Chapter Thirteen

Denied

The following morning, as the trio was climbing out of the truck, Grant asked: "You know where the Coast is?"

"The coast?" Ben shook his head. "Doctor Grant, that'll be suicide. The closer we get to water, the worse things get."

"I know, but we'll never get off this island by staying on it."

"Fine, sure. Follow me."

Grant trailed behind Ben, uneasily giving up leadership. Yet, Ben was the one who'd lived on the island for six weeks. He knew the layout far better than the older paleontologist. However, Ben had confessed that he and Eric hadn't done too much exploring ever since their run-in with a T-rex four weeks back. It was then they'd given up trying to find a way off; and had kept close to the tanker truck they lived out of.

Eric, who stumbled alongside Grant, struck up conversation in the attempt to take his mind off the miles of hiking. He held up a claw and asked: "You know what this is?"

Grant briefly snapped his eyes down to see what Eric was holding. "A raptor claw. I use to have one. A fossil." I never should've tossed it, he thought mournfully.

"Mine's new," Eric pointed out. "I found it after a fight between a raptor and a Spino."

"Here," Ben called back to them, coming to a stop at the edge of a cliff.

Grant peered down, noticing what Ben was showing him. Down below was the river. And hidden among shrubbery alongside the banks was a small, wooden boat. "You see that," he exclaimed.

Ben's eyes widened. "I never saw it before! But then again, we weren't this far down. When we came to the river, we were further up."

"That's where we need to go," Grant said, glancing around, trying to calculate how to get to the boat. "This way."

-----

Two hours into their trek, Eric – running out of things to say – asked: "You got kids?"

Grant flicked his eyes over to the young teenager. "Yeah."

"Oh." Eric stepped over a large, fallen tree limb. "How many?"

"Two. A boy and girl."

"That's cool. I wish my parents had had more. It's pretty boring. Are your kids paleontologists, too?"

Grant grunted, ducking underneath a branch. "Charlie's three. Amy's one."

"Oh. Sorry. I thought they'd be…never mind," Eric trailed off, embarrassed.

"Older," Grant finished for him. "Yeah, well, if it were up to Ellie we would've had them much sooner."

"Ellie's your wife?"

"Yeah, she…"

"Oh, wait! You mean Ellie Sattler-Grant? Wow, that is so cool. My Biology teacher uses her books for class reference. Personally, I find them a little confusing. I mean, they are college-leveled."

A faint smile crossed Grant's face. All this talk about his family got him reminiscing. He remembered the day Ellie had quit the job, announcing she was going to focus her energy on her writing. Grant had been disappointed, practically begged her to stay. Yet, in the end, he released his hold and silently watched her pack up her stuff. By the end of the weekend, she was gone. Given, they had already moved in together, but Grant didn't spend much time at home. He missed having her on the digs.

"…why we're here."

Grant shook his head, realizing he had faded out. He had no clue what the kid was talking about so he simply said: "Really."

"Yeah," Eric replied, oblivious to Grant's lack of attention.

And then Grant froze, raising up his hand. All three listened intently as a strange, faint sound emitted through the jungle. They all glanced at each other as they recognized the sound: a phone was ringing. Perplexed, but spurred on with hope, they all started racing towards the noise.

Grant racked his brain, but came up empty. He couldn't remember ever seeing a phone. And neither the Kirbys, Udesky, nor Nash had said a word about one. So where was it coming from?

-----

Ellie paced the waiting room, impatience and fear raging inside her. She glanced at the clock mounted behind the secretary's desk for the millionth time and gave a frustrated sigh. It was at that point the door opened and a man in a crisp business suit addressed her curtly. "You must be Doctor Sattler-Grant."

Ellie, fuming, snapped: "Yes I am! And I have been waiting for over two hours!"

"Come in." He gestured for her to enter his spacious office.

Ellie marched inside, not bothering to take a seat as the man went around his desk and settled into his own leather executive chair. "Mister Jenkins, I need you to charter an aircraft to Isla Sorna."

David Jenkins laughed. "Are you crazy, Doctor Grant? I won't do any such thing."

Ellie leaned over his mahogany desk that was littered with expensive paperweights and gizmos. "You don't understand. My husband is stranded on that island!"

Mister Jenkins face collapsed. "What? No one is authorized to land on that island. If he did so, it was illegally and…"

"No, damn it! They were never supposed to land!"

"It's restricted airspace."

"I know that, but these people got permission by the Costa Rican government to fly low."

"Then why aren't you taking this matter up with the Costa Rican government?"

"I tried! But they told me there was nothing they could do. They denied giving out their permission. They told me to contact the U.S. Embassy."

Jenkins sighed. "Doctor Grant, are you in contact with your husband?"

"No."

Jenkins sat up. "Then how do you know he's even on the island?"

"Because he hasn't returned! And he hasn't called."

Jenkins sighed again, leaning back into his chair. "There is nothing I can, Doctor Grant. You can't even tell me with assuridity that your husband is on the island. Maybe – just maybe – he is off in Hawaii having a grand old time."

"Do you know who my husband is? Alan Grant would never do…"

"Alan Grant," Jenkins inquired, his interest peaked. "Thee Alan Grant?"

"Yes," Ellie exclaimed, thinking she was making headway.

"Doctor Grant, your husband, Alan may have gone on his own accord. I can't mount a rescue expedition for a man who may or may not be on an island that he may or may not have illegally gone to."

"Are you saying you won't help me?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Doctor Grant."

End Chapter Thirteen

Phoenix Master: Hey, I've got nothing serious against Ian Malcolm, but Grant obviously had a dislike for him. shrugs Besides, those lines were in the movie. And I remember those bike rides! I used to ride mine down the long, winding hill to the lake.

HoneyBee: Brotherly-kind-of-interaction? I didn't notice that. They weren't in too many scenes together. I'll have to watch the movie again to refresh my memory. Anyway, don't worry about Ben taking over for Billy. It won't happen. I'll see that it doesn't!

SimCatz: I did stay tuned. Nothing happened! Please, please, update!

Groovy: Thanks. And everyone I've talked to as agreed with me: Alan and Ellie, not Ellie and Mark. What was Steven Spielberg and Universal Studios thinking?

Josh-Nelson: Chp2-5: Thanks so much. I was dying for family interaction scenes! laughs Chp7-8: Yeah, that totally bothered me. They killed Cooper and Nash way too quickly. Chp10: That was another thing that irritated me! I loved the movie, but there were a lot of faulty things with it. Chp12: Cooper's dead. The group doesn't know it because they didn't see him get eaten after he shot the Spino. So, that's why they were asking earlier if maybe they should look for him. It's a good thing they didn't bother because he is dead.

Karen: Yet, another person who agrees with me! Dang it, they should've just made them his. Thanks for the review!

MJ: I liked Billy, but I freely confess that Grant has been (and will always be) my favorite. I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for the review!

Karategal: You know what? You got me thinking…mmm…maybe there is a way…Thanks for reviewing! I'm taking your request into consideration!