Owen never claimed to be a tactician. He had served in three tours overseas. Three tours of war and three tours that had taught him to work in a group, as a team. He had never been taught how to plan and execute his own military operations. He had participated in thousands, everything from drills to real wartime action. He knew how to act. Strategic planning wasn't new but it wasn't his strongest skill. His last plan had nearly gotten two of them killed, one hurt, and failed to secure the raptors.
Hell, if he was honest, he tended to thrive on his instinct. It was that gut feeling that drove him to act, often without really thinking, and so often in just the right way. It had saved his own life a number of times. It had even let him build a bond with a pack of prehistoric predators. But it was never truly planned. Barry planned things, made schedules, put things together. Owen acted. He made the calls, the gut instincts, he had the raw nerves that pushed him to protect his fire team, or jump into a pit full of predators. Planning went against that.
His planning had nearly killed a member of Bravo Team.
They had escaped, thanks mostly to Alpha Team. Katashi Hamada had brought the helicopter and spooked the raptors before anyone had died.
But not before anyone had gotten seriously hurt.
"He'll be fine Mr. Grady." Hamada's voice echoed in his mind as the trainer exited his paddock's outbuilding. "It will take a few weeks for him to recover, but he's not going to die."
It was a small comfort. Reyes would recover, his broken leg wasn't that bad.
His own head still hurt. His side hurt. Everything hurt with a dull throb. He had received four stitches on his forehead, some powerful painkillers and been told to go home and get some rest. The doctors weren't the only ones to suggest it either.
He had been on his way out of Dr. English's office his head still reeling in a mixture of migraine and the sharp pain. It worked its way past the local anesthetic, reminding him of the small stitches that kept his wound closed when Claire Dearing had pulled him aside.
Owen had let out a quiet sigh when he saw the disapproving look on her face. The trainer was not in the mood for a shouting match, he just didn't have the energy to put up defenses. So, instead of reacting, he had just fixed her with a tired look, ready to bear the brunt of her anger, if only it meant that he could retreat to bed sooner.
He was shocked when her face softened. "Get some rest Mr. Grady; Mr. Hamada will take care of things from here on out." She had turned and walked away before he could respond, her hand gripping his shoulder lightly as she pushed past him.
Katashi had stopped him on the way out as well. Owen apologized to the officer but Hamada just shook his head with a grim smile.
"It'll be alright Mr. Grady. Accidents happen. Bravo Team will recover, and I doubt Reye's blames anyone but himself. he knew the risks, they all know that you were right there with them in the thick of it. I've worked with men like you in my days on the SWAT team. You have your specialty and used it admirably."
He paused to grab a radio off his belt. "No strategy survives first contact, Mr. Grady. You are a brilliant behaviorist and your predictions of the animal's reactions were spot on. Go home, get some rest, Vic will want to debrief you when he gets in. My team will handle the containment issues from here. Just keep this radio on, I may still need your advice out there."
Handing him the radio, Katashi Hamada had kindly pushed him out the clinic door and into the noonday sun.
A small part of him felt frustrated that he had failed in the first place, and even more so now that he would no longer be able to finish the job. However, a much larger part of him felt that his head hurt and he really just wanted to take a nap and let A.C.U. handle it.
He had collapsed on the outbuilding couch the moment he had arrived.
The trainer awoke to the late afternoon sun streaming through the cheap blinds. His head was still throbbing, an uncomfortable feeling that only grew worse when he sat up. Rubbing his eyes and giving a low groan, Owen forced himself up and shuffled out into the hot afternoon air. His girls would likely be dozing in the paddock clearing, sunning themselves in the equatorial heat.
The tired handler ambled slowly towards the paddock. Blue would probably hold a grudge if he didn't make an effort to spend time with her. The rest of the pack wouldn't care too much, but Blue could be a little clingy. And vindictive. Frankly, more than any other reason, Owen hoped it would just get his mind off the events that had turned his day sour.
His Beta let out a welcoming trill as the trainer stepped through the cage gate his fingers brushing the gate release. The cobalt streaked raptor quickly stood from where she had been sunning herself. She approached the interior gate, her head cocking inquisitively as the trainer moved to meet her at the slowly raising bars between them.
Her demeanor changed the moment he was within reach.
A large snort escaped her flaring nostrils and her upper body lowered drastically into a defensive posture. The raptor's tail twitched nervously and her lips pulled back into a dangerous sneer. She continued to test the air around them with large breathy snorts. Her eyes never left the trainer and her talons sunk into the loose earth beneath her.
Owen tensed, his own body lowering into a ready position.
"Easy girl."
She sniffed the air a few more times and let a rumbling growl escape her throat. A behavior that reminded him of the animals he had just faced earlier in the morning. He forgot it at times, but she was the same as them, dangerous predator that could kill anyone easily.
