Jurassic World: The Animated Series
JW006
"Mesozoic Mesa"
Austin, Texas
Ian Malcolm and Sarah Harding sat down on the outdoor patio of Winston's Steakhouse in Austin, Texas.
"Queen, Goddess, My Inspiration," Ian said. "Here's to 22 years."
"Sixteen of which we were married for," Sarah Harding snarked back.
Ian Malcolm looked sheepish. His wife was the ideal match for him. Strong and independent, they had a happy marriage, though often spent large periods of time apart. Sarah hadn't even taken his name when they wed. (A not uncommon occurrence among scientist, as publishing papers under their own name is rather important)
"To another 16 to 22 years," Malcolm replied as they toasted. Ian set down his wineglass and then froze, noticed slight ripples in the liquid within.
Impact tremors.
"Sarah," Ian said looking up at his wife, who had now gone pale.
Ian turned around in his seat.
A large Tyrannosaurus rex with mottled speckled skin was slowly stalking down the street towards them.
Ian sighed.
"I knew that this day would come," Ian said.
"You knew THIS day would come?" Sarah demanded in a harsh whisper.
"Yeah, and boy do I hate being right all the time," Ian said.
The Tyrannosaur roared and surged towards Ian and Sarah.
That's when four black vans came tearing down the street just as the Tyrannosaur passed through a four-way intersection.
Three dozen men in SWAT gear leapt out of the vans and began firing tasers at the rex. Within seconds the mottled tyrannosaurus roared, and then collapsed.
"Well," Ian commented. "Who could have predicted that? That's Chaos theory."
The couple glanced at the logo on one of the black vans; Mesozoic Mesa, in partnership with Biological Synthetics.
THREE SLASH MARKS RIP ACROSS SCREEN
John Williams's Classic Jurassic Park theme begins to play, accompanied by the following images.
Jurassic World: The Animated Series Theme song.
Owen Grady riding a motorcycle alongside Blue.
The Mosasaur surging out of the water, its jaws clamping down on a net full of fish for a commercial fishing vessel.
Claire Dearing punching a Dilophosaurus in the face.
Maisie petting Styggy the Stygimoloch.
Alan Grant sketching Blue.
Franklin Webb operating a drone from his laptop.
Zia Rodriguez standing in the middle of a savannah as a Tyrannosaurus rex and the Spinosaurus rex roar at each other defiantly.
Jess Harding yelling angrily at Ian Malcolm.
Roland Tembo firing shots at a Carnotaurus
Rexy stomping out of her Paddock and letting out a Triumphant ROAR!
The Jurassic World Logo. 'The Animated Series' Subtitle beneath it.
The Base of a Large Mesa outside of Austin Texas
A press conference had been set up at the base of the mesa, reporters from several dozen news stations were milling around a large flat metal platform with dozens of folding chairs set up upon it. Ian and Sarah pulled up in Ian's convertible, getting out and making their way towards the platform.
Dr. Richard Levine stepped up to the podium.
"Of course," Sarah muttered. "Richard Levine. I should have known."
"I've never heard of him," Ian said frowning.
"You wouldn't have," Sarah said. "He's only infamous in Paleontological circles. He doesn't do field work, for one. Outright refuses. Prefers to inspect museum samples. He also only publishes about once every couple of years."
"In modern publish or perish scientific environment?" Malcolm asked, genuinely surprised.
"He doesn't need money," Sarah said. "You know the Becky Dolls?"
"Kelly had one as a kid," Ian vaguely recalled.
"He owns the company. Inherited it," Sarah said. "So he has no proper motivation to 'publish or perish', he doesn't need grants or donations. He is undeniably brilliant. What few papers he has published have revolutionized paleontology. But…Well…"
Ian nodded, understanding what Sarah was getting at. He'd had mathematics students in much the same vein. Brilliant but lazy.
"It is my deepest pride and greatest pleasure." Levine said smiling. "To welcome you all to Mesozoic Mesa. Since the fall of Jurassic World four years ago, the public has been clamoring for a new prehistoric park. Levine Toys in partnership with Biological Synthetics is happy to give the public what it wants."
Levine flipped a switch and the entire platform suddenly rumbled, and began sliding up the side of the mesa…it was a giant elevator!
