My apologies for the long update period, I've been quite busy lately. I did however make some time to see Jurassic World. It was an awesome movie, I'm sure we can all agree on that. Please enjoy the next chapter.

Chapter 5

The shot echoed over the beach and the terrified plesiosaurs plunged into the sea to escape their assailant. One of them was left behind. Bleeding from the head it lie lifelessly on the rocks. The killer yelled to the others that he had conquered his first dinosaur. Arie shook his head displeasingly. He couldn't comprehend why one would kill such a beautiful animal, it hadn't done any harm. Its curiosity towards mankind had been repaid with a bullet and he feared that his chance of studying one up close was now gone forever.

The man had quickly lost interest in his kill and joined the army of mercenaries as they began setting up a perimeter. They installed tripwires and heat-sensitive cameras to ensure no dinosaur sneaked into the camp unnoticed. Once it had all been done, the two other transports landed and began unloading. Malcolm had joined his companions when they went ashore and sighed at how laconically the men had set aside their rifles once the safety barrier had been set up.

"Even Ludlow's men were less relaxed than these fellows." he complained.

"You got a problem with that?" a nearby hired gun asked menacingly.

"Yea, if you're getting paid to fire a gun, how do you keep to your end of the bargain if you're not holding one?"

His remark got him a punch in the face and by-standers cheered as they saw Malcolm hit the sand. His attacker taunted him, but then all fell silent. A muscled man had arrived at the scene, bold, a thin grey goatee and a big nose. He helped Ian get up and then turned to his opponent, who immediately tried to defend his actions.

"That guy said we did a lousy job!"

"All of you" he gestured to the crowd, "were whining like babies that we needed someone who had been here before because you didn't know what was coming. Now we have that guy. He has been on this island twice, so I think we so heed his warning don't you agree?"

The man thought about it for a moment then choose not to disobey his superior, which the beefcake turned out to be. The mercenaries scattered and most of them started carrying guns on their back.

"Thanks pal."

"Listen carefully" the boss said with a heavy Russian accent, "you think you are so smart with your jokes, but when a dinosaur appears, you can't talk it to death. My guys shoot it. But if my guys don't like you, they won't shoot it for you. So remember who's helping who out here, okay?"

When the man walked, Ian allowed himself to make another cynical remark.

"Charming guy."

"Charming or not, he did have a point." Arie said.

"You're on his side?" Ian asked indignantly.

"No, I'm merely pointing out that they wield the guns and we need those guns to protect us."

"Arie's right, I don't feel like making friends with these people, however being on our own here is even less encouraging."

Ian agreed by not replying any further and attended his nose by wiping away a small stream of blood that went down the corner of his mouth. They all sat down on a rock that lay in the sand and watched how a jeep drove down one of the transports. Harold, who had abandoned them from the moment they had set foot ashore, walked past them carrying a seemingly heavy iron trunk. He nodded to Vliegenthart as he passed them by.

"You already got a friend I see." Ian spoke a little jealous.

The three academics spent the next two hours quietly observing the men as they unpacked the transports and erected the base. The men worked very organised and each time an argument arose among them, the bold Russian was there to break up the fight. They learned that the man's name was Ivan Propov and was a former member of the Spetsnaz. Also he allegedly came from Ukraine, not Russia. His authority among the mercenaries was nonetheless unquestioned and he and Pavel showed signs of being old friends. His second-in-command was Aleksei Tarasenko, but when Ivan was around, he kept mostly in the background. After the encampment was established, Harold returned and guided them to their tent. Inside they found a couple of sandwiches, still wrapped in plastic and with a price tag on it.

"Looks like they've saved on the food." Ian said dryly, surprisingly causing Harold to snigger.

Their guard had learned through experience that the mathematician possessed an insatiable desire to discredit everything. At first he had felt insulted when the man spoke bad of something, but he began to see it was just the man's pessimistic or, more likely, cynical nature. This time though he had to agree that the food left much to be desired. He did not share this it with his captives, not yet at least. He might not consider them to be his enemies, that didn't mean they were his friends.

.

The sun was setting when Pavel came to visit them in their tent. He looked around with exaggerated contempt, hoping to spark Malcolm into another discussion. It didn't work however. He went on by informing them that they would be traveling south west and build a bridge there to cross onto Isla Tacaño. The idea is that the manmade bridge could be detonated if a large dinosaur should choose to venture onto Isla Pena and towards the camp. According to the records, Isla Pena should be uninhabited by dinosaur and therefore it should be safe to have a camp here, while they would try to find their bounty on the next isle.

"Enjoy your sleep, even if there is something on this island, my men will shoot it before it even knows it is seen."

Then Jacobson left, tailed by Harold leaving the three alone.

"That's a comforting thought."

"I think there's nothing more we can do at the moment than follow his advice and go to bed early." Alan spoke and the others nodded.

.

It had been a restless night for both Alan and Ian. The images of their previous visits to this part of the world had kept them almost wide awake all night. Each time they fell asleep, it wasn't for long until either awoke by a raptor-shaped nightmare. They began their morning with another supermarket sandwich, subsequently joining the other people outside. When they exited, Harold already stood next to the entrance, awaiting them. It had each of them wonder, whether the man had been standing there all night. On the other side of the beach, most of the men had formed a panicky mob and Ivan was trying to get them lined up.

