Chapter 13

Badlands

'Why is it so damn hot?' Paul Alexander Kirby thought to himself as he stepped out of the car. Looking back in to the passenger seat, he did his best to smile at Amanda Ross. "Let me handle this."

"I don't see why I can't come," Amanda said in frustration. "You wouldn't let me go to the lecture, and now you're leaving me behind again."

"This matter has to be handled delicately after my failure in Berkeley," Paul told her. "You'll come at it with a sledgehammer. Why don't you go into town and get something to eat?" He handed the keys out to her.

Amanda rolled her eyes and snatched the keys away.

Paul moved down the hillside as Amanda got out of the passenger side of the car and moved to the driver's side. He could hear the engine start up again and sighed in relief, glad to be rid of her for a few minutes. A little peace and quiet went a long way.

"You lost?" a young male voice asked from the side.

Paul turned his head and smiled. "Why do you ask?"

The young man, blond haired and muscular, moved forward, a smile on his face. His pearly white teeth were on clear display. "You're wearing a three piece suit in the middle of the Montana Badlands, in the summer, no less."

Paul chuckled. "Yes, well, I have been traveling, and I didn't have the time to change. I was in a board meeting before leaving Oklahoma on what's turning into a cross country trip." He extended his hand out. "Paul Kirby, Kirby Enterprises."

The muscular man dusted off his hand on his lightly colored cargo pants and then accepted the handshake. "Billy Brennan, Paleontology student."

"Good to meet you, Billy," Paul told him, finally pulling his hand back. "Dr. Grant hasn't arrived, has he?"

Billy raised an eyebrow. "Arrived?"

Paul cleared his throat. "You see, I kind of made an ass of myself at his lecture in Berkeley, and I wanted a chance to apologize to him, but I needed -"

"Wait, you came all the way out here to… beat Alan back?" Billy asked.

Paul looked very uncomfortable as he cleared his throat. "This is a difficult situation for me. I'm trying my best to hire him."

Billy's confusion suddenly turned into excitement. All concern left his body language entirely. "Really?"

Paul was slightly taken aback. "Yes?"

Billy quickly hugged Paul, which caused him to appear instantly surprised. "We've needed new funding all season! Hell, even last season!"

Paul pulled out of the grip and looked Billy over. "You said that you're a student?"

Billy nodded. "Dr. Grant's brightest. I'm nearly finished with my doctorate. Won't be much longer, I'll be Dr. Brennan."

Paul nodded. "Congratulations. Perhaps you could be of help then. I'm going to have to convince Dr. Grant to come with me on a trip. It's extremely important, and I need his expertise. Yours could be welcome as well."

Billy motioned toward the trailer in the near distance. "Let's talk."

Paul nodded. "Much obliged."

Pulling two beer bottles out of the refrigerator, Billy turned and handed one of them out to Paul.

"Thank you," Paul said, accepting the beverage.

Billy nodded and immediately opened his, threw his neck back, and downed the alcohol in one go.

Paul watched him the entire time, shock on his face.

Billy finally pulled his neck down and smiled. "Sorry. Bad habit I learned from Dr. Reiman three seasons ago."

"Dr. Reiman?" Paul asked.

Billy nodded. "Ellie Reiman. She was Grant's partner and student before me. I guess I kinda took on the role when she settled down with her husband in Berkeley."

Paul nodded. "I'm guessing that's why he was there. They probably got him the lecture."

"Damn good thing they did too," Billy said, moving to the couch and taking a seat. "Things have been hard. The Hammond Foundation hasn't been sending as large a grant each season like they used to. It's tough. I don't know how we'll survive the rest of this season, let alone the next. I keep trying to get Dr. Grant to contact The Hammond Foundation, try to extend our funds, but he won't listen." Billy shook his head. "He never even wants to accept the money either. I don't know what it's all about."

Paul stepped over and took a seat beside Billy. "I'm afraid I have an idea." He took a sip of his beer.

Billy tilted his head. "Really? Does Kirby Enterprises have business with The Hammond Foundation?"

Paul shook his head. "No, but I know their connections. They were part of InGen Bioengineering before they filed Chapter 11, whom we did a lot of work for. I figure The Hammond Foundation is barely staying afloat now. Their founder is deceased, after all. He apparently died… while vacationing in Costa Rica."