"How do you justify cloning new species in flagrant violation of the Gene-Guard act?" A reporter asked.
"The Gene-Guard act is a joke anyway," Ian muttered under his breath.
"We did not make these animals," Levine said smiling. "They were among the multitude of dinosaurs released into the wild in California. My men have been quietly collecting and rounding them up. The tyrannosaur last night was the last and most public collection, and we felt it was time to go public."
"Bullcrap," Sarah whispered to Ian. "There's only one Tyrannosaurus rex left in the world, and it's in my sister's zoo. They had to have cloned this new one."
The elevator-platform reached the top of the mesa and locked into place, revealing a large glass and metal dome covering the top of the mesa. A sign Mesozoic Mesa hung over the large entrance to the dome.
"Extreme Desert Isolation and the 200 foot drop prevents a repeat of the Nublar Disasters," Levine said, turning and leading the press inside the large climate controlled dome. Pathways snaked throughout the dome, giant steel fences placed along the pathways kept various dinosaurs contained.
He led them to the end of the largest path where the mottled Tyrannosaur was behind the steel fence, pacing back and forth.
"My God the arrogance," Ian said, keeping quiet no longer. "Do you even realize how stupid this is? Did not the two Nublar incidents, the San Diego Incident, and the Lockwood Disaster teach you anything?"
"Dr. Malcolm," Levine said smiling. "I'm so glad you could make it. And you too, Dr. Harding. To answer your question, we're doing nothing different from what the DPG has been doing for months now."
Malcolm groaned and rubbed his temples.
"Now you've put me in this incredibly awkward position of having to defend the DPG, whom I've been openly critical of in the past," Ian said. "The DPG are naive crazy fools plugging holes in a dam. But at least they're Dam Engineers plugging the holes! The former head of Jurassic World Operations, an Animal Behaviorist, The worlds best hunter, and the worlds second-best paleontologist!"
"That's sweet honey," Sarah said. "But I'm humble enough to know that Alan Grant is a better paleontologist than I'll ever be."
"My point is, that at least the DPG has put the people most likely to prove me wrong in charge of their crazy little operation," Ian said. "And believe me, I don't want to be right. They could be the first to prove me wrong. What have you got? Discount SWAT team and a Paleontologist who hasn't even been published in half a decade?"
Levine looked extremely annoyed. He opened his mouth to say something, when suddenly the T. rex collapsed, falling over on its side and completely knocking over the section of fence entirely as it fell.
"See?" Ian said. "No one could have predicted that the Tyrannosaur would just fall over dead like that? See…that, that's Chaos Theory."
Dozens of reporters were running away from the unconscious dinosaur, but Sarah—of course—ran towards it.
"Sarah! No honey!" Ian said, having flashbacks to '97.
"No, no, no…" Levine said, also rushing to the rex's side. "He can't be dead, he can't be dead."
"He's alive," Sarah said, frowning. "But his breathing is shallow. I don't know what's wrong with him…I'm going to have to call an expert."
Sarah pulled out her cell phone.
"Daddy? I need your help."
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Claire Dearing opened the refrigerator door and looked inside, frowning.
"Has someone been eating my eggs?" Claire asked, taking the empty carton out of the fridge.
"Wasn't me," Jessica Harding commented, looking over a series of folders as she exited the zoo tunnels leading to the offices. "Wasn't your name on it?"
"Yeah," Claire said, her brow furrowing. "It was."
Claire glanced over at Jess Harding who was clearly engrossed in the folders.
"That's the applications for the new security personnel, right?" Claire asked
"Yeah," Jess said. "It's down to this brother-sister duo, Travis and Carley Miller and this woman, Christine Meyers."
"Meyers was Asset Control Unit back at Jurassic World," Claire commented. "And she's also Ex-Air Force. Good choice."
"And Travis and Carley own a security firm in Palo Alto, and are former Navy buddies of Owen's."
"You should hire all three," Claire said. "If they're willing."
Jess nodded. "This was my thinking as well. Christine as head of security, with Travis and Carley under her. Travis and Carley are coming in for an interview later this afternoon. I want to get a feel for all three before I make my final decisions, but on paper, these three are the best."
