Case 2: The InGen Conspiracy, Part 2
Disclaimer: Same as before. BTW I made up the part about Hammond being a former officer in the British Army.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Hal, we're landing." Ivy said, nudging the side of the sleepy Englishman beside her.
"Huh? Wanker, I guess I was more tired than I thought." Hal groaned.
Ivy was already putting her chair back to the upright position and folding her blanket. Hal moved his chair back as well and gathered his day bag from under the chair. As they moved through the baggage claim and retrieved their bags they were greeted by John Hammond, wearing a loose fitting short sleeved white shirt and slacks and bearing a bamboo cane with an amber drop at its zenith.
"Detectives Darren and Olden?" Hammond said, "What are your first names by the way? When I talked to Grant yesterday he told me that you two were coming but being an old man I'm rather forgetful with names sometimes."
"Hal Olden."
"Ivy Darren."
"Hal, Ivy, John Hammond, I'm delighted to meet you in person. Ms. Darren, you came highly recommended by Grant." Hammond said, and facing Hal he asked, "Are you related to Captain Olden by any chance."
"He's my father." Hal replied.
"I served with him in Aden, when I was in the Army. 22 SAS was quite helpful to us." Hammond said.
"That's my unit." Hal said.
"Ah, enlisted or officer?" Hammond asked.
"I was enlisted for several years until I got commissioned back in 1996, by the time of which I was a corporal." Hal replied.
"I always expected Henry Olden's son to be an officer if he went into the service." Hammond said, nostalgically, "I'm sorry about Oman...."
"You've nothing to apologize for." Hal replied.
"I served with your father during the Oman crisis. He was a good man, a fine officer, and a wonderful friend." Hammond said.
As they talked they climbed into a car driven by one of Hammond's employees, an old family friend he introduced as Mark. "Mark's family and mine have been associated for nearly ten generations." Hammond explained, indicating the severe looking man in his late fifties with thinning gray hair and dressed in a golf shirt and khaki trousers driving the car.
"I've got an event tomorrow that you two were invited to. I'm going to give you a tour of the facilities, the behind the scenes tour and the part that tourists don't usually see." Hammond continued as they rode off to the helipad.
As Mark opened the door and Hammond stepped out of the car followed by Hal and Ivy an Augusta 109 landed. The sleek helicopter Hal recognized because he had rappelled from them many times when he was with the counter- terrorist team back in 1995. They climbed aboard and the helicopter flew west 120 miles to the island of Isla Nublar, to Jurassic Park.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Zack, how about we get started on physical therapy a little early." Tatiana said.
"Tatiana, I'm not sure I can." Zack said, "I mean I start on Sunday."
"You'll be fine, here, hold on to me and I'll help you walk a few steps and then we'll walk back to your bed. Ok?" Tatiana asked.
"Oh, alright honey." Zack said, and Tatiana helped him out of bed. He made it a few steps before he stumbled and his weight dragged Tatiana down with him. Both of them fell tangled in each others arms.
"Shouldn't you take me to dinner first?" Tatiana remarked, brushing a strand of her golden hair from her face.
"I would, but I'm injured and I'm broke." Zack replied, gamely. Tatiana helped him to his feet and led him back to the bed and tucked him back in.
~ ~ ~ ~
A gray gas powered Jeep Wrangler awaited the entourage at the helipad. It conducted them towards a large electrified fence. The gate opened when two fellows in coral colored golf shirts opened it.
"Oh my God!" Ivy exclaimed.
Hal, who had been dozing lightly for the past few minutes awoke, "What is it? By the King James Bible.....!" Hal exclaimed.
Both of them were staring open mouthed at a brachiosaurus grazing from a tree about twenty meters away. Though they had heard about this park, seen images of it on television and in advertising for years, the reality of the sight still was wondrous to behold.
"My idea, detectives." John Hammond began, "Welcome to Jurassic Park."
Hammond smiled broadly as he saw their reactions. He always loved seeing the looks on the faces of guests whenever they first saw a living, breathing dinosaur. He remembered opening day in 1993 and the faces of the first guests as they stared in astonishment. The jeep drove on towards a large white structure with brown rooftops. The Visitor's Center's gleaming white façade made it gleam like a diamond in the sunlight.
"Mark, take their belongings to the hotel, I've laid on lunch for you two in the Discovery Room. I'll go check on it, wait here." Hammond said.
"Allosaurus." Ivy said, inspecting a nearby skeleton.
"Carnivore, right? Cretaceous?" Hal asked.
"Yes to the first, wrong to the second. Allosaurus, meaning 'other lizard' it was a distant cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex." Ivy said, she began to examine the skeleton.
