Jurassic World: Return to Isla Nublar – Chapter 35: Noise in the Treetops

A/N: As you might suspect, the title of this chapter suggests that one of the creatures in this chapter is arboreal (mainly resides in trees). This creature has not appeared in any of the previous chapters (and its identity might surprise you!). Also, be expecting more of Lester (and his rather sarcastic remarks), Grant, Levine, Dodgson, the rest of their groups and DNA Project #1. Please enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Jurassic Park except the very characters I've made up.

Ian Malcolm, Kelly, Lester and four soldiers stood in the empty heart of the Visitor Center. As when Grant, Levine and the rest of the research team were here, bones from the fossil display lied in piles on the floor where they fell; near them was the broken staircase that led to the second floor.

Malcolm whistled. "The dinosaurs really messed up this place," he said. "What exactly are we looking for?"

"Signs of the team in here," Lester answered. "We know they came in here. Stanley pointed out that there were only about half of the team members exited the building. So unless they left out of here another way, they've got to be in here, somewhere, dead or alive."

Malcolm walked slowly toward the Cretaceous Cafe. He gestured to the soldiers to be ready to fire in case a dinosaur was inside. Quickly, two soldiers took their places on either side of Malcolm before pushing the door open, ready to fire . . . the room was empty. Malcolm and the soldiers walked in.

There was expired fruit littered all over the floor and many of the tables (including the buffet) and chairs were knocked over.

"What happened here?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Hard to say," Malcolm answered.

Just then, Kelly entered the room and grimaced. "This place smells a little."

"I don't think there's anything in here. Let's go look elsewhere."

Lester and the others looked throughout the first floor and tried to determine where the group might have been, but found nothing. Then he assigned ten soldiers to scour the building and look for signs of the missing group while he met with the rest of the rescue team (Eric, Stanley, Sarah and the soldiers that accompanied them had just come back from their look around the area).

"So I take it you didn't find anything yet," Eric stated.

"Unfortunately they're still missing," Kelly told the others. "They went in all right, but they didn't leave any traces that we could find, on the first floor anyways. Lester has soldiers hunting the second floor now. Maybe Stanley could go in and find something."

"I'm afraid not," Stanley said. "I'm a wildlife tracker, not a detective. I'm good at tracking things in nature, not in old abandoned buildings."

"Oh dear," Hammond whispered. "If only half of them came out, you don't suppose something killed them, do you?"

"Well, we won't know for sure until the soldiers completely search the second floor of the Visitor Center," said Lester. "What did you guys find?" Stanley held up the name tag from the soldier they found in the jungle. "Roger Macrate," Lester whispered. "One of our soldiers?"

"Yes, sir," Stanley answered. "The raptors got him and they took him into the jungle. Some compies were finishing off his remains. He's the only person we could find. No other remains were found."

"But we did see the raptor paddock," Eric added. "It's pretty cool!"

Lester turned to Eric and said, "May I remind we are part of a rescue operation, not a tourist group looking at all the sites."

"Sorry."

Suddenly, Lester's satellite phone began ringing and he put it up to his mouth. "Hello?"

"Hi, Lester, this is Rebecca," said the voice on the other end.

"Oh yes, Rebecca," Lester began, "how are things going at the dock. I presume you have more soldiers, vehicles and equipment ready to send to us at a moment's notice?"

"Yes sir, but that's not why I called."

"I'm sorry?"

"A Biosyn helicopter was spotted flying towards the island."

"Biosyn? That figures. We knew they were on to us. Where is it now? I hope its occupants are aboard the USS Mars. They could be useful in obtaining information regarding Biosyn's business with us."

"Well, the helicopter was attacked by a mosasaur and the captain sent the soldiers out of rescue the people inside. One was consumed by the mosasaur, but we have the other one here and locked up."

Lester nodded in approval. "Good. Alright then. I'll be there as soon as I can so we can see what we can learn from him. Just please keep him locked up at all times."

"Alright, we will."

Lester ended the call and turned back to the rest of the group who had overheard the whole conversation.

"So they are onto us!" Sarah exclaimed.

"Yes, unfortunately." Lester sighed. "Of course, we won't know whether or not they've already been on the island, but until then, we need to keep a lookout for signs of the Biosyn team, as well as our own team. Or at least, the rest of you will. I've got to get back to the USS Mars and question our . . . 'intruder'. Hammond's in charge until I return, if he can manage."

Hammond was taken aback. "I might not have youth, but I've got the skill to manage major operations. I've been doing it most of my life! Quite large major operations too, some of which involving other important men and women with expensive equipment. Spared no expense."

