn with expensive contemporary furniture.
She sits patiently unamused at the delay.
Aiden in car
"That's fine, we are pressed for time as I cannot miss my flight. Tell me when your ready" said she
Aiden presses the record button and sits back in his Sheffield char.
"Thank you for meeting with me at s sort notice Mrs Donaldson"
"Yes Mr Vaughn, fortunately I could accommodate your request, we managed to find you an extra press pack too. You will find everything you need in the package.
Unfortunately, Mr Vaughn, our time is limited and I cannot miss my flight to New Yourk
"Thank you" replies Aiden and takes the blue binder from Stephane
"Yes off-course I understand, your assistant had mentioned that its the kickoff of your east coast press tour. I will make sure to use no more than you time than what is needed"
On the cover of the binder printed in white and gray, 'Its a skeleton of a T-Rex roaring on a circulate emblem. Below the rex, and written in all capitals is
'Jurassic World' Aiden has seen rendition of this logo before...
"Is this the same logo used for the original park...new colors and wording and that that? Rather nostalgic" Aiden looks up at Stephane
"Good eye Mr Vaughn not many journalists have spotted the design. I presume you're a fan?" Asks Stephane
"Not exactly I just recognize it from old articles and stories from the old park. The ones I read in the papers. The tenders and the stories well stories of stories, I guess"
"Thats odd... You must have been a child when it all had to play out in the media" Stephane looks at Aiden intrigued.
"My Aunt had kept some newspaper clippings for me. I went through a dinosaur phase and she showed them to me. The 'child friendly' ones off course, not the ones on the death and disaster, those came in the form of ghost stories, nightmares and novels in my teens"
Her body language corrects as it oozes confidence
"You sound skeptical Mr Vaughn, I need not tell you that the advances in engineering have improved significantly over the past few decades. We have applied state of the art technologies not only to advance the attractions, but also in ensuring the safety of the guests at all time. Jurassic World is a technological marvel compared to that of the original park"
"Still by attractions you mean the same ones that were genetically designed and created to wow the same willing public. Who's to say this is not just 'round 2' for these creatures? A generous second helping to the new flesh on the menu?"
"I assure you Mr Vaughn. Jurassic World is ready to capture the imagination of the world and will bring great joy to its visitors for years to come"
"Without all the running and screaming, I assume that's what you mean when you say 'ready' as opposed to... the old park was not ready, but sorry all those people were eaten by these pretty de-extinct creatures"
Stephane smiles and looks at her wrist watch
"it seems our time has run out Mr Vaughn. You would have to excuse I have a flight to catch.
We hope to welcome you to the island one day then you will see the park for yourself. its magic a place of wonder and amazement"
Taking her designer handbag from the chair she positions it to hang on her left elbow. She then removes a pair of sheik sunglasses from her bag and puts it on before exiting the hotel lobby.
'Well that went well' thinks Aiden to himself in sarcastic protest
'Am I an idiot?
Why do I keep fucking up a good thing? This place, these islands this park it must be an eden if so many people believe in it. Was those stories of death and dismemberment I retold myself misleading, were they lies? Was a man being eaten alive by a Tyrannosaur not shear terror and fright? Did I imagine those images...did I imagine how scared I got of monsters I had never seen, but knew were real. The childhood angst, all the nightmares of flesh eating Dinosaurs, a misrepresentation of my worst fears. Is the whole world blind to the awesome horror that is upon the world?'
Is the hate for my mother and her creations of death a lie...?
Why did she leave to make my childhood monsters?
—
Aiden was shaken with anger and self doubt he could feel his surroundings creeping in on him, his breathing became heavy and his head thick and heavy. The room darkens as the roof lowers down towards him. Angst, fear, judgement, abandonment grabs him by the heart.
'but how? I haven't had a panic episode since I was 11'
For a moment Aiden closes his eyes. He breathes like he had all those years before and centers himself before feeling the air in the room, the wide air in the bright room. The room becomes big and open and safe
Aiden opens his eyes.
