Author's Note: I do not own Jurassic Park or any of the characters. They belong to Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg, and Universal Pictures, I have simply borrowed the characters for this story. I only own my OC Melissa Mulddon, who is Robert's 21 year old daughter. I would like to point out that it would be possible for Robert to have a 21 year old daughter if he was in his 20's when she was born. Also, I am in no way shape or form implying that Bob Peck(the actor who played Muldoon) was schizophrenic, I just wanted to flesh out Robert a bit more than he was in both the film and the book. Please read and review.
Chapter 1: Like Father, Like Daughter
I sit on my desk in the office that my dad and I share while I watch my dad pace around the room.
"Dad, will you relax." I say.
"I can't relax, John is going to kill us." My dad says.
"Why will he kill us? Because one of his 'precious' animals killed one of our best workers?" I ask.
"Our best? Melissa, these guys follow my orders not yours."
"You seem to forget that John hired me as your second in command. They have to listen to me." I say.
"She's right Robert." John says.
"How long have you been standing there?" My dad asks.
"Not long. How did the transfer go?" John asks.
My dad and I share this look that asks 'Who will tell him?'
"It didn't go that well." My dad says.
"What do you mean?"
"The raptor we transferred killed a worker."
"Was the animal harmed?"
"If we would have had proper weapons and not tasers, then yes, but since we didn't no."
John goes to say something but I cut him off saying, "It's so nice to see that you care about that worker."
"He can be replaced." John says.
That statement gets my blood boiling. I jump off the desk and walk over to John. I glare at him for a few minutes before I can even say anything.
"A worker can be replaced, but a human life can't. You might want to remember that." I growl.
I walk out of the office and down the hall. John's going to be the death of me someday. Little do I know, but that statement will nearly come true in a week. I walk down the hall to the control room. I use my ID badge to open the door and go in. Ray looks up from his work and I walk over to him.
I plop down in a chair and put my head in my hands.
"What's wrong?" He asks.
"John." I say.
"What did he do now?"
"He was more concerned about his 'precious' animal than the worker who died."
"I see." Ray says.
"I want to see every one of those raptors destroyed."
Someone puts their hand on my shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze.
"I have to agree with you." My dad says.
I look up at him and give him a small smile.
"How mad was John at my little outburst?" I ask.
"He wasn't that mad. He realized you were right."
"Good." I say.
"Although, I fear there might be some kind of lawsuit." My dad says.
"You don't think Jophery's family will try to sue for wrongful death, do you?" I ask.
"I'm afraid so."
'Great we're going to be subjected to yet another safety inspection.' I think.
"You do know what that will mean, don't you?"
I look at my dad's face and see he's thinking the same thing I am. Another safety inspection is in the works.
"Yeah, another safety inspection." My dad says with a sigh.
I can see he's fed up with everything that's going on right now. Is he thinking like me? Does he just want to leave and go home? I guess I'll find out sooner or later. Then a thought comes to my mind.
What if there isn't a safety inspection? What if the inspection involves people from outside the park coming in and looking around? If things go wrong that could be a disaster.
"I have a feeling it might be more than a safety inspection." I say.
My dad lets out another sigh in response to that statement.
"We're nowhere near ready for that kind of inspection." Ray says.
"The basic tour is ready, isn't it?" I ask.
"Yes, but all the kinks haven't quite been worked out yet."
"Weren't we supposed to be getting someone to work on that?" My dad asks.
"Yes, he's arriving tomorrow." Ray says.
I look at my watch, it's already 1:30 a.m. Someone's coming today to fix the system and he might only have a week to do it. A small sigh escapes my lips.
"You mean later today." I say.
"Yeah."
I let out a long sigh and rub my face with my hands. How I'd like to just go back to the staff lodge and sleep for a month. Although I know that sleep won't come easy if at all for me tonight. I just lost a good friend to those bloody raptors.
"Why don't you go back to the staff lodge and get some sleep?" My dad asks.
"I doubt I'll get much sleep after what I saw."
"Melissa, you've seen far worse while working in Kenya." My dad says.
"None of those people were my friends, and they weren't killed by an animals that are supposed to be extinct."
"While that may be true, you still need to get some sleep."
"I'm 21 years old. I don't need you to tell me what I should and shouldn't do." I growl.
"Don't use that tone of voice with me young lady, I'm your father." My dad sternly says.
'Unbelievable.' I think.
I'm 21 years old, I don't need him telling me what to do anymore. It seems like he doesn't completely trust me. Ray just stares at us. I just give a small shrug of my shoulders as a response to his unasked question. I know what he was going to ask, and I know what the answer would be.
He was going to ask what's wrong with my dad. And I would have told him nothing. But, that's only because I don't want to tell him what's really wrong. How can I tell my friend that my dad is schizophrenic? It hasn't been easy to live with him, but he's had things under control.
