Hey people. Sorry it's been so long. I find it harder than I thought it would be to write multiple stories at once. I'll soon be picking up this one more steadily as the other I had been focussed on is reaching a close. Read along and please enjoy!
Chapter 10
The company had been traveling for quite a while now. Most of the men were getting tired, which led to Owen cutting in a break. As everyone caught their breath, he put down his backpack and withdrew the map. According to his estimations, they were almost at station beta. Unintentionally he looked back from where they came. The Russians were probably at the beach by now. Luckily they would soon be able to fortify their position inside station Beta. Unless the enemy would bring a tank, there was no way they could be reached after activating the lock down modus. That was of course if the storm hadn't completely wrecked the building. Although the reports had indicated that it was left untouched by the weather, Owen had learned the hard way that such reports aren't always to be trusted blindly. But that was back then, in the army. However, were things much different now? He was still wandering through unknown, potentially hostile territory with a group of trigger happy communists on his tail.
He slowly walked around the groups of people and took in their faces. Each of them looked exhausted and scared. He came to realize that there were a few women too. A subconscious sense of duty had him feel like it was solely up to him to get every one of them home safely.
He awoke from his thoughts by noise in the distance. He hushed and his neighbours copied him to make sure everyone became quiet.
The noises got closer.
Owen whistled softly and a few rifle-armed men stepped forward. They formed a line, ready to shoot at whatever was about to come. They had done this about five times already on their way here, yet all those times it had been false alarm. The benefit was that the entire team was now drilled and had become a well-oiled machine. As if the previous times had been rehearsals for this very moment.
"Steady." Owen whispered.
The rustling got nearer every second. It felt as if this time it wasn't going to be nothing. The men around him seemed to sense it too. All appeared more on edge than before. By the volume and intensity of the disturbance it had to be big. Then, one of the men called out.
"Those are people!"
.
Alan froze upon hearing the voice. His friends too exchanged faces of surprise. As the group started to mumble they worked their way to the front. Raymond was talking to a man with a brown leather vest, a green shirt and black trousers. The man was young, yet seemed experienced. He introduced himself as Owen Grady, a member of a band of InGen employees that was sent here to investigate a breach in the wall of the Mosasaurus habitat.
"I believe that our mutual friends are responsible for that." Ian said.
Owen gave him a surprised look, but reckoned he meant the crew of The Russian Jewel.
"You came here with those Russians?"
"They're Ukrainians actually." Arie pointed out.
"Whatever, why are they here and why are you here?"
Ian explained how he got kidnapped and subsequently ended up joining them in their 'holiday trip' towards this island. In doing so, he used an annoyingly high amount of intentional understatements and cynical expressions. This led Owen to believe that where other humans were more than sixty percent water, this man consisted of more than sixty percent sarcasm. Alan added his and Arie's side of the story to the explanation. Since Owen didn't understand why Pavel would chose to abduct these seemingly unrelated people for his cause, Alan subsequently elaborated on the fact that both he and Ian had visited these islands before .
"So you are here by accident?" Raymond asked.
"Sure am." Arie replied smilingly.
"And that doesn't bother you at all?"
"Believe me, if I had the time to sit down a sob about it I would, but thus far I haven't seen any possibility."
The first mate frowned. He knew that this was a dangerous place, yet he didn't find that reason enough to simply accept that one was taken here by mistake.
"He's got a point." Owen grinned to him.
"So, you came here to scare them off? I-eh… hehe, I have to say it worked beautifully." Ian laughed scornfully.
"Hey we lost some good men out there. Don't joke about it."
Malcolm made an apologetic gesture and backed away a little. Owen continued when he noted that the man had more or less accepted that his remark had been disrespectful.
"We only came here to fix a hole in the perimeter. We weren't expecting this kind of resistance. They caught us by surprise. We weren't really equipped to deal with eh… what are they, poachers?"
"Mercenaries. They came to shoot dinosaurs and sell the bones to collectors." Alan said.
"Is that profitable?"
"It doesn't sound like much, but a complete dinosaur skeleton is rare and people are willing to pay a lot of money for it. And where better to find complete skeletons than inside a complete dinosaur."
Owen nodded in agreement. He didn't know much about archaeology or historical value, although whenever something was rare, it always caught the attention of the black market. He turned to Raymond.
"That still doesn't explain what brought you here?"
"Me and the other sailors originate from The Nelly."
A man behind Own recognized the name and asked the first mate to verify that they were the ones that had sent an emergency transmission to Isla Nublar. Raymond nodded. When the other questioned about the lack of coordinates, he explained that they had sunk before they could pass them on via the radio.
"I don't mean to disrespectfully interrupt your tea party, but ought we not discuss where we are going now?" Ian intruded.
None of the people could appreciate his way of depicting their conversation, although each of them realized that he was right. They had to get moving, standing around was a waste of time and probably dangerous. Owen suggested that his plan was still a go.
"We were headed for a nearby bunker called station Beta. From there we're gonna try to alert our main facility at Isla Nublar."
Raymond shook his head.
"Phone's dead. You're not going to contact anyone from there."
"Are you sure?"
"Did any of your men knew we were here?"
Owen looked at his company. Most of the men shrugged or shook their heads, clarifying that none possessed this knowledge. Raymond pointed at them with an open hand.
