THE LOST WORLD
4 - Spy Pet
Troves of specialized vehicles burst from the forest line and into a vast field occupied by an assortment of grazing herbivore dinosaurs. The dinosaurs bellowed and squawked at the sudden disturbance and took off running away from the entourage of trucks and motorcycles. Soon, a stampede of prehistoric creatures was formed, but it didn't stop or even slow the now pursuing vehicles. Motorcycles wove in an out of a Brachiosaur's legs as a Jeep sped up to catch up with a juvenile Pachycephalosaurus.
Ludlow was in awe of the scene before his eyes. Massive creatures the size of multistory apartment buildings and hotels gracefully moved along the path. He had never seen anything like this before! He had seen pictures of some of these beasts, but never imaged he'd get to see them so up close. What a wonderful sight it was, indeed! For once, he had to give it to his uncle; John Hammond had a dream. Ludlow grinned like a giddy school boy and laughed out loud to himself as the Jeep bumped and banged around along the trail.
Watching the scene from the safety of a high up, rocky hillside was Ian Malcolm and companions. Neither were sure if they should be worried for the dinosaurs or concerned with InGen's intentions. Why were they tranquilizing and catching different species of dinosaurs
Roars of distress and pain echoed the valley as Pet followed the sounds to the field. She found herself across the way from the excitement and hissed a shrill in outrage. Movement from atop a rock captured Pet's interest and she looked up to see a line of faces from Malcolm's team. She debated on joining them, but didn't want to be seen. Her raptor eyed gaze studied the team of men and vehicles still chasing the dinosaur stampede and knew now would be as good as ever to join the others on the rocks. InGen's team was so busy with rounding up and picking off the dinosaurs that she doubted they'd even take notice her some ways behind them.
Pet's mind was changed. What else did these men intend to do while on the island? She ducked back down into the jungle growth and returned the way she had come. There sure was a lot of equipment being brought to the island and now, after watching them catch different specimens, knew they had something planned. She wove between the trees, being mindful of any possibly passerby that might see her and returned to the airfield. But first things first; camouflage. If she was planning to spy on the cooperation's team, she'd need to stay hidden as best she could. Good ol' mud and moss always did the trick.
Trucks towing trailers loaded with electrical equipment and supplies for building tents proceeded down the remaining bits road. Because of the horrible, un-kept condition of the road the trucks had to travel slower than the drivers preferred. Hitting a chug hole just right or veering off the road could be disastrous for the trucks. Standing in the back of each of the truck beds was an armed man, scanning the forest for any possible chance of an attack from a hungry predator.
The trucks were getting close to the coordinates predetermined to be the camp and began to slow. They lined up one behind the other as several crew workers lowered the trailer bed gates to start unloading the equipment. Tables, chairs, tarps and tent posts were set off to one side while metal crates and reinforced boxes were placed elsewhere. Pet stayed hunkered down behind a fallen tree trunk blanketed with moss and watched the scene unfold.
Afternoon became early evening and the camp now set up. These guys wasted no time! Flatbed trucks with specimens of dinosaurs began to arrive and were directed to cages designated for specific sized dinosaurs. Pet didn't like this at all. She recognized what they were doing. She had both seen and even participated in events such as this when in Kenya by going out to catch a specific animal for it to later be displayed in the zoo. By the ways things looked, Pet could only guess InGen was capturing the dinosaurs for something like that. Was it possible they had rebuilt Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar and were going to transfer the dinosaurs to the park? Or was there another park somewhere she didn't know about? No way would InGen be stupid enough to try at another park given all the difficulties the first attempt saw? Setting aside one disgruntled employee sabotaging things, there were still other dangers to take into consideration like the carnivores attacking the people.
Pet huffed a hiss and low crawled away from the high-tech camp. She figured it best to inform Malcolm's team of what was happening and what she assumed to be going on. Something had to be done. No way was she going to let InGen do what she thought they were going to do and she knew she couldn't do it by herself. Of all the times she had helped other people, she figured it was time she be given some good karma. After all, what goes around comes around, right? Now to find where Malcolm and his posse ended up.
Sarah was furious as she fitfully paced the camp. "Of all the nerve! Can you believe what they were doing?!"
Nick started packing a backpack wearing a troubled frown. He wanted to tell them, he really did but found it increasingly difficult to do so. Malcolm opened his mouth to reassure the woman only to have his words stopped in his throat by Pet calling out. "You think that's bad?"
Eddie jumped in being startled at the sudden hybrid's outburst and dropped the satellite phone's case on the ground. "Son of a-" He grumbled and bent down to pick it up.
Pet ignored him and continued. "There's something I think you need to see." Her raptor eyes were locked onto Malcolm's wide-open dark ones.
"What are you talking about?" Ian stepped closer to the young woman, dread etched in his expression's every feature. "Veronica...what is InGen doing?"
