Notes
Soundtrack suggestions:
Maya, Lynton et Mills arrive at the bunker:
- Contaminated — Dominik Scherrer, Primeval (From 00:38 to 02:15)
Wheatley's death:
- First Blood - Abel Korzeniowski, Penny Dreadful: Season One (Up to 01:58).
- A farewell to arm – Michael Giacchino, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Up to 02:15).
-o-
"You killed the only one we liked and we're stuck with the sex fiend and the deformed retard. Thank you assholes!" Karim exclaimed.
The Ipod had just started playing new music, a French song which Claire and Owen did not know and which was about some dino, disco and laser (1).
…
Un p'tit peu de croco d'la dinde et du poulet
T'es l'premier dinosaure génétiquement modifié
C'est l'docteur Tiptree qui t'as ramené sur Terre
Pour des motivations quelque peu autoritaires
Elle voudrait (elle voudrait)
Remplacer les humains par des dinosaures
Pour que vous sauviez la planète de cette espèce qui la saccage
…
"Did you give them names too?" Owen asked.
"Yes. Ruedi and Humperdoo," Nicole replied.
"After Hans Ruedi Gieger, the guy who designed the xenomorph from Alien, and Humperdoo, Jesus' totally débilus descendant in Preacher. It was Ivan who came up with the name," Karim added, looking at his colleague.
"They allowed you to choose their names? Damn, when I think Hoskins made me name three of my Achillobators after the NATO alphabet… I had originally chosen Victoria, Melanie, Geri and Emma," the keeper grumbled.
"Like the Spice Girls?" A geneticist asked.
"Yup. You having that freedom and not me is a disgrace..."
"Alright, since we now know the names of Elsa's two…brothers, we can stop using the word Indoraptor," Claire said. "What a stupid name! The Indian thief… Seriously guys?"
"Indoraptor was chosen by some executives, not by us…" Karim clarified.
"Nor by me," Wu added.
"But know that we agree with you on that point," Nicole told Claire.
"You named a hybrid dinosaur after a guy known for his phallic drawings and you're surprised he's a sex fiend as you say? This is what happens when you play a little too much with karma," the latter retorted.
"To think we considered Casimir," Karim chuckled.
"When we think of what he did to that poor female Pectinodon," Giles recalled.
"He completely tore her up…" his colleague explained.
"Oh no, let's not talk about it," Nicole told them. "I want to puke just thinking about it."
"We should have named him Polanski," Karim said.
"And where are Ruedi and Humperdoo?" Owen asked them.
"Do you want to kill them too?" Nicole asked him. "On one hand, we really hate them, but on the other, they are our bread and butter."
Karim began to laugh.
"So you go downstairs, open the door on your left, continue down the dark hallway beyond, past the cages of the Marsupilami and the Sumatran Rat-Monkey, then between the laser-beams sharks' tank and the fridge containing a genetically modified North Korean officer who look like Toby Stephens…"
His mirth then got so out of control that he bent over and dropped to the ground, where he continued to laugh. Giles and Nicole leaned over him.
"Are you screwing with us?!" Owen asked him sternly.
"He ate a space cake! He can't do anything about it!" Nicole explained to them.
"I. Don't. Give. A. Fuck!" Claire growled.
When they crossed the parking lot in front of the old factory's loading platform in their search for Claire and Owen, Maya and the guards accompanying her heard the bushes near the building rustle. Intrigued, they cautiously approached and widened their eyes slightly when they saw that three people were lying there and fidgeting as they seemed to wake up, three people they knew. Vlad and Judas, two geneticists, and Vanessa, one of the estate guards. The latter wore nothing but a tank top and her panties, as her uniform had been stolen.
"Where's my uniform?" she moaned.
"I don't know where it went but I see some pants which aren't yours…" Judas said.
He grabbed Claire's pants and handed them to his friend who began to put them on, as she didn't want to walk around the estate in her underwear while looking for her uniform.
"What happened?" Maya asked them.
"Guys in balaclavas attacked us while we were having a smoke," Vlad replied.
