PREPARATIONS
12 – The Pains of Life and Death
Sunset surrendered to nightfall, nine-o-clock becoming eleven-twenty. Most of the yacht's passengers had retreated to their rooms, but not all. Muldoon chose to remain in the office and keep watch over Pet. He poured him a cup of coffee, as strong as he could tolerate, and returned to his chair beside the billionaire's in front of the monitors.
The screens' glow cast shadows on Simon's features, making him appear even more drained of energy. His half-lidded bloodshot eyes only added to the look. In front of his person were two empty cups of what used to be chai tea.
On the body cam monitors, Pet was asleep under a travel blanket. She had taken off the harness and set up next to her. The earpiece was still secured in her left ear, letting Muldoon know he needed to be extra quiet to not wake her. A glance at the map showed the Spinosaur still at its den, which relieved him.
He studied the man beside him next. "How about to you get some rest? No telling what tomorrow will be like." A small sip of coffee was taken; it being way too hot to drink.
A barely audible grumble was the only thing heard in response.
Inside the water truck, Pet lightly stirred and even occasionally whimpered in her sleep. Actual rest had been difficult for her to come by, most recently in the past days. PTSD from her time on the islands terrorized her dreams.
Muldoon wore the guilt of this the most. He pushed to have Pet transferred to help manage the animals at Jurassic Park. She never would have been made to endure such psychological trauma had she stayed in Kenya. Then again, if at the zoo, she never would have met the renowned paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, nor would she have gotten a chance to live out her dream in Montana.
Another thought occurred to him, her being hunted. Regardless of where the hybrid ended up, InGen still would have gone to hell from the events of Jurassic Park. Peter Ludlow would be placed in charge of the company, and his hate for what Pet was would undoubtedly still be there. If Pet hadn't have gone to the islands, she would have been at the zoo…placing her right under Ludlow's nose. After all, when he went to the zoo to ask about her, he intended to see her to her demise, then. If Ludlow hadn't tried to kill her shortly after taking charge of InGen, would its next interim CEO, Jonathon Stevens, still have done what he did? Would Pet being at the zoo still be a significant risk to her life?
But her being in Kenya would have also put her within arm's reach of the motivated Simon Masrani. She would've been cured of her illness much sooner than before. It was so difficult to know for certain if having her transferred to the islands saved her or just put her in unnecessary harm's way.
THWONG! echoed the inside of the water truck. Pet jerked upright, raptor eyes wide. "What was that?"
Muldoon's voice answered. "Pet? Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, yeah, I can hear you."
"Remain calm, stay focused." Grey eyes checked the map. Before the woman could question, he answered. "It's still at its den." Another THWONG had her barking a terrifying screech. "Quiet! Before you wake up the whole bloody island!" Pet momentarily left the body cam's view.
Simon was just as alert in his chair with horror painting his face. "What is she doing? She's not going out there, is she?"
The hatch was heard opening, then, "Oh, wow." The camera's view changed as she held up the harness to show the outside. "Can you see them? They're just Brachiosaurs feeding on the trees and plants around the area."
Barely visible in the moonlight were three massive herbivores wading through the marshlands. One of them had accidentally bumped into the water tuck in its passing.
Simon was awestruck. "They're beautiful!"
Muldoon forced himself to calm down from a near heart attack. "Well, there's some good news. Not everything on that island is trying to kill my little girl."
Pet watched the graceful animals slosh about the area and smiled.
The marsh quieted down, and Pet was back asleep. She was resting peacefully until ten-fifteen in the morning. Derek shouting, "Son of a bitch!" had her wide awake and screeching in horror again.
Golden yellow eyes scanned the inside of the tanker truck. She remembered where she was and rubbed her face. It felt like someone had dumped a truckload of sand in her eyes, as they felt gritty.
The hybrid groaned, and she readjusted the earpiece hanging halfway out of her ear. "Seriously, Derek, what the hell?" Terrence's laughter filled her hearing, making her curious. "What did I miss?"
