Later that week I was sitting in Simon's office with Claire outlining exactly what happened at the raptor paddock. I had just finished explaining my belief that Hoskins, and by association InGen, were planning to use the raptors for some kind of military application. They both looked more than a little troubled by my hypothesis, as they should be. It was about time people starting taking this shit seriously.
Simon was sitting with his back to Claire and me starring out the window, deep in thought. Claire wasn't faring much better looking a little pale as she sat beside me. I thought I had done a better than average job of delivering the news with tact, but considering this reaction I could be wrong.
"Are you guys OK? Do you need me to get some water?" Maybe some kind of sedative?
Simon swiveled in his chair, placing his hands on his desk. "I understand your position Jo, but what you are proposing is outrageous. Do you really think Mr. Hoskins believes he can control a Velociraptor to such an extent?"
Hell. Fucking. Yes. That's exactly what I thought that psycho was thinking.
"Yes Simon, I do." See, I could be subtle if the situation called for it.
"Mr. Masrani, I think our best course of action at this point is to have Jo continue to monitor the situation. We don't have any proof they are doing anything outside the parameters of their contract," Claire said, typing furious notes on her phone.
Yes, that was one course of action. The plan in my head was more along the lines of kicking Vic Hoskins in the nuts then tossing him in the ocean. Simon seemed to agree with Claire, nodding his head as she finished outlining what appeared to be a five-year plan for dealing with Hoskins. This woman was so organized she probably had contingency plans for her contingency plans. I operated by more of a fly by the seat of your pants philosophy.
With everyone's future planned for the foreseeable future I stood, getting ready to leave when I heard the unmistakable sound of gunshots firing somewhere down the hall. Simon and Claire shot out of their seats their mouths hanging open, eyes wide. I pulled my Glock out of my leg holster moving quickly towards the door. I felt like I was living in a Navy SEAL commercial around this place, "the only easy day was yesterday".
"Claire, get your phone and get under the desk, call Hamada, tell him to get his ass up here now. Simon, once I walk out this door lock it. Do no open it until someone from ACU is on the other side." I had my back against the wall by the door with my Glock at the ready.
"Jo, are you sure this is a good idea? You should stay here while we wait for ACU to respond," Simon said, obviously panicked.
"This is why you brought me here Simon. I'll be fine," I told him in what I hoped was a reassuring voice. Hell, maybe trying to reassure myself a little too.
I nodded my head and Simon cracked the door open just enough for me to look up and down the hallway. Seeing no lunatic lurking directly behind the door I took one last look at Simon before stepping out. "Lock this door as soon as I'm out."
I heard two more shots coming from the lab to my left. The floor had erupted into chaos with screaming employees and alarms blaring. Keeping my Glock pointed in the direction the shots had originated I snagged my cell phone out of my left pocket. I dialed the control room where Lowery Cruthers answered immediately.
"Where the fuck is ACU Lowery?"
"Jo, I can't really talk now we kinda have a situation here." I rolled my eyes.
"No shit Sherlock, I'm in the middle of your situation. The shots came from the lab. I'm on my way now. Why hasn't ACU stormed this floor yet?"
"Someone hacked the controls for the elevator right before the shooting, the system's rebooting. Until it's back online no one's coming or going."
Jesus. "Are there not stairs in this building?"
"I'm guessing the same person who hacked the keypads on the doors locking them." Fuck a duck, this place was too advanced for its own good.
"This is a goat fuck. I'm at the lab. I'm going in, get some shit working and get me some backup," I barked, hanging up the phone, stopping against the wall by the entrance to the lab. I heard sobbing coming from inside. There was a body sprawled in the door face down. Someone had made a run for it when the shooting started, but hadn't made it out. I reached down, placing my fingers on their neck checking for a pulse. Nothing. I stood back up, bracing myself against the wall.
"My name is Jo King. Can you tell me who you are?" I shouted from my spot against the wall. A volley of gunshots responded, and I crouched down trying to make myself a smaller target.
"Stay back! I will kill you if you come in here!"
No kidding. "Listen, why don't you tell me what the problem is, maybe I can help?"
The shooter hesitated, "What we're doing here is wrong. It goes against the natural order of things. You can't play God!"
"I couldn't agree more. What's your name?" I needed to be able to step into that room without getting a bullet for my trouble. To do that, I needed to establish a semblance of trust with the shooter.
"Ryan, Ryan Lewis. If you think this is wrong why do you work here?"
I don't know guy, why do you work here?
"I was brought here to decide if the park should be shut down. There are people just like you who think this is a very bad idea. I'm here to find out exactly what is happening." Lying wasn't considered bad when it was for a good cause.
"They are messing with genetic code, DNA! Do you understand what I'm talking about?" No, not really. I barely passed high school science. DNA, genomes, genetic code, all of it was so far above my head I couldn't reach it with a ladder. As far as I was concerned how the created the dinosaurs was magic, plain and simple.
"I do Ryan. I do. What they're doing is inexcusable. Can I come into the lab?"
"OK, but keep your hands up where I can see them."
"Alright Ryan, I'm going to step into the doorway. I have a gun in my right hand, but I'm not going to use it. I just need it in case someone tries to stop us from talking. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Ryan was probably a genius, but he lacked a little bit when it came to common sense.
I stepped over the body lying in the door, entering the lab. I immediately saw two other bodies face down with pools of blood spreading out across the floor. Ryan was on the opposite side of the room, shaking violently, pointing a gun in my general direction.
"Hi Ryan, do you want to tell me what happened here?"
"I told you. They're playing God. Just mixing DNA to create whatever they want. You can't do that! You can't take those kinds of risks!" I agreed with Ryan, this sounded bad. However, shooting three people wasn't the best way to validate your point-of-view.
