Indigo: A helicopter tore through the air above the island before circling around the port with the SS Venture and Anne B. Jake Whitacre and Henry Wu had cleared by the hospital that morning but they'd been too late to ride either boat out here but Peter Ludlow, eager to be rid of them, had a charter flight sent to Indigo where they could then take the boats on to Nublar. As soon as the chopper landed in front of the Visitors Center, an identical version of the one on Nublar, they disembarked and found themselves facing Daniela St. Ives.
"Hey Danno, come to give us a personal strip search?" asked Jake with a wicked grin on his face. Daniela shook her head at him.
"Cavity searches from the staff," she snapped. Jake gave a look of mock horror as Henry chuckled to himself. Daniela then smiled despite herself and draped an arm over both of them.
"It's good to see you two both alive," she admitted. "I heard you took a wicked spill back on Nublar."
"You don't know the half of it," Henry informed her as he rotated his arm and winced slightly at the pain. "We'll need painkillers for the next week or so but at least its standard aspirin and not something heavier like morphine."
"Well, that's good. Especially with us getting fewer and fewer supplies as the days go on," Daniela pointed out as she led the up the steps to the front of the building.
"Plus the island going on lockdown," Jake grumbled. Daniela nodded her head as she was about to push open the doors.
"Yeah, I-," said began before what Jake had said finally hit her and she stopped in her motion. "WHAT?!" she then exclaimed, shocked.
Henry and Jake looked at her confused before realizing she didn't know. Each then took on the look of a guilty child who had confessed to something before being accused.
"Didn't Samantha have a chance to speak to you yet?" Henry asked, curious. Daniela silently shook her head.
"Whoops," said Henry scratching the back of his head nervously. "Maybe it's better if you didn't mention that we told you."
Daniela rested her hands on the giant oak doors for a moment.
"She said she was going to talk to me later today," she told them. "But I knew something had to be wrong because I spoke with Sam not too long ago about you guys coming and he seemed really distracted."
She then shoved the doors open and the two walked into the lobby where the skeleton of the brachiosaurus was being 'attacked' by the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus and above was the banner reading "When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth".
"So what you think that means for the future?" Daniela asked next as she escorted the two to her office.
"Same shit, different day," Jake figured, optimistically and pessimistically. Daniela walked around her desk and took a seat in it before she started fishing around in one of her desk drawers for something.
"Not entirely true, you'll be with us now," Henry pointed out to her. Jake's expression turned to faux-terror at hearing that.
"The horror!" he said melodramatically. Daniela laughed at that as she pulled out a box of latex gloves and put two of them on.
"I suppose making your life miserable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, will probably make up for being stuck on Sorna," she agreed. "Alright, boys, let's see 'em."
Henry immediately put his travel case on her desk as Jake looked at her annoyed.
"Why should we have to show them now?" he asked. "We're going to be under lockdown so it's not like anything we take in there is going to be leaving Site B, anyway."
Daniela shook her head at him. "I take my job very seriously. Even if you're not carrying contraband, all we need is one foreign contaminant onto that island the whole ecosystem could fall apart. Or have you forgotten about the DX Virus?"
Jake finally placed his luggage on her desk and crossed his arms.
"That was a contaminant specific to the ground up meat we were using to feed the dinosaurs, not a foreign object that was brought in that did the damage," he pointed out. Daniela was sifting through Henry's stuff as she did nod her head.
"True," she admitted as she looked up at him. "Unauthorized food on the other hand…"
Jake scowled at her. "That was Henry's mango! I was just holding it for him."
"Like hell it was!" said Henry incredulously. "Although why that's on the banned list I can only wonder…"
"Everything has a reason," Daniela pointed out as she finished looking through Henry's stuff and began looking through Jake's. "Like E.L.E. for instance."
Both scientists immediately snapped out of their lighthearted mood and focused on her with deadly seriousness.
"What about E.L.E.?" Jake asked his voice dripping with venom at the subject having been brought up without warning.
"Weeks ago on my last trip to Sorna when there was first talk about merging the staff of the two islands Samantha was going to explain it to me but never got the chance. I have my meeting with her later today about the lockdown and I think she's going to bring that up as well," Daniela told them as she finished going through Jake's things and closed up their bags. "You boys are the ones who know the most about it and so I want to know too before I can be prepared before I go into my meeting."
