Jurassic World: The Animated Series
JW004
"Deep Blue"
An official San Heulva Zoo vehicle pulled up to the docks by the In-Gen waterfront. Twenty-One years earlier, the ship The Venture arrived at this very same harbor carrying the Buck Rex from Isla Sorna. The Buck Rex had then proceeded to rampage around San Diego before being lured back to the boat, and sent back to Isla Sorna.
Claire Dearing climbed out of the zoo vehicle, and paused at the memorial statue that had been placed there. A list of all of the lives lost in the San Diego Incident was below the plaque.
Zia Rodriguez climbed out of the car behind the truck as well, and placed a hand on Claire's shoulder.
Claire never stopped caring. About people. About animals. About the dinosaurs. It was the thing that Zia admired the most about her.
"CLAIRE!" a voice called out from the docks. The red-haired woman turned to see a black-haired woman in a black t-shirt and khaki shorts. She had an upturned nose that looked like a pixie.
"Amanda!" Claire ran over and hugged her friend.
"It has been too long," Amanda said, she frowned. "Where's Owen?"
"He couldn't come," Claire said, shaking her head. "Maisie's grounded, and one of us had to stay and enforce the punishment, because she'll walk all over her babysitters."
"Awww," Amanda said, sighing. "I wanted to meet him."
Claire gave Amanda a funny look. "You've met Owen before?"
"I've met Owen the coworker and Raptor trainer," Amanda said. "I've never met Owen Claire's boyfriend and…also a dad? Which…how did that happen exactly?"
Claire looked downward. "It's kind of a long story."
"Well we have a 15 hour submarine ride to share it," Amanda said brightly. "I tagged the Mosasaur off of the coast of Hawaii. I'm tracking her movements now. I think she's chasing a pod of Orcas that a colleague of mine has been tracking all summer."
Zia pulled out a small metal looking three-foot long submarine from the truck.
"What in the world is that?" Amanda asked.
"It's an underwater drone," Claire replied. "One of my Team, Franklin Webb, he was an IT guy back at Jurassic World, will be piloting the drone remotely. It will let us get up close and personal with the Mosasaur, before we decide how to deal with her."
"She hasn't eaten anyone since she escaped," Amanda said. "Though a surfer in southern California had a very close call."
Claire nodded. "Let's get to it."
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Roland Tembo, Alan Grant, Owen Grady and Jess Harding stood over the lacerated remains of a giraffe.
"Do you really think that Blue killed this animal?" Owen asked, frowning. "We keep her very well fed."
"Yes," Roland said. "Which may actually be detrimental. She's a predator. She doesn't want to be fed, she wants to hunt."
"I think I know better than you do what she wants," Owen argued.
"I'm just saying," Roland said. "If she's bored, she might attempt to hone her hunting skills."
"This is not the work of a raptor," Grant said, looking up from the carcass.
"Long, thin sharp teeth," Grant continued. "Too large and the wrong shape for Blue."
"But it was a dinosaur?" Jess asked.
Grant nodded grimly, picking up a tooth that had been embedded into the flesh of the giraffe carcass. "There's only one therapod dinosaur with teeth like this. Carnotaurus sastrei."
"So the one that attacked Zia must have come back to the zoo," Owen said.
"If it ever left," Roland replied.
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.
Maisie petting Styggy the Stygimoloch.
Alan Grant sketching Blue.
Franklin Webb operating a drone from his laptop.
Zia Rodriguez brushing the teeth of an unconscious Rexy.
Jess Harding yelling angrily at Ian Malcolm.
Roland Tembo firing shots at the Spinosaurus rex
Rexy stomping out of her Paddock and letting out a Triumphant ROAR!
The Jurassic World Logo. 'The Animated Series' Subtitle beneath it.
Blue darted through the zoo tunnels towards the den where her pack spent most of their time. She approached the Cold-Box in the tiled area of the lounge. Using her clawed arm, she opened it and helped herself to an egg from the egg carton, before turning around, her tail slapping the door closed.
