Staff on Nublar, Sorna, the SS Anne, and the SS Venture either sat in front of the stage, watching TV sets, or the projection screen as they watched the proceedings about to unfold with both anticipation and dread. In San Diego, the Board of Directors watched with largely apathy as they already knew what Ludlow was to say and none of it concerned their futures.
In his loft in San Diego, John Hammond sat watching the remote feed and was going to record every moment of it for future analysis. Of particular interest to him was not even necessarily was his nephew was going to say, but of the occasional faint comments the microphone could pick up from the workers from Sorna who were in attendance.
And elsewhere in San Diego, Lewis Dodgson was watching an intercepted signal of the feed with a smug expression on his face. As far as he was concerned things couldn't be going better since Nedry's abysmal failure had nearly cost him everything. With a small glass of cognac on the table, he picked it up and briefly pointed it at the image as if giving a toast.
Finally, at the Pacific Pharmaceuticals Headquarters, John Brown also had the feed being displayed on his television set but he was busy using his computer to analyze how the reconstruction of the dinosaur DNA fragments was proceeding to pay much attention to the broadcast. However, he did turn his attention to the screen briefly to watch his ex-wife walk across the stage to the podium to begin her introduction.
Isla Nublar: Samantha Brown took the stage and looked down at the workers in front of her as well as at the camera near the back of the stage.
"Hello everyone," she began amicably. "I'd start with a light joke about thanking you all for being here today or something else along those lines, but I think we all know that would be inappropriate given the circumstances that brought us here today," she continued now completely serious. "I've already said what I've need to say to most of you already, but I suppose it couldn't hurt to go over it once more since the Lockdown will be going into effect at midnight tonight."
Even for everyone who had already heard what she had to say, they still listened as intently as they had before. Ludlow did as well because he was curious what she had said that hadn't been televised.
"Even though it will only be the first day of the Lockdown, for those of you on Site B, starting tomorrow things will suddenly seem different. It won't be anything you can put your finger on; things will just seem off somehow. Over time that feeling will only intensify and you'll try to reconcile it by saying it's your imagination. Then you will notice that changes really are affecting the island. Power supplies will become more and more constrained, food and other supplies will be rationed heavily, and work will become scarcer. This will then leave you with your fears and the frightening feeling that the jungle is somehow encroaching on you and within it are creatures with big snapping teeth and razor sharp claws ready to tear you apart.
"Finally, you'll want to get away from the island to try and clear your head only there won't be able to leave," said Samantha concluding the bleak mental picture.
Ludlow immediately got the feeling that asking her to come on stage had been a mistake.
"So why am I painting such a stark picture?" Samantha said, asking the obvious question. "The point I'm trying to make is this, as all of this is going on in your head, you have to realize somewhere deep inside that everyone else around you is going to be experiencing the exact same thing. Your friends and co-workers are the only ones you will be able to count on during the Lockdown. Work with them, trust them, and do not turn them away. Together you will make rational sane decisions and you will ultimately survive. But if instead you turn on each other then you've just thrown away your future."
It was a strange way of giving a pep talk, Ludlow had to admit but at least it was ending on an optimistic note as he began to walk across the stage to the podium.
"I only have one last point to make," said Samantha tensely as she saw Ludlow walking towards her and knew her time was up. "If it comes down to it and it's a choice between you and them then do whatever it takes to save yourselves."
She briefly made eye contact with Jake and Henry before motioning to Peter Ludlow.
"And now I am pleased to introduce our COO, Peter Ludlow," she said and then walked off the stage. Ludlow took the podium and looked out at the audience who was in complete silence after Samantha Brown's speech.
"Thank you Samantha for that very interesting and certainly thought provoking speech," Ludlow acknowledged although inwardly he was a little peeved that she had told the workers to put their interests above the dinosaurs. Without them they really had no future.