Its all normal again.
'Keep her out of there... don't let her in' Though Aiden
'Focus on the work. Jurassic World, the future of a once madman's idea of a amusement park an island of horrors.
Expose the lie, expose the ferociousness, the violent deaths covered up by the corrupt capitalist corporation.
Why is this entitled few so purposed with packaging death and sell it off as amusement'
'Expose the truth'
Aiden sat for a moment and paged through the blue press binder. It read like a five star holiday package highlighting what seems to be stunning Dinosaur attractions and exhibits.
Stats on building materials and the parks capacity and attraction capabilities attempt to put purpose to the engineering showboating.
Photos of luxury hotel villas and clear blue sandy beaches rounded off the press package
-Jurassic World-
Aiden couldn't help but think to himself
'this place is going to make a fortune'
Aiden exited the hotel and decided to walk all the way back to the office. Some well needed thinking time.
— The lost
Susan sits calmly remembering the time the family visited a tea plantation while on vacation. She remembers the cool summer's day and the green hills, so many green fields and landscapes as far as the eye can see. It was a special time, it was the last family vacation with John.
Deborah is sitting across the table from Susan, she dislikes seeing her friend in crisis. Susan has been staring into her teacup for over two minutes. Deborah could see that Susan's thoughts were far removed from what was at stake considering that evening's company.
"How is Kevin doing at school hun?.. Sue..."
"Better I guess, he's become better with fitting in, its still really difficult for him I guess" Susan continued.
"How does a 8 year old process this kind of thing"
Deborah takes Susan's hand. Sue let's her take it then pulls it away before folding her arms.
"Sue honey really think about this" Deborah said
"It's done Deborah... I am doing this" replies Susan.
"I just don't, I really don't understand why you would agree to something like this Susan, have you thought about what wounds this could open up" Deborah said.
Susan looks up from the table, sadness in her eyes.
"His intentions seem good and I am willing to take a chance, the world needs to know the true cost of it all"
"But it's been years, do you really think it's worth the risk" continued Deborah
Bringing up all those horrible memories, the risk of going through it all again?
He's a journalist for crying out loud, this could make it to the papers"
"Again, when has this ever end.
This never goes away" continued Susan.
Every morning I wake up in bed alone I am reminded of him and how he use to hold me at night. I see him in our son's eyes, and Kevin knows it when I look at him. There's no escaping this" her eyes welling with sadness.
There is a knock at the door
"Is that him?" Deborah asked.
"Probably, he's early" Susan said making her way to the front door. Aiden greets her politely and shakes her hand.
"Thank you for agreeing to see me Mrs Brooks" Aiden said.
"Come in Mr Vaughn" Susan lead him to the living room.
"I'm sure this must be an emotional time for your family, with the media and stuff. Seeing the posters and watching the commercials" Aiden tested the feel of the room.
"Its been hardest for my son, Kevin. He was only 5 when James died, he's almost 13"
Aiden sees Deborah standing by the kitchen doorway and acknowledges her presence by nodding her way, she returns the greeting before taking a seat at the kitchen table.
'Necessary morel support' Aiden thinks.
"Mrs Holt, is it ok if I record our conversation?" Aiden places a silver audio recorder on the table next to him and takes a seat on the couch across from Susan.
"Tell me about what you remember of that night in San Diego"
"John worked late some nights, import and exports, and sometimes the timezones meant he would work like this a few night in a row. He called it his nightshift. He had kissed me and the Kevin goodnight before settling in, in the study. He must have sneaked out to get a slice of pizza at his local place. He didn't know I knew of his late night snacks"
"It was just before midnight when the sirens woke me and Kevin and it was loud. It sounded like the ones you hear in movies, it scared" said Susan.
"I immediately rushed to find James but he wasn't in the house. I comforted Kevin and eventually got him back to sleep after the sirens stopped.
The neighborhood returned to quiet. I remember thinking our neighbor Sally, her husband was a police officer, so I called her on the phone.
