Disclaimer:I do not own any rights to Jurassic park.

Chapter 8: Visitor Center

John Hammond laughed at the expression on Ellie's,Tim's and Malcolm's faces as he told them about his being kidnapped by a disgruntled worker.

"Now did you think a punk workman could stop my ambition!" Hammond declared chuckling.

"Well actually he almost did." chimed in Henry Wu.

"Oh quiet Henry, I would have been fine, i had things under control." said Hammond.

"You were tied to a pipe!" Wu fired back, "You were only lucky you managed to hit him with your cane. And that when he hit you it didn't kill you!"

Henry Wu was a tall, slender man who brought the Park's main attractions to life. He was the chief geneticist in the new and original Park. Hammond's relative underestimation of many situations angered Wu and this was no different. The worker had admitted that he was going to kill the old man almost immediately, however when Hammond hit him he grew disoriented and his head ached. Wu remembered what had happened...

The worker's head ache and disorientation grew worse as his adreniline slowly dropped. He had decided to rest a bit and then take care of Hammond. He tookthe old man to a utility shed not far from the visitor center and tied him to a pipe. The worker rested and dozed off, meanwhile Wu had gone to Hammond's home to speak with him about a new genome. Wu found the bungalow deserted. He called the control room and Muldoon answered..

"Muldoon, this is Henry. Have you seen Hammond?" asked Wu.

"No he hasn't been around all day." said Muldoon

"Well I'm at his house now and he's not here."said Wu

"Uh, did you check all the rooms?"

"Yes, and there are muddy boot prints leading in and out of the house. I'm not wearing boots and Hammond doesn't own boots." replied Wu.

"Hold on I'll be over in about fifteen minutes after I check around here." said Muldoon hanging up the receiver.

Muldoon checked around the building and went to the garage. He grabbed a shotgun from a locked room, not far from the garage, and put it in the backseat of the Jeep. The car sped out of the garage. Hammond's house was only a five minute walk from the visitor center but the rain had not let up and if they had to search, a vehicle would help.

Muldoon sped along the road. He pulled up to Hammond's house and darted inside. Wu sat on the sofa. Muldoon examined the boot prints. The sole of the shoe was worn but it was still easy to see it was a work boot.

The prints came in and went to a chair where they then turned and headed back to the door. A diet soda sat on the coffe table. The soda was warm.

"He left a while ago, atleast I'd assume so." said Muldoon looking at the soda.

Muldoon now went to the footprints. He followed them outside where the trail ended in the rain. There was however a deeper puddle. Mulldoon splashed the water out. Before more water took its place he could see that it looked as if a man had been lying on his side in the spot. It could have been just a puddle but Muldoon had a hunch. He looked around, the surround was dark. He went inside and flipped a switch. The palms around the muddy walk way were suddenly illuminated by a quartz light above the small awning that covered the door. Muldoon again scanned the area. His eyes darting, there was a glint from a nearby cluster of ferns. Muldoon approached finding Hammond's cane. Muldoon grabbed the cane and darted into the bungalow.

"Let's go, something happened!" Muldoon said to Wu.

Both men ran out the door, Muldoon slammed it behind them.

"Where are we going?" asked Wu as they jumped into the Jeep.

Rain hammered on the cloth top of the vehicle. Muldoon didn't answer, the car slid as he turned right around the corner. They pulled up to the visitor center. Muldoon darted inside the doors and Wu followed. Muldoon sat down at a security desk just to the side of the doors. He started to punch keys at the computer opening a log that showed all of the security surveilence.

"There!" Wu shouted pointing at an image.

The computer set aside images of different areas by the hour making it easier to search the surveillance videos for a specific time.

"Damn that's lucky!"said Muldoon staring at the image.

It showed a tall workman carrying an old man. He clicked on the image and watched the video. It showed the man heading down the maintenance road that led from Hammond's house to the visitor center. He then disappeared into a small shed. Muldoon burst out of the door and headed for the car. Wu had hardly made it into the car before Muldoon sped off at a hazardous pace, splashing muddy water everywhere.

The car screeched to a stop in front of the shed. Muldoon went into the shed. Hammond sat bruised and hurt against a pipe, while his captor slept in a corner. Muldoon untied Hammond who fell to the side still not conscious. The workman woke with a start at the noise.

Muldoon turned to find the man scrambling and groping at something in his pocket. Wu burst through the door as the man drew his gun. He aimed at Wu and pulled the trigger. Wu fell over ,holding his shoulder, bleeding and in pain.

Muldoon ran forward as the man raised the gun again squeezing the trigger. The bullet hit somewhere behind Muldoon. He ran and tackled the worker as the two fell to the concrete floor. Muldoon now straddled the man who began to fight punching Muldoon in the mouth. Blood trickled out of Muldoon's mouth.