"Good luck," Claire said, turning back towards the refrigerator and rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
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Mesozoic Mesa, Texas
In a large medical bay, roughly the size of an airplane hanger, Gerry Harding carefully examined the large unconscious tyrannosaur. Sarah Harding and Richard Levine were following him anxiously. Ian Malcolm stood by the door, with his arms crossed.
"Do you know what's wrong with it?" Ian asked from across the room.
"Yep," Gerry said. "It's actually pretty obvious."
Gerry handed Sarah a Petri dish that contained what appeared to be a viscous black tar.
"There's a modern bacteria that likes to act as a parasite in Tyrannosaur livers," Gerry said. "We were able to catch onto it fairly early on back on Isla Sorna. I came up with an antibiotic cocktail that eliminated the problem in all seven of the Rexes. All they needed was a chance to build up an immunity."
"Which this rex never had?" Sarah asked. "What is this stuff?"
"That's his blood," Gerry said. "His liver isn't properly processing the toxins his blood."
"So it is male?" Sarah commented.
Gerry nodded. "In-Gen didn't breed this fella. They knew about the liver parasite, Masrani did too. They never would have allowed a rex to reach maturity without giving it my antibiotic cocktail."
Levine winced.
"I'm going to paint a picture here," Ian said. "You built a park…this place, I noticed that the safety inspection labels are from 2012. You bred some dinosaurs; you were all set to compete with Jurassic World…and then bam. The Indominus rex escaped and Jurassic World was closed. Now if you opened, you'd be screwed am I right?"
Levine swallowed.
"Then, how fortuitous," Ian said. "A ton of In-Gen's dinosaurs escaped onto the mainland. All you had to do was stage a public capture of a dinosaur. Am I warm?"
Levine nodded sheepishly. "His name is Trex. Trex the T. rex. I raised him myself. Is there anything you can do for him? Anything at all."
"Don't want to lose your million dollar exhibit," Ian asked.
"I don't want to lose the dinosaur I raised from a pup," Levine replied. "Even if it means jail time. Please save him."
"And you never thought once; hey! I just let a T. rex loose in downtown Austin!" Ian asked.
"No one was actually in danger," Levine said. "Tyrannosaurs are sensitive to low frequency sounds. We used them to herd him and prevent him from attacking anyone."
"Saving him won't be easy," Gerry said. "It's too late for the antibiotics. What he needs is a full blood transfusion from a healthy T. rex. As far as I know, there's only one left."
Sarah slumped. "Oh no…"
"Are you still fighting with your sister?" Gerry asked.
"It's not a fight," Sarah snapped. "She's just…"
"I don't want to hear it," Gerry said shaking his head. "Your problems are between the two of you. But if you want to save this rex…then you need to call her now. I can keep him alive until the blood arrives, but…"
Sarah let out an exasperated sigh, but pulled out her cell phone.
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San Huelva Zoo, San Huelva California
"Owen speaks quite highly of you," Jess said, looking over Christine Meyers resume.
"Air Force and ACU at Jurassic World, makes you almost too qualified. I'm afraid I can't offer you the same pay you made at Jurassic World."
"That's all right," Christine replied. "I'm actually doing this as a favor for Owen."
"That's good," Jess said. "The zoo is currently undergoing renovations, to accommodate its new residents. It's still technically open, but in a limited capacity. Once we finish renovating, you're almost certain to get a pay raise."
Christine nodded.
"Have you ever dealt with Rexy direct-," Jess's cell phone began ringing. She blinked as she saw Sarah's picture on the caller ID.
"I…have to take this," Jess said.
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A helicopter landed on a helipad next to Mesozoic Mesa, Claire Dearing, Owen Grady, Franklin Webb, Roland Tembo all clambered out.
Franklin and Roland immediately began unloading several dozen Igloo Coolers onto the platform elevator.
"I'll admit that's a pretty good way to keep the dinosaurs confined to a single location," Owen commented.
"We thought so too, Mr. Grady," a blond man in sunglasses approached the elevator.
"That's why we suggested this place," he said.
"Lewis Dodgson," Claire said, narrowing her eyes. "I thought I smelled a weasel."
"Hey, I resemble that remark," Dodgson said chuckling.
"And how exactly does Bio-Syn expect to get away with flagrant violations of the Gene-Guard Act?" Claire demanded. "Cloning new Prehistoric Species is illegal."