"How many were they?"
"Three. I think one of them was a woman."
Claire, the trainer guessed. Owen must be with her. But who is the third asshole? Vuillier like Lynton thinks?
She phoned Mills.
"Elijah, I think I have them. They infiltrated the bunker. I'm going in."
"We're on our way," the businessman told her. "I'm calling Torres. Be careful, they are dangerous."
Maya hung up shortly after and looked determinedly at the nearby platform. The couple and their accomplice were going to pay for what they did to Elsa.
Following the confirmation of the couple's escape and Valentine Taylor's treason, the auction and the estate's security had been delegated to George Lambert by Edward Torres, who had also decided to make the couple's hunt personal after all the trouble they caused him.
After being called by Maya, Mills wanted to inform the director of InGen Security about the infiltration of the three thugs in the bunker but he got his answerphone. He tried to call him back, to no avail.
He ignored that Torres' cell phone was being held by Theo Lomas, one of Wheatley's men. The English mercenary let the phone ring and watched the director of InGen Security and the group of guards accompanying him lined up before him in the middle of the estate's woods, knees on the ground and hands on their heads while two of his comrades had their weapons pointed at them.
After entering the estate, the mercenaries had split into several teams, each tasked with carrying out a specific task of the plan established by Wheatley and his officers in conjunction with that of their allies. Thus, while Theo's team and another were tasked with neutralizing all the encountered guards, a third approached the basin, a fourth had the marquees as an objective and a fifth had the bunker under the manor. The latter arrived in sight of the secret tunnel's gate.
Maya Harris, followed by her group of guards, the Vanessa-Vlad-Judas trio as well as Alf, whom she had called in the meantime, crossed the door between the control room and the catwalk, heading towards the laboratory. Having just seen them, Claire turned to Owen:
"They're finally coming! Watch them!"
She then grabbed Wu, led him near the bay window, and pointed the barrel of her gun at his skull. Seeing the geneticist threatened, Maya signalled to the guards with her to not approach the laboratory and to stay by the relaxation-office room. While those kept their weapons hands, Claire looked around for Guillaume but did not see him.
Where is he? she wondered.
However, several minutes had elapsed since she had looked towards the desks. Perhaps the ex-Interpol agent had left the room in the meantime and had been able to disappear before Maya's arrival. If so, Claire hoped he could call the authorities or get some help. She would have texted him asking where he was and what he was doing but her hands were busy. Watching each of the arrivals, the fallen park director noticed that the trainer's gaze was filled with deep anger. They must have found Elsa…or at least what was left of her.
The elevator doors opened and a security guard stepped out. He ran to the edge of the mezzanine, fixed his gaze on Claire and Wu, and called for someone in the elevator. Mills and Lynton got out and the fallen park director backed into the lab with her hostage, coming to stand in front of the table she had climbed on earlier. At the same time, another security guard opened the door to the lab and entered, pointing his pistol at Claire.
"Drop your weapon!" He ordered the fallen park director.
"Tell Mills and Lynton to come first!" She retorted.
But the security guard didn't need to transmit this request because the manager of the Lockwood foundation and InGen's CEO came right away and stepped into the laboratory with the other security guard. Then at a respectable distance from their other hostages, continuing to keep his gun aimed at them as a simple dissuasion, Owen turned his head towards the entrance and the newcomers.
"Good evening, Claire," Mills said as calmly as possible.
"Eli… You fucking hustler! I should have known something was wrong when you gave me that glass of wine. Your Cabernet Franc had a weird taste. It was probably some Napa Valley plonk instead!"
"Release Henry and his colleagues, please," he begged her.
"As long as Torres keeps my son and my mother-in-law captive, Henry will remain in our custody!"
Lynton looked at the manager of the Lockwood Foundation in surprise.
"What is she talking about, Eli?" She questioned him in an inquisitive tone, beginning to realize the reason behind the couple taking Wu and his team hostage instead of just stealing information and committing acts of sabotage. "Reassure me, tell me she's lying. It's in your interest..."
