Jurassic Park:
The Lost Files - Isla Sorna
A man crouched over a skeleton in Montana. He stared intently at its head, and sighed. He thought about what it'd really be like in the early cretaceous period. To be hunted by Deinonychus Antirrhopus. He had been working here for two months, and hasn't found a single clue as to what Deinonychus really acted like. It made him wonder why he received the funding he did.
"Hey Will, what are you doing over there? Shouldn't you be digging that skeleton, not telling secrets to it?"
William Rielly looked over at the person who had said that. It was one of the other paleontologists working on the dig. Alek Chance, was a man of many words, and little focus. He had worked with Rielly for almost three years now, after the discovery of the Deinonychus Antirrhopus nest here in Montana two summers ago. "I was just inspecting its neck vertebrae. Give me a break, will you?"
"Maybe next time Will." Chance thought about why he was here, instead of with Dr. Alan Grant in Snakewater. He had questioned himself with that for the past month now, relatively soon after they arrived here. He concluded that Rielly needed a paleobotanist, and that Dr. Grant was working with Ellie Sattler, one of the most renowned scientists in her field.
Chance got back to what he was doing before he noticed Rielly staring at the raptor, uncovering a Deinonychus nest. He thought about why they were being asked to fax weekly progress reports to some island in Costa Rica. He had gotten a call from a man named Hammond about a year earlier, around this time of year. He said that he would provide them twelve thousand dollars a year to continue their digs and send everything they found out about how Deinonychus Antirrhopus lived to a company called InGen's headquarters in Los Angeles. He had told Rielly about it, and after a few days of careful thought, he had agreed to the offer.
Ever since then, they've been working hard to find out everything they could, including how Deinonychus nested. He continued to brush the dust away from the fossilized egg shells, careful not to damage them. Just then his cell phone rang in his pocket. He answered it to surprise. "Hello..? Mr. Hammond? Yes, it's a pleasu-... Yes, he's here… I'll do that. Thank you for telling me now… Yes, have a good evening Mr. Hammond."
Chance hung up the phone, and walked over to Rielly. "Hey Will, somebody wants to talk to you. He just called me a minute ago."
"Who? Did they say why?"
"Yeah, it's John Hammond. He says it's urgent. I can take over the Skeleton if you wan-"
As he walked off he could hear Dorsey finish his sentence. Rielly thought about why John Hammond would be calling about him. Had he said something offensive in his last report? He hoped it wouldn't involve something about a funding issue. He'd better hurry if he didn't want to keep the CEO of InGen waiting.
William Rielly walked into the trailer on the side of the hill they called 'The HQ.' As he opened the door, he thought about how hot and dry it was outside, and how it would suddenly be not cool, but relatively less warm inside. He was sweating from a day out in the hot beading sun for almost four hours. He shut the door behind him, and walked past the old coffee table and battered futon that they used as a break area, and into the room he referred to as his 'office.'
In his office was an old cedar desk, and a small padded chair. He had a phone in his office, and a painting on the wall of what he thought a Deinonychus Antirrhopus may have looked like. Not only was he a renowned paleontologist, he was also a relatively good painter. He sat down in his chair, and picked up the phone. He dialed the number of InGen Corporate Headquarters and asked for John Hammond. After a few minutes of waiting for him to be put through, an old voice sounded through the phone.
"...Yes Mr. Hammond, you called about me. I was wondering what that was abo-... Really? Why..? Well, I'm kind of occupied in North Dakota right now. We've found a new, promising skelet-... No Mr. Hammond, I don't have any children. Why do you ask.. ? Yes, I have heard of it. But I wont just abandon my dig. No Mr. Hammond, I can't come… Really..? I-Well, Sure! Are you serious? I mean, this is thirty thousand dollars we're talking about… I'll ask him after we finish here... Yes, Goodbye, and thank you Mr. Hammond."
As Rielly walked out of the trailer, he looked out over the dusty flats of the dig site. He walked down the steep, rocky hill toward the raptor nest. "Hey Alek! I have some news from Mr. Hammond for you!"
Chance looked up towards Rielly and looked back at the nest. He got off of his knees to meet Rielly halfway up the large hill. He was curious to find out what Hammond had wanted to talk to him about, and why now, in the middle of the dig. Once he got to Rielly, he noticed the glee across his face, obvious from this close. "Are you going to tell me, or just stand there smiling like an idiot?"
"Well, I just had a very prosperous conversation with the CEO of InGen. He wants me to go to the corporate headquarters in LA for the week. Says that if I do, he'll give us thirty thousand dollars!" Rielly looked down, and his shoulders started to bounce, then he looked up, chuckling. "That'll fund our digs for two and a half years Chris!"
"Are you serious? Well, that's...that's great! Did he mention any reason why he wanted you to go?"
"No, but he said I could bring a plus-one if I wanted. Would you like to come?"
"Sure, but I'd still like to know why Hammond wants us to go to an InGen HQ in LA, and abandon our dig."