The lounge was empty save for her, which was unusual. She knew Alpha's Mate and Healer had departed yesterday, why and when they would be back was unknown to Blue. Alpha seemed unconcerned by their departure, so Blue was unconcerned.
Alpha, Hunter, Caretaker, Mentor, and the Scared One were in the zoo itself; Blue could smell them.
The Hatchling was wherever she went everyday—once again, Blue didn't know, but Alpha and his Mate were unconcerned, so Blue was unconcerned as well. Blue tried very hard to take her cues on Pack Dynamics from them. After all, it was a very unusual pack.
Unusual, but a good pack. Blue had yet to see the Pack fail to accomplish their tasks. She didn't always understand why they did their tasks, but she understood that they accomplished them.
She trotted over to her nest in the corner of the lounge. She had made it out of the beanbag chairs and couch cushions (which Caretaker had ruefully replaced)
She gently lay down on her nest and reflected upon the events that had led to her unusual situation.
Two months earlier…
Blue darted through the forest, hot on the trail of game. Saurian game this time, an animal from the Island. Blue was quite hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since a rabbit two days ago.
This was not a good situation. She couldn't afford to starve. There was too much on the line now. She had spent the first couple of weeks after leaving her former Alpha and the Manor of the Black Sickly One hoping to find other raptors. A pack that she might be able to join.
She had had no luck. Not one scent of other Raptors. Just like back on the Island. She was alone. She wondered how few raptors there truly were in the World. Perhaps that was why her former Alpha had taken her and her sisters Delta, Charlie, and Echo in as part of his pack.
He was very emotionally sensitive leader. Delta always thought that made him weak, but Blue saw differently. Alpha's emotional sensitivity was his strength as a leader. It let him see what his Pack needed, and he could adjust to accommodate them. Blue admired that trait, and sought to emulate it.
Echo had interpreted that emulation as weakness, attempted to challenge Blue's spot as Beta. Blue had actually thought putting Echo in her place was hilarious, since Blue had used Empathy to anticipate Echo's actions and took advantage of weaknesses Echo didn't even know she had.
Empathy was not weakness. It was strength. The true strength of the Pack. And the strength of the pack was the strength of the Raptor.
Blue missed her former pack. Delta's stern attitude, Echo's wild enthusiasm. Charlie's…well, Charlie was Charlie.
But mostly she missed Alpha. He was a good leader. Trained the pack well, kept them fed. Until the fateful day that they hunted the Usurper.
Blue hated the Usurper. The large white creature that had cost her her pack. It was dead, but Blue knew that if she ever saw another one of its kind…even Alpha wouldn't be able to restrain her rage.
After the Usurper had died, Alpha had chosen to leave. Blue did not blame him. The pack was gone, and he had no purpose there anymore.
Then he had returned. Returned for her. For Blue. A reunion cut short as humans from a rival pack had attacked them and imprisoned them. And mortally wounded Blue.
Blue knew she would have died had it not been for the administrations of the Healer. Healer had stuck her with painful needles and restored her lost blood as Alpha and his Mate and the Scared One assisted.
Blue didn't understand at first, but Alpha was there, comforting her. Then, they had all departed and hidden except Healer, as the rival pack took her and many other animals from the Island and placed them within cages.
Healer was taken prisoner alongside Blue, and they remained such until the scared one rescued them. Blue didn't understand human motivations, but she did understand actions. Healer and Scared One were clearly part of Alpha's human pack, and had obviously aided Blue under his direction. So Blue had returned that in kind.
After dealing with the immediate threat, she sought Alpha as quickly as she could. Only to find him under attack from the Black Sickly creature, who smelled like the Usurper if the Usurper had rolled in death.
Alpha and his Mate were attempting to prevent the Sickly One from killing a human hatchling. Blue immediately came to their aid, and after much difficulty, had triumphed over the creature.
