The No-Shows

At the Visitor's Center, in the computer room, Hammond and Muldoon were gathered in front of a monitor, watching their guests take the tour.

"National Weather Service is tracking a tropical storm about seventy-five miles west of us," Muldoon pointed out.

"Ay-ay-ay, why didn't I build in Orlando?" Hammond sighed.

"I'll keep an eye on it," Muldoon offered. "Maybe it'll swing south like the last one."

Accompanying them was middle aged, dark-skinned man with round glasses and a mustache, wearing another white coat, a cigarette popping out of his mouth. Around his neck was ID pass, which read Ray Arnold.

"Ray, start the tour program," Hammond commanded.

"Hold onto your butts," Arnold replied, pushing a button on the console.

Hammond pressed another button on the console, connecting himself to the car monitors.

"The voice you're now hearing is Richard Kiley," he interrupted. "We spared no expense."

In the cars, the guests sat tightly as they approached another paddock on the side of the road.

"If you look to the right, you will see a herd of the first dinosaurs on our tour, called Dilophosaurus." began the voice of Kiley.

Everyone in the cars glanced out the right windows as they passed more electric fences with flashing yellow lights, tropical understructure on the other side, the brush below bursting with strange red flowers.

"Dilophosaurus..." Harry murmured. "I don't think I've ever heard of that one."

"Look there!" Tim gestured.

The sign on the paddock marker showed a reptilian skull with a casque atop, rather like a hornbill; but there appeared to be no sign of such a creature anywhere.

"Where is it?" Hermione pondered.

"One of the earliest carnivores, we now know Dilophosaurus is actually poisonous, spitting its venom at its prey, causing blindness and eventually paralysis, allowing the carnivore to eat at its leisure," Kiley monologued. "This makes Dilophosaurus a beautiful but deadly addition to Jurassic Park."

Everyone kept watching for the Dilophosaurus to come, but it never did, eliciting some disappointed slumps, especially in the cars behind.

"Alan... where?" Sattler muttered.

"Damn!" Grant sighed, banging his hand on the window.

In the car at the back of the line, there was a slight budge that went unnoticed by the boy in the the front car's driver's seat.

"Well, that's a fine way to start a tour," Harry muttered.

"Come on, Harry," Hermione insisted. "That was only our first stop!"

"There's still lots more to see," Tim added.

"You're right," Harry sighed. "What's up next?"

Tim glanced out the window again and saw a hollowed-our concrete ledge approaching ahead.

"A tunnel," he replied.

"A tunnel?" Harry resigned. "Great."

Back at the Visitor's Center, Arnold and Hammond were busy analyzing diagrams of the cars as they were functioning on the monitors.

"Vehicle headlights are on and don't respond," Arnold muttered, jotting that down on a clipboard. "Those shouldn't be running off the car batteries. Item one fifty-one on today's glitch list. We've got all the problems of a major theme park and a major zoo, and the computer's not even on its feet yet."

At the other end of the room, sitting at a desk with two more monitors, scattered with papers, manila folders, sweet wrappers, and empty beverage cans was a large, beefy man with curly black hair, wearing horn-rimmed glasses and another white coat.

In his hand was a can of Jolt Cola, around his neck was another pass, reading Dennis Nedry.

"Dennis," Hammond began. "Our lives are in your hands and you have butterfingers?"

"I am totally unappreciated in my time," Nedry chuckled. "We can run the whole park from this room, with minimal staff, for up to three days. You think that kind of automation is easy? Or cheap? You know anybody who can network eight Connection Machines and de-bug two million lines of code for what I bid this job? Because if you can, I'd love to see you try.

"I'm sorry about your financial problems, Dennis. I really am," Hammond apologized. "But they are your problems."

"Oh, you're right, John," Nedry shrugged. "You're absolutely right. Everything's my problem.

"I will not get drawn into another financial conversation with you, Dennis," Hammond insisted. "I really will not."

