JURASSIC PARK III
7 – Something in the Air
Grant was livid. So much that even Pet chose it best to linger behind the man, a bit, when resuming their journeying through the jungle. Not that she could blame him. She was pretty upset, too. Seemed like more and more they were chipping away at the layers of lies they had been told to unveil the real reasons for the trip. And now, they had finally broken away that last bit to fully uncover everything. Paul Kirby. The boastful, wealthy entrepreneur was merely a small business owner with barely a dime to his name. Figures.
As Grant so wisely put it, they weren't even getting paid for being in such a bad situation. Pet frowned and looked over to Billy, wearing a similar expression. The junior scientist quietly asked the woman. "You think we'll get out of this alive?"
Pet shrugged. "It's possible."
"What about that kid? What are the chances of him still being alive?"
"If he's smart, probable. I survived the island alone for four years."
Billy casually glanced around to make sure their conversation wasn't being over heard. "Yeah, but you also had a lot more experience around these animals as well as tons of survival tactics. This is a twelve-year-old boy who hasn't seen a real dinosaur before and most likely has never been left alone in the wild." The two people met skeptical expressions. "Just saying."
Pet had to agree, though not out loud. She only heaved an exhalation and adjusted her pack straps on her shoulders. Stumbling around through the undergrowth not too far away were the Kirbys, arguing amongst themselves.
Udesky quickened his pace to match Billy's and Pet's. "If we split up, I'm going with you guys."
Once they rounded a series of trees, the stranded group saw something ahead that looked a bit peculiar. Something red and white dangled from a series of tree limbs. Kirby pushed his way past Grant to get a better look. "What's that?"
Udesky shrugged in answering. "Beats me."
Pet sprinted past the group and past Amanda to arrive at the site first. "It's a parachute! And it looks to be fairly recent, too."
Amanda and Paul ran to join the hybrid to see for themselves. Panic filled the two parents' minds as worst-case scenarios flooded their minds. How did a parachute from the coast get this far in to the mainland, only to end up stuck in a tree? Surely a parachute wouldn't be able to navigate this far. Did something, perhaps, grab it and drag it in? Say like, some big flying dinosaur? After all, it was stated that the big finned dinosaur wasn't a part of the company's original species list, leaving to question what else could be out roaming about.
Both Paul and Amanda began calling out, "Eric!"
It took both Grant and Pet demanding the two people quiet their shouting before both finally stopped. As dire as the situation was, Grant was quick to come to terms with the reality of it all. "Mrs. Kirby, the chances are remote they're still in the vicinity."
Pet bit back her true thoughts in exchange for something a bit comforting for the two worried people's sake. Despite her strongly disliking the Kirbys, she still understood this was their son in question and could easily sense and smell their levels of distress. That was, if it wasn't for that lingering stench of something dead and rotting nearby. Hopefully the others didn't smell it. That would be bad.
"That doesn't mean the chances of them being alive is slim." Pet forced out an uncertain smile and shrugged.
Udesky knelt down beside a cam-corder half exposed in some bushes and called out. "Hey guys!"
Paul and Amanda scampered over to join him, Grant and Billy looking to Pet. The latter looked to the hybrid. "Well, do you still think they survived?"
"Look, Mr. Pessimistic...A tangled up parachute in a tree doesn't mean the worst of fates for anyone. Although that smell of something dead and rotting brings to question what's causing it..."
Grant shook his head and continued to examine the parachute, wondering the likelihood of it being salvageable. He was about to ask Billy when the sounds of a recording playing got his attention. The three people turned to see Udesky and the Kirbys huddled around the video camera, watching it.
Out of curiosity, Billy and Grant joined the others while Pet began to climb the tree in an effort to untangle the parachute chords. Good thing she had that machete as she put it to use, chopping vines and side branches to free up some of the cords.
Pet straddled a limb and began scooting across it to where a section of the parachute was snagged. She used the very tip of the machete to help her reach out further and lift the fabric over a broken twig. She called out. "Hey guys... a little help?" They were too occupied in watching the video. "Whatever," she sighed out and continued to work through the horrifically strong rotted flesh smell.
