BEGINNINGS
2 - Pet
Inside the science lab, the female technician finished cleaning the baby. While doing so, she took extreme caution around the claws to avoid getting hurt. She softly spoke to the tiny girl and wrapped her up in a clean, soft blanket that was typically used on other newborn baby animals.
"You must be hungry, huh?" She stood up and held the baby close to her. "I don't even know what to feed you."
Muldoon called from the door leading to the lab. "Feed her meat. Raw meat to be correct, mixed with milk. That's my best guess anyway." In his hand was a nursing bottle for a goat and inside a partial bloody and milky substance. He entered the lab, rifle still slung over his shoulder, and handed the bottle to the technician.
Her wide hazel eyes looked from the questionable bottle in his hand and to him. She stammered. "What? I-I...I'm a geneticist, not a...baby doctor!"
The game warden heaved a heavy sigh. He sat the bottle down on a nearby desk and leaned his gun against a wall. "Neither am I." He met the shaken technician's gaze and continued. "I hunt and even kill animals in certain situations."
Carefully, he collected the baby from the woman's hands and cradled the softly squawking form. Taking the bottle, Muldoon squeezed a small amount of the milky meat mixture into the baby's mouth and waited to see if she would accept the food. Jacobs stood nearby, a faint sweat shining on his brow, as he watched the tough-skinned game warden tend to the baby.
Dr. Jacobs spoke. "I never would have figured you as a baby person Mr. Muldoon."
The warden responded. "Yes, well…I used to watch my nephew in the evenings when my sister would have to go to class. Mix the tending of a normal baby to the tending of tiger cubs and what you have is an attempt to take care of a mixed...species?" The doctor nodded his head in approval as he saw a new side of Muldoon he would never have thought possible. "Whose idea was it, anyway, to botch Hammond's perfect creation? Does Lockwood know about this, yet?"
Jacobs hastily replied. "It wasn't intentional! I don't even know how this happened! I mean...how do you get a human-ish baby out of prehistoric raptor DNA mixed with frog DNA?" He shook his head and brought a hand to his smug expression. "I'm completely stumped on this. I know Mr. Hammond was keeping Mr. Lockwood posted on the status of the experiment, so it's only a matter of time before a phone call is made and the other fully briefed about this."
The technician timidly spoke. "I know Mr. Lockwood will have questions pertaining to this, as well. Mr. Hammond is already irate and wanting answers to the how and why. We'll need to get a blood sample and test it. Try and figure out how this happened. Maybe possibly trace back the human DNA to see who it could've been that sabotaged this."
All eyes fell back on Jacobs, and he knew they were blaming him since he was the head scientist in charge of the project. " Hey, don't look at me! I already said I don't know how this happened!" He frowned and scratched his head. "I don't even know what to classify her as or even what to name her."
Hammond had been outside the lab door and eavesdropping on the peoples' conversation. He barged into the lab office. "It will not be named or classified. I doubt it will even live past two to three days if that. So, don't waste your time."
Jacobs spoke up next. "Well, with all due respect, sir, while we do not know how long she will live, we also don't know when she will die, either. We have the resources to provide the appropriate care for her should anything happen."
Hammond's eye twitched in aggravation. "Fine. But it is to go nowhere outside the zoo property." His tempered stare fell on Muldoon, and scowled. "If she is to be Robert's little pet project then so be it, but don't involve me in it." Once more, a fluster faced Hammond stormed out of the room and down the hall.
Jacobs stared blankly at the door and sighed. "Well, at least he called her a she, at one point. That's a promising upgrade classification from it!"
Muldoon was so focused on the baby that he didn't bother acknowledging Hammond in his tirade. The game warden found the reptilian-like stare from the baby a bit unnerving but did his best to look past it. A tiny clawed hand wiggled loose from the blanket and swatted at the bottle, which made the man smile. He outstretched his pinky finger for the little hand to grab onto, her doing so with a surprisingly firm grasp.
He could feel the still soft claws prick the skin on top of his finger and whispered to the baby finishing the last of the two ounces of milky meat. "Pet."
Jacobs looked down to the game warden, placing the baby on his shoulder. "Pardon?"
"Pet. I'm going to call her Pet."
The technician cut in. "Mr. Hammond said he didn't want her named."
"I don't give a damn what that man said." Muldoon carefully patted the baby, a patch of slightly darker skin on her back visible over the blanket. The baby Muldoon named Pet squirmed, and her little claws dug through his shirt's soft material and down to his skin. It was his turn to squirm next. "This kid is already like a tiger cub; born with claws!"
When Pet was finally asleep, Muldoon laid her down in the incubator to keep her warm while he went back out to work. Later that evening, the doctors had already placed themselves on shifts to tend to her during the night. They couldn't help but expect the worst with every passing minute.