"But you already know what E.L.E. is," Henry told her. "You were given a briefing on what it was when you first took your position here."
"I know the basics of what it is but I'd like to know the whole picture," Daniela requested.
Jake softly shook his head as Henry did as well.
"Sorry, but we can't tell you," Jake revealed. "E.L.E. is highly classified. Samantha's willing to tell you and that's her decision, but it's not really something to bring up in casual conversation."
"But I've talked about it with Sam on multiple occasions," Daniela protested.
"Yeah, but while he knows all the details about E.L.E. he knows you don't," Henry pointed out. "Has he ever brought up the subject with you?"
Daniela had to think about that for a few moments…and realized in surprise that he hadn't.
"You want to know about E.L.E. now, but once you know you're going to wish you didn't," Henry continued sympathetically. "When you find out all the details, you'll be shocked, confused, angry, upset...the whole nine yards. But you're not going to talk about it to anybody who doesn't already know. Not because that's company policy, which it is, but because you won't want to pass the burden of what you'll know onto anyone else. And for those that do know, you won't speak much of it to them unless you have no choice because you'll know how much a burden it is to keep that secret inside yourself."
Total silence fell over the room following Henry's confession.
"Attention….attention," came a voice from the loud speaker startling them. "The boats will be leaving in thirty minutes. If you plan on boarding, please be aboard no later than fifteen minutes before departure."
Rather than say anything more, Jake and Henry quietly collected their things and headed back to the door so they wouldn't miss their boat trip.
"At least tell me something," Daniela pleaded as Jake was about to open the door to her office. "Not as a coworker but as a friend."
Jake sighed heavily as he placed his hand on the doorknob. But he then slowly nodded his head and turned to face her.
"Are you familiar with the K-T Event?" he asked. Daniela shook her head.
"No," she admitted at a loss.
"Look it up. Maybe that will provide some answers that we can't," the scientist offered. "Bye Daniela, we'll see each other again soon. You ever want a tour of the genetics labs, don't hesitate to ask."
Henry flashed her a quick smile. "And I know E.L.E. sounds bad but look at this way. Things will only get better once Jurassic Park: San Diego takes off because then you'll go back to Indigo and won't have to think about it anymore. Anyway, we'll catch you later."
"Yeah, later," said the Head of Indigo softly as Jake and Henry left the room. Even despite Henry's reassurance, she was left with more questions and concerns than ever before.
Field Clinic, Isla Sorna: Dr. Roberta Carter was in the reception room discussing the lockdown situation with her staff when the front doors were pushed open and Lori Ruso and the investigation team walked in.
"Hey LoRu," said Bobbie with a smile at seeing her good friend again and glad she didn't know anything about the lockdown yet. "What brings you this way?"
"We have need of your excellent services," Lori began before pointing at Levine who was covering his ears. "This idiot over here decided to stand in front of a rex when it roared at him on full blast."
Bobbie looked at the nurses and snapped her fingers before pointing at Levine. The nurses walked over and helped him towards the examination rooms.
"I can still hear you," Levine growled at Lori before scrunching up in pain. He was then ushered into the back and out of sight.
"We'll give him ointment and he should be okay in a few hours," the Doctor answered. "How's the tour going so far?"
"It's going alright," Lori figured. "It helps pass the time. Plus seeing their reactions to the dinosaurs helps remind me just how impressive this whole project really is. The DX Virus aside, for me it sort of became mundane a couple years back after we got most of the bugs worked out of the system."
"I know how you feel," Bobbie agreed. "Although we usually don't have the luxury of seeing incoming patients with the exact same injuries as a previous one if you catch my drift."
Lori nodded her head, grateful she wasn't in Bobbie's line of work. She excused herself to use the restroom as Gutierrez went off to go question the staff about the things they had seen over the years happen to the workers. That left her alone with Doc Thorne.
"You're the mechanical expert right?" Bobbie asked of him, an idea formulating in her mind. Thorne gave him a mild grin.
"I dabble," he admitted lightly, which reminded him that his prototype Mercedes was still impounded on Indigo. He had heard Samantha Brown had returned to Sorna and he made a mental note to ask her about when he'd be getting it back.