"I didn't know you were a dinosaur nut." Hal replied.
"I used to spend hours at the museum when I was a little girl." Ivy said, "It's almost like your obsession with medieval history. Just look around my book shelf and you'll see my interest in dinosaurs."
"Really." Hal said, "You know, last time I was over I distinctly recall having seen a weird bug thing encased in rock on your wall in the bathroom."
"That's called a trilobite Hal." Ivy said, "They're primitive sea dwelling invertebrates."
"What's with the book?" Hal asked.
"It's by Doctor Alan Grant, one of the foremost names in paleontology today." Ivy said, "He's a proponent of the theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds, velociraptor intelligence and the like."
"Please don't inflate Alan's ego any more than it already is." Said a voice behind them.
A slim blonde woman wearing khaki shorts, a blue t-shirt, and a pink collared shirt walked over to them. "Doctor Ellie Sattler, I'm a colleague of Doctor Grant's."
Ivy brightened, grinning like a kid, "Is he here?"
"He is." Ellie replied, "Hey Alan, you've got yourself another admirer. Who are you two by the way?"
"Ivy Darren."
"Harold Olden."
A medium built fellow in his late thirties came around a corner. "Alan this is Ivy Darren."
"Wait a minute, you're the ACME Detective that recovered the stolen fossils from the Smithsonian in 1992." Alan Grant said, "I should ask for your autograph."
"You work for ACME?" Ellie asked.
"We do." Hal replied.
"Those are some wild theories you have about dinosaur linguistics." Ivy began, "I read your article in the Scientific American last week."
"Well, it stands to reason that dinosaurs had a greater 'vocabulary' if you will than simply 'roar' or its equivalents." Alan Grant began, "For example, this cast of the insides of a velociraptor's skull indicates a sort of channel designed to amplify sound."
"Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, I see you've met my other guests." Hammond began, "Doctor Malcolm, Mister Gennaro, and my grandchildren Alexis and Timothy are in the Discovery Room right now. Chilean sea bass is the menu for today."
"I remember operations in the Orient once." Hal said to Ivy, "One that's not classified at least. I remember our SQMS (Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant) wanted to get a feed of fish one day. We were off the coast of Malaya, in the midst of nowhere. Anyhow he decides to take half a Bangalore torpedo and two hand grenades and threw them into the water, thinking he'd get a couple fish. We wound up living off seafood for an entire month after he did that."
They were now sitting at the table after being introduced to the other five people in the room. Peter Ludlow sat at the table, together with a fellow in an Armani suit with thinning brown hair named Donald Gennaro, a self effacing man in black named Ian Malcolm, and two teenagers named Lex and Tim.
"Certainly a nice abuse of power," Ian Malcolm began, "A lot like John's project, really. I'm sure you weren't starving or anything were you."
"We weren't, but a fresh is always good for unit morale." Hal replied, "We didn't waste the fish either, we just had fish with every meal for a bloody month."
"Yeah, but don't you see the effects of a few pounds of explosive on a reef." Malcolm began, "I know there weren't any laws you broke, but that doesn't mean you should...."
"I wasn't there at the time it happened, I was cleaning my rifle at the river mouth when I heard a bang coming from the beach." Hal replied.
"Anyway, as I was saying." Malcolm began, "Genetic power, the most awesome force the planet's ever seen and you're wielding it like a kid with his father's gun."
"Now see what you've done." Ivy joked, "You just caused a massive criticism of John Hammond's idea with one of your non-classified stories of your time in the Regiment."
"Maybe this isn't the smartest idea in the world." Hal said, "Two species separated by millions of years, thrown amongst each other and separated only by electrical fencing. It seems like a recipe for disaster."
"That's awfully pessimistic." Ivy remarked, as they filed out of the Discovery Room.
"I always hope for the best, Ivy, but experience taught me to expect the worst." Hal replied.
As they walked along, Hammond explained that Gennaro, Malcolm, Grant and Sattler were there as part time experts that reviewed the safety, growth, and other aspects of the park.
Ahead of the men Ellie and Ivy were talking about something to do with prehistoric plants. Malcolm gave Hal a sly grin and asked, "So what exactly is the relationship between yourself and Ms. Darren?"
"We're partners." Hal replied, "I only started working with her last week."
"Last week, huh? Because the way you looked at her sometimes makes it sound like you'd known each other longer than that." Malcolm remarked.
"Long story." Hal replied. They first visited the control room, which was a large area with banks of computers of all types. A fat man with glasses in a Hawaiian shirt and a black man chain smoking cigarettes were arguing about something.
