A/N: I'm noticing as I write this that for a Jurassic Park story, the dinosaurs haven't really featured very heavily in it so far. That will change in time.
Dawn: The sun rose on Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna as the personnel on both islands set forth. For most of the personnel on Sorna, it was business as usual. But for all those on Nublar, it was considerably less so.
THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP
The taskforce helicopters raced over the damaged Visitors Center and began sweeping the area looking for signs of life as various vehicles raced past the building. A group of them halted in front of the building and heavily armed mercenaries raced up the stairs and into the lobby and fanned out around the building looking for any hostile lifeforms.
"Looks clear so far," said Jeff into his radio as he heard back from the teams that were currently sweeping the building. "You can come in now Ed."
"Right," said the PR man as the front doors opened and the DRT Team poured in with their weapons at the ready as Ed Regis walked between them.
"God, this place is worse than I thought," commented Ed looking at the destroyed dinosaur skeletons, the blown in wall that the T-Rex had made to enter into the building, and the debris everywhere else. He was still looking around when a crinkling and crackling noise caught his attention and he looked down to see the 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth' Banner underneath his feet, looking in as much disarray as the rest of the place. He tried to brush off a piece of dirt only to succeed in partially tearing the banner so he immediately stopped and tried not to look both sheepish and depressed.
"This building is going to be harder to defend than I initially figured," Jeff noted, looking at the destroyed wall.
"Do you think we brought anything with us that could fix that?" asked Ed hopeful. Jeff sized up the hole and scratched his chin thoughtfully.
"We don't because we're here to take this island apart, not put it back together," the Pacific Pharmaceuticals worker told him. "But since InGen was still trying to build this place, maybe there's some supplies lying around we could use. Team Nine?"
Chip Hanford and his team walked up to them.
"Go and walk the perimeter of this compound and see if you can't locate where they were keeping the building supplies. After you do or don't find anything we can use then take one of the vehicles and go on to the maintenance shed where the power generator is located and secure that area," Jeff ordered. Chip nodded his head and motioned with his hand and his team left through the open area where the far wall was. Jeff then headed further into the building with Ed as from the nearby stairwell the technology team was herded up the stairs from the underground garage.
"I hope the Control Room is in better shape than this place is," Jeff muttered to himself under his breath as the team left the lobby.
Sorna: The senior staff of Sorna was enjoying their morning breakfast as they awaited the arrival of the inspection team.
"So I think I've got a good tour planned out for the gene sequencing facilities that won't reveal anything about how the process really works," Lori said as she put cream cheese on her bagel. "Course, I've heard a lot about Doc Thorne and he might put all the pieces together on his own."
"If he does, that's fine," Samantha told her. "He's clean as far as Biosyn or other rival genetics companies are concerned. We funnel a good amount of money into his company; he won't betray us."
The door was heard opening and everyone turned their heads to see Sheila enter and make a beeline for the donuts as she crammed one in her mouth and then grabbed several more along with some muffins and headed back for the door.
"How's it going over there?" asked Sam in reference to Nublar. Sheila turned to face them.
"Gumfing af vell vas posble," she said through her stuffed mouth and then was gone back to the Control Room. Samantha consulted her watch and then pulled out her timeline of the Nublar Operation and glanced through it.
"The team on Nublar should be entering the Control Room soon, I'd better get down there and see how Ed and them are doing," Samantha stated. "If the inspection team gets here, just delay them for a little while until I get back."
"Okay," said Jake noncommittally as Samantha collected her things and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Jake turned to Sam curious.
"What held you up last night after Lori's tour ended?" the scientist asked, curious. Even though Sam had hoped Jake wouldn't have noticed his absence at the dining area the previous night, he was still a little startled by the abrupt question. So he carefully finished drinking his coffee and then wiped his hands on his napkin.
"Just logistics," he answered simply and then forced a smile onto his face. "Unfortunately, Daniela decided to conk out on us before we got the chance to really discuss anything."
He then shifted towards the head of Indigo who had a sheepish look on her face.
"I was tired and you and Samantha were rambling on about things I didn't understand so of course I was going to tune you out as much as I could," she said bemused as Sam turned back to Henry.
"Anyway, I had the honor of carrying her to her room in the lodge and then I was just too tired to eat anything and went straight to sleep," Sam concluded. "Does that answer your question?"
He could tell from Jake's expression that it hadn't, but there was no way the scientist could find out without pushing the issue and so he let it go.
"I guess that would explain the chainsaw I heard coming from the lodge," he said instead. Daniela choked on her drink upon hearing that.
