"Alan,
wake up, we're about to land."
Alan jerked awake, his
heart fluttering madly. At first confused about where he was, he
looked at Muldoon and Gennaro. Then he knew why he was on this damn
helicopter.
"Ellie, please tell me we're landing in
Montana," he said, only half kidding.
She looked at him
sympathetically. The deep forest they had been flying over was giving
way to the city. "I wish I could, honey. We've been headed
inland; probably towards San José."
San José
meant civilization, Alan thought. He didn't like cities but it was
good enough for now. He wanted to get Tim to a doctor. Other than a
few minor burns on his hands, he did not seem to have any permanent
damage from the electric shock he had taken. There was no way to tell
for sure without a medical exam. That he was alive at all was a
miracle. He would never forget the sight of the youngster flying off
the electric wire into his arms; the sickening realization that he
was not breathing. Tim had survived; the four of them had survived.
John Hammond and Ian Malcolm had not been as lucky.
Alan
looked down. As they had been for most of the flight, Tim and Lex
were propped against his chest, sound asleep. He looked over at Ellie
and she shook her head, amused by his predicament. He knew it must
seem ironic; he had been "adopted" by two of the very creatures
he had claimed to dislike so much. The fact was in just a short
period of time he had grown to feel a great deal of affection and
responsibility for them.
Ellie watched the scene before her.
Alan reminded Ellie of a large bird, wings spread protectively around
his brood. It was such a heartwarming sight that she wished she had a
camera to record the moment. Their friends would never believe it
otherwise.
Sensing their forward movement slowing, he figured
they were about to land. He gently shook their shoulders. "Guys,
time to wake up."
The kids groggily opened their eyes and
yawned. Lex smiled at him and then her expression changed and she
clutched at him in panic.
"Easy, Lex," he said
reassuringly. "You're safe now. Nothing's going to hurt you, I
promise."
His words seemed to calm Lex and she relaxed her
hold on him. "You always keep your promises."
"You
bet I do," he answered with a wink.
Ellie watched the
exchange between them. She couldn't understand why Alan didn't
want children. He was patient, and seemed to know instinctively what
to say. He was a natural father, Ellie thought sadly.
"Where
are we?" Tim asked.
"San José Airport, by the looks
of it," he answered. He vaguely remembered what the airport looked
like from when they had landed before. It had just been two days ago,
but it felt like an eternity ago.
They had dropped lower;
their forward movement ceased and they settled gently on the ground
with a slight shudder. Soon the rotors began to wind down.
Gennaro
stood up and left the helicopter without a look back. As far as he
knew, during the entire flight Gennaro had huddled in his seat,
silent.
"He's not a nice man," Tim said to Alan,
frowning.
"Timmy, I couldn't agree with you more."
During their time on the island, Gennaro had done nothing to change
his initial opinion of the man. He simply couldn't stand
him.
"Need any help with the kids?" Muldoon asked,
glancing at Ellie while he spoke.
"We can handle it,"
Ellie said icily. She was glad he had survived of course, but she
wanted nothing to do with him. He was a drunken fool as far as she
was concerned. He had been useless on the island when she had needed
him the most, and now he wanted to help?
"Okay, then,"
Muldoon responded with a shrug and left them.
Alan wondered
what was going between them. "Ellie?"
"I'll
explain later. Let's get out of here," Ellie said.
"Sounds
good to me," Lex said as she stood up, wincing slightly.
"Sore?"
Ellie asked
"Yeah, a little..."
"I know the
feeling," she said rubbing a bruised area on her arm.
Alan
picked Tim up and a twinge of pain ran through his back. Ellie was
certainly right about that, and he had a hunch they'd be worse off
tomorrow.
As he stepped out of the helicopter onto the tarmac,
he noticed a squad of military men nearby. An officer, who had been
talking to Gennaro and Muldoon, approached him.
"Señor..."
"Grant...
Alan Grant."
"Señor Grant, I am Captain Rosas from
the Costa Rican National Guard. Are you in charge?"
Alan
thought the question was absurd. "No, I'm not in charge. You
might try asking that man over there," he said pointing at Gennaro,
who gave him a panicked look.
"He said he is not in
charge."
"No, of course he isn't..." he muttered.
What an ass... With Hammond dead, Gennaro knew more about InGen's
activities than anyone. "Robert, how about you; are you in charge?"
"Nope, not me, I'm just a hired hand," Muldoon
answered, who looked amused at the situation.
The officer
looked at Ellie, but did not speak, and then turned once more to face
Alan.
"Please, Señor Grant, I would like to know who
is in charge."
"Nobody's
in charge," he said testily. What is this guys problem, he
wondered. Who cared who was in charge?
Nonplussed, the officer
stared at him. Well, this was certainly an interesting situation; the
first Costa Rican standoff ever, he thought. What did Rosas want him
to say? The question was irrelevant. He decided to try a different
tact. "Captain, the boy needs a doctor as soon as possible," Alan
said.
The soldier ignored his last statement, which irritated
him even more. "Señor Grant, there must be a person in
authority."
