Ten Years Ago, Isla Sorna, Site B: Jake Whitacre sat at his desk typing away on his computer while reading over some reports on his desk about genetic abnormalities regarding the DX Virus. Jake sat there thinking about it while tapping his pen on his chin in deep thought when Henry Wu burst in looking sick to his stomach.
"Hey Henry what's up?" asked Jake still looking at the folder. He scowled and rewrote something on the computer before setting it down and looking at him. Henry just sat there in shock.
"Okay," said Jake confused. He waited as Henry sat there for a few minutes just silent. Jake was about to get back to his work when Henry finally spoke up.
"We regained contact with Isla Nublar just a few minutes ago," said Henry swallowing hard.
"That's great," said Jake shrugging. "What was it, downed transmitter or the storm interfering with communications?"
"Neither," said Henry with tears forming in his eyes. "The power failed and…the dinosaurs escaped their pens."
Jake had been drinking his coffee when he suddenly did a spit take.
"Really? How did that happen?" he asked while cleaning up the coffee spill on the side of his cubicle.
"Dennis Nedry sabotaged the island, why we don't know, but he shut down the power and the dinosaurs got loose," said Henry.
"Any casualties?" Jake asked picking up the papers again.
"Ray and Robert are dead," said Henry feeling like he was about to pass out.
"That's too bad," said Jake shrugging. "Course I warned John about the possibility of the dinosaurs escaping but he said he wouldn't happen. Guess he learned his lesson."
"Yeah well," said Henry a little put off by Jake's comments. "Anyway Hammond is on his way here now after leaving everyone behind in Costa Rica. He says he wants to talk to us all."
"That's good. Maybe now we'll find out what's to become of Ingen," said Jake.
"Didn't you hear me, two people just died, good friends of ours," said Henry.
"And I feel terrible about it," said Jake. "But acting emotionally right now is probably not the best for the company since we're probably on the verge of Chapter 11 right now and that means we've got bigger things to worry about right now. We'll grieve for them later right now we've got more important things to worry about."
"Yeah," Henry agreed nodding. "I guess you're right. I'll just be going now."
Henry turned to leave the room.
"Hey! Henry!" Jake shouted after him. "We'll be fine, trust me."
Six Months Later: Lightning cracked overhead and the rain began coming down in all directions. The wind was battering all the trees everywhere and many began falling on the electrified fences causing sparks to go flying.
"That is correct, we are evacuating Isla Sorna!" shouted Wu over the radio as he ran across the street in the Workers Village. A pair of helicopters roared by overhead shining some light on the area as they roared off taking Ingen Personnel with them as still more rushed through the Village grabbing whatever they could before running to the Main Building and boarding the helicopters that were constantly flying in and taking off.
"Jake, where the hell are you?" Henry demanded over the radio.
"I'm just taking care of some loose ends," said Jake cryptically on the other end.
"There's no time, Hurricane Clarissa is going to smash into this island any moment now," Henry shouted.
"Yeah well this is important," said Jake. "Okay I'm done."
"Get your ass down here! We're leaving in five minutes!" shouted Henry as the storm grew louder and a loud roar was heard in the distance. Henry's eyes went wide.
"That wasn't the storm," he thought with growing realization. Henry quickly ran back to his office and began hastily throwing all the paperwork he could into a single briefcase as another helicopter took off and the roar grew louder only now it was joined by others.
Five minutes later: The storm had grown progressively worse and trees were being uprooted everywhere.
"We can't wait any longer!" shouted the pilot to the group in the final helicopter as the storm grew worse. "We have to take off now or we won't be leaving at all!"
Henry sighed, Jake still hadn't shown up and now he'd be left behind to fend for himself among the dinosaurs.
"Al-," he began when suddenly a flash was seen and a pair of headlights was seen coming around a corner and heading down the street towards the main building. The lightning cracked and illuminated the humvee producing them.
"That's him!" shouted Henry. However, before the vehicle could reach the building a massive lightning bolt slammed into the ground next to the vehicle with such intensity that it caused the thing to flip over on its back. A couple moments passed before the driver door was kicked out and Jake ran carrying a suitcase towards the helicopter as massive shadows as well as small ones appeared just outside the perimeter fence.