"You're right. Scientist shouldn't just create something without understanding the potential consequences." Ryan nodded his head in agreement, dropping his gun to his side. "I think you proved your point Ryan. They understand now. Why don't you hand me the gun?"
He looked up at me with tears streaming down his face. "I, I never wanted to hurt anyone. They just wouldn't listen."
"I know."
Ryan sobbed, taking a step towards me just as someone from the hallway shouted, "ACU, drop your weapons and get on the ground!"
Ryan's eyes widened, his arm twitching. "Ryan, don't do it. We can figure this out," I pleaded with him.
"No, we can't," he said dejectedly, raising his gun at me. I aimed my gun at Ryan, silently begging with him to put his gun down. I knew what he was doing, and I wanted no part of it. I pleaded with Ryan to drop the gun. I didn't want to do this, not again. When his finger wrapped around the trigger he took the choice out of my hands. If it came down to me or him it was always going to be him. I fired my weapon, putting two rounds center mass in his chest.
The momentum of the shots slammed him into the wall, his body sliding down to the floor leaving streaks of blood as he went. I bowed my head in defeat, putting my gun back in my holster. I closed my eyes, taking a few deep breaths before I pivoted on my heel, exiting the room and storming into the hallway.
"Who the fuck did that?! Who came in here yelling at a suspect without knowing the situation?!" I screamed, looking at each member of the ACU team. This is exactly why I told Hamada these guys shouldn't be here. They had no training, no experience, and it had resulted in a pretty large body count.
Hamada pushed his way to the front of the hallway taking in the scene.
"What happened Jo? Are you alright?" he questioned, looking me over for injuries. The concern in his eyes was touching, but I wasn't the one who needed fretting over.
"I'm fine. If you want to know what happened ask one of these assholes," was my rebuttal as I pointed to the ACU team. Pushing past them I made my way to the closest elevator I could find. If the fucking windows actually opened I would have considered fast-roping out of one to get away from this cluster. I saw Lowery hovering near the door in the control room. He made a move to walk over to me as I passed, but I held my hand up stopping him. I wasn't ready to talk to anyone. I needed time, space, and preferable an inanimate object to pound into oblivion.
I was glad to see the elevators were working again as I stepped on, slamming my palm against the button for the basement. I screamed as the door closed, kicking the side of the elevator in frustration. It was Houston all over again. People's lives on the line. Their fate in my hands, and I failed. When was I going to learn? I was a menace to anyone who had the misfortune of getting pulled into my gravitational force. It always ended in pain, misery, and eventually death for those who trusted me. Those who depended on me. Those I was supposed to save.
I found myself at the heavy bag in the training arena, punching and kicking away my rage. My knuckles were bleeding and my muscled ached, but I didn't stop. The pain was a reminder of the dead men upstairs. I deserved it and then some.
Over and over I replayed the events from the lab in my head looking for anything I could have done different. Could I have gotten to the lab faster, saving one of those scientists? I should have been able to talk Ryan down earlier so ACU would have been irrelevant. Why didn't I tell Lowery to make sure Hamada was with the ACU team before they got in that hallway? Rookie fucking mistakes. All of them. Here I was on my high horse about ACU not being qualified, but I was the loser in the corner with the dunce cap on. It appeared that failure was a part of my DNA.
"Are you OK?" I stopped, turning around to see Owen leaning against the wall behind me with a worried expression. And here I thought this day couldn't get any worse.
I turned back around, launching a violent combination of jabs and punches into the bag. "I'm fine." Maybe if I kept saying it I'd start believing it.
"You look fine."
"Better than the four dead people upstairs," I bit out, stopping to lean my head against the bag, breathing heavily. Sweat was pouring down my face, and my shirt was drenched. My body felt shaky and weak. I couldn't remember when I'd last eaten, had it been this morning or did I skip it? I may have been at this longer than I thought. My body was ready to shutdown either from lack of nourishment or plain old stress.
"One of them is going to pull through. Hamada told me before I came down," he told me.
Not Ryan. "That makes it better?" I growled at him.
"There was nothing else you could have done Jo." Owen moved to stand in front of me, imploring me with his eyes to believe him.
"You weren't there Owen. You don't know that." I wiped the blood from my knuckles on my pants, moving past Owen towards the door.
"You can't blame yourself for this. I know you; you'll let this haunt you." I stopped in the doorway, turning to face Owen. It had been so long since we'd occupied the same space for more than five seconds I had forgotten how overwhelming his presence could be. He looked tired, his eyes sad. His cargo pants, Henley shirt and vest looked wrinkled, like he'd slept in them. If I didn't know any better I'd say Owen wasn't fairing any better than I was with our separation. Good. I hoped he was hurting as bad as I was at the moment. I knew that made me a bitch, but I wasn't mature enough to care.
Standing so close to him made me want to revel in the comfort he was offering. Then I remembered the pain his actions had caused me. I remembered the sting in my chest as he'd walked away from me, clearly regretting his decision to kiss me. Yeah, Owen could suck it.
I took a deep breath pausing before walking out the door, "That's where you're wrong Owen. You don't know me."
xxyangxx2006: Thanks for the kind words...hope you enjoyed the latest installment. Hoskins is a hater, but don't worry I have a feeling he gets his in the end :)
angelicedg: Vic is WAY out of his league...LOL!
Mystery Guest #1: Hope you aren't too disappointed in the semi-confrontation...don't worry, I won't keep you hangin' for long.
DarkFireAngel00: LOL...I love your review! I hope it's still killing you, but in a good way of course :) Have no fear, Jo's game will be on point.
DragonKingDragneel25: Glad you are enjoying the story! Hoskins just never learns...poor guy.
Desert Vulpes Zerda: I 100% agree...what a douche! Don't worry, a raptor isn't the only thing Hoskins need to be worried about with Jo on the island.