"There. Now I'm sure."
Ian sniggered at the man's dry response. He couldn't have said it better in that position. Owen frowned. To condone the angering remark, Raymond elucidated the InGen-ers on their own plan. Head for Station Gamma, hope the communication is intact and try to broadcast an emergency transmission from there. Owen confirmed that Gamma was indeed still operational, at least on paper. He also warned that traveling that way would inevitably lead to a clash with their pursuers. Ian added that turning back would mean collision with other Russians. Observing the map for a couple of minutes, it was clear that there was only one way left to go.
"So we have to go south-east."
Raymond's eyes shot frantically from one face in the group to the other, Alan bit his lip, Ian played with his glasses and Arie scuffed the ground with his foot staring at the sand he kicked up. The ranger didn't see the problem. It was evident that he had to ask straight away before he was given any explanation however.
"I have a hunch that you are not acting this way because it's just a few miles longer." Owen stated.
"Your hunch is correct actually." Ian answered.
"Then what is the matter?"
"Ever heard of a velociraptor?"
His colleagues turned white and behind him everone began to chatter restlessly. He rubbed his sideburn. The name was familiar and from what he has heard they aren't the kindest of creatures.
"Can't say I know the details, but I don't think we have any alternative."
Reluctantly the academics accepted this fact and thus the trip continued on this new route. The armed men were spread equally over the larger group and in midway the convoy Alan, Ian and Arie had found their place. Raymond was at the back to pick up any stragglers and Owen was up front. After half an hour however he put another man in charge of the map and he came walking next to the doctor. His curiosity was enticed by these dinosaurs. He wanted to learn more in case they were to encounter these vicious beasts. Alan was glad to have something to talk about instead of merely marching on in the silent tension that roamed in the band. Happier yet with the fact that Owen proved a good listener.
"They are two metres tall reptiles that hunt in groups. They communicate via a complex set of vocals and screeches. It is this high intelligence that makes them far more dangerous than any modern day creature."
"Sounds like you know quite something about them."
"Well, most of it is speculation of course, but some of that holds true for the raptors bred by InGen."
Owen nodded. These animals were not truly velociraptors. From what he had heard, he knew that most of the dinosaurs here were part frog. An idea popped into his head.
"You said they can communicate?"
"Oh yes. And very efficiently too."
This answer amplified his faith in said idea.
"Have you ever tried to make contact?" he asked thrilled.
Not only Alan gazed at him in utter amazement, Ian who had been eavesdropping swallowed the wrong way upon hearing this proposal. Grady looked disturbed as the mathematician coughed. He didn't reckon the man to be vile, yet a real pain he surely was. He turned his attention back to the doctor. Although his interlocutor had non-verbally rejected the idea at first, he could see the intellectual exploring his memory.
"Well. The last time I was here, I did have some kind of interaction with them."
Owen nodded intrigued.
"One of my companions had stolen the raptors' eggs. It was only a matter of time before the parents caught up with us. My guts had told me to go through my knees which seemed to favour them as they didn't strike us down."
"I think it has to do with dominance. The moment you lowered yourself, they sensed that you accepted them being higher in rank."
"Oh yea, right right! And afterwards they had you scrub their nails and wave a fan?" Malcolm made fun of him.
"No Ian, I think he's right. When we were down on the ground, one of the velociraptors stood out as head of the pack. She was probably the lead female."
Ian slowed down to distance himself from the two, sulking that he didn't receive any support. He still thought it was ridiculous to pretend one could communicate with those bloodthirsty animals. In his experience, they had never shown any hesitation in killing a human being.
"So what happened next? They let you go?"
"After we had given them the eggs, I found the 3D replica of a velociraptor's vocal chamber in my bag. A student of mine had given it to me. I tried my best to recreate the sound of an animal in distress."
"Did it work?" Owen asked greedily.
If InGen had raptors on Isla Nublar in the new park, which they undoubtedly had, this might be an important piece of information.
"I thought it did as they ran off, however it turned out they were just scared off by the helicopters that came to rescue us."
Owen stared at the ground disappointed. Alan caught his sadness.
"I was equally let down, though we simply don't know how to produce the appropriate sound for a situation."
"Yea. I guess you're right."
*Rattle, rattle*
One moment they were conversing peacefull, the next, a rain of bullet hailed down on them. All fell to the floor, some injured, most unharmed. Owen nor Raymond could see whether anyone had been killed. It didn't seem that way. Two jeeps, followed by a large armoured transport vehicle crushed out of the undergrowth, tailed by a vast group of footsoldiers. The marching horde desperately formed a clump of people as the soldiers circled them and herded them together like sheep. As the rumbling sounds of the vehicles' engines faded to a steady humming, a familiar face climbed out of one of the jeeps.
"What is this, who are you?" Yamagata yelled agitated, referring to the sailors.
"We might ask you the same thing." Owen demanded, standing upright.
As this drew the man's eyes to him, they also caught sight of his previous hostages.
"Well, well. It seems we are in luck boys." he taunted, "we can kill all birds with one stone."
The mercenaries laughed out villainously. The sound of Kalashnikovs being filled resounded between the trees.
"Hey, I asked you a question!" Owen called out again.
"We are the last faces you'll ever see... Round them up!"
End of chapter.