Jurassic Island
Chapter 6 – Tour
There wasn't much after the enormous gate, which disappointed Castle. He had been expecting something awesome immediately following their passage through the gate, but instead the pair of Explorers rolled passed a grove of low, stumpy palm trees. He glanced over at Kate, who shrugged. Soon, his confusion was answered by Richard Kiley's narration.
"Notice, first of all, the remarkable plant life that surrounds you. Those trees to your left and right are called cycads, the prehistoric predecessors of palms trees. Cycads were a favorite food of the dinosaur. You can also see—"
"Didn't we learn all this during the Botanical Walk?" Castle asked, scowling like a little boy being told he couldn't have cake for breakfast.
"Shh," Kate shushed him, giving him a little glare in reprimand. She then softened her rebuke, by reaching across the center console and giving his thigh a reassuring pat.
Castle sighed, and leaned back into his chair, flicking his eyes down to the center console where the touch screen was displaying more information about the various prehistoric plants Richard Kiley was talking about in his narration. He wanted to see dinosaurs, not plants. Who cared about some stupid old plants? Castle grumbled to himself, crossing his arms and staring out at the stumpy palm trees as the cars drove past them.
"Most dinosaurs were not as large as people think," Richard Kiley's narration filtered back into his hearing. "The smallest dinosaurs were no bigger than a house cat, and the average dinosaur was about as big as a pony. We are first going to visit one of these average-sized animals, called Hypsilophodon. If you look to your left, you may catch a glimpse of them now."
Castle perked up at the mention of dinosaurs, and shifted in his seat, pressing his face against the driver's side window as he tried to find the dinosaurs Richard Kiley mentioned amongst the tropical plants. The Explorers slowed to a stop on a low rise. There was a break in the foliage that provided them a view of the field below. He squinted, but couldn't see anything. Castle moved over a little as Kate unbuckled her seatbelt, and stretched across the center console. He placed a hand on her arm to steady her as she looked out his window.
"Do you see anything?" he asked.
Kate narrowed her eyes and her eyebrows knitted together adorably. "No, not yet," she gave him a sideways glance. "Do you know what these… Hypo—hyposil—fo—dons look like?" she asked, struggling through the dinosaur's name.
"Hypsilophodon," Castle enunciated. "And no. I've never really heard of them, though I did see the name listed in the Jurassic Park Dinosaur directory."
"I don't get it," Todd groaned from the backseat. "It's just a bunch of stupid trees."
Though Castle was inclined to agree with the young man, he wasn't so quick to whine as Todd appeared to be. Sally shushed him, her high-pitched voice grating on his ears. He shared a look of shared sympathy with Kate, whose ears were also affected by the young woman's piercing voice. The dashboard touch screen was currently showing more information on the Hypsilophodon, including some pictures. Castle arched his neck, squinting his eyes at the image currently on display.
"Trees!" he exclaimed. "That's it. In the trees!"
"In the trees?" Todd questioned from the backseat. "Dinosaurs in trees?"
Castle ignored him and turned back to scan the field, this time paying particular attention to the trees. He still could not see anything, and he pursed his lips together, trying to hide his growing pout.
"There!" Kate said, pointing towards a cluster of trees in the upper left quadrant of the field. "Halfway up that big green trunk."
He shifted, twisting his neck, and squinted, narrowing in on the area Kate had indicated. Damn. She had good eyes. In the dappled shadows of the swaying tree a motionless, dark green animal about the size of a baboon stood on a branch. "Creepy," Castle murmured. "It's just sitting there. Where do you think the rest of the herd is?"
Kate shrugged, shifting to place her hand on his shoulder for better stability. He tilted his head slightly and took in her wide eyes and amazed gaze. He smiled softly to himself, pleased that his wife was actually enjoying herself… even if the dinosaur was just sitting there staring out at nothing.
"Kind of reminds me of you," Kate said with an amused smirk. "You know… with the creepy staring."
"Hey," he protested with a huff, frowning at her.
"Oh! It's moving!" squeaked Sally, and Castle and Kate cringed at the piercing sound, silently praying that their eardrums could survive the afternoon.
The small dinosaur stretched its neck, opening its jaw. Even from this distance, they could hear the long nasal call it made. It then turned around on all fours, using its dexterous forearms to steady its balance as it scrambled down the tree. Within moments, six dinosaurs appeared at the base of the tree trunk, all about the size of a large deer. The heads were a dull green, with a mottling of dark browns and blacks that extended down their slender necks. All of them seemed to be chewing, like a cow would with its cud. The small dinosaur they'd seen first hopped down from one of the lower branches of the tree and joined the others.
"That one must be a juvenile," Castle said.
One of the larger hypsilophodons reached up with its five-fingered hand and scratched its head. The gesture gave the creature and almost pensive look. Its dark eyes scanned the field, lingering on a moment on the two green and yellow explorers, before glancing away. It stretched its neck up and issued a low nasally call, and soon the small group were on the move.
The electric motor of the car started up, and there was a grinding of gears. At the unexpected sound, the herd of hypsilophodons suddenly leapt into the air and bounded above the grass like kangaroos, showing their full bodies with massive hind legs and long tails in the afternoon sunlight. In a few leaps, they had disappeared into foliage.
"Now that we've had a look at these fascinating herbivores," came Richard Kiley's voice over the speakers, "we will now move on to some dinosaurs that are a little larger. Quite a bit larger, in fact."
