The next morning, the Wild Kratts team (minus Jimmy, who was asleep..) gathered around the Tortuga's main computer panel. Koki dialed Mr. Hammond's number and after half a minute, InGen's CEO appeared on the screen.
If the old man was surprised, he didn't show it as he greeted the team with his trademark smile,"Greetings, Wild Kratts team. It's nice to hear from you all again, even if it's rather early in the morning."
"Sorry for the inconvenience, Mr. Hammond. We wouldn't call if it wasn't really important." replied Aviva.
"Oh no, It's no trouble at all."
"It's about Zach. We've found out what he was up to."said Koki.
Hammond sat quietly, listening attentively as the team recounted their encounter with the evil inventor the evening before, from the attack on the H.Q to the interrogation.
"Confound that lunatic."cursed Hammond once the team was done explaining. "I'd really hate to think about what would've happened if the embryos ever fell into the wrong hands."
"Our thoughts exactly."mumbled the Tortuga technician.
"Well done, but I'm afraid the damage has already been done. Regrettably with Mr. Gennaro's loss, followed by the accident, my investors have withdrawn their support."
"Qué terrible."said Aviva genuinely concerned.
"That's terrible."added Chris, knowing full well that anything that happened to InGen could inevitably affect the team, tampering with their missions.
"No matter. As long as you're all alright. It was a miracle you made it past the Velociraptors."
"And T-rex.." he added, remembering when he and Malcolm pulled in front of the Visitors Center just as Tyrannosaurus Wrecksy broke in.
"Oh yeah. That reminds me. I'll be right back." With that, the Kratt in blue left the main room.
A long pause. "There's something else you should know about, Mr. Hammond, sir."said Chris, taking a deep breath, preparing to acknowledge the elephant..err.. raptor in the room.
"And what would that be?"
Martin promptly returned, with a three-day old Velociraptor cradled in his arms, yawning and stretching as she stirred from her slumber. Upon seeing the old man on the screen, the little theropod was fully awake, chittering with excitement. Obviously she had remembered Hammond from the moment she emerged from the egg.
"Wait a minute. Isn't that–" Martin nodded in confirmation, saying: "Yup. It's Amber alright."
"How on earth did you–"
"It all happened yesterday when Chris and I returned to the Visitors Center looking for you guys, but the place was like a ghost town. I checked the lab and Chris went over to the–" here his brother elbowed him in a silent gesture to cut to the chase. "Long story short: She followed us back here from my backpack. Must've imprinted on us too."
"Oh dear. And what, may I ask, do you plan on doing with the wee rascal?"asked the entrepreneur warily, for he of all people knew the potential dangers the little reptile could pose in the future.
"That was the exact question we asked ourselves."replied Aviva. "We can't release her back to the island at such a young age. We were wondering if you had any suggestions?"
"I'm afraid there's only one:" answered the entrepreneur gravely, "for everyone's safety all the Velociraptors must be euthanized."
"Euthanize them? Why?"asked Martin, absolutely horrified as Amber looked on curiously.
"She will be far too dangerous to handle when she gets older. You of all people should realize that. Muldoon was right; they should've all been destroyed." Seeing the team's distraught faces, he said earnestly, "I'm sorry, but there's no other way."
Chris thought back to the Velociraptors back in the park. Even though he and Martin knew next to nothing about them, something wasn't right about their behavior. Their aggression levels, the way they seemed hellbent on destroying any humans they came into contact with, and the fact that they didn't seem to kill for food. They killed for the pleasure of killing.
They show extreme intelligence. Even problem-solving intelligence. Muldoon's speech ran through Chris' mind. Especially the big one. We bred eight originally, but when she came in, she took over the pride and killed all but two of the others. That one...when she looks at you, you can see she's working things out. It's why we have to feed them like this; she had them all attacking the fences when the feeders came.
"The fences are electrified, right?" pondered Koki.
That's right, Mrs. Bambrick, but they never attacked the same place twice. They were testing the fences for weaknesses, systematically. They remember.
Of course! It all made sense now.