"I didn't know that," Billy admitted.

"I have a feeling that Dr. Grant doesn't really tell you a great many things about this topic," Paul stated. "Kirby Enterprises is actually setting out to Costa Rica. Well, my ex-wife and I, anyway."

Billy raised an eyebrow. "You vacation with your ex often?"

Paul laughed. "No, this is a special occasion… Well, not really special. More like a dire situation." Paul leaned back and crossed his legs before taking another sip of his beer. "I'm going to be completely honest with you, Billy, because if I can't convince Dr. Grant to come, I'll need to talk you into going."

"Look, as long as you have the money, I'm in," Billy said. "Our digs are in trouble. We've barely got enough money to keep things running. We constantly have to replace equipment. We've barely got any help."

"Yes, it looked like you had a skeleton crew out there," Paul said.

"I'm afraid that Dr. Grant will eventually have to let them go," Billy admitted. "Maybe me too. I can't lose this. It's the opportunity of a lifetime. I'll do whatever it takes to see my dreams come true."

Paul sighed and pulled out his checkbook. "I can write all kinds of numbers on this check, Billy."

Billy beamed. "I'm yours."

"Let's talk shop then," Paul said with a nod. "I need to catch you up before Dr. Grant gets here."

Dr. Alan Grant drove his Ford pickup truck down the dusty trail, seeing the dig site in the near distance, as he sat on the car phone, listening to the voice on the other end. He hated car phones about as much as he did computers. Technology was booming, and Grant feared that he'd always struggle to catch up.

"So what you're saying is that this man thinks dinosaurs are still alive, down in Costa Rica, and that his son is in danger?" Tim Murphy surmised over the line.

"That's the short of it, yes," Grant replied. "I don't like it. Any of it. I never told anyone. Ellie only ever told her husband. Malcolm has a big mouth, but I'm fairly certain he wouldn't say anything."

"I haven't been in contact with Mr. Gennaro or Mr. Muldoon," Tim informed. "But, like you told me earlier, Mr. Gennaro is dead. I'm not even sure where Mr. Muldoon is."

"That just leaves you, your sister, and Dr. Harding," Grant counted.

"Well, I certainly haven't said anything," Tim told him. "No one would believe me anyway. I probably would've gotten locked up. Lex still has nightmares to this day. She won't even go to a Psychiatrist to deal with the trauma. We both know to keep it to ourselves. As for Gerry, he's living in Africa with his daughter now. I think he just wants to be left alone."

Grant cleared his throat. "I think we all have that feeling. Some are accomplishing it better than others." He sighed. "Someone's been talking though. Dr. Richard Levine knew something was up when I was in Peking at a conference. If he -"

"Who is Richard Levine?" Tim asked.

"He's a Paleobiologist," Grant replied. "Actually, he's from Berkeley. Before I started back to Montana, I asked around about him. The staff said he was on sabbatical to teach science at a high school. I didn't ask why. I just went to the high school, and they proceeded to tell me that he'd gone out in the field to Costa Rica last week with two of his students."

"Well, that's convenient," Tim said.

"Yeah," Grant replied. "Everything's adding up."

"Does that guy from the lecture know Dr. Levine?" Tim asked.

"Not a clue," Grant replied.

"Well, there's nothing here," Tim finally told him. "Grandpa apparently kept his businesses separated. I don't have anything that even closely relates to InGen."

"And with all assets sold off, we don't have a clue what we're even looking for," Grant concluded. "Listen, I'm almost to the dig site. I need to get caught up with my number two, but I just wanted to apologize to you for not keeping in touch and not knowing about your mom."

"It's fine," Tim responded.

"No, it isn't," Grant countered. "I didn't want to give you or Lex reason to have to remember what we went through on that island, and that was my fault for deciding that. You deserve better, and I promise that I will. I'll be in touch once I know something to tell you."

"Thank you, Alan," Tim said. "Err, I mean, Dr. Grant."

Grant smiled. "You can call me Alan. We've been through enough together for you to have earned that. We'll talk soon."

