JURASSIC PARK III
12 - Swept Away
Dr. Albert Jacobs stood on the tarmac and watched as the Masrani logo painted Gulfstream G450 taxied to its temporary parking spot. This was not how he expected his Tuesday morning to go. It was right at lunch time, which meant a nice tasty hamburger or even a sandwich from a local fast food chain. No, instead he carrying a heavy duty, specialized brief case containing the requested vials for Pet's viral out cure.
The aircraft came to a stop and its tires chocked. A few short minutes later, a hatch was opened and a stairwell lowered. Jacobs took that as his cue to board the aircraft and did. The inside passenger area was just as luxurious as the geneticist figured it would be. Seated at a table was its owner.
Simon motioned for the newcomer to join him by taking a seat across the table. Jacobs did and gently sat the case down on the floor by his feet. Simon saw the case and inquired. "Do you have all three vials?"
Jacobs nodded, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Yes, sir. I doubt I'll need more than one but for the just in case more are needed…yes. I have all three."
An attractive young Indian stewardess approached the two men, empty champagne glasses in hand. Behind her was a second just as pretty stewardess with an opened bottle of champagne. The glasses were set before the two men and the glasses filled halfway. Simon wasted no time savoring a drink. Jacobs, however, had never been so fortunate to partake in having a glass of champagne on a private owned plane and wasn't sure what to do. To refuse the drink would be an insult, yet he felt to accept it would maybe show a sense of desperation. Aw screw it. What the hell.
Jacobs took the glass and at least gave it a sip. He questioned. "You're for certain she's in Montana? Without a doubt?"
Simon watched the maintenance crew outside perform an aircraft inspection as a fuel truck slowly parked in view of the pilots. "There was a video file on the disk from John Hammond. While the file was unfortunately short, he did divulge Ms. Hammond's location." Simon calmly turned his watch over to the geneticist. "Apparently he saw to it she be allowed to stay with and work alongside a longtime admired paleontologist by the name of Dr. Alan Grant." Jacobs gulped. "But I'm sure you knew this already."
Jacobs fervently shook his head so much that his glasses slipped a little bit down his nose. "No, no absolutely not, sir! I knew she somewhere but up in the mountains some few hours' drive away. Not there, in Montana!"
Dark eyes slimmed down on Jacobs curiously. "Wait a minute, go back. You knew?" The look on Jacobs' face was the epitome of realizing too much was accidently said. "You mean to tell me you've seen her?"
Jacobs opened his mouth to explain, his lower lip quivering nervously. "I'm sorry, sir, I-" He was so totally fired. "They told me not to tell anyone! They're extremely protective of her! I-"
"They? Who's they?"
Jacobs could feel himself get hot beneath his button-down shirt's collar and anxiously pulled at it. "R-Robert Muldoon. Terrence Mitchell and Robert's mouthy nephew…Derek."
Simon couldn't believe what he was hearing. A rush of mixed emotions, all conflicting with the other, swelled in his chest; anger, excitement, frustration… Almost everyone that was on his list of possible leads to finding the hybrid some time ago that all came up empty were only 'some few hours' drive away' as the scientist so worded it.
Despite how angry he felt with the other man at that current moment, he remained as professional as possible. Jacobs continued. "It's how I was able to finish working on the viral out. After Derek kidnapped me, I was able to get some blood samples from Pet, er, Ms. Hammond."
"Kidnapped?"
Jacobs nodded at the surprised look he was getting. "Derek broke into my apartment one night when I was working late. I don't know if you remember that morning I came in all flustered for our meeting… well, that was him…in the red Jeep." Simon was quickly taken back to the day Jacobs was talking about. No wonder things didn't seem right. "It was right after the meeting I was forced to wear a bag over my head and taken up into the mountains somewhere to meet with Ms. Hammond."
"How was she?"
Jacobs saw the same deeply worried look in the man's dark eyes as he did in the hybrid's blue-green ones at the bunker. "She's afraid. Terrified, even. So are the others she was with. They're worried you're out to find her and…kill her… just like the other InGen executives were."
The news was heartbreaking to hear for Simon. He would never imagine of hurting anyone. Just the thought of sickened him. "I would never…most of all the daughter of a very good friend of my family's!"
Jacobs shrugged. "I tried to tell them that, but…" he frowned. "After everything she's been through since her early days in Kenya, I can't really blame her or the others protecting her. They haven't met you, yet…haven't sat down to hear what you have to say. They just see another potentially powerful enemy." An uncomfortable silence hung between the two men before Jacobs continued. "When you do find her…expect possibly violent confrontation from Robert and his nephew. Right now, they're desperate to help her however they can. They know she's sick and that time is of the essence. Their kidnapping me just proves this. While Robert has always been a bit abrasive in situations, he's never been one to agree to abducting someone. I advise you choose your words carefully when explaining yourself if you even want anywhere near her."
Simon was at a loss of what to say or think for the moment. So much he wanted to say to the geneticist but knew this wasn't the time or place. "Looks like I have something to do during the two-and-a-half-hour flight from here to Glasgow, Montana. Not to mention the time it'll take to fly by helicopter from the airport to Dr. Grant's excavation site."