"Alright then. Just try not to make a complete dog's breakfast of this, will you?"

Lester was soon on his way back to the USS Mars and Hammond turned to the rest of his group. "Well, what are we waiting for? This is a rescue operation and it's starting right now! Let's go!"

Kelly turned to her father. "You think we'll find the others, Dad?" she asked.

"Hey, finding the others is just half the problem," Malcolm said. "Getting off the island alive is the hard part."

"Do you think you'd rather die of malnutrition or get eaten?" Taylor asked. She, Grant, Dr. Sorkin, Ryan, soldier #1 and soldier #2 had been moving downriver at a speedy pace. The river's current was so strong, that they didn't need to paddle. The ride down the river so far was peaceful, if you don't count Taylor's endless ranting. "Personally, Taylor continued, "I think I'd rather be eaten. That's because if you die from malnutrition, it's a long hard wait until death. However, if you get eaten by something, at least it's quick. One or two bites and your done. At least that's the case for someone my size. For the rest of you guys it would probably be more like four or five bites before your dead. Let's just hope you don't escape a spitter after it spits venom on you. Then you'll have a miserable time trying to stay alive when you can't see anything and feel so sick that you'll wish the dinosaurs would find and eat you. Oh wait! I forgot about what happens to you if you get eaten by raptors and Troodon! If you get eaten by those two, they'll slash you right in the stomach until your guts are coming out and then your alive when they start to eat you. I wonder if your conscious when they're eating you. It must be kind of weird to literally watch them eat out your intestines–"

"Seriously, Taylor?" Dr. Sorkin groaned. "You must read too many horror novels. There's plenty of positive things to talk about. This island's simply full of nature's ancient wonders for us to study and observe. Talk about that if you must talk."

"Or how about you don't talk at all?" Grant suggested. "Whistle or sing a song or something. Just don't talk."

Taylor sighed before she took Grant's advice a little too literally. She began singing to the tune of the chorus to the hymn "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder": "When the dinosaurs . . . come and find us! When the dinosaurs . . . come and find us! When the dinosaurs . . . come and find us . . .! When the dinosaurs come and find us we'll be lunch!"

"Oh for crying out loud!" Grant exclaimed. "Why couldn't the stowaway have been a nerdy kid."

"I'm not a stowaway!" Taylor argued.

Suddenly, a loud squawk from above sounded as a series of large shadows were cast over the group. They looked up and saw three Pteranodon flying overhead in the early morning sky, which was now turning orange, yellow and pink as the sun rose. The graceful pterosaurs hardly flapped their wings at all as they passed over our group, not paying them any attention.

"Pterodactyls," Ryan stated.

"Pteranodon, actually," Dr. Sorkin corrected him.

"I say 'pterodactyl', you say 'Pteranodon'. What's the difference?"

"There's no such thing as a pterodactyl. The group of short-tailed pterosaurs is called 'pterodactyloids', and there is a species of pterosaur called Pterodactylus, but there is no species of pterosaur called a pterodactyl."

"Whatever."

Now ahead of them, the pterosaurs began circling in the air above the river.

"Are we under attack?" soldier #1 asked.

"Please no," Dr. Sorkin answered. "In a similar case to the raptors, we bred two subspecies of Pteranodon longiceps on Isla Sorna. One species – the one we're watching now – was just referred to as P. longiceps, and the other subspecies was called P. 'hippocratesi'. The first species we recreated was hippocratesi and it was the more ferocious of the two. We found it too dangerous for a park setting, so we added P. longiceps to the park instead. P. longiceps was a relatively harmless subspecies. The two differed in other aspects of their behavior as well. P. longiceps feeds almost exclusively on fish. P. hippocratesi on the other hand are mainly fish-eaters, but they will occasionally settle for smaller land animals and humans if possible. They are also extremely territorial. This is why we kept them caged up on Sorna and under close watch and security, while some specimens of P. longiceps was shipped to Nublar where it would be the feature creature for the Phase B attraction, the Aviary."

"But aren't the Pteranodon you study in California the hypocrite species?"

"It's hippocratesi and yes. We haven't yet been able to determine why their aggression has been naturally toned down greatly in a single generation. Not one attack on humans was ever recorded once they reached the mainland."

Grant smiled and said, "Good thing they never did settle in Enid, Oklahoma."

"Yeah, my sister wouldn't have been too happy."