But Mills remained silent, and his face had, for a moment, a stupid look. He looked like a questioned schoolboy who hadn't learned his lesson. Lynton and Wu knew Claire was telling the truth.
"Eli. What have you done?" the geneticist asked.
"You imbecile!" The CEO hissed at Mills.
She sighed exasperatedly and then added:
"InGen has repeatedly resorted to extreme methods to protect its interests, but if there is one thing it avoids, it is the kidnapping of children because it brings bad luck."
"Why?"
"Because of a little detail in our history called the San Diego Incident!"
"I don't see any connection."
Lynton let out a chuckle mixed with a sigh, rolled her eyes and then looked at the guards, the couple and their hostages.
"He says he doesn't see the connection…" she scoffed.
"Unlike the T. rex involved in that incident, I don't need to be drugged to wreak havoc!" Claire said.
InGen CEO turned to Mills and pointed at the fallen director.
"Here's your fucking connection!" She told him, appalled by his stupidity. "Brush up on your classics next time! I assume that's what Torres' Operation Buck and Doe was about? That moron thought he was smart naming it after looking at reports from Operation Harvest! Speaking of him, where is that jerk?"
"I tried to call and text him but he hasn't answered yet," he told her.
Lynton groaned.
"Dammit! We were close to having a perfect evening!" She exclaimed, showing them the narrow space between her thumb and index finger. "Your foolishness ruined everything, Eli! It will not remain without consequences, be sure of that…"
She rolled her eyes.
"Is there anything to drink here?" she asked.
As he heard her, one of the hostages replied:
"Here no but in the gymnasium yes, Ma'am! We have vodka and gin! Among others things…"
"Suck-up…" one of his colleagues coughed. "You're going to end up like Monica Lewinsky (2) at that pace..."
He looked at Mills.
"He's not going to be happy if you steal his place…" he added in a whisper.
InGen's CEO turned to one of the guards.
"Be nice and bring me a glass of gin."
"As you wish, Ma'am."
The guard left the lab, heading for the gymnasium, and Maya circled the mezzanine, seeing fit to go replace him. When she came to position herself near Lynton and Mills, she glared at Claire and Owen.
InGen's CEO then took a few steps forward, passing the remaining guard and the trainer. Hesitantly, Mills followed her and Claire was shocked to see that he was wearing a more than familiar ring on his finger, identical to the one she once had and which had disappeared along with her forearm in the Indominus' maw. When he had offered it to her, Rama had nevertheless assured her that it was unique. It couldn't be hers...
"Yes, Claire. It's your ring," Mills confirmed. "One of Torres' soldiers found it when they took the Indominus' corpse out of the Lagoon. I got it from him… Truly excellent craftsmanship. You should give me the address of the goldsmith who made it."
"Even if I still remembered it, I wouldn't tell you."
The manager of the Lockwood Foundation sighed.
"I'm sorry for everything, Claire. I didn't want to come to this but it was the only solution..."
Claire wanted to rush forward to hit him but she couldn't let go of Wu. She just glared at the businessman and cringed in frustration.
"The only solution for what?! Get in her good graces and guarantee yourself a place on InGen's board of directors?" She asked, looking at Lynton. "Lockwood trusted you. How dare you act behind the back of a dying old man?"
"Benjamin was poisoned by an employee," Mills said. "The investigation I conducted already found a culprit. I…"
"He's standing in front of me," the fallen park director cut him off. "You think you're fooling anybody? It sticks out like a sore thumb that you're nothing but the resident Jafar (3) or a Grima (4) who learned to take care of his appearance and to stand up straight."
Some of the hostages, who harboured doubts about Mills and his involvement in Lockwood's poisoning, began to nod.
"She's right!" Giles exclaimed.
"Yeah, it was well said!" Nicole added.
Mills grinned.
"You're really scaring us with your cinephile references…"
"You behave like a court Jew from a Nazi propaganda film…" Claire added. "All you need to do is start drawing arabesques with your fingers."
"Uh careful there, you're on slippery ground!" Giles pointed out.
"Shut up!" The fallen park director told him.
