The Perfect Weapon
Chapter One: Wu's Wishes
The helicopter's blades were producing a heavy wind all over the pad as Dr. Henry Wu was quickly ushered into the helicopter's cabin and turned to the soldier anxiously and yelled,
"Where's Hoskins?! "
"He's sending you and the assets to a secure location," the soldier responded.
"But, our deal is still intact?!"
"Don't worry; you'll be taken care of."
As helicopters took off with the INGEN staff and whatever equipment could be salvaged Henry pulled out his satellite phone and anxiously inputted a long series of commands. A long series of tones and static was heard as the connection was made from the Central American portion of the Pacific Ocean back up to Westchester, NY. In North Salem, the hamlet of Salem Center, a woman picked up a phone inside a large white house. The house, situated in a nice area of large homes flush with maple trees and actual yards and not those rectangular equal sized ones in suburban developments, but actual property without uniform shape, stood still in the night. The area was beautiful, outdoors the way it was intended in nature, quiet, secluded, and with animals…the perfect place for a man who works with animals to live.
Henry,"….Sally?"
Sally,"Henry? Is everything alright? You sound so nervous."
Henry, "I'm fine honey…are the girls okay?"
Sally, "Honey, they're fine. What's going on?"
Henry, "I'm on my way home—"
Sally, "Home?! Henry what's going on? You weren't scheduled to have your next break for another month."
Henry, "There was an incident; you'll see it tomorrow all over the news. Suffice it to say I'm being EVACed. We're headed to San Jan, and then JFK, and I'll grab a flight into Westchester County Airport. Let me assure you I'm fine; tell the girls I'll be home early. I love you. Oh and Sally?"
"Sally, "Yes?"
Henry, "Be sure to pick up some of those 'hockey-puck' sized antacids… I will have a lot of explaining and planning to do when I get home."
The night passed quickly on the jet. A smaller plane took Henry to Westchester County Airport. A little unkempt and very tired he headed through the terminal and out towards the taxi pool when a group of reporters swooped in on him…like hungry vultures…or pterodactyls at 7AM.
Reporter,"Dr. Wu! Dr. Wu! NEWS 12 Westchester! Is it true you just came from Jurassic World?"
Henry, "Hi there, don't you have a morning commute to follow?"
Another Reporter,"Dr. Wu! Dr. Wu! CNN! Care to comment on the crisis at Jurassic World?"
Henry, "I don't know what you're talking about and 'no'."
A third reporter,"Dr. Wu! Fox News! This isn't some press conference outside the 'visitors' center'! Give us a real opinion on the events of today."
Henry paused, cameras flashed, news cameras recorded, as he looked into the eyes of the reporters, "You want an honest opinion on the events of today? You're blocking me from getting a taxi, I am tired, and the first one of you who follows me home will have to deal with my own personal dinosaur and trust me: he is tough, can hide in your front yard, and you'll never see him coming. Direct all your questions to INGEN. Bye!"
Henry stepped into a black car while the driver held the door and it closed it and started the car.
A forth reporter, "Oh come on Dr Wu, you've got-"
"Back to the house…Dr. Wu?" The driver asked.
"No, and how did you know my name? Do you work for INGEN? Did they send you?"
"No, I heard them shouting your name from the moment you left the terminal. For a scientist you're not too bright early in the morning are you?"
"I suppose not."
"…. I do work for INGEN though. They wanted me to take you to HQ immediately."
"Are you serious?"
"No, I'm not. Jeez you really aren't bright in the morning are you?"
"No, I suppose not. Listen, I'm hungry. Drive me to the White Plains diner."
"You sure you don't want somewhere closer, I'll have to charge you for two rides if you want to go that far."
"Take me; I'll make sure it's worth it."
The black taxi pulled up to the diner and Henry pulled out some large bills from his wallet, and got out and said, "You sure you don't want to join me for breakfast? I could use some company."
The driver took the money from Henry's hand and said, "No, but thank you. I have other fares to find so that I can enjoy good fare of my own later." The driver sped off. Henry walked into the parking lot and to the back and pulled out his satellite phone and pressed a single key. Several tones were heard, followed by static, and was answered.
And livid man jumped into conversation, "Henry?! What the hell are you doing!? Why aren't you here? Where are you? And why are you using your SATT phone?!"
"Jack that you? You sound well rested. What'd you do have two Monstes this morning instead of tea?"
"Cut the crap Henry and besides you're the one who knows about monsters."
Henry looked angrily up at the highway nearby as rush-hour traffic sped by and said, "Listen you little piece of crap, I am not involved in some sort of 'mad scien.."
"Yeah I know 'mad science', save it Henry. See? I can piss you off too. Now listen! I have you situated at 50 Westchester Avenue. What are you doing there?"