Uh oh, Ellie thought. She had learned to read
Alan's moods very well. He didn't lose his temper very often but
she knew he was about to blow up.
Motioning for Ellie to take
Tim, he closed the space between the two of them; getting right in
the face of the shorter man. "Listen... For the last time, there's
nobody in charge; they're all dead," he said bluntly. He heard
Lex and Tim gasp and he instantly regretted the statement. Damn, he
remembered the kids had already been asleep when Muldoon told him
about Hammond and Malcolm. He couldn't do anything about it
now.
What we have here is a failure to communicate...
The phrase from Cool Hand Luke popped into his mind; it
certainly fit the situation. He decided to make one more try at
reasoning with the man. "Captain, Timmy got a bad shock earlier
today; that's why he needs to see a doctor."
Again, the
Captain ignored what he had said; turned to another soldier and began
to speak rapidly in Spanish. Alan clenched his fists. His Spanish was
rusty; and he only understood a few words. He glanced at Ellie for
help; she could speak Spanish much better than he could. For some
reason she was staring at him, her eyes wide with shock; not paying
attention to the conversation going on between the two men.
Alan
saw a white van drive up, and a young man jumped out of the car. He
trotted up to them; halted and looked around uncertainly.
"Señor
Grant, I understand your concern about the boy, but I he appears to
be fine other than a few cuts and bruises. I assure you, he will be
taken care of in due time, but first you and the others must speak to
representatives of my government."
Alan's temper, already
frayed to the breaking point, abruptly snapped. He grabbed the
officer's lapel, and instantly found himself surrounded by armed
soldiers.
"Alan, don't!" Ellie shouted her attention
back on Alan. She felt Tim tense in her arms.
"We are taking
Tim...to...the...hospital," Alan ground out, teeth clenched. "After
that, I don't give a damn what happens; I'll go talk to whoever
you want me too. But I'm not going anywhere before the hospital."
"Hang on, hang on. There's no reason for bloodshed,"
said the man who had just joined them, trying to defuse the
escalating situation.
"Come on Dr. Grant, back it down a
notch. You're not helping things if you get your head blown off."
Muldoon said.
In his peripheral vision, Alan saw Gennaro
attempt to slink away, and noted with satisfaction that a soldier
stopped him at gunpoint before he got far.
"There will be no
bloodshed, if Señor Grant will kindly remove his hands from my
uniform."
"Alan,
please. Let him go," Ellie pleaded, frightened for his safety. She
was relieved when he slowly released his hold on the man and stepped
back.
Giving Alan a hard look, the Captain gave his men an
order; they obediently lowered their weapons.
Alan shifted his
gaze to the man who had spoken earlier. "Who the hell are you?"
he demanded.
"Sir, I'm Joe Reiling from the American
Embassy. I uh...I'm here to help you." The truth was he wasn't
sure what to do or even what was going on. His only orders had been
to meet some survivors of an accident on Isla Nublar. Accident was an
understatement. Cuts; bruises were the order of the day; the man and
children's clothes had been stained red from the volcanic soil of
the island. They had clearly been through an ordeal and he could
understand the man's anger; they obviously needed medical
attention.
"Mr. Reiling, my name is Alan Grant, and this is
Ellie Sattler. My two young friends are Tim and Lex. The Captain and
I aren't communicating very well; maybe you can persuade my friend
over there to let us go the hospital," Alan said with heavy
sarcasm.
Reiling nodded. "Mr. Grant, I'll see what I can
do." Why was the National Guard here, he wondered as he walked over
to the officer. That wasn't normal at all, and neither was the
Captain's attitude. The Costa Rican's were normally
non-confrontational, and very cordial. His instincts told him there
was much more going on than just an accident.
Alan leaned
against a car and tried to calm down. He watched Reiling and Rosas,
who were engaged in an animated discussion. He wished Reiling good
luck in persuading Rosas to let them go, the man was pigheaded. And
Ellie thinks I'm stubborn.
Ellie was upset with Alan.
Always protective of his friends and loved ones, she thought he had
gone too far, and taken a huge risk. "Alan Grant, don't you
ever do that again. You scared me to death," Ellie said, fussing
at him.
Tim exhaled in relief. "Yeah, me too..."
He
looked at Lex, and he had to smile at her. "Well, Lex, your turn."
Lex stood, hands on hips. "Alan, that was dumb. They could
have shot you!"
Suddenly he realized it had been a crazy
thing to do. "You know...you're right. It was dumb," he said
sheepishly.
They all laughed; it felt good to him. He
couldn't remember the last time he had laughed; it felt like a
lifetime ago.
Reiling left Rosas and came back to them. Alan
couldn't tell from his expression what the verdict was; he held his
breath.
Reiling nodded at Alan. "Rosas is going to take the
others down to talk to the Costa Ricans, and I'm going to take you
guys to be checked out. After that you'll go down and talk to
them."
Alan looked at him in disbelief. That is exactly what
he had wanted to do. "Unbelievable," he muttered. He saw Ellie
shake her head.
"Okay, let's go," he said finally.