Alpha then asked Blue to come with him. To be part of his new pack. But she would have to travel in a cage again. Blue would not be caged. So she parted ways with him.
After that she avoided humans. She knew some could be friendly, and some could be enemies, but Blue had no way of knowing which was which. So she felt it was best to stay away from humans, if she could.
Still, she regretted leaving Alpha. Now more than ever. Though she did not wish to be caged again… with no pack, Blue was struggling. And her future was looking grim. And she could not afford to be struggling. Not now.
Suddenly, Blue stopped short. She must just have been nostalgic. She swore she could smell Alpha's scent on the wind.
She sniffed again.
She was not imagining it. Humans have this weird quirk of trying to mask their scent with a different equally pungent scent. While most humans smell similar, Blue had never known any human with this unique combination of scents other than Alpha.
Thoughts of her prey now abandoned she began following Alpha's scent on the wind.
It was almost a day later when Blue realized that she could still smell the animal she'd been tracking the day before.
Blue had found some carrion late in the evening, and had eaten as much of that as she could, before returning to the trail of Alpha's scent. But now she could smell the animal she'd been previously tracking.
Blue did not believe in coincidences; the prey animal was tracking Alpha as well.
Blue followed the scent, eventually coming to an open area near a lake, where a human artificial den rested not far from the lake. Blue was thirsty, so she cautiously approached the lake, and took a drink.
She heard human voices and looked up, cautiously backing into the forest. To Blue's surprise, it was Alpha and his Mate. Blue was overcome with joy when she saw them. She almost darted forward and greeted them then.
She noticed Alpha dropping on one knee in an odd position, and stopped short. Alpha was clearly engaged in a courtship dance with his mate. To interrupt them might upset Alpha, or his Mate. Or both. Counterproductive to her goal of rejoining his Pack.
She quickly retreated further into the forest, watching carefully.
Alpha's mate departed and ran back towards the human dwelling. The courting dance apparently had not gone well. Blue hoped that they would have another opportunity to mate before the breeding season ended.
Alpha was clearly disappointed, but not discouraged, based upon his scent and body language. Blue knew 'Disappointed but not discouraged' well, as he had worn that attitude many times while training her and her sisters. It was another thing Blue admired; Alpha's boundless optimism.
Suddenly, the young human hatchling darted out from behind a tree and startled Alpha.
She startled Blue as well. Blue had not even realized that the human child was there! And Blue was always trying to be cognizant of human presences.
She recognized the tones of praise in Alpha's voice as he spoke to the young hatchling girl.
Clever girl, Blue thought. Alpha was right to praise her perfect stalking technique. It would serve the child well when she became old enough to hunt. The bushes rustled and suddenly Alpha was on defensive alert.
She saw him take a defensive stance between the hatchling and the perceived threat. This pleased Blue. It was a good sign of a strong pack, to defend the hatchlings from all threats large and small.
But this was no threat. It was the Stygimoloch that Blue had been stalking before catching Alpha's scent. It was no danger to him or the girl. Alpha was upwind of it, so he couldn't tell, but Blue could see them both easily. She could tell.
She could step in and scare the animal off, but it would not be a good way of reintegrating with Alpha's pack. If he saw that the threat was a non-threat, then he might feel Blue was attempting to challenge him.
Blue did not want to lead the pack. She wanted the pack to operate under a strong leader. Alpha was strong, and better understood human threats than she did. She wanted him to lead the pack, and protect the pack's future hatchlings as he did this human child. As he had once done for Blue, Delta, Charlie, and Echo.
It would not do to rejoin under false premises. Blue cautiously followed Alpha as he revealed the Stygimoloch to his mate and to the Hatchling.
The hatchling seemed amused by the Stygimoloch and proceeded to feed it.
Great, Blue thought, They fed it. Now it is basically part of the pack. There was a very mild annoyance that this prey animal had managed to join Alpha's pack before Blue had.