"That's Dennis Nedry and Ray Arnold, our chief programmer and chief engineer respectively." Hammond replied, "Ray, Dennis, you already know Doctors Sattler, Malcolm and Grant, and Gennaro. The two new faces are Hal Olden and Ivy Darren, from ACME."
"You mean those Mensa kids that run around playing junior detective." Nedry remarked.
"I'd love to see you try to run." Ivy said, cattily, "But I doubt you could unless it was running forty feet for a doughnut."
"Ivy!" Hal remarked, "I do believe the Mensa kids part was a compliment. And yes we are best known for chasing Carmen Sandiego, but those are the junior detectives. The senior ones usually do normal police work of various types."
"So why are you guys here?" Ray Arnold asked.
"We're investigating the injured worker case." Ivy replied, not supplying the real reason they were there, "We work for the corporate safety branch of ACME."
At this, Ludlow, who was walking with them, looked slightly uncomfortable as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Ivy noticed it and mentally filed it away in her mind.
"Well, I'll leave you two to get your things sorted out." Hammond said, "I'll see you at dinner."
Hal and Ivy walked back to the hotel, which was one of three of them facing Cretaceous Courtyard. Hal put his bag away and fell aslee[ in front of the television watching something when his room phone rang.
"Hal? It's Ivy. Are you coming to dinner?"
Hal sat up, and looked at his watch. It was six o'clock, time for dinner. "Damn!" Hal replied, throwing on his shirt and running down the hallway to the elevator where Ivy was waiting for him with a wry grin on her face. Ellie, Alan, and Ian were also around the elevator.
"Men." Ellie remarked, "Never on time."
"Hal does this all the time at ACME. He'll be on time one day and miss roll call the next five." Ivy replied.
"Did they teach you timeliness in the Royal Marines?" Malcolm said.
"They did, it just didn't take." Hal remarked, "Anyway, Ivy has an internal clock that is accurate to the second. What time is it now?"
"It's about five minutes and fifteen seconds past the hour." Ivy remarked, without looking at her watch and her back was to the grandfather clock behind her.
"How on earth do you do that?" Hal remarked.
"I wonder how you made it through twelve years of military service with your constant tardiness?" Ivy replied.
"With difficulty and a lot of getting chewed out by the DS (Directing Staff) during Selection." Hal replied.
"Dinner should be very interesting with these two." Malcolm mused.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC
Disclaimer: Same as before. BTW I made up the part about Hammond being a former officer in the British Army.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Hal, we're landing." Ivy said, nudging the side of the sleepy Englishman beside her.
"Huh? Wanker, I guess I was more tired than I thought." Hal groaned.
Ivy was already putting her chair back to the upright position and folding her blanket. Hal moved his chair back as well and gathered his day bag from under the chair. As they moved through the baggage claim and retrieved their bags they were greeted by John Hammond, wearing a loose fitting short sleeved white shirt and slacks and bearing a bamboo cane with an amber drop at its zenith.
"Detectives Darren and Olden?" Hammond said, "What are your first names by the way? When I talked to Grant yesterday he told me that you two were coming but being an old man I'm rather forgetful with names sometimes."
"Hal Olden."
"Ivy Darren."
"Hal, Ivy, John Hammond, I'm delighted to meet you in person. Ms. Darren, you came highly recommended by Grant." Hammond said, and facing Hal he asked, "Are you related to Captain Olden by any chance."
"He's my father." Hal replied.
"I served with him in Aden, when I was in the Army. 22 SAS was quite helpful to us." Hammond said.
"That's my unit." Hal said.
"Ah, enlisted or officer?" Hammond asked.
"I was enlisted for several years until I got commissioned back in 1996, by the time of which I was a corporal." Hal replied.
"I always expected Henry Olden's son to be an officer if he went into the service." Hammond said, nostalgically, "I'm sorry about Oman...."
"You've nothing to apologize for." Hal replied.
"I served with your father during the Oman crisis. He was a good man, a fine officer, and a wonderful friend." Hammond said.
As they talked they climbed into a car driven by one of Hammond's employees, an old family friend he introduced as Mark. "Mark's family and mine have been associated for nearly ten generations." Hammond explained, indicating the severe looking man in his late fifties with thinning gray hair and dressed in a golf shirt and khaki trousers driving the car.
"I've got an event tomorrow that you two were invited to. I'm going to give you a tour of the facilities, the behind the scenes tour and the part that tourists don't usually see." Hammond continued as they rode off to the helipad.
As Mark opened the door and Hammond stepped out of the car followed by Hal and Ivy an Augusta 109 landed. The sleek helicopter Hal recognized because he had rappelled from them many times when he was with the counter- terrorist team back in 1995. They climbed aboard and the helicopter flew west 120 miles to the island of Isla Nublar, to Jurassic Park.