Every time Terrence tried to say something, fits of laughter stopped him. Derek continued cussing to himself. "Masrani is going to murder me."
Terrence finally explained. "Dip shit, over here, spilled his coffee all over the desk, floor, and keyboard."
Pet bit her lips together in a grim frown and reached for the harness in front of her. "Well, it was nice knowing you."
Derek jeered. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."
"Where's my bestest friend on the whole island?"
Terrence leaned backward in his chair to better look around Derek, cleaning up his mess. "It's been at its den all morning."
Derek held the office trashcan under the ledge of the desk and brushed what he could of the coffee into it with his hand. "That thing hasn't moved all morning. I'm beginning to wonder if it died of indigestion in its sleep."
"It would be a better death than what I planned for it."
Pet readied herself for another day with an MRE breakfast, then left the truck's safety to smear herself down with a fresh layer of mud. Large footprints from the Brachiosaurs that moved through the area earlier in the night dotted the marsh banks and into the tree line.
She followed Terrence's directional guidance to the Spino's den and dropped down to a belly crawl the closer she got. Animal bones were partially mashed into the soft earth. The reek of decomposing flesh had the air thick with flies and made breathing difficult. Pet was thankful for her strong stomach, or she'd be seeing her MRE again.
The hybrid quietly moved closer to the central part of the den. Peering through a large banana leaf plant gave her an excellent visual of a built-up mound of dead tree limbs, leaves, and dirt in what Pet guessed was the Spinosaur's nest.
She looked this way and that. "Location?"
Derek was working on dismantling the keyboard, hoping that he could get it to work again by cleaning it out. He greatly doubted it but kept his fingers crossed, nonetheless. "What do you mean, location? You should be right in front of it."
Terrence shrugged. "Yeah, it's twelve meters from your position."
"What direction?"
Derek stopped what he was doing to slowly look up at the screens. "Reposition your front body cam. What are you looking at right now?"
The view of the front cam changed from looking at the ground to the nest. Terrence was intrigued. "It looks like an alligator or crocodile nest. Fascinating."
Pet snarled. "This is no time for a science lesson. Where's the fucking dinosaur?"
"It should be right in front of you."
Pet cautiously crawled out of hiding and stepped closer to the nest. Hooking a sickle claw into the outside wall let her scale its slight incline better without slipping and falling. She crouched down inside it and instantly felt sick.
Wedged in a tangle of twigs was a blinking device two inches in length. On one end of it was a blood-stained hook, where it had snagged the animal. Terrence stammered. "Is…is that what I think…"
Waves of dread and nausea overcame the hybrid. "Someone tell Masrani we have a problem."
Derek was already out of his chair, headset thrown towards Terrence as he bolted out of the office. "Dad! Dad!"
By the time he reached the stairs to go below deck to the suites, Muldoon was already scrambling up them two at a time. "What? What is it?"
"The tracker! It fell off!"
Both people rushed to the office room, almost crashing into Simon in the process. Terrence was sitting in the office chair and trying his best to keep Pet calm. Both the forward and back camera views showed the forest whizzing past in a green blur. She was running, and probably her fastest, out of the central territory region.
Roland and Paul came into office next, followed by Hoskins, Dr. Carlyle, and Valerie. Everyone was crammed inside the office in less than five minutes, including one of the InGen team members. Fervent breathing and underbrush whipping Pet in passing sounded through the desk's speaker.
The next thing froze everyone's blood. The Spinosaur roared out, its snout suddenly bursting into view through a curtain of leafy vines to Pet's right.
The woman dropped to the ground and slid just under the massive creature's jaws. Its front claws slammed down dangerously close to her leg and slashed at the dirt. Pet was back up on her feet and dodging another attack.
"Run! Run! It's right behind you!" Pet had never heard Terrence sound so terrified before.
Simon looked at Hoskins. "Get your team to that island and bring Veronica back safely."
The heavy-set man smirked and nodded. "You got it, boss."
