The rifle bolt slid smoothly out and Owen watched as a round slid into the chamber before he pushed the bolt back over it, locking everything in place. He closed his door and stood next to the SUV his eyes already scanning the jungle surrounding the clearing around Research Paddock four. It looked identical to his paddock. Same dimensions and layout, the only differences were location and the trainers managing it.
Mr. Hamada had briefed them on the way.
"The Park Control Room has just received word that four Velociraptors have broken containment near Research Paddock four. The procedure dictates that I am to take you back to the Control Room." The officer nodded his head to Claire. He looked at Owen through the rear view mirror. "And I'm requesting your professional consultation in helping return these animals to their paddock."
"There are really other Velociraptors on the island? I was beginning to think Vic was just blowing smoke to keep me in line."
"No sir, he was telling the truth, these are the real deal; which is why we would like your help."
"Which group are they and where are they now Mr. Hamada?" Claire interjected with a professional tone, pulling out her phone as the SUV bounced along the dirt road heading towards the park.
"They're pack A1 ma'am. There are three casualties, two paddock workers are in critical condition and one didn't make it. Control is showing their trackers heading north, towards the research zone."
Claire nodded. "Good, they are avoiding the park." Putting her phone to her ear she glanced out the window as the jungle whipped by. "Yes, I need you to contact the researchers on the northern half of the island. There's been a containment breach.
No.
No it's not serious.
Mr. Cruth-.
Lowery! I need you to listen. NO. History is not repeating itself. This is not the first breach, and it won't be the last, now calm down. I need you to contact the scientists on the north side of the island and ask them to calmly make their way North to the docks. Get the southern docks on the line and have them send a ferry to collect them as soon as possible.
No, look I know this is your first week.
I-
Lowery! The assets have yet to enter the research zone. This is just a precaution. If anyone is unable to reach the northern docks, send them to the eastern beach. A.C.U. will have a boat waiting for them." The redhead glanced at the driving A.C.U. officer who nodded in confirmation. "Okay, listen, if you can't keep calm, ask Ms. Krill to do it for you. I'm on my way."
She ended the call before the man could respond. Shaking her head, she looked over to the driver. "Mr. Hamada, as soon as everyone is safely evacuated from the research zone. I want you to lock down this section of the island." She turned to Owen who was seated in the back. "Mr. Grady, I want you to assist A.C.U. in any way possible, and I want you two to retrieve my assets alive."
Owen groaned. "Claire. I-"
"Mr. Grady." She growled.
"Ms. Dearing." The trainer said, rolling his eyes. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea. These are intelligent animals who know how to track, stalk, and hunt prey with incredible precision. They've already hurt people, even killed someone."
"I am aware of that Mr. Grady. What do you propose we do?"
"You put them down."
"Absolutely not."
"This isn't about saving money, Claire and you know it."
"I'm surprised you would even suggest that Mr. Grady, given our conversations on the matter." The operations manager commented without looking back at Owen.
"Our conversations are about the well being and care of these animals. What I'm suggesting now is removing a threat before it can take more human lives."
"Mr. Grady as unfortunate as the loss of life is, the workers involved, knew the risks when they began, just like you."
Owen snorted. "Which means, they were probably knew as much about them as I do, and it still didn't help. The last thing I want to do is kill them, but what you are asking is needlessly dangerous."
"What I'm asking is that you help bring millions of dollars back under Jurassic World's control. A.C.U. is trained to handle this sort of thing and containment breaches are not new. Mr. Grady, I'm not asking you to capture them yourself. I'm asking you to provide your knowledge to assist A.C.U. in what they are trained to do. Your input may save the lives you are worried about."
"And your stubbornness could cost them!" Owen grumbled as the SUV slowed.
Claire ignored the frustrated man, opening the door as they stopped before the Control Room's back entrance. "Mr. Hamada, recapture my dinosaurs. Alive."
Katashi nodded. "Ma'am." The door closed and the vehicle lurched forward.
"Mr. Hamada, you have to know how risky it is to be recapturing these animals. Right?"
The man nodded, his face stony as he gripped the steering wheel. "I know it's risky, but we can't resort to killing these animals immediately. We at least have to try to contain them first."
"Fine." Owen conceded. "But if the attempt even looks like it might fail, you need to retreat and plan lethal force. These animals learn Mr. Hamada, the same strategies may not work twice. They're predators driven by instinct, but they aren't dumb, and they can think strategically, I've seen my pack do it plenty of times. IF you want to catch them, we will have to out think them."
"I take it you have some ideas Then?"
"Fan out, secure the perimeter. Trackers show nothing nearby, but I don't want to get surprised!"
Owen moved alongside the unit of armed men as they approached the quiet paddock. They needed to investigate the paddock and ensure that it would be safe to return the animals there in the first place. If not, then they would need to find a backup measure for long term containment.
