"You what?" Blue asked.
Lex sighed. "I hate to ask this of you, but I need you to go. I wouldn't ask you if this weren't a dire emergency."
"The fate of the world better be at stake." Blue said, leaning back in her chair and folding her arms.
"Look, there was a second expedition a couple of years after I went to the island. Grandfather was sick, the board was in control, and my uncle Peter was trying to take over. He went to the island to go capture a bunch of the dinosaurs and bring them back to San Diego to create a Jurassic Park there. My grandfather hired Ian – Dr. Malcolm, that is – and a few others to stop them. When they returned, Grandfather made the islands a nature preserve, never to be touched. Only the two largest islands had dinosaurs on them, but the other three are filled with modern-day wonders and deserve to be left untouched as well. And apparently, even hang-gliding too close to them is deadly."
"Hang-gliding? What?" Blue said, shocked.
Lex nodded. "My husband Eric was doing that with his mother's boyfriend and ended up on the island. He survived all on his own there for a couple of weeks. That's how we met, actually; he tracked me down and demanded answers."
"And now you're married." Blue said incredulously.
Lex smiled. She was clearly deliriously happy. "Yes. Crazy, isn't it? You'll meet him at the debriefing – that is, if you say yes."
"I still don't know why I would." Blue shot at her.
Lex ignored the crack. "Someone's been trying to capture dinosaurs again, Blue." She said. "I think it's BioSyn – they've always had it in for us – but it could be anyone. Your job would be to work with the others and stop them before they do any more harm."
"And who would these 'others' be?"
"Other veterans, so to speak. Roland Tembo, a big game hunter; he was once employed by Peter but left his employ because he didn't agree with his methods. Billy, of course…"
"Billy?" Blue was shocked.
"He never told you?" Lex asked. "Oh, well, I suppose he wouldn't, if he didn't know about your adventures. He went back with Dr. Grant to rescue Eric. I'm sure he'll tell you all about it once he knows that you knew."
Blue would have felt betrayed, except that she hadn't told anyone about her time on 'Jurassic Park' either. It just wasn't something that you talked about. Aside from the fact that people would think that you were crazy, the trauma was a little too deep to discuss lightly. And Blue hadn't just gone through terror and fear like the others had – she'd broken her heart, as well, and deeply hurt a dear friend. She could only imagine what Billy might have gone through, and she could understand why he wouldn't want to talk about it with anyone… not even his favorite student.
Well, his second-favorite student. There was that cocky grad student called…
"Tim Murphy will be going as well."
"Oh, no." Blue shook her head empathetically. "No way. I am not working with that guy. He's insufferable. Thinks he knows everything about dinosaurs."
Lex arched an eyebrow. "Billy insisted." She said. "And I think he'd make a valuable member of your team."
Blue rolled her eyes. "Fine. Anyone else?"
"Nope; just you four. Sarah Malcolm wanted to go back, as did Nick, but Ian refused to let Sarah within a mile of the place and Nick's head of Greenpeace now so he couldn't find the time."
"Nick Van Owen, right? He went there?" Blue asked.
"Yes. He went along with Ian when they went to stop Peter. He wanted to stop the operation as he felt it was against conservation."
"And this Sarah is…?"
"She's Ian's wife; formally Sarah Harding. She's an amateur photographer and behavioral paleontologist. She'll be at the meeting, as will Ian and Nick. Alan and Ellie should be there, along with Ian's daughter Kelly. Eric, of course, plus me. We'll be discussing methods and preparing you as best we can before you set out."
Lex stood up. "I'll email you the information."
Blue frowned. "I never said I was onboard for this." She protested.
Lex smiled. "Maybe not in so many words, but you wouldn't be asking all of these questions if you weren't at least thinking of going."
Blue sighed. "All right, all right, I'm in. I'm a supreme idiot, but I'm in."
"Great." Lex beamed. She made to leave, but paused. "Oh, and what's your email address?"
"Redraptor ." Blue said.
"I'll be in touch." Lex said, exiting the trailer.