"What's going on?" Arie asked out loud.

"I don't know." Harold replied.

Their guard seemed evenly intrigued by the commotion, yet was obliged to remain at his post.

"Doctor Grant?"

They turned around and saw the second in command, Aleksei. He gestured the researchers to come with him. When the others intended to follow as well, he ordered Harold to stop them and keep them in their tent. Reluctantly, Ian and Arie retreated whilst Alan tagged along. They came past the chaotic group of soldiers. Sadly, the only words he caught were Russian or Ukrainian, either way he wasn't able to understand them. They went into the jungle, subsequently meeting with Pavel there. He stood together with three others next to a carcass with flies buzzing over the last scraps of meat that were stuck to it.

"My god, what happened here." Alan said and looked disgusted at the bloody scene.

"We were hoping that you could tell us." Pavel responded indistinct.

After staring at it for a while, Alan concluded that it was one of the mercenaries that was stationed here last night. His arm was torn off and was nowhere to be found, most of the flesh was stripped away, the ribcage was savagely broken open and the lungs and heart had been removed. The bones that were visible through the dried blood showed carvings, undoubtedly from the teeth of whatever attacked him. Alan bend over, covering his mouth with a handkerchief to avoiding getting sick by the smell. The scrapings into the bone were thin, indicating a small dinosaur. He sighed, glad that this ruled out Velociraptors.

"So?"

"It's probably a small dinosaur, maybe Compsognathus. They might also be small enough to bypass the security."

"Impossible, our infrared cameras would pick up a fly if it were close enough to the ground." Aleksei commented with certainty.

The doctor shrugged.

"Well apparently your equipment failed to detect them."

"What about a flying dinosaur?" Pavel demanded.

"Those are called pterosaurs and no, the wounds show teeth marks so that rules them out. Moreover, they wouldn't be able to scavenge a kill so cleanly as has been done here."

"What is a Compsognathus?"

The man who spoke up now was standing next to Pavel. He was Asian from nature, yet only suffered a minor accent. His tunic was completely grey, whereas all other foot soldiers wore a pattern of green and brown to blend in with their surroundings. This man was probably a higher ranked member as well. While Grant gave the man a description of said animal, he observed him better. At his belt hung a long scabbard. It was a katana, a traditional Japanese sword. On the other side hung a big silver gun. The man had surely packed his biggest gun possible in the hope that he would be able to fend off any predators. Alan believed this to be idle hope.

His interlocutor caught him staring at the firearm and smiled.

"It's a Mamba Pistol, in case something decides to pick me as its lunch."

"If something here decides to pick you, you wouldn't realize it before it's too late."

"I'd like to see them try." Pavel laughed scornfully, "Yamagata here was a former member of the Yakuza. Few people has seen his blade and survived."

Alan shook his head. Ian was right, these people never seemed to learn that dinosaurs are not so easily controlled. Pavel ordered them to bury the body after which he, Yamagata and Alan walked back to the beach.

"Inform your friends that you can rest today, I will have Aleksei take some men today to scout the area. Whatever it was that killed one of us, it won't live to see the next day."

Alan had given up warning him of what could be out there. He had done so enough in his opinion, as had Ian. When he got back to their tent, his friends were eager to know what had been going on. Harold too was interested, however he pretended not to be. It was the fact that he now stood guard inside that betrayed his curiosity. The palaeontologist told them what had befallen one of the guards, that today's plan had been altered and also mentioned the Yakuza soldier. Malcom laughed at the idea of the man mounting a frontal attack against a T-rex with a katana.

"Maybe it'll get stuck on the sword, like a crocodile with a stick in a cartoon."

"That doesn't matter, what does is that the records are wrong! There are dinosaurs on this islands."

"Are you sure it was a dinosaur?" Arie wondered.

"I don't know what else it could've been." Alan said confused.

"But didn't they say they had an airtight alarm system…" the Dutchman thought out loud.

"There is only one explanation." Ian grinnend.

"Yea, yea, life found a way."

Malcolm's smile vanished and he glared annoyed at the doctor opposite him. Alan avoided his look and continued his explanation.

"…and pterosaurs are also impossible because they don't have teeth."

"Strange."

All of a sudden they heard screams coming from the rocks. They noticed Harold had already left and they decided to follow his example. It turned out that the cries were made out of joy, not horror. A man near the water's edge was struggling with his rod as he had seemingly hooked a large fish. The bystanders cheered. One of them was holding on to the man's belt to prevent him from falling over. A small crowd gathered quickly as the battle persisted. His effort was not in vain. After half an hour of an intense game of tug-of-war, he was victorious.

The animal was still in the submerged, but he had managed to tire it out and had pulled it towards the shallows. He handed the guy next to him his rod and together with three others they stepped into the sea to collect his prize. The four of them went through their knees and then simultaneously lifted a huge creature out of the azure water. It had an elongated snout, like that of a dolphin and a streamlined body and was approximately four metres in length. Its wet scales sparkled in the sun as bystanders took photos of the monstrous catch.

"Arie, is that-.."

"Yes, Alan, that is an Ophthalmosaurus."

End of chapter