I felt bad calling so late, but they were also awake. Sally said they weren't sure what had happened, but that her husband was told to get indoors. Thats when I became frightened for James"
Aiden could see that the words spoken by Susan Brooks had a deep emotional effect on her, It was difficult recalling the events of that evening.
"The phone in the kitchen rang at 2am, that feeling of sheer cold dread filled me instantly, I shuddered in panic" Susan continued.
" This kid named Mark was on the other end of the line, he was a pizza boy at the local place, he knew us from delivering to the house from time to time, James enjoyed their pepperoni and cheese.
Mark was crying. He was frantic and kept calling me Mrs Holt. I remember him saying it over and over again 'Mrs Holt...Mrs Holt, come to Mike's'
I panicked, I didn't know what to do, I didn't think. I remember trembling at the thought of James being hurt or injured. I had no idea what to expect, how could anybody?"
Susan covered her eyes with her dingers and sobbed. Aiden sat in silence thinking 'If only she knew my connection to it all, the shared emotions'
"I am sorry Mr Vaughn" Susan said.
"It was an awful night"
"no need to apologize Mrs Brooks I can only imagine" Aiden said.
"After the call I couldn't bare not knowing' Susan continued.
" I knew I shouldn't have, but I had no alternative, I grabbed Kevin and put him in the car, it was late and there was no one else to leave him with"
"The drive felt like forever. It looked like a war zone, lights everywhere and people all around. A paramedic made me stop the car a few yards away from the store where a crowd had formed around near the entrance. There I found James... he was dead, ripped in two at the waist"
Before that evening Aiden had never met Susan in person, but seeing her pain had reinforced his intentions to see it through.
"Write the truth of what happened that night Mr Vaughn, my husband was bitten in two" Susan continued.
"They lied and covered it up. The senseless deaths, they said that James had died after being struck by a fleeing vehicle. But I saw him, he was torn, he was bitten, his face pale as he laid there lifeless, my James"
Aiden pressed stop on the recorder "I am truly sorry for your loss Mrs Holt. Thank you for your strength and willingness to give me the interview.
"Deborah, can you see Aiden out" Susan asked
Deborah greeted Aiden at the door "You need to do right by this family Mr Vaughn, do the right thing. Susan trusts you with her tragedy so help her, please"
— Collateral
The afternoon shower is a welcomed relief to the summer heat as Aiden and the paramedic known as 'Pete' seek shelter from the rain under the ambulance entrance canopy.
"You're not gonna use my real fucking name, are you? I'm not gonna tell you anything if you're gonna use my name or the name of the company, that kinda shit can cost me my job"
Pete is a burly built, middle aged paramedic with years of inservice experience. Aiden had contacted him after getting his details from Susan Brooks.
"You journo types do that right? Hide the identities of people and stuff? You're not gonna use my real name, right" Pete said.
"Tell you what, for the sake of anonymity lets just call you Pete, paramedic Pete" Aiden continued.
"I have no intention costing anybody their job, I just want to shed light on the truth. Pete do you mind if record you, it will make the interview go smoother" said Aiden.
"Your not going to use the recording in the media right? I guess its ok, just protect my identity" Pete said.
Aiden presses the red record button on his recorder.
"So Pete, lets start at the beginning, try to be as descriptive as possible even when recalling little things, just speak of what happened that night?"
"Yeh well, it was a slow night right, not a-lot of action. Start of the shift we had a small vehicle collision somewhere on Firth, I think it was near the post office. Minor scrapes and bruises, bit of whiplash, we packaged the patient and transported him to Mercy. After that there were a few granny bashings"
"What is a granny bashing?" Asked Aiden confused
"Sorry jargon. its when you treat or transported an elderly patient, you hardly render any treatment, normally we give them a empathetic ear and oxygen before taking them to the hospital" Pete continued.
"Anyway after a few of those we didn't expect much more from the shift, especially not the shit that erupted later"
"It must have been close to 11:30 pm when we just finished a late supper. Ted, my partner had a calzone, I remember it cause my wife had packed me a chicken salad and he teased me while we ate. Its actually a good thing I had something light inside my stomach instead of a heavy meal" said Pete.