~ ~ ~ ~
"Zack, how about we get started on physical therapy a little early." Tatiana said.
"Tatiana, I'm not sure I can." Zack said, "I mean I start on Sunday."
"You'll be fine, here, hold on to me and I'll help you walk a few steps and then we'll walk back to your bed. Ok?" Tatiana asked.
"Oh, alright honey." Zack said, and Tatiana helped him out of bed. He made it a few steps before he stumbled and his weight dragged Tatiana down with him. Both of them fell tangled in each others arms.
"Shouldn't you take me to dinner first?" Tatiana remarked, brushing a strand of her golden hair from her face.
"I would, but I'm injured and I'm broke." Zack replied, gamely. Tatiana helped him to his feet and led him back to the bed and tucked him back in.
~ ~ ~ ~
A gray gas powered Jeep Wrangler awaited the entourage at the helipad. It conducted them towards a large electrified fence. The gate opened when two fellows in coral colored golf shirts opened it.
"Oh my God!" Ivy exclaimed.
Hal, who had been dozing lightly for the past few minutes awoke, "What is it? By the King James Bible.....!" Hal exclaimed.
Both of them were staring open mouthed at a brachiosaurus grazing from a tree about twenty meters away. Though they had heard about this park, seen images of it on television and in advertising for years, the reality of the sight still was wondrous to behold.
"My idea, detectives." John Hammond began, "Welcome to Jurassic Park."
Hammond smiled broadly as he saw their reactions. He always loved seeing the looks on the faces of guests whenever they first saw a living, breathing dinosaur. He remembered opening day in 1993 and the faces of the first guests as they stared in astonishment. The jeep drove on towards a large white structure with brown rooftops. The Visitor's Center's gleaming white façade made it gleam like a diamond in the sunlight.
"Mark, take their belongings to the hotel, I've laid on lunch for you two in the Discovery Room. I'll go check on it, wait here." Hammond said.
"Allosaurus." Ivy said, inspecting a nearby skeleton.
"Carnivore, right? Cretaceous?" Hal asked.
"Yes to the first, wrong to the second. Allosaurus, meaning 'other lizard' it was a distant cousin of the Tyrannosaurus Rex." Ivy said, she began to examine the skeleton.
"I didn't know you were a dinosaur nut." Hal replied.
"I used to spend hours at the museum when I was a little girl." Ivy said, "It's almost like your obsession with medieval history. Just look around my book shelf and you'll see my interest in dinosaurs."
"Really." Hal said, "You know, last time I was over I distinctly recall having seen a weird bug thing encased in rock on your wall in the bathroom."
"That's called a trilobite Hal." Ivy said, "They're primitive sea dwelling invertebrates."
"What's with the book?" Hal asked.
"It's by Doctor Alan Grant, one of the foremost names in paleontology today." Ivy said, "He's a proponent of the theory that dinosaurs evolved into birds, velociraptor intelligence and the like."
"Please don't inflate Alan's ego any more than it already is." Said a voice behind them.
A slim blonde woman wearing khaki shorts, a blue t-shirt, and a pink collared shirt walked over to them. "Doctor Ellie Sattler, I'm a colleague of Doctor Grant's."
Ivy brightened, grinning like a kid, "Is he here?"
"He is." Ellie replied, "Hey Alan, you've got yourself another admirer. Who are you two by the way?"
"Ivy Darren."
"Harold Olden."
A medium built fellow in his late thirties came around a corner. "Alan this is Ivy Darren."
"Wait a minute, you're the ACME Detective that recovered the stolen fossils from the Smithsonian in 1992." Alan Grant said, "I should ask for your autograph."
"You work for ACME?" Ellie asked.
"We do." Hal replied.
"Those are some wild theories you have about dinosaur linguistics." Ivy began, "I read your article in the Scientific American last week."
"Well, it stands to reason that dinosaurs had a greater 'vocabulary' if you will than simply 'roar' or its equivalents." Alan Grant began, "For example, this cast of the insides of a velociraptor's skull indicates a sort of channel designed to amplify sound."
"Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, I see you've met my other guests." Hammond began, "Doctor Malcolm, Mister Gennaro, and my grandchildren Alexis and Timothy are in the Discovery Room right now. Chilean sea bass is the menu for today."
"I remember operations in the Orient once." Hal said to Ivy, "One that's not classified at least. I remember our SQMS (Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant) wanted to get a feed of fish one day. We were off the coast of Malaya, in the midst of nowhere. Anyhow he decides to take half a Bangalore torpedo and two hand grenades and threw them into the water, thinking he'd get a couple fish. We wound up living off seafood for an entire month after he did that."