Blue slumped forward onto the table. "What the fuck did I just agree to?" She muttered.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Blue had been to some pretty fancy houses in her time as daughter of one of the richest bankers in the world, but few measured up to the Hammond Estate. With the death of Hammond's nephew Peter Ludlow, the entire estate, including the majority of InGen's stock, had passed on to Hammond's daughter – Lex's mother. With no head for business, she let her daughter run things. And run things Lex did.
Honestly, the massive, ornate house, with its dark wood paneling and grand staircase rivaling the Titanic, didn't seem to be Lex's kind of place. But Blue had heard that the girl and her brother were close with their deceased grandfather, and they must have spent a lot of time there growing up.
Blue was ushered in by an honest-to-God maid, who led her to the main dining room. The massive table was littered with food, from hors d'oevre to a massive plate of chocolates. Several people, no more than ten, were scattered about the room making conversation. Blue recognized Billy and Alan Grant, but none of the others.
"Hey, Blue." A voice behind her said. Blue didn't even jump. She'd been through much more startling things. She rolled her eyes and turned.
"Hello, Tim." She responded evenly.
"They never told me that you were in on this." Tim gestured towards the group. "I gotta warn you, you might not like what you're signing up for."
"Of course I'm not going to like it." Blue said. "No smart person would."
"Then call me an idiot." Tim grinned, sauntering past her and into the room. "Lex!" He called out. He grinned and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a hug.
So that was how he got to be a part of this. It was all about networking, even in the world of science. Blue sighed and helped herself to some food, making her way over to Dr. Grant. The man was older, clearly, but he still radiated strength and assurance. He was never a man that you wanted to cross. The professor was currently arguing with Billy, his former protégé and a frequent source of exasperation. Grant's wife, paleobotonist Ellie Grant (formerly Sattler) watched the exchange with amusement. She caught Blue's eye and smiled.
"You must be Blue!" She said, her smile widening to show her teeth. She had a thin face with beautiful cheekbones and hair that was still bouncy and wavy. She gestured for Blue to join them. "It's so good to finally meet you – Alan's praised you up and down."
"Has he?" Billy said. "Well it's nice to know that he does dole out compliments on occasion… even if I never get one…" He winked at Blue to show that he didn't mean what he said.
Grant huffed. Blue just grinned.
"I read that article you published on the fossilization of plants." Blue told Ellie. "It was fascinating! I loved it."
"Thank you." Ellie said, laughing self-consciously.
The two women chatted for a minute, until a tan man with graying, curly hair tapped Ellie on the shoulder. "Are you telling this lovely young lady about the time you stuck your hands in dino poop?" He asked.
"Ian!" Ellie protested, laughing.
"She did that?" Blue was chuckling as well.
"Yup. And I still flirted with her. 'Course, that was before I knew that Grant here had stolen her heart…" Ian grinned. "Dr. Ian Malcolm, by the way."
"Blue Aldrich." Blue shook his hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
A petite woman with flowing ginger locks and a wide face marked by prominent cheekbones approached, wrapping her arms around Ian and resting her head on his shoulder. She reminded Blue of Caleb, a friend of Nathan's and the wife of his other friend Oliver. "I hope this guy here hasn't sprung his water-droplet speech on you." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Sarah."
"Nice to meet you, Sarah. I'm Blue." Blue responded, smiling.
"Oh God, he gave it to you, too?" Ellie asked, turning to the redhead.
"That's what she said." Sarah quipped. "And I'm pretty sure he gave it to every girl he wanted to flirt with."
Ellie laughed. "Oh God. Only a scientist, right?"
There was the sound of glass being hit with a fork. "If everyone could please come and sit down, we can get this meeting underway." Lex called.
Blue followed the others and seated herself at the table. To her annoyance, Tim slipped in and sat down on her right-hand side. Lex was at the head of the table and Blue was seated on her left-hand side, which meant that she'd have to look past Tim to see Lex. On Blue's left sat an incredibly tall, tanned man with a boxy face, short dark hair, and surprisingly soft eyes.
"Nick Van Owen." The man introduced himself to Blue quietly. "Head of–"
"Greenpeace." Blue finished for him. "I know; I'm a great fan of your recent work with finding gasless methods of public transportation. And, of course, the whole sneak-into-companies-and-take-incriminating-photos-or-sabatoge-them stuff." She grinned.
