A couple of times a month they went to the black sand beach. It was an indulgence, considering the finite fuel supply, but Priscilla loved that place, so he made the effort. Each time they passed by the inn he kept a sharp eye out for the other raptors, hoping to see some sign that they were thriving, but nothing yet. He had found fresh kills further east that looked to be the work of raptors, so he was fairly certain they were all still alive and well.
On the west coast he had discovered a couple of good fishing spots, so the drives were also a good chance to catch some food. Priscilla's diet consisted mainly of biltong, but he liked the variety.
There was a big gallinazo tree that Priscilla liked to sit under when the weather got too warm to lay on the sand, and that's where she was now, resting inconspicuously between its buttress roots.
The day was heating up considerably so Muldoon decided to pack up his catch and head back inland where they could shelter in the bungalow. Sparing no expense, Hammond had had it designed to cool naturally, without the need of power, just to see if such a thing was possible. In this case, Muldoon was glad of the old man's exorbitance.
His weapon was already in the jeep, he usually left it there rather than risk it getting clogged with sand. The risk to their safety was minimal, in all the times they'd been here they had never encountered any other dinosaurs.
On the drive back east, a sound caught his ear, and he slowed the jeep to investigate. Listening intently he heard it again, the unmistakable bark of a raptor. He recognised Temba's voice, and assumed it was a territorial call.
He killed the engine and waited quietly to see if any of the raptors would appear.
Just ahead he spotted movement and Evie appeared on the side of the road, and back in the trees a little further was Clarice. He couldn't see Temba, but that that didn't mean the big raptor wasn't close. Evie looked strong and healthy which was a relief, he worried about her sometimes after the slow start she'd had as a hatchling.
"Evie," he greeted. She was watching him, being a little more cautious than she used to be, but that happened after long separations.
"Clarice," he acknowledged to let the other raptor know he was aware of her presence. In the back of the jeep, Priscilla was getting fidgety, the old anxiety triggering when she thought something might come between them.
"It's alright," he told her. "Settle down. Stay."
She did as she was told but didn't look happy about it.
Slowly, he opened the door and stepped out of the jeep, careful not to make any sudden movements. Evie ducked her head low and purred softly.
He had the feeling that something special had happened, and he was right. From the underbrush, a group of small raptors responded to her call. Cautiously, they emerged, and he was reminded of a similar scene back when Evie and her siblings were small, and Priscilla had taken care of them.
"Looks like congratulations are in order," he said to her, feeling a swell of pride. He'd never had children of his own, but imagined the feeling was something comparable to this. Evie watched them, proud of her own babies too.
These new raptors were different in appearance to their parents. They weren't clones of any individual, they were a combination of genes from both parents, including whatever else Wu had implanted in their codes. The frog DNA had gone to town, these new arrivals were an array of colours. He couldn't help but think that visitors to the park would have been thrilled by velociraptors like this. He knew because he couldn't resist taking a closer look himself.
Stepping away from the vehicle, he'd have preferred his weapon in hand, just in case, but he trusted Evie and didn't want her to think otherwise. So he left the gun, where he could grab it quickly if he had to, but out of immediate reach. It was a risk, but a small one he was willing to take to show the raptor that he still trusted her. After all, she was showing immense trust in him by bringing her brood out of cover.
"They're beautiful," he told her, admiring the brilliantly coloured brood. Two of them had Temba's bright red hands and feet. One was bright yellow and covered in jagged green spots reminiscent of a Masai giraffe, and on the other the red extended right along it's limbs. It's arms and legs also had big black spots ringed in yellow. It's head, body and tail were black, with a long yellow dorsal stripe that extended from the front of its snout to the tip of its tail. A third chick was a maze of pale green lines and dark green patches. The green one had silver eyes, and the other two had bright amber eyes.
The black one was bold, curiously trotting forward to investigate this strange newcomer. Muldoon crouched down and held his hand out.
The baby raptor lunged forward and latched on, investigating with its teeth as all young predators did.
"That'll be enough of that," he chided, gently coaxing it off. Evie supervised the scene with the mother's patience.
He would have liked to stay and admire them some more, but Temba arrived on the scene. The white raptor might not tolerate intruders in his territory.
Muldoon stood, and slowly backed back to the jeep, speaking slowly and calmly.
"It's alright, it's okay. I'm going."
The white raptor opened its mouth in a threat display.
"I get the message," he said, slowly climbing back into the relative safety of the jeep. It was comforting to have his weapon within arm's reach again.
Temba continued stalking forward, claws splayed, mouth gaping, and Evie clucked to call the chicks to safety. A low growl began to issue from Priscilla.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Clarice approaching the back of the vehicle. He didn't like the idea of being surrounded.
He turned the key, and shifted the stick into gear, it was time to get out of here. Just as he began to drive forward, Temba lunged. It was a mock attack, but a very clear message, he wasn't welcome here.
Driving away from them, despite being unwelcome in their pack, he still couldn't help smiling. They had babies, that meant everything was as it should be, and that was all he wanted for them.
xxx
To say that Henry Wu was nervous about returning to Isla Nublar was an understatement. As the hummer hit the beach, he reminded himself once again why he was here. He was accompanied by a small team who were to assist him in recovering what he could of the lab equipment, record books and computers. Hammond and Lockwood had assured him that if he had his research, they would provide him with a brand-new lab where he could begin all over again. That was the most important thing, there was still so much left to do. The diggers were recovering new DNA specimens all the time.