Two days later, Jacobs had managed to talk his way back into Hammond's good graces, though good wasn't exactly an accurate term. He was almost certain his being allowed back was Lockwood's doing. Shortly after Hammond called his good friend and partner to relay the news of the 'disaster', the man flew to Nairobi, Kenya to see the specimen for himself almost immediately.
Jacobs stood as pressed against the far wall as he could while watching the taller of the older men croon over the hybrid infant. Benjamin Lockwood was all smiles as he gently held onto the tiny clawed hand around his finger.
"She's a cutie, John," Lockwood beamed. "I'm surprised she's even lived this long." Hammond was seething where he stood, his sour scowl resting firmly on Jacobs. "Any news on those test results?" Lockwood brought his focus from the baby and to the nervous scientist.
After Jacobs had been rehired, Hammond made it known his first assigned task would be solving the mystery of Pet's creation. Those tests were still in the works. "N-no news, yet, sir. They're, uh, still processing. Something as complex as this will take about a week to resolve." Lockwood accepted the answer for what it was worth, while Hammond didn't. It was a surprise how he even still had any teeth in his mouth, he was clenching his jaw so hard. Jacobs continued. "As soon as something is learned, sir, I'll contact Mr. Hammond and yourself."
Lockwood grinned and continued to play with the little life laying in the incubator. "Excellent."
A week later, Jacobs sat in a deep red colored padded chair before John Hammond's lavish mahogany desk. In his lap was his black briefcase. Hammond didn't blink as his glare bored holes into the geneticist. Jacobs weakly smiled and thumbed the number wheel locks that secured his briefcase closed. Both latches clicked open, and the man withdrew a beige folder full of organized papers.
The scientist spoke. "After extensive tests were concluded to make absolutely certain there were zero contaminants in the specimen's blood samples it has been discovered that the samples were, in fact, contaminated." Hammond's brow slightly furrowed. "Allow me to explain. As you might recall, shortly before the specimen's creation was authorized, there was an incident involving a Capuchin monkey."
"Yes, I recall," Hammond chided.
"You were bitten by this animal after it escaped an inexperienced animal handler's care. On the left hand, if I'm correct."
The much older man clenched his folded hands against the other. Faint scars of the mentioned bite shined against the contrast of his aged hands. They were scars he was pleased to say weren't too noticeable thanks to the doctor that tended to him.
"Get to the point of this, Dr. Jacobs." Hammond was losing his patience.
"I am, sir, I assure you." There was a devilish 'I know something you don't know' glint in Jacobs' brown eyes. "Multiple vials of your blood were taken for testing to ensure you were not infected with anything." He opened the folder and withdrew a small stack of papers clipped together. "These papers, here, are from the incident. Eight vials exactly were taken, but only seven...were tested. So, what happened to the eighth vial?" Jacobs sat the first stack of papers on Hammond's desk to withdraw the second stack. This one was slightly larger than the first. "It seems the vial was misplaced. By who, I do not know. I can only guess by the technician charged with collecting the blood samples. Whatever the case, it somehow managed to find its way into the tray housing the labeled frog and prehistoric Velociraptor samples."
"This doesn't answer how an entire team of highly experienced geneticists, led by you, FAILED to notice human DNA present amongst two other completely different DNA strands!"
Jacobs winced with each stressed word his employer growled out. Hearing 'failed' stung the most. Who would think such an ordinarily happy and carefree man could be so fierce when angry? Jacobs bit his lips together and rolled his head to the side in the discomfort of the situation. "I will admit I did find it a bit odd human DNA was present in the samples, but-"
"So, you admit to being aware of this!"
"But!..." Jacobs did his best to keep as professional of composure as he could. "When I was brought the samples, I was told these were approved for testing by you. There was only one vial of human blood...your blood...included with the other many vials of extracted Velociraptor and frog samples. With your stamp of approval on the paperwork for the samples to be tested, I presumed you were aware of your blood sample being included."
"You...presumed...wrong!"
Both men sat in silence and stared at the other. The air around them within the confines of the office was thick with tension and unspoken resentment.
Jacobs deeply inhaled and slowly exhaled a steady breath. "Whether you want to think of it as such or not, seeing how the specimen was created with your DNA, that makes her of relation to you." That pushed the wrong button on Hammond. His already flustered face grew a darker shade of red as a vein became prominent at his temple. "I would even go as far as to say she's your dau-"
"Get out!" was roared in retaliation to Jacobs' suggestion.
Calmly and carefully, Jacobs recollected the stacks of papers and placed them back into the folder. He stood up and held up the folder for Hammond to see. The folder was then tossed onto the top of the desk should he decide to review the paperwork himself. With that, Jacobs left the office and quietly closed the door behind him.
