A/N: To any new readers, this is the third story in a trilogy with the previous installments being: Demons of the Future and Demons of the Past, so you might want to read those first. And to any who read Demons of the Future, I guarantee you this story won't be a train wreck like that one was.
Pacific Ocean: A lone helicopter tore across the sky above the silent still waters as it headed for a destination that it could not yet see. Inside sat a somewhat forlorn Doctor Alan Grant along with a very busy John Brown as he was typing something on his laptop while also on the phone and further still looking at a PDA.
"Yeah…well he'd better get it done or it'll be somebody's head," said John into the phone. "What about the A-1 Project, any results there? Really, now that is interesting. What do the lab boys say? Okay how about marketing? Well if its fine with them it's fine with me go for it. Yeah I'll be at Indigo shortly, is the ship there? Alright good I'll see you later."
John closed his phone and set it next to him as he continued typing on the computer oblivious to Grant's presence.
"Ahem," said Grant suddenly. John looked up at him startled before settling back down.
"Yeah what's up?" he asked before returning his gaze to his laptop.
"In the rush to leave the plane and board the helicopter in San Jose you never actually said where we're going. There's nothing out here besides two islands I'd rather forget," said Grant shifting in his seat. John briefly grinned at that statement.
"Let's just say that bad things come in threes," the CEO responded ominously. Grant's expression paled at that statement.
"If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting," Grant warned.
"Then nothing," responded John as he closed his laptop and clasped his hands over it. "I only ask that you reserve judgment until we reach our destination."
Before Grant could respond the radio crackled on from the cockpit.
"Sir we're coming up on the task force now," came the voice.
"Yes, excellent," said John happily as he got as close to the window as possible as he peered out at the ocean.
"What exactly are you looking for?" asked Grant bewildered.
"That," said John with a grin. A huge oil tanker appeared below them and Grant looked at it stunned as all across the deck were helicopters, tanks, and countless other military vehicles with numerous individuals racing across the massive deck.
"Take us down," ordered John.
"Yes sir," came the response. The helicopter swooped past the rear bridge tower of the ship before coasting down for a smooth landing on the tanker deck.
"I'll be right back," said John opening the door.
"No I'm coming with you," Grant stated.
"Alright your choice but you're also legally bound to mention nothing that you see or hear here," said John getting out onto the deck as a moment later Grant followed him. They stepped onto the deck and basked in the sunlight before three figures approached them.
"Jake, Gerry, Sam," John acknowledged shaking their hands. "This is Doctor Alan Grant."
"Yes we've met before," Gerry acknowledged. Grant looked at him perturbed as the last he'd seen the veterinarian he was treating a sick triceratops on Nublar before the 'incident'. Seeing him amidst all of the military hardware and personnel made him wonder what exactly had happened to the man since they'd parted ways leaving Ellie with him.
"Well you already know Doctor Harding, this is Sam Stone, and Doctor Jake Whitacre," said John finishing the introductions.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you Doctor Grant even though you decided not to endorse Jurassic Park," said Jake with a slight grin.
"And what exactly are you a doctor in?" accused Grant. Jake laughed nervously and that was the only response Grant needed.
"Wonderful," said Grant annoyed.
"Anyway I just came to wish you luck," said John.
"You too," said Jake. "Because if you don't find out what happened on that boat then we're all sunk."
"And what is that you're doing with all of this technology?" inquired Grant.
"Transporting it," said Jake.
"Where?" demanded Grant.
"Classified," Jake mused.
"You're taking it to Sorna aren't you?" stated Grant putting the pieces together.
"Hmm and here I thought your expertise was on analyzing the past," said Jake thoughtfully.
"I just hope you know what you're getting into," said Grant crossing his arms. He wasn't completely happy with what he saw here, but then again he was in no position to complain. Maybe later when he had one on one time with John Brown…
"So do I," Jake admitted. "The same goes for you too with your investigation. I'm glad I'm not doing your job."
Grant snorted at that statement but said nothing.
"Well again good luck and we'll see you two later I hope," said John heading back for the helicopter.
"Hey John," called Jake.
"Yeah?" asked John confused when an object came flying right at him. Tensing as a rifle slammed into his chest, he fumbled with it before getting a grip on it.
"You might need that," said Jake with a smirk before turning around and leaving with Gerry and Sam. John looked at the M41A Pulse Rifle before shaking his head at Jake and climbing back into the copter. Alan Grant took one last look at the armament on the deck before shaking his head and getting in as well.