A human vehicle approached from the north. Alpha and his mate were suddenly on the defensive. The hatchling and the Stygimoloch hid behind the artificial den, as a tall dark human stepped out of the vehicle and spoke to Alpha and his mate.
His tone was threatening, and the body language of Alpha and his Mate indicated that he was indeed threatening them. But they took no action against him.
Blue recognized this. It was the same with the Arrogant Human who kept trying to take over as Alpha of the original pack. He had many of his own humans waiting in the wings, so Alpha could not directly challenge him, but still defended the pack ferociously.
In the end, Delta had killed the Arrogant Human who had tried to take the pack from Alpha. But only after the opportunity had presented itself, when he was away from his own pack. Blue did not know how far away the Threatening Human's pack was, but Alpha must have thought them close enough to be a danger.
The safety of the hatchling must take priority, Blue thought. She darted across the forest line, hoping to move into a more defensive position. One of the odd insects that humans often kept with them began chirping in the Threatening Human's pocket. He pulled it out and pressed it to his ear to silence it.
Alpha's mate used the distraction to pull him away. Blue remained on the defensive, ready to strike at the threatening human should he become a danger.
Then they returned. Alpha, his mate, and the Hatchling. Their demeanor had changed. They were cautious, but no longer defensive.
Blue dropped out of attack mode, and watched. They all climbed into the human vehicle. Blue glanced at the Stygimoloch, which was now rooting around in the area behind the human den where they kept their food-plants (Blue had observed humans eating both plant and meat.) She felt annoyance that the Stygimoloch was simply helping itself to the pack's food.
The vehicle began to move, and Blue suddenly remembered how fast human vehicles were capable of traveling.
Panicking about losing track of her Alpha again, she shot forward and took a gigantic leap, landing on top of the human vehicle with a thud, just as it narrowly avoided a low hanging tree branch.
Using her talons, Blue gripped the luggage rack holds on the roof of the van, and held on. Wherever her pack was going, she would be there.
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Present day…
"And after that," Claire said. "Owen and I ran away with Maisie and hid out at his cabin. We stayed there until Crichton Mitchell showed up and coerced us into dealing with the Dinosaur threat."
"Coerced?" Amanda asked.
"Your basic carrot and stick situation," Zia commented.
"Legal adoption of Maisie," Claire said. "With a no-questions asked attitude about her history."
"Carrot," Zia said.
"Verses jail time for releasing the Dinosaurs and Maisie becoming property of the state," Claire continued.
"Stick," Zia said.
"What do you think is going to happen, long term?" Amanda asked "With this little…Project of yours?"
Claire sucked in her cheeks. "We've contained Rexy and Blue," Claire said. "If we can do the same to the Mosasaur, then we've dealt with…well…the problems that we can deal with. After that…the future's murky."
Amanda raised an eyebrow.
"The dinosaurs are an invasive species," Claire clarified. "Like Cane Toads in Hawaii, Honeybees in North America, Asian Carp, they're going to breed. We can't stop them."
"A population of all females?" Amanda asked.
"You know as well as I do that that isn't going to mean anything," Claire said. "We both did our internships at Jurassic World, and we both worked there for YEARS. Many of the animals bred in spite of Wu's precautions. Mostly Hammond's older ones like Lady Margaret the triceratops and Agnes the Brachiosaur…But younger ones too. We all saw the nests. Dealing with the nests became routine at the park…but the park is gone. There's literally nothing stopping Baryonyxes and Parsaurolophuses from breeding in the wild. And they will. And the next generation won't have tracking implants."
Amanda nodded.
"I was lucky I was able to get close enough to the Mosasaur last time to ping it and turn its implant on," she said. "Good thing I was already familiar with the animal. Are we going to try to capture it?"
"If we can," Claire said. "Sea World contacted us after we caught Rexy. Said that they were willing to hold the Mosasaur if we could catch her. Trouble is…We lured Rexy with goats and I don't know we can do that with the Mosasaur."