The trainer swallowed his nervousness. He'd felt this before on his tours overseas. She was not the same animal that had attacked him earlier. Same species, just as dangerous, sure. But she was not the same animal in the same position.
"Blue." His voice was calm. A pillar of stability that reminded his pack who he was.
The blue streaked raptor cocked her head, a questioning warble escaping as her body relaxed. Owen relaxed as well, a small smirk forming as he felt himself calming down and becoming more comfortable.
Blue took a hesitant step forward and the trainer felt her hot breath brush against his shirt as she sniffed him carefully. He stood still and let her work. He probably smelled very strange, some mixture of soldiers, stress, blood, engine exhaust, and wild raptor. If he had to guess, she was probably most interested in the raptor scents.
When she finished, the raptor went to work establishing her own scents over the lingering scents on his clothes, her head snacking around and rubbing her scales along his clothes. When she finished, he was once again bathed in the musty, earthen odor that distinguished his pack. He smiled a bit and placed his hand on the crest of Blue's snout.
A bark from Charlie drew the Beta raptor's attention from Owen. Both human and raptor turned to see Delta stalking towards them, having decided to leave her spot in the shade cast by the paddock foliage. She watched the trainer with a suspicious eye, her nose flaring as she tested the air around the trainer. Owen felt himself tense again. Delta had been getting better since they had begun working her, but she was still a wildcard to him.
The green raptor gave a low hiss but didn't direct it towards the trainer. Her head snaked around to observe the concrete walls. Echo quickly joined her, trotting up beside the green raptor and eyeing the human and the paddock walls as she mimicked her older sister. Echo's hiss joined Delta's as they watched the walls for the intruders they could still smell.
It made Owen grateful for Blue's generosity with sharing the pack's scent. The raptors weren't attributing the foreign smells to him, thanks to Blue. Owen let out a slightly relieved breath. He didn't feel like challenging more raptors this evening. Finally both dinosaurs seemed to lose interest in the pair that stood before them, leaving Blue and Owen, more interested in following the paddock walls on a perimeter check.
He made a mental note of the two raptors as they trotted away, their tails swaying with their movements. Delta and Echo were close, acting more like siblings than any of the other inner relationships within the pack. Echo followed Delta with very little hesitation. Right now, both were antsy, Echo feeding on Delta's concern. Owen and Barry had talked about the rusty raptor's connection with Delta, it made her both predictable and dangerous.
The trainer rubbed his head absently, wincing a bit as his fingers brushed the stitches on the back of his head. It was nearly evening. Barry would be back soon to prepare the evening meal and hopefully the escaped raptors would be contained by nightfall.
As if on cue, the radio on his belt crackled to life.
"Owen, you there?" Hamada's familiar voice crackled.
Owen sighed and looked over to the Beta raptor that was still by his side.
"Yeah, what's the news?" He said calmly, motioning at Blue then towards the far end of the paddock.
The blue streaked raptor watched him with a cocked head, glancing only briefly to where he pointed. Owen, just groaned. It was a new command, one they had only introduced recently in their training. They still weren't quite getting it, or more likely, Blue didn't want to leave his side so soon after he arrived. Either way, the trainer was not in the mood to put up with it.
Taking the radio in one hand he backed into the airlock and pressed the gate to close it. The Blue raptor made a move to follow him but hesitated when his free hand raised, showing her his palm. "Did you contain the raptors yet?"
"Not yet, but I told you I would call if I needed your expertise."
"Well I'm here, what do you need?"
"I need you to come to Research Paddock Three. I'm hoping you can tell me what's going on over here."
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It was nearly dusk by the time Owen pulled into the clearing that housed Research Paddock Three. After speaking with Hamada, the trainer had left a note for Barry, grabbed his rifle and driven to the other paddock. It was a ridiculous drive, with no roads that directly connected each research enclosure to the other, he had to drive down towards the center of the park until he hit the maintenance hub road.
As he parked the SUV, he was surprised to see the flurry of activity that moved throughout the clearing. Large lights flooded the area in the dimming light and A.C.U. officers milled throughout the clearing, relaxed but forming a clear perimeter.
Owen stepped out of his car and walked to the paddock that was identical to his. As he walked up he noticed that both the barred door and the inner gate stood open as officers moved in and out of the paddock comfortably. The paddock was empty of dinosaurs and as he stepped into the enclosure's 'airlock' he stepped carefully around raptor tracks that had been left in the soft sandy soil.
Tracks that led out of the enclosure and into freedom.
"Mr. Grady. Thank you for coming on short notice. I was hoping you could take a look at this and tell me what exactly is going on here."
"Did more Velociraptors escape?"
"Not this time, and that's what makes this so strange."
Owen just nodded, both relieved and intrigued. They didn't need two packs running through the island, but the tracks in the sand told a different story. Stepping through the interior gate and passing the unit commander.