"You mind if I asked your opinion on something?" Bobbie requested. Thorne nodded his head.
"Shoot," he said amicably. Bobbie led Thorne down the corridor headed towards the place where the Raptor had confronted her and her memory was still a fog over what had happened. If anyone could give her a straight answer, she knew it would be him. If he could figure out what had actually happened...
Dominican Republic: Jess Harding was jumping on the bed in the hotel room while blasting out rock music from her walkman. Nearby Sarah Harding was at the desk tried to concentrate on her notes about InGen.
"Whee! Hey Sarah, get up here this is fun!" Jess insisted gleefully. Sarah turned to look at her sister with annoyance.
"Get off that bed before you break it!" she yelled at her briefly before returning to the desk. "I swear, this is the last time I give you coffee in the morning without having any rope to tie you down afterwards."
Jess jumped on it a couple more times before hopping off while also shutting down her walkman.
"So what're you doing?" the younger Harding sister asked as she pulled up a chair and looked at the pages on the desk.
"Paperwork," the older sister responded as she flipped some pages in her notebook and after reading what she had written she then consulted the pages with printed text on them.
"Paperwork? Blech," said Jess disgusted. "Why do you have to do that, that's boring! Let's go somewhere new and find out more things!"
"Paperwork is an important part of the research process," Sarah reminded her, "Doing the appropriate legwork before, during, and after an adventure means avoiding hours of wasted time, headaches, and frustration. But if you have a place you think we can go then I'm all ears."
Jess didn't have an answer so she instead placed her head in her hands.
"So what brought you here then?" she wondered, curious. "Teach me the ways of the paperwork master!"
Sarah went silent at that. She'd hoped to avoid that question altogether as she didn't like being led around by a mysterious informant. She preferred to do her own work and come to her own conclusions and follow them through. The way it was going now was only leading down a dangerous path.
"Sarah? Hello?" asked Jess waving her hand in front of her face to get her to snap out of her reverie. "What's going on?"
Sarah sighed and turned to look at her sister. "If you want to know how I knew the amber mine was here, I had to do a lot of research on InGen to find that out. But if you want to know how I knew to come here…someone told me," she finally admitted aloud. Jess took a moment to digest that piece of information.
"You mean like a guy in a trench coat?" she asked. That wasn't exactly the case since her mysterious information had never bothered to conceal his physical appearance, but Sarah nodded her head anyway.
"Cool!" said Jess nodding her head. "This is getting more exciting all the time!"
"That's not the point!" said Sarah exasperated. "The point is we have to be smarter than him. And paperwork helps gives us the edge. I don't want to leave dad's survival to a stranger, do you?"
Jess immediately shook her head vigorously.
"I knew I could count on you," Sarah said, pleased which she ruffled her sister's hair. She then picked up a stack of papers and handed it to her sister. "This is a list of all of InGen's major operations. While I try and track down the name 'Nublar', I want you to look at these and think what connection they might have to our mysterious piece of amber. Got it?"
"Aye-firmative!" said Jess with a salute as she dove into the paperwork. Sarah smiled briefly at her sister's newfound enthusiasm before getting back to work.
Nublar: The Anne B. arrived at the West Docks as the SS Venture pulled in to the East Docks. As soon as the ramp lowered on the Venture, Jake and Henry headed down it to find Ed Regis waiting for them.
"Hey Ed-o," said Jake with a smile. "I knew Jurassic Park would have VIP service one day for its workers. Too bad it's only at the end of its life."
Ed shook his head at Jake's comments. "I'm here to see that you take it easy during your time here. Besides, at this point the operation is practically running itself since the dinosaurs are gone. The Visitors Center and all the other buildings have had all the small doodads and knick knacks boxed up so really the only thing left is to demolish the physical structures."
Heavy construction vehicles were being offloaded from the ship and as soon as each one hit the dock, a worker boarded it and drove it off into the jungle.
"Not my office I hope," said Henry with a smile intended to not show how anxious he was to see what the search he had run had come up with. "I've got stuff in there I need."
Ed Regis held up his hands in surrender. "Your office was left alone until you returned to finish up in there. Although I do want to warn you that if you're doing anything with your computer in there that you might want to make it quick. Tim said he's shutting down the mainframes soon."
