Prologue

In a small metal facility located on the remote island of Isla Sorna, Dr. John Hammond, the founder and president of the company known as InGen InGen, tapped his foot impatiently on the cold, metal floor. He was a short, bearded man with tendrils of white hair falling from underneath his fancy straw hat. He wore tight scrubs, along with about fourteen other men and women who darted from one strange looking machine to the next.
Hammond stood over a metal bowl filled with dirt and grass. To the left of him, a complex-looking robot arm sat, deactivated. The most shocking thing of all, however, was that in the middle of the dirt-filled bowl, a cluster of large eggs sat, in a rim made from gravel and straw. Hammond gazed with soft eyes at the eggs, but soon his look turned stern as it shifted to a clock on the wall.
Henry Wu, Hammond's chief geneticist, was late.
Suddenly, from a door to the left of Hammond, a young woman stepped into the open. Her hair was long and black, her features gentle, and her eyes warm with friendliness accompanied by a deep impatience. She smiled at Hammond.
"Sorry for the wait, sir. Mr. Wu is just pinching out some last details of the egg-turner program." She gestured to the robotic arm.
For the first time, a broad smile broke across John Hammond's wrinkled face. "Thank you, Amata," he said in an old, withered voice. "I was beginning to worry he wouldn't show."
Amata's blue eyes met the old man's in surprise. "You didn't really think he was going to miss this, did you?" She inquired.
Hammond waved his hand dismissively. "You know Henry," he scoffed. "Always has something more important to do."
"Tell me about it," Amata agreed, taking a seat on a chair near the nest of eggs.
Hammond chuckled and focused on the eggs once again. "Beautiful, aren't they?" he whispered, amazed.
"Absolutely," Amata agreed once again. "And I'm glad I could be part of the scientists who created them."
Just then, another man appeared out of the door Amata came through. His hair was short and black. His eyes were thin, brown, and sharp, and he carried a look of pure determination on his face.
"Henry!" Hammond greeted happily. He reached out to shake hands with Wu. Wu gladly accepted the friendly gesture and smiled.
"Sorry I'm late," he apologized. "I was afraid I wasn't going to make it in time, so I sent Amata to tell you what I was up to."
Hammond nodded. "No trouble at all," the old man said cheerily.
Wu's eyes grew clouded with concern. "I didn't miss the hatching, did I?" He asked nervously.
Hammond shook his head.
""Excellent," Wu beamed. The geneticist's attention shifted to the robotic arm. The man walked to it and flipped a switch on its base. Suddenly, the robot came alive, and the arm reached into the nest, grabbed an egg, and turned it completely around.
Hammond whistled, and Wu beamed triumphantly.
Amata stood and walked to the other side of the nest. "Remind me," she said, puzzled. "Why take so much time to create and program a robot that only turns eggs?"
"Unless you want to sit on the eggs, Amata, this machine takes advantage of friction to keep the eggs warm." Wu answered shortly.
The young girl stared at the floor sheepishly "Right. Sorry."
"Shhhhhhhh!"
Wu and Amata's attention turned to Hammond who was at the point of jumping up and down and staring into the nest. "It's starting!" The old man cried.
Instantly, Amata and Wu were at either side of him. One of the eggs in the nest began to rock back and forth.
Amata squealed in excitement and Wu began to laugh this is what they had worked for. This was why they were all in the same room at a remote island. This was why Hammond had spent mountains and mountains of money.
To create a dinosaur.
First, a small head appeared. It was brown and scaly, and from its mouth rows of small, thornlike teeth revealed themselves in a triumphant grin. Next, a small arm appeared. It was thin and well muscled, with three long fingers tipped with small talons. Hammond gasped. This was a miracle. This was history.
An identical arm appeared from the cracking egg as the newborn dinosaur uttered its first cry. It was a high pitched whimper, followed by a harsh struggle of the egg.
"Crack!"
The entire egg split apart, and there sat the entire dinosaur, laying on the ground with small pieces of eggshell dotting it's scaly hide. The walking fossil was long and streamlined, and it's legs were muscled and thin, with three claws on the toes. One claw rose above the others in a menacing arc on each foot. It's eyes were closed, and it seemed as if it was unaware of the humans standing before it. The dinosaurs tail was as long as the rest of it's body, and whipped around as it struggled to get to it's feet as it whimpered and cried.
Amata gulped and cautiously reached to the raptor with gloved hands and picked up the creature. It's eyes were still closed, but the dinosaur seemed calmed by her touch.
The three people stared in awe at the creature. Hammond reached out with a nervous hand and touched the creatures rough skin.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Wu whispered. "I present to you the first velociraptor to walk the Earth in almost 65 million years."
At that moment, the raptor's eyes shot open. It raised it's head and scanned the facility slowly, as if it were awed by the gift of sight. The creature's head suddenly whipped toward Amata.
Amata grinned from ear to ear. "Hello little friend. Welcome to Isla Sorna."
The raptor met her gaze for a few more moments, then pressed it's head into her stomach.
Wu coughed, gaining the attention of Hammond, Amata, and the raptor, who was now aware of two more humans near him. He studied them curiously, but stayed pressed against Amata.
"The temperature tells me it's a male," Wu said while looking at a small blue screen mounted near the nest."
"Male!?" asked Hammond, shocked. "We're only to breed females! Do you want them to breed in the park?"
Wu met Hammond's glare defensively as Amata and the raptor watched the two of them with equally wide eyes.
"I thought we could experiment. These raptors are like crocodiles; the temperature determines their gender." He looked towards the raptor. "I thought we could breed some males too, just to keep them here at the facility and research them."
Hammond relaxed. "So that's why you insisted we build the containment center."
Wu nodded.
"Fine," said Hammond. Breed all the males you want, but only females go to the park." Hammond again fixed his gaze towards the raptor, and the raptor did the same to him.
"Wow," breathed Amata, as she studied the baby raptor in her hands. "Look at his eyes."
Hammond and Wu both looked into the creature's eyes, and immediately saw what Amata had noticed.
The raptors eyes burned with a mountain of sheer determination, even though he was already out of the egg. It was as if he was challenging any who would face him to bring it on.
"That," Hammond laughed, "Is alpha male material. He's going to be trouble when he gets older."
Wu laughed, but Amata stayed focused on the raptor's eyes. "He has fire in his eyes," she mumbled. She shifted her attention away from the raptor in her hands and looked at Hammond with a questioning glance. "What should we name him?"
Hammond smiled. It looks like he likes you the most," he pointed out. "Why don't you name him?"
Wu opened his mouth to object, but quickly closed it again while Amata smiled gratefully at the old man, and looked down at the raptor once again.
"Pirus," she decided after a moment's thought. "It's greek for fire."
Hammond and Wu nodded approvingly.
"Welcome Pirus," Hammond whispered to the small raptor, who had curled up in Amata's hands and closed his eyes. "You've got a long life full of excitement ahead of you."