Chapter 9

Biosyn

Lewis Dodgson waited patiently at the small table insidea dingy little café, trying to control his temper. He whistled through his teeth, tapping a brown envelope on the table, looking around the room. There was a bar running along the centre, lined with stools, of which only two were occupied. A pair of old truckers were hunched over plates containing mountains of bacon and eggs, making quite a lot of noise as they ate. Dull neon lights were flickering above them, illuminating a gritty menu. A radio stood behind the bar, which hissed with static, occasionally jumping to a snippet of song as it picked up intermittent signals. Dodson was in his late forties, and balding. His face had become lined and set, lessening his previous baby faced looks. Dodgson had worked for the Biosyn Corporation for the better part of his entire academic career. Biosyn had once been one of the greatest biotech companies in the world, but they did not do it honestly. Many of the products that Biosyn created were obtained by Industrial Espionage, by what Dodgson was known for; reverse engineering.

Dodson was famous throughout the world for his ruthlessness, especially when it came to acquiring new technologies. In truth, he would steal the research of other people and change it just enough to avoid patent infringements, then claim it as his own. But he was remarkably skilled at not being caught in the act; he hardly ever left any evidence behind. The exception being the time that he had been caught illegally testing a rabies vaccination on farmers in Chile, without telling the subjects what was going to happen to them. But he had avoided punishment; the farmers were simple peasants and were easily dismissed by a generous amount of compensation. Despite his bad reputation, every biotechnology company needed a man such a Dodgson if they were to be successful. But these days it was hard to come out on top, there were simply so many biotechnology companies, all racing to make as much money as possible. Everything original had been done, demand for new biotechnologies was diminishing. Scientists across the globe were searching fervently for some new angle, some new way to exploit nature's resources. But Dodgson had never forgotten his true dream; InGen's technological wonder. He had tried, time and time again, over years, to acquire such technology. He had been thwarted every time. But now, he had finally discovered his opportunity to get what he had wanted for so long.

Rossiter pulled up outside the café, looking grimly in through the window. Dodgson was already there, sitting at one of the tables, looking as daunting as ever. Being the director of Biosyn, Rossiter knew that he needed a man like Dodgson, but he avoided him as much as possible. Dodgson made him feel tense, agitated. He was always cutting corners in his research and taking unnecessary risks, rash decisions. But Rossiter had to admit that Dodgson was responsible for the bulk of Biosyn's success. He was very good at what he did. He climbed out of his Rolls Royce, slamming the door shut. He walked briskly across to the entrance of the café, grunting to himself, and pulled the door open. Inside it was mostly empty, but the radio static made it hard to hear much. He walked over to Dodgson and pulled up a chair.

"Why did you need to meet me in this fucking dump?" he asked irritably, and sat down.

"Because," said Dodgson patiently, "we have something important to discuss, and I don't want to be overheard. Look, more and more biotech companies are being announced, and it's getting old. People just aren't as interested as they once were about biotechnology. It's all been done. But what I've found could bring us back from the realm of stagnant development. Something that could make all of our previous endeavors seem insignificant."

"What in the hell are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about InGen. My sources have-"

"InGen? Oh, hell no, Dodgson. Hell no. We've been over this dozens of times. You've tried time and time again to get your hands on their research, and every time you've failed miserably. We paid three quarters of a million dollars to that Nedry character, with nothing to show for it. We tried to purchase their hardware technology, which wasn't for sale, when you said it would be. You tried to buy the company when it filed for chapter 11. You even tried to blackmail that Chinese investor into getting the research for us when Hammond died. Admit it, every attempt we've made to get at this to get they're technology has been a complete goddamn failure."

"Yes, it has been. But the point is that we keep trying, because it's still worth it. This technology is priceless."

Rossiter scowled.

"What scheme have you hatched this time? I thought you told me that there weren't any other ways to get the technology; InGen destroyed all its data and Isla Sorna is under heavy guard by the Costa Rican government."

"Entirely true, yes. But things have changed. As I was saying, before you interrupted me, my sources have confirmed that a remarkable new opportunity has arisen."

Dodgson paused and pulled out a large piece of A3 sized paper from the brown envelope in his hand, which had been folded up. He quickly unfolded it and laid it flat on the table. It was a large printout of a topographical map. It was an island shaped like an inverted teardrop, and was overlaid with red concentric circles.

"What's this?" Rossiter asked blankly.

"That, is Jurassic Park," said Dodgson coolly.

"Impossible. It was destroyed years ago."

"Apparently not. I have some close friends at InGen, and they fortunately overheard something very fortunate."

"Stop sugar coating this," snapped Rossiter.

Dodgson shrugged indifferently. "Alright; I had the place bugged. I've got a recorded conversation to prove it." He withdrew a tape recorder from his pocket and hit the play button. A scratchy voice emanated from it.

"Isla Nublar still exists to this day," said the recording of Tim Murphy's voice. Dodgson hit the fast forward button and the machine gave a whirring squeal, and then settled back into place.

"Over the years, my grandfather collected information from many satellite passes. Over time he learned the typical ranges and nesting sites of all of the dinosaur species on the island, which you can see here, as the red dots and circles here," Tim's voice continued.

Rossiter looked impressed.

"When my contact heard this he managed to recover the map Murphy was mentioning. Right here, on this map, we have the locations of every nesting site of all of the dinosaur species. We can go in, get live embryos and leave, without anybody noticing, without the risk of being caught like on Isla Sorna."

"How do you plan on getting embryos?"

"You heard the tape. These red circles are they're nesting sites, we can simply go in, take an egg and leave."

"You're going to just march into the nest of a dinosaur and take its egg?" Rossiter said incredulously.

"Yes. I am."

"How in the hell are you planning to pull that off? They'll kill you."

"Let me worry about that."

Rossiter shrugged; Dodgson was always so secretive about his little plans.

"Wait, what was that conversation about at InGen?" he said.

"Apparently, the dinosaurs have contracted a mortal disease; they're going down to Isla Nublar to try and find a cure, before the Costa Rican's destroy the island. This is why we need to get there, fast."

"Won't these embryos carry the same disease?"

Dodgson shook his head. "No. This disease cannot be passed on to offspring. It's spread by animals that are already contaminated, by biting, or through copulation. An animal can't contract it until it's born."

"Aren't you worried about running into Murphy's group while your there?"

"No, apparently he's only going to be there for under an hour, and he'll be visiting two sites on the island, both of which are miles from any nesting site. I'm confident they'll never know we were there."

"Why bother? People aren't stupid, Dodgson. They'll know what happened if Isla Nublar is destroyed and then all of a sudden we announce our remarkable breakthrough, and clone a bunch of dinosaurs."

"Wake up, Rossiter. People won't care about that. The only dinosaurs alive on this planet are locked away from humanity. Yet, people adore them, despite the danger. They've swarmed the people involved with Jurassic Park for years, trust me, people would jump at the opportunity of a second chance. If you offer people a chance to view our own dinosaurs, which have been genetically altered just enough to patent ourselves, then we'll be raking in the money. We can build our own Jurassic Park, and use them as test animals. They're totally exploitable, extinct animals have no rights."

"Jesus, Dodgson…"

"I'm serious. I just need your approval."

Rossiter sat for a moment. "You're sure this information is accurate?"

Dodgson nodded slowly. Rossiter stood up, and sighed.

"Fine, go. But this is the last time."

"Don't worry," said Dodgson, "I'll get them this time."