"Oh my God," said everyone in shock. All the dinosaurs on the island were surrounding the fence as though the inside was the last sanctuary on the island, but their expressions were one of blood rage. Carnivores, herbivores, and omnivores all crashed through the fences together and began steadily advancing on the final helicopter. Jake barely made into the building before a team of raptors crashed through the doors with a pair of dilophosaurs. Jake swung up the rifle he'd had strapped to his back and began firing at the creatures and managed to kill a pair of them before one slammed into him causing the suitcase to go sliding away. Jake scowled at the loss of the thing, but ultimately ran towards the stairs leading up the helipad. One of the raptors leapt at him, but Jake managed to slam the door shut and it locked as the raptor crashed into it causing glass to fly everywhere. Jake brushed it off him as well as some blood on his lips as he ran up to the helicopter as one of the raptors kicked the door in and the team rushed up the steps only to be confronted by the blinding wind of the helicopter as it took off into the sky. The raptors angrily leapt up after it but to no avail as they couldn't reach the rapidly escaping vehicle. The dinosaurs down below, Spinosaur, Brachiosaur, Tyrannosaurs Rex, all roared at the departing helicopter in pain and anger. Then they all parted ways as the light disappeared and the hurricane slammed into the island causing severe damage to the entire place. The helicopter meanwhile was briefly battered by the hurricane force winds before escaping into lighter gusts while behind them they saw the destruction of everything they had accomplished. Some felt saddened, others sick, others grateful, and at least one angry.
"Damn dinosaurs," thought Jake bitterly. Henry sat down next to him.
"Everything will be fine huh?" he asked laughing. Jake groaned.
"We'll see Henry, we'll see," Jake responded exhausted. He then laid back his head and quickly fell asleep as Henry shrugged and sat talking with the other Ingen personnel about what was to become of them all following this unforeseen disaster.
Today, Guam: 32 year old Flight Captain Danni Steferson was reading the news headlines about a terrible tsunami that had struck Southeast Asia in Thailand, India, and a variety of other areas killing well over 100,000 people. It made her sick that all of these devastation had occurred and she knew with a slight fear that she used to fly tourists to that area three years ago, but six months she'd had a slight mishap in a storm and nearly crashed her plane into the ocean and killing her very wealthy passengers causing her to be reassigned here flying passengers to Central and South America at a cut in salary. She had hated it, but ultimately knew it was better than being sued by the passengers and loosing her plane and her pilot's license. Her copilot and longtime friend Sam Stone had decided to stick with her as a show of faith in her piloting ability and their lasting friendship when he could've easily gone onto bigger and better things with the company. She'd been grateful to him for that but he'd merely shrugged it off as it was the thing friends did for each other. Danni often wondered if their friendship would ever become more than that, but it put her in a depressing mood as she realized she was getting older and still hadn't really found anyone special for herself yet.
She sighed and decided to direct her attention to the passengers who were going to be on her flight today to Costa Rica. There was a seventeen year old girl named Tammy who had staid in Guam an extra day with her grandparents before traveling to Costa Rica to join up again with her parents, a rich doctor named Carl who was going to Costa Rica just to catch a flight back to the States, then there was a newlywed couple named Steven and Kelly who had come to Guam on a cruise, but then the boat had broken down so they'd accepted a free trip and hotel in Costa Rica as compensation. Then finally there were two scientists one from Ingen and the other from a company called Pacific Pharmaceuticals headed for Costa Rica for research purposes. The second scientist had just entered into the company restaurant and immediately walked up to the Ingen scientist. They each grinned as they shook hands and clapped each other on the back.
"Apparently they're old friends," thought Danni shrugging as she returned to her drink.
"It's good to see you again Henry," said Jake with a smile as he greeted his old friend. Henry nodded as they both sat down at a restaurant booth.
"Like wise. Who would've thought that when Ingen and Pacific Pharmaceuticals decided to team up for research in Costa Rica they would've picked us to lead it?" said Henry drinking his Diet Pepsi. Jake shrugged as he ordered some food.
"They both knew I used to work for Ingen and we were old colleagues, they probably figured we'd work together better than two separate individuals from different companies who would constantly butt heads and get nothing done," said Jake.
"Yeah you're probably right," agreed Henry. "So how's work with the great drug manufacturer?"
"Okay I guess," said Jake receiving his food. "It's nothing special but it passes the time. Kind of hard to trump making dinosaurs but it's good enough. So how's Ingen? Raking in the big bucks I hear."
"Ha!" Henry snorted. "If this current project doesn't work you can pretty much kiss Ingen goodbye. Jurassic Park along with the Site B disasters has pretty much bankrupted us well beyond Chapter 11."
"Well if you're ever in need of a job just ask," said Jake eating his burger. "I could always use someone I can trust on my team."
"We'll see Jake we'll see," said Henry finishing his drink.