"And after that, were there any warnings or signs before the incident?" Asked Aiden
"Well, we parked off at our regular standby point close enough to the main routes, but far enough to get some shuteye. The cab got quiet and we were about to grab some z's. Thats when then the radio started to go berserk" Pete continued
"At first me and Ted were thinking hoax, but then we recognized some of the voices of people we knew kept their cool in the rough. It didn't sound good and the frantic reports kept coming in. Its when the civil defense siren started whaling over the neighborhood...thats when all hell started to broke lose"
"Civil defense siren, whats that"
"Its a siren to warn the public to seek shelter, they use it as a tornado warning"
Pete continued.
"We started responding down Claremont Drive in Sunset, past Burgener boulevard, people were running, away from something"
"So you never saw it" Aiden asked
"No, but we could tell from the radio chatter they were chasing it, they never said, well you know... what. The responder kept calling it "it" or revering to it as a He" Pete continued.
"Further up the hill It looked like a war zone. Damaged vehicles left abandoned, some structural damage to property it was surreal"
"Wow that's fairly descriptive. I presume such a kind of 'disaster' would also be uncommon in a suburb?" asked Aiden
"I can only imagine that this is what an down aircraft in a populated are may look like. We continued deeper into the suburb and clusters of lights and response vehicles marked the 'incident' locations. None of us were really prepared for something like that, how could you"
"what about your scene" asked Aiden
"what happened on the scene?"
"By the time we arrived near the mini-mall a big crowd had gathered near the curb of the road" Pete continued.
"I remember Ted saying that it looked bad. The looks on bystanders faces and their reactions. You learn to read the scene like that... it looked bad"
"Where was the body of James Brooks?" asked Aiden
"We found what was left of him close to the intersection across from the coffee shop"Said Pete
"he wasn't struck by a fleeing vehicle, bullshit. Where was the lower half of the body? The truth was too unbelievable ... I mean, I don't think anyone would believe hearing something like that"
"What was unbelievable, what did you hear?"
Pete looked up at Aiden
"Jesus man, you actually want me to say it"
"I do. Yes, its pivotal to the events and the reason for the coverup, this big lie"
Pete shakes his head from side to side before removing a handkerchief from his pocket. He dries his forehead and then the back of his neck.
"Ok, so we were busy moving through the crowd and there was some kid in the crowd busy talking on his mobile. All I can remember was hearing him say, 'Eaten by a dinosaur'
I remember thinking bullshit!"
Pete removes a pack of cigarettes from his jacket pocket and lights one up. Forcefully he exhales the white smoke and accompanies it with a sigh.
"The remains were bad, really bad. It looked as if he'd been ripped in half at the navel. Gruesome...he was obviously dead" Pete continued.
The evisceration to the abdomen was massive and deep cuts with wide puncture wounds were visible on the torso and arms. I had never seen trauma to that extent before"
"And what about the feel of the scene? Tell me what happened when Mrs Brooks arrived" he asked.
"Thats not really something someone in my profession tends to talks about, you know"
"I understand, but as promised I will use discretion in the writeup and you are anonymous, Pete"
Pete stands still for a while before expertly taking two drags from his cigarette. An ambulance siren leaving the intersection near the exit of the hospital breaks the silence.
"We can tell from their screams and cries you know" Pete continued.
" When a bystander screams of cries at the sight of something this gruesome its a the cries and screams from a loved one, it travels through you like an icy wind. Mrs Brook cried like that, her cries had that tone, like you can feel the pain and heartbreak. It was difficult when Mrs Brooks arrived at the scenee"
Pete threw his cigarette bud on the ground and exhaled his last drag
"We're done now right?"
"I just wanted some clarification on the debrief" said Aiden
"No deal, I told Mrs Brooks that I would share my account of the incident and only that. What ever happened in the official briefs has nothing to do with me"