"We didn't clone nothing," Dodgson said. "All we did was provide the food. As you know, herbivorous dinosaurs require high-calorie plants to remain healthy. We provide that, as well as GMO livestock for the Predators. Where Dr. Levine got his dinosaurs is not our concern."
"All ready prepared to cover your butts I see," Owen commented as they finished loading the coolers onto the elevator. It shook and began to climb the mountain.
As they reached the top, Dr. Malcolm and Dr. Sarah Harding were at the top waiting for them. Sarah looked anxious.
"Jess elected not to come," Owen commented. Sarah looked both relieved and disappointed.
"Rexy donated a lot of blood that's got a pretty short shelf-life," Zia said. "Point me towards the recipient please."
"Big hanger on the far end of the complex," Sarah said. "Can't miss it."
"I'll be going with you," Roland commented. "Just in case the Tyrannosaur wakes up and doesn't appreciate Florence Nightingale."
"With his blood the way it is, he won't wake up," Sarah commented.
"In the meantime, Dr. Harding," Claire said. "We need your help with something else."
"I'm in favor of my wife doing things away from the tyrannosaur," Ian commented.
"Franklin?" Claire asked.
"Six," Franklin said. "There's only six tracking implants on the Mesa. Four Sinoceratops, one Parasaurolophus and one…Oh my God…"
"What?" Owen asked.
"One Suchomimus!"
Claire's head snapped to attention. "Suchomimus! Are you sure?"
"I mean…it's just a tracking implant," Franklin said. "It could have been implanted into the wrong species or something, but I'm definitely reading a Suchomimus implant on this mesa."
"Why is Suchomimus such a big deal?" Sarah asked.
"Because Mills and his team of hunters didn't capture any Suchomimus. There were none on that boat. I thought that they'd gone extinct again…If there's one here..." Claire let it hang.
"Then it's possible that other species that died out when Mt. Sibo went kablooey also survived," Ian said grimly.
Claire nodded.
"And we need to catalogue the other revived species that BioSyn 'did not' make up here," Owen said, gesturing towards a large metal fence with four ceratopsians grazing behind it. "Because we've got enough problems with the loose species we have…and now we have more to add to the pot."
"Those are Chasmosaurus," Sarah nodded. "Which is, yeah…a species that In-Gen never made. I've also seen Kentrosaurus, Kaprosuchus, and Struthiomimus, all species In-Gen never touched."
Claire was furiously writing down what Sarah was saying in a notebook.
"And that," Sarah said, pointing toward a fence on their right, with a large Spinosaurid pacing back and forth.
"If I'm not mistaken," she said. "That is an Irritator. A relative of Baryonyx, Suchomimus and Spinosaurus, it was named by paleontologists who were having a great deal of difficulty reconstructing its skull."
Franklin instinctively stepped away from the Irritator enclosure.
"Reminds me of the Baryonyx who wanted to snack on me and Claire," he said, shuddering.
"Out of curiosity," Sarah commented. "Where's your Paleontologist?"
Owen sighed.
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San Heulva Zoo, California
At that moment, Alan Grant was sitting on a picnic bench by the Triceratops enclosure. He sat there carefully, meticulously sketching the triceratops as they roamed about the enclosure.
A number of retractable plant feeders had been installed—not unlike the feeder in Rexy's exhibit that delivered goats—These feeders, however, had the genetically engineered high-calorie plants that the trikes needed to remain healthy and strong.
The rhinoceros also seemed to enjoy the modified plant, and occasionally nibbled on it.
Grant looked up at the triceratops who was missing a horn. Jess had referred to her as 'Lady Margaret'. And indeed she was an older triceratops, originally bred in the days of Hammond's park. According to Jess, it was Rexy herself who had bitten off Margaret's horn.
Grant admired the triceratop's tenacity. And Rexy's for that matter. Margaret was a lot tougher than a goat.
Alan felt hot breath on his shoulder, and glanced up; nearly wetting himself when he realized that Blue was staring over his shoulder at the sketchpad.
