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The InGen Chronicles
By Gamblers Ruined
The InGen Chronicles
#1 : Time Bomb Ticking
by Mad Hatter
COPYRIGHT 2001 ©
The creature opened its eyes. It looked like a puppet; small and rigid. Manon Darbridge looked at his new creation in fascination. Tears of pride welled in his eyes. He cooed as he stroked the creature’s tough skin.
“You’re mine and no-one else’s. You’re mine and no-one will hurt you.”
The creature’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness. It began to get up on one leg. Then two. And the creature toppled over from its own weight. The animal squealed lightly. Darbridge laughed, satisfied. “Don’t you worry little one...you’ll soon be chasing your own food. But for now, let me give you this.”
Darbridge took out a case from the shelf behind him and placed it on the table next to his living creation. The animal inspected the new object, sniffed it, lifted its right leg and left the faintest trail of urine at the side of the case. Darbridge’s eyes widened.
“NO! You stupid animal!”
He opened the case quickly, grabbed the syringe inside and violently jabbed the creature in its tiny thigh with the needle. The creature howled in pain. Darbridge panicked.
“Shh! Do you want the others to hear you? They don’t understand what I’m trying to do!” His voice grew softer. “They don’t understand us.”
The animal peered at its creator sadly. It was only a few days old, but already sensed anger, pain, sadness. Manon Darbridge’s frown turned into a smile. “I understand you. And I will be the only one to protect you. If that pedantic Hammond discovers what I’ve done, he’ll fire me. And destroy you,” and Darbridge began to stroke the tiny sail on the creatures back. “And we don’t want that, do we?”
It was a simple and harsh truth. Robert Muldoon hated Isla Sorna. There was no explanation why, and no explanation why not. And the fact that Hammond consistently asked him to ‘check it out’ as if it were an infection didn’t help his impression on the island. Today was like any other day he visited the island. Raptor control: Check. Tyrannosaur food: Check. Compy population: A little above normal but nothing he couldn’t handle. It was all the same on Sorna. The same, monotonous program. At least on Nublar, Muldoon could do what he was employed to do. At least on Nublar the raptors were properly contained. The idea that infant raptors were allowed to roam free in the Site B laboratory nerved Muldoon. Being the game warden of Jurassic Park, he knew what Velociraptors were capable of. He knew that their intelligence was far more complicated, far more superior, far more darker than anyone could imagine...
He looked out of the helicopter window. ‘There it is’, he thought sadly as he looked at the lush green island below. He hoped today would be a little exciting. He hated Isla Sorna.
The creature was hungry. It was now in total darkness, hidden away so no-one would ‘accidentally’ stumble upon it. And it was hungry. It smelled the air. Nothing that it recognized. It’s thigh hurt. About half an hour after Darbridge administered the injection, the animal started to go into spasms. Its body had jerked into unnatural positions, and the pain had been so much that it had lost consciousness. And now it was here, locked up in this small area with no light. With no food. And it was hungry.
The sunlight glazed off Muldoon’s fedora. He was so hot out in the field. He held the infant Raptor in his hands. It protested with its jaws, lightly biting Muldoon’s finger. Muldoon chuckled. “Clever Girl. You’re not going anywhere with a tail as injured as yours” he said to it as if it were a child. Manon Darbridge looked down at Muldoon. “I called you as soon as I noticed the way she walked. I hope she’s not in any pain. Do you think she is, Mr. Muldoon?” Muldoon kept his gaze down, avoiding the blinding sun. “No, Mr. Delbridge. No, I think this is the way her tail has naturally developed. There are no signs of damage. Have any of the other raptors had problems like this, Mr. Delbridge?” Manon ignored Muldoon’s mispronunciation of his surname. “None. I’ve been occupied with other things lately.” Muldoon disliked Darbridge. And he knew damn well that his surname was Darbridge. He reminded him too much of a co-worker that he knew in the zoo in Kenya. Fortunately, the co-worker once got too close to the lioness of the lion pride. Muldoon purposely waited a little while before he saved his life. Just for a lesson. And this man Darbridge was just as ignorant and careless as he was. But Muldoon dismissed it for now. He was already in a place he didn’t like; he didn’t want to start grudges with its occupants as well. “Alright Mr. Delbridge. I’m going to need to give this girl a shot before I leave.” Darbridge’s face tightened. “Is that...totally necessary?” Muldoon grew anxious. “Yes. I want to. Just to make sure.” Darbridge nodded angrily. “Fine. Follow me, Mr. Mulkearn.”
The creature inside the cage heard something. It’s eyes opened and then saw a brilliant flash of light enter the room. It started to whimper.
“What was that?” asked Muldoon entering the underground bunker, still nursing the raptor. Manon turned uneasily. “What was what?” Muldoon’s pupils dilated in the dark. “Listen!” The two men were silent as they struggled to hear the tiny whimpering coming from somewhere in the room. The raptor shifted in Muldoon’s arms, agitated. “That! What was that? There’s something else in this room.” He placed the raptor gently on the table in the middle of the room and started searching in the dark. “What are you doing? You can’t just look around my personal belongings!” warned Darbridge. Muldoon ignored him. He headed the way of the whimpering and as he got closer, the whimpering got louder, more anticipated. Sweat beads rolled down Manon’s head. Muldoon dropped to his knees. Under a shelf of chemicals, was a small cage with something in it. Something very small. The raptor on the table jumped up and down excitedly. Muldoon grabbed the cage, and the creature inside began screaming.
