CHAPTER 4
The baby tyrannosaurus rex eagerly beamed up at Dr. Dianna Johnson. Its wide eyes dilated. Its tail wagged. It reminded Dianna all too much of a dog awaiting a treat.
The hatchling was only a few weeks in age and still bore a fluffy coat of white downy feathers over its body. It opened and closed its mouth like a young bird in a nest and let out a raspy cry of hunger. It sounded to Dianna a whole lot like the deep throaty squawk of a large parrot.
Between her fingers Dianna held up a juicy raw slab of beef. Her hands, arms, legs, and torso were covered in a heavy Kevlar suit for protection. She dangled the beef closer to the baby t-rex and tenderly spoke.
"Are you hungry sweetie?" Her lips smiled brightly as the rex clamped onto the meat. "Good girl, Stella."
"You know as soon as you name the carnivores they turn around and eat you." Dianna heard a man's voice chuckle from behind. It was her colleague, Dr. Bryce Conners.
Dianna dropped the piece of meat and turned towards the front of the cage. Her expression was now cross.
Bryce leaned through the bars. His arms were dangling. He saw the displeased scowl upon her face.
"My hands are tied." He breathed heavily when he said it.
"So Mr. Hammond is going to go through with the inspection then?" Dianna said the question as more of a statement.
"He doesn't have a choice Dianna." Bryce pulled away from the bars and began to pace. "His investors are about to pull his funding. He's had lawyers breathing down his neck ever since the raptor accident on Isla Nublar. They want to shut us down Dianna. He has to do something."
Dianna turned and pointed to the turkey-sized tyrannosaur behind her. Six compsognathus had snuck into the cage and were trying to wrestle her food away.
"You see that?" Dianna threw her hand in the air. "And now we're seeing the same problem with the coelophysis herd. They're breeding like jackrabbits! They're all over the island! Not to mention we've acquired twelve unaccounted herbivores in the last six months!"
"Fourteen." Bryce mumbled, and his eyes lowered to the floor.
Dianna shook her head.
"Look." Bryce began. "This is the first time in the history of mankind that dinosaurs have ever been cloned. We had to expect there were going to be a few hiccups."
"We're not ready." Dianna said flatly.
She heard a small shriek and turned around. The baby rex had a compsognathus in its mouth, dangling like a wet dishrag. She looked up proudly at Dianna as if to say, "Look what I did!"
"Aww. They grow up so fast." Bryce said jokingly.
Dianna sighed and swiped her key card through the pad on the gate. As she pushed through the slated door she shoved Bryce aside. After locking the gate behind her Dianna undid the Velcro on her Kevlar suit and hung it on a nearby hook.
"Watch your back. You're being hunted." Dianna warned as she glanced over her shoulder to look at Bryce.
No sooner did she say it than a scaly body slammed against the cage behind him with a snarling screech. He jumped away and turned to look at the young velociraptor clinging to the bars. At six months it was only half the size of an adult. Its teeth and claws were locked onto the metal as it growled with ferocity. The raptor's muscles tightened under its dark brown skin. Its bright green eyes squeezed with menace.
"Settle down girl." Bryce said calmly.
The raptor eventually grunted and hopped off the fence to join her two other companions.
"Another two months and they'll be ready for the big-girl cages." Bryce stared at the three juvenile raptors as they play-fought with each other. "Just another day in the carnivore nursery." A small frown crossed his face. "How's Seth adjusting?"
"He's been keeping to himself." Dianna said quietly.
"He'll make friends with the other kids soon enough." Bryce smiled. "I spoke to Kyra."
"Thanks." Dianna nodded. "He could really use a friend right now."
She watched the adolescent raptors wrestle around in their pen. They were playful to each other, but she'd never known one to express a capacity for human companionship. They were smart as hell. That was for sure, but they had no interest in being domesticated. In all honesty Dianna couldn't help but feel a certain kind of resentment on their part. It was chilling.