Looking at the couple, Lynton laughed.
"Your action is futile, InGen was saved this evening."
"To think that you could have savored this victory with us if you had been smarter, Claire. You were once so promising. A great future awaited you at InGen. We could have worked together. Be together…," Mills added while the loudspeaker began to broadcast Edith Piaf's Non, je ne regrette rien.
Lynton rolled her eyes and Owen glared at the businessman while clenching his fists.
"... But you had to stray from the straight and narrow..." the manager of the Lockwood Foundation added.
"I don't regret any decisions I've made since the Fall. I'm almost glad it happened," Claire replied.
"Any? Are you sure?" Mills asked.
She grinned.
"Actually, I regret one. Accepting your invitation. Damn you, Eli. A place is being prepared for you in Hell. And InGen may be off the hook for now, but your contract with the French government remains screwed with Elsa's death. The buyer will be unhappy to learn that the delivery is cancelled."
Maya groaned.
"Which one of you killed her?" She asked in a tight voice looking at the couple.
Silence fell in the room and the ex-soldier noticed that Owen hesitated to look her in the eye.
"Me…" Claire suddenly replied before her betrothed could speak.
Maya turned to her, her fists clenched, and the corner of her mouth lowered.
"You bitch..." She snarled.
She wanted to move forward, but Lynton stopped her with a hand gesture.
"I'm warning you, Owen. When we'll bring you under control, your chick's going to taste Molly with her teeth and you won't be spared either," Maya threatened.
"We had no choice. Elsa may have been well trained, she would have remained a huge threat," the keeper explained. "Imagine that she had been abducted and then released in the middle of a big city… it would have been a disaster for the population and for her. I saw the ravages of the Indominus on Nublar... I saw the mauled bodies of those killed by my achillobators... The control we think to have over those animals is an illusion."
"Nothing is impossible with progress, Owen."
"Hoskins thought the same thing. I won't remind you what happened to him..."
"It's not because you failed with your raptors that I would have failed with Elsa too! She was exceptional! She and I were pioneers! We were about to open a new chapter in the history of InGen, one where dinosaur and Man would work together for good."
"Which good? That of the little people or that of the powerful?" Owen asked.
"This research program will bring no good in the long term and its fruits will turn against us, against all of us..." his betrothed added.
"And what makes you say that, Claire? Are you a prophet? Looking to become the new Ian Malcolm?" Lynton scoffed.
"When we showed Elsa to the buyers, it was too late to stop the machine," Mills said.
"And if we give up now, others will take over. I'm not sure this is an outcome you'll enjoy, Claire," Wu added.
"So what? You're the lesser evil? Bullshit!" The fallen park director retorted. "I don't know how but this shitshow will soon end!"
Lurking in the woods, Manny, Fanny Oven, Danny McLagen, and nine other mercenaries watched the marquees, the adjacent structures, and the few guards posted there. At the helm of this part of the invasion force, Manny looked around his subordinates and his eyes rested for a moment on the bulky device that one of the mercenaries carried on his back. Then he motioned for Danny and a few others to resume their advance, toward the southwest and the lookout, in order to stay in the cover of the vegetation as long as possible. With another sign, he reminded them to be stealthy, as one of the guests, none other than Lord Francis Clayton, had just arrived in that part of the wood, whistling happily as he went to urinate against a tree.
Inside the marquee, Daniel Kon barely listened to the auctioneer putting up for sale a batch of Compsognathus. Having just consulted the booklet, the Japanese-American businessman knew that it was one of the last batches and that after, Susan Lynton was going to make a speech. However, InGen's CEO had still not returned, and Kon saw Iger fidgeting in his chair and whispering with other members of management, probably wondering if he was going to have to improvise a speech in case Lynton wouldn't return in time. But that was just a small hiccup, a trifle. Since almost all of the animals had already been sold, it was safe to say that InGen was saved, and victory was already visible on the happy faces of Dominick Silverman and others. However, those seated near Daniel Kon could notice that he did not seem to share the joy of the other board members and that he even seemed concerned. He was seen consulting his cell phone several times, like if he was waiting for a message, and he finally got up, discreetly heading for the exit. Once outside the auction marquee, he began to walk around it but instead of going to one of the toilets like the other board members might have supposed, he continued, following the path which led to the basin, and quickly the starry sky gave way to the trees' branches.