"How…how do you know there's a helicopter at the Glasgow airport?"
"Because I called and had one flown there while I was in route, here."
"Ah. That makes sense. Well… to Montana, then."
Over and over the enraged second Pteranodon assaulted the two people in the rapidly churning river. Pet hoarsely shrilled out and kept trying to grab the animal with each downbeat of its wings, but was having some trouble. Her hands were slippery and every time she had a hold of it, would only lose it. The next idea she had would probably cost her and she was hesitant on acting on it.
The Pteranodon mercilessly pecking at an already weakened Billy made Pet finally act on her plan. When the beast lowered its head for another peck, she grabbed it by the lower part of its beak and screamed in pain when its beak clamped down on her hands. The hybrid forced a leg up out of the water and tore at the soft portion of the animal's belly. Loud, painful roars of the dinosaur echoed the canyon, Pet feeling her hand be released when it opened its beak. But she wasn't releasing it. She resumed tearing at its belly, paying no mind the amounts of blood painting her red.
Another deep slice of Pet's sickle claw completely split its belly open and it falling into the water. Since it no longer posed a threat, being on the brink of dead, the woman looked around for Billy. She couldn't see him. Had he washed further ahead? Did he drown?
"Billy!" As if he would answer.
A strained voice answered back. "Veronica!"
Pet tried to call again, but water rushing into her mouth and down her throat cut her off. She coughed in choking and tried to keep her head above water. That was when she a flash of his shirt from the corner of her eye. Billy was roughly five feet from her so she fought against the rapid water and over to where he was.
"Billy?" She wrapped a firm hand around his arm and drew him to her. "Stay with me."
They needed to get to shore, but how? The current was strong and the water still too deep to get footing. She tried to swim to shore, only to be swept by the current into a rock. A sharp pain tore at her elbow, splitting it open and weakening her outstretched arm. Drowning. Now she was drowning. Her head kept getting submerged every time she tried to gulp for air and knew if she didn't do something quick, it'd be the end of her and Billy, if he wasn't already a goner.
No. Pet wasn't going to allow this happen as she fought to remain afloat. She began to look for a place to swim, if only just higher ground on a rock. Something to get them out of this rough current. All around, the canyon walls towered above her and straight into the water below. There was no shore and the rocks were too jagged to try and take refuge on. At least they were clear of the aviary's cage, now. She could see parts of it through the fog before it disappeared altogether around a curve. There was no way to get back to Grant or the others. Guess it was trying to get to the coast like originally planned.
The water was starting to calm the further downstream they got, which made it easier to navigate the currents. Pet made sure to keep Billy's head above water, hoping a strip of shore would come sooner than later the further they went downstream.
The engines of the Gulfstream G450 came to life just as Simon's cellphone rang in his suit coat's pocket. What now? Jacobs had at least relaxed, a bit, and was drinking more of the champagne. Perhaps that was why he was relaxing better. The both angry and horrified look on the billionaire's face brought back that surge of discomfort Jacobs had just gotten over.
"What? When? Is there proof the unauthorized aircraft even crashed on the island?" Jacobs blinked nervously. Listening to the irate man go off on a tangent about the islands and no trespassers only made him sweat under the collar more so than before. Simon quickly hung up the phone and tossed it aside on the table. "If it's not one thing, it's another," he impatiently stated. "Now I have to figure out what to do about a trespassing aircraft believed to be 'missing' somewhere on Isla Sorna! There's no telling how many people were onboard."
Jacobs remembered another trespassing event in the past involving a wealthy British family and a little girl being brutally mauled by tiny dinosaurs. "When did the plane go down?"
"Sometime yesterday morning. The Costa Rican government official I was just speaking with said radio contact was never established with the aircraft's pilots. Forty minutes after it entered the island's airspace, they lost its signal on their radar." Simon shook his head to himself. He couldn't be too mad at the situation. If people were still this determined to see live dinosaurs, never mind the dangerous risks, then the hope of them willing to pay to safely see them brought him hope of fulfilling John Hammond's dream. "I'm launching an investigation into the situation as soon as I return from Montana."
This baffled Jacobs. "Why so late, sir?"
"The likelihood of someone surviving a plane crash on an already dangerous island is extremely minimal. I'd be surprised if there was even anything left to recover."
Jacobs didn't like the billionaire's choice of words or the tone of voice behind them, but couldn't deny how factually true they were. He shifted uncomfortably in the chair and felt as the plane started to taxi back towards the runway.
Up ahead, Pet could see the canyon cliffs diminish and plant life become visible. She had no idea what awaited them on shore, but knew it beat fighting exhaustion in the river and chancing drowning. Billy was less responsive, which was probably due to his blood loss from his wounds. Yeah, she needed to get them both to shore.
Pet began to swim the best she could to mainland, biting past the pain at her injured elbow. A low hanging tree limb appeared to provide something to hold onto and assist with getting to shore. She reached out and grabbed it once close enough and screeched in pain when flexing her hand. She had forgotten about her hand being injured when the Pteranodon bit down on her knuckles during her attacking it.