That name...it burned her and she snorted a hiss in response to. "Follow me. But keep low and stay quiet."
Nightfall had settled in by the time the group arrived to InGen's encampment. Pet led them to where she had been previously hiding behind the mossy, fallen over tree trunk and snorted. The people watched on, lost in the suddenness of it all.
"They're taking these animals out of here," Malcolm breathlessly stated to his companions. "Back to the mainland."
Nick began rummaging around in his back pack. "I think I should tell you. Hammond told me these people might show up. He thought we'd be finished by the time they started, but if they weren't...he sent a backup plan."
Ian arched a brow in curiosity, Sarah questioning. "What backup plan?"
Nick pulled out a pair of bolt cutters from the conceal of the bag and flashed them before the group. A scheming smile upturned his lips and he stashed the cutters in his utility vest. "Me."
Pet growled. "You?" She leapt onto the man and pinned him to the ground. "You knew about this?" The hybrid neared the terrified man's face so their noses were barely an inch apart. "And you didn't tell anyone?"
Ian grabbed the hybrid off the man, being mindful of the flailing sickle toe claws, and stated, "Damn it, Veronica, not now!"
The hybrid forced herself to stay calm, but her anger filled eyes never left the panicked man. She snorted in annoyance and watched as he slithered out from under the heat of her glare. The others followed suit, leaving Pet by herself. She felt lied to and because of, wanted nothing to do with them anymore. Not like she really wanted anything to do with them anyway, but she wanted to see InGen fail even more. Growling, she followed.
As the others disappeared within the forest shrubbery bordering the camp, Pet crept behind a tent that seemed to have garnered quite the popularity. She could hear Ludlow speaking. "One might say, it'd be up and running." He laughed to himself in satisfaction. "In a moment I'll take you on a stroll through the camp and you'll see some larger, more impressive specimens." The others. He'd see the others and the plan would be foiled. Pet's eyes widened in a fleet of panic. "Mr. Hammond knew this. Before he ever dreamt of an island, he began construction on an amphitheater...very near to where you're sitting now, the InGen Waterfront Complex."
Pet snorted in a flare of anger. John Hammond, that bastard! What else had he been up to since initially dreaming up his dinosaur themed park? Or parks, from the way it sounded. Ludlow paused in his presentation to glance back over his shoulder. What was that? Perhaps it was nothing at all, or maybe one of the caged dinosaurs amongst the menagerie of many.
The CEO continued in his speech. "But, he abandoned it in favor of something far grander and ultimately impossible."
Pet face palmed and shook her head. And what this guy was wanting to do was going to be any different? Wasn't man ever going to learn from their mistakes? Trampling within the jungle and coming her way got her attention. She raised her head to see the vague form of a Triceratops come towards her and the tent she was hiding behind just in time. The hybrid leapt and rolled away from the creature's direct path and watched it tear through the tent and knock over racks of equipment. A toothy smiled curled at her lips and she barked a growl in delight.
Pet snarled. "Take your grand, farfetched dream and stick it up your corporate ass." She snorted. "Like uncle, like nephew. Failure must strong in the blood line." She got to her feet and ran to find the others.
Freed dinosaurs roared, grunted and chirped through the camp as people screamed in fear. Vehicles were flipped over and fires were started. Pet wove amongst the chaos in an attempt to better clear of it. When she finally made it out of the frantic crowd, she heard it; an animal in pain and distress. She ran to the source and hadn't even fully gotten there when she saw it; a young Tyrannosaur laying on the ground and crying for help. This was not good.
Pet could hear Nick calling in the background. "Sarah!"
Pet was about to go to the man, but ducked for cover at seeing a Jeep on fire fly through the air. It crashed onto a tree and sent the two people perched on it crashing to the ground. The hybrid was able to recognize one of the two people as Roland before he and his companion got to their feet and rushed to the camp.
Pet ran to where Nick was, desperately searching the frantic faces and took him by the arm. "Come on. Over here."
Reluctantly he followed, mind racing on where she was taking him. His mental question was answered, however, when he found himself face to face with the baby T-Rex. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me," he blurted. "Is that what I think that is?"
"Do what you can. I'll go find the woman." She was gone before Nick could stop her.
He knelt down beside the desperately crying creature and was lost on what to do for it. It was tied down. Sliding through the mud, he grabbed at the spike buried within the ground and wiggled it loose. It took some effort, but it eventually gave.
Pet bolted between trees, shrubs and remnants of tents and vehicles trying to find the red headed woman, but she was nowhere to be found. Everywhere the hybrid looked, her target was nowhere. One person did manage to get her attention, however, that being Ludlow. Pet made damn sure to stay out of his line of sight. Off in the distance, she could hear the baby Rex bellow out loud and jerked her head around to see Nick run off into the forest with it in his arms. Had the woman, by chance, joined him and she didn't see? The hybrid took off after him, forgetting about the felled camp and InGen's dreams behind her.
