For reasons that remained unclear, the trial date for Eli Mills had been postponed for several weeks. The prosecution maintained that the evidence against the prisoner was incontestable. That Mr. Mills was indeed guilty of illegal animal trafficking across state and county lines. This was a noteworthy case for many observers, as this was one of the first instances of a dinosaur trafficker being sentenced. As such, it had the opportunity to set a precedent.
Mills was currently being transported to the courthouse, the trial had been decided to be in Las Vegas, Nevada. There were a number of reasons for this location, namely that the ensuing media circus would be free of unwanted interference. Although several US states reported these animals with varying degrees of frequency, it was hoped that the desert would serve as enough of a barrier. To some extent this was true, there had been no large prehistoric animals reported within the vicinity of the city.
This was small comfort to the man sitting in the transport truck, as he rested his head against the back of the truck. He was wearing orange, as his hands and feet were shackled together. A bit overkill, he thought as he shook his head. It was funny how his fortune had changed somewhat. It had all been so easy. Working the side hustle of auctioning dinosaurs. These past few years had been incredibly lucrative to him. There was a market for these animals. A market which he hadn't recognized before-
There were quite a lot of people who wanted to say that they owned one, a real life dinosaur. Something that they would normally only see on the news. They were still rare- relatively speaking, but enough of them existed to pose a problem, make things a bit more tense than they needed to be. Nobody wanted a raptor in their backyard, and so that made it the governments problem. But there were some that might want say...a smaller animal, a Gallimimus, a Compy, a Pachy- he smiled to himself. It had been all so easy. Too easy.
The guards in the back stared back at him, shaking their heads as they looked him over. Perhaps wondering if he was going to escape. No, he was too well secured here, it was just a tad bumpy that was all, as the vehicle went over a speed bump as he settled himself. This trial was a farce. He knew it. Maybe they knew it as well. But he was willing to go along with it- to see what they all had to say. What they wanted him to say... he sighed as he couldn't see outside.
It didn't really matter, he thought. Mills knew that a case of this level, it was unprecedented, and the jury would likely be hung. He had faith in his lawyers, they had promised him that they could get him off the hook. There was the matter of the woman. Was he scared of Jessica King? He paused, unsure for a few seconds before he smirked. No. There was absolutely nothing she could do to him. Then of course, there was the matter of the others. Owen and Claire.
Their coming to him in the prison like that. He was aware that they must not have a lot of other options to do so, even where he was, in his station, it was clear that they did not have any footing to stand on. Owen Grady, the disgraced raptor trainer, responsible for the death of an expensive animal on live television...and then Claire Dearing. Masrani had died under her watch, and it was to perhaps no one's surprise that she would have been the next out the door after his death. So to have the pair of them beg him to testify...heh. That was a laugh.
Still, he didn't know if he would do it yet, that was the thing. It all depended on what sort of evidence the prosecution had, what sort of deal that they could offer him. As he would feel the van turning, he could see the guard checking his watch. They were close, so close he could smell it. He didn't like being shackled up like this, it was fairly constricting, being in a cage, and then having his good name dragged through the mud like this.
As the car came to a stop, he shifted in his seat, as the guards would unshackle the chains that kept him tethered to the floor. It was not needed anyway, where would he go besides? Whatever made them feel comfortable, he mused, even as he would squint, covering his eyes with his hands as the door was opened. It was mid-day, they must have spent a few hours driving here. He could clearly see they were in the middle of the city, and as he was led out under guard, he took a look to his right, and he could see the sun rising over the glimmer of tall buildings, including what looked suspiciously like a pyramid. Huh, he thought as he was swiveled to face the front. Las Vegas, he thought, as he waited for them to unshackle his leg restraints. So he could at least be allowed to walk in front.
All of this security, for what...he thought, as he was amused. Of all places, Las Vegas. Ironic, he'd been planning to hold an auction here It was funny how life worked out, well, he'd sold so many animals that he couldn't quite remember just if he'd sold any animals here. Maybe he did. But he couldn't imagine any were in the city right now. If they were, they'd be at the edge of town. At least that was his assumption, he'd merely sold the animals, he had no participation in learning anything about them.
He took another look up and to the side. The guards were just barely starting to move alongside him, so he still had time before they grabbed his arms. Of course, they were a bit rough, but if it bothered him, he didn't let it show. The street seemed fairly busy, it was mid-day, and the sun was out, and the temperature was fairly warm. He had expected that for Vegas, smack dab in the middle of the city. This far into the city, no one bothered about the possibility of animals either, why he couldn't hear anything but the tittering of birds somewhere in the distance.
"Come on, you don't want to be late for your hearing," he looked up at a man in a clean cut suit. He seemed to be older-middle aged, and he was holding a suitcase in his other hand. "Daniel Ross, Law offices of Cowan, Swain and Ross," he said, as he flashed his business card to the officers. Stepping closer to Mills, he would smile thinly, as he whispered in the man's ear. "I do think you have a fairly decent case to make for duress. We can argue that in court."
Mills nodded, he was not versed in court speak, as he nodded. "It's all right. He's my lawyer," he said to the guards, giving them a smirk as he would feel relieved. This was actually going to work out well. All he needed to do was walk in there and make his case. He turned back to the man as they started walking. "Just tell me...have they announced who their witnesses will be yet?"