No one had ever really grasped the magnitude of what he had accomplished, but Henry Wu was determined for the world to see what he had achieved. If recreating dinosaurs had involved nothing more than straightforward cloning, any hack with a biology PHD could've managed it, but there were so many gaps in the sequences, and he had been the only one capable of engineering methods for filling those gaps, ensuring that the embryos were viable. He had not only resurrected long dead life forms; he had created new ones. A typical dilophosaurus did not have a frill, but he had needed certain skeletal structure traits of Frill-necked Lizards, and admittedly the end result of splicing those genes was pretty cool.
Today, the plan was simple. Get to the lab, retrieve his notebooks, and get out again. Being a smart man, Wu had made sure there were things contained in those books that he had told no one else, making his continued contribution invaluable. Of course, it was all in code, so if they fell into the wrong hands they would have been useless. He had left them behind, in a secure location, when he'd caught the shuttle because he had thought he'd be back. When he'd fled after the breakdown, they hadn't even entered his mind, hellbent as he was on survival.
Most of the team on this mission were visiting the island for the first time. They had never seen dinosaurs before and were keen to spot some. Wu was torn between basking in the appreciation for what he had created and telling them to get on with it because they didn't really want to see free-ranging velociraptors. Dinosaurs might be wondrous, but they were savage, blood-thirsty and too damn clever as well.
"Look at that!" One of the team exclaimed and the vehicle slowed, stopping by a small herd of brachiosaur. Admittedly, the fifty-foot adults were impressive. Hopefully, the eighteen-foot T Rex wouldn't show up.
"Keep moving," he prompted. "We've got a job to do." As eager as he was to get off the island for his own sake, Wu also knew that Hammond wasn't going to wait forever to see results again.
Reluctantly, the small convoy began to move once more.
As they drove into the compound, he saw an enormous skeleton. It belonged to the T Rex. For a moment, he was quite disappointed. She was one of his greatest creations, and now she was nothing but a pile of bones. They had seen plenty of prey on the way in, she shouldn't have starved. Perhaps she'd contracted an illness. They had faced some problems with modern pathogens and ill-equipped, prehistoric immune systems when trying to establish the park.
Now that they were here, Wu's nerves were even more on edge. Over a year ago, when he had fled the island, he'd left more than dinosaurs behind.
The crew were busy ogling over the T Rex bones. Hadn't they ever been to a museum before?
"This way," Wu snapped, directing the team towards the lab. The sooner they got this done, the sooner they could leave. Until a place with fully functioning containment systems existed, he didn't want to be on this island.
Inside, everything was much as he'd left it, and with tunnel vision he headed straight to the place he had left his books, only to find they were missing. Suddenly, something grabbed him and he screamed. A dinosaur had him, he was going to die. Then a mammalian palm pressed over his mouth, and he was face to face with Robert Muldoon. The gamekeeper had survived on the island all this time, and judging by the dark look in his eyes, he'd had plenty of time to stew on the betrayal.
"Doctor Wu?" One of the team called, having heard his cry.
"Tell them it's fine," Muldoon instructed. Wu didn't know how he was he supposed to do that with a hand clamped over his mouth, and frankly the gamekeeper frightened him.
He wasn't quite the polished man Wu remembered. Of all the staff at Jurassic Park, Robert Muldoon had been the most no-nonsense and in control. Everything was regulated, everything in its place, including his personal appearance.
The man that stood before him now was messy and dishevelled, his hair was scruffy and longer than it had been, his usual khaki had been replaced with a Jurassic Park tee. Frankly, he looked unhinged.
"Order them out," the dinosaur handler demanded. Wu hesitated, the gamekeeper really was crazy if he thought that was going to happen. These men were here to protect him.
"Now," Muldoon growled, shoving him hard back against the wall. Then he whistled low and Wu knew what came next. The raptor appeared. So he was still hanging around with that creepy lizard. Wu shook his head as best he could, he wasn't going to take orders from a madman.
"Priscilla." The raptor edged forward, lip curling in a snarl. Muldoon smiled at him, a maniacal glint in his eye. "We've had plenty of time to train. She kills on command now." Wu's eyes grew wide in terror. "Did you see the tyrannosaur out there? We took care of her."
Okay, he was receiving the message loud and clear, the gamekeeper was in charge here. He submitted, relaxing the tension in his body, and Muldoon eased his hand away.
They shared a look that said they understood one another.
"Just a shadow!" Wu called back. "Load the hard drives!"
The gamekeeper stepped back, temporarily satisfied, the raptor still firm at his side, and Wu had a moment to think. The interesting thing about all this was that Muldoon didn't seem keen on anyone else knowing he was here. Had Wu been in his position, he would have been perched up in a vehicle, awaiting departure already. It had to be about the raptor. Muldoon had always promoted safety and human superiority, always reminding them that the dinosaurs were dangerous animals, but when the two of them had been left behind that had changed, and it was the welfare of the raptors that he'd been more concerned with.
All Wu wanted was to get his notes and go, but the books weren't where they were supposed to be and there was only one man on the island who might know their whereabouts.
"Where are my books?"
A disconcerting smile formed on the gamekeeper's face. Obviously, he knew what had happened to them.
"Give them to me," Wu insisted.
"I might. The question is, what are you going to do for me?"
Wu gulped and dreaded to think.