Chapter 5: The dinosaur expert
Three weeks after the Battle of New York...
Steve leaned back into his chair, petting Amelia's massive snout. The animal purred, flicking the tip of her massive tail back and forth, like a giant cat. Amelia's efforts with the Battle of New York, with rescuing buried civilians, pulling them from the rubble, with a gentleness despite her massive size, earned her a spot within the hearts of New Yorkers. Picking up children in her mouth, placing them on her back, allowing them to ride her to safety. Clint was the first one to teach her sign language once he saw her human like intelligence. Yet, she was more human than most people Steve had met in his entire life. Amelia had the choice to leave whenever she chose to, but more often than not, she chose to stay.
Steve smiled, as he opened up his sketch-pad, as he penciled in Amelia's peaceful form, hitting every scale on her massive body, the long, pale scar on her muscular forearm from Loki's scepter when she saved Phill Coulson, who was the first person to befriend him in this new century. The quills that crowned her head and forearms. The ridged crests over her eyes, the sharpened gray claws that rested under her chin as she slept peacefully. Steve saw the steady rhythm of her chest rising and falling as her massive lungs exhaled and inhaled. Steve chuckled to himself, as Amelia tapped her middle claw on the floor, as she slept.
The super soldier got up from his chair as he placed his sketch-pad on his shelf, to get a book out. Being the nerd he was, he purchased The Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings, both books written by J.R.R. Tolkien. Steve was ecstatic when he found out that a movie trilogy was made based off of the books by the author. He watched both versions, the extended version and the theatrical release. A soft growl escaped her mouth, and Steve tensed up. The door-bell rang, followed by a nock. He walked up to the door, and pulled it open.
Standing in the door way, was a barrel-chested man with a small, scraggly salt-and-pepper beard on his face. A faded red bandanna was around his neck. In fact, all of his clothes where worn and faded both from years of use and years of digging in the Montana sun. He had lines and grooves etched on his weathered, deeply sun-tanned face. A wide-brim fedora or cowboy hat was perched on his head. His eyes where bright and focused, but zeroed in on Amelia's sleeping form.
"Can I help you?" Steve asked.
"Yes, I am Dr. Allen Grant, Mr. Rodgers," the man, Dr. Grant, answered. He let himself in, pulling up a chair, which he then sat down in. Then he pulled out a fossilized raptor claw, studying it.
"Do you know who John Hammond was?" he asked, playing with the claw.
"Uh, no, not really," Steve admitted. Amusement crept into Dr. Grant's eyes.
"Well, the long story short, he was a dinosaur enthusiast, and rich, so he built a park, called Jurassic Park, that failed when the power of all things, went out. He found a way to clone dinosaurs, and in effect, he brought an extinct animal back to life. I've seen the news clips of this one pulling people out of the rubble, and there is something that troubles me," Dr. Grant finished with a warning tone.
"Well, what is it?" Steve asked, fearful.
"That animal is part raptor,"
"Part raptor in terms like Red-tailed hawk DNA was used?"
"I wish, but in terms of Velociraptor DNA being used,"
Amelia had smelled the human long before her father heard the door-bell rang. He smelled dusty, as if he rolled around in it. It was a nice scent, comforting, even to her nose. Blood was never a scent she wanted to smell again, along with fear. Her red-gold eyes studied the man, to see if he was a threat to pack. His scent was a cross between dusty and like the sun, warm and familiar. She loved his scent. She chirped and warbled, blowing air out of her nose. Dusty-Sun was what she was going to call him from now on. The massive, snowy-white animal purred and chittered softly as Dusty-Sun ran his roughly calloused hand over her smooth scales. Then Father whistled, not a sharp piercing sound, but soft and quiet.
Getting up, she trotted out of the massive gate that allowed her to go outside and explore. She loved hunting Quick-Leaping-Prey, but she only hunted those who struggled to keep up with the herd, and she only took what she needed to fill her stomach. Once she was on the soft, spring grass, she rolled on it, growling and purring playfully.
Grant was amazed by her size, and gentleness. Yet, Rodgers kept his respectful distance. He knew how intelligent the animal is, and he respected that. Not the sharp claws and fangs or the massive size, but the sharp and clever mind. He did his best not to pass out on the grass, when he saw the human-like spark of intelligence that graced her red-gold eyes. Now he knew that Raptor DNA didn't give her incredibly sharp mind, but now he wished it did, because she was a clear example of how careless IGEN's scientists have gotten.
"Want to play fetch?" Rodgers asked, grabbing his Vibranium shield, pulling it back as if he was about to throw it like a frisbee.