Ross shook his head, but they could see the lobby before them, as there was now a little bit of a line. It seemed that there were a few people already there. No sign of Jessica King, but he'd expected that. She would never show up personally, even as he scanned the small crowd as he continued, with an almost laser-like fixation on trying to pick out faces. No sign of Owen or Claire either. But he hadn't expected them to show up. Not after what had publicly happened. He was honestly surprised that they had even made the attempt to reach out to him in the prison. But maybe that was what desperation did. Made them reach out to someone unreliable...
He continued to scan, now they were stopped. They had put metal detectors in front of the steps, and because of this, they were letting his shackles loose. He saw a familiar face...Levine. Levine, he remembered that face. He smirked as he looked at the man waiting in the lobby. Now that was interesting. He'd done business with the man, so why should he be here? The only thing that came to mind was that he was potentially here as a witness for the prosecution. Some sort of immunity deal perhaps? He turned to his lawyer, but the man wasn't looking at him.
He was one his phone, distracted, and this gave Mills some time as he was waiting, to stare at Levine. He was smirking at the man. "So, they got you too?" He said, before noticing that Levine seemed to be standing on his own, well not exactly alone. There was someone standing next to him, a tall, muscular man with a mustache. Mills frowned, and it didn't look like Levine noticed.
"I came here because I had to see for myself-" Levine didn't finish as the man brushed past him, holding something that looked like a phone. The chirping was a bit louder now, as Mills looked up in the trees. Birds? He looked down and he saw Levine staring up as well, there was an identical frown on his face, but Mills couldn't really see just where, as he was pushed a bit forward again. There were a few people ahead of him in line, and he would be ready. It would all be over soon...
As the guards would move him ahead, he heard shouts, as he turned, but only halfway as he was pushed forward again by the guards. His first thought was that it was a jeer from the crowd, but that wasn't so, as he heard what sounded like people running. Then his guards moved, he could see them turning as if in surprise, genuine surprise as their hands were on their sidearms. Trained for anything. He would take that moment to see, as suddenly he was almost bowled over by someone colliding with him. He crashed to the ground as he could see it was his guard.
They were having their hands up, trying to push past the people moving, and instinctively, Mills curled up in a ball, as he could see the people behind the line start to try to back up. Some of them running into the building...The chirping grew louder, and it was then he vaguely recalled where he had heard it from. Groaning, he tried to push himself upright, but it was hard when his hands were still cuffed together. He was kicked again, this time knocking the wind out of him.
There was a large beeping sound, as the crowd was no doubt trying to force their way past the metal detectors. Somewhere in that, the chirping was somehow almost as loud. Someone was trying to grab him, and he looked up with some surprise, he lifted his head, seeing it was Levine. "Just hold on. Don't let go-" the man said, as he would try to hold on. But even so, they were both being jostled around, as Mills tried to pull himself up, he was almost up-
But then he was knocked over again, another of his guards, as he had his gun out. "You maniac, you're going to hit someone!" He heard someone in the crowd shout, as the guard fired, once...twice...there was a yell, as someone else fell. But then he turned and ran. Trying to get up, Mills leaned on the security table, head still mixed up a bit, as he would look up. Looking back at him, there was a an animal. More specifically, it looked almost like a lizard. A green lizard. But it wasn't, it was a Procompsognathus, specifically, a 'Compy'. Mills recalled vaguely that he'd sold some...
It was chirping. There was a parting in the crowd, and he could see Green bodies now visible among peoples feet. He couldn't tell how many there must be. Too many. He started trying to get up, but the Compy was faster, nipping at his fingers, as he pulled it away. "Come on. Let's get out of here," Levine was next to him again, the beeping of the metal detectors going nuts now.
He would step back, as if in a dream, but as people kept moving past him, there were more Compys that kept hopping up on the table. Levine tried to drag him back, but now people were pressing up against them, climbing over tables. Mills shook his head at the idiocy. There weren't that many of them- were there? Then he saw. His eyes widened as he saw that was only the beginning. More. A dozen? A few dozen?
He was pushed roughly against the table, and he screamed as the Compys rushed at him, taking a nip here and there. He pushed himself off, as people jostled him, and he would try to move. But they were on his back now too, and he tried to move, as they kept biting him. He thought maybe if he could just get inside he could make it. After all, they were small. Not just small but...
He felt things move past him almost like in a daze. Maybe he had bumped his head, but the pushing and shoving wasn't helping either. If he could just move his hands... He could feel pricking now at the back of his neck. The little bastards were relentless weren't they? They really were. It seemed very difficult now, as he tried to push, one step in front of the other- and then he fell.
Falling right in front of the detector, as the beeps were now his world, as he groaned. There were more bites, now, as he tried to get up... Not good. Too many people trying to move, as he heard a thud behind him. Turning his head past the green bodies he saw his worst fears confirmed, the table had been shoved to the side, people panicked at him blocking the pathway, and had turned it over. Right onto his legs.
Mills screamed, but his screams were drowned out by the crowd as more and more compys closed in on him, making their way through the crowd. Eventually, the screams stopped, not that anyone heard them.