They were now sitting at the table after being introduced to the other five people in the room. Peter Ludlow sat at the table, together with a fellow in an Armani suit with thinning brown hair named Donald Gennaro, a self effacing man in black named Ian Malcolm, and two teenagers named Lex and Tim.
"Certainly a nice abuse of power," Ian Malcolm began, "A lot like John's project, really. I'm sure you weren't starving or anything were you."
"We weren't, but a fresh is always good for unit morale." Hal replied, "We didn't waste the fish either, we just had fish with every meal for a bloody month."
"Yeah, but don't you see the effects of a few pounds of explosive on a reef." Malcolm began, "I know there weren't any laws you broke, but that doesn't mean you should...."
"I wasn't there at the time it happened, I was cleaning my rifle at the river mouth when I heard a bang coming from the beach." Hal replied.
"Anyway, as I was saying." Malcolm began, "Genetic power, the most awesome force the planet's ever seen and you're wielding it like a kid with his father's gun."
"Now see what you've done." Ivy joked, "You just caused a massive criticism of John Hammond's idea with one of your non-classified stories of your time in the Regiment."
"Maybe this isn't the smartest idea in the world." Hal said, "Two species separated by millions of years, thrown amongst each other and separated only by electrical fencing. It seems like a recipe for disaster."
"That's awfully pessimistic." Ivy remarked, as they filed out of the Discovery Room.
"I always hope for the best, Ivy, but experience taught me to expect the worst." Hal replied.
As they walked along, Hammond explained that Gennaro, Malcolm, Grant and Sattler were there as part time experts that reviewed the safety, growth, and other aspects of the park.
Ahead of the men Ellie and Ivy were talking about something to do with prehistoric plants. Malcolm gave Hal a sly grin and asked, "So what exactly is the relationship between yourself and Ms. Darren?"
"We're partners." Hal replied, "I only started working with her last week."
"Last week, huh? Because the way you looked at her sometimes makes it sound like you'd known each other longer than that." Malcolm remarked.
"Long story." Hal replied. They first visited the control room, which was a large area with banks of computers of all types. A fat man with glasses in a Hawaiian shirt and a black man chain smoking cigarettes were arguing about something.
"That's Dennis Nedry and Ray Arnold, our chief programmer and chief engineer respectively." Hammond replied, "Ray, Dennis, you already know Doctors Sattler, Malcolm and Grant, and Gennaro. The two new faces are Hal Olden and Ivy Darren, from ACME."
"You mean those Mensa kids that run around playing junior detective." Nedry remarked.
"I'd love to see you try to run." Ivy said, cattily, "But I doubt you could unless it was running forty feet for a doughnut."
"Ivy!" Hal remarked, "I do believe the Mensa kids part was a compliment. And yes we are best known for chasing Carmen Sandiego, but those are the junior detectives. The senior ones usually do normal police work of various types."
"So why are you guys here?" Ray Arnold asked.
"We're investigating the injured worker case." Ivy replied, not supplying the real reason they were there, "We work for the corporate safety branch of ACME."
At this, Ludlow, who was walking with them, looked slightly uncomfortable as if he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Ivy noticed it and mentally filed it away in her mind.
"Well, I'll leave you two to get your things sorted out." Hammond said, "I'll see you at dinner."
Hal and Ivy walked back to the hotel, which was one of three of them facing Cretaceous Courtyard. Hal put his bag away and fell aslee[ in front of the television watching something when his room phone rang.
"Hal? It's Ivy. Are you coming to dinner?"
Hal sat up, and looked at his watch. It was six o'clock, time for dinner. "Damn!" Hal replied, throwing on his shirt and running down the hallway to the elevator where Ivy was waiting for him with a wry grin on her face. Ellie, Alan, and Ian were also around the elevator.
"Men." Ellie remarked, "Never on time."
"Hal does this all the time at ACME. He'll be on time one day and miss roll call the next five." Ivy replied.
"Did they teach you timeliness in the Royal Marines?" Malcolm said.
"They did, it just didn't take." Hal remarked, "Anyway, Ivy has an internal clock that is accurate to the second. What time is it now?"
"It's about five minutes and fifteen seconds past the hour." Ivy remarked, without looking at her watch and her back was to the grandfather clock behind her.
"How on earth do you do that?" Hal remarked.
"I wonder how you made it through twelve years of military service with your constant tardiness?" Ivy replied.
"With difficulty and a lot of getting chewed out by the DS (Directing Staff) during Selection." Hal replied.
"Dinner should be very interesting with these two." Malcolm mused.
~ ~ ~ ~
TBC