"Jeeze!" Alan breathed, before realizing that Blue had not meant to startle him. Alan knew better than anyone that despite claiming Owen, Claire, Maisie, Jess, Himself, Roland, Zia, and Franklin pack, Blue was still a wild animal. She could still be dangerous if she wanted. All of them—save Zia and Franklin—Had seen raptors kill humans before. Grant liked—even trusted Blue—But he was never going to let his guard down around her.
Blue was fascinating, though. Her intelligence and curiosity seemed to grow with each day. And this was no exception. She kept glancing at Grant's sketchbook, and then up at Lady Margaret.
She recognized that the drawing was a representation of the triceratops. This indicated an ability to recognize abstract concepts. Something that most animals did not possess.
Grant smiled and flipped the pages back to when he first started working at the DPG. A sketch of Blue made on that first day.
Blue looked startled, but then let out a series of loud chirps. Then, she leapt up onto the picnic table to the right of Grant, and froze.
She was in a pre-pounce position, almost an action pose, and she had stopped moving entirely.
She glanced over at Grant and let out a smaller less certain chirp, and then froze in her action pose again.
Grant stared at her for a few moments.
He felt fairly certain that Blue wanted him to sketch her in an action pose. Which displayed levels of intelligence and awareness that floored even him, and he'd been the one who had pioneered the questions of raptor intelligence in the first place.
Blue was smart on a level that almost scared Grant. He quietly pulled out his sketchbook and began to draw.
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Lewis Dodgson glared at the DPG team wandering around the park. Every time that they encountered a different dinosaur, Sarah would Identify it, Claire would write it down in her Tablet, and Franklin would snap pictures of it with his iPad.
It was making him anxious.
"This was a bad idea," Dodgson said as Richard Levine entered the security room. "The DPG is going to ruin everything. Years of planning."
"They were going to come here no matter what happened," Levine said. "And I'd rather that they save my T. rex and shut us down, then to have him die and this zoo go on. I wanted to model this place off of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Lost World. And that means I needed the full experience."
"There was no Tyrannosaurus rex in that book," Dodgson muttered.
"Look," Levine said. "It's worth it to me, and your assets are already covered. So there's nothing to worry about."
"We'll see," Dodgson said, glancing at the monitor as the DPG approached the large building labeled "Man, Nature's Greatest Challenger".
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"What's this?" Claire asked as they approached the building. Owen shrugged and grabbed the door, holding it open for Sarah and Claire. Franklin smirked at Owen—ever the old-fashioned gentleman, especially around Claire.
"Okay," Claire declared. "I know In-Gen didn't make these."
Pacing back and forth in a small enclosure on the left side was a pair of tan-furred striped creatures that looked like a cross between a weasel and a wolf. Thylacines.
On their right side was a small chicken coop with sixteen dodos running around in it. Above them hung a large birdcage with a dozen or so passenger pigeons inside.
And at the far end of the building, peeking into a refrigerated enclosure as big as Rexy's…Was one real, live mammoth.
"No they did not," Lewis Dodgson said from behind them. "These four species are BioSyn's pride and joy."
"So you admit to violating the Gene Guard act?" Zia demanded.
"The Gene Guard act only applies to prehistoric species," Dodgson said smiling. "All four of these animals went extinct within the confines of Human History, and therefore the Gene Guard act doesn't apply. Yes, even the mammoth. Mammoths were still around when the Great Pyramids were being built."
Owen scowled. "Technically true. But I think we can already prove that In-Gen didn't make any of those dinosaurs out there."
"Your days are numbered, Dodgson," Claire said. "This place is never going to happen. Ian's right—God that feels dirty to say—but the safety precautions here are a joke."
"Better than that cheap small-town zoo you people are operating out of," Dodgson countered.
"Not really," Sarah commented. "I've seen Jessica's zoo. While not specifically designed to hold a T. rex, it could be adapted. But when yours collapsed onto the fence when it went unconscious, it took the whole fence down. If it had been trying, it would have torn through that fence like tissue paper."
Dodgson glared at her.
"Safety inspections were a part of my job as head of Jurassic World Operations," Claire said. "And as someone who lost a—someone I cared about deeply—to a loose dinosaur, I took that job very seriously. If my people put Jurassic World together the way that you slapped this place together…I'd have fired them."
Owen snapped his head towards Claire.
"What?" Owen asked. Claire looked slightly flustered but didn't actually answer Owen.
