ADAPTATIONS

9 – Hammond's Dying Wish

The slightly trembling hands of the bed-ridden John Hammond held onto two items he had come to regard as his yin and yang. One kept a copy of a report made four years ago by a former game warden at his Animal Kingdom zoo hired by his nephew to do the unthinkable. The report was detailed and explained all the events that had occurred during the hired hunting trip. Hammond always had trouble reading the report, especially the part where it mentioned sufficient evidence of the hybrid's demise.

Not today.

It was the first time Hammond was able to read through the report without becoming wrought with grief. For he knew, those words were empty and held no truth. Weary blue eyes traveled to a wallet-sized picture of his beloved Pet in his opposite hand. It was seeing the hybrid that tore him apart. Through all the doubt and the odds she faced, she had managed to survive. The relief in knowing she had been safely recovered off the island and at Dr. Grant's dig site in Montana helped ease a lot of the man's emotional turmoil. At least he got to see her for himself one more time before his health took a further turn for the worse.

He dropped the letter next to an opened document envelope beside him to solely focus on the picture. Ever so tenderly, he traced the features of the young woman's portrait with a delicate finger. "I will do whatever I can with the remaining time I have to see to it your future is protected." From where he laid in his bed, Hammond could hear a car pull up to the front of his mansion. "I promise," he whispered to the picture and placed it in the file containing the report and slid them under a pillow beside him.


Once the car came to a complete stop, and the chauffeur opened the back door did its passenger get out. Out into the beautiful day and gentle breeze stepped a navy blue-suited Indian man in his early thirties. Simon Masrani's eager, dark brown eyes took in the elaborate home as he buttoned his suit coat and made his way to the house's front door.

His ringing the doorbell was quickly answered, and he greeted pleasantly by Hammond's butler. "Mr. Masrani," the butler smiled in welcome. "Please, come inside. Mr. Hammond has been expecting you." The door was closed behind the visitor, and he led upstairs. "I apologize for Mr. Hammond being unable to greet you himself upon arrival. He has been in bad health and encouraged by his doctors to stay in bed until deemed well enough to move about the premises."

"I am sorry to hear that," Simon somberly reply.

The butler and guest arrived at the home owner's closed bedroom door and the butler gently knocked his knuckles against it. Upon being called inside, the man did so and smiled to his long time employer. "Mr. Masrani has arrived, sir."

Hammond's spirits lifted and his blue eyes sparkled with delight. "Excellent! Let him in! Let him in!" In stepped Simon, who became saddened by the apparent decayed state of the still jovial old man. "Simon, my boy! So good to see you were able to make it!"

Simon wasn't about to let his grave concerns for the ailing man weigh down his desire to make the most out of his visit for the both of them. "John! I wasn't about to pass up this opportunity to see you. You have always been there for my family and I throughout the years. It's the least I can do." Being on such good terms, they skipped the handshake as Simon gave a caring hug to the man he and his father so greatly revered.

Hammond gestured to an off-white cushioned chair at the foot of the bed. "Pull that chair around here, will you? So we can get started."

Simon did so and took a seat beside the bed. "My condolences for the loss of your nephew."

Hammond scoffed. "I appreciate your thoughts, but he deserved what he had coming to him." The first thing that came to mind was Peter Ludlow hiring a hunting party to find and kill Pet. "His reckless actions are what led to the unfortunate events in San Diego and the further downward spiral of my company. Should you decide to follow through with the company integration," Hammond stated with desperate eyes, "understand there's quite the mess to clean up. There's a tarnished reputation that needs polishing. I had great plans for my company...great plans that came crashing down because one person." Simon's brow lowered and his dark eyes subtly slimmed. "It's because of those plans that I called you here. If there is anyone I know that can achieve the seemingly impossible, it's you."

The younger man sat in silence for a minute before answering. "But InGen has already accomplished so much. What was it you wanted to see done?"

Hammond's eyes pooled with threatening tears. "A park. A wonderful...park." His lower lip started to quiver. "Dedicated to a prehistoric world."

"Jurassic Park," Simon breathed.

The old man nodded. "Yes. I know you can succeed where I failed. Nothing would make this old man happier than to see that dream become a reality in the shape of a beautiful world." A slight smile was visible through his white beard.

"A Jurassic world…" was spoken as more of an out loud thought. Simon carefully took Hammond's hand in his and nodded in certainty. "I will do what I can within my power to make that dream a reality."

Hearing this made the ill man feel alive with hope. He gave as tight a squeeze to the younger man's hand as he could. "Spare no expense, dear boy. It'll be worth every cent, I guarantee it." The two men shared a mutual smile. "There's one more thing. As you said, InGen has accomplished so much. However, not all of their accomplishments can be shared with the world." Simon cocked his head to the side as a slight crease formed between his brows in bafflement. "There is one, in particular, that is the greatest InGen ever created, though my board of executives will disagree."

"What could be greater than re-creating prehistoric animals and even creating a new hybrid plant? I must say, that alone, is impressive. It was Dr. Wu's incredible achievement that renewed my interest in what InGen had to offer. What you are proposing could not have been more perfectly timed."

"You have no idea."

Simon was about to ask what was meant by that when Hammond picked up an opened document envelope. He tipped it upside down and out slid a thin black disk case into his hands. "What is that?"

Hammond looked down at it as though a priceless treasure, and to him it was. "This..." he tapped the top of it with his fingers, "contains everything pertaining to InGen's greatest creation. It is password encrypted to ensure the information it contains stays safe and secured."

Simon visually studied the black case. When he returned his attention to his good friend, there was something in those blue eyes that was emotionally painful to look at. "May I ask what it is InGen created?"

Hammond met Simon's curious stare with a stern one. "No. The time isn't right." The young man was slightly offended that he wasn't trusted enough with something so sensitive. "Their safety depends on this disk not falling into the wrong hands. I have done everything I can to keep my little accomplishment safe. I am trusting you to do what is necessary to continue what I cannot." Reluctantly and with a heavy heart, Hammond held out the black disk case. Simon was just as hesitant to accept it but did nonetheless. "Know this, finding her will not be easy. When you do, expect strong resistance." The mental image of Muldoon with a high-powered rifle and his nephew with his many assortment of pistols came to mind. It brought a pleased smile to the old man to know she was well protected. "Possibly even violent."

A rush of horror flashed through Simon's eyes. "Will this," he held up the disk, "help me find...her?"

"No, no. You'll need the password before you can even access what's stored on that disk and the password is something you'll have to figure out for yourself." Simon stared at the man with a mix of emotions, most of which were frustration and puzzlement. "Only an extreme few people know the password. Even then, they're not fully aware they know it."

Okay. This little cryptic game John Hammond was playing was wearing down Simon's patience. He was hoping by now, with how close the two families had become that they would be past the hush, hush secrecy. "How will I know what the password is, then?"

"You'll know," Hammond beamed, "when you find her."

Simon wondered what this 'her' was. Was it one of his dinosaurs? Maybe a clone of an animal? Perhaps a recreated an otherwise extinct animal like the Dodo Bird, or Tasmanian Tiger. What else could he possibly be talking about? Would could InGen have created?


Simon slid back into the tan leather backseat of the black car he had previously ridden in; mind pulled in several different directions. He sat there, deep in thought, as the vehicle drove forward. He withdrew the black disk case out of his suit coat's inside pocket and stared intently at it. What was on this thing to be kept so damned secretive? Unfortunately, he didn't have access to InGen files to start his self-driven investigation. That was to come, later, after successfully integrating the troubled company within his name's much more successful one.

Until then, the ever burning questions of what it was he agreed to would continue to plague him.