"Please, there's been hardly any debate at all," Nedry dismissed, biting into a strip of jerky.

"I don't blame people for their mistakes..." Hammond softly reiterated. "But I do ask that they pay for them."

"Thanks, Dad," Nedry grumbled.

"Dennis, the headlights," Arnold requested.

"Yeah, I'll de-bug the tour program when they get back," Nedry promised. "Okay? It'll eat a lot of compute cycles; we'll lose part of the system for a while. You know, there's a finite amount of memory, you can't use it for everything! You gonna compile for half an hour..."

"Quiet, all if you!" Muldoon interrupted. "They're coming to the tyrannosaur paddock."

Back on the tour, the cars exited the tunnel, pulling up to a much larger land wider paddock than the first;

Its trees grew increasingly taller the further they went. A mountaintop scraped the sky at the very back. On the fence was another 10,000 Volts sign and the marker sign showed the same head from the park logo.

"This is the T-Rex paddock," Hermione realized.

"Now you're catching on!" Tim complimented.

As the cars came to a full stop, everyone crowded at the windows.

"I do not want to miss this!" Harry insisted.

Harry wasn't able to see Ford 5 budging again, this time, leaning to the left a little harder than before;

Dudley had shoved himself into the car's edge and planted his sticky face in the window, while Petunia sat stiffly, most likely to recover from the sudden jolt.

"If only Mr. Genarro had come with us," Vernon muttered.

In Ford 6, Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm kept their eyes to the left, Paul and Jane watching from the front.

"The mighty tyrannosaurus arose late in the dinosaur history," Kiley's voice resumed. "Dinosaurs ruled the earth for one hundred and fifty million years, but it wasn't until the last..."

"Will you turn that thing off?" Grant requested.

"Sure," Paul shrugged, flipping a switch on the dashboard.

"God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs..." Malcolm whispered, narrowing his eyes. "God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs."

"Dinosaur eats man... Woman inherits the Earth," Sattler finished, sitting triumphantly.

Jane grinned at Sattler not unlike she would for her daughter, while the three men presented suspicious glares.

"We'll try to tempt the rex now," Arnold suggested on the monitor. "Keep watching the fence."

In the middle of the paddock, a small cage was released from underground, holding a small goat with one of its legs chained to a stake. Once the cage was removed, the goat shook its head around, bleating confusedly, not unlike the bull.

In Ford 7, Genarro squeezed past Harry for a look, without so much as asking for a pass, while Tim placed his nose against the glass, enthusiastically. Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped as they shook their heads, Harry moreso, not noticing Lex blanching harder than the two of them put together.

"What's going to happen to the goat?" she cried. "He's going to eat the goat?!"

"Excellent," Tim exclaimed.

"What's the matter, kid, you never had lamb chops?" Genarro teased, dryly.

"I happen to be a vegetarian," Lex explained, sounding sure of herself.

Hermione stared at Lex, possibly impressed with her articulation, but Harry's eyes were directed at the man sitting next to him.

"It talks..." He murmured.

In the Ford behind them, skeptical eyes still watched the goat in the paddock.

"T-rex doesn't want to be fed; he wants to hunt," Grant whispered. "You can't just suppress sixty-five million years of gut instinct."

"Say that about my daughter," Paul murmured.

"No need, right?" Sattler suggested.

"Right," Jane agreed.

Behind them, the back and forth shaking of Ford 5 had stopped. Now it was shaking up and down, seeing that Dudley was bouncing with anticipation, ignoring his mother begging,

"Please stop that, Duddy, you're making me quite nervous."

"Pet, let the kid have some excitement, will you?" Vernon insisted.

Everyone watched the goat tugging on its chain, walking back and forth, bleating nervously before finally laying on its stomach.

Once the cars pull forward again, everyone sat back, still disappointed. In Ford 6, Malcolm got out of his seat and stuck his face near the monitor, the face of Hammond still watching them onscreen.

"Now, eventually you do plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right?" He grumbled. "Hello? Hello?"