"She likes sharks," Amanda said. "Sharks are her favorite. We tested her on a crap ton of different animals after she was first bred, but sharks were what she always went for."
"Goats, Heliconia, Sharks," Zia wondered. "I'm beginning to notice a pattern in Wu's dinosaurs. They all seem addicted to a specific food source. One that we provided. I wonder if he did that on purpose."
"He might have," Claire said. "I wouldn't put it past him."
"Also the Mosasaur isn't actually a dinosaur," Amanda said. "Sea-going reptile. Genetically closer to a monitor lizard than a dinosaur. Especially this Mosasaur, since Wu used modern komodo DNA to fill in the gene sequence gaps."
"Blue's part monitor lizard too," Zia said. "Blue Nile monitor I think."
"Yeah, with Owen's raptors, Wu intentionally made several batches with various genetic modifications to create a range of diverse traits and attributes. I think Charlie was part Iguana," Claire noted.
"Kind of a tangential point anyway," Amanda said.
Amanda looked at Claire slyly. "So…you've basically gone domestic with Owen. I know you're a strong independent woman and all…but..."
"Nooooo," Zia groaned. "We were so close to passing the Bechdel test. Please don't ruin it now."
"He asked me," Claire said quietly.
Zia suddenly fell silent. "Wait…he did?"
"What did you say?" Amanda asked.
"I…kind of ran away from him. He hasn't brought it up again since," Claire admitted.
Zia and Amanda looked dumbfounded.
"Why did you run?" Amanda asked, finally.
"He had the worst timing," Claire admitted. "He asked me on the anniversary of Justin's death."
"Who?" Zia wondered.
"He was Claire's beaux when we were interns together. And seriously?" Amanda said. "What an insensitive jerk. I can't believe he asked you on the anniversary of Justins's death."
"He didn't know," Claire said. "I've never told him about Justin. It was just a really bad coincidence."
"Oh," Amanda said. "In that case…what the heck is wrong with you Claire? He absolutely deserves to know why!"
"Yeah," Claire said bitterly. "Well, it's really hard to bring up to your boyfriend—a raptor trainer—that the guy you dated before him was killed by a raptor. It's kind of a very awkward conversation."
"Can't argue with that," Zia commented.
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"It's an ambush predator," Grant said. "Like a cheetah. It's very fast for a therapod. Forty MPH easily. Maybe more."
Roland nodded.
"Its head is its primary weapon," Grant said. "It's a giant hatchet, which it used to attack the legs of its primary prey. Large Sauropods. And I mean LARGE sauropods. Carnotaurus was a contemporary of titanosaurs like Argentinasaurus and Dreadnaughtus."
"Dreadnaughtus could step on Rexy," Owen said. "If I recall correctly, Wu was working on unlocking Dreadnaughtus back at Jurassic World. Masrani was eager to get the world's largest dinosaur in the park."
"And this little thing could take it down?" Roland asked in surprise.
"Probably not a full grown adult," Grant said. "Like most predators, they'd go for a younger specimen. But even a young Titanosaur could sustain a pair of them for months. Given their cheetah-like attributes…"
"Conservation of energy is critical," Roland nodded, understanding. Cheetahs were fast, but they also burned out quickly. They were sprinters and could not handle a marathon, like, say a wolf could. If Carnotaurus was similar enough to cheetahs, it probably burned out quickly too.
"They hunted in groups?" Roland asked.
"I don't know," Grant said, shrugging. "Carnotaurus is known from exactly one complete skeleton. No other fossils have been found. The Jurassic World Carnotaurus was bred from Brazilian Amber, I believe. So it must have been common enough that a mosquito bit one and got stuck in sap, but beyond that?"
Roland nodded.
"I'm still seeing nothing on my drone," Franklin said over the radio.
"It's hunting at night," Roland said. "Or someone would have seen something. A guest, a construction worker, or one of the zoo staff who didn't quit when the tyrannosaur arrived."
"All…both of them," Owen quipped. It was true that most of Jess's staff walked out after Rexy was captured.