As for the Kirbys, they barely blinked when watching the video. Seeing the two people land in the tree, alive and well, brought relief to Paul. At least they weren't carried off by some big flying dinosaur, as he originally thought.
For Grant and Billy, they had seen enough. Not to mention Pet's calling out for assistance was becoming a bit bothersome. "I've almost got this thing un-snagged. Now if someone can just tug on it a bit to help get it out of this damn tree, that'd be great."
Grant looked from the hybrid and to the parachute. "Can you fly one of those?"
Billy shrugged. "Maybe. As long as the sails not torn."
"Well, let's take it. Nica is already cutting it down, so why not?" The senior scientist reached up to grab a section of it. "If we spot a plane, it might be a good way to get attention."
As the two men began tugging on the parachute, Pet's eyes widened in horror when she saw the source of the ungodly terrible smell. "Guys, wait, wait, wait!" Too late.
A limb cracked and with it, the remains of what Pet could only guess was the adult sent with the boy on their trip. Down from the branches it swung and right into Amanda. The woman began screaming and flailing her arms about which only caused her to get tangled up in the parachute lines attached to the harness strapped around the body's remains.
It took Grant, Paul and Udesky to free the woman. Once she was finally free, she hysterically ran off, screaming into the forest. "Get her back, Mr. Kirby!" Grant pointed at the fleeing woman, his enraged blue eyes on the other man.
Pet shook her head. What a real piece of work, that woman. A tug of the parachute wiggled the branch Pet was seated on and she resumed helping the others free the sail. She cut a small branch out of the way, finally allowing a portion of the strings to break loose. The harness and body fell to the ground, Grant's nostrils filling with the putrid stench. He gagged and tried to wave the smell away from his face, but it seemed to only make it worse.
Billy, himself, choked out a gag and tried to hold his breath while unfastening the harness from around the carcass. Grant had to walk away. The smell of decay was too much for him. Pet saw this and sheathed the machete back in its scabbard she had attached to her belt. She began to crawl down the tree and once close enough to the ground, leapt down.
By now, Billy and Udesky had the parachute completely removed from the tree and were laying it out on the ground to fold back up. Pet read the bold, black lettering across the top of the sail. "Dino-Soar. How appropriate."
Udesky furrowed his brow at the woman. "Sarcastic much?"
"Pfft." She and Grant knelt down to help the others. She helped straightened out the cords while the men folded the fabric as neatly as possible. "Do you even know what you're doing?" She looked to Billy.
"Yeah." He laughed out in answer. "This isn't my first time folding a parachute."
"Well look at that. The Boy Scout comes into use!"
Billy huffed a laugh, Udesky even more confused when looking to the junior scientist. "Why does she keep calling you Boy Scout?"
"Long story."
Off in the distance, Paul could be heard yelling, "Dr. Grant! You should come look at this!"
The paleontologist rose to his feet. What now? What had the Kirbys possibly gotten themselves into this time? He looked to Pet and walked away, Udesky following.
Pet chose to stay with Billy and help him in folding the parachute, never mind her curiosity tearing away at her insides. She looked to her friend. "What do you think they found?"
Billy shrugged. "No idea. Hopefully not the boy's body looking as bad off as that guy." He pointed at the decayed corpse with his eyes. "Come on, help me get this thing folded and packed away. I want to go what the Kirbys found."
Oh shit. That was the only thing in Pet's mind when seeing what it was the Kirbys had stumbled across. Nests full of un-hatched eggs and all of them unoccupied by the dinosaur pack the nests belonged to. Grant's unblinking gaze looked up from the many eggs and to the equally shaken hybrid.
"Veronica..." His voice was shaky. "Are these..."
"Velociraptor." Pet nodded. "Yeah."
"That's what I thought." Grant tried to keep himself composed.
As if things couldn't get any worse, they had found themselves in a raptor's nest. If there was ever a time he could beat Paul Kirby into a pulp, it would be now. Never mind the not listening and landing on the island...or that damned woman attracting the Spinosaur...all of this was because of that damned man!
Grant didn't bother waiting for the others when muttering to himself, "We need to get out of here," while briskly striding away. "The alpha and the rest of the pack can't be too far away. They'll know we've been here...they'll smell our scent." His abruptly stopping in his tracks caused Pet to accidently walk into him. "They won't follow us, will they?"
