3. ALEX VENTRAL
Edward Campbell entered the darkened Italian restaurant called Angelino's Italian Delight. This place was just three blocks away from The Museum of Natural History where Campbell had just come from. Campbell was now in search for his Zoologist that was waiting to have a late lunch with him. The restaurant was full of people as it always was. This place was one of the top restaurants in all of New York and it was even more expensive, but Campbell could afford it.
Then he noticed his man sitting in a corner booth by himself waving for Campbell to come over. Campbell smiled and walked over to the booth where he sat across from the man. He extended his hand and shook the others.
"Well," the man asked. "Do we have a Paleontologist or not?"
"He couldn't resist the opportunity to join us," Campbell replied smiling. "So how are you doing today Alex?"
"I could be better," Alex Ventral replied. "Times are getting tuff in Kenya ya know? It's getting harder and harder each day to get a grant for any expeditions for my research. I've even tried in several other countries and people are just getting scared anymore. You're little park has caused so much uproar that everyone has become superstitious of anything from people like us. to the countries own presidents."
Campbell sighed. "I know. I know. You've told me this all before. That's the main reason why I invited you on this trip. You need money for your funding and I've been doing everything in my power to make it all happen. You have to understand that it's been hard on everyone. You have no idea how many times the Zaire Government have tried to send investigators to the park to see what the so called 'uproar' is all about."
"Yeah, and you've stopped them every time," Alex implied. "Maybe it is time that they find out what you've got hiding behind the bushes though."
"There isn't anything to hide behind any bushes. We've got them all locked up!" Campbell was starting to get irritated at this man and his ravings.
"Calm down old man," Alex said. "Other people might hear you! If you want everything to remain on solid ground, you have to start trusting people other then me. I'm not the only one losing money here. Think of all the great white hunters that come to Africa to hunt tigers, lions, zebras, and all kinds of other wildlife. If you were a hunter and you went out to find some prey to kill for your own pleasure like they do, and you came back with nothing because there was nothing you'd be pretty damn pissed off too! I don't see how you do it with the feeding of your precious animals with the wildlife of Africa and all. I mean Tosha and Jeffery aren't going to be able to herd off the government forever ya know?"
"Leave Tosha out of this," Campbell replied. "I don't want to hear that name right now."
"Fine," Alex agreed. "I'm glad that we agree on one thing."
Alex Ventral was thirty-five years old and a world re-known Zoologist for his study on African wildlife and their habitats. He'd even won the Nobel Prize last year for his research on the Cheetah's parenting behaviors. However, when the Zinj Corporation came into Zaire, things began to change rapidly. The company had built their little park in the Congo, put their strange monsters in it, and then began to take other animals from their prides just for the eating pleasures of the animals. You'd thought that the governments of the several countries that had lost these animals, including Kenya, would've realized this and done something about it. But somehow Zinj always swept everything out from under their noises.
Alex had found out about Jurassic Congo by actually doing a little of his own detective work. It had actually all happened by chance one evening when he was watching a pride of Lions while hunting some Antelope. He'd been sitting in a tree at a nice and safe distance watching the attack pattern when suddenly a large aircraft came over the horizon. It had startled the Antelope away and drawn the Lions into a frenzy. However, a large loading door had opened on the side of the craft and several men with guns began firing what looked like tranquilizer guns at the animals knocking them all down one by one. Alex continued to watch on in pure anger when finally the craft landed and the people started loading the animals in. This was Alex's chance to finally find out where all of those missing animals were being taken. He'd found a way on the craft and hid in a dark area of the plane.
After an hour of flight the plane had landed in a dense area somewhere in Zaire. The people then proceeded to take the animals that were in cages through a large and dark path into the jungle which lead deep into the Congo. He'd followed them all the way to a very large looking complex that seemed to stretch for miles. The animals were all taken inside the complex where of course Alex followed and was eventually captured by several of the people. He from then on was part of the Jurassic Congo project, because if he'd refused to join they probably would've killed him or fed him to the animals that were in the cages. When he first saw the animals, he'd thought that they were some kind of mutant monsters or something, but then realized what he was seeing were dinosaurs. Living, breathing dinosaurs that he'd thought were extinct, but were however standing right before him.
"Listen Alex," Campbell said breaking the silence. "I didn't come here to fight you. I came here to make sure that you're still coming on the trip this weekend. Are you going to be loyal to us and make sure everything works out?"