After a momentary pause, Chris asked what was on his mind."The original raptors. Did they show signs of pacing or anxiety? Muldoon did say that Mary killed the other five raptors." Hammond thought for a while before he answered.
"Umm yes. Yes they did."
"Self mutilation? Gnawing on bars?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Just as I thought. It often happens with animals in captivity, especially highly intelligent creatures like dolphins, primates and elephants. They tend to suffer from boredom and anxiety, especially without the proper stimulation, which ultimately leads to phycological stress and aggression. Now we don't know anything about Velociraptor social structure, but it does seem unnatural for them to resort to killing one another. Also a sign of physiological stress."
Immediately Martin caught on to what his brother was thinking and added: "Just like killer whales in marine parks, who have sometimes injured or even killed their trainers. They've even been seen fighting among themselves. It just doesn't happen in the wild; orca pods in the open ocean are very well structured and attacks on humans have never been recorded."
"Exactly."
The Kratt in green went on, asking: "Besides goats and cattle, did they have any form of enrichment?"
"And was any negative reinforcement used on the raptors as they got older?"asked Martin, thinking back on the presence of firearms, tasers and other weapons in Muldoon's storeroom, enough to fill a military shed. He also could have sworn seeing a rocket launcher as well. Chris shuddered upon remembering the gun racks, thinking back to the time he stared down a poacher's gun barrel three months back and almost payed the price.
"You know Robert, always the alarmist. He insisted on having–"
But before Hammond could finish answering the first question, the Tortuga technician asked: "It wasn't the first time they've attacked anyone, was it?"
All eyes turned to the old man, the same question written on their faces.
The CEO of InGen heaved a sigh. "I'm afraid not, Mrs. Bambrick."
****Isla Nublar, Five Years Ago...****
A pair of eyeballs, big, yellowish, distinctly inhuman, slowly open, the effects of the tranquilizer swearing off in its system, before staring raptly between steel slats, part of a large crate. The eye darts from side to side, senses now on high alert. The creature's sensitive hearing picks up a mechanical roar rising up from behind it, just outside in the jungle. The trees and foliage shake as something very, very large plows ahead through them.
From outside, every head gathered in a little clearing just straight ahead snapped, turning in the direction of the sound as it bursts through the trees. A bulldozer. It drops its scoop and pushes forward into the back end of the crate, shoving its cargo across the forest floor towards an impressive fenced structure that towered over an enclosed section of thick jungle. There's a guard tower at one end of this holding pen that makes it look like San Quentin, illuminated by bright lights in the pitch blackness of the woods.
As the bulldozer pushes forward into the back end, the crate gently thuds. A door slides open in the pen, making a space as big as the front end of the crate.
A long pause; nobody moves for a second, A grim-faced man in a brim hat who seemed to be in charge then took command.
"Alright now, pushers move in. Loading team move it." With that, half a dozen men made their way towards the box. "I want tasers on full charge."
The sudden movement has agitated the creature inside the crate, and the whole thing shivers as growls and snaps come from inside. Everyone moves back, startled by the commotion from within.
"Alright, steady. Get back in there now, push. Get back in there, Don't let her know you're afraid!"
The men go back to the crate, trying their hardest to conceal their fear, and begin to push it into the slot. With all their combined strength, it didn't take long for the men to bring the crate against the opening. A green light on the side of the pen lights up. Contact has been made.
From inside the container, the creature glimpses of what's on the other side of those metal slates– jungle foliage, men with rifles, searching searchlights. The view is herky-jerky as the crate put into position.
"Well locked. Loading team, step away. Joffrey, raise the gate."
Joffrey climbs to the top of the crate. The search lights are turned on. Unknown to everyone, a pair of cold, reptilian eyes stare hungrily upon him from its place in the enclosure, waiting for the right moment to strike.
The worker gets ready to grab the gate when all at once– A bloodcurdling screech resonates from the inside the crate, and the panel flies out of his hands and smacks into him, knocking him clear off the crate.
Now everything happens at once. Joffrey thuds onto the hard concrete floor, the crate jerks away from the mouth of the holding pen flash. All turns into shouting pandemonium as armed workers raced to their places and alarm buzzers sounded into the darkness.