"Got it," said Henry as the three of them boarded a jeep with Ed behind the wheel who then drove the vehicle drove off into the jungle.
"Hey, check this out!" said Ed mischievously as he wound down his window. Jake and Henry stared at him, knowing they were still in dilophosaurus territory.
But no venom globs came and soon Jake and Henry rolled down their windows and looked out at the devastation that had been wrought to ensure this was possible.
"They sure did a number on this place," Jake observed in reference to the destruction caused by the dilos and the workers.
"Guess that means we're not getting back the security deposit," Henry quipped in response. "So what is going to happen to this island anyway?"
"We're selling it back to the Costa Rican government at a loss," Ed answered. "But at least we won't have to keep paying off the lease for an island we're no longer using."
Henry nodded his head as he looked at the window and realized this might be the last time he'd ever see Jurassic Park again.
"What's going to happen to all the physical assets on Indigo?" asked Henry curious. He vaguely recalled having heard something back when the staffs were going to be merged, but he'd since forgotten.
"We're just going to clean out the warehouses. We're selling all the fuel and computer electronics parts and shipping whatever else is in there to you guys on Sorna. But otherwise we'll leave all the remaining physical structures and everything within them as they are. Hopefully soon after Jurassic Park: San Diego launches in a couple of months Daniela and her staff can return there," Ed answered. "At least, that's the plan for now."
Henry nodded his head but otherwise said nothing.
"Did the Costa Ricans express any concerns about Sorna?" Jake asked as he stared off at the trees passing by.
"A little, but since Sorna is a lot farther away from their shores than Nublar, they're willing to let go of any major concerns," Ed answered as the vehicle passed by the spot where Nedry's jeep had been lodged but was no longer there.
"We'll give him a proper burial," Ed admitted. "Not that he deserves it."
The vehicle drove out of dilophosaur territory and through the gateway of an electrified fence that was already being taken apart by workers and construction equipment.
"Anybody call asking about him?" Jake wondered. Ed shook his head.
"No. Although we did make some pre-emptive calls warning some people not to even think about bringing a wrongful death lawsuit against us or else we'd sue them for the damages Nedry caused here," Ed told him. The vehicle then was on the main tour road headed for the large wooden gates.
"Did Ludlow say if there was anything special planned to commemorate this island?" Henry asked as his next question. The vehicle raced past the gates and headed towards the Visitors Center whose domes were visible above the trees surrounded by several cranes.
"Yeah, actually, he's coming to give a speech right before they tear down the main gate as the last thing to be carted out of here," Ed answered as he pulled up to the front of the main complex. "That'll be in a couple days, I think, depending on how fast things go here. The senior staffs of Sorna and Indigo are expected to be present here and it'll be broadcasted to everyone else on Sorna, San Diego, and Kenya."
Jake and Henry nodded their heads as they exited the vehicle.
"I don't think I'll be seeing you guys again anytime soon," Ed admitted. "So you take care. Don't find yourself facing the sharp end of a dinosaur."
Jake and Henry laughed at that. "No promises. Bye, Ed!" they both said as the Head of P.R. drove off. The two then immediately marched up the steps, each eager to learn what the DNA Comparison program had come up with.
As they walked in, they noticed the technicians being gathered in the largely cleaned up lobby that now absent two dinosaur skeletons and a hanging banner.
"Jake, Henry!" Tim called from the front of the group. "Ha, ha, I knew you guys would be alright!" the programmer exclaimed as he walked up to them.
"Thanks. Did you get everything squared away with the computers here?" asked Henry curious. Tim nodded his head.
"Yeah, we've got one last round of programming to knock out and then I'm shutting down the servers and the mainframes," Tim told them. "Something up?"
Jake nodded his head. "We're running a program in Henry's office that's not going to be completed for another day or two. Is there anyway to speed up the process or hold off on delaying the shutdown?" he asked. Tim looked at them as if this was the first time he was aware of the programming running in Henry's office and desperately hoped his expression appeared genuine.
"Well we can't really delay it because this building's got to come down and those computers needed to be headed back San Diego to be wiped and sold," Tim began uneasily. But he knew Samantha needed the program to completely finish. "But since we're not really using the mainframes for anything now, I should be able to let you tap directly into the processing power of the mainframes," he conceded. "That should speed up the process. But if it's not done today…"
"Oh, it should be," Henry insisted immediately. "We'll get back to it right now so if you could patch us in, we'd appreciate it."
