Just as I had predicted there was some delay with my update. Please enjoy chapter nine and feel free to comment in a review.

Chapter 9

Through his binoculars, the businessman had seen it all happen up close. The Mosasaurus had trashed the transport and eaten its occupants. He cursed the animal and rubbed his forehead to think. Just when he concluded what to do the captain emerged from the bridge hut.

"What do we do now, mister Jacobson?" he said.

"Perfect timing. Contact Ivan. Have him and his men prepare a welcome-to-shore party for the InGen associates."

"Aye aye sir."

The man went back inside to do as instructed. Yamagata stood next to Pavel as always silently awaiting a command. The Yakuza never hired a blabbermouth and spontaneous speech was rare with any of their militants. Yamagata was no exception to that rule. He only spoke when he was asked to do so. Pavel appreciated this most of the time, but now he wanted a second opinion.

"What is on your mind?"

The Japanese man looked at him questioningly. His former life also taught him not to be too straightforward with his own input. Those that were had their tongue cut out, and that was if they were lucky.

"Come on. What do you think right now?"

"What was that thing?" he eventually said.

"I have no idea, but whatever it is I want it dead."

"How?"

"I don't know yet." Jacobson sighed.

The captain reappeared from his steering cabin and the look on his face betrayed that he had bad news to bring. His instincts told him that Pavel wasn't very keen on bad news right now. He postponed as long as he could, until at last his superior caught sight of him.

"Yes?"

"Sir, Ivan is not in the camp." he spoke softly.

"What?!" Pavel sparked.

"He's not there."

"Then where is he?"

"They say he went into the jungle to find Aleksei."

Pavel started cursing out loud, insulting God in more than one tongue. The captain was glad he didn't get the anger poured over him, yet did a few steps back in case his boss would change his mind regarding that matter. Everyone in the direct vicinity copied the captain's safety precaution. Once the swarm of insults had subsided, Pavel stared at the sea.

"Prepare a transport." he determined after a brief moment.

All around, people started mumbling with their neighbours. They had all watched in horror as their colleagues had been devoured by the enormous sea monster and now their boss wanted to go out onto the water as well.

"Well?!" he yelled impatiently.

"Sir, are you sure it is safe to go out?" the captain asked carefully.

"Of course not." he laughed morbidly. "That, my friend, is why you will be going, not me!"

"But Pavel, who will control the boat if he's gone?" Yamagata posed.

Although he normally wouldn't dare contradict his boss, he had felt the need to point out that sacrificing the captain was a bad idea. The captain looked at the Asian with gratitude.

"Hmm."

Jacobson thought of this for a second, once again staring at the vast blue. Finally he turned around with a diabolical smile.

"You're right Yamagata. And since you were so helpful in pointing it out, you'd better go in his place."

He walked back inside. Everyone outside quietly gazed at the bodyguard.

"Godspeed sir." the captain said to him.

"I don't believe in God, but if I did, I wouldn't ask him to come here." Yamagata responded deadpanned.

.

Everyone had followed the argument at the end of the column consequently all fell silent upon seeing the rustle in the bush. Ivan made a couple of gestures and the mercenaries made a semicircle around the target. When he clenched his fist, the bush was shredded with bullets for a few seconds. One of the men walked forward and pulled away what was left of the shrubbery. He bent over and picked up the remains of a parrot. He laughed derogatorily and the rest joint in.

Then a eardrum-piercing screech and a velociraptor jumped on top of the man, tearing his head from his torso. The frightened soldiers began firing at the reptile, but as a result were too late to react to the other raptors that leaped from the surrounding undergrowth. Ivan called out in Ukrainian and managed to shoot one of the attackers through the head, yet many more were quick to the scene.

"We have to get out of here!" Alan shouted to everyone around him.

As he ran, he felt the vegetation swipe at his arms and face, but he had to keep going. He glanced back and saw the old professor shortly behind him. He maned him to halt.

"Where is Malcom?"

"I-eh…" the elder replied looking around confused.

The snarling of Velociraptors could be heard, followed by a man crying out loud. They resumed their run for safety. Neither knew where they were going, however staying was in any case a worse option than blindly sprinting through the jungle. After a few minutes, the sound of the battle died away. They slowed down.

"What do we do now?" Arie asked, breathing heavily.

"I don't kno-.."

Alan tumbled over a solid object and landed face first into the mud. His friend handed him a handkerchief. While he cleaned his face, he looked back at what caused him to fall. It was the corpse of a man. Arie did a few steps back and held his nose.

"Is it Aleksei?"

"I don't think so." Alan said, inspecting the body.

"Another hired-gun?"

"No, this can't be one of Jacobson's men. Look."

He pointed at the scraps of cloth stuck to the fleshless ribcage. It was white and wore a different symbol than the Ukrainian mercenaries did. It pictured an anchor with a seagull flying in the back. This man was a sailor, yet none of Pavel's sailors had set foot on land, let alone that either of them went this far inland. Who was this man?

"Alan…"

"Hmm?"

He broke free from his thought and followed the Dutchman's stare at a building in the distance. It was severely scarred by weather and time, yet might provide cover. They walked over to its entrance, wary of every sound. Grant yanked at the door, yet it didn't give in.

"Oh come on! How can it be locked?!" he cried in anger.

"Sssht!" Arie suggested.

He gestured at the moving bushes behind them and Alan's heart skipped a beat. With bated breath they waited for whatever it was to come out. This was it, third time's the charm. He wouldn't be able to leave this island in one piece, not again. He felt how Arie squeezed his arm, but the pain was hardly noticeable due to the vast concentration of adrenaline that pumped through his veins. Suddenly a black stature emerged from the greenery.