As they approached, Owen caught his first whiff of blood. The sharp odor drifted lazily through the air, but it wasn't fetid, it was still drying from an incident that had occurred only a short time ago. The trainer was familiar with the smell, his time overseas introducing him to plenty of undesirable sights and smells. His stun rifle raised to a ready position on instinct alone.
The paddock really was exactly like his, though it lacked the squeeze chutes he and Barry had added. The personnel door that opened the 'airlock' to the outside door was swung loosely open. The team moved quietly up to the large cage, their paramilitary training helping them move in natural formations.
"Well we know how they got out." Owen muttered looking at the scene before him.
Both the large gate and the personnel door were open. The raised gate and its control panel were covered in blood. Owen felt his gut heave when his eyes fell to the floor. He never did get used to gruesome sights. Feeding animals and hunting were one thing, but it was another thing entirely to look at the remains of a man's rib cage and torso. The only upside being there wasn't much left. His girls had always been good at stripping a carcass, other raptors weren't much different.
One dead, two more in critical; he shook his head. Pulling his eyes up from the bones and remaining viscera, he stepped into the paddock enclosure. The others followed him, fanning out to check for any animals within the enclosure. Each person moved, tension palpable through the group as they searched every inch.
As Owen stepped through the brush and foliage, he could still smell blood. It was stale, but it was there, a sure sign of carnivores. Every few steps his foot would break a small bone or kick some dried dirt. Each time the handler froze, his rifle up as he waited to hear or see something coming. He only lowered his rifle when he reached the far wall, coming out of cover next to Katashi.
"All clear sir." One of Hamada's men finally reported to the Unit commander standing beside Owen. Both men visibly relaxed, the tension in their shoulders dropping as their weapons fell into a more relaxed hold. Katashi nodded to the man. The area was secure.
"Sanders, go to storage room around back and pull up the security files, I want to find out exactly what happened here."
The man nodded to Mr. Hamada before turning to exit the enclosure the way they had come. Owen's eyebrow raised. "Couldn't that be done at the control room?"
The shorter man shook his head. "If we were in the park, sure. But running wires to each paddock would be far too expensive and the wireless doesn't reach this far yet. As of right now, our security systems are locally recorded."
"So someone has to access it manually?"
Again the man shook his head. "Not quite; every evening the data that has been recorded is broadcast to one of the InGen security satellites that passes over the island. It's not ideal, but it's functional, and each night the security feeds are uploaded to the servers in our offices."
Owen nodded in understanding. "But we don't have time to wait that long."
"Exactly." Katashi shifted into a more comfortable stance. "While we wait, can you run me through what you're seeing? Any information will be helpful at this point and you are the expert right now."
Owen glanced around the paddock, a frown forming on his face. "There's not a whole lot, but a few things do stick out."
The unit commander's eyebrow raised, but he let Owen speak.
"Well, to start with the obvious, this is definitely a raptor paddock. The grooves and markings in the dirt are the same as in my paddock. The scat is also the same as my girls." He paused, looking around at the lines of dried urates and dried piles of scat with a grimace. "But that's the problem, there's way too much of it."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, it's as if no one cleaned this paddock in a long time. The scat is everywhere. In my experience, Velociraptors have a communal bathroom. I've cleaned it plenty of times to know that they choose one or two spots and go there exclusively. This, the urates and fecal material spread everywhere, the raptors must have given up. Without someone to clean it up or natural processes to do the job, it must have piled to a point where they stopped choosing a location. That's not all though. Do you smell that?"
Hamada sniffed the air, his nose scrunching just a bit at the sharp smell. "Blood, from the gate."
Not quite, the blood we're smelling is too old, it's lost its metallic kick. It's decomposed and grown stale. I also stepped on a number of bones as we crossed the paddock."
"So? They're carnivores. Blood and bones comes with the animal care right?"
"That's right, but we clean thoroughly and consistently. Barry and I make sure to clean our paddock almost religiously. This stale odor and numerous bones, Katashi, I don't think anyone has cleaned this place in months. This odor would drive me crazy, and raptors have an incredible nose. It had to be affecting them negatively."
Hamada's radio crackled. "Sir the footage is ready."
Both men nodded and Hamada let them know the duo was coming. Both men made their way through the paddock and carefully stepped around the carnage at the gate. The men made their way quickly around the side wall, stepping into the attached rooms that served as food prep, storage, and apparently local security records.
Lieutenant Sanders stood near the back of the room focused on a rugged laptop that sat on stacked boxes. As Owen approached, he saw that it was connected to several input ports near the top of the back wall.
Mr. Hamada joined him. "Show us what you've got Ben."
The video that began to play was from a camera nestled in the back corner of the 'airlock' as it looked to the outer door. Most of the cage was visible, the controls on the gate barely visible at the top left corner of the footage. The small group watched for nearly a minute. Then he saw it.
"There" Owen pointed to the control panel as Ben stopped the playback.
Mr. Hamada leaned in. "Son of a-"
"Is that a talon?" Ben asked, pushing himself closer to the screen.