“Turn on the light!” Muldoon ordered Darbridge.
“But-“
“Turn on the bloody light!”
The room lit up. The raptor stopped jumping and cowered. Muldoon placed the cage on the table. He looked at Darbridge threateningly. “Open it.” Darbridge picked up the raptor and opened the cage. Lethargically, the animal stepped into the light, eyes blinking rapidly.
Muldoon stared intensely at the little animal on the table.
"What the bloody hell is it?"
The scientist looked pleased with himself. A child-like grin crossed his face.
"It's...an experiment."
Muldoon's face hardened. "What do you mean 'experiment'? Does Hammond know about this?"
The Scientist's smile widened. Muldoon saw the dangerous ambition in his eyes.
"Nobody knows about it. Mr. Muldoon, as a scientist, you must understand that we have our own ambitions. Not just Mr. Hammond’s. We try to up the ante with every species that Hammond instructs us with.” The animal on the table stared intensely at the raptor. Both animals were intrigued with each other. Darbridge continued. “Now Mr. Hammond has unfairly been bias in his choice of recreation.”
“This animal is not on InGen’s list is it?” queried Muldoon. Darbridge smiled again.
“No, Robert. This species is ‘Spinosaurus Aegypticus’.”
Muldoon fell silent. Super predator, he thought. Bigger than the T-Rex with the ferocity of a hundred raptors. The baby Spino began to whimper again.
“I’ve been...bringing up this unique animal for the past week. You don’t need to tell anybody this animal exists. As far as I’m concerned, you weren’t even here.”
At that moment, the raptor jumped easily from Darbridge’s grip and landed on the table on its two feet. It was the same size as the Spino, but visually more developed. The raptor let out a shrill scream, and with jaws open lunged towards the Spino. There was a splash of red when the two collided. It was all over in a few seconds.
Muldoon stared in disbelief. Darbridge’s face reeked of satisfaction. With merely a scratch on it, the Spino ducked its head for a second time and tore off a chunk of flesh from the dead raptor. It let out a tiny roar when it realized the two men were still standing there.
Darbridge’s body slammed against the shelf. Muldoon’s hands did not loosen their grip on the collar of Manon’s shirt. The Spino continued eating.
“I’m going to get rid of this creature, Mr. Darbridge. It was not meant for the park. Do you understand me?”
Manon began to blubber. “Do I understand you?! Do I understand you?!” he cried hysterically.
“Yes! Do you?! There is no way-“
“Do YOU understand ME, Mr. Muldoon?” Manon screamed. “Do you understand what I’m trying to do?!”
Muldoon wiped his forehead. “Yes. I understand completely. And I’m not letting you make the future.” He let go of Darbridge and Darbridge collapsed to the floor. Muldoon looked at the little monster finishing off his meal. It was the youngest predator he had ever seen. He grabbed the cage with one hand and with the other, grabbed the little animal by its sail. He put it in its cage roughly. From inside, the Spino cried in protest.
“What...what are you doing Muldoon?!”
Muldoon started towards the door. “Giving this monster a second chance of extinction.” And with that, he left.
Darbridge lay on the floor in the darkness in disbelief. He thought about his deal with BioSyn, and how the Spinosaur would have made him a millionaire from them. And now he thought about Muldoon telling Hammond about his ‘new creation,’ and how his career with InGen was definitely over. His family had already left him. He hadn’t a friend in the world. Not a human friend. And now, his only friend was taken away from him. He started crying again, but this time because of his own failure. Through watery eyes, he grabbed for the nearest chemical. He couldn’t read it’s label, but could certainly make out the Skull and Crossbones logo. He laughed softly, eerily. “Here’s to you Hammond, you old bastard.” He twisted off the lid and drank its contents in one gulp. He opened the door of the bunker and slumped outside. His throat started pulsating. His insides felt inflamed. The sun had gone down. It was dark now.
He was dead before the compies found him.
Muldoon paced back and fourth on the heli-pad. Where was his pilot Rodriguez? He told him 6:30 sharp. He looked into the distance. The sound of whirring propellers was heard in the distance. He thought about the day he had. He thought about Manon Darbridge and how he would lose his job. Maybe he wouldn’t tell Hammond. Maybe it was better for the InGen staff if this was just a rumour. Maybe this didn't even happen. Muldoon looked in the direction where he had dumped the Spino. True, he hadn’t killed it, but the chance of it surviving the night was so slim it didn’t matter anyway. Sure it killed a baby raptor, but it was merely an appetiser even for a juvenile Rex. His conscience was clear. The helicopter came into view. Within minutes, the game warden of Jurassic Park was heading back to his real work, his real job. Muldoon hated Sorna.
“So how was your day?” he asked Rodriguez.
The Isle of Sorna was peaceful that night. The herbivores had ceased grazing and had all gone to sleep. The young Tyrannosaur was snoring loudly by the lagoon. The Compies had eaten their fill of the meal, and had even left half of it. But something was stirring. Something was whimpering in the dark, while the moonlight reflected off its already developing sail. Something one day would regain its prominent title as the world’s greatest predator. But for now, something had made it’s way back to the bunker, it’s home.
Something had noticed the half eaten figure outside of the bunker entrance.
And something was hungry.
THE END
10/17/2003 9:04:54 PM
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