"Hey!" she said with realization and then picked up an apple and drilled Jake in the chest with it.
"The pain," Jake complained mockingly as he purposefully fell out his chair to the ground. "Is there a doctor in the house?"
"Yes, but she won't help you for being stupid," said Bobbie as she walked into the room and grabbed a cup of coffee and sighed wishing she a copy of a newspaper to go with it.
"How'd it go with your patients yesterday?" asked Lori. Bobbie shrugged.
"Same as with all patients, reluctant to take their shots, but having no choice," she said malevolently. "They'll be sore for a little while so they probably won't be in early this morning."
The others nodded, grateful.
"Although I wouldn't be surprised if Levine decides to wander off early into the jungle without permission," Henry figured. Bobbie nodded her head.
"I could see him wanting to but not being able to," the Doctor mused and then seeing the strange looks, clarified. "Well considering where on his body he got his shot…"
"Oh," the rest said understanding…and then fully understanding. "Oh…"
Appetites abruptly dropped at that as Bobbie chuckled. "More for me then," she stated and put some pancakes on her plate. "Man, I can't tell you how much I missed Alejandro's cooking when he was away."
Jake and Henry turned to each other and Henry mouthed a word and Jake nodded his head and then both abruptly tossed their food in the trash and walked off as Lori quickly shoveled in some more food without thinking about Bobbie's comment and chased after them.
"Where are you two going?" she asked concerned that they were taking off when the investigation team was about to arrive.
"We've got some loose ends we need to tie up," said Henry mysteriously. "Don't worry, we'll be around when the tour gets to where we'll need to make appearances."
Lori paused silently at that as she trailed behind them.
"Loose ends with what?" she asked timidly, not sure if she wanted to know. Jake turned to her a wry grin on his face.
"Logistics," he said, echoing what Sam had said earlier. That caused Lori to completely stop in her tracks as Jake and Henry continued walking.
"If you see Carly, tell her to call us," Henry shouted back at her and the two vanished into the parking garage. A moment later a car ripped out and headed off into the jungle. But before Lori could decide if she was going after them, a voice called out to her.
"Are you our tour guide?" the voice asked. Lori looked to her left and saw Richard Levine, Doc Thorne, Marty Gutierrez, Kelly, and Arby standing outside the lodge and having just emerged from the building. Lori looked at them with a measure of panic on her face as she didn't want to be left alone with this group, not with the future of InGen possibly riding on their report back to the Board and the investors.
"Yes," began Lori tentatively as a plan began forming in her mind. "But I had a talk with Doctor Carter and she doesn't think you should be moving so much this morning after having your shots. Go back and relax and we'll come get you later."
"What'll happen if we move too much?" asked Levine suspicious that he was being lied to. Lori blinked a couple of times at that as she tried to muster up a convincing excuse. And then her thoughts turned to anger at Jake leaving her behind to deal with this and the answer became clear.
"Well you've essentially been pumped full of antibodies designed to counteract a dinosaur disease. If you don't stop moving and allow the antibody to properly settle in your system, you run the risk of possibly mutating your DNA into that of a dinosaur's," Lori told them. "It's rare, but you shouldn't take unnecessary risks."
Levine visibly blanched at that as he looked at his hands and rubbed his arms as if checking for leathery skin or feathers.
"I think we can afford to wait and not take any chances," said Levine as he herded the team back into the lodge. His two young assistants verbally protested but were ushered back inside.
"It's just as well, I still have to prepare my long list of questions for everyone on this island," grumbled Gutierrez as he shivered in the early morning cold. Thorne for his part gave a skeptical look at Lori before a grin broke out on his face and he laughed before heading back in as well. The female InGen worker breathed a collective sigh of relief at their retreat as she looked at the entrance and exit to the jungle through the electrified fence where Jake and Henry had just departed.
Lori desperately wished that Jake and Henry would've just come clean about whatever they were up to, but she had to admit that their absence probably saved InGen's personnel a few hours of grief. And in a way Jake was to thank for that as the explanation she'd given the group was the same off the wall excuse Jake had given Bobbie many years ago when he refused to take the vaccine. Sure, Bobbie subsequently had him strapped to the operating table and injected him anyway, but at least his excuse hadn't gone to waste.
With a quick spin on her heels, Lori immediately made a beeline back for the Operations Building. She still had a lot of work to do before the tour started…and with a little luck she'd still be able to keep tabs on whatever Jake and Henry were up to. It was going to be a busy day.