"Let me start off by saying that I fully agree with her main point," he began, inwardly pleased at the small measure of surprise that registered on the workers in front of him. "During the Lockdown you absolutely should learn to rely on one another. If nothing else it would be a good team building exercise," he said, trying to add a little levity. It didn't work as instead of laughter he got a lot of annoyed looks from the audience. Clearing his throat, he looked down at his notes on the podium
"But what I want to let you know is that you are not alone," Ludlow continued positively. "Because no matter what has happened or will happen in the future, the Board of Directors has not abandoned you."
Out in the audience, Samantha Brown avoided the impulse to shake her head in shame at Ludlow's last statement. Sam Stone meanwhile shifted uneasily in his seat as he recalled Samantha's comments to him on what that statement usually meant. Bobbie for her part who had been secretly listening in on their conversation back then felt her heart drop into her stomach. Ludlow's statement also inferred that the rest of what Samantha had had to say to Sam about the Board's opinions about Site B were also true.
"So what do you make of that?" asked Henry lightly to Jake, curious to hear what his answer was.
"Oh, it just means Ludlow's already sold us up the river. But what else is new?" Jake said slouched down in his chair with his arms crossed as if it was to be expected. Henry grinned slightly before reflecting on what this meant and turning dour before deciding being depressed just wasn't worth it either and began formulating his plans for what to do once the Lockdown went into effect.
"But of course some changes will be coming over the next few months," Ludlow informed the group. "I know Ms. Brown has already informed most of you of these changes but I feel the need to reiterate them so we are all on the same page…"
John Brown had largely returned to his work at that point in the speech, but the mentioning of his ex-wife caused him to pause briefly. He still could never figure out why she had never gone back to having her maiden name after they had separated.
In his office, Lewis Dodgson was watching with interest at what looked to be a growing chasm in both InGen's upper management and between the upper management and the regular staff. He would have to keep tabs on that and see if it might present some opportunities in the future.
Samantha Brown for her part could also sense a growing unease and discontent amongst the workers present on the island with every passing word of Ludlow's speech about the timeline for the Lockdown. Their feelings concerned her more than the company surviving financially with Jurassic Park's demise. And she knew Ludlow was well aware also. But she still couldn't get a complete read on what he would do once the tensions started mounting between the Board and the Sorna staff members. In the past she knew what he had done, but that had been two years ago. Now it was anyone's guess and that worried her also. She'd have to keep a close eye on it or else risk losing everything.
On Sorna, the workers listened to Ludlow with much the same reaction as those on Nublar…that being a giant pit growing in their stomachs with each word about what was to come. Sheila didn't even bother blowing bubbles with her gum she was listening so intently on what was being said. Even Katrice was well aware that what was being said was important to her future and so she had put her childish antics to the side for now.
With theirs and everyone else's attentions so focused on the projector screen, no one noticed two late arrivals in the form of Dr. Laura Sorkin and her assistant David Banks. They arrived at the village and take a pair of empty seats in the back. Although the two of them could easily have watched the proceedings from the Fortress, they felt it was important to put in a personal appearance seeing as how they'd really be stuck with all of them once the Lockdown went into full effect. It also didn't hurt that the Fourth the July barbecue promised to be a good one.
"But what I want to finish with is this," said Ludlow coming to his final conclusion as he leaned forward for emphasis. Regardless of whatever anyone had been thinking up until then, everyone strained to hear what was going to be said. And it almost seemed as if the dinosaurs were listening as well as their normal roars and growls had been silent ever since the projector screen came on.
"Whatever happens in the next two and a half months be sure to remember you don't forget the following," the COO continued.
"We resurrected those dinosaurs from a lost world,
Successfully cloning those creatures represents our greatest victory,
And now that those dinosaurs represent our future,
…Showcasing those dinosaurs to the world is our destiny!" Ludlow said with emphasis.
"It's not just about reviving the past. At Ingen, we make your future!"
The clock's second hand inched towards 5:00.