Muldoon interjected, "I'm coming, too."
A firm grasp took hold of his upper arm. Furious greys eyes fell on who dared to stop him. Roland met his good friend's gaze with equal concern. "Take my Nitro. I would go with you, but there isn't enough room on the heli." Muldoon quickly left the room.
Of all the panicked voices filling the earpiece, Pet heard Simon tell her, "Get back to the shelter! My men are on their way!"
Her feet practically flew over the makeshift bridge to the truck. She hurtled into its sealed door and jerked it open. Pet jumped inside and pulled the door closed behind her, but it was ripped out of her grip. A strong force pulled the door right off its rusted hinges, leaving the hybrid exposed to attack.
The Spinosaur roared out thunderously, Pet yelling a shrill in return. She pressed her back against the inside bottom of the truck, trying to stay out of the dinosaur's grasp. Its front claws reached into the tanker, knocking over a cluster of supplies along one of the walls. They pummeled Pet and the intruding arm, the Spinosaur's claws snagging on the backpack.
Pet reached for her bag to rescue it, almost getting injured in the process. The bag was ripped open, spilling its contents all over the bottom of the tanker. She furiously shrilled and kicked a foot out defensively. Its sickle claw pierced thick skin, leaving a gash in the Spinosaur's wrist. Painful roars were deafening. Pet hoped it'd deter the animal from further attacking her, but it didn't. It only made it that much angrier.
Claws scratching metal, monstrous thuds against the tanker along with the Spinosaur and Pet screeching out made it impossible to hear anything through the earpiece. Another good scratch on the swiping forearm stopped the dinosaur's frenzied attacks. Just when Pet thought she had won the fight, she found herself wrong.
Toothed jaws drove into the hatch's opening. It snorted and grunted, strong front claws continuously raking against the outside of the truck. Then the impossible happened as Pet felt the truck roll more onto its side. Claws punctured the tanker, allowing water to make its way into the shelter.
The rusted metal started to give way more and more beneath the creature's weight and strength. The shelter began to buckle, cracks forming where sheets of metal had been bolted down to the truck's frame. This just allowed more water to invade the confined space. Narrow slits from the dinosaur's claws working into the tanker became wider. Any more of this and there wouldn't be much between her and the beast outside.
A flicker of yellow beneath a fallen over crate got the hybrid's attention; it was the flare gun. She took hold of it but found it had been separated from its cartridges. By now, the water was ankle-deep in the truck and quickly getting deeper. Somewhere in the murky depths were the cartridges.
The Spinosaur clawed at the hatch's opening, tearing it open a little bit more. Pet just thought it was strong enough to provide adequate protection, but she underestimated the metal's heavily corroded condition. The more the animal attacked the outside of the tanker, the more it weakened its structure. Pet was trapped with nowhere to go. She could only hope Hoskins and his men were coming with a heavy arsenal of firepower.
Inside the office, the rear body cam's view turned to static. "Shit!" raged Terrence. "We lost the second cam!"
Meanwhile, in the InGen helicopter, Muldoon was assembling Roland's Nitro. He could hear everything being said inside the office through Hoskins' radio. Two ammo cartridges were loaded into the rifle, and it secured shut. Across the helicopter, the head of InGen security was deviously smirking.
Pet kicked at the prying snout again, her toe's claws ripping into its thick skin. Another deafening roar had Pet's ears ringing. She grabbed onto whatever she could, shrieking and shrilling out in both fear and rage. The Spinosaur's front, clawed hands widened the hatch, even more, allowing the animal to stick its nose further inside. The truck was rolled over a little bit more, Pet seeing a flare cartridge before it fell back into the water. She reached in its direction, frantically feeling around for it. Her hand clamped around the desired item, and it was loaded into the flare gun. The one-second distraction was the dinosaur's moment of success. Claws snagged onto the harness and yanked Pet forward into the now thigh-deep water.
She gasped and choked, fighting with the harness's buckle. Sickle claws were blindly trashed around, their sharp points impacting flesh. Pet didn't care where she made contact and drug her claws downward.