Nublar: "If it's not one thing it's the next," commented Jeff ruefully as he looked at the blown in glass window with pieces of it scattered all around the control room.
"Kind of makes the security door obsolete, doesn't it?" Ed agreed lightly. "From what I remember from the deposition the survivors of this island gave, a velociraptor came crashing through there."
"Then it must have had a thick hide because I don't see any blood anywhere," said Lorne Tenners looking around. "But I guess sanitizing the place couldn't hurt after we clean up the glass."
"I'll have the custodial staff we brought us with us get started cleaning this mess up but in the meantime the programmers can get started on the area away from the glass and that broken ceiling tile over there," Ed figured before turning to Tim. "Have at it."
"Ready to rock," Tim agreed with a nod of his head as he turned to the programmers. "You all have your assignments by now, go to it. I'll be at the main terminal if you need me."
The team of programmers scattered about to the various terminals as Cassie took her place at Ray Arnold's former terminal and turned it on. She then gave a quick glance at Tim to make sure he was occupied at Dennis Nedry's terminal and then she took out her portable terminal from her bag and fired it up as well while trying to keep it hidden from those near her. She then exchanged a glance with Jeff who didn't respond but nudged Ed.
"I think we can set up a team of guards here and see how they're doing down in the labs," Jeff suggested. Ed nodded and Jeff turned to Lorne.
"Set up your men around the room and out in the theater. I'll be in the conference room where I'll set up the uplink with the Board," he stated and Lorne nodded his head and moved his team out. Jeff then turned to his team and motioned to the door and his team moved towards the exit. But as he walked behind Dennis Nedry's terminal, he sneezed and his foot jerked out and pulled the plug on the monitor causing it to shut off.
"Oops," said Jeff apologetically to Tim as he bent over. "Let me fix that for you."
"Thanks," said Tim distractedly as he got his large ringed binders in order that would help him navigate the island's systems more effectively. Jeff plugged the monitor cable back in but then quickly produced a small device from his sleeve and plugged it into one of the ports on the rear of the terminals underneath the desk. He then stood back up and didn't even look back at Cassie as he exited the room with Ed Regis. From her desk, Cassie waited to see if Tim had noticed but apparently he hadn't. She waited for him to properly boot up his terminals and then tapped a few commands on her computer and it began performing a trace for files locating in the mainframe with the results being wirelessly transmitted to her.
Wireless computer technology for computers was still in its infancy in 1993 but John Brown had immediately seized on the idea for covert operations involving corporate espionage. It gave Cassie the advantage of no one suspecting such a thing might be happening by leaving virtually no trace but on the downside, wireless transmissions were extremely slow and so it would take time to get the information she needed from the mainframe.
But time was something she plenty of at the moment as she began working on what she had been assigned to do. But as she set about doing what she loved most, programming, she failed to notice a pair of eyes occasionally darting her way scrutinizing her. From his seat at a nearby computer, a man named Ed James began scribbling down notes from what he observed the female programmer doing.
San Diego: Peter Ludlow and the rest of the InGen Board sans Samantha were sitting at their main conference table waiting for the uplink to commence with Nublar and Sorna. After a few moments, one of the computer monitors fired up and the traveling board member appeared on it.
"Is the connection good?" asked Samantha from her end as her image seemed to fuzz a little bit but was otherwise clear.
"We read you," Ludlow acknowledged. "How are things at Site B?"
"As good as can be expected given the circumstances of Jurassic Park's demise on the company," Samantha replied. "I don't see any problems with the inspection."
"Good," said Ludlow pleased. "What about our two favorite scientists?"
Samantha gave a brief smile at that. "They're playing nice for now."
Ludlow nodded his head. "See that they stay that way. The last thing we need is their baseless accusations making the inspection team suspicious."
Samantha looked at him confused. "Baseless accusations about what?"
Ludlow seemed to shift a little bit uncomfortably at that question but he was interrupted before he could continue.
"Hello, am I patched in properly?" asked Ed Regis as his image appeared on the other monitor.
"Yes, Ed, we read you," said Ludlow grateful to be talking about something else that was much more important to InGen's future. "How are things on Nublar?"
"Going well, but it looks like the Lysine Contingency hasn't been working up to spec," Regis admitted. "As for where we are right now…"
Ludlow focused so intently on Regis's image and report that he didn't notice Samantha continue to stare at him intently for several moments before scribbling down a note on her notepad and then silently returning her attention to Ed Regis and his report.
Sorna, later in the day: "And so that pretty much concludes our tour of the Operations Building," Lori concluded to the inspection team as they reached the front doors. "Did anyone have any questions?"