On the Cray XMP sitting on Sorna, the power down mode was inching ever closer to activating. But just moments before turning off, the computer spat out one final important piece of information.
"ALERT: GENETIC VARIANCE DETECTED BETWEEN DNA STRANDS"
And then the unit shut down as the clock struck 5:00.
Later:
The Sorna senior staff was now clustered around the rear of the DC-3 waiting as Kevin and Jennifer made final checks before boarding and take-off.
"Hey, receptionist-person, aren't you supposed to be taking the boat back to the mainland?" Jake asked aloud what everyone in the group was wondering. Stephanie had been standing silently by herself just to the side as the main group was wary of outsiders.
"I have been reassigned to Sorna," she answered simply. That caused hair to bristle up on the entire group.
Jake was about to say something else when Sam Stone approached the group.
"Oh, I see you've already started to get to know each other better," he said, sounding pleased. "Everyone, this is Stephanie Sandelder from the corporate office. She'll be my temporary administrative assistant until this whole Lockdown mess blows over."
As Sam then introduced the group, everyone gave a diplomatic hello and shook hands. Sam tensed slightly as Stephanie was introduced to Henry and then Jake. He seriously expected Jake to speak his mind about the whole situation, which probably wouldn't be good for Stephanie having any chance of successfully acclimating to the group, but the scientist surprisingly played nice and added nothing beyond his standard hello.
"Hey everybody, we're ready to board," said Jennifer finally as she stuck her head out the rear hatch. "Except you, Jake, you can walk from here."
"Oh, ha, ha," said the scientist sarcastically. The group was about to board when Samantha hurried to catch up with them before they left.
"I just wanted to say goodbye," she offered. The others nodded their heads solemnly knowing they might not see her for quite some time; or if the fences failed and they were still stuck on Sorna, perhaps never again.
"But Pete can't offer the same sentiments?" asked Henry harshly. Peter Ludlow was off speaking on a satellite phone with the Board of Directors while also doing some minor supervision of the deconstruction effort of the stage and main gate.
"He means well," the Head of Human Resources offered lamely. Everyone knew it wasn't the case, but sometimes hollow words from someone they trusted sounded better than the actual truth.
Samantha felt like she wanted to say something more but couldn't find the right words to calm their fears…if only she had the time.
"Alright, get this over with and knock this thing down!" Ludlow was heard shouting in the distance. And then the sound of wood creaking was heard and everyone turned to watch as the main gate of Jurassic Park was pushed over and landed with a loud thud on the ground. Turning back, Samantha could see the fear and betrayal on the faces of every one of them.
"C'mon, let's blow this joint," ordered Sam, finally unable to hide the bitterness in his voice. The group turned as one and marched into the aircraft as if marching to their graves. Samantha again couldn't find the right words to say in this situation even as Jennifer leaned out to close the hatch.
"You may want to step back because we're going to have to execute a zero point turn in order to get out of here," she suggested. "You might want to warn the others back there that there is going to be a big draft coming from these engines when we turn around," the pilot added. Samantha looked over at Ludlow still ordering workers around while still on his phone before turning to Jennifer with a dangerous glint in her eye and a wicked smile on her face.
"Let's not and say I did," she offered instead. Jennifer was a little taken aback by that at first before she began chuckling to herself.
"Right on," she agreed wholeheartedly. She then slammed the hatch shut and the plane's engines fired up. Ludlow was so distracted that he didn't even notice the plane start moving and then turn around until he was blasted by a large gust of wind along with the rest of the workers as the plane faced the other direction. He struggled to stand up against the buffeting air as the stage behind him flew apart and then the plane shot off down the dirt road. But that final burst of energy from the plane was too much for the COO and he collapsed to the ground…all of which was caught on camera and broadcast to those who had been watching his previous speech.
On Sorna, the workers laughed and laughed.