One of the Pteranodon suddenly dropped down near the water's surface and dipped its lower beak into the water. A few seconds later, its beak snapped shut with a freshly caught fish. The creature then flapped its huge wings and increased in height as the second Pteranodon did the same thing.

"They're feeding," Grant noticed.

Finally, the third one also flew close to the water's surface, lowered its beak and snapped up a fish. Just as suddenly as they appeared, the three pterosaurs flew up higher into the sky and out of sight.

After about a minute of silence, Ryan looked at his watch (which read 7:28 a.m.) asked, "Where do you think we are, Dr. Sorkin?"

"Can't tell," she responded. "But the good news is that we're heading to the coast. This river goes straight to the coast, so there's noway we can get lost along the way."

Levine selected another email from the list. The rest of his group sat in the shade of the jungle trees, waiting patiently for Levine to find an email to read.

"Alright, this should be a good one," he said.

"'January 28, 1993

Dear Hammond,

Things are going well here at the park, and a lot has been going on! Most of the Phase A attractions and amenities are nearing completion, one of the exceptions being the Safari Lodge. They've barely started constructing it yet! I can't believe that we're finally going to open the park next year! I have a certain feeling that nothing can stop us from opening now. The progress we've made so far is quite remarkable.

As you recall, Laura's parasaur studies are going great (which is great for us because it keeps her out of our hair; I like her and all, but at the end of the day when your trying to finish up your work, she can get a little irritating when she starts blabbering on and on about how we should have not used frog DNA and should not have kept the dinosaurs lysine deficient and blah, blah, blah). However, she tells me the hadrosaurs weren't exactly behaving today. Oh well.

While I'm on the subject of Dr. Sorkin, she's recently decoded the DNA of the small theropod (she's not sure what type yet) and she and her lab assistants are starting the cloning process. Within the next few days, we should be seeing some embryos. Finally, she's getting to recreate her dinosaurs without frog DNA. I hope she's happy! Whatever it is, I hope she'll let us use some of her specimens to showcase in the park for Phase B, if they're suitable for the park of course.

DNA Project #1 is going splendidly! We currently have embryos for all the species I mentioned in my last email to you. I still have no idea what creatures some of them are though. We'll have to wait until the embryos are injected into the eggs in order to find out what species they belong to. The embryos all look so identical at this stage.

Well, that's all for now. I'm looking forward to your return to the park next weekend!

Sincerely, Henry Wu.'"

"Not much to learn from that email," Kailey observed. "So this is the same year the park failed?"

"Yes, the park went haywire starting on June 11th, 1993," Tim told her. "The email Levine read was emailed in January, so the park's still got several months to go before InGen goes downhill."

Levine grinned and slowly shook his head. "Poor InGen had no idea what was coming to them. Even Dr. Wu thought that nothing could stop their progress, according to this email."

"DNA Project #1 appears to be underway," Lex noted. "Do you think that might have been part of InGen's downfall?"

"Possibly. As I've said before, according to the Chaos Theory, little things that happened between the park's creation and its downfall would eventually cause great problems. Of course, I doubt all these issues the park had would have caused the park's demise – the park's demise was technically caused by Nedry. But everything that happened after that was sort of like a domino effect, one thing led to another and caused a MEGA-problem."

The group sat in the jungle for a few more seconds before Rob said, "Should we get going?"

Levine nodded and shut down the computer before returning it to his backpack. "Yeah, we should. We need to cover as much ground as possible so that we can make it to the coast. Who knows, maybe we'll make it to the coast by the end of the day."

So the others got up and continued their trek into the jungle. Just then, a loud roar from a tyrannosaur echoed in the distance.

Lex nervously scanned the forest and asked, "Think it's nearby?"

"It could be anywhere," Levine answered. "I don't think it's too close to us. But let's keep moving anyhow."

Lex walked next to Kailey and whispered, "So . . . how are you holding up?"

Kailey winced. "What do you mean?"

"You know, after all we've been through, a lot of people would be feeling way more terrified than you are."

"I'm plenty terrified! The thought of running into another dinosaur is not at all settling!"

"Believe me, some people in your situation would be scared to death and can't think clearly at all! Back in '93, I was so terrified when the T. rex attacked our jeep. I could hardly keep from screaming, especially after Genaro just left us in there–"

All of a sudden, a loud howling sound boomed out of the forest canopy and everyone covered their ears.

"Oh my gosh!" Lex exclaimed. "What is that sound?"