Liquid warmth trickled down her leg, and the grasp on the harness loosened. The hybrid resurfaced and fought for a breath of air. Bleeding gashes shined on the lower jaw of the dinosaur. How she didn't get bit was astonishing.
The Spino drove its blooded snout into the truck once more, Pet barking out an angry shrill. The flare gun was aimed right at a nostril of the Spinosaur and fired. The brilliant light from a flare blinded her, and agonizing roars disoriented her. The dinosaur slammed this way and that into the truck. It yanked its head out of the hatch and clawed at the searing pain coming from its nostril.
What she couldn't immediately see, those inside the office could. Paul shouted, "Get out of there! Get out now while it's distracted!"
Pet jumped out of the truck, fell into the water at the animal's feet, and clamored to the makeshift bridge. As soon as her feet contacted a solid surface, she was desperately running, again. She didn't care what direction she was going in as long as it took her away from her attacker.
"You need to run faster, Veronica! Run faster! It's catching up!"
The hybrid lost her footing and tumbled down a ditch. She was quick to recover from the fall, and her footing reobtained. The fumble gave her the advantage of losing her pursuer but not for long. Pet wove this way and that through trees, roots, and vines, barely managing to outpace the Spinosaur.
Derek cheered. "That's it, Pet, that's it! Keep going! You're losing it!"
Pet darted to the right then the left, the Spinosaur becoming tangled in a series of thick vines. The hybrid wasn't about to stop so soon and kept running for another minute. She glanced over her shoulder to see if she was being followed, and in finding it all clear, slowed her pace. Pet turned around and quietly back peddled, wide eyes locked in the direction she had just come from.
Hissed screeching sounded behind her. Pet froze on the spot. Golden yellow eyes examined the small mounds of dirt and reeds around her. Clusters of eggs filled them, and the realization hit her. Just as Amanda Kirby did before her last year, Pet did the same just then. She unknowingly ran right into a Velociraptor nest. Movement from the corner of her eye had her looking right over at a male raptor, not but six feet from where she stood.
Pet released a breath and slowly turned around. Facing her were three more raptors, two of them males and one a female. Rustling brushes to her left revealed a juvenile male. She was surrounded.
Simon's brow lowered at the medium-sized creatures. "Are those…?"
Roland's stomach lunged into his throat. "Velociraptors."
Derek brought a hand to his mouth, his eyes watering up. He had only heard stories about them from everyone who had survived them, most namely his dad, Pet, Dr. Grant, and Billy. And now, she was face to face with a small pack of them. His voice was strained as he spoke. "Pet, you need to get the fuck out of there."
Pet couldn't move even if she wanted, no needed to. The Spinosaur roared somewhere in the distance behind her. In front of her and closing in all around her were the raptors. "Where am I supposed to go?" She slowly lowered herself, arms held out, and head lowered. Her raptor eyes remained locked onto those just like hers.
Roland's voice spoke the loudest into her ear. "Veronica, listen to me. Do what you can to last a few more minutes. Robert and the InGen team should be there very soon."
The woman swallowed the knot of nerves constricting her throat. "I know what I'm doing. There's a reason I survived for as long as I did through what I did." Pet dropped to a knee, her quietly chirp barking to the surrounding raptors. The female cocked her head to the side and neared the hybrid.
The scent coming off the strange one was familiar, and she nudged the side of the intruder's head with her snout. The sounds the strange one made were like their own, too. It wasn't challenging. It wasn't aggressive. It chirped again, and the juvenile male barked a screech.
Pet felt vibrations in the ground become stronger. The Spinosaur came into the raptors' view and roared. Loud shrills were given to the second intruder in warning. The juvenile charged at the larger predator, fearless and daring. Much larger jaws snapped at the air, narrowly avoiding the male raptor as it lunged onto its shoulder.