"Thank God you don't have any raptors or troodons," Sarah said. "They were notorious escape artists."
"Troodons?" Claire asked.
"The first park had them, they were-You know, just ask Jess, she can tell you," Sarah said.
"The first park never had any Troodons," Claire commented. "I read the list of cloned species."
"Not officially," Sarah said.
"While this is fascinating," Franklin commented. "Where'd the weasely guy go?"
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"Grant?" Jess Harding asked entering the picnic area next to the Rhino-Trike exhibit.
"Done," Grant said. He turned the sketchbook around and showed it to Blue. The raptor barked excitedly. Then leapt down from the table and darted off.
"I thought Blue usually stayed in the zoo tunnels," Jess commented.
"Normally," Grant said. "But except for the two of us, her pack is elsewhere, so…"
"So she wants to be around us," Jess confirmed, shuddering slightly at the memory of Oscar's death.
"I've seen raptors kill people before…She makes me nervous," Jess said.
"I've seen it too," Grant said. "And I wouldn't for one moment let my guard down around her…but I think that Owen is right. She's not interested in hurting us. She wants to contribute to the pack."
At that moment Blue darted back into the picnic area, and snatched up Grant's hat. Grant barely had time to look surprised as Blue darted off again.
"Did…" Jess frowned. "Did she just take your hat?"
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"it was touch and go there for a while," Gerry Harding commented. "But it looks like Trex is accepting Rexy's blood. He's well on the road to recovery. Thank you, Miss Rodriguez. I can see now why Jess speaks so highly of you."
Zia blushed. "Jess talked you about me?"
"About all of you, your whole team," Gerry said. "I'll be honest. I wasn't exactly thrilled when I found out that her Zoo had become the hosting ground for you and your team…But from what I've seen—"
Gerry stopped talking, seeing the color had suddenly just drained from Zia's face. He slowly turned around.
Trex's eyes were open and locked onto the two PaleoVets.
"You…Tranquilized Rexy before getting her blood donation, right?"
Zia nodded.
"Then…that blood should have had plenty of tranquilizer still in it," Gerry said. He slowly began inching towards the door.
Trex suddenly began clambering up to his feet. Once erect, his feet wobbled slightly under him, but he remained standing. He let out a massive roar.
"HUN-HUR-RRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!"
"RUN!" Gerry yelled.
Across the dome, Owen and Ian spun around.
"God damn it!" Ian declared. "I REALLY HATE BEING RIGHT!"
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"Blue?" Grant called out. "Where did you go? I want my hat back!"
"I think it's Blue's hat now," Jess said. "Can't you use that raptor whistle thing?"
"I'm not calling for help unless I really need help," Grant said. "Blue would-It'd be like the boy who cried wolf."
Jess nodded.
At that moment, Styggy the Stygicmoloch trotted up to Dr. Grant and Jess with Grant's hat.
Blue shot up next to her and let out a low purr. Then the raptor handed the Pachycephalosaur what appeared to be a large white carrot; a parsnip, which Styggy ate happily.
Blue looked quite pleased with herself as Grant took back his hat, wiping it off on his leg and looking at Blue and Styggy, trying to figure something out.
"What just happened exactly?" Jess asked.
Grant said nothing, still working it out in his head.
Then, his eyes widened in realization.
"I…I think…" Grant looked shocked. "No it can't be…"
"What?" Jess demanded.
"I think Blue has been training Styggy," Grant murmured. "What just happened…It was exactly like one of Owen's Scent drills. Blue used my hat. Styggy tracked me down. Blue gave Styggy a reward."
"Dr. Grant?" Jess asked.
"Yes?" Grant said.
"Where did Blue get the parsnips?"
A troubled look crossed Grant's face.
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"I thought that thing was supposed to be sedated!" Owen yelled as he ran towards Gerry, Zia and Roland.
"It was sedated," Roland said. "And I pumped it full of several more shots of Carfentanil!"
"Then why is it—"
The giant door to the medical bay shuddered.
"Is he…" Ian hesitated. "Slamming his body against the door?"
"He is," Roland said.
"Is it going to hold?" Owen asked. The door suddenly collapsed, and Trex lumbered out.
"HUN-HUR-RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRR!"