"So if you don't clone dinosaurs here, why the incubators?" asked Thorne looking through a side door at a row of incubators that seemingly weren't in use.
"It's because we used those in the early days of the project while the larger production facilities were being built. Even today you'll see the occasional egg in there being studied by scientist who decided to take their work home with them, so to speak," Lori answered. "You actually just missed the heaviest usage in the past few years when we finished solving a problem called DX. We used the facilities here to create a batch of specimens to use as a control group against the specimens being created in the facilities to see if something was affecting the production process. It turned out the production facilities weren't the problem, but it was still useful to have this location be operational."
Thorne nodded his head as he jotted down some notes in his notebook about what he saw as the rest of the group mainly looked bored.
"So, how about some lunch?" Lori asked clapping her hands together. The group was hungry and each nodded their heads except for Arby.
"Can I go look in on the control room for a few minutes first?" he asked hopeful. Lori shrugged.
"I don't see why not if Sheila says it is okay," she decided. Arby gave her an appreciative grin and was headed for the stairs as Kelly chased after him not wanting to be left alone with the grownups.
'Were there any other questions before we go to the commissary?" asked Lori curious.
"Yeah, when do we get to see the production facilities and the hatcheries?" Levine demanded grumpily. That was where he wanted to be, not here being told things he didn't care a damn about.
"Oh that won't be until much later this week if not until some point next week at best," Lori mentioned cheerfully. Levine's jaw dropped upon hearing that.
"Why so long?" he demanded irate. Lori just gave him a mild smirk.
"It's because we have so much to cover until then," she responded matter of factly. "You haven't seen the compound yet for your inspection tour, the other buildings out there in the field, et cetera. Don't worry there'll be plenty of time to see the production facilities later."
Levine scowled at her. "I want to speak to Peter Ludlow, now!"
Lori tipped her head at him in acknowledgment of his request, but then frowned at his request.
"Unfortunately, our communications station is largely tied up with the Nublar operation," she explained with false sympathy. "But once that's done I'm sure we'd be happy to contact Peter Ludlow for you."
Levine growled angrily and then waved a hand at her and stalked off as Gutierrez followed after him. Thorne watched them go before turning to Lori.
"You're good. I could use back at my plant to handle him if you ever think about changing professions," he offered. Lori shook her head lightly.
"I'm here for the long haul," she explained truthfully. "You'd better go take a break though, the technology you saw in this building is nothing compared to the electrified fences, motion sensors, and everything else we've got out there."
Levine nodded his head in agreement and yawned briefly before heading off to the commissary before saying one last thought. "Oh, and don't let Richard get to you. He's used to getting his way and here he's completely out of his league with all of this. Once he's found his footing, he'll calm down."
"I'll just have to trust you on that," Lori said with a mild smirk. Thorne nodded his head and then gave a friend wave goodbye and headed for the dining area. As he left, Lori felt the energy suddenly drain out of her and she leaned against the wall exhausted. The tour was the opening salvo of InGen's attempt to convince the company's investors that nothing could go wrong on Site B like it had on Jurassic Park. To that end she'd been prepping night and day for the past week to make sure the introduction went off without a hitch and now that it had, she found it hard to stand.
"I think that went well," said Samantha as she emerged from the stairwell. "Good work, Lori."
"Thanks, boss," said the Head of Operations on Sorna as she yawned briefly into her hand. "Are you going to get something to eat, too?"
Samantha shook her head. "Actually, I'm looking for Jake and Henry have you seen them?"
Lori looked at her with a mixture of nervousness and anxiety. "They had something they said they needed to do. But they did say they would be back for the part of the tour that concerns them."
"Huh?" asked Samantha not having been entirely paying attention before she waved off Lori's concerns. "Oh, I'm not looking for them to bust their chops for not being here. In fact I think the less they have to do with this tour, the better. No, I needed to ask them something, but if they're not here than it can wait. Anyway, like I said good job on the tour."
Samantha then wandered off so lost in her thoughts she failed to register Roberta Carter pass by saying hello.
"What's with her?" Bobbie asked concerned. Lori shrugged.
"She's just looking for our two resident troublemakers," she explained. Bobbie nodded her head with a slight grin on her face.
"That would explain her lack of concentration," the Doctor agreed and then held up a cup of coffee. "Need a little pick me up?"
Lori graciously accepted the cup. "Ah, just what the Doctor ordered."
Bobbie groaned and held her head in shame. "I think Jake's rubbed off on you more than your realize."