Sickle claws ripped and tore at the thick skin, drawing blood from the injuries. The Spinosaur spun around, shaking its body. The raptor lost its grip just enough for its tail to be grabbed by three-inch-long teeth. It cried a roar in pain and was forcefully yanked off the intruder. Off into the forest underbrush, it was thrown, Pet unsure if it survived or not.
What it started inspired its adult packmates. They charged at the looming predator, shrilling in rage. They zoomed past the hybrid and tackled the predator from all angles. Pet spun around, losing her balance, and falling backward. She watched the pack overwhelm the beast and, too, felt inspired. Her own battle shrills joined the raptors,' and she sprinted towards it. Muscular legs sprung her onto its haunch as claws anchored her in place.
The Spinosaur was beyond furious and stomped this way and that. One raptor clung onto its neck, but the larger animal embedded its front claws into its attacker. It was effortlessly peeled off and tossed to the ground. The Spinosaur slammed its side into a tree, slightly uprooting it and knocking another raptor off. Before it could get off the ground, toothed jaws clamped down on it. Breaking bones came from the raptor as it was nearly bit in half.
Another spin had Pet digging her claws into the muscle of its haunch for a better grip. The Spinosaur crashed into another tree, this time sending Pet falling to the unforgiving ground. She scurried for cover under a large-leafed plant and watched as another wave of four raptors rejoined their pack.
The helicopter flew over the marshland and hovered over the demolished truck. Muldoon felt sick at the sight. What was once the top hatch had been ripped open along with much of the tanker's sides from claw marks.
Hoskins shook his head. "No way anyone could survive that."
Roaring in the distance got the helicopter occupants' attention. Muldoon shook his head. "No, she's still alive, and we need to hurry, or she won't be for much longer."
Hoskins pressed the radio to his ear, barely able to make out his employer's voice. He heard just enough to repeat, "She's west-northwest in a raptor nest!" Muldoon was lost for words in gut-wrenching fear. "The pack is currently fighting it!"
"What are we waiting for? Get us there!"
The pilot navigated the helicopter in that direction. The bearded team member opened the door and aimed his rifle outside. Any sign of movement from either the primary target or anything else that looked threatening would be shot.
The rustling of treetops let the team know where the fight was happening. It was extremely difficult to see anything through the dense jungle canopy. A quick flicker of movement had the bearded man focusing on that point. Another glimpse and a shot was fired. The Spinosaur roared, but it had no effect on it, other than supremely pissing it off.
Pet heard the helicopter and saw its dark grey form hovering above. She wanted to run out of her hiding but knew doing so would be of great risk to her life.
Muldoon shoved the bearded man out of the way. "Move!"
He adjusted the Nitro's fifty-yard express sight and firmly planted the butt of it into his shoulder. The rifle was aimed at the clear view of the target's back fin. Since both barrels were loaded and he didn't want to accidentally fire both rounds, its rearmost trigger was pulled. Thank God he was wearing a helicopter headset; otherwise, he'd be slightly deafer. The single-shot exploded in being fired, throwing Muldoon's shoulder back in its recoil.
The Spinosaur cried out in pain and clawed at the air in rage. Pet heard the rifle shot and felt some relief. She wasn't sure where the dinosaur had been shot until she saw streaks of blood coming from a front section of its back fin. Between the raptors attacking it and now this, the Spinosaur fled the nest.
Muldoon aimed and pulled the forward trigger, firing the second shot. It grazed the animal's flank, it bellowing in pain again. The expended casings were ejected, and another two rounds were withdrawn from their safekeeping beneath his leather belt.
Hoskins waved a hand under his throat. "Hold off! I'm getting word it's retreating!"
Pet watched the Spinosaur run off out of sight. Two of the surviving male raptors took off after it, the others choosing to stay with what remained of the nest.
The female stared hard in contemplation at the strange one, a snarl heard coming from it. If it wasn't for its intrusion, the fierce one wouldn't have come along. Bushes swayed next to where the strange one sat. Hobbling into view was the young one, its tail blooded. The female rushed to it, softly chirping and squawking.
