Chapter 15

planning over drinks

Dr. Alan Grant rolled his eyes, hearing the annoying song being played in The Wild Coyote Bar & Grill. He moved past other patrons, Billy Brennan following after him. Apparently they'd come at a bad time as there was a baseball game playing and all of the televisions were showing it.

Moving to the table where he saw Paul and a woman he didn't recognize but figured was his ex-wife, Grant took off his fedora, allowed Billy to sit down first and slide over, and then he sat down himself.

The waitress, whom he recognized as Cindy, placed menus in front of them. "What'll it be, boys?"

"Ice pick. Catfish," Grant said, always ordering the same thing whenever he had to come to this dive.

"Two, please, cat," Billy responded.

Cindy walked off, writing on her notepad.

Grant sighed, looking back and forth between the two. "You do realize that if there really is an island with genetically engineered, theme park monsters, that your son -"

"Please, Dr. Grant," Amanda interrupted him. "We know the odds."

"We may not be dinosaur experts, but we're not idiots," Paul told him. "I just wish I understood all of this better. It's so bizarre… Extinct animals back from the grave."

"If you'd smelt them, you'd definitely be thinking back from the grave is accurate," Grant said. "There was always something odd about the genetic process that InGen did to clone those creatures."

"It feels like something out of a science fiction novel regardless," Paul commented.

"You wouldn't be wrong, Mr. Kirby," Grant stated, leaving it at that.

Amanda could tell by his expressions that there was more to all of it. "You have a lot of history… with these creatures. InGen."

Grant nodded. "More than you know. I have sleepless nights and nightmares when I actually do get sleep. I could tell you the whole story, and then it would keep you up at night."

"It's past time you faced your fears though, Alan," Billy told him. "I know this is hard, but it's a chance to save two lives. And we really need the money."

Grant nodded. "I suppose you're right."

"Amanda?" a voice called out over the roars of the cheering customers.

Amanda leaned up in the booth.

"Amanda?" Paul asked in confusion.

"I made a few calls while I had to sit around in town," Amanda told him. "I remembered some of your business connections, and I knew that we were going to need a way down to Costa Rica, not to mention the island itself. Don't worry." She waved wildly to get the attention of whoever called for her.

Grant raised an eyebrow. "Can we trust whoever this is?"

Amanda looked back to him and nodded. "He works for a well respected expedition company. Hell, you probably know them." She sat back down all the way in the seat.

An African American man, muscular, short black hair, moved over, a grin on his face. "Alan Grant. As I live and breathe."

Grant sighed, relaxing slightly as he stood up, hugging the man. "Henry Nash."

Paul's eyes lit up. "Oh, you called Doc Thorne."

Nash pulled out of the hug and turned to Paul. "Well, she tried, but she got me instead. Doc's out of the country… doing the same thing you're about to do."

Paul raised an eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" Grant asked for Paul before he could get the words out.

"The Doc went running after Richard Levine down to Costa Rica with the equipment before it was even ready," Nash replied.

"Christ," Grant said more under his breath than anything as he took a seat again. "That is definitely not Doc Thorne's style."

Nash grabbed a nearby chair from a table where the other patrons weren't even paying attention to him, eyes focused on one of the televisions, having taken the chair and then pulled it up to the booth. He sat backwards on the chair. "Eddie went with them too, but the thing is, Mr. Udesky was called to get more equipment ready and to bring firepower. Apparently we're going to war."

"Well, you're about going to have to," Amanda said. "Our son and my boyfriend are on that island."

Nash raised an eyebrow. "So you two really are divorced, huh? Shame. I always thought you two were great together."

Grant shook his head. "I know Doc Thorne does a lot outfitting, but I didn't realize what a small world we all lived in."

Nash shrugged. "We're the best in the business. Everyone comes to us eventually. Anyway, if you're tagging along, I'm going to have to make sure with the Doc, if I can get hold of him, but I doubt he'll be too worried about it. We could probably use the extra funds and the expertise anyway. He'll probably give me a raise for bringing you four."

"Please tell me Levine isn't remaining part of this," Grant said. "I may back out."

"As far as I know, we're only meeting up with the doc and a Biologist. Harding, Sarah Harding."

Grant looked surprised. "I've read about her. African predator specialist. Not bad."

Billy nudged Grant. "Isn't she close with that Malcolm guy?"

Grant turned sharply to Billy before looking back to Nash.

Nash chuckled. "Dr. Malcolm was with them, but the Doc didn't say he was still down there."

Grant sighed. "Levine is one thing, but Malcolm as well would be a powder keg. I can't believe he was willing to go back into the hornet's nest after being nearly killed." He looked at his watch. "When can you be ready to leave?"

Nash smiled. "I'm ready now. This place is too hot anyway. We make the flight out to Mobile Field Systems, and we take a plane that we've been pimping out from there."

"Non commercial?" Grant asked. "Well, that would help with the timing."

"Getting down there fast is important," Amanda said. "That's why I was glad I could get hold of them. This can work, Dr. Grant. We can be in and out before anything bad happens."

Cindy reappeared, dropping off drinks.

Grant accepted his with a nod. "I think that will be all. We aren't staying much longer."

Cindy nodded and moved off.

Grant took a sip of his drink as Billy did the same to his. "Trust me, in a situation like this, the bad is probably going to happen no matter how fast you work. We're dealing with something that no one can predict the out…come. Damn."

"What?" Billy asked.

"I'm sounding like Ian Malcolm now," Grant replied.

Billy grinned. "Might help keep you alive."

"Don't ever mention that to him," Grant told him, grabbing his fedora. "Let's get this over with before I change my mind." Quickly, he downed the rest of his drink and stood up.