"You may be right," Lori conceded. "So what's up, what brings you down from the clinic?"
Bobbie paused for a moment as she considered her next words carefully.
"Sometime soon I'll need to ask you something in complete confidentiality, is that okay?" she asked conspiratorially. Lori's eyebrows went up at that statement.
"Like what?" she asked concerned. Bobbie looked up suddenly as if snapped out of a reverie.
"Oh, it's nothing to be worried about," the Doctor said, trying to be disarming. "It's just a question I think only you can answer."
"Oh, ummm, okay," said Lori still confused as she took a sip of her coffee. "I'll be happy to answer your question if I can."
"That's all I'm asking," said Bobbie simply as she enjoyed her own cup of coffee. Lori chuckled for a moment.
"Kind of funny you coming to me asking for confidentiality," she said bemused. "Normally it's supposed to be the other way around."
Bobbie gave her a curious look at that. "You mean I didn't tell you that you were pregnant? I told everybody else."
Lori gagged on her coffee as Bobbie laughed heavily as Sam passed by having heard the tail end of their conversation.
"Congrats Lori, name your kid after me," he said jokingly and continued on his way. Lori meanwhile wiped her mouth and glared at Bobbie who laughed even harder.
"I'll get you for that," she swore.
"I'm sure you will," Bobbie agreed lightly as the two headed for the dining hall. "I'm sure you will."
Embryonics Administration: The dinosaur corpses were spread out across a number of gurneys in a section off area of the building away from prying eyes. Clustered around the corpses were Jake Whitacre, Henry Wu, Abby Nakajima, Derek Hoyle, Colin Maken, and Carly Carlson who were looking through a series of reports on their initial analyses of the bodies.
"Well this is a fine mess," Henry remarked finally as he tossed his clipboard onto a nearby counter. Jake didn't say anything in response to that he just continued looking through the report.
"Could it just be a bad batch that went through the re-sequencer?" asked Colin thoughtful.
"Maybe, but from the reports coming in from Nublar, some of the dinosaurs there have been similarly affected as well," Abby pointed out. "That screams different batches similar problems to me."
"I agree," said Derek but otherwise said nothing else. Silence fell on the group until Carly turned to Jake who was still looking through the report.
"What do you think, Jake?" the female scientist asked curious. Jake continued consulting the report for a few moments and then smoothed out the pages on his clipboard and then looked at the group.
"I think we all know what we need to do," he told them frankly. "A, G, C, and T. We have to tear this thing's genetic structure down to its core, examine it, and then compare it to the code that we have in the computers."
The others wanted to groan at that suggestion given how long it would take to get that done, but they knew it was the only answer to the mystery surrounding why the lysine contingency had taken such an unexpected turn.
"Hey, we don't have to know the answer by tomorrow," said Jake consoling them. "So go back to whatever you were doing and we'll work on this when we have the free time."
The others nodded their heads and silently filed out of the room and went back to work as Henry watched them go and turned to Jake.
"So what do you really think?" the scientist asked of his friend. Jake shrugged as he leaned against a counter and pondered the corpses in front of him.
"I think we'll need to somehow get to Kenya without anyone knowing," he said finally. Henry turned downtrodden at that but nodded his head in agreement.
"So you think the genetic sequences may have been tampered with?" he asked in a hushed tone, not sure if he wanted to know what the response would be.
"I don't know," Jake confessed. "But there's too many unanswered questions coming up all at once about them being doing things they shouldn't be able to. Breeding, having the lysine contingency act up, other things we likely haven't seen yet, it's not adding up. So either the dinosaurs are somehow evolving and there's nothing shady going on and nothing we can do about it, or the genetic code was tampered with in which case there is something sinister going on, but we can put a stop to it. Neither option sounds very appealing but they're the only ones we have."
Henry nodded his head, having had similar thoughts about this mess as Jake stood back up and headed for the exit as he did the same.
"I just hope the master tapes in Kenya haven't been tampered with," Jake hoped aloud as he shut the door behind them and it sealed shut. Henry nodded his head.
"Do you think we should tell anyone about this?" he asked further as the two walked up the stairs and then down a catwalk that overlooked the bustling production facilities below with scientists moving from egg cache to egg cache inside each incubator and making various notes about what they saw.
"Nope," said Jake bluntly, being distrustful of those higher up than him just came naturally to him.
"Well I think we should keep Samantha in the loop," Henry figured. "We both know she's the only one who is really on our side when it comes to the board."
