Histories and connections


The rooms were great. They were from the finest hotel in San Jose and had every possible amenity including a free mini-bar. Willow had asked Jimmy (as the girls had come to refer to James Hartford) what the cost was, and he had explained that the Government of Costa Rica was paying for everything. Yes, everything. Buffy resolved to go shopping as soon as possible.

Giles had stopped by and made sure they were okay, and retired to his suite next door. He told them that he had run into an old friend and was going to dinner with him. Buffy told him to go for it.

Hours had passed and there came a knock at their door. Tara looked through the peephole and saw Jimmy with a woman she didn't recognize. She was pretty cute. "Uh, it's James Hartford. I was going to take you out to dinner."

"Wait, we're almost ready." Dawn called out. Soon everyone was ready to go and out the door. Hartford motioned to the woman beside him.

"Buffy, Dawn, Tara, Willow, this is Dr. Ellie Sattler," Jimmy said, introducing the tall blond woman.

"You're a doctor?" Tara asked.

"Of paleobotany," Ellie answered. Willow was about to comment on the surreal nature of a paleobotanist explaining a diplomatic incident, but Ellie cut her off. "Yeah, that doesn't make much sense. Why don't you come down? There's a nice restaurant a short walk down the street. I'll explain what's going on."


"So Alan, what exactly is going on?" Giles asked as the waitress walked away, having just taken their orders.

"You'll want at least one of those before we start," Grant said, pointing to the glass of beer waiting in front of his British friend.

"I am not going to be happy with this, am I?"

"No, I don't think you will," Alan said before taking a long pull off his beer.

"I wish they hadn't chilled this," Giles said. "Seems foolish in this climate."

Giles emptied the glass and looked over at his friend who had long since finished his first beer and was awaiting his second.

"So what happened with John Hammond?"


Ellie Sattler looked at the four girls. All American Buffy, the leader of the group, seemed to be nothing more than a California cheerleader that never grew up. After they talked a little, Ellie noticed a few more depths in the girl. There was something more to the situation than any of them noticed.

"So, I'm guessing you want to know about John Hammond," Ellie asked at a lull in the conversation. They had just ordered and it would be a while before the food arrived.

"Yeah, this whole 'whoops, you've got a grandfather you've never heard of, and Costa Rica's paying for everything' thing is a little too suspicious," Willow said. She shrugged to the Summers girls. "Sorry, but it's true."

"Well, you're right to be suspicious," Sattler said. "Basically, I don't think they're willing to let you leave. They're looking for someone to blame. The Government, that is. And since they now have two out of three heirs to the Hammond fortune and the two children of the third, they think they've found their scapegoats."

"Well, that doesn't make me very happy," Buffy said sullenly.

"Wait, it gets worse," Sattler said with a sarcastic snarl. The girls jumped at the harsh tone, but the scientist shook her head apologetically. "Sorry, that wasn't directed at you."

"What happened to make Costa Rica so vengeful?"


"Actually, that's a long story in and of itself," Grant said, answering Giles' question. "It all started when the EPA was concerned about the funding the Hammond Foundation gave us."

"That's an odd thing to ask a paleontologist about," Giles commented.

"Yes, that's where it started and it only got worse from there," Grant said, leaning back in the booth. "He was looking into all this genetic equipment InGen was sending down here. He thought it was strange that a corporation was sending a whole bunch of very expensive equipment to a country with no regulations very suspicious. And he was right. I've met with Morris a couple of times since then and he's looking into doing something from the US side of things."

"That is rather suspicious and all, considering the Biosyn rabies incident in Chile," Giles commented. Grant raised a glass to him.

"Exactly, I hadn't known about that then, but this fits right in," the paleontologist said. "So, here's where I come in. Ends up the Hammond Foundation only funds digs in cold climates. Morris thought that was suspicious too."

"What happened from there?"

"Just after Morris left, Hammond called, offering $20,000 a day for me and Ellie to visit this park of his for a weekend," Grant explained. "He was sure he could bribe us into doing what he wanted.