"Everyone needs to stay on guard," Roland said. "Where might the animal hole up during the day? One of the exhibits?"
Grant and Owen shrugged.
Roland glanced over at nearby tunnel for the zoo train.
"What about in there?" he asked.
"The zoo train has been out of commission since Rexy messed up the tunnels when she tried to chase after it," Jess said. "Our focus has been on reinforcing the Rex barricades, not on fixing the train."
"Then that might be an ideal hiding spot," Roland commented. "Franklin, get that infernal machine of yours, Mr. Grady, get that infernal raptor of yours…we're going tunnel running."
Across the zoo, Maisie, and her new friends Britney, Caitlin, and Ashley were standing outside a large exhibit.
"Oh!" Britney exclaimed. "A goat! I love goats! They're so cute!"
"Then you are really not going to like this next part, Brit," Caitlin commented.
"What? Why?"
Rexy came from around the rock ledge, looking down at the goat. The T. rex licked her lips, and began silently stalking towards the goat.
"Oh my God," Britney whispered, backing up in sheer terror from the size of the Tyrannosaur. Rexy lunged and snapped up the goat, swallowing it in two bites.
"Oh God!" Britney screamed.
"Relax Brit!" Caitlin said. "He can't get out of there, right Maisie?"
"She," Maisie corrected. "And SHE absolutely could get out of there if she bothered to put effort into it. The back fences wouldn't hold up if she tried to break them down. But she definitely can't get across the concrete moat!"
"Wait," Caitlin frowned. "You mean…If he—"
"She," Maisie corrected.
"If SHE wanted to…She could bust out right now?"
"Absolutely," Maisie said.
"We gotta get out of here!" Britney said.
"Why?" Maisie asked, looking confused.
"You just said she could break out!" Caitlin whispered hoarsely.
"If she wanted to," Maisie said. She gestured towards the Tyrannosaur. Rexy yawned lazily, and made her way to the waterfall. Her favorite spot seemed to be half-in half-out of the pool at the base of the waterfall, just enjoying the sensation of the cool water pouring onto her back in the California heat.
"She clearly doesn't WANT to," Maisie continued. "Why would she? She's got her own waterfall and all the goats she could possibly eat. She has literally no reason to even want to try and break out. Look at her. She's about to take a nap."
"You sure she doesn't want to chase her goat with a little human?" Caitlin wondered.
"Rexy thinks humans taste nasty," Maisie said shaking her head. "She would much rather have a goat."
The three other girls swallowed.
"And your parents…they catch dinosaurs like her, for a living?" Caitlin asked.
"Yep," Maisie said. "Claire's out on a submarine right now, trying to get the Mosasaur."
"You call your mom by her first name?" Britney wondered.
"I'm adopted," Maisie said. "So I knew them as Claire and Owen before they became my official parents, and now it feels weird to call them 'mom' and 'dad'."
"I always preferred 'Pop-pop' myself," Owen said, approaching the girls.
"I am not calling you that," Maisie said.
"Fair enough," Owen said. "I'm afraid that we're closing the zoo early today girls. I'm going to have to ask that you go home. Maisie, if you want to go to one of your friend's houses, that's okay with me. If not, please go to the DPG lounge or the Trailer."
"I thought I was still grounded," Maisie asked.
"Consider yourself un-grounded," Owen said.
"Oh! Oh!" Britney exclaimed loudly. Rexy actually opened her eyes and looked at the screaming human. Britney winced.
"Um…We could have a sleepover at my place!" Britney said.
"I'm okay with that, if your mom's okay with that," Owen said. Britney pulled out her cell phone and hit one of her speed-dials.
"What's really going on, Owen?" Maisie asked quietly. "Because it sounds like you want me out of the zoo."
"We think that the Carnotaurus is still around," Owen replied. "So yeah…I want you away from the zoo until we find it."
Maisie nodded as Britney held out her phone to Owen. Who took it, and briefly spoke to Britney's mom.