"Getting breakfast and then going shopping."
" Shopping?! Henry I have a car headed your way now! What in God's name makes you think you should go shopping now?!"
"Let's see…well for one I was shoved into a helicopter with only the clothing on my back, I have been travelling all night, and I have nothing else to wear."
"Fine…fine…get breakfast to go and grab one set of clothing. Your driver, look for a red Ford Escort 2016, will be in the parking lot in exactly one hour. Make sure you drop the sarcasm before you get here and Henry one last thing."
"What?"
"Call Sally and tell her you'll be working late."
"Late?! I just travelled all night…"
"I know…and you're tired, hungry, and have nothing to change into. Get over here ASAP and I'll make sure to have a shower ready for you. OUT!"
The satellite phone's screen flashed "CONNECTION TERMINATED."
Henry set an alarm on his phone, went across the street to the nearby mall, bought some clothing, went back to the diner, and ordered food and asked for it to go. The lady at the cash register handed Henry a bag with A Styrofoam container with hot waffles, sausage, packets of syrup and butter, wrapped utensils, napkins, a cup of fruit, napkins, two glasses of orange juice, and a buttered roll. From the diner Henry spied a red Ford Escort pulling in and his cell phone vibrated with a 5-minute warning for his one-hour alarm. Henry pulled out a $20 and put it on the counter and quickly took the food and as the cashier shouted he forgot his change yelled, "Keep it, thanks for being so fast!" Henry grabbed his bag of clothing at his feet and moved fast to the car as a man in dark clothing and shades held the door open and ushered him inside.
"Shit you guys are fast and what's with the sunglasses?! Are you trying to look cool or like Secret Service?" The driver didn't say a word.
Henry sat down and as soon as the seatbelt was clicked and door closed the driver took off fast.
"Easy! I have hot food back here and I've been flying all night-"Henry realized this poor bastard didn't have to hear his story too. Henry looked at the driver, "Hey buddy, psst, got something for you." Henry handed him the bag with the roll and juice. The driver smiled and said, "Because it's sunny at this hour."
"What?"
"You asked why I was wearing sunglasses. It's sunny out and it's rush hour. Thanks Dr. Wu. How did you know I'd like it?"
"Everyone loves a buttered roll and orange juice in the morning. Okay let's get to wherever we're going."
"Right. Hold on."
The trip was down the highway heading towards NYC when a turn was made heading towards New Jersey. Henry hungrily ate his breakfast; after all he'd been travelling all….The driver veered off the highway into a construction area and onto a dirt road. Nothing was there except for heavy construction vehicles, an architect's trailer, and some nose cones. The drive stopped the car and turned off the ignition.
Henry looked up from his last bit of waffle and juice. "…What are we doing here?" he asked half-concerned something was very wrong and not with the car.
The driver said with a slight grin, "We're here Dr. Wu."
Any executive or journalist who has ever seen the M&M/Mars building on the East Coast always says the same thing: they weren't sure they had the right address. The building is not typical and it is quite the opposite of what you'd expect. The driver escorted Henry to the trailer as Henry wondered where the hell any shower could be. One inside he saw that this was actually a Trojan horse: A desk sat in the front with a receptionist and computer and all throughout the trailer were trappings of an office-not a typical one at that. The receptionist greeted Henry and pointed to the corner desk saying there was a note there. The envelope simply had his name on it scribbled in cursive and said, "Welcome back, ask the receptionist for the key." Henry, confused, asked the receptionist for the key and she said to walk to the other corner of the trailer. Behind the desk was actually a small trapdoor leading to a staircase. Henry entered followed by the driver walking down five flights of stairs. The morning light and temperature were quickly replaced by nothing but stillness, fluorescent lighting, and a stable temperature of just below 68F. At the bottom of the stairs an armed guard asked Henry for his ID and his satellite phone. The driver and Henry passed through a heavy steel door as it opened with a hiss of air. Inside Henry saw the man on the other end of the phone: Jack. Henry went over to shake his hand. Jack looked like he was about to punch Henry back up the stairs when he suddenly changed his demeanor and gave a hard hug and said, "Henry, I was worried from what I heard about your EVAC. Seems your children got loose. Don't scare us again like that." Jack was a colleague of Henry's, a man also behind the dinosaurs. If Henry was their father, Jack was their uncle; a man who always did the work of extraction of DNA from the fossilized amber. Jack fancied himself a small time actor; he had a quick cameo in the first draft video for Jurassic Park's visitors. In he demonstrated drilling through amber and using a large needle to extract a small amount of "dino DNA." Jack didn't waste Henry's time and showed him towards a locker room and said to take a shower and he'll come for him when the water stops.