Even later:
The DC-3 finally landed back on Sorna and the senior staff helped to put the plane back in the hangar so that Kevin and Jennifer could join them for the July 4th barbecue. As they were about to board the tour vehicles to head back to the Workers Village, Sam reminded them that tonight was their last opportunity to call him in quite a while.
"Who are you thinking about calling?" asked Lori to Bobbie. Bobbie shrugged.
"Maybe call my friends Doug and Carol and bug them about them being stuck working at a hospital in Chicago while I'm down here at a clinic in the tropics," she mused. "And then ask them about best practices for removing a six-inch retractable razor from a patient while leaving out the part about how that razor is actually the toe-claw from a six foot tall creature that's been extinct for 65 million years…"
Lori nodded her head in sympathy. "Yeah, whenever I call my colleagues for advice with the cloning production process, I have to leave out the part about what's being cloned. They tease me that I must be either trying to mass-produce nanobots or androids. It's no longer funny anymore but let's face it, engineers aren't exactly known for their sense of humor."
"Present company excluded of course thanks to that prank you pulled with the production machines last April Fools Day," Daniela pointed out. All three women began laughing at that as they got into one of the vehicles.
"You going to call anybody?" asked Jake to Henry.
"Family, I guess. What about you?"
Jake shrugged. "I've really got nobody to call, you know that."
"Well that's not true," Henry disagreed barely containing laughter. "You could always call your fiancée."
Jake groaned heavily upon hearing that as Henry chuckled heavily into his hands.
"Oh, don't remind me of that nutcase," Jake said, aggravated about Henry bringing up such an embarrassing subject. "And she's not my fiancée!"
"That's not what she claims," said Gerry hearing them talking and deciding to join in, knowing what they were discussing.
"She's insane!" Jake insisted.
"We'll she'd have to be to want to marry you," Henry pointed out. Jake roared out loud briefly before hunching over as Jake and Gerry patted him sympathetically on the back as they led him to a tour vehicle.
"What was that about?" asked Tim to Sam, bewildered.
"Oh, just something reckless Jake did back during the Kenya days," the Head of Operations answered. "It's not as exciting as they're making it sound; although, it was completely hilarious."
"Oh," said Tim still confused but knowing he couldn't really ask for more information.
"So how're things with finding out what Nedry did to take out the security systems on Nublar?" Sam asked, curious. Tim moved his head from side to side in uncertainty.
"Slow going," he responded truthfully. "I've got all of Nublar's code uploaded to one of Sorna's servers but I don't have time to go through two million lines of code to find a small piece of coding. Instead, I'm running several search programs based on what I think Nedry did and hoping one of them gets a bite. But he was a much better programmer than I am so I'm not even sure I will find anything."
Sam thought about it for a few moments as the two got into the vehicle and closed the doors behind them.
"Do you have all the footage from the Visitor Center's security cameras?" Sam wondered. Tim nodded his head.
"I'd be interested in looking at it sometime in the future, but you could look at it and see if maybe it picked up something that Nedry did around the time they all shut down," the Head of Production offered.
"Good idea," Tim agreed. "Oh, that reminds me that I need to stop by Embryonics Administration to check on something."
That caught Jake and Henry's attention and they stopped getting into their vehicle.
"Well if you're going we may as well go too," Henry said. Sam fully expected that from them and held up his hands to quiet them.
"Look, it's July 4th and I'm not having anyone working today," he firmly stated. "Tim, exactly what are you going to be doing?"
"Just verifying a Cray got shut off; and if not, then turn it off," he stated. Jake and Henry did their best to not look alarmed that that was what he was going to do.
"There shouldn't be any Crays still online," said Lori confused by Tim's statement.
"And what do you need to do that requires both of you?" asked Sam choosing to ignore Lori's question.
"Well actually it doesn't require both of us," Henry amended, trying to deflect suspicion. "I just need to pick up some paperwork for tomorrow to save Jake and myself a trip out here."
Sam thought it over and then turned to the two of them.