"Damn right it is." Owen stepped back, letting the officers get a closer look. "My girls tried this a couple weeks ago. Scared the shit out of us." Owen paused, his tone dropping to a more somber level. "Looks like these girls figured it out as well."
Neither men responded; but Ben resumed the footage playback. All three watched as the day's events unfolded silently before them.
The Velociraptor had reached through the bars of the gate, her long slender arms scraping and scuffling against the gate controls. After several attempts, her sharp talons had finally pressed the button and Owen watched the reptilian arm jerk back off-screen.
It was mere seconds later when they saw a larger, panicked looking man in an InGen coverall burst through the personnel door and rush towards the gate controls. The Velociraptor met him before he could reach it though. Biting deeply into the man's shoulder she threw her entire weight onto him and Owen winced as her killing talons sunk into the man's stomach. The rest of the pack wasted no time getting involved, brutally attacking the downed man.
They were efficient though, and while it made him a bit sick to his stomach, he knew how efficiently raptors could clean their kill. Owen guessed that the entire scene lasted less than five minutes.
As they were finishing their impromptu meal, the trainer could see all four raptors become distracted by something off-screen. They abandoned what was left and nudged the open personnel door, before rushing out together.
"There's where we get our other two people in critical condition" Owen muttered, turning from the screen."
Mr. Hamada stepped back and pulled his radio out. "Control room do you copy?"
"We copy A.C.U." A male voice crackled back. "What do things look like out there? Should we abandon all hope?"
"Cut the crap Lowery. Is Ms. Dearing there?"
A female voice cut in. "I'm here Mr. Hamada. What do you need?"
"The paddock is secure and should be able to contain the animals with some minor adjustments."
"Very good, do you need anything else?"
"No ma'am. Just make sure someone stays in the control center to monitor the raptors position. I don't want them sneaking up on us."
"Mr. Cruthers is at your disposal until the situation is contained."
Lowery's voice cut back in. "That's right Mr. Hamada, I'll be your eye in the sky, so just give me a holler if you need anything."
The commander sighed. "Just keep me updated on their position Lowery." He placed his radio back on his belt and looked to Owen. "The wrist trackers cannot get here soon enough." Owen gave the man a curious look and Mr. Hamada added, "They are in their final prototyping at InGen. One day soon, we won't have to rely on a radio and coordinates when we are in the field."
Grabbing his radio once more, the commander stepped out of the storage room. "Containment Unit One, fall in at the paddock gate. It's time to get started."
The men were waiting for them in front of the gated area. Mr. Hamada wasted no time and quickly began to bark orders.
"Alright gentlemen! Today we are going to be rounding up one of the most dangerous animals on this island. The kicker is there are four of them. They have already killed one person and wounded two others so badly they needed to be flown out by chopper. These animals are not like the pachy's or trikes we deal with, they are predators and pack hunters." He motioned to Owen. "This is Owen Grady, he handles these animals and has even gotten them to respond to commands on occasion. He is our expert, so let him speak and pay attention. I don't want to have to call any of your families today."
Owen stepped forward at Mr. Hamada's gesture and looked to the group of men that made up Unit One. He had plenty to say about raptors, he only hoped that this group would listen.
xxxxxxxxxx
Twenty minutes later, Owen had explained everything he felt would be valuable information towards the task at hand. To their credit, the men had listened quietly, asked valuable questions and taken his cautions seriously. He was still worried about the monumental task ahead, but these men seemed like a capable group that could follow instructions and think critically.
"Charlie Team!" Katashi's voice brought Owen out of his thoughts. "I want you to stay here and clean up this mess. Make the control panel your top priority. These creatures are smart, if we can get them back into the paddock, I don't want them getting out again." Four individuals nodded curtly and stepped back towards the paddock.
"Bravo Team! You are going to go with Owen to track these raptors down. Keep him safe. He's in charge, he asks you to jump; you say 'how high?'" When you find your targets, radio in and do not engage. Alpha team! You boys are coming with me. We are going to provide support for Bravo team." Both teams nodded.
"Alright boys, let's get moving and remember what Grady said. Don't underestimate these animals, they can move like trained military personnel. "
The group gave a deciding shout before each team broke off. Mr. Hamada and Alpha team heading for the ATV's, Charlie team retreating back to the paddock, and Owen's group approaching a set of heavy SUV's.
Owen slung his rifle onto his shoulder and mounted one of the quads, the rest of his team following suit. The vehicles roared to life.
"Mr. Grady!"
Owen turned to look at one of the men on his right. "Yeah? What is it?"
"So were just going to ride out there and hunt this pack down?" His voice betrayed the man's nervousness. He was younger, probably a newer recruit into A.C.U.
Owen snorted "We'd have better luck finding a snowball in hell kid." At the young man's quizzical look he responded by revving the quad to kick it into gear. He looked over with a grim smile. "We're not hunting them kid. We're the bait."