Lord Clayton, who had just pulled up his fly, saw him and intrigued, he watched him for a moment before thinking that he too must have seen that the toilets near the marquees were either occupied or closed due to some malfunctioning. The aristocrat looked at his watch and seeing that it was the time when InGen management was supposed to start their closing speech, he decided to return to the marquee only a little later, for the drinks party at the end of the evening. In the meantime, he intended to enjoy the wood's tranquillity. While he was following the path to the basin, Lord Clayton took off his jacket, as the air was rather hot in his opinion. If a storm had to break out, he hoped it would be after the end of the evening.
Shortly after, Daniel Kon returned to the auction marquee, just when the last lot found a buyer.
In the control station overlooking the basin, a technician was listening attentively to the information transmitted to her by one of the auctioneer's assistants. As soon as he ended the communication, she put her mouth to a microphone and announced the identity of the buyer of the last lot put up for sale. In the caravan housing the animal which made the last lot, keepers wrote the name of the buyer in black marker on a sheet near its cage.
Then, the technician added in the radio:
"It was the last. Good job everyone!"
But the keepers, both those in the trailer and everyone else in the village and the basin, did not react enthusiastically, with some only letting out a sigh. Then in one of the aisles, Juan and several of his colleagues walked slowly and silently, like if they were at a funeral. They looked wistfully at the animals, aware that they would soon leave. Nearby, Zia was watching one of the female shantungosaurs sullenly. The head keeper had noted that the DPG veterinarian seemed to regret being present this evening, and to also have participated in the operation. How could they blame her after all those stories and InGen's dishonesty? This sentiment was shared by many of the people involved in Operation Fallen Kingdom.
This evening was perhaps a great victory for InGen's management, but for some of its employees, it had a very bitter taste. After the trauma of the fall of Jurassic World, it was a Pyrrhic victory at best and it also marked the dissolution of the few remnants of the park, that of Isla Nublar at least. Because some had started betting that InGen would announce the construction of a new park within a few years, and that they would probably name it Jurassic Kingdom, Jurassic Universe, Jurassic Era or something like that in order to distance themselves, not without hypocrisy, of the dark memories associated with Jurassic Park and Jurassic World while capitalizing on the nostalgia one could have for the days when no shadows hovered over these parks. And how many years would this new park last before collapsing like its predecessors due to the greed of InGen executives? How long will this cycle last?
Much like Zia, Franklin wondered what he was still doing at the estate, especially after he confessed his secret to his friend. Since that conversation at the lookout, he was in a broody mood and having noticed the distance between his two colleagues, Alexander had tried to snatch the worms out of their noses but in vain, obtaining only evasive answers.
While Alistair Iger stood on the platform and had just started a speech, Franklin let out a sigh and put his notebook at the foot of his chair. On it, he had taken various notes for an article on the DPG website but it had been a while since the tip of his pen had touched it and in a corner of the sheet, one could see squiggles, betraying the boredom the IT technician felt during the auction.
"I have to go to the restroom," he suddenly whispered to Alexander.
"Okay."
Franklin got up and left the marquee but instead of going to the bathroom, he moved away from the marquees for a moment in order to take a deep breath of fresh air. He took the opposite direction to that of the mansion, going towards the lookout… The young man stopped, looked at it for a moment, sighed again and then changed direction.
At the same time, Alexander came out of the auction marquee and saw his friend enter the dining tent. He followed him.
Had Franklin decided to go near the lookout, he would have probably heard a rustle in the nearby vegetation, caused by the mercenaries sneaking up.