"Let's go," said John slamming the door shut before placing the rifle on the seat next to him. The helicopter blades began rotating again and soon the helicopter was in the air leaving the tanker behind.
"Do you really think you're going to need that?" asked Grant nodding at the rifle.
"Hmmm? Oh, well let's just say when you're dealing with what we're dealing with it's best to expect the unexpected," said John before frowning at that sentence. "Anyway we should be reaching our destination in about fifteen minutes so I'd be prepared."
"And where are we going?" asked Grant. John looked up at him silently.
"Indigo,"
Boat: Jake, Gerry, and Sam entered into the ship and headed for the briefing room. Inside was a massive dry-erase board with the image of Isla Sorna superimposed on it as well as a long table with chairs with a figure sitting on the other end.
"You're late," said the person curtly.
"Our boss showed up unexpectedly and we had to speak with him," Jake explained a little put off by the individual's attitude.
"That may be," said the individual. "But where we're going time is a luxury we won't have. You have to do what I say when I say it or you'll be putting the lives of yourselves as well as the entire task force in danger. That will not be permitted do you understand me? Where we're going you won't get a second chance."
"You think we don't know that?" demanded Sam upset. "For six months we watched that island crumble apart in front of our eyes despite all of our attempts to stop it."
"Which is why I'm here," said Lt. Aeryl Mingham as she leaned forward into the light and clasped her hands in front of her head. "I'm here to see that you don't screw up again."
Indigo: John's helicopter tore across the beach and over the trees as it headed towards the center of the island. Alan Grant looked down with trepidation as a pair of electrified fences passed by below and completely tensed up when an ankylosaur appeared beneath grazing on some grass.
"Yeah according to Jake she was a bitch to take down," said John. "But apparently its hardened carapace allowed it to float above the waves long enough to survive the passage."
"Passage to Costa Rica?" questioned Grant. John nodded.
"We're looking to find ways to adapt its bony structure for use in body armor that could double as a flotation device," he said offhand as he had focused his attention back on his laptop.
"What?!?!" shouted Grant.
"Uh, you didn't hear that," said John abruptly.
"What are you doing with those dinos?" demanded Grant.
"Just observation with…limited experimentation," said John. "At any rate it doesn't concern what we're doing here."
"It had better not," said Grant sternly. "I know you're fully aware of my opinion on dinosaurs running loose on this earth."
"Yes something along the lines of fossils being the real dinosaurs and that what John Hammond and Ingen did was create animal theme park attractions, nothing more," John recalled.
"You heard about that?" asked Grant surprised.
"I was there," stated John. "And so too were the Kirbys by my account."
"Yes they were," Grant mumbled. Although the Kirbys had meant well they were still somewhat of a sore spot in Grant's mind at the moment.
"And there you have it," John concluded shutting down his laptop again and pulling out a newspaper as he began reading it.
"What did you think of my speech?" Grant had to ask.
"Oh I agree whole-heartedly with it," said John. "Whatever is on Sorna, I guarantee you it acts nothing like dinosaurs used to act back in their day. Plus as long as all the dinosaur work is focused on fossils then I can do with Sorna what I please."
"Hooray," said Grant deadpan. Before John could respond the jungle pulled back and the helicopter came to a rest. The CEO popped the door and stepped out into the blinding sun before advancing towards a building nearby. But as Alan Grant stepped out, he was instantly wracked with both nostalgia and dread. In front of him was the Visitors Center complete with the three rotundas and conical roofs while nearby sat a pair of jeeps adorned with the Jurassic Park logo on them and nearby he could've sworn he saw a pair of tour vehicles pulling away from sight.
"You coming?" asked John.
"Sorry," Grant apologized. "I certainly wasn't expecting this from a third island."
"Ingen left everything behind when they left this island and since, aside from a few stray velociraptors, there were no dinosaurs or natural disasters to strike the island it was still in fairly pristine condition when we arrived. So in the interest of cutting budgets we just decided to reuse all of the old stuff," John explained as they reached the front doors.
"You're certain we're not on Nublar?" Grant had to ask.
"Positive," said John Brown as he pushed the doors open and the two walked into the lobby that was bustling with activity centered around a display piece of a tyrannosaurus skeleton attacking a brachiosaur skeleton with a banner above reading: 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth'. It was all too much for Dr. Grant and he nearly collapsed from the sight.