But over the radio, all Malcolm heard was static fuzz blocking out a voice on the other end saying,

"I really hate that man."

As the Fords continued rolling, Harry stared longingly out the window until saw a strange reddish brown lump sticking out from a clearing in the distance, where the fences were lower. Even with the window rolled up, he just barely heard a strange bellowing coming from that direction.

He kept staring until his focus shifted to the Ford behind, where he saw Grant jerking open his door and climbing out of the still-moving car, walking in the direction of what he'd seen.

"Alan!" Sattler called, following him out of the car.

The others with him were looking back, but Harry jerked his door open and jumped out after Grant.

"Where is he going?" Hermione murmured, before she caught Harry climbing out of the driver's seat. "Where are you going?"

"To find something interesting," Harry replied.

Tim, with not much more to say, climbed across Hermione's lap and jumped out of the car after Harry.

"Timmy!" Lex cried, jumping out of her seat.

Hermione, too, climbed out of the car, catching up to Lex fairly quickly.

"You too?" Lex pondered. "You have a blanket head to worry about?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "Whatever that means. But Harry, he's like my brother, really."

"My point exactly," Lex reiterated.

Genarro nervously climbed out of Ford 7, as well, not before Paul and Jane, who weren't looking too pleased themselves.

"Mum! Dad!" Hermione cried. "Harry's gone after..."

But before Hermione could say anything further, the doors to Ford 5 at the far back flew open as well, Dudley dragging his parents, laughing madly.

"Yes, we know," Jane replied, ushering the girls ahead of the Dursleys.

Back at the Visitor's Center, Hammond and the others watched the empty cars roll along the track, their doors hanging open.

"Stop the program!" he ordered. "Stop the program!"

He, Arnold, and Muldoon hustled over to some others in park uniforms, watching more monitors.

"I told you how many times?!" he insisted. "We needed locking mechanisms on the vehicle doors!"

Across the room, Nedry had two videos playing on his monitors; one showing a steel door, marked, EMBRYONIC COLD STORAGE, RESTRICTED! The other, labeled EAST DOCK, showed a supply ship, getting loaded and a number of workers filing aboard.

Hidden in a strategic place on the desk, was a can of shaving cream, which Nedry fingered protectively.

Back on the tour, Genarro followed, his head darting left and right, his eyes wide open as he, Lex, the Grangers, and the Dursleys caught up with Grant, Ellie, Harry and Tim.

They'd slipped through an opening into a small stand of trees, not noticing that the sky looked darker than it was earlier. Harry was right behind Grant, doing his best to ignore the small peanut gallery trying to catch up.

"So like I was saying," Tim continued. "There's this other book by a guy named Bakker? And he said dinosaurs died of a bunch of diseases. He definitely didn't say they turned into birds..."

"You see something?" Sattler queried.

"Is there anybody else think we shouldn't be out here?" Genarro puzzled.

"...and his book was a lot fatter than yours." Tim finished.

"Really?" Grant murmured.

"Yours was fully illustrated, honey," Sattler reminded him

Tim was at Grant's right, Harry at Grant's left, but a stumbling Lex brushed between them. Her left hand flew up as she did and Grant took it to stop her.

"You okay?" he asked.

She looked up at him, smiling as smiled back, trying to recover his hand. But Lex held tight, not noticing who had taken her other hand when it fell down with her;

Grant may have felt uncomfortable in the moment, but Harry, still clutching Lex's hand, eyed their interaction with equal discomfort.

Sattler, of course, noticed this and grinned, though it wasn't immediately clear who she was grinning at. After another bellow, everyone stopped in their tracks and Grant let go of Lex's hand. Her right arm dropped, although she didn't notice who was clutching it.

"Everybody stay here," Grant ordered, stepping into the grass.

Now, Lex felt her right hand being released as Harry followed Grant, Tim not too far behind.

"Harry!" Hermione cried.