Jake mulled that over for a few moments. "Well, only if we can prove something's wrong," he relented. "Otherwise she'll just think we're up to no good again."
"I can agree with that," Henry said knowingly while nodding his head. "She didn't believe us about DX until that galimimus collapsed during the investor meeting."
Jake nodded and the two walked past the front receptionist's desk and were outside walking towards a vehicle that was being loaded with various genetic waste canisters to be offloaded at the dock for proper disposal. The two were walking up to the cab to get in when Jake noticed a canister that hadn't been loaded.
"What's with that one?" asked Jake, curious. The workers looked at their manifest.
"We've only got fifty barrels here," said the worker confused. "Can you go read me the ID number on it while we secure these."
Jake shrugged lightly. "Okay," he said trying to be helpful as he headed for the barrel of genetic waste that was thoroughly sealed with bio-hazard markings all around it. But as he reached the barrel, it seemed to rock slightly on its own.
"Did you see that?" Jake called back to Henry a little nervous. Henry looked at him confused.
"See what?" his friend asked confused. Jake shook his head.
"Never mind," he said as he bent over to look at the number but found it had been scratched off.
"Hey there's no number on here!" Jake shouted back to the workers. The worker was so startled he nearly dropped his clipboard.
"GET AWAY FROM THAT CONTAINER NOW!" the worker shouted as he ran behind the truck to hide along with his coworker.
"What's going on?" asked Henry concerned as he took retreated from the canister.
"Sometimes when the different biowaste comes into contact with each other, they can create a mutated life form," the worker stated in fear. "Those canisters are supposed to be disposed of immediately in the field but this one must've gotten put in the wrong batch. Get away from that contained Mr. Whitacre, whatever is in there is pure instinct and deadly!"
"What?" said Jake astounded as he turned to them. "That's the biggest load of-."
POP! THUMP!
The large plastic cap of the canister popped off behind Jake and fell to the ground as a shadow fell over Jake and heavy respiration could be heard behind him. The scientist slowly turned with terrified eyes as he found himself looking at a green and goopy monster of a creature that had emerged from the large canister.
"Holy shit!" he shouted but was frozen in terror as the two green appendages of the creature landed on his shoulders so he couldn't get away. The creature then seemed to notice the scientist and leaned its strange looking head towards him until they were face to face as Jake was now beyond words. The creature then reared back and opened its mouth as a single sound emerged.
"BOOOOOO!" said an all too familiar female voice to Jake's ears as realization dawned on him and his expression went from shock to pure anger.
"DAMMIT KATRICE, I'll KILL YOU!" shouted Jake as Katrice in her strange mud and other unknown substances disguise laughed her head off and then jumped out of the canister and ran away as Jake chased after her across the field. Behind him, Henry and the two workers were on the ground laughing hysterically that the prank Katrice had designed had been so successfully pulled off.
Veterinarian's Lab, Isla Sorna: "Well, so far so good. I don't think they noticed anything," said one of Gerry Harding's subordinates. The head vet nodded his head as the small group of veterinarians was clustered around the steel tables where they had to handle dinosaur injuries and the like.
"You did a very good job with this," Gerry agreed nodding his head. "And it's a good thing too because I don't think they would've given us any answers about what they were up to."
"Well, sir, if you don't mind my asking, what do you think is going on?" asked another veterinarian. Gerry made a light flip of his hand to indicate that he had no idea.
"I don't want to guess because I could be making a big deal out of nothing," he informed his group. "That's why we can't anyone about this. I will keep you in the loop about what I find, I promise, but if anyone found out about what we're about to do, it could create more problems than it would solve. Understood?"
The veterinary staff all exchanged glances and nodded their heads.
"I don't get how you're going to get that stuff past customs," said an assistant curious. Gerry sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"The downside of all this merger talk is actually to our advantage with this," he informed the group. "Things can slip through, they always do; Nedry is proof of that. And I'll find a way to get this to where it needs to go."
"So who are you going to get that stuff analyzed by?" asked another worker. Gerry reached down and took the vials from the table, one with blood inside it, another containing a small skin sample, and the third having a spit sample…all secretly taken from the dinosaurs Jake and Henry had had stored in the cold lockers and all without his knowledge.
"There's a division of Pacific Pharmaceuticals that does genetic testing and analysis with no questions asked about where the samples came from," Gerry explained. "My daughter uses them for testing on animals she's analyzing in the wild and when DX rolled around, my colleagues back at the San Diego Zoo were able to compare what they observed in our samples with results from tests they had had run by Pacific Pharmaceuticals on similar samples and their ideas on how to fix it. They shouldn't have a problem just giving us a straight by the numbers analysis."