"And it worked too," Sattler said, explaining the situation. "That kind of money would fund the dig for the next two summers."

"I don't get it," Buffy said. "What does this have to do with us?"

"Yeah, fossils are cool, but it doesn't really seem that important to us," Dawn put in. "Other than he was our grandfather I mean."

"It's a round about way, but it's still important," Dr. Sattler explained. "You see, he wanted us to see this park of his. He thought it was going to be impressive, and it was. You see, all the amber, the dinosaur fossils and whatnot, this was all to get DNA. He was cloning-"


"-Dinosaurs. He was cloning dinosaurs," Giles said, repeating Grants words. "Is he insane? There are monsters enough on this planet without bringing back dead ones!"

"Ah, but he thought he had everything under control," Grant said. "Boy was he wrong. The DNA was spotty, so he used rDNA from modern species to fill in the blanks. Some dinosaurs changed genders and started breeding. Out of 15 species, 5 were breeding on the island. They didn't even notice until it was too late."

"For a small island, that is not a good situation," Giles said, considering the implications. "How did they miss it?"

"They were only looking for the number of individuals they had put out originally, instead of checking for the total number," Grant said. "They only wanted to know if they were losing dinosaurs, so they only looked for the amount they put out originally. When they reached that point, they stopped looking."

"That is rather…foolhardy," Giles commented. "Why didn't they notice the increase of food consumption? Surely there were ways to see?"

"They had no idea about anything," Grant said. "Their lawyer, Gennaro-"

"We've met," Giles said with disgust.

"Ah, yes. The only one of us to go home," Grant said. "Well, before we knew about what was going on, Gennaro would call me up at any hour of the day asking about what dinosaurs would feed on, they had no clue. And it ended up that the carnivores, the compys and the raptors-"

"Excuse me, what? Forgive me, I'm a museum curator, not a paleontologist," Giles reminded his friend.

"Sorry, procompsognathus, a little chicken sized scavenger and hunter with sedative saliva, and velociraptor, a horse sized, pack hunting predator with huge claws, these two species were feeding off the native rat population that infested the island," Grant explained. "They also were able to wander all over the island through bunkers left from previous occupants. InGen didn't even know the bunkers and tunnels were there."


"So what happened next?" Dawn asked, having been pulled into the story.

"It's pretty simple," Ellie Sattler explained. "The dinosaurs got out."

"I'm guessing that was a bad thing," Buffy said. Ellie paused as she thought back to that heart pounding night.

"The power went out," she said. "We didn't know why at the time, but we had other things on our mind."

She paused, smirking slightly at the eager looks of her audience.

"The T-Rex ate our tour guide and chased us all over the island," the paleobotanist explained. "Then the raptors hunted some of us. All because the power outage on the island caused by some disgruntled employee."

"Wait, he caused the power outage? Who was it?" Willow asked.

"The computer expert, Denis Nedry," the scientist replied. "We don't know why he did it, only that he did. But that short window destroyed everything."

"The dinosaurs got out and ate people, I'm guessing," Buffy said. "I'm guessing Grandpa Hammond also died via dinobite, leaving no one in charge since you guys aren't InGen employees and that's why Costa Rica's looking for someone to blame."

"Exactly, and that is why you should have never come," Sattler said. "I don't know why Gennaro lied when he filled out the paperwork, we thought he had changed. I suppose he was willing to do anything to get back to his family."

"What annoys me the most is that he would have done the same to Mom," Buffy grumbled.

"But what happens now?" Tara asked. "Buffy and Dawnie don't have anything to do with this. They can't be held responsible for what some guy they never met did."

"I wish that is true," Ellie said. "For now, we just don't know what is going to happen. We've been here for almost eight months." Ellie briefly thought back to the physician fiancé she had left back in Denver. He had left her after hearing the wild stories and the fact that she never returned from Costa Rica. He had actually accused her of eloping with Alan. That part amused her. "And now, I have a question. Why aren't you surprised about the dinosaurs? Most people didn't believe us when we told them."

For their part, the California girls, plus Tara, looked at each other and simply shrugged.

"We've seen worse," Willow said simply.