Tim nodded his head at them and the two scientists waved goodbye and headed off. As they walked past the technicians, at the very edge closest to them was Cassie Matula who had to rely on her entire espionage training to not tense up when they walked up to her. They had seen her and the rest of her team in San Jose and if they recognized her now then the whole operation could still be a bust.
But instead the two scientists moved past her like they didn't even notice she was amongst the crowd. To that, Cassie breathed a small sigh of relief as Tim herded them back towards the Control Room.
After they had gone a few more steps, Henry turned his head towards Jake. "Did you, uh, notice-," he began cryptically before nodding his head back towards the programmers.
"Yeah," answered Jake simply and very much not pleased at who he had seen. "Do you think we should do something about it?"
Henry only needed a moment to come up with his answer. "Maybe later but right now we've got more important things to do."
The two scientists headed up the stairs as workers entered into the building with tools, ready to tear the place apart. From the shadows, Nicolette watched them go on their way before noticing the workers pouring in. She clutched her clipboard closer to her and departed off down the hallway intent on locating whatever remaining scraps of information she could before Jurassic Park was no more.
Field Clinic, Sorna: Thorne was looking at the newly repaired ceiling above the hallway where Bobbie had encountered the Raptor. He noted some subtle imperfections which clued him in to what part of the ceiling had fallen and were then replaced.
"I've also got this for you to look at," said Bobbie as she appeared from a side office with a piece of the original ceiling tile. "I was able to ask one of my hospital staff to hide it before the maintenance crews came out."
Thorne didn't even bother asking why she being so duplicitous with hiding her concerns about what had happened from the rest of the island. He'd been called in to investigate enough industrial 'accidents' over the years to know that he was better off just giving his analysis of what had happened and not to ask potentially dangerous questions.
So without saying a word he examined the ceiling tile briefly before nodding his head and handing it back.
"From what I can tell the damage was caused by the ceiling exploding," he answered. Bobbie had to narrowly avoid sighing or rolling her eyes. She'd known all that already.
But it was Thorne said next that threw her off balance. "Exploding outwards, I should say," he added. The female doctor threw him a complete look of surprise at that revelation.
"Outwards, you're sure?" she asked, needing to make sure he wasn't wrong in his assessment. Thorne nodded as he pointed to the tile.
"There's burn marks and small pieces of shrapnel embedded only in the side of the tile that doesn't face the floor," he began before pointing to the ceiling. "Also, judging by the edges where the tiles tore loose, it definitely looks like it came down and not up and then down if there was an explosion in the hallway instead," he concluded. "Course, if you'll forgive the pun, you're more than welcome to a second opinion."
"No," said Bobbie abruptly. "I mean, no, I have no reason to doubt you," she continued calmer. "What could've done this damage, though?"
Thorne looked around the area and noted where small scratches existed on the nearby walls from the tiles raining down.
"Well assuming it wasn't one big coincidence involving electricity, I'd guess a small explosive charge wired into the area above the tile," he told her. Bobbie was stunned by that.
"But you can't know for sure?" she asked. As a doctor she knew the importance of trying to be one hundred percent when giving a diagnosis.
"Not without popping a tile and looking up there," Thorne replied. "Out of curiosity, do you know what's up there?"
Bobbie looked up. "The HVAC system, I think. Plus some wires to power the lights. Otherwise everything else is either in the walls or the floor."
Thorne nodded. "So there wouldn't be much reason for anyone to be up there without approval." He said softly to himself. Bobbie was about to question him further when Lori appeared.
"Hey you two," the Head of Production said. "Levine's slowly getting his hearing back so I figured we'd head on out."
"Sure," said Bobbie a little distracted by her problems. Lori looked at her and then the area again and finally at the ceiling.
"Oh, I see," she said knowing where they were. "I'm really glad you survived that attack Bobbie. Yikes."
Bobbie gave a slight smile at that. "Me too. Anyway, go ahead you guys have fun."
"We'll try," Lori snorted. Thorne gave Bobbie a sympathetic look before following the tour guide down the hall. As soon as they were gone, the doctor looked up at the ceiling and wondered what was really hidden beyond its white pockmarked surface. Shivering briefly, from the memories of being in this hall with the raptor or from her own suspicions of what lay beyond the tiles, she headed off down the hall to get as far away as she could.