Pet watched the juvenile weakly approached the dead raptor sprawled on the ground. The many broken bones in its body contorted its form. Next to its nose were several damaged eggs. Visible within their shattered shells was a heartbreaking sight that made Pet choke up in sobs. Baby raptors appearing as though due to hatch any day now were dead inside. The Spinosaur must have stepped on them when fighting off the raptors.
The female nudged one of them and strained a bark. Pet wept at what she had accidentally brought upon the nest. Had it not been for her, none of this would've happened. She brought her bloodied, clawed hands to her face, and wailed out in great sorrow.
The remaining packmates returned to the nest, finding the broken eggs. One of the males nuzzled the female in consoling and turned his attention to the strange one.
Pet just knew this was it and slowly got to her feet. She mimicked the female's mournful sounds in her relaying her equal sadness and stood there, waiting for her end. Instead, the raptors turned their backs to her to check on the rest of the eggs.
Pet could barely make out Derek's voice through her damaged radio. It didn't immediately occur to her that her earpiece had become detached. "Get out there while the going is good." She slowly backed away from the nest. "Follow the chopper. It'll pick you up at a safe point."
The hybrid did just that and arrived at the airfield. She bounded into the helicopter's open side door and clung onto Muldoon. "I killed them!" she sobbed. "I didn't mean to! Those baby raptors…I didn't mean to!" Quite frankly, he could care less about dead raptors. Good riddance! But he comforted the upset hybrid, regardless.
"It's all right, Pet. You're all right."
The helicopter touched down on the yacht. The door opened, and Pet was welcomed back by her companions. Derek nearly knocked his dad down, getting to the hybrid before the others. He held her, weeping into her shoulder.
He sniffed back and sob and waved a hand in front of his face. "Holy shit, you need a shower!"
Pet scoffed, her voice hoarse and lacking energy. "I need a lot of things. A shower is just the start of it." Raptor eyes met bloodshot sleep-deprived dark brown ones. Something told her Simon had not slept a single bit since she left for the island. "If I may, I'd like to review the recorded camera footage, especially that brief bit of footage with the Spino and raptors." The harness was removed and dropped to the helipad. "After I get cleaned up."
Weary footsteps carried her below deck. Dr. Carlyle was right at her heels, ushering the hybrid into her suite's shower. "You're going nowhere until I medically clear you."
The hot water rushing over her sore body eased much of her muscles' tension. Traces of blood and bits of mud spiraled down the drain, the hybrid watching it be washed away. Pet sat at the bottom of the tiled shower, curled up on herself. It made it that much more problematic for Dr. Carlyle to thoroughly check her for any injuries. So far, all she saw were bruises, scrapes, and the cut on the inside of her right foot.
It was a damn miracle that was all she got in the way of injuries given everything she watched happen inside the water truck and at the raptor nest. Carlyle took the hybrid's hair down out of its muddy bun and washed its medium length. More mud and even some moss fell out.
After twenty minutes of just shampooing the hybrid's hair alone, Pet was finally cleaned and in a fresh change of clothes. Clawed feet padded to the office room where everyone was re-watching the water truck fight.
Hoskins was practically glowing in satisfaction. "I have to hand it to them, BioSyn had the right idea for your creation…wanting to make your kind into a weapon."
Pet's arms were wrapped around her chest and a look of confusion on her face. "What are you talking about? BioSyn didn't create me…InGen did. Doctor Jacobs, to be specific, and I wasn't created to be a weapon. I was a science fuck up."
Hoskins' smile faltered a bit. "You mean, you don't know?" He looked from the hybrid and to the billionaire. Eight pairs of eyes did the same in question.
Pet shifted nervously on the spot. "What's he talking about?" The wealthy remained silent, hand resting on his tense lips and jaw muscles flexing. "Simon? What do you know that you're not telling me?"