Then he looked back at Grant, before he yelled, "You might want to duck!"
Then Rodgers threw the shield, with a surprising speed, causing the metal disk to fly in the air. With a playful roar, Amelia galloped off, catching it with her jaws, before dropping it at Rodgers' feet. Grant could see the faint indents where her massive fangs grabbed the metal disk. Amelia didn't act like the raptors he had saw nearly twenty years ago, there was a certain calmness around her. Then he understood why. Steve lived in upstate New York, in the woods, where she had plenty of space to run, to hunt, to live. Not a small, confined prison cell that was called a paddock. Hell, even the old queen herself, had a bigger pen to run in than those three raptors. Come to think of it, no one dared to challenge the old gal, Athena, for she bore the scars of those that tried to defy her rule. He watched Rodgers interact with Amelia, and saw that there where boundaries that Amelia wouldn't cross, would not even dare to cross.
"Hey, is it okay if I call you by your first name?" Rodgers asked, while Amelia purred and nudged the shield closer.
"Yea, go ahead,"
"Steve,"
"Allen,"
Both men suddenly laughed, it seemed that they where both old fashioned in a way. Allen still loathed computers, even to this day, he hated the damn machine. The only thing he kept on him was his Nokia cellphone that had survived multiple dinosaur related incidents, including the digestive tract of a Spinosaurus. Oh, how he longed to forget that trip to Isla Sorna where he was tricked into going to that godforsaken island by parents who wanted to find their damn kid. He ended up liking Eric, he was a smart kid, it was a shame that he had complete idiots for parents.
Somewhere on Isla Nublar...
Robert Muldoon walked to his small, cluttered office, leaning heavily on his cane. Ever since he'd been nearly fatally mauled by the Big One, he always walked with a limp. It took months of rehab, and therapy to get him back on his feet. He was glad that Hammond was a kind enough man to pay his hospitable bills for treatment and rehab. Looking down, he saw Squeaks, a Dilophosaur that had imprinted on him. Dilos lived in small, family packs with the parents, juveniles, and hatchlings. It was less organized than raptor packs, but no less deadly. Then he saw Excalibur, a fully scientifically accurate Velociraptor, with owl DNA used to fill the sequence gaps in the genome. He did his daily patrols with these two. He was aware of Claire trying to find his replacement, and quickly at that. He knew the park better than anyone, even the ACU guys, save for Dr. Harding, the vet. Everyone on the island was petrified of that guy, even Owen Grady, who in his opinion was a few screws loose from being labeled for insane. The bloody idiot cuddles his raptors when no one's looking.
Brushing the papers off from his desk, he sat down, putting his cane next to his chair. Squeaks cooed and chittered, making soft, owl-like hooting as she brushed her snout against his leg. Excalibur purred, rubbing her softly feathered head against the palm of his hand, purring.
"I'll never give you guys up for anything," he murmured in his deep, rich British accent, his bright, morphine blue eyes soft for a moment.
Then his computer chimed, knowing that he had it up, he saw a link to a YouTube video that showed the Indominus rescuing people from the rubble caused by the Alien invasion in New York City. But that was impossible, the Indominus rex was here, at Jurassic World, on Isla Nublar, in her paddock. Then he remembered Dr. Henry Wu filing a report of an egg missing from the nursery. To be more specific, it was the other egg containing another Indominus rex embryo, in case this one didn't survive. He had to show the video to Owen and Dr. Harding. Pulling his cellphone out, he dialed Grady.
"Hey, man what's up?" the younger man's voice chirped over, already grating Muldoon's often frayed nerves.
"It's about a video I've found. You saw it, right?" he asked, growling.
"Yea, it's all over. I don't think that's the same Indominus we have here, buddy,"
"Owen, you have tea parties with your bloody raptors!" Muldoon yelled, growling out every word. Roaring laughter was his response on the other end of the phone.
"Yeah, and you knit sweaters for Squeaks!" Owen teased, laughing.
"SHUT UP!" Muldoon roared at the speaker.
Squeaks let out a high-pitched squeal of fear, ducking under the desk, while Excalibur hissed in annoyance, fluffing up her feathers making her bigger than she already was. Muldoon let out a low pitched, rumbling chuckle at the picture. This was what he lived for, and why he still had this job even twenty years later.
A/N: I can't believe I've got another chapter out already! Yes, I've introduced and Robert Muldoon, who is one of my favorite Jurassic Park character, after Grant. And I have mentioned Grady in this chapter!