The Ford pickup truck pulled to a stop near a set of tepees. Opening the creaking old door, Grant stepped out and slammed it closed. Several feet away, at one of the fossils, Grant could see his number two, Billy Brennan, bent over the fossil with one of the female volunteers. He couldn't remember her name, but he thought it started with a C.

"Dr. Grant!" Billy exclaimed, getting to his feet and moving forward.

"Mr. Brennan," Grant stated as he moved forward to join him.

"How was Berkeley?" Billy asked as he shook Grant's hand.

"It was fine, for the most part," Grant replied. "Got a lot of good will from the board. They were willing to answer some off topic questions I had." He put up a hand in defense. "Trust me. You don't want to know what I'm referring to. How are things here?"

"We'll have to pack up in three weeks," Billy admitted. "I had to rent some equipment. Come on. I want to show you something."

Grant followed Billy, moving just as excited as ever, toward one of the giant tents near the fossil Billy had been at before. He nodded politely toward the female worker with the C name, and then entered the tent as it suddenly dawned on him that her name was Cheryl.

Billy moved around a table and opened up a 3D printer device, pulling out something that resemble what looked to Grant to be a resonating chamber.

"I give you the resonating chamber of a Velociraptor," Billy said. "I input the designs into the computer and then the 3D printer sculpts it one layer at a time."

Grant shakes his head. "You know me and computers, Billy. I like the abacus, not much else."

Billy smiled. "Just listen." He put the chamber up to his mouth and blew.

The sounds made Grant's eyes widen slightly. He tilted his head. 'My God. I remember.'

Billy grinned as he lowered the resonating chamber reproduction, liking the facial reaction he was getting. "That face you're making… it looks like…"

Grant quickly grabbed the resonating chamber, looking it over. "This is excellent, Billy. Really, it is. I'm sad to say it's just a little bit late."

"Dr. Grant?" a somewhat familiar voice stated from behind him.

Grant slowly turned around, seeing the man that had interrupted his lecture just standing there with a goofy grin on his face. He still wore the same suit he'd been wearing in Berkeley as well. "Mr. Kirby?"

"Nice to see you again," Paul said. "I hope I'm not bothering you." Paul looked over Grant's shoulder to Billy. "How are you doing, Billy?"

Billy nodded to him and smiled.

Grant glanced back to Billy. "You know him?"

"We just met before you got back," Billy admitted. "You really should listen to what he has to say."

Grant put his hands on his hips. "And when were you going to bring this up?"

"It's my fault, Dr. Grant," Paul admitted. "I like to make dramatic entrances."

"Like the one you made during my lecture," Grant stated.

Paul looked down, a little embarrassed. "Yes, well, I'm a desperate man."

"Apparently so," Grant said. "I've been looking into the situation since you spoke to me. I'm slightly questioning whether or not your claim about your son was right. Do you know Dr. Richard Levine?"

Paul tilted his head for a moment, thinking, and then he shook his head. "I'm afraid not."

"He's down in Costa Rica," Grant said.

"I thought you didn't have anything to do with Levine," Billy said. "You told me once he's an arrogant asshole."

"And I was telling the truth," Grant said to Billy before turning back to Paul. "The claims you were making, Richard was asking me questions about a similar thing at a conference, and now he's down there."

Billy moved around the table. "Dr. Grant, I know exactly why Mr. Kirby is here. You don't have to talk cryptically."

Grant groaned. "I wanted to keep you out of this."

"He's already paid me," Billy admitted.

Paul grinned.

Grant shook his head.

"If you don't go, I am," Billy said. "But I think we should both go."

"You have no idea," Grant said. "You have absolutely no idea what waits down there if it's true."

"That's why you need to go, right?" Billy asked. "You've been there before."

"Not there," Grant said. "Somewhere, supposedly, similar."

Paul pulled up his checkbook. "I'm going to tell you the same thing I told Billy. I can write all kinds of numbers on this check, Dr. Grant. Tell me, what's it going to take?"

Grant sighed. "Do you know an exact location?"

"An island chain called Los Cinco Muertes," Paul replied. "More specifically, Isla Sorna."

"We have a lot to discuss," Grant said.

"Let's met my ex-wife in town for dinner later then," Paul said.

"That'd be great," Grant stated after a long pause. 'What the hell are you doing?'