Before he's able to pick himself off the ground, a claw slashes out from inside the crate, sinking into
Joffrey's ankle, dragging him toward the dark mouth between the crate and the pen. The man screams in agony as he is rapidly dragged toward the crate, razor sharp teeth tearing into his torso, eating him alive.
In a flash, Muldoon shouts orders, saying: "Tasers get in there, goddamn it!" They fire their guns in an attempt to force the dinosaur off its prey. But the predator paid no mind to the electrical stings, only interested in finishing its victim.
Muldoon runs in and grabs the worker, trying to pull him free. But for all his strength, the creature seemed to be stronger and refused to relinquish her hold on the doomed man.
"Shoot her!"ordered the game warden. "Shoot her!"
Soon gunshots were fired, but it's too late– the worker is gone.
**** Present...****
"After that episode, we had to rebuild the Velociraptor paddock with electronic sensors to warn of another impending escape. Of course that became of little use."
For the longest time, not a word was spoken.
"Oftentimes, I wished we could undo what we've done with the Velociraptors."finished the old man with a deep sigh, looking off to the distance.
"You know, you may not be able to undo creating the raptors, but maybe you can do the next best thing."said Martin optimistically.
"Whatever do you mean?"
"With your permission, we'd like to take care of Amber."said the Kratt in green. "At least until she's old enough to fend for herself."
"Are you sure?" Hammond was skeptical.
"Don't worry; we've handled baby predators before. Lions, cheetahs, wolves, you name it."said Chris confidently with a wink.
"But if you or your scientists have any tips or recommendations on raptor care, we'll gladly accept."added the Tortuga inventor.
"Yeah, we haven't exactly looked after an extinct animal before." Martin glanced back down at Amber. The raptor in question tilted her head in confusion. "Well, an extinct-until-recently-one that is. But with our level of experience, how hard could it possibly be?"
"A lot."answered Koki skeptically. "Don't get me wrong, I'd love to help raise the little scaly, but the problem is that we know so little about her kind. Except the vicious side." The technician shivered at the memory.
"Who knows? It could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn more about raptorial behavior."countered the Kratt in green optimistically.
"Yeah, we believe in learning on the job."added Martin, chuckling as Amber began crawling over his shoulders.
The InGen CEO said nothing, lost in thought. It was half a minute before he finally spoke.
"Very well. We will allow you to look after Amber. For three weeks. And on one condition: you mustn't tell anyone."
"We solemnly swear on all we hold sacred that we will not tell another soul. Wild Kratt's honor."answered the Kratt in green, left hand raised, right hand placed over his heart.
"You have our word, Mr. Hammond."added Martin. "Besides, you of all people should know that we only come to civilization whenever we need to resupply. So keeping Amber secret shouldn't be a problem."
"I'm sure you'll do a superb job raising her then. She's all yours." Before the bros could utter a cheer, the old man added: "But before you go: don't forget to give Amber plenty of lysine to go with her food. She won't last the week otherwise."
"Lysine?" The Kratt Brothers were confused.
Aviva and Koki immediately understood, having remembered the explanation of the Lysine Contingency the Jurassic Park staff performed to prevent the animals' spread outside the island.
"Don't worry about it, sir. We'll take care of that too."replied Koki. "Besides, Dr. Harding himself taught us all we know about veterinary care."
"Excellent. Then I believe you're in good hands. Once she's old enough, you can bring her to us. Oh no, don't worry; rest assured she will not be harmed. We'll take her to our facilities on Site B where can handle the rest. Good day to you all." With that, Hammond signed off.
A long pause.
"Site B?"questioned Martin, eyebrow raised.
Chris simply shrugged. "Wait a minute. Where'd she go?"
"She was right here a minute ago."
The two creature adventurers, the inventor and computer whizz searched high and low for the little dinosaur, unaware that said little dinosaur was sitting by the teleporter, gnawing on a certain joystick controller.
It wasn't long before all heads turned upon hearing a scream as Jimmy woke up from his hammock with a jolt, as though he dreamed of the end of the world.
"My controller!"