"Timmy!" Sattler gasped, holding out her arms.

"Hey Timmy!" Lex cried.

But neither Harry nor Tim anything to fear as Sattler, the Grangers, Lex and Genarro followed. After snaking through knee-high grass, they came to a clearing where a large, full-grown three-horned Triceratops, a big one, lying on its side.

It wasn't moving, just breathing raspily, blowing little clouds of dust everywhere. Grant waited besides an older man in a khaki uniform, aviator sunglasses, and an olive green baseball cap with the park logo embroidered on it. Around his neck was a pass that read Gerry Harding.

"Is it okay?" Grant asked. "Can I touch it?"

"Sure," Harding confirmed.

Grant moved closer to the Triceratops and began stroking its head.

"Don't be scared," Harding reassured the others as he saw them coming. "It's okay. Muldoon tranquilized her for me. She's sick."

Harry was the first to come forward and he began stroking the opposite of where Grant was.

"Oh my god!" Sattler gasped. "Hey baby girl!"

She crouched down to the Trike's snout, while Tim joined Harry over on the other side of its head. Hermione cautiously herself squeezed in between Harry and Tim, possibly to avoid the Trike's horns.

"Oh my goodness!" she cried.

She moved further along, closer to the Trike's nose and to Dr. Sattler, who seemed to be beaming up at her as well.

Still, Harry could see that Lex and Genarro were trying a little harder since they were staying in the grass, as far from it as they could get.

As the Trike opened its beak, its tongue, dark and purple, limply slipped out. Sattler scratched the blistered tongue with her fingernail, causing some clear liquid to leak.

Harding handed Sattler a penlight, which she shined in the Trike's eyes.

As Hermione moved closer to the beak, so did Harry, who began to stroke the tongue ponderously.

"I wonder..." he muttered.

"Wonder what?" Hermione asked.

He was about to pull her aside, but he noticed Sattler glanced around for something.

"About reptiles," Harry whispered. "You know, besides snakes."

"What are you saying Harry?" Hermione insisted, gesturing to the others. "You're not going to tell them you're a parselmouth?"

Harry sighed, Hermione shook her head until she saw Sattler coming upon some ovular brown berries growing from a lower plant. She squatted down, her child's curiosity besetting her.

"Is this West Indian Lilac?" Sattler puzzled.

"Yes," Harding confirmed. "We know they're toxic, but the animals don't eat them."

Hermione has picked up a few berries, but at Harding's words, she dropped them and cautiously wiped her hands on her shorts.

"Are you sure about that?" she begged.

"Pretty sure," Harding assured her.

"There's only one way to be positive," Sattler concluded. "I'd have to see the dinosaur's droppings."

"Dino..." Hermione began, wrinkling her nose.

"...droppings?" finished the voice of Malcolm, who'd finally stepped out of the car himself.

"Yeah," Sattler confirmed.

Back at the Visitor's Center, Hammond and his gathering were watching storm detection patterns on one of the monitors.

"That storm center hasn't dissipated or changed course," Muldoon observed. "We're going to have to cut the tour short, I'm afraid. Pick it up again tomorrow where we left off."

"You're sure we have to?" Hammond begged.

"It's not worth taking the chance, John," Arnold assured him.

"Sustain winds 45 knots," Muldoon spoke into a nearby phone receiver.

"Tell them when they get back to the cars," Hammond ordered.

"Thanks, Steve," Muldoon concluded before hanging up

"Ladies and gentlemen," Arnold called out to the rest of the room. "The last shuttle to the dock leaves in approximately five minutes. Drop what you are doing and leave now."

"Damn!" Hammond shouted, banging his fist on the desk.

Back in the clearing, Harry was still stroking the Trike, until he heard more stomping through the grass; it seemed the Dursleys had finally caught up with them. Vernon's face was slightly purpler, Petunia's face sunken in, possibly from all the running, while Dudley's eyes were unusually wide.

"Oh dear!" Petunia cried.