He spat the blood and smiled saying, "That's all you got?"

Muldoon picked the man up from the ground by his shirt and delivered a single punch which broke his nose. The man hung limply in Muldoon's grip groaning as blood poured from his nose. Muldoon threw the man to the ground and threw Hammond over his shoulder. Wu sat against the wall clutching his shoulder. Muldoon helped him up and placed Hammond in the backseat of the car. Wu climbed in the front as Muldoon withdrew a set of keys and locked the door to the shed from the outside, there was no way of unlocking it from within. Muldoon sped away to the island infirmary where Hammond and Wu were cared for.

Wu now sat in an office chair his right arm in a sling as Hammond talked to the guests.

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Muldoon stepped into the visitor center. The island was warm and humid and the air-conditioning felt good. Muldoon led Grant,Amity and Bartlett to the control room. He walked with long steady strides only slightly hampered by his limp.

Muldoon had a constantly confident personality. He was tired, he hadn't slept much and had been awake since three Am. One of the triceratops had broken out of its enclosure and was found ramming the large main gate leading in and out of the park. The situation still had Muldoon tense. The dinosaur seemed startled almost afraid, ramming the huge wooden gate in a panic. Muldoon had personally searched the park for any escaped animals that could have caused the panic. He found nothing. His mind slowly drifted away from what happened and he realised they had reached the control room.

Alan Grant followed Muldoon down a now very familiar path leading down a short flight of stairs and to a large metal door. He entered the control room half expecting to find Ray Arnold and Dennis Nedry at their computer consoles. Grant was almost disappointed not to see them but he shrugged away the thought. Ellie, Tim and Malcolm sat at a table in the far corner with John Hammond and Henry Wu. Muldoon turned to the three new guests and introduced them to Arnold's replacement. The man stood up and shook hands. He was tall with a slight beer gut, he was blading and wore round glasses. He had a certain Ben Franklin-like demeanor.

"I'm Andrew Kent, I'm the chief engineer here."said the man.

He then sat back down and began to punch keys at the computer obviously busy. In Nedry's old spot sat a shorty young man. He stood up and pleasantly introduced himself being extremely courteous.

"I'm Kevin Sullivan." said the man delightfully.

"I designed the systems here." he said smiling.

"He's quite different from Nedry don't you think?" said Hammond as he walked over.

Grant turned and shook Hammond's hand.

"Dr. Grant, how long has it been?" said Hammond.

"Pretty long Mr. Hammond." replied Grant, "And call me Alan."

"As long as you call me John." Hammond chuckled.

"And you must be Mr. Amity." said Hammond shaking Matt's hand.

He then turned to Rob shaking his hand and saying,"And Mr. Bartlett."

"I'm John Hammond and I own the company that owns your helicopter." Hammond continued, "This is my island, welcome!"

"Well Mr. Hammond this is an absolutely amazing place." said Bartlett.

"And thank you for letting us stay here, this is awesome!" said Amity.

"Don't worry about it boys!" said Hammond chuckling again, finding their excitement amusing.

"I'm Henry Wu." said the geneticist shaking hands, "So what do you think of the Park so far, specifically the animals?"

"From what I've seen," said Bartlett, "Its amazing!"

Wu laughed, "Well thank you, as the man who created them, that is a really wonderful thing to hear."

Grant turned to Muldoon.

"So what extra safety precautions were you talking about, Robert?" asked Grant.

Hammond looked at Grant reproachfully. Muldoon took the group away from the control room leading them down a long corridor and then down a flight of stairs to the basement of the building. The group moved passed doors marked with large lettering, GARAGE, MAINTENANCE, DOCUMENT STORAGE. They passed several more stenciled doors and then an unmarked one. The next was labeled,DESIGN/SCHEMATIC/MAP STORAGE. Muldoon unlocked this door with a security key card.

The room was cavernous lined with drawers and cabinets. Muldoon walked to one of the cabinets and unlocked it with a key. He pulled out several long pieces of tubing. They contained schematics and maps.

He unrolled one and said to Grant, "Can you tell whats different?"

The first thing Grant pointed out was the added fencing. The Safari Lodge, Visitor Center, and Emergency Bunker all had their own thirty foot fences that were connected to one another forming a perimeter fence around the main structures including an infirmary and worker village. Then around that was yet another perimeter fence that encapsulated the entire area of the human occupied island including the maintenance shed that housed the power generators. In the park the fences had been reinforced where needed and moats had been dug some twice as deep and three times as wide as the originals. All of the structures themselves were reinforced, doors, walls, windows were all reinforced to twenty times the levels they had been making them like military fortifications.

"We managed to keep the looks the same but every thing's stronger." said Muldoon, "I was behind most of the designs."

He continued to point out a few more changes before locking the papers back in their cabinets and leading the group to the safari lodge.