"So, alarmed by the prospect of dinosaurs running free, but not particularly surprised, why is that Rupert?" Grant asked, nodding thanks to the waitress who delivered a second round to the table.

"'There are more things on Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy,'" quoted Giles. "I have witnessed plenty that makes the unbelievable rather easy to accept." At Alan's inquisitive look, Giles shook his head. "Sorry, it's a long story and mostly not mine to tell."

"Fair enough," Alan Grant said. "Well, there's evidence that these dinosaurs have, at least some of them, escaped the island either before or after Costa Rica firebombed the island. Dinosaurs matching the description of compys have been attacking children across the country and one British family had a close encounter when their little girl was attacked when she went looking for three toed sloths."

"Good God! Is she alright?"

"Yes, she's in good health now," the paleontologist said with a grim look, "but there are others that have migrated across the country eating everything rich in lysine: soy, leafy greens, chickens. From what I've heard they're duck bills, but who knows about others. I already suspect that some raptors have escaped."

"So what now?"

"What now? Now we wait until Costa Rica finds someone to blame for the impending ecological disaster."

"Who are they going to choose?" Giles asked, ripping apart a diner roll. Grant gave him an apologetic look.

"Unfortunately, those two girls are the heirs apparent of InGen," Alan said grimly. "In the US they wouldn't have been culpable, but here in Costa Rica…I don't know."


"So what do we do?" Dawn asked. "It wasn't our fault that our grandfather was crazy and got people killed."

"Family is much more important in some other countries," Willow said with a sad shrug. "They might feel that you are making up for what John Hammond did, even if you had nothing to do with it. What one family member does affects all family members. You remember, Buffy, it was in Professor Acheson's class last spring."

"Sorry, I was pretty focused on Adam last spring. I passed the class, but I think it was a pity grade," Buffy said sullenly.

"Buffy, they don't give pity grades in college," Dr. Ellie Sattler said firmly. "If you passed the class, you passed it on your own merits."

"Dr. Sattler, h-how old are you?" Tara asked hesitantly.

"24, why?"

"You're only twenty-four and you've got a doctorate!" Willow practically screamed. "You're only 4 years older than us! Well, nine older than Dawn."

"I was a hard worker in school," Ellie said with a little too much humility. "I also had great professors."

"I bet you're like Willow," Dawn said. Willow started shaking her head, but Buffy agreed.

"Yeah, Wills, you got recruited by that computer company in junior year," Buffy said. Ellie was clearly impressed.

"Really? That's quite and accomplishment," the paleobotanist said honestly. "What are you doing now?"

"Uh, getting a degree at UC Sunnydale," Willow said, just a little embarrassed.

"Don't be shy," Ellie said warmly. "It's your grad school that matters these days. If they had their eyes on you then, I bet they still have their eyes on you."

"Boy, I hope not," Willow said under her breath so low only Buffy could hear it.

"Tara, what are you studying?" Sattler asked.

"I-I haven't decided yet," Tara said with a blush.

"And you Buffy?"

"I was thinking psychology, but the professor ended up being a killer," Buffy said glibly. Willow practically choked on her food at the implication. Buffy continued as Tara patted her girlfriend on the back. "I don't know. I dropped out for this semester because Mom died and I needed to take care of Dawnie. I don't know where I'm going from there."

"Hopefully you don't get pulled down with the sinking ship of InGen," Ellie said in a grim tone. "You might get away scot free, but Costa Rica might want to keep us here for a while. There have been reports of dinosaurs in the mountains, but I don't know if we can do anything about that."

"What happened to the dinosaurs on the island?"

"The whole island was firebombed. We don't know if any got out, though it's possible the dactyls did," Sattler said. "We know that others escaped earlier, but we don't know how, other than possibly by hitching a ride on the boat. The hadrosaurs don't seem smart enough to have thought of that. They're also pretty big to have hidden so well."

"So what do we do?" Buffy asked, now genuinely worried about the implications for them. At least they were away from Glory. Absently, she considered what a fight between a hell goddess and a T-Rex would be like. Glory would probably win.