"Wicked!" Dudley cried, up afraid to move closer. "I wonder if it's dead?"

"Well, don't be afraid to find out Dud!" Vernon suggested.

"Maybe she'll throw up!" Dudley gasped.

Dudley laughed as he ran up to the Trike's stomach, kicking it gleefully. Vernon watched encouragingly as Dudley tried kicking it harder, Petunia looking stiff, until Harding ran over and tried pulling him away.

"Son," he began. "For the safety of our animals, I advise you not to do that."

Considering Dudley's weight, Harding struggled a bit, while the others grouped around a waist-high pile of triceratops excreta, buzzing with flies.

"That is one big pile of shit," Malcolm muttered.

Sattler had pulled on a pair of elbow-length rubber gloves and was punching her way through the mound of dung, finally withdrawing from the middle.

"You're right," she concluded. "There's no trace of lilac berries. That's so odd, though. Alright, she's suffering from Meliatoxicity every six weeks..."

"Let's see," she pondered, walking out into the open field. "Rats? Nada..."

"She's, uh... tenacious," Malcolm commented, watching her.

"You have no idea," Grant grumbled.

"You will remember to wash your hands before you eat anything?" Malcolm called after her.

Looking up, the rumbling sky was even grayer than before as a nervous-looking Genarro put his foot down.

"Doctors, if you please," he interjected. "I have to insist we get moving."

"You know, if it's alright, I'd like to stay with Dr. Harding and finish with the trike," Sattler requested. "Is that okay?"

"Sure," Harding agreed. "I've got a gas powered jeep. I can drop her at the visitor's center before I make the boat with the others."

"I'll catch up with you if you want to go on," Sattler offered Grant.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," she insisted. "I want to stay with her a little longer."

"The poor thing... I'd like to join Dr. Sattler," Hermione requested. "Can we, Mum and Dad?"

"Why don't you ask Harry what he wants, dear." Paul suggested.

"I'll go with the others," Harry replied.

"Are you sure, Harry? You'll be alright without us?" Jane asked.

"I'm just happy to get out of the rain faster," Harry explained a little too quickly. "Besides, my relatives might pull me aside with a few questions... I'll... meet you back at the Visitor's Center."

He was interrupted by a flash of lightning, with a tooth-rattling thunderclap right after.

"Now!" Genarro demanded.

Harry waved to Hermione, Grant to Sattler, as the rest of the gathering swished back through the grass, towards the cars, while the women beamed among each other. Grant and Malcolm were at the front of the line, the Durleys at the back, looking pleased to catch up with Genarro.

Harry clipped the left side of his brim up as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Lex, Tim running along to try and catch up with Grant. Harry noticed they were both up to Grant's shoulder, so there might be slightly less awkwardness.

"So..." Lex began. "What bring you to Grandpa's island? What about your friend?"

"He knew my parents," Harry replied. "They invested in his company... well, my dad anyway. The same for Hermione."

"Where are they?" Lex asked.

"Who?" Harry requested.

"Your parents," Lex reiterated.

Now, Harry stopped dead in his tracks and glanced back at Lex; He was used to answering that, but now, he was feeling the same discomfort from when he clutched her hand.

"Where are yours?" He interjected.

"I asked you first," Lex fired back, looking somewhat hurt.

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry sighed.

"Sorry," Lex muttered.

"Don't be," Harry insisted. "I'm just glad to get away from it all."

"Me too," Lex admitted.

Harry stopped again, this time, looking like he'd figured something out.

"Is there something you don't want to talk about?" He puzzled.

"Yeah," Lex confirmed, nodding her head.

"Okay," Harry accepted, extending his hand. "Harry."

"Lex," she introduced, taking it as they walked back to the car.

Harry walked over to Lex's door, but recalled that it was already opened. She climbed back into her seat and closed the door, missing Harry extending his hand towards it. Harry climbed back into the front and waited for the car to start, unaware of the craziness that was only just beginning.