"Get in, get out, get back to the Village before the party starts," he ordered. The two nodded their heads and moved to the vehicle at the front of the line and it trundled off into the jungle. Sam then turned to face the rest of them.
"Okay, everyone let's just make this clear. Don't worry about tomorrow or the day after or anything like that tonight. Instead, have fun and enjoy yourselves. We'll get through this, I know we will," he told the group. The others nodded their head and trudged off towards their rides. Stephanie Sandelder watched the entire exchange curiously while unbeknownst to her, Nicolette Stefrassa was also considering the situation but also keeping an eye on the new arrival. Like Jake and Henry, she knew something wasn't right about her and vowed to keep an eye on her knowing that Jake and Henry were too busy. As if she didn't have enough mysteries to unravel at the moment…
Later, still:
At the Harding household Sarah Harding and her mother were relaxing at the dinner table as Jess was playing her Sega Genesis again.
"So when's your next trip out?" asked Mrs. Harding curious. Sarah looked over at the calendar on the wall.
"Sometime in middle to late August," she answered. "We'll be studying rhinoceros and cataloging everything we can about them. There's a theory that if you compare the changes in animal behavior over a period of time you can then backdate it and possibly know what their behavior was like a long time ago."
"Sounds interesting," Sarah's mother admitted. "Where will you be going to do it?"
"Ken-," began Sarah when the phone began ringing.
"I got it!" said Jess immediately as she got off the floor and ran for the phone. The two other Hardings watched her run for it and went to resume their conversation.
"You've reached the Harding residence. If you're trying to sell something on July 4th I've got a turkey baster to shove up your-,"
"Jessica!" snapped Mrs. Harding admonishing her daughter as Sarah laughed into her hands.
"In your own way, you encourage this behavior," Sarah's mother told her.
"Speak up, I can't hear you," said Jessica to whoever was on the other end of the phone.
"I do not," Sarah disagreed lightly. "In fact-."
"DADDY IS THAT YOU?!" shouted Jessica loudly startling the other members of the family and instantly grabbing their full attention. "Hold on, I'll put you on speakerphone. Mom and Sarah are both here."
"Yes it's me, Jess, and I was hoping the rest of the family might be around," Gerry Harding confirmed on the other end of the line.
"Good to hear from you, dear, it's been awhile," his wife remarked. "We were beginning to worry about you."
"Sorry about that," said Harding apologetically. "I'm sure it's obvious by now that something bad happened related to work. But things are finally starting to quiet down a little bit here so they gave me a chance to call you."
"So I guess this won't be a regular occurrence then?" asked Sarah, partly digging for information with that question.
"No," Harding confirmed disappointed. "There's going to be an information blackout until they get Jurassic Park: San Diego finished and open for business."
The others were not happy with that news but knew they had little choice in that decision.
"But you are safe, right?" Mrs. Harding needed to hear.
"Absolutely," said Gerry immediately, although Sarah could sense a slight hesitation in his voice that there was more to the story. "But enough about me, how have you all been?"
"I lit the grill on fire," said Jess teasingly. "Oh and I went to-."
Sarah made a quick slash with her hand across her throat and Jess immediately changed direction.
"…Hang out with Sarah at her place," Jess finished.
"Well don't forget softball practice coming up," her father reminded her.
"I won't," Jess promised.
"And Sarah, don't forget about your upcoming field excursion," Gerry reminded his other daughter wryly, having completely forgotten when she was going the last time they spoke.
"I won't either," she remarked exasperated.
"Excellent," said Gerry pleased. "And, hon, thanks for keeping things together for me."
"I always do," said his wife amused but dearly missing her husband.
"Thanks," said Gerry grateful. "Look, I hate to cut this short but a quick goodbye means…"
The entire family supplied the next part of the family saying. "…A longer hello the next time," they concluded.
"You'd better be around to give that hello in-person," Mrs. Harding lightly threatened.
"I will, I promise," Gerry swore.