Control Room, Sorna: Sheila was typing away on her computer trying to figure out what her sister had been up to on Nublar when Samantha Brown came into the room.
"Can I help you?" the programmer asked. Samantha shook her head.
"Yes, but not in the way you might like," the Board Member began. "I need you to leave the room."
Sheila just stared at her. "Umm…okay," she said confused. "For how long because I'm in the middle of something right now," which was completely true because as soon as Tim shut down the mainframes and the servers, it'd be difficult if not impossible to find out what she needed to.
"I'm not sure," Samantha confessed. "For right now take a break and then find something you can do outside of the lab."
"But I-," began Sheila when a questioning look from Samantha silenced her. She couldn't tell the reasons for wanting to stay because it might mean Cassie could get caught.
"Yes, ma'am," the female programmer said defeated as she took her portable terminal and left the room.
"She'll be fine," said Tim distractedly on the main screen as he continued to work on the servers and mainframes.
"What was she working on?" asked Samantha curious looking at her terminal but just seeing lines of code that meant nothing to her.
"Pet project maybe, I don't know," the male programmer on Nublar responded dismissively. "Is it important?"
"No," Samantha admitted as she took her seat. "It's just that she's seems more distracted lately."
Tim snorted at that. "We all have. I think you warned me about that before you left what, with the…well, you know," he said in reference to the imminent lockdown of Sorna. Samantha nodded her head and briefly rubbed her face to try and relieve some of the stress she was feeling.
"I suppose you're right," she agreed, not wanting to think about Sheila's actions on top of everything else that was going on. "So what is the situation with Jake and Henry?"
Tim wasn't happy to be talking about the two scientists behind their backs, but he was still under an Executive Mandate from Samantha.
"They're up in Henry's office," Tim answered. "They mentioned needing to finish a program they were running and I offered to use the processing power of the mainframes here to hurry it up."
"Great, that'll make things easier than having to somehow find a way to delay the deconstruction," said Samantha relieved. "So can you patch me into their computer?"
Tim shifted uneasily at her request. "Can I? Yes. Do I want to? No. Please don't make me," he pleaded. "I promise I'll give you the results but…"
Samantha gave him a quick shake of her head. "No, Tim. Remote me in, now."
"I officially want to protest," Tim requested.
"Noted," said the female Board Member coolly but didn't say anything else. Tim sighed and pressed some keys on his keyboard and Samantha's screen changed from the UNIX desktop to what was being displayed on Henry's computer on Nublar. As she noticed, the DNA checking program had accelerated considerably since she had first seen it when it was running solely off the terminal.
"Just don't touch or move the mouse or anything because they'll see it on their screen," Tim requested and then returned to his work. For her part, Samantha silently nodded her head and sat back in her chair and watched the DNA strands continue to be compared.
Henry's Office, Nublar: "I think Nicolette was in here," Jake figured. Henry turned to stare at his friend.
"And what makes you say that?" he asked dimly. Jake picked up a cup on Henry's desk which was full of pens.
"There's a pen missing," the scientist answered. Henry looked at the cup and then rolled his eyes.
"You always think Nicolette is stealing pens," Henry told his fellow scientist, "Part of some 'master plan' to wreak havoc on Sorna when her department has all the pens so she can then make herself ruler of the island. Yeah, right."
"B-but she did take all the pens once!" Jake reminded him acting innocent.
"Yeah, because she claimed that she read a study somewhere that workplace efficiency might be linked to the number of pens that go missing for personal use. She said multiple times her team was going to be going across the island counting them," Henry recalled.
"Sure," said Jake not believing her motives. "And did we hear about the results of her survey? Noooo."
"That's because she accused you of sabotaging the survey when you-," began Henry annoyed when suddenly the computer dinged. "Oh, look the comparison's done." The scientist continued nonchalantly as if his previous anger at Jake hadn't happened.
The comparison revealed that nothing was different between the CD master record and the record on file with Nublar.
"I suppose you're relieved now," Henry told Jake. The scientist shook his head.
"The complete opposite, now I feel worse than ever," Jake told him ominously.