I just think the stress of getting the park ready is taking a toll on him. It's that, or his meds aren't working right anymore. I'm hoping it's just stress because he never acts like this. He's never snapped at me like that before.
"I don't need this." I mumble.
I stand up and walk to the door of the control room. I open it and step out into the hall. Letting the door slam behind me, I walk down the hall. I head downstairs and walk out of the visitors center. I sit down on the step and stare out into the dark jungle.
'I really hate this bloody place.' I think.
All I want to do is go back to Kenya with my dad. A hand on my shoulder brings me back to my senses.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you." My dad says.
"I'm sorry too, I didn't mean what I said." I say.
"Come on, lets go back to the staff lodge."
I stand up and we walk to our Jeep. We get in and drive off. Our short drive to the staff lodge is silent. My dad parks the Jeep and we get out. We go into the staff lodge and head to our rooms. I undress and crawl into bed.
I fall into a fitful sleep. Over the next week my dreams get stranger and stranger. On the day of the inspection, my dad and I are sitting in our office tracking a storm that seems to be heading right for us.
"You think that storm will hit us today?' I ask.
"I hope it holds off until tomorrow." My dad says.
Out of the corner of my eye I see our guests running down the stairs.
"It looks like our guests have seen the baby raptor." I say.
"Lets head to the pen, shall we?" My dad asks.
"You don't need to ask me twice. I'm ready to throw a spanner into John's plans."
We stand up, grab our hats, and head out of our office. We walk down the hall and down the stairs. We take the back way out of the visitor center and head to the raptor pen. By the time we get there, the animals have just finished tearing a cow apart. We walk closer to the platform.
"They should all be destroyed." My dad says as we walk up the stairs.
John just stares at us.
"Robert and Melissa Muldoon, my game wardens from Kenya. Both are alarmists I'm afraid, but they know more about raptors than anyone." John says.
A man walks over to us. He smiles at us.
"Alan Grant." He says.
He looks me up and down, then smiles. I pretend not to notice and cross my arms.
"What kind of metabolism do they have? What's their growth rate?" Alan asks.
"They're lethal at 8 months, and I do mean lethal. I've hunted most things that can hunt you, but the way these things move." My dad says.
"Fast for a biped?"
"Cheetah speed. 50, 60 miles per hour if they ever got out in the open. And they're astonishing jumpers." I say.
"Yes, yes, yes. That's why we're taking extreme precautions." John says.
I just roll my eyes at this.
"Do they show intelligence? With their brain cavities we assumed." Alan says.
"They show extreme intelligence. Even problem solving intelligence. Especially the big one. We bred eight originally, but when she came in, she took over the pride and killed all but two of the others. That one, when she looks at you, you can see she's working things out. That's why we have to feed 'em like this. She had them all attacking the fences when the feeders came." My dad says.
"But the fences are electrified though, right?" A woman asks.
"That's right. But they never attack the same place twice. They were testing the fences for weaknesses systematically. They remember." I say.
There's a clunk as the harness rises out of the pen. My dad and I turn to look in the pen as John asks, "Well, who's hungry?"
The group walks away, but I see the woman standing there staring at my dad. I elbow him in the ribs and he looks at me. I gesture at the woman with my head.
"Did you need something?" My dad asks.
"We weren't properly introduced. I'm Ellie Sattler." She says.
"Robert Muldoon." My dad says.
"And you?" Ellie asks.
"Melissa Muldoon." I say.
I see Ellie's face fall.
'It's not what you think.' I think.
"Are you husband and wife?" Ellie asks.
My dad chuckles at this.
"Father and daughter actually." My dad says.
"What happened to your wife?"
"She died 8 years ago when Melissa was 13."
"I'm sorry, I know what it's like to lose a parent at that age."
I say nothing. It's like someone ripped a hole in my heart again. My mum didn't actually die, she left because of my dad. She hated the fact that he was always working and left because of it. I still don't know why she didn't take me with her.
Maybe she felt I was better off with my dad because we're so much alike. I still don't understand adult matters and I'm an adult. I let out a long frustrated sigh and my dad looks at me. He put his hand on my shoulder and I'm brought back to my senses. Ellie is now gone.
"Why didn't you tell her the truth?" I ask.
My dad gives a shrug of his shoulders as an answer.
"You will tell her, right?"
"When the time is right." My dad says.
We head back to the visitor center and up to our office. I take a seat at my desk and start going through some papers. I hope and pray this inspection goes well so the park can finally open. Although I have this feeling that something's going to go wrong today. I have this feeling that Dennis will be behind it. I've had my doubts about him since he started. I just hope I'm proved wrong.