The others nodded as Gerry pocketed the vials and then placed them in a container and then put it in the safe for him to send later.
"So…I'd say we've put in our hours this morning, how about going back to HQ for some lunch?" he then ventured. Smiles and rumbling stomachs were heard across the group as they all headed to the exit as Gerry Harding slammed the safe door shut and went to join them.
Site B Control Room: Arby and Sheila were having an enthusiastic conversation about all sorts of computers specs and capabilities as Kelly's eyes began to glaze over and she was in danger of falling asleep from listening to them. She was also a little bit hungry too, but there was no way she was going to be left with a bunch of adults who were likely going to be just as boring.
But her resolve was weakening as her head drooped lower and lower to the table until the door was heard opening and all heads turned toward the entrance as Daniela St. Ives walked in with a folio bursting with papers.
"Hi," the head of Indigo said a little timidly. "I know you're using most of the computers in here for the Nublar operation, but is there one I might be able to use for a little bit?"
Sheila looked as if she was going to scowl at the intrusion before she chuckled briefly and gave a genuine smile.
"Sure, it's no problem. Go ahead and use A16," the female programmer offered genuinely.
"Thanks," said Daniela grateful as she walked over to a computer in the corner and set down her stuff. "How're things going on Nublar?"
"Alright, I guess," Sheila figured. "They're finishing up securing the Visitors Center before they head out into the park."
"Wild stuff," said Daniela, a little saddened by what had happened just a few weeks ago. Especially given it shouldn't have happened at all if her people had been doing their jobs properly. No matter what Peter Ludlow and the board felt, it was her fault for what had happened and she had to get to the bottom of it. If someone had authorized her coworkers to let Nedry through with no questions asked, she needed to find out who had done and it more importantly, why.
And so that was why she was down in the control room of Sorna about to go through logs of message passing through the company's intranet to Indigo…and there were a lot of them even though she knew the timeframe of when the messages had been sent. But she was just grateful that she even had an opportunity to do this so early into her investigation without drawing attention. Right now everyone's eyes were on Nublar including, she hoped, whoever had sent that message.
"Let me know if you need any help," Sheila offered before returning to her conversation with Arby about properly sequencing Cray XMPs. Daniela nodded her head but otherwise said nothing as she began navigating through the system.
"Hi," said a voice almost immediately as she was getting into the electronic mail system. Because she had been so engrossed in her work, Daniela was startled by the intrusion but managed to avoid displaying any external emotion.
"You're Kelly, right?" asked Daniela turning to face her and not just be rude and brush her off. The young woman nodded her head.
"Ms. St. Ives, right?" Kelly responded in turn. Daniela nodded her head.
"You can call me Daniela, everybody else does," she offered and Kelly brightened at that.
"Thanks," Kelly remarked, glad to be treated like equal with such a high ranking member of InGen. "Whatcha working on?"
Daniela glanced up briefly to see what Sheila and Arby were up to, but both were hunched over a technical diagram and making notes on it with a pencil. She then returned her attention to her keyboard and began typing away on it once more.
"I'm just looking through old electronic messages sent through the servers here to try and figure something out," Daniela admitted as she began rooting through different directories of the messaging system.
"Like what?" asked Kelly in a hushed tone as if being let in on some secret. Daniela had to crack a grin at the young woman's tone.
"Nothing too exciting I'm afraid right now," she stated. "But if you want to be my assistant during your time here, we may uncover something interesting. So what do you say?"
Kelly's eyes really brightened at that. "Awesome, I'm in. But could you do me one favor in return…"
Daniela laughed aloud already knowing what that request would be. "Don't worry; I'll be sure to put in a good with Doctor Harding for you so you might be able to meet his daughter…"
San Diego, California: Sarah Harding was let in by the medical orderlies to Ian Malcolm's room where she found him hooked up to life support devices and clearly under the influence of medication.
"Ch-chaos…that's…big…pile…of…," he said in his mild delirium from the drugs as Sarah sighed and pulled a chair up next to the bed.
"Ian?" she asked of her on again and off again boyfriend. "Ian, it's me Sarah."
"Pirates…tourists…," said the chaotician apparently still not recognizing her presence in the room. Sarah briefly rubbed her forehead in annoyance as she realized that Ian was in no state to be answering anything. But she needed answers because doing nothing wasn't an option.
"Ian?" she asked again, this time lightly slapping him on the side of face to try and rouse him from his delirium. This time his eyes seemed to gain a little bit of focus and they shifted over as if regarding Sarah for the first time as his mouth grinned slightly.