"Okay," Owen said after handing the phone back to Britney. "Walk, don't run to the entrance. Britney's mother will pick you up shortly."
"We can pass by the Rhino-Triceratops exhibit on the way," Maisie said. "And then you can see why I got grounded!"
The girls giggled and began making their way towards the entrance.
Owen held out his signal clicker, and clicked once. Blue leapt out from the bushes of the empty Indian Elephant exhibit across from Rexy's exhibit. (The Indian elephants having been moved after Rexy's presence began upsetting them.)
Rexy, who had been watching the gaggle of humans ever since Britney shouted, actually flinched in surprise. Rexy had no idea that Blue had been so close.
Owen clicked twice, and pointed down the pathway. Blue chirped acknowledgement and darted down ahead of Owen.
Rexy returned to her nap.
Two months earlier…
Blue gripped the luggage rack atop the van and held on for dear life as it drove for 45 minutes strait, before coming to a stop next to a large enclosure filled with many smells that were interesting to Blue.
And one familiar scent.
As the vehicle slowed to a stop, Blue leapt off of the top of it and into a nearby tree. She then began to observe the humans.
And older human, who seemed a little upset stood in near the vehicles. Blue saw Alpha approach him with a sense of reverence and respect. Blue wondered if this was Alpha's own mentor.
"HUN-HUR-RRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!"
The familiar sound of the Tyrannosaur's roar filled the air, and filled Blue with anticipation. She didn't know why Alpha and his mate were there, but she felt certain that the Tyrannosaur was part of it.
Moments later a second human vehicle arrived and Healer and the Scared One exited the vehicle. Healer exuberantly approached Alpha and his Mate, wrapping her arms around them affectionately.
This confirmed in Blue's mind. Healer was part of Alpha's pack. An important part, no doubt, given her unique skills.
A seventh figure approached from the large enclosure. She spoke with clear irritation, but not animosity. She was covered in the scents of the animals within the enclosure, and in turn Blue could smell her scent everywhere within the enclosure.
This was her territory, Blue guessed. And she must be upset that the Tyrannosaur was encroaching upon it. Alpha had arrived here to…help her? Blue wasn't sure.
The humans made their way into a small hole in the side of the brick wall. The two human vehicles tore away as fast as they could, doubtless afraid of the Tyrannosaur.
Blue didn't fear Rexy. She was faster and more agile than the aging Tyrannosaur, and Rexy seldom put effort into her hunts if she could help it.
Moments later, Owen, his Mate, the Mentor, and the Healer, and the Territorial Caretaker exited the small hole and entered the enclosure. Curious, Blue leapt out of the tree, and landed atop the brick wall that encircled the large enclosure.
She observed many smaller enclosures within the large enclosure, each containing a unique species of animal. Blue found this quite curious, but intriguing. Possibly the humans kept these prey animals alive but confined so that they would be easier to hunt at a later time.
She saw Alpha's mate begin leading around forty goats out of one of the larger pens. Blue narrowed her eyes. She knew well that Rexy loved to eat goats. Being near the animals was a hazard. If you smelled like a goat, Rexy might mistake you for one. It had been know to happen. It was why most of the predators back on Nublar tended to avoid eating goats, lest they draw Rexy's attentions.
Alpha tied one of the goats to a human structure using a leather chord. Blue watched again, as he tied another one about 100 feet away from that one.
A trail.
Alpha was setting a trap. They planned to lead Rexy into one of these enclosures. A clever idea. If she was contained, then she could also be released if the pack was threatened in the future. Alpha had likely made a bargain with the Caretaker of this territory.
Blue was pleased with herself for having figured out the nature of this plan. It was dangerous, of course, but the rewards were fruitful if it succeeded.
Just at that moment, Blue observed the Hatchling enter the territory. She picked up a small human vehicle, that looked like a simpler version of Alpha's vehicle—the one he had used to maintain speed with the pack—and began riding it furiously into the territory.
