The Genetics Lab
"Be careful through this next area," said Daniel. "We believe that compsognathus may have overrun the lab after a section of the wall caved in."
"Might I ask what caused the collapse?" asked Arnold. His tone made him seem as if he was eager for the scientist to mention something particularly nasty.
"We're not sure," replied Daniel, punching in the code to an electrically locked door. "All we've seen are a few aerial photographs, but it looks like a large dinosaur, perhaps an allosuarus, a tyrannosaurus, or even a gigantosaurus broke through with its sheer mass and strength."
"What's a gigantosaurus?" asked Seth nervously. He was still rattled from the encounter with the triceratops. "It sounds b-big…"
"A gigantosaurus is a five-and-a-half meter tall carnivore," the scientist explained.
"How much bigger is a T-Rex?" asked Seth, fearing the answer.
"Actually, tyrannosaurus rexes were—I mean are somewhat smaller. There are lots of dinosaurs bigger than a T-Rex, such as the brachiosaurus and the spinosaurus. Don't worry, though, this lab is too enclosed for anything that big. The triceratops barely fit anyway."
"How tall is a T-Rex, then?" persisted Arnold. He seemed obsessed with this dinosaur.
"According to InGen records, there was only one tyrannosaurus rex on the island, and it was last measured at 4 meters tall—or 13 feet, and 12.8 meters long—that's 42 feet."
"There was just one?" asked Morgan, surprised.
"The tyrannosaurus is a very solitary predator. They don't interact much, nor do they hunt in packs like velociraptors or compsognathus."
"What is this compsognathus you keep mentioning?" Chuck inquired as Daniel unlocked another door.
"You saw one back upstairs," said Daniel, succeeding at opening the door. "It's a little fellow, usually green or black and white striped with little pre-feathers."
"Oh yeah," said Chuck, recalling the incident with the tour ride.
"Here we are," announced Eva. "Get ready. We don't know what's in here," she reminded. The group prepared their weapons and crept toward the doorway very cautiously.
"I don't see anything," whispered Morgan.
The lab consisted of a large ring, with a massive column in the center filled with a blue-green liquid. Control panels covered the circumference of the centerpiece. To the right was the group's target.
"The coast's clear," called Tim, returning his rifle to his back. "Let's have a look at those memory storage units." He walked into the lab and over to a towering computer. "How do we get these things out?" he asked, examining the large rectangular ports in the console.
"You just press the switch… here," said Eva, pushing the button beside the opening. Instantaneously, the memory device inside was ejected, allowing Tim to pull it out fully. "Uh-oh," said Eva.
"What is it?" asked Daniel, hurrying over.
The red-haired scientist sighed dramatically. "This one's corroded," she replied, gesturing at the unit, which was encrusted in a strange white substance.
"Let's check the others," said Seth optimistically. He hopped over the counter and joined the three in collecting the large computer devices.
Once they had each square, which had roughly the same surface area as a Nintendo Wii, they sorted them into 'usable' and 'to discard'. The result was four safe memory units and two destroyed ones.
"Will this work?" asked Seth, concerned as Eva tossed the two corroded devices in a nearby trashcan.
"Oh, yeah, this will be great," replied the scientist.
"Hey, what's that over there?" said Chuck distractedly. Once again, he wandered off and managed to find trouble.
"Oh, it's another compy!" he laughed, spotting the little feathery dinosaur on the desk ahead. "Hey, little guy. You're not so scary now!" he cooed.
Suddenly, the compsognathus skittered off around the corner. "Oh, hey, don't run away!" said Chuck. "No, no, come back; I won't hurt you." He crouched down and followed the diminutive creature. He ended up walking a little bit around the central pillar.
"Hey, where're you going—" asked Chuck, keeping up his adopted falsetto. All of a sudden, he found out what the tiny dinosaur was up to. To his shock and dismay, he had stumbled upon a pack of at least thirteen of the little guys. "Uh-oh," he muttered, backing away slowly.
Abruptly, every compsognathus turned on him and screeched. Then, they leapt onto him. He was still in a half-crouch, so he was knocked down by their bodies pelting against him. He cried out as they bounded on top of him, biting at his face and hands. He rolled frantically, trying to crush the little monsters.
"Where's Chuck?" asked Tim. Suddenly, he heard the shouts. "Chuck!" he called, grabbing his gun off the counter and running with Manuel and Morgan to find out what was happening.
"Oh jeez," breathed Manuel, spotting the feeding frenzy. In the short period of time it had taken the trio to come to their spastic companion's aid, he had been reduced to a semblance of a piece of beef.
"Well, don't just stand there!" shouted Tim. "Shoot them!"
All at once, the little hopping predators came at the threesome. The suddenly snapped back to reality and opened fire. The creatures were too fast for most of the shots, but Morgan, with his semiautomatic pistol, Tim, with his high-powered rifle, and Manuel, with his machine gun, managed to kill every single 'compy,' as they had been nicknamed by InGen teams who encountered them on Isla Sorna.
"That is nasty!" exclaimed Hakeem, coming around the corner with Arnold.
"I saw it coming," said the bounty hunter, shaking his head. The others tuned to him and stared with scorn, for while they had all been thinking it, each of them knew to say so was inappropriate.
Thank you very much for reading. Be sure to check out the poll on my profile about Jurassic Park. There's another one pertaining to my Final Fantasy Fanfic, Through the Rift. Please review, and check back shortly for the next chapter!