"Ahem," said a voice. Henry and Jake along with everyone else turned to see their captain standing in the center of the room.
"Now that everyone's here I think we can get going. I am your Captain Danni Steferson and my copilot is Sam Stone," said Danni. "Since there's so few of us and we'll be on the plane by ourselves for awhile, let's introduce ourselves."
Everyone introduced themselves and then finally it got to be Jake and Henry's turn.
"I'm Jake Whitacre and this is my good colleague Henry Wu. We both used to work for Ingen but now I've moved on to Pacific Pharmaceuticals. We're both headed to Costa Rica to head a joint research project involving both of our companies in researching new wildlife and plant species there and cataloguing them for study to see if we can't somehow improve our own ways of life," Jake said before sitting down again.
"Wait you said you're both involved with Ingen," said Carl. "Did you have anything to do with the creation of the dinosaurs that company did?"
"No I'm sorry we didn't," said Jake with Henry nodding in agreement. "Our research was field work where we collected and catalogued the amber mosquito specimens to determine their species of origin before sending it off to Site B where it was reanimated. That was as far as our dealings went with the things. Oh sure we went to Jurassic Park and Site B a few times out of the year, but we really don't much more about what went on there than that."
"I wish I could see a dinosaur up close," said Tammy.
"I wouldn't say that if I were you," said Jake.
"Why?" Tammy asked.
"Jake…" Henry warned.
"Because my best friend saw a dinosaur up close, a velociraptor to be precise, and it killed him. The last sight he probably saw was the Velociraptor tearing his guts apart. Believe me, you don't want to see a dinosaur up close," said Jake bitterly. "I'm sorry if that wasn't what you wanted to hear, but my friend deserved better than what he got. After all I'm the one who got him that job and because of me he's dead."
"Anyway," said Henry. "That's really all there is to it."
"Sorry about your friend," said Danni.
"It's okay it's just tough to get over. I was there when it happened," said Jake trying to calm his nerves. "It just gets me on the edge sometimes."
"Well if that's all there is to it, let's get going," said Danni bringing her hands together trying to lighten the mood. The group shrugged and all headed out of the restaurant.
"Sorry Henry I should've listened," said Jake shaking his head.
"Yeah well that's always been a touchy subject with you," said Henry shrugging. "Thank goodness for the non-discretion agreement we had to sign denouncing any involvement with the islands that definitely helps alleviate a lot of questions."
"That it does, that it does," said Jake nodding. The group walked out onto the runway only to not see any planes.
"I know what you're thinking," said Danni. "Have we been screwed over? No you haven't you see our plane is over the water right now."
"So when'll it get here?" Carl asked.
"Oh it's already here it's just over the water," said Sam. He pointed to a pathway leading down a hill from the runway to a dock and a large antiquated military seaplane on it.
"Does anybody know what type of plane this is?" Danni asked.
"An old PBY-5A if I'm not mistaken," said Henry. Danni and Sam looked at him stunned.
"How'd you know that?" Danni asked. Henry shrugged.
"My great uncle used to service them during the war," he said simply while shrugging.
"Well he is indeed correct, that is what it is. To quote Han Solo, she may not look like much but she's got it where it counts," said Danni smiling. "And just like the Millenium Falcon, the inside has been modified to accommodate for travelers so don't worry about military conditions while onboard."
"Then the weapon systems that I can see are all fake?" asked Jake pointing to the torpedoes and machine guns on the vehicle.
"Yes they are. The company thought it'd look better to the tourists if the vehicle appeared in the same condition it appeared to back when it was originally in service. The machines guns are real, but they don't work and haven't been fired in years. Not only that, but there isn't any ammunition for it anyway. However, during the flight you can sit in them and swivel them about as if you were in the thick of an aerial attack. Anyway let's get onboard," said Danni. The travelers shrugged and got onboard and sat in their modern airline seats that had been arranged in the middle of the plane.
"In the event of an emergency landing your safety cushions will act as a flotation device. Don't worry about oxygen masks we aren't going high enough to where you would need them. Anything else just ask because otherwise strap yourselves in we're taking off," said Sam. The group shrugged nonchalantly as the pilot and copilot went to the cockpit and prepared for takeoff.
"It'll be a miracle if this thing gets off the ground," Jake snorted.
"Oh I think she'll surprise you, these planes are incredibly durable," said Henry.
"We'll see Henry, we'll see," said Jake not believing it. To his surprise, a moment later the propellers fired up and the plane roared down the Pacific Ocean before taking off into the sky. As soon as they were airborne, Jake took out a laptop from his suitcase and set it on the tray table in front of him. He accessed it and pulled up a map.