The skin stretching caused whatever blood clot had formed to break open. She wasn't about to let go of the limb, though. A sharp bark like cry escaped her as her injured arm was completely extended in her efforts to keep Billy from being taken from her by the river.
One good hoist brought the two people closer to land. Footing was established and Pet able to stumble onto the sandy, grass patched earth. She collapsed onto the dirt, Billy groaning in pain at his own impacting the ground.
Pet weakly looked over to him to check on him. "Hey..." Her voice was raspy and barely a whisper. "You okay?" She could see his mouth try to form words, but like her, barely had any energy. Again, this brought to mind his wounds and she knew she had to treat him. "Hang in there, buddy."
She tried to get up and had herself propped up for a moment before collapsing again. Her body refused to cooperate. The hybrid started recalling the different plants and herbs she used when making a medicinal, herbal paste to help with healing wounds. She had to find some. Again, she tried to get up, but a weight on her shoulders kept her grounded. Her backpack. It being waterlogged, as well as its contents, weighed a lot more than when dry. She began recalling the bag's contents and what was causing so much additional weight when wet.
The first aid kit! She had recovered it from the plane shortly after crashing. With a little more effort than Pet was expecting, she un-shouldered the burdensome bag and tugged at the drawstrings to open it. She still had two bottles of unused water and there, underneath them was the broken first aid kit.
Thank goodness everything was packaged in plastic, otherwise the gauze bandages would be useless. "Okay, Billy...here we go." Pet scattered the bag's contents on the river bank and observed her barely conscious friend. "You're going to have to help me so I can get you patched up, okay?" Not waiting for him to say no, she began removing his two shirts. "I need to get your shirt off so I can treat your wounds."
It took a bit of convincing, and some struggling, but Billy finally gave in and obliged.
Grant remained unblinking at the passing by scenery, slowly becoming darker in contrast to the early evening. He felt sick to his stomach and numb everywhere. Veronica. She was still out there and with no idea on how she was doing. Did the Pteranodon finish her off? Did she drown? Did her illness get the best of her? His mind was tortured with the what ifs and uncertainty of the hybrid's condition.
Sometimes, when he got to thinking about it for so long, he thought he could almost hear her call out to him. He'd then look around, just knowing it was her following the boat from the shore. He'd frantically look around, even startling the Kirbys when doing so. They, too, would sometimes look around half expecting something to be there. Of course, nothing was.
And it further saddened Grant to the point of complete isolation. He stood at the bow of the boat and gazed off into the distance. A medium sized python could be seen lounging on a branch overhanging the water, everyone seeing it except him. He could care less.
He excelled a labored breath, unaware he was so emotionally distraught. Eric had been watching the man and it pained him. Slowly, he approached the much older and well-respected scientist. "Dr. Grant?"
The addressed man turned to face the timid boy, looking so innocent in his intentions. "Hey, Eric. How are you doing?"
Grant forced himself to sit down, his knees aching in protest to bending. He'd been standing there for so long, they had become stiff. Was he really getting that old? Come to think about it, all of him felt sore and not just from age, either. Running for one's life for so long could do that to a person, especially when not in the habit of it.
Eric squeezed out a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry about Billy...and Veronica"
Grant clenched his jaw in annoyance. He was having a tough enough time trying to come to terms with his protégé's assumed fate and the hybrid running off to save him that he didn't need this kid picking at the still raw wound from it all.
"Veronica is strong. She used to work and even live on this island all by herself. If she survived, then, she'll survive now. As for Billy...well...You know what the last thing I said to him was?" Repeating the words in his head angered him. He couldn't even begin to fathom how it hurt Billy, when thinking about it. "I said, 'You're as bad as the people that built this place'." He shook his head to himself. "Which wasn't true. Billy was just young. That's all. I have a theory that there are two kinds of boys." Grant held up one finger to show. "There are those who want to be astronomers," he then held up a second finger, "and those who want to be astronauts."
Eric sat and listened to every word spoken, finding it hard to believe he was sitting there at that present moment. For a little while, there, he was beginning to think he was going to be permanently stranded on the island like what he saw in a movie. Too bad he didn't have a ball to call his make-believe friend.
The idea of parasailing off the island crossed his mind, but then came the issue of what all was out there in the ocean that could get him? How far would he have to go before rescued? Would it even work? He knew eventually he'd come across the Costa Rican coast, should he not venture off in the wrong direction. Then came to mind the fact he was sitting there, staring in amazement at a man he saw as a childhood hero. Eric almost wanted to pinch himself, it seemed that too good to be true. He lowered his head in contemplation to what had been said and nodded to himself.
Warmth of the sun washing over him drew his attention upwards to see a field stretching beyond the river's banks. Grazing and walking within it were several Brachiosaurs and Stegosaurs. "Dr. Grant..."
The boy's sideways attention was followed by Grant's, both people standing to observe the majestic creatures. Even Paul and Amanda found themselves fascinated by the wondrous and almost magical scene.
Eric's broad smile stretched between his ears and lit up his once saddened eyes. "You know what...Billy was right."