"Ian!" he called out.

"Oh hi." the mathematician said dryly.

"Where have you been?"

"Well you know, running for my life, trying not to get killed. Daily matters."

"How did you get that?" Arie asked, pointing at the gun in his hand.

"I stumbled across Aleksei. Or maybe it was his friend. Anyway, he was happy to lend me his gun since he didn't need it anymore."

He pointed at the concrete building behind them and asked why they hadn't gone inside yet. Arie explained that it was locked. Ian found it hard to believe and tried opening it himself, to the same disappointing result.

"Why is it locked?"

"We don't know!" the doctor responded agitated.

"Okay, easy Alan." he said, surprised by his friend's abrupt hostility.

Out of the blue, the door unlocked and opened up with a creaking noise. A man dressed in a stained white outfit appeared in the opening and gaze at them in astonishment.

"How come you are still alive?" the man asked.

.

With a moaning sound, the metal surface of the lifeboat scraped across the sandy beach. The last hundred metres to the beach had been exhausting as the outboard engine had given up. Luckily the potentially lurking Mosasaurus was motivation enough to impel the men into rowing. Now they tossed their tired bodies in the sand, never happier with the feeling of solid ground. Owen looked around the many faces and realized that most of them appeared under the impression that the worst was over. He shook his head because of that naivety. He appointed three men to help him and they unloaded the boat. Additionally, they tried to distribute the scarce supplies as best as possible.

"Alright everyone, gather round."

The group clustered at Owen's location and listened with interest to what he had to say. Every doubt about him which they might have had at first was all gone since his decision to flee had saved their lives. He took out a red marker and marked their current position with a cross. He then pointed at station Beta and discussed the plan out loud to ensure that those in the backrow also knew what the undertaking would include.

"So we head out for the nearest station, which is Beta. Hopefully there we can make contact with Isla Nublar and find shelter."

"What if we encounter dinosaurs?"

"I've given rifles to those who claim to be the best shooters among us, so if none of boasted about their skills I believe we'll be reasonable protected."

"They're coming!" someone called.

All turned their attention to the alerting man. When Owen got to him, he handed over his spyglass and pointed at The Russian Jewel. An armoured transport was being lifted onto the water. Owen tried to distinguish the amount of men on board and increased the magnification, but they were simply too far away. He handed the man his piece of equipment back and once more addressed his colleagues with a loud voice.

"The hostiles have not given up on us yet, but if we leave now we'll have a good head start."

"Who says they won't be eaten just like the others?"

Others cheered for this comment, but Grady easily wasted the theory.

"We weren't either, remember?"

The enthusiasm vanished as swiftly as it had emerged and after providing the men with a heading, the group left inland.

.

"So, you've been here for more than a week?"

The man nodded sadly. Once Alan, Ian and Arie had gotten inside, they found that the inhabitant of the building was not alone. All around, men watched them as they entered, some carrying improvised spears made from iron bars. Every single one wore the same emblem: the anchor with the seagull in the background. The leader of the band of castaways explained that it belonged to the containership upon which they had all sailed. It had crashed over a week ago and they had been stuck here ever since. Alan explained their own situation in as much detail as he thought necessary up to the ambush by the raptors.

"The animals on these islands are large and aggressive. Many of the man that had made it to shore with us weren't as lucky as we were."

"Define lucky." Malcolm let out.

"Hence the spears." Arie concluded.

The man nodded. His name was Raymond and he turned out to have been the first mate aboard.

"We've lost many friends till we eventually came across this building."

"But where did you live from all this time?" the professor wondered.

Raymond explained that some of the structure's features were still operating, among which the cooling system of the food storage and the pressurized water supply. Although Alan knew it was a stupid question, he had to ask whether the phone worked. The first mate shook his head.

"Believe me, we've tried." he said, "During our stay here we've attempted multiple ways to communicate with the outside world, but it cannot be done."

"What about somewhere else?" Ian demanded.

Raymond clicked his fingers and one of the sailors brought him a map.

"Look, we are here."

"Station Beta." Arie read.

"Yes. Now there are two other facilities on this island, Alpha and Gamma."

"Excellent, how fast do you think we can reach those?"

Ian was given a tentative look by all of the men around. When he asked why, he was given an answer he could have thought of himself.

"We'd rather not leave this place. Those things out there…"

"Velociraptors." Alan corrected.

"Whatever. It's just not safe to go outside, okay?" Raymond stated with a certain nuisance by Alan actually giving the satanic creatures a name.

"We know that, in case you forgot, we just came from there." Ian sparked, "You think staying here is so much better? Sooner or later you will run out of food. Moreover, are you sure you want to spend your last days cowering in a damp bunker with only men as company?"

By the looks on their faces, Ian knew he had given them food for thought.

"Even if you're right, what do you plan to do?"

"I think it's worth a shot to check out station Gamma. If this base still possesses some functional features, maybe that one does too. Perhaps even a phone to call a cab."

"It's worth a shot, but why Gamma and not Alpha?"

"Well, during my previous deadly camping trips I've learned that you'll have better signal at the coast." he replied. "Also, if we go south we have a chance of running into our Ukrainian friends again and as much as I'd love to spend another couple of days in captivity I'll pass this time."

Raymond looked at the doctor, confused by the high degree of sarcasm Malcolm exerted. In reply Alan raised his arms as to symbolize that he didn't what drove him to that either.

End of chapter