"Daddy, I don't know what happened wherever it was we went but…well, you know," said Jess not quite bringing herself to say what was on her mind.
"Thanks, kid," said Gerry glad that she wasn't holding a grudge against him. "Don't forget, after this is over we'll go see a Padres game."
Jess immediately brightened at that as she and her dad were both diehard San Diego Padres fans. "Yeah, yeah, we'll make the playoffs for sure this year!" Jess boasted. Her mother and Sarah exchanged a chagrined look. The Padres were at the bottom of the NL West this season and had a zero percent chance of catching up to the Atlanta Braves.
"Of course we will," her father agreed. "And Sarah…"
Sarah immediately focused on her elusive father and whatever he was doing that was so dangerous she couldn't let go from finding out what it was.
"Dad, I-," she began feeling a little helpless about her situation. She wouldn't stop digging no matter what, but she didn't want what could possibly be the last conversation she had with her father end on a low note.
"I know and quite frankly I don't blame you," Harding offered, knowing what she was feeling. "But you may not like what you find," he had to warn her.
"Yes, but I can't give up; you taught me that," she said assertively.
"Absolutely and I will do the same," he concurred. "And so, the only thing left to say for now is, 'I love you all'."
"I love you too, daddy," said Jess immediately.
"Me too," Sarah chimed in.
"I'm your wife so you should already know how I feel. But if you're not back here the day whatever it is really blows over, then you'll know for sure," Mrs. Harding warned. Gerry laughed at that.
"And here I thought the locals were the only ones to be afraid of," he commented. That wording immediately grabbed Sarah and Jess's attention. "I'll catch you all later."
Several repeated goodbyes were said on both ends and then the line went dead. Shortly thereafter Mrs. Harding excused herself from the room before she could burst out into tears for fear of her husband's welfare. Sarah looked over to Jess who looked at her with trepidation. The older Harding sister held out her hand to the younger one who grabbed it and then the older sister pulled her into a deep hug of love and reassurance. And on Sarah's face, determination once more crossed it that she would get to the bottom of this mess and get her father safe and back home alive.
Sorna: The Fourth of July festivities were in full swing as fireworks burst in the skies above the Village. Everyone was doing their best to ignore their worries and have fun, but it was plain to see that their troubles were still there lurking below the surface.
Gerry Harding had taken his seat once more after having called his family and looked totally despondent over the whole affair. Roberta Carter was the same way after having called back to her old workplace of County General Hospital in Chicago, but she refused to talk about it. Lori Ruso was concerned about her friend's wellbeing but otherwise was enjoying her steak and banana daiquiri. The junior scientists seemed to be enjoying themselves although Colin was at wits end trying to keep Katrice from being the life of the party. Nicolette Stefrassa was sitting at the management table with Sam Stone. She didn't want to be there but knew that she had to keep up appearances and also avoid Sam later having words with her if she didn't attend. As for Dave and Sheila, they were feverishly trying to make sure the fireworks went off without a hitch.
Daniela St. Ives was in the back sequestered with the rest of the Indigo arrivals. They were doing the best to enjoy themselves but they were clearly spooked by the shadows of the dinosaurs as well as the occasional roar. Even further back still was Dr. Laura Sorkin and her assistant David Banks. They weren't saying much of anything to anyone else but were discussing when they should make their leave to return to the Fortress that night. While they did have quarters in the lodge, they chose to spend as little time there as possible and slept at their workplace whenever possible.
Finally, Jake Whitacre and Henry Wu sat at their own table and were looking at the results of the Cray XMP's DNA comparison analysis.
"I don't suppose it could just be a random fluctuation in the code," asked Jake reluctantly. Henry Wu immediately shook his head.
"Not with this amount of variance," he said, pointing out the obvious. "This can only mean one thing…"
The one thing the two scientists feared the most had finally come true. "That someone deliberately altered the code," the two said together in hushed but deeply concerned tones.
75 days until fence failure.