"Are you gonna be all right?" John inquired after having started up the steps. Grant swallowed his feelings and hefted his bag as he started towards the CEO.
"I'll be fine," was all he managed to say as he too advanced up the steps trying to avoid the constant bombardment of images flashing through his mind of 13 years ago.
Boat: "What do you mean 'screw up again'?" demanded Gerry.
"I'm talking about the events that led to you having to evacuate Sorna," began Aeryl as though this should've been obvious. "Or should I say 'fled'."
"What did you say?" seethed Sam. Jake meanwhile remained silent and merely had his arms crossed with his hands inside of his jacket.
"If you hadn't fled Sorna I wouldn't be sitting here right now having this conversation with you," Aeryl stated.
"Yeah we'd be dead!" shouted Gerry.
"I disagree," said Aeryl. "I've observed your actions on Isla Sorna after Project Jurassic Park failed and some of your actions were…questionable to say the least."
Jake's eyebrow twitched at that statement but he remained impassive beyond his dark sunglasses.
"How so?" the scientist finally asked.
"Well for starters you took on the dinosaurs in a pre-emptive strike for no reason then to cure your own boredom," said Aeryl utterly confused by that line of reasoning. "You effectively made an enemy where you didn't have one only to stop killing them just a few weeks later for unknown reasons. After a brief departure of the senior staff off the island, a very bad idea I might add, you returned only to find the one source of lysine on the entire island up in flames. Rather than try and salvage that lysine you simply let it burn, of which the fumes may have been responsible for some of the more severe weather you got those following months. Then you had a mutiny upon which you blew up your only chance of escaping the island…do I really need to go on? I mean I haven't even covered the ELE part of it yet but what the hell were you thinking?"
"I guess we were making it up as we went along," Jake mused. "For better or worse."
"Well in this case the worse won out," commented Aeryl. "How do you justify your course of actions on that island?"
"A-1," said Jake. "That's all the justification we need."
"Ugh, A-1 is not the Holy Grail you think it is when it comes to laws governing actions to be taken on that island," said Aeryl annoyed.
"Nevertheless it is why we're going there. Specimen collection is a secondary priority," Jake mentioned calmly. "Preventing those dinosaurs from leaving that island is the only thing we should be concerned about when we get there."
"Yes," Aeryl confirmed not happy about being maneuvered out of ranting about others' failures. "And here is the plan that I propose."
Indigo: "So where's the boat?" asked John eating an apple. John Brown and Alan Grant were in the control room of the Visitors Center with the numerous computers that seemed to serve no purpose and images flickering on the large projection screen of Indigo.
"They're just towing it into the cove now," said Tim Arnold, head computer technician who had been Sorna's last remaining technician prior to the island's evacuation. Getting most of Ingen's former staff to return hadn't actually been too difficult, working with dinosaurs was a rush many desperately wanted to feel again and many had jumped at the chance when John had offered them a job at Indigo. The image flickered on the main viewscreen to a pair of tugs dragging the massive ocean liner behind it into a cove surrounded by trees and a pair of electrified fences poking up amongst them.
"Let's go," said John heading for the exit.
"Wait," said Grant before hunching down next to Tim. "Can you show me where the ship was when it made the distress call?"
"Yeah," said Tim punching a pair of commands on his keyboard while twirling a pen with his other hand. A map appeared of the Pacific Ocean and a dot appeared on it.
"Any nearby islands?" inquired Grant. A few dots showed up none really near the location of where the ship was when it was attacked.
"Any of those 'inhabited'?" asked Grant.
"We're checking them out now," John chimed in. "After we're done with the ship we'll go out and join them. But I'm hoping to have a better idea of just what we're looking for before then. You coming?"
Grant nodded his head and took one last look at the map before exiting the control room.
"How many dinosaurs are there on this island?" asked Grant as the two reappeared in the lobby.
"I dunno," said John nonchalantly. "It's not really my concern. I know we have slightly more species here then were on Nublar but all in considerably less quantities. Course beggars can't be choosers as we could only obtain what came off of Sorna as opposed to what was on it. Until now that is."
Grant nodded taking all of this in for future knowledge when John Brown's cellphone rang.
"Brown," he said into it before holding the phone out to Grant. "For you."
Grant eyed the phone curiously before taking it. "Grant."