Kate shifted back into her seat as the Explorer began to roll forward. Castle kept her steady with one hand. She buckled herself back in and flashed him an appreciative look. He smiled, overjoyed to see the sparkling in her eyes. Kate Beckett's inner child was showing.
XXX
Ray Arnold sat at his workstation in the darken control room staring at the large monitor on the left, absently chewing on the unlit cigarette in his mouth. The afternoon park tour had just departed from the hypsilophodon paddock. "Gears are grinding," he said out loud. "Have maintenance check the electric clutch on vehicle D7 when they come back."
"Yes, Mr. Arnold," replied a voice on the intercom.
"What's up next, folks?" he called out to his staff.
"Stegos and Trikes, Ankylosaurus, followed by Dilophosaurus, and then Rex," one of the tour supervisors called out.
"Right," Arnold nodded, momentarily playing with his unlit cigarette, before putting it back between his pursed lips. He rolled his chair over to a second batch of monitors. "Vehicle headlights should not be on," he said, tapping the erasure end of his pencil against the screen. "It'll drain the car batteries." He rolled his chair back and arched his neck to glanced down at Dennis Nedry. The large man was studiously working on something—for a change. It was odd seeing the man so focused on his work. "Hey, Dennis…"
Nedry looked up. His glasses slipped down his nose, and he reached up to push them back up. "Yeah?"
"Can you check the tour program and see why the headlights are operating in daytime?"
"Sure thing, Mr. Arnold," Nedry smiled, and Arnold felt a cold shivering sensation dance up his spine. It was an eerie sight, seeing Nedry being so polite and formal, eager to please. The large man went back to his work, his fat fingers typing furiously over the keyboard.
Arnold shook his head. As long as Dennis Nedry did his assignments on schedule, he couldn't care less about what had brought upon the man's sudden efficient work ethic. Still… it was damn peculiar.
XXX
She was on cloud nine. Kate couldn't keep the excited grin off her face, even if she wanted to. They'd just watched a herd of Stegosaurs and Triceratops intermingled peacefully at a watering hole. Amongst the larger creatures, little tri-horned juveniles had scampered around the adults' feet, darting back and forth as if they were playing a game. It was one thing to see the fossils, but quite another to witness living, flesh and blood, versions of those very same creatures that had once only existed in her imagination. It really was miraculous.
"Rick," she said, reaching out across the center console to grab his hand, giving it a slight squeeze to gain his attention. He looked up from the touch screen, which was still running information on the Ankylosaurus—one of the other dinosaurs they'd just seen lumbering around the valley beneath the bluff that the Explorers had stopped on.
"Yes?"
"I… this… I just wanted to say thank you," Kate said after she took a breath.
"For what?" his brow furrowed adorably, making him look like a confused little boy.
She gave him a small smile, and ducked her head, playing with his fingers. "At first, I was a little annoyed that we weren't spending our tropical island getaway on some remote island in the Maldives, but… after… after seeing that, I just want you to know that I'm glad you talked me into this trip."
"It was the triceratops, right?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. "Little ten-year-old Kate Beckett got to see her favorite dinosaur in the flesh, is that it?"
Her cheeks blushed a light pinkish hue, betraying her. "Yes," she admitted softly. "And it was amazing. So, again… thank you for talking me into this."
Castle's lips quirked up into a smirk, and his eyes twinkled. "It's what I'm here for, eh?" he chuckled. "What are husband's for, if not to talk their wives into going on ridiculous vacations?"
Kate laughed lightly and shook her head at him, before beckoning him closer for a soft kiss. He hummed into her mouth, moving a hand up to cup her jaw, rubbing her cheek with the pad of his thumb. He then did that thing with this tongue that always made her moan. She eagerly parted her lips for him, and he deepened the kiss. It wasn't until Todd cleared his throat from the backseat that Kate remembered that they weren't alone in the Explorer. She ducked her head, and bit her lower lip, trying to stifle the blush as she settled herself back down into the passenger seat.
Castle winked at her, and she laughed, rolling her eyes at him as he pantomimed steering the Explorer along the curve in the road. Just above the treetops, they could make out the curved dome of the Jurassic Park Aviary in the far distance. The glass glittered in the afternoon sunlight. The cars took another turn and came to a stop at the top of a low rise, where there was a break in the foliage. Kate turned and glanced down at the sloping field broken by a river.
"To the right, you will see a herd of Dilophosaurus," Richard Kiley's voice announced.
It really should not have surprised her, but it did, when Castle practically tore his seatbelt off before scrambling over the center panel and pressed his face up against the passenger side window, stretching over her. Kate chuckled, shifting in her seat to give broad shoulders room to squeeze in. Playfully knocking their heads together, they looked out at the riverbed below.
"See anything?" Castle inquired.
"Nah, nothing," Kate hummed, keeping her eyes peeled. There were a lot of beautiful plants, and the river flowing through the sloping field was an idyllic view to be sure, but there was no sign of a herd of anything.
Meanwhile, Richard Kiley's voice continued: "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. This makes Dilophosaurus a beautiful, but deadly addition to Jurassic Park." His narration was followed by a ludicrous melody of corny scary music, that made Castle snort in amusement. Kate pursed her lips, but couldn't prevent them from tugging up in shared mirth.
The cars stood still for several minutes, the corny music continuing to play through the speakers. But there was nothing. Castle jabbed his palm against the console in frustration and retracted, plopping back down into his seat. Kate reached up and rubbed her hand along his shoulder, soothing him. "Don't pout, you big baby," she consoled, finding his little boy expression a little funny. "According to the dashboard screen… T-Rex is next."