There was no hiding it anymore, thanks to his head of security. Whether the spilling of the beans was intentional or not was a conversation Simon planned to conduct in private, later. "In November of two thousand, Dr. Albert Jacobs visited my office with a confession, the reason for your creation. BioSyn learned of John Hammond coming across a piece of fossilized amber and how he wanted to recreate a prehistoric animal from whatever preserved DNA could be had.
"BioSyn paid him, Dr. Jacobs, to sabotage the project. The goal was to create the perfect soldier…a ruthless killing machine capable of human intelligence and obedience. All previous nine experiments failed. Then came you…the tenth. It's why your company designation is I-10HY. But Dr. Jacobs had a change of heart once you were born. He destroyed all his notes on how you were created, so BioSyn could never recreate what he did. He severed ties with InGen's rival company and vowed to keep you safe."
Simon could both see and hear the hybrid's heart shattering in his peripheral vision. "Who else knew?"
"Only Dr. Jacobs, of course, and myself. It was something he was ashamed of and didn't want anyone to know. He was already hated by colleagues just for accidentally creating you. To reveal the real reason would have been a death wish. So, he remained quiet."
Tears flooded Pet's unblinking eyes and spilled down her cheeks. "This whole time." She squeezed her eyes shut, her teeth grinding in unfathomable betrayal. "You knew about this for a year and a half and didn't tell me? I trusted you!" Pet snarled a screech. "There was suspicion you were up to something...Your rushing to rescue me off the island, curing me…wining and dining me…all those fancy hotel suites…everything. You knew what I was. It's why you couldn't wait to be my best friend so you could use me to your advantage for your park."
Simon slowly turned his head to gawk at her in appall. "I did what I did on a dying man's request I protect his company's greatest creation. When I set out to find you and cure you, I wanted to save a person, not a weapon."
Pet was wracked with overwhelming emotion, and her trembling only showed as much. "After all this is done and over with, I never want to see or hear from you again." She left the office and strode through the yacht corridors with heavy feet to the porch deck. The hybrid collapsed into a lounge chair and cried until she couldn't anymore.
Derek shook his head, dejectedly. "Why didn't you tell her sooner?"
Simon slowly inhaled and exhaled an anxious breath. "Because I knew it would destroy her. Before locating her on the island, I had already learned much about her from reports and John Hammond's disk. I knew then, she was not a weapon but a person trying to find her place in the world."
Hoskins lightly laughed. "And yet she became a weapon, anyway." He waved a finger at Muldoon and Roland. "You two gentlemen helped with that, teaching her how to shoot guns, and how to avoid detection when hunting… Leaving her on that island to fend for herself all those years just perfected the rest. Now, she's damn near unstoppable."
Roland shook his head. "We didn't teach her to be a weapon. We taught her to be herself."
Muldoon was too enraged and distraught with the news himself to think straight. After all the many heartfelt confessions he had heard from the billionaire in how he cared for the hybrid…to hear the latest confession was a stab in the chest.
Simon returned his watch to the body cam's recording. "I never wanted to deceive or hurt her. I just wanted her to be happy."
The sun was sinking below Isla Sorna by the time someone came to check on her. Valerie plopped down and kicked back in the chair beside Pet. "That was some extreme shit, today, with that Spino lizard." Her green eyes analyzed the motionless woman silently watching the sunset. "You still planning on taking that thing out?" Still, nothing was said. "I suggest watching those body cam recordings. If you want to know how that thing fights, the raptor nest should really help you. Hell, even I was able to make out its weak spots, and I don't even know what I'm exactly looking for." Pet sighed. "So, I had an idea for the biggest insult to injury you could ever do to that thing, whether you manage to kill it or just end up giving it a hell of an ass-whooping." Yellow-green eyes broke off the distant view and looked up at scheming green eyes. The redhead wiggling her eyebrows made Pet furrow hers. Dare she ask? "In case you're wondering, bubblegum pink."
The hybrid propped herself up on an elbow. "Bubblegum pink, what?"
"Get off your ass and you'll find out."
Next chapter is the big show down!