"You bet your ass I am," Alex replied. "I'm not going to let you take innocent people to your park and me not be there, and I don't give a damn what little Ms. Tosha Johnson thinks about it! She can hate me, you can hate me, but I'm going on this trip!"
"That's what I was hoping you'd say," Campbell smiled. "So will you be joining me in San Francisco?"
"I'm afraid that I've got to get on out to Africa because of some kind of trouble in Kenya. One of my former associates that worked in the field with me has gotten himself in trouble with the government over some killing that he's been doing."
"Oh," Campbell said. "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"
"Apparently he killed a Cheetah that he wasn't supposed to kill, but that's not all that I'm hearing from him."
"What else have you heard?"
"He knows about our little operation in the Congo."
"What are you talking about," Campbell asked getting very angry.
"He's been to Isla Sorna before," Alex replied calmly. "He was on the second expedition sent out by Biosyn. You ever heard of Roland Tembo?"
"No, not really," Campbell replied.
"Well don't worry about him. He's a drunk anyway and most people won't believe him. All I've got to do is convince everyone that he's lying about what he's heard and I'll be on out to the park. Hell, I might even beat ya there."
"What has he heard," Campbell asked.
"He's heard about all the rumors that have been spread all around Africa about the animal abductions, the strange park that you're making, and some other things that I haven't been informed about. Just don't worry yourself about him. Roland Tembo is the least of our worries. Just be glad it's not someone like Ian Malcolm."
Campbell laughed. "Or Paul Kirby for that matter."
"Speaking of that Kirby fellow, have you got his kid to agree to come along yet?"
"Nope," Campbell replied shaking his head. "I'm leaving for San Francisco in a few hours to do just that." Campbell looked at his watch. "I need to get back to headquarters before I leave though. I need to make sure everything's ok there before I leave."
"What about lunch," Alex asked.
Campbell chuckled. "Oh, I have no time to eat now. Besides, I'd rather eat when I'm calm. I know you told me not to worry about that Tembo guy, but it makes me very nervous still."
Both men stood up and shook hands. They started to walk for the front desk.
"Well, have a nice flight to Kenya and I better not hear anything more about this Tembo guy messing in our business. The last thing we need is one of the Jurassic Park survivors messing things up."
"Don't worry my friend," Alex replied smiling. "Everything is completely under control."
Edward Campbell entered the darkened Italian restaurant called Angelino's Italian Delight. This place was just three blocks away from The Museum of Natural History where Campbell had just come from. Campbell was now in search for his Zoologist that was waiting to have a late lunch with him. The restaurant was full of people as it always was. This place was one of the top restaurants in all of New York and it was even more expensive, but Campbell could afford it.
Then he noticed his man sitting in a corner booth by himself waving for Campbell to come over. Campbell smiled and walked over to the booth where he sat across from the man. He extended his hand and shook the others.
"Well," the man asked. "Do we have a Paleontologist or not?"
"He couldn't resist the opportunity to join us," Campbell replied smiling. "So how are you doing today Alex?"
"I could be better," Alex Ventral replied. "Times are getting tuff in Kenya ya know? It's getting harder and harder each day to get a grant for any expeditions for my research. I've even tried in several other countries and people are just getting scared anymore. You're little park has caused so much uproar that everyone has become superstitious of anything from people like us. to the countries own presidents."
Campbell sighed. "I know. I know. You've told me this all before. That's the main reason why I invited you on this trip. You need money for your funding and I've been doing everything in my power to make it all happen. You have to understand that it's been hard on everyone. You have no idea how many times the Zaire Government have tried to send investigators to the park to see what the so called 'uproar' is all about."
"Yeah, and you've stopped them every time," Alex implied. "Maybe it is time that they find out what you've got hiding behind the bushes though."
"There isn't anything to hide behind any bushes. We've got them all locked up!" Campbell was starting to get irritated at this man and his ravings.
"Calm down old man," Alex said. "Other people might hear you! If you want everything to remain on solid ground, you have to start trusting people other then me. I'm not the only one losing money here. Think of all the great white hunters that come to Africa to hunt tigers, lions, zebras, and all kinds of other wildlife. If you were a hunter and you went out to find some prey to kill for your own pleasure like they do, and you came back with nothing because there was nothing you'd be pretty damn pissed off too! I don't see how you do it with the feeding of your precious animals with the wildlife of Africa and all. I mean Tosha and Jeffery aren't going to be able to herd off the government forever ya know?"
"Leave Tosha out of this," Campbell replied. "I don't want to hear that name right now."