Nick chuckled. "That's from my younger days. I'm far too busy putting on a suit and arguing with corporate nutjobs nowadays."
"Pity." Blue replied.
"You all know why we're gathered here." Lex began. Blue turned to look at her. She sounded exhausted, and looked pretty worn out too, what with the dark shadows on the skin under her eyes, the hastily done-up hair, and her slightly too-pale skin. But the young CEO soldiered on. "So I won't go into that.
"I'm afraid that I don't have many facts for you. Ever since the San Diego mishap, InGen has kept eyes and ears on the chain of islands containing Isla Sorna and Isla Nublar. Anyone tries to go onto the island, any mysterious deaths… we know about it. These sources recently confirmed that a strange team of men was making interesting inquiries about the island, and that black helicopters were sighted flying in the direction of the island. These helicopters made about six trips over the course of the next two days. Going by the description and a couple of other factors, I have reason to believe that these men are working for BioSyn, our long-time rivals. They tried to steal dinosaur embryos of ours once upon a time, and now they're going after the actual dinosaurs themselves.
"As you all know, we can't let this happen. I think we all have, in our own ways, grown to care for these prehistoric creatures, and want them left in peace. But we also know how destructive they are, and how it is impossible to contain them. I have no doubts that this expedition, even if it were to succeed in getting the company their dinosaurs, would end up costing many lives. It will go south; it's just a matter of when. Nature always finds a way, and I have no desire to lose the lives of innocent civilians once more.
"So here's the plan: those islands are owned by InGen. Trespassing of any kind is illegal. Stealing InGen property is also illegal. I need a small group of people to go in, get photos of the BioSyn team doing its dirty work, and get out. Nobody wants this getting out to the general public, so we can settle with a lawsuit. But the point is, we get them off that island. Scaring the team off the island would be a plus, but I'll settle for just getting evidence against them and sending it to their Board of Directors before they can steal a baby T-Rex." Lex looked around the table. "Any questions?"
"So who all is going?" Ian asked.
"Billy here, along with Roland – Ian, Sarah and Nick, you all might remember him – and the two grad students, Tim and Blue."
Grant looked over at Tim, and their eyes locked. They seemed to be passing silent messages back and forth. Blue frowned inwardly. Tim knew Grant? And, apparently, knew him very well, if the communicating-with-significant-gazes thing was anything to go by.
"Well, I guess we know who the idiots of the group are." Grant said at last.
"You're helping us out." Billy pointed out. "I think we're all a bunch of idiots."
Roland Tembo, the big game hunter, snorted. He was looking down at the table, having not said a word the entire time. An African-American woman about Lex's age folded her arms. "You'll need to know how to defend against raptors. That's the number one thing. T-Rex might be big but he's not intelligent the way they are. It's like having humans fight you." She shuddered, as if remembering something horrible. She probably was.
Ian laid a hand on her arm, and she nodded, mouthing I'm okay. Blue realized that this must be Kelly, Ian's daughter.
"They can be outsmarted." A tall, blonde man sitting on Lex's right side stated. Going by the way he held Lex's hand and the wedding ring on his finger, he must be Eric Kirby. "If you disorient them, preferably blind them like with a smoke grenade or something, you can get away. But the best thing is to avoid their territory altogether."
"Wait – a smoke grenade?" Nick said. "Where'd you get that?"
Eric shrugged. "I found a bunker stocked with stuff and improvised."
Lex squeezed his hand, smiling at him.
Blue looked around the room. Here were people who had all been through the same thing that she had – well, except for Tim; he was a mystery. But everyone else was a comrade-in-arms. Despite their trauma, they'd moved on with their lives. And in spite of everything, they loved these creatures. And they were willing to go back, and risk the lives they'd so carefully rebuilt, in order to save them.
Blue remembered what she'd left behind the last time she'd been to Jurassic Park. Her heart clenched. This was the very reason she'd abandoned Red, forced him to stay on the island while she returned to civilization. She'd wanted to protect him from people like BioSyn.
Now he, and every other dinosaur, was threatened.
Not on her watch.
"So?" She said. Everyone turned to her. "What's the plan?"
Anyone catch the Jurassic Park quote that Lex throws out? Remember Dr. Grant's saying…