"…I believe that there is a solution to this problem; I don't know what it is, but I hope that, one day, man will be able to solve it before it solves him."
"Dr. Allan Grant was the foremost pioneer of the group that helped to discover that dinosaurs are still alive and strong today. His colleagues included Dr. Elli Saddler and Dr. Ian Malcolm, though he was only an acquaintance to one Dr. Sarah Harding. No matter how many people carry on in their footsteps, they will be sorely missed in the fields of science. For Fox News, I'm Bret Baier."
Dr. Erin Gelding sat before the television in her home office, watching in perplexion as the man who had meant everything in her research was symbolically laid to rest. It had been nearly twenty years, she recalled, since the incident at Isla Nublar. She had been at every one of Grant's book signings since that incident, and she had never missed a television program that had featured him; everything from 'The Late Show with David Letterman,' to 'The Montel Williams Show,' she had never stopped studying everything Grant had said in detail. She had spent sleepless nights writing everything down, making sure that her time had not gone to waste. There was always somethig to learn.
But with the death of Grant, she had realized that his research would be coming to an end, along with those of his esteemed colleagues. Dr. Malcolm, though, had been runner-up, so to speak. Had it not been for Grant, Gelding would never have come out of the trance of Malcolm's every word.
The phone interrupted her thoughts before she could find a year-long linear train of the stuff. She picked up the landline. "Hello?"
"Dr. Erin Gelding? This is Dr. Matthew Kramer of the University of Michigan. I heard your name the other day, and I'd wondered whether you might be interested in a small, privately-funded expedition?"
"Dr. Kramer? Wait... haven't I seen your name in Discover Magazine?"
"That's correct."
Gelding hesitated. "What kind of expedition?"
"That's not for us to discuss over the telephone, Dr. Gelding. How about this; I know a little sandwich shop in downtown Ann Arbor, a couple doors north of Nickel's Arcade. I get off work at noon, tomorrow, and I'll be in by twelve-twenty."
"Umm... I don't have anything happening for the next few months. I suppose it couldn't hurt."
"Then I'll see you there?" Kramer sounded neutrally excited.
Gelding closed her eyes as she wondered whether she ought to be rushing to this decision. "I suppose you will, Dr. I think I know the place you're talking about. I might be a little late, but I'll definitely be there. If I don't show up for forty-five minutes, it's probably safe to say something's come up, and I might not make it."
"Very well. I'll see you at twelve-twenty. Goodbye."
Dr. Gelding set the phone down in the cradle and strode over to her laptop. She opened it, staring at the blank screen and wondering when she would see it next; her whole world was on it. The research she had done with that machine had made the difference in her career.
"Why did you ask me here if not to study modern predators?" Gelding had met Kramer in the sandwich shop as promised, though she had gone straight to the table in the back, denying herself the privelege of a sandwich or a drink.
Dr. Kramer, on the other hand, had before him a vast array of sandwiches, along with three Coca-Colas.
Swallowing a bite, he sipped thoughtfully on one of his drinks for a moment before saying, "This is an unusual offer, Dr. Gelding. I've read Grant before, and I know that you consider his books an excellent work of elaborate fiction." He paused. "I have something to show you." He pulled a briefcase from under the table and set it down on one of the cleared food trays. "I haven't even shown it to my colleagues; I've been focused on finding the correct team of experts in this field." After a brief look of confusion from Erin, he unlocked the case and cautiously lifted the lid. Inside, a small plastic bag held the contents of what looked like a small, chicken-sized lizard.
The specimen would have been a foot tall when standing; its green body was scaled, with brown and yellow stripes intermittently dividing the lateral proportions of the animal. Its eyes were open, and its upper lip was pulled back in what looked like a snarl to reveal small, three-millimeter-long teeth.
"This is thought extinct even to this day... but for all intents and purposes, it is." Kramer pulled an X-ray from the lid of the case and handed it to Erin. "This exray is from a similar specimen, unearthed from more than sixty-five million years of sediment in the Badlands."
Erin took the X-ray in her hand and placed it over the bagged corpse of the lizard. Kramer was right; the photograph of the incomplete skeleton was very similar to that of the reptillian. "What is this?"
"This is a little-known species of dinosaur known as Procompsognathus Triassicus."
"Procompsognathid? Where was this specimen found? And when?"
"About thirty days ago on the mainland, in Costa Rica."
"Impossible," breathed Gelding. "This is impossible. This animal does not exist. Not anymore."
"They thought the same thing about the Coelacanth. You know what happened?"
"No. There's no way this thing exists. It can't... it can't live, breathe, hunt eat... it's dead. It's been dead for more than sixty-five million years. The odds of this animal surviving the catastrophe at the end of the Paleozoic Era are beyond astronomical. It - can't - happen." She set the bag and the photograph down on the table and pushed them toward Kramer, who picked them up quickly and looked around while he placed the items back in his case.
He continued as though he had not heard Gelding's complaints. "Two weeks ago, a young couple on a hike through the remote jungles of Hawaii's Big Island. They stumbled across what they described as a concrete bunker. Their first impression was that the building had not been touched in some time. What's more, they saw what they described to look similar to the animal I just showed you."
"So, they saw a Procompsognathid?"
"Purportedly."
"Where are they, now?"
Kramer shook his head, still smiling. "They were on an audio radio link. They were supposed to have arrived at their camp an hour later. They never arrived."
"So we're on a mission to find out what happened to them?"
Kramer shrugged. "The individuals on our expedition have their own reasons to be there. But the ultimate goal is to find them and, if possible, get them back."
Gelding nodded. "So when do we leave?"