Crossing the threshold, Wheatley entered Ruedi's cell. Keeping his sidearm in one hand, the mercenary leader watched the tranquilized predator for a moment with caution, watching for the slightest suspicious movement. He even nudged the monster's head a little with his foot but seeing that there was no reaction, Wheatley relaxed a little. He knelt down by the head, put away his pistol and from one of the pockets of his jacket, he took out a small kit and placed it on the cold concrete. He opened it and scanned its contents. There were two plastic test tubes, several cotton swabs and a syringe. Taking one of the cotton swabs, the mercenary leader began by delicately collecting saliva from the Indoraptor's mouth. When he had enough, he rubbed the inside of one of the test tubes with cotton soaked in saliva.
That's when he heard a low friction sound behind him. Wheatley turned around but saw nothing, not even a mouse. Just Ruedi's hindquarters and tail, motionless. Believing that the dungeon and its darkness made him a bit paranoid, Wheatley returned his eyes to the monster's neck and head. He closed the first test tube, opened the second and took the syringe. With it, he pricked Ruedi's neck, by the jugular vein. As he began to draw blood, Wheatley heard some friction again but this time he ignored it and continued to pull the plunger. If he had turned around, he would have seen that the friction had been caused by Ruedi's tail rising up.
Ruedi was indeed not quite tranquilized, as Wheatley had administered two doses of tranquilizer instead of three. In fact, he had been fully conscious for the past few minutes and had let the mercenary approach him and do his shenanigans, just to better trick him...
Suddenly his head snapped to the side and his jaws closed on Wheatley's throat before he could even scream. The surprised and frightened mercenary struggled, but the predator's teeth only sank deeper into his flesh and when his prey wanted to grab his pistol, Ruedi dragged him with him in a sideways roll, dislodging the two tranquilizer darts . His clawed arms then grabbed Wheatley and he let go of the throat...to bite the top of the skull instead. The mercenary leader, who was bleeding out like a slaughtered pig, couldn't manage to cry out while the top of his bald head was punctured, even with all the energy of despair. Then, while keeping his fangs sunk into Wheatley's skull, Ruedi began to repeatedly kick his abdomen, proceeding much like a cat with a toy or a leopard with its prey. The sharp claws turned Wheatley's stomach to shreds in no time. Once the guts were exposed, Ruedi let go of Wheatley and jerked to his feet before shaking himself off.
The monster looked at his cell door, which was wide open, then turned to look at Wheatley, whose eyes were still moving. Ruedi stepped out of his cage, leaving the dying mercenary and threatening to stumble when he crossed the threshold. Having been given a certain amount of tranquilizer after all, he was as groggy as a drunkard coming home after a boozy evening.
Once in the hallway, he leaned over to the two guards Wheatley had killed, sniffing them carefully. Realizing they were lifeless, he lost interest. He then studied his surroundings, noticing the presence of a corridor ahead of him and another on his left. After a brief hesitation, his sense of smell encouraged him to go left, towards a door which porthole let a little bit of light in.
Halfway, Ruedi heard some sort of moan behind him, coming from the room beyond the other door. Remembering what lay beyond that door, Ruedi had an idea. He turned around to walk towards that door and with one hand he grabbed the handle and pulled, opening it. He entered another room, mostly occupied by a cell. In one of its corners, a large humped whitish shape was curled up: Humperdoo. Closer to the door, one could see claw marks on the floor, made by the cage's occupant when their jailers were having fun torturing him. Ruedi approached the cell door, which had a padlock. He inspected it for a moment, then seized it gently between his teeth and tugged, pulling it out with a relative ease inherited from Tyrannosaurus rex, one of its many genetic "parents". Ruedi then spat it out and as he opened the cage, the monster in the corner let out another moan, followed by a sound similar to an appreciative or interrogative "Hmm..." when he noticed that Ruedi's intentions towards him didn't seemed to be malevolent.
-o-
Notes
(1) Said song is Dino Disco Laser by Gilles Stella.
(2) Monica Lewinsky: A US businesswoman who was once an intern at the White House, when Bill Clinton was president.
(3) Jafar: The antagonist from Disney's Aladin.
(4) Grima: The treacherous advisor of Theoden, king of Rohan, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.