"Hey Alan where are you?" came the response.
"Billy?" asked Grant surprised. "Glad to hear you're still in one piece."
"Yeah," said Billy on the other line wincing. "Just a little sore is all. Look where are you? I called the dig and they said that you'd gone away on business and now right after I'm discharged I find a guy with a suit confronting telling me to come with him to see you and hands me this phone. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine as to where I am…" began Grant before turning to John. "Can I tell him?"
"The line's encrypted go ahead," said John as the two walked out of the Visitors Center.
"I'm on an island full of dinosaurs," began Grant as that was all he could think of.
"What, you're on S-!" began Billy.
"I'm not there I'm on another island," Grant sighed. "Look I'm perfectly alright and would appreciate any help you can give me down here."
"Okay," said Billy unsure before whispering. "But uh…are you sure this is legit?"
A massive semi-tractor trailer roared by towing a flatbed with a juvenile t-rex bound to it and a pair of heavily armed guards standing close to it.
"I'm sure," promised Grant.
"Alright I'll see you seen then, later," said Billy.
"Good-bye," said Grant as he shut off the phone and handed it back to John. The CEO took it and ran over to the powered down helicopter where he obtained his laptop, briefcase, and Pulse Rifle. He juggled the three as best he could before putting them in the back of a nearby gas-powered Jurassic Park jeep.
"Let's go," said the CEO as he hopped in and turned it on. Grant just shook his head at the sight of the vehicle before placing his backpack in the backseat and strapping himself into the passenger seat as it headed off down the road.
Boat: "Happy?" asked Aeryl annoyed after she'd laid out her plan.
"Why are you asking us?" Sam demanded still angry over her earlier comments.
"Because this mission is not under military jurisdiction much to my disgust," said Aeryl rolling her eyes. "Mr. Whitacre is technically in charge here and you two are subordinate to him and then I am in charge."
"Jake?" asked Gerry trying to make sense of the map on the wall and the instructions Aeryl had mentioned. The scientist stood there eyeing the diagrams silently.
"I don't pretend to know advanced military tactics, not anymore," he said finally. "If Aeryl thinks this'll work then I say we give her the benefit of the doubt for now."
"Thank you," said Aeryl sarcastically. "If you have any issues you can bring them up at our next meeting. Until then dismissed."
The lt. gathered her things and left the room slamming the door shut behind her.
"Where did you dig her up?" asked Sam incredulously.
"I didn't," Jake shrugged. "John found her. Where I don't know but…meh, supposedly she came highly recommended."
"You think she's knows what she's doing?" asked Gerry squinting at a portion of the map as he tapped it with a pencil.
"I dunno," Jake admitted as he leaned against the table and picked up his drink and sipped from it. "We don't have much combat experience and the last time we went to battle on that island…it didn't end well."
"I guess," Sam reluctantly admitted. "God this is gonna be torture having to deal with her during the next few weeks."
"I'd just let it go," Gerry advised as Jake nodded still drinking. "Soon she'll be out of our hair and we'll be sitting back at the Operations Building like old times."
"Though hopefully like the times before old times," Jake admitted with a brief grin as Gerry chuckled at that. "Well I'm going to turn in before the excitement starts and I'd suggest you do the same."
With that Jake left the room headed for his cabin. As he entered into it he looked at the closet and dresser combo and sighed to himself as he sat down on the bed staring at it. Finally sighing he dropped his head into his hands and rubbed his face vigorously before walking over to the dresser. Opening the bottom drawer, he pulled out a silver lockbox with a padlock attached to it and began spinning the lock.
"08-29-93, the day Sorna fell," thought Jake as he put in the correct numbers. The lock clicked itself open and Jake silently opened up the case. Inside, in custom made foam surrounding, were Jake's two Long Colts. The scientist had put them away after Sorna fell, swearing never to use them again until the time came when Sorna was once again under human control. That time had finally come but still Jake was reluctant to brandish the two weapons again.
"But if not now when?" the scientist thought helplessly. Finally summoning up his nerves the scientist reached out and brandished the two weapons in silence. After a couple moments he holstered them into his two inner jacket pockets before flopping down onto the bed with the jacket flaps lying to his sides exposing the two weapons as Jake placed his hands behind his head and stared at the ceiling in silence. Finally after a few moments of turbulent thoughts, the scientist finally fell into a deep sleep as the ship sailed onwards towards Isla Sorna.