"Sarah…," he said in recognition. "I've always liked your hair down…"
Sarah groaned at that before realizing she had to put her current hair status that behind her.
"Ian, listen to me," she pleaded as she took out the piece of paper she'd been handed by a mysterious stranger just a day prior. "John Hammond, Dennis Nedry, John Arnold, Robert Muldoon, Henry Wu, Gerry Harding…"
With each word, she saw the recognition on Ian's face become clearer and clearer as if he was really emerging from the delirium he had been in.
"Ian?" she asked one more time. Ian looked up at her with sadness in her eyes.
"I need to know what happened at Jurassic Park," she finally stated. Now it was Ian's turn to sigh.
"John you crazy son of a bitch, you did it, you really did it," he began sadly still somewhat in a haze, but at least he was answering her question and Sarah clicked her pen and quickly began scribbling down everything he said.
Later that day, the sun set once more on Islas Indigo, Nublar, and Sorna bringing an end to an otherwise uneventful day. On Nublar, Jeff and his team were corralled in his room discussing what they had learned about what had happened to Jurassic Park thanks to Nedry's actions. Elsewhere, Ed James and Howard King were busy discussing what they had observed during the day. In San Diego, John Brown sat up late at night looking over what his team had collected in San Diego and looking over detailed satellite photos he'd 'acquired' that showed what was going on with Nublar. And still elsewhere in a cushy office in San Diego, Peter Ludlow sat reviewing his notes over the day's events while also looking at a computer displaying recent activity across the company's intranet.
Sorna: As everyone said their goodnights and closed up for the day, Sam was in his office cleaning up some things when he noticed a supply truck rolling in. Looking out, he saw Jake and Henry hop off and they were followed by a third being that caused Sam to do double take as a green and goopy monster appeared with them underneath the street lamps as the truck parked nearby.
Sam watched with a curious stare for a few more moments as the goopy monster shivered in the cold night air as Jake laughed at the being's discomfort until it turned and hugged the scientist getting him all messy. Jake in turn gave the monster a friendly return hug and then faked a lunge at the creature which then turned tail and ran inside the workers quarters thereby answering Sam's question about what that thing was.
"Nice to see some old habits die hard," he said with a mild grin as he powered down his computer.
"You say something, Sam?" asked a voice from the hallway causing the head of Sorna to briefly jump as he saw Daniela in the doorway.
"What are you still doing up?" he asked instead, curious. "We didn't see much of you or that Kelly girl past lunch."
Daniela yawned into her hand. "Well unlike you whose work is here, mine is a good seventy-five miles or so northeast of here," she pointed out. "And I need an assistant to help me in my work and I can't trust anyone on this island with the haphazard training they receive. So I made the best of a bad situation and found someone whom fit the criteria."
Sam grabbed his coat off of his chair and put it on as he shook his head lightly at his counterpart. "You're a hero to us all with your work ethic."
"You're damn right," Daniela agreed lightly as she leaned against the side of the doorframe for support as she looked around Sam's office before her eyes settled on a chalkboard on the side wall.
"Is that what I think it is?" she asked of a single number present on the chalkboard with two words next to it. Sam looked at the number solemnly.
"Yeah," he confirmed as he got up and walked over to it. "I use it as a reminder of the bigger picture…of what's really important no matter what the future has in store for us."
Daniela nodded her head in silence as Sam walked up to the number and took an eraser and wiped it off the board before writing a new one in its place just one increment lower.
"Is that number accurate?" Daniela felt herself needing to ask since this would now be her place of work.
"Nicolette seems to think so and she's rarely wrong," Sam confessed as he put down the piece of chalk and stepped back from the board. Daniela eased her way off the doorframe and stepped into the room and looked at the number solemnly.
"Look, Sam, I…," she began reluctantly. The head of Sorna immediately held up his hand.
"I'm sure you'll find out the truth," he told her knowingly. "But the less I know until you do find it, the better."
Daniela nodded her head distantly as Sam walked up to her and he rested his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
"I know what happened on Nublar wasn't your fault," he told her. "Now you just have to prove it."
Daniela nodded her head again, this time with renewed focus. "I will," she swore as the two walked together out of the room as a brachiosaur was heard calling in the distance.
Behind them they left a chalkboard that simply read: 84 Days Left.
A/N: I've finally figured out many days are left on the countdown and I'll be going back and fixing the previous chapters to make sure the right amount of days left are displayed.