Blue's internal satisfaction suddenly burned away as it was replaced with a single thought; the hatchling must be protected at all costs!
Present day.
Claire, Zia, and Amanda entered the cockpit of their submarine, alongside the pilot of the vessel. They could see the Mosasaur swimming ahead of them.
Franklin's underwater drone launched out of one of Amanda's sub's torpedo tubes. It swam up and alongside of the Mosasaur, careful to avoid going near its face. Franklin had learned his lesson with Rexy.
"The problem is you can't tranquilize an air-breathing animal underwater," Amanda said. "We have to try and net it. We've one harpoon launcher and four torpedoes that contain nets. If we can net it, we can drag it back to San Diego."
Amanda's pilot nodded, and flipped a switch. Claire and Zia observed the steel harpoon launch out of the sub and stick into the Mosasaur's left side. The creature let out a loud cry of pain, and Zia winced.
"Okay," Amanda said. "Get ready for a Nantucket Sleigh Ride."
"A what?" Claire asked.
"When old whaling vessels speared whales," Amanda explained. "The whales might drag the ship for several miles. This was referred to as the Nantucket Sleigh Ride."
The Mosasaur did not appear to be dragging them anywhere. It kept a steady pace.
"Okay," Amanda said. "Now for the hard part. We fire the nets and…"
A shadow passed over them, blotting out the sun.
"What in the world? Holy crap!" Amanda exclaimed as a gigantic submarine appeared from above them. It was at least 200 feet in length, and shaped vaguely like a hammerhead shark.
"That thing is huge!" Zia exclaimed. "How did we not see it on Radar?"
"It must be Radar-shielded," the pilot observed. The bomb bay doors of the giant submarine suddenly opened and the sub lowered itself around both them and the Mosasaur."
"Oh crap," Claire said. "Unhook us!"
The pilot flipped another switch and the harpoon became untethered from Amanda's sub. They turned to pilot the sub away, but it was too late. The bomb bay doors closed around them and they found that they were inside of a giant moon pool within the giant submarine.
Water began to drain out of the pool. The Mosasaur was starting to panic. It did not like being trapped, and it definitely didn't like the water draining out. It thrashed wildly, but someone fired several tranquilized darts at it, and it began to drift out of consciousness.
There was a dull metallic thud as Amanda's sub hit the bottom of the moon pool. Several dozen men with tranq guns approached the sub. The Mosasaur glared at them helplessly.
She wasn't unconscious yet—tranquilizers seldom took immediate effect—but she was being crushed by her own weight in the extremely shallow (but not-quite drained moon pool) rendering her helpless.
"Come out now or we will break in," the lead mercenary said. The four sub passengers exchanged glances with each other, and then sighed.
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"This is the third and final zoo train tunnel," Owen said. He flipped on his flashlight, and entered the tunnel. Franklin's Drone hovered behind him, and Blue right beside him. Blue was being extra-cautious. Which made Owen wary as well.
Owen quietly began walking down the tunnel, shining the flashlight in front of him.
"Nothing," Owen breathed. He couldn't see anything ahead of them. Then, his flashlight fell on something shimmering and black. Owen frowned. What was that?
Slowly, the shimmering black mosaic of scales shifted in the light of the flashlight, turning a chalky-white and seeming to vanish into the background.
"What?" Owen whispered.
He pointed his flashlight away. The chalky white spot remained, but then slowly began to darken and vanish.
Franklin's drone suddenly turned on a high-powered light that illuminated the entire tunnel.
The Carnotaurus became instantly visible in the bright light; it's skin a dark blackish-purple. But it was slowing shifting to chalky white in the bright light.
"I did NOT know that they could do that!" Owen exclaimed, and turned to run as the Carnotaurus roared at him.
Owen and Blue spun around to run back out of the tunnel, and then stopped short as a second Carnotaurus blocked their path.
"Oh crap there's two!" Owen exclaimed.
To be continued…