"That's what I told him, but he said it'd be worth our while, and I already agreed. Besides, we needed the money, and it couldn't kill us to take a short vacation."
"You're right, we do need the money. The university just isn't enough funding, and we're in debt, because of the new equipment and software, technology, and all the beer cases you bought to keep track of how long we're out here. Not to mention the expensive Champagne… Speaking of beer cases, doesn't Dr. Grant do that too? Use beer cases to track time?"
"Alek, Alek, Alek, don't you remember that Alan and I were buddies in college? We were both majoring in paleontology. We were lab partners, and close friends." Rielly remembered the days he had spent with Grant in college, all the things they had done together. Practically inseparable. But that was beside the point. "Anyway, the point is, we're going to LA for the week. Better get packing, because the flight for California leaves tomorrow night."
Rielly stood, leaning over a suitcase lying on his desk. He had packed but five minutes earlier, because the flight to Los Angeles leaves in forty minutes, he'd had to be quick about it. He only packed a khaki sleeveless jacket, a fedora, and a dark green t-shirt, with a pair of faded blue jeans. The rest was a journal he kept of his findings, a small card with the address of the headquarters and the island that InGen owned, and a green ring, which he would use to propose when he got back from the the island.
"Hey Alek, can you get me the pen I keep in the kitchen? I need it to sign a paper I just got faxed earlier today. Can you do that for me, or is it too much work?"
No response. Rielly walked over to the couch in the front of the trailer. There he was, the great Dr. Aleksander Chance, asleep on a ratty old couch. He crouched down, leaned over toward Chance, and then… "Hey chris, you're going to miss the flight!"
With this, Chance jumped up, and nearly punched Rielly in the jaw. "Why the heck would you do that!? You woke me up in the middle of the best dream! The dream about the living Jurassic period ferns found by me!" He had a very perturbed look in his eye.
"I'm sorry, would baby like his bottle? Seriously, we need to leave for the flight to LA, and besides, you've had enough sleep lately." Chance had been asleep all morning, occasionally tossing and turning, and had only woken up once to get a glass of orange juice and a couple of pieces of toast.
As Rielly walked out the door of the trailer, he thought about what would happen to the Deinonychus skeleton here in Montana. He hoped that he could get back within the week, so that he could finish digging the skeleton, and send it to New York, to the Museum of Natural History. He also wondered about what the boys back at the lab could do with the DNA, Deoxyribo Nucleic Acid, found in the fossils.
He wasn't clear on the details, but a few years back, in the early 90's, a scientist approached a a capitalist businessman, and formed a company called BioTech, or GenenTech, something like that. In the 90's, science had made an extraordinary breakthrough in the field of genetics. With this new technology, cures and vaccines were created, diseases were cured, and much more was accomplished.
In the news, a few years back, there was an article about a scientist who had created a terrier-sized elephant, just to prove that he could, using the breakthroughs of modern science. He had agreed to a contract with another bioengineering company, but the name escaped Rielly.
He walked past the Deinonychus remains, and headed towards the Ford Ranger that the dig team had bought a few years back. It was a deep green, with plenty of dust permanently embedded into the sides. He looked back up towards the trailer, just in time to see Dorsey closing the door, carrying a duffle bag. Rielly had forgotten his bag.
He walked towards the trailer, and brushed Dorsey's shoulder as he walked past him. When he got to the trailer, he grabbed the door handle and twisted. He pushed the door open, and to his surprise, the phone was ringing. He went into the kitchen, and picked up the phone. "Hello? This is doctor William Rielly speaking. Whos is this?" No answer.
"If this is some sort of joke, I don't have time for it. I need to catch a flight to Los Angeles in…" he looked at his watch "...Now. If this is a serious call, then say something. If you don't, I will hang up." Then there was a sort of grinding sound, almost as if it were coming from some sort heavy machinery. Then, what sounded like a hispanic man answered the call. "Hello? Senõr Rielly? Are you hearing me? You are not on your way. You are to being flying to Isla Sorna senõr Rielly sir."
Rielly was very confused. "Hammond told me that my flight would be to LA. Is there a change in his request?" A few moments passed. The hispanic man was talking in spanish very rapidly.
"No, there must have been a miscommunication between you and senõr Hammond. You are to being flying to Costa Rica and Isla Sorna. You should be taking off from the Los Angeles Airport now senõr."
Rielly didn't know what to say. He was confused, and slightly angry at the fact that he would be going to some unknown island in Costa Rica for the weekend. "Senõr…-"
"José Puertás."
"-Puertás, I cannot come to Costa Rica. I would have to buy a new passport, go through too much legal paperwork-"
"Senõr Hammond has a private jet on standby senõr Rielly. You wont need to be doing paperworks, just enjoying the flights."
Rielly thought about this for a moment "No paperwork or legal documents?"
"No senõr Rielly."
Rielly said, "Tell Hammond I'll see him on the island." The corners of his mouth started to curve into a grin. He hung up the phone and quietly said, "We're going to Costa Rica baby!"