"Okay here's where the team is setting up. I thought we should get a head start on where we'll start our surveys with this map I downloaded not to long ago," said Jake. Henry nodded and glanced at the laptop closer.
"What other maps do you have on this thing?" Henry asked.
"Topographic, updated weather patterns, etc," said Jake scrolling through them all.
"Hey what was that last one?" Henry asked. He hit a button on the laptop and the last map sprung up showing Isla Sorna and going through the locations of the various dinosaur inhabitants' locations.
"I just keep it on there to remember about old times," said Jake simply.
"Speaking of old times, Hammond told me he'd like to see you again sometime soon. His health is still deteriorating rapidly and he could go any day now. He'd really like to see you," said Henry. Jake sighed.
"I haven't seen him since I quit Ingen nine years ago. I can't promise you I'll go but I'll at least think hard about it," said Jake.
"I guess that's all he can ask for," said Henry as Jake pulled the map of Costa Rica back up and they went over it.
Cockpit: Sam and Danni had just activated the copilot and were going over the current weather reports.
"Damn, it looks like that tropical storm is going to develop after all. Shit," said Sam looking over the reports. "I told you we should've waited another day before leaving."
"Not with those two scientists onboard. If we don't deliver our two friends on time there's a very real possibility Ingen and Pacific Pharmaceuticals would take legal action against us for delaying their research. Besides, I'm hardly in a position anymore for making demands to the passengers. I don't think I need to remind that the last time I decided to delay a flight put us in the storm that would eventually wind up with the situation that we're in right now. I don't want to be reprimanded again, this time they would definitely fire me and probably fire you too and I don't want that to happen. It'll swing south, I know it will they always do," said Danni.
"It's your call," said Sam.
"And I've made it. I'm going to get some sleep. Everything will be fine Sam, trust me," said Danni. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some sleep."
Later: "Yeah it's better alright," said Sam after Danni had woken up four hours later. Danni looked at the massive storm clouds in front of the plane and groaned.
"Great just great," she said. "Now we'll have to go around it."
"It'll piss off the passengers that's for sure. Of course on the other hand if we go around it we won't reach our destination in time because if we were to open her up to full throttle we'd run out of fuel before we got there," said Sam.
"Damnit," said Danni. "So we're stuck between a rock and a hard place?"
"It's your call," said Sam. "That's why the pay you the big bucks."
"Not anymore they don't," said Danni un-strapping herself. "And that's why I'm not making the decision."
"What?" Sam asked confused as she left the cockpit. In the body of the plane were the passengers who were all spread out on the various chairs or were on the cold metal trying to get some sleep.
"Sorry everybody but I have an important announcement to make," said Danni speaking loudly so everyone woke up.
"Yeah what is it?" Jake asked bluntly. "Does it have something to do with those storm clouds out the window? Let me guess, we're going to have to enter it in order to get to our destination on time. Well am I right?"
Danni briefly glared at him for bringing up the subject so harshly, but she nodded.
"Yes. When we left the storm had all the signs of changing position and moving away from our flight path but for whatever reason it hasn't moved at all," said Danni.
"So you've put our lives at risk on a hunch?" Carl asked.
"Someone I knew once said that maybe a tropical storm would 'swing south like the last one'. It didn't and that decision would in its own way ultimately cost the lives of three people including him," said Jake. "Decisions are made, both good and bad, we just have to learn to accept the consequences of them and move on."
"Yes well," said Danni put off by Jake's comments and wondering whether he was defending her or berating her as well. "As a result, I'm not willing to just make the decision for you people you'll have to decide. We'll vote and the majority will decide whether we go in or around it."
"Do I get a vote?" Tammy asked.
"N-," began Carl.
"Might as well," said Kelly. "Every vote counts in this case."
Carl looked like he was about to argue the point but he let it go when Steven braced himself to defend his wife. Jake just groaned and rubbed his eyes.
"All against?" asked Danni. Carl, and Henry raised their hands.
"All for?" Danni asked feeling a pit in her stomach, she'd hadn't wanted to risk it. Kelly, Tammy, Henry, and Jake raised their hands.
"Alright we go," said Danni and left it at that as she went back into the cockpit and sat down next to Sam.
"We're going in," she said angrily.
"You don't have to do this," said Sam flipping some switches.
"Yes I do," Danni said angrily and stopped talking at that point. The plane powered up and roared into the storm.