"Look up there!" Levine said above the noise. Up in the trees was a relatively large mammal with reddish-colored fur and a mane on its neck. It also possessed a long tail and limbs with grasping fingers and toes. The creature was not alone in treetops – nine other members of the same species were also clambering out onto the branches and they soon joined in the noisy chorus of howling. Levine smiled from ear to ear: these were howler monkey.

"What are those things?" Rob asked. "A crazy InGen creation?"

"No, these are howler monkeys!" Levine began to explain. "They normally can be found in the jungles of South and Central America and are one of the loudest animals on the planet."

"Yeah, I noticed."

Above them, the monkeys continued to howl loudly. As much as (most of) the group wanted the animals to stop their noisy song, there was no sign of the monkeys stopping. One of the monkeys even climbed onto a thinner branch to shake it using its weight.

Kailey asked, "Why do they do that anyway?"

"Howler monkeys use their loud calls to ward off rival troops," Tim explained. "This is the way they avoid physical battles. Who knew these guys lived on Nublar?"

Finally, after what seemed like ages, the monkeys ceased their sound and continued their previous activity, foraging for fruit. One of the monkeys settled on a branch and picked a large yellowish-green fruit from a tree branch above and used its sharp teeth to cut into the fruit's thick peel.

Levine grabbed his binoculars and placed them in front of his eyes to get a better look at the feeding monkey. They're so amazing! he thought. These monkeys are an important part in our study of the island's wildlife! I bet since they're here, that means other native non-dinosaurian fauna lives here too!

"How do these guys escape dinosaurs?" Lex asked curiously. "Because it's obvious they're thriving here."

"Can I see those?" Kailey asked, referring to his binoculars.

"Oh, sure." He handed her the binoculars before answering Lex's question. "Well, most – if not all – the dinosaurs InGen recreated can't climb trees well. This not only presents a solution for the howler monkeys, but also a problem for the trees. See, since most dinosaurs can't climb, trees need other animals to eat their fruits so that their seeds can be passed on. Otherwise the trees go extinct. Howler monkeys – and possibly several other species – play the role of passing on the fruit's seeds throughout the island. Seeing these howler monkeys provides evidence that the creatures original ecosystem of this island that lived here before the dinosaurs were brought here is still thriving. In fact, I'd even go out on a limb to say that they've adapted rather well to the dinosaurs' arrival and filled the ecological niches that dinosaurs could not fill."

Tim smiled. "Life found a way, again," he whispered.

Kailey handed the binoculars back to Levine and used her camera to take a photograph. "I've taken so many good photos of the last few days!"

Lex suddenly frowned as a long yellow stream of liquid fell from the treetops to the ground below. "Please tell me that's not what I thought it was . . ."

"Maybe we should leave," he said. "I've heard howler monkeys like to uh . . . 'excrete', on visitors."

Lex grimaced and started walking. "Ew! Levine! Why didn't you tell us that beforehand? I'm getting out of here!"

Dodgson opened his eyes and looked up at the morning sun rising over the trees. Another day . . . I wonder what time it is. He looked at his watch and his eyes nearly popped out of his head: it was 8:00 a.m.! Where was the chopper? Considering when the chopper left last night, it should have definitely been here by now!

"Can't those guys do anything right?" Dodgson asked. He looked up at the sky again and wondered whether he and Halley should get a move on and try to locate the jeep again. "Well, I guess that would be the best idea. All I have to do is find those eggs and get off this crazy island! If I can just make it to the coast, then we should be able to find some way to get off the island. InGen left the island in a hurry, so there's probably tons of boats and other things near the coast. If we don't get eaten by dinosaurs, we'll be OK."

He nudged Halley, who was sleeping on the other side of the tree-nook they spent the night in (after Halley's failed attempts to make a fire). Halley barely budged so he nudged her harder.

"Wake up, Halley-girl," he said, "we need to get a move on."

Without opening her eyes, she asked, "What time is it?"

"It's time for you to wake up! Get up, lazy bones!"

"I'm not going anywhere this time of morning! Go away! Leave me alone!"

Dodgson was about to give her a hard shove when he suddenly had an entertaining thought: why not give her just what she wished?

He smiled slyly and quietly slid himself out of the tree and down onto the ground. Well if Ms. Sleeping Beauty values sleep instead of escaping this island, than that's fine by me! Besides, I bet I can get off the island faster without her slowing me down! Why didn't I think about that sooner? I'm out of here!

As not to let her know what he was up to, Dodgson tiptoed out of the area, leaving Halley resting in her tree . . .