Blood was the first thing to catch his eye. Most of the drying fluid had soaked into the sandy soil, clumping into crumbling stains that colored the paddock soil a darker brown. Owen quickly made his way towards the nearest body that lay in the drying blood.
He recognized it as a Velociraptor, but only because of the shape. Beyond that, the animal was completely different from the pack in his paddock. These were different, unique, something he had never thought he would see on the island.
They were feathered. Not just a few stray quills randomly placed along the animal's body, these raptors were completely feathered. They were true genetic recreations as far as he could tell. He knew little about raptor genetics or history, but the articles had become plentiful when Jurassic World had opened, and he had read enough to know that feathered dinosaurs were the more accurate creatures according to modern theory.
Owen looked up seeing the other two bodies. "What the hell happened here?" The trainer whispered to himself.
"I was hoping you might be able to tell us." Hamada responded, standing next to the handler.
Owen jerked his head around, scanning the area. "Wait, where are the keepers of this paddock?"
"We transported them to the clinic a few minutes ago after we got their statements. None of them were badly hurt, a few scrapes and bruises, one laceration, but both trainers managed to lock themselves in the prep room."
Owen grunted and knelt down next to the body, brushing the feathers lightly with his hand. The dinosaur was smaller than his girls. She probably would have stood as high as his waist had she been alive.
Overall, her body shape seemed to be the same as Blue or any of his girls, but with the feathers that lined her body, she looked distinctly more avian. The feathers that covered her body were a pale brown, mottled with darker and lighter streaks. The reminded him of the Red-Tailed Hawks he had worked with alongside his father.
He felt a pang of sadness as he looked at the smaller dinosaur. Her neck was broken, twisted at an odd angle and blood matted the feathers around the injury. He looked over the other two bodies, noting their similar injuries.
He stood silently and began to search the sandy clearing. This paddock was clean, well kept, and nicely maintained. It was hard to make out any solid tracks in the sandy soil. Heavy boots disturbed the ground around the bodies, destroying any signs nearby so the trainer had to broaden his search, deciding to walk the paddock's perimeter.
"Katashi, take a look at this." He called the commander over. "Look at the disturbances and the deep furrows in the ground over here, these are Velociraptor tracks, I see them every day in my paddock."
"They jumped into the paddock and killed the others. Then walked out the same way they escaped their own paddock. The security footage caught it all."
Owen glanced at the officer in confusion. "Yeah. Why do you need me then?"
"We need to know why. Why would a pack of raptors jump into another paddock, kill the inhabitants, other Velociraptors, and then simply leave?"
The trainer stood from where he had knelt near the disturbed earth, his brow furrowed in thought. "It could be as simple as looking different. The escaped raptors may not recognize these as their own species." Owen paused, "But I don't think that was it."
"What do you mean?"
"If our escaped raptors simply didn't recognize what these animals were, there is a good chance they may have eaten them, or at least made an effort to." He pointed to the bodies with a grim look. "I think they killed these animals in a territorial display. Can you show me the footage of the incident?"
"Sure, follow me."
Hamada led the trainer out of the paddock and back towards the small prep and storage room that was identical to the other paddocks. The metal door was dented inward, visible talon marks raked down the front, chipped into the paint. Stepping inside, Owen gagged a bit at the smell of fear and drying blood. There certainly wasn't much blood, but he could almost bet that one of the trainers had relieved themselves in the panic.
"Sir?"
Hamada turned back to the doorway addressing the officer that had followed them in. "Go ahead."
"We just got a report from Control. The handlers for Research Paddock Number Two just contacted them, reporting Velociraptors outside their paddock."
"Damn. I was hoping we had more time. Where's Alpha Team?"
"Still on the way to paddock two. Roughly three mikes out.
Owen stepped up to the two armed officers. "Wait, they're at another raptor paddock?"
Hamada dismissed the officer, turning to the taller handler. "Yes, the animal's movement has been consistently west. When we arrived here, I dispatched Alpha Team to secure paddock two, just in case, though it looks like I wasn't quick enough."
"Katashi, I was wrong, this isn't just a territorial display. They're hunting their own kind. Eliminating threats to their pack, marking a territory." Owen could feel his blood pumping faster as he realized more and more what was going on. "Listen, I need you to dispatch a team to my paddock right now. It's reasonable to assume that my paddock will be their next target."
"Owen, I don't have a team to spare. Charlie Team is still cleaning up here, Bravo Team is unavailable, and I'm not going to abandon the people at paddock two by rerouting Alpha Team."
The trainer, gripped Hamada's shoulder tightly before pushing past him, the adrenaline kicking in. "Find me a team Hamada, I'm heading to my paddock now. We can trap these animals there, but I need a team to help me bag them once we have them!"
Owen heard the commanders groan and turned back to him with a small smile. "I'm not asking to lead them commander, I just need them there when the time comes! Keep me updated on paddock two!"
He turned and jogged towards his SUV. He wasn't a planner, but he now had a plan that he honestly believed could work.