"It will not," Ian said.
Trex looked down at the humans.
"HEY! HEY!" Levine yelled from a different path.
Trex turned and looked curiously at him.
"COME AND GET ME TREXY!" Levine yelled, and began running. Trex's predatory chase instinct kicked in and he began to follow Levine.
"No you don't!" Roland yelled. He and Owen began to follow Trex, firing their guns at the dinosaur. There did not appear to be any effect, the Tyrannosaur continued charging after Levine.
Trex was not moving quickly, nor gracefully…More like a drunken dinosaur. He crashed into a fence, knocking it down. The Suchomimus who had been in the enclosure darted out, looking terrified. She roared at Owen and Rolland, and charged at them.
The two quickly unloaded their tranq darts into the Suchomimus, who barreled past them, far more interested in getting away from Trex than in the two humans stinging her.
Suddenly, there was a loud klaxon blaring throughout the entire dome.
"Owen!" Claire yelled. "This way! They're by the elevator platform!"
Owen turned and bolted down the path that led to the elevator platform that they arrived on. They could see Levine had run onto the platform and was now waving his arms wildly, making sure to hold Trex's attention.
The Tyrannosaur surged onto the platform…which definitely couldn't hold his weight. It buckled, and then collapsed, man, platform and dinosaur tumbling down the side of the mesa.
The DPG ran to the side of the mesa, and looked down. They could see the platform, but no signs of Levine or Trex below.
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Two weeks later…
"And there is still no sign of famed Adventure Paleontologist and CEO of the Becky Doll Collection Company, Richard Levine, since his fateful encounter with a tyrannosaur atop his 'Mesozoic Mesa' in Texas," the newscaster said as Jessica Harding walked around the petting zoo, tossing blueberries to the dodos that the DPG had seized from Mesozoic Mesa. "Biological Synthetics is now under Federal Investigation and their front-man Lewis Dodgson is in the wind. In sports—"
The radio clicked off and Jess looked up. Sarah Harding was standing there.
"What the hell are you doing here," Jess asked frowning.
"You have new security personnel, who didn't recognize my face," Sarah said.
"I'll have to have a talk with them," Jess huffed.
"I see that they gave you the dodos," Sarah said.
"And the Chasmosaurs, the Sinoceratops, the Thylacines, the Passenger Pigeons, and the Mammoth," Jess said. "All of the other animals are being shipped off to Roland's preserve in Africa. Not that what I'm doing with my life is any of your business."
"Look, Jess," Sarah said.
"No, you look, Sarah," Jess said. "What you did, what you said, it was not okay, And it's going to be a very long time before I can get over it. You hurt me Sarah. And you did it because you could."
"Jess," Sarah started to say.
"If the next word out of your mouth don't involve an apology, then we are done here," Jess said.
"What happened was not my-," Sarah started to say.
"Wrong answer," Jess said. "You were always selfish, Sarah. You never think about how your actions affect others in your life, and you always have to be right. Don't you think that I want my sister in my life? But until you figure out what you did was hurtful and wrong, and start making up for it, you don't get to be a part of my life. So leave. NOW. Or I'm calling my new security."
Sarah looked like she was ready to say something else, but thought better of it. She looked forlornly at Jess, but didn't say anything else.
As soon as she was out of site, Jess leaned up against a post, and began crying. A moment later, Styggy trotted into the petting zoo area with Jess's coffee mug in her mouth. Blue trotted up behind Styggy and handed the Stygimoloch a parsnip.
"Where are you getting those?" Jess demanded, a smile appearing on her face as she retrieved her mug from the Stygimoloch.
Blue ignored Jess, and shot off back into the zoo tunnels, Styggy sniffed at the dodos, but then trotted off into the tunnels herself. Jess shrugged and then sighed.
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Richard Levine took a swig of water out of his canteen, before wiping his lips. He glanced down at the T. rex footprint in front of him, wandering out into the desert.
Something powerful was driving Trex, something that allowed him to overpower his tranquilizers. Something that was now driving the tyrannosaur out into the desert. Richard Levine was determined to find out what that was, or die trying.
He climbed back onto his ATV, and drove off, following the trail of Tyrannosaurus footprints deeper and deeper into the Chihuahaun Desert.