Lester was driven back to the USS Mars and walked through the dozens of Lexico soldiers in the North Dock area before walking back up the ship's ramp and being confronted by Rebecca.

"Hello, Lester," she began. "Any hint of the survival of the research team?"

"Not too much, just some footprints," Lester answered. "Their trailer was obviously attacked by something considering its been broken into. Where's the Biosyn personnel?"

"He's in your office."

"My office? Couldn't you have put him in a guest bedroom or something?"

Rebecca and Lester walked into the office and joined four Lexico soldiers standing next to and behind the Biosyn pilot. The pilot was sitting in front of Lester's desk and had his head down and hands in front of him on the table, twiddling his thumbs.

Lester took a seat and began by saying, "So . . . what is your name?"

The pilot looked up and quietly answered, "Marcus Jones."

"And what do you do for Biosyn?"

"I'm a pilot and engineer. Not scientific engineer, by the way."

Lester nodded. "What were you doing flying toward Nublar? Or, a better question: since you guys apparently know something about Nublar, what do you know about it?"

Marcus was silent.

"Well?"

"I uh . . . I can't say."

"Well, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way," Lester explained. "You can either answer all the questions asked to you . . . or, if you'd feel like remaining in imprisoned conditions until you feel like answering that's fine with me too."

"Alright, alright." Marcus wasn't fond of that idea too much, so he figured that he might as well give at least an answer rather than no answer. "What do you want to know?"

"How did Biosyn find out about Nublar?"

"We read the tabloids."

"The tabloids?" Lester snickered in an amused fashion. "And um . . . did these . . . tabloids, ever give coordinates to the island? Because a pilot like you should know that you can't locate an island without knowing where it is. It's a big ocean out there, Marcus."

"The tabloids we read gave a lot of information."

Lester retrieved the tracker beacon and placed it on the table. "Would you like to explain what this was doing on our ship?"

Marcus gasped. "I don't know. What makes you think Biosyn put that on your ship?"

"Oh, nothing . . . except maybe the label on the bottom of the suction cup!"

"Um . . . maybe it was a misprint by the manufacturers of another company?"

Lester turned to Rebecca and asked, "Can we laser whip him?"

"What?" Rebecca questioned.

"Only kidding," Lester added dryly. "Still though, you don't suppose the mosasaur's hungry for a second course, do you?"

"OK, OK. I'll tell you everything!" Marcus pleaded.

Lester smiled and nodded. Of course, he wasn't really going to drop Marcus back into the ocean, but his bluff worked, and that's all that mattered.

"So," Lester began, "how did Biosyn find out about the island's existence in the first place?"

"We uh . . . had heard rumors based on the disappearances of the jet-skiers and of the tabloid article writers who attempted to go to Nublar and retrieve evidence that Nublar wasn't destroyed."

"Alright then. What on earth were you even doing near Nublar in the first place?"

"Dodgson's and a team of three others went to the island on the day after your team dispatched. Something happened to Dodgson's vehicle, equipment and two of his team members and my co-pilot and I were on our way to the island to pick them up and take them back to the mainland after they'd achieved their goal."

"And what was their goal?" Lester inquired.

"Biosyn has had financial issues over the last few years. To save the company, Dodgson decided that he and his team would go to Nublar and retrieve dinosaur eggs. The eggs would then be used to gain some profit and . . . that's pretty much it."

Lester nodded and stood up. "I think we have all the information we need to know."

Rebecca asked, "So what are we going to do know?"

"Easy, we'll keep Marcus locked up until we reach the mainland. We'll deal with him later, I suppose."

"I was actually referring to Dodgson's team already on the island."

"Oh, well we'll just have to locate them and our research team at the same time."

Just then, the whirring sound of a helicopter was heard on the deck of the ship.

"What's going on out there?" Lester asked. He and Rebecca left the office and arrived on the dock just in time to see a Lexico helicopter slowly fly up into the air and further inland. Lester turned to the captain and asked, "Who gave the order to fly that thing inland?"

"Hammond called on his sat. phone, sir," the captain said.

Lester sighed. "Why on earth didn't I stay in the postal service?"

A/N: While writing this chapter, I was trying to think of a creature to add, because I'd used up all the dinosaurs I wanted to add to the story (up until this chapter. Don't worry, there are still some new dinosaurs coming up!) and that's when I remembered watching a recent documentary featuring holler monkeys. I thought they'd be a great addition to the story (holler monkeys even appear in the first Jurassic Park novel). The next chapter should be a pretty exciting one that you'll probably want to read as soon as its published, so until then, r&r!