"Fine," Alex agreed. "I'm glad that we agree on one thing."
Alex Ventral was thirty-five years old and a world re-known Zoologist for his study on African wildlife and their habitats. He'd even won the Nobel Prize last year for his research on the Cheetah's parenting behaviors. However, when the Zinj Corporation came into Zaire, things began to change rapidly. The company had built their little park in the Congo, put their strange monsters in it, and then began to take other animals from their prides just for the eating pleasures of the animals. You'd thought that the governments of the several countries that had lost these animals, including Kenya, would've realized this and done something about it. But somehow Zinj always swept everything out from under their noises.
Alex had found out about Jurassic Congo by actually doing a little of his own detective work. It had actually all happened by chance one evening when he was watching a pride of Lions while hunting some Antelope. He'd been sitting in a tree at a nice and safe distance watching the attack pattern when suddenly a large aircraft came over the horizon. It had startled the Antelope away and drawn the Lions into a frenzy. However, a large loading door had opened on the side of the craft and several men with guns began firing what looked like tranquilizer guns at the animals knocking them all down one by one. Alex continued to watch on in pure anger when finally the craft landed and the people started loading the animals in. This was Alex's chance to finally find out where all of those missing animals were being taken. He'd found a way on the craft and hid in a dark area of the plane.
After an hour of flight the plane had landed in a dense area somewhere in Zaire. The people then proceeded to take the animals that were in cages through a large and dark path into the jungle which lead deep into the Congo. He'd followed them all the way to a very large looking complex that seemed to stretch for miles. The animals were all taken inside the complex where of course Alex followed and was eventually captured by several of the people. He from then on was part of the Jurassic Congo project, because if he'd refused to join they probably would've killed him or fed him to the animals that were in the cages. When he first saw the animals, he'd thought that they were some kind of mutant monsters or something, but then realized what he was seeing were dinosaurs. Living, breathing dinosaurs that he'd thought were extinct, but were however standing right before him.
"Listen Alex," Campbell said breaking the silence. "I didn't come here to fight you. I came here to make sure that you're still coming on the trip this weekend. Are you going to be loyal to us and make sure everything works out?"
"You bet your ass I am," Alex replied. "I'm not going to let you take innocent people to your park and me not be there, and I don't give a damn what little Ms. Tosha Johnson thinks about it! She can hate me, you can hate me, but I'm going on this trip!"
"That's what I was hoping you'd say," Campbell smiled. "So will you be joining me in San Francisco?"
"I'm afraid that I've got to get on out to Africa because of some kind of trouble in Kenya. One of my former associates that worked in the field with me has gotten himself in trouble with the government over some killing that he's been doing."
"Oh," Campbell said. "I'm sorry to hear that. What happened?"
"Apparently he killed a Cheetah that he wasn't supposed to kill, but that's not all that I'm hearing from him."
"What else have you heard?"
"He knows about our little operation in the Congo."
"What are you talking about," Campbell asked getting very angry.
"He's been to Isla Sorna before," Alex replied calmly. "He was on the second expedition sent out by Biosyn. You ever heard of Roland Tembo?"
"No, not really," Campbell replied.
"Well don't worry about him. He's a drunk anyway and most people won't believe him. All I've got to do is convince everyone that he's lying about what he's heard and I'll be on out to the park. Hell, I might even beat ya there."
"What has he heard," Campbell asked.
"He's heard about all the rumors that have been spread all around Africa about the animal abductions, the strange park that you're making, and some other things that I haven't been informed about. Just don't worry yourself about him. Roland Tembo is the least of our worries. Just be glad it's not someone like Ian Malcolm."
Campbell laughed. "Or Paul Kirby for that matter."
"Speaking of that Kirby fellow, have you got his kid to agree to come along yet?"
"Nope," Campbell replied shaking his head. "I'm leaving for San Francisco in a few hours to do just that." Campbell looked at his watch. "I need to get back to headquarters before I leave though. I need to make sure everything's ok there before I leave."
"What about lunch," Alex asked.
Campbell chuckled. "Oh, I have no time to eat now. Besides, I'd rather eat when I'm calm. I know you told me not to worry about that Tembo guy, but it makes me very nervous still."
Both men stood up and shook hands. They started to walk for the front desk.
"Well, have a nice flight to Kenya and I better not hear anything more about this Tembo guy messing in our business. The last thing we need is one of the Jurassic Park survivors messing things up."
"Don't worry my friend," Alex replied smiling. "Everything is completely under control."