Notes
Soundtrack suggestions:
The animals' arrival in Orick:
- Our Last Chance - A New World – James Horner, Mighty Joe Young (starting from 02:41).
Zia and Alexander reunites with Franklin:
- Connor and Abby at the hospital – Dominik Scherrer, Primeval.
-o-
During the night between the eleventh and twelfth days of July, the Arcadia arrived at Eureka and InGen began sending its singular passengers to Orick. The InGen fleet had split as soon as it entered US waters and while the Arcadia had continued north, the Anne B had sailed to the InGen port complex of San Diego and disembarked there Wheatley and his men, since California waters were safer than those of Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico. As the mercenaries accomplished their escort mission, InGen paid them as agreed but actually, the decision to disembark them in San Diego was made in order to reduce costs, as Wheatley set his fees according to the missions' length. To compensate for the mercenaries' departure, Torres had sent a large part of InGen Security's US staff to Eureka to escort the convoys to Lockwood estate.
Despite the recent incidents and InGen's lies, the Costa Rican authorities let its cargo planes take off and bring Site D's last animals to the United States, wishing them good riddance.
Before she flew to California with Blue, Zia was approached discreetly by Rodrigue Santagar, who reassured her about Franklin and the couple before asking questions about the missing Compsognathus and Brice Le Goff's shenanigans.
The DIS agent had informed the DPG veterinarian that her IT technician colleague had taken off from Juan Santamaria airport on the 8th, returning to San Francisco. She thought at first that he was going to abandon the operation after the misadventures in Costa Rica, and she would have understood it, but she had the pleasant surprise to see him again the 12th in Orick, at lunchtime. She rushed to give him a friendly hug.
"I'm glad you're okay," she told him, loosening her hug. "You know, I was worried about you before that guy from the Costa Rican government came to see me."
"Who? Santasomething? Fortyish? Horseshoe mustache? Smokes with a pipe like an old Brit or a hipster?"
"He didn't have a pipe, but the rest of your description matches. They let you in? Last I heard, you were a saboteur and a traitor for InGen."
"I was in the mansion earlier. Mr. Mills called me three days ago, to summon me. He paid for my bus fare and my motel room. I was in his office and there was also Torres… as well as Iger and a lawyer. Torres apologized and we settled this… misunderstanding amicably," he said. "I can work with you again."
"Franklin?! Asked Alexander's astonished voice.
The IT technician and the vet turned their heads and saw their colleague nearby, staring at Franklin as if he had seen a ghost.
"We missed you. What happened to you man?"
"Let's see… I almost got eaten, crushed, burned alive, shot... I've seen men die in front of me... But aside from that, I'm fine. I also took several means of transport… Jeep, train, motorcycle… and I also rode a horse. It's painful for the ass and you're easily surprised when you're not used to it, but it wasn't so bad... I prefer horse riding to flying anyway."
Realizing he had just referenced the conversation they had shortly after arriving in Costa Rica, Zia laughed.
"I had the impression of being in a video game," he added. "Some sort of hybrid between Uncharted, Hitman and GTA. Except I was a noob while Claire and Owen were professional gamers."
"How did you get into the Puntarenas complex?" Alexander asked.
"With Pierce.
"Pierce? Pierce the Acrocanthosaurus?! What's got into you?!" The DPG founder exclaimed, shocked.
"We hid under the hay in his container while he was sedated. We felt like undocumented immigrants about to cross the border," the IT technician half-joked.
"Franklin please, don't use that kind of expressions," Alexander said after grimacing.
Franklin and Zia noticed that Alexander was looking at him strangely. He seemed… disappointed. They knew it wasn't because he had used a slightly politically incorrect expression but rather because he had noticed that the young man had changed since the last time they had seen each other, and that the couple had something to do with it. Scanning the surroundings with a slightly embarrassed look, Alexander saw a group of keepers heading for the basin and the paddocks. The DPG founder looked at Franklin again.
"It's good to see you again," he said flatly. "I'll let you catch up. I think they need people at the paddocks."
His two colleagues nodded and remained silent for a moment as he walked away. Zia then looked at a large rectangular tent which adjoined the big marquee where the sale was going to be held in a month. The marquee and the long rectangular tent were separated from the manor and its car park by a ravine, the same one spanned by the driveway, and opposite of the southern tower, a second bridge allowed people to come and go between the car park and the auction's marquee.
"You're hungry? Come, let's have a bite to eat," she suggested. "I think that there are quite a few people who'll want to listen to your story."
He approved of the idea and they walked towards the dining tent.
"I think they'll mostly want to hear about you-know-who's whereabouts," he said quietly, watching two InGen Security employees pass by. "Officially, they're still considered criminals. And I'm supposed to believe that..."
At the time, he also wanted to address the issue of his secret but refrained. He was tired and was just happy to find his colleague and friend.
Not now. I'll think about that later.