The hybrid met the man's wide, panicked eyes. "Not without provocation, no. That is, if we leave the immediate area before they get back. Now, if they catch us here then we're fucked."
"Right." Grant was back to briskly striding away.
The rest of the group continued to follow, being mindful of where they stepped when trying to keep up with the scientist. Grant was so focused on hauling it as fast as he could away from the nests that he didn't bother to make sure everyone was accounted for. That was, until he noticed his protégé was nowhere to be found.
Again, he stopped in his tracks and stared motionlessly in the direction they had just come from. "Where's Billy?"
Should he go back? Could he go back? He remembered all too well what it was like being face to face with a raptor and had no intentions of being caught present in one of their nests. Before he knew what he was doing, he was following Pet, charging mindlessly through the underbrush, to where the nests were.
Billy emerged from the undergrowth while zipping up his camera bag. "What are you doing?" Grant scolded. He sounded more like a worried father for his son than an employer to his assistant.
The younger man zipped up the rest of his camera bag and nervously smiled to the two panicked people. "I was photographing the nest."
"Don't do that again." Grant released a breath he had unknowingly been holding.
"I'm sorry." Billy laughed and darted his eyes between both of his friends. There was something in Pet's eyes he didn't feel comfortable with. Or was it that he didn't feel comfortable with her ability to sense unease?
Grant turned on a heel and started to walk away. "If I lose you, it's just me and the damn tourists."
Pet hesitated to follow, her squaring her eyes down on Billy. "You alright?" She questioned, nostrils flaring for a brief moment. "You seem a bit tense."
"Yeah, yeah." The junior scientist laughed again. "Just a little shaken up at walking into a raptor nest."
"And yet you lingered..." Billy gulped the knot in his throat. "Come on..." Pet gave him a final, intense gawk before turning to follow Grant. "We need to get out of here."
The group walked on, following the hybrid through the forest. They trusted she knew where she was going, seeing how she did say she knew her way around the island after all. But the walk felt endless.
Amanda piped up. "Any clue as to where we're going?"
Pet didn't answer the woman's umpteenth time at asking the same repetitive question. It was almost like traveling with a child, constantly asking if they were there yet. A rustling of something in the distance got Pet's attention and she halted in her tracks to look behind the group. She squinted her eyes and cocked her head upwards as though trying to listen in or smell for something abnormal.
Grant gave his own inquiring mind a backwards glance, but saw nothing. "...Nica..." A hiss of a snort came in reply. "What is it?"
After another slow passing, visual examination of the area the hybrid replied. "I thought I heard something. It was probably a Compy or few running around in the bushes. We probably picked some up along the way."
Kirby questioned. "Few?" He instantly started looking around anxiously.
"Not to worry, though. Compy, or Compsonathus, is a chicken sized dinosaur. Basically, harmless if just the one, but after about twelve or so they can be a hazard." Pet looked to Paul and cocked a malicious smile. "On this island, Mr. Kirby, the chicken tends to bite back."
The man kept his attention amongst the bushes where the woman had been looking, not noticing the group walking off without him. When he saw the others roughly twenty-five feet away, he yelped and ran to catch up. No way was he about to be the meal, tonight.
The six people hadn't traveled far when they came across an underlying valley stretching between two mountains. Paul's eyes widened in hope at the sight of a building complex. "I bet you Eric is in there. Don't you think? I bet my bottom dollar."
Billy questioned to Pet. "What do you think it is?"
Udesky took it upon himself to answer. "As far as I'm concerned, it's the Four Seasons."
"Hardly," Pet barked. "Try the Embryonics Lab."
Amanda was next to question. "It's not dangerous, is it?"
"Lady, you're on an island with free roaming dinosaurs and you're worried about a dilapidated building?"
Pet scoffed and shook her head. But it was a valid worry. While Pet wasn't going to admit it, even she was worried. Though they were on the edge of raptor territory, this was a site she remembered them sometimes frequenting. Despite this, there were times she would come here to find it abandoned and visitor free for a few days.
She still kept her guard up, nonetheless. Something didn't feel right in the air and she didn't like it.
