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Jurassic Park Shadows of History Stage Four
By JPJunkee
FOURTH STAGE
"Why is happiness so hard to obtain in this world of ours?
Why does sorrow consume so many of our emotions?
Why do people become depressed more often than they
become elated or euphoric? Why so many questions
about emotions? Why isn't anything ever clear?"
--Kyle Warner--
CHAPTER 18
They had been walking for over a day. And to Grant, it seemed as though they were wandering blindly through the jungle.
But, Brunell acted as though he knew the correct way.
However, Grant wasn't sure if he trusted Brunell and the others anymore. They were mercenaries. Not informed about the dinosaurs, and pretty much obliviant to the true mission at hand.
They were here to set the InGen name straight. (however ludicrous that may sound) Brunell knew that much. Harris and Smith though, they only knew how to shoot a gun. And maybe, Grant hoped, the correct way to go.
He was growing tired, and he could tell that everyone else was too. Dirt stuck to his sweaty skin, but he was used to it. He had spent half his life in a desert digging up bones. It was hot there, but not like here. Here there was the unrelenting humidity.
Behind him, he could hear Malcolm's deep breathing. It had to be hard for Ian, after breaking his leg almost a decade ago, he still hadn't fully recovered. Neither, had his way of life.
Grant hadn't talked to Malcolm since the incident a decade ago. But, he had learned enough to know that Malcolm, a father of three, had lost his job at the Berkley Museum. Had married and divoced two more times since they last met. (losing one of his children in one of the divorces) And, was now working at the small college, Northern Illinois University.
But, not all was bad for Malcolm, Grant knew. His book had been near the top of the New York Times Best Seller list. And, three years ago, he had married a paleontologist named Sarah Harding. A wonderful woman, that Grant had had the privilege of working with in the past. (and hoped to work again with in the future)
The future! Grant almost laughed out loud. Did Grant even have a future? Even if he got out of this place alive, what was left for him back home? Paleontology was almost extinct, it was time he evolved. That, he reminded himself, was why he was here.
Evolving. . . . .
Leah Owens and Aaron Madison walked quietly, as they trailed Grant and his team ahead of them.
Leah was suprised that they hadn't noticed them yet, but she reasoned, they were about ten minutes behind them.
Her feet ached, and her body was growing even more tired after each passing second. How much further would it be until Grant's team got to their final destination.
What was their final destination? Did it have anything to do with her story at all? Was Grant and Malcolm showing up here, just a coincidence?
No it wasn't.
And even if it was just a big fat coincidence, it was just too big of a chance to pass up.
And so, they walked on. Only hoping, that their hike through the treacherous forest, would soon, come to a close.
She was about to tell Aaron Madison, that she needed to take a break, when she heard Grant's team talking excitedly ahead of her.
The hike was over.
Ian Malcolm belly-crawled to the top of the hill, where he could see the bright lights shining through the night above it. Beside him, Grant and the others did the same. Being careful not to make any noise.
Malcolm reached the peak of the hill, and looked down at the Compound below him. Smiling and shaking his head, he muttered quietly to himself, "Holy shit, it looks like Alcatraz."
And indeed it did. Down below them, was the building that they had been searching for. And to tell the truth, Ian thought that they had gotten here too quick. How had Brunell known the right way? Brunell, Smith and Harris were clueless about the rest of the mission, except it seemed, the direction they were going. Ian smiled to himself, he was always dissecting things too much.
Ian looked to his right, and saw that Brunell, Smith and Harris were already beginning the job. He saw Arnold Smith take a digital camcorder out of his pack. It was equipped with a night vision lens, so they could film in the dark.
Brunell and Smith too, were both taking out different kinds of filming equipment.
The time was now. Tonight, they finally began.
CHAPTER 19
Dodgson led Henry Wu through the Biosyn main compound. He proudly showed off the hatchery, which was worse kept than Jurassic Park's. Then he showed Wu the genetics labrotories. And now, he was giving him a short tour of the control room, which was also where the security was taken care of.
Dodgson allowed himself an angry sigh. This wasn't his job, being a tour guide. But, it was upon Rossiter's request that he show Wu around.
The control room was large, and full of computers and people. Unlike Jurassic Park, Biosyn was not so over dependent on automation. Yes, they used computers, but it was people that were controlling them. And only their most trusted and veteran members even knew about the secret compound in Costa Rica.
Wu looked concerned as he watched all the people running around the room. Why should he be? Everything was fine? This is the way it always looked. Dodgson decided to ask,"Anything wrong Dr. Wu?"
"What's going on?" Wu asked immediately.
"What do you mean?"
"All the people running around, has something broken out?" Wu was waving his hand at all of the people running from computer to computer. To him it looked like madness.
"No, nothing has broken out. This is how it always is. Much like an office building. But of course, it won't look like this for long, once we put in the new security measures. Then it will appear much more controlled. Here, I want you to meet someone," Dodgson motioned for Wu to follow him.
Dodgson led Wu to a young heavyset man with a thin goatee and silver sunglasses. Wu smiled, immediately thinking of Dennis Nedry. "Meet Mac Brenson, our head engineer," Dodgson said.
The heavyset man spun his chair around and looked up at Dodgson and Wu. The man smiled up at them and said,"Hey Lew, who's your friend?"
"Mr. Brenson, this is Dr. Henry Wu. I was just giving Dr. Wu a tour of our facilities, and I was hoping that you could show him some of our security measures."
Wu was shaking his head,"No, that's not necessary. I really-----"
Dodgson interupted him and put an arm around his shoulder,"Oh, but I insist."
Mac Brenson went on to inform Wu about not only the security, but the overall computer system. Most of it he had either already knew or had basically presumed. Brenson told him stuff like how the dinosaurs had escaped, and how they were hoping to prevent it. Also, he told Wu that all the electricity could be turned off in this room, but to reboot the system they'd have to go to a seperate shed.
After Dodgson felt that Wu had heard enough to reassure him that the place was pretty much safe (which took almost an hour), he lead Wu to his own personal office where a woman of about forty was shuffling papers behind Dodgson's desk.
"Mrs. Linson would you please excuse us," Dodgson said as he entered the room with Wu. And without saying a word, the woman left.
Dodgson then stepped behind his desk, and put his feet up. Wu, not knowing for sure what to do, remained standing.
"So, what do you think of our little secret?" Dodgson asked with a sly smile.
Wu stuttered, searching for the proper thing to say. Finally he said,"It's nice." Inside his head, Wu was kicking himself. 'It's nice', what the hell was that supposed to mean!
Dodgson almost laughed,"Nice?"
"It's got a few problems, but it seems to be in working order."
Dodgson's smile dissapeared,"Everything has problems."
Wu nodded,"True. But, not usually in the open, like it is here."
"What problems are you talking about?" Dodgson's attitude was visibly changing from happy and in control, to sour and angry.
Wu moved to sit down in one of the chairs facing Dodgson's desk, but stopped when Dodgson shot him a daring glance. "How many breakouts have you had?" Wu asked.
Lewis Dodgson was silent for a moment, staring into Wu's eyes with hatred. But, Wu somehow stood his ground, and Dodgson admitted, "We've had a total of a dozen breakouts. Five this year."
"The security is a problem," Wu said gesturing with his hand.
"Yes, but we're fixing that! Aren't we?" Dodgson snapped back.
Wu took a deep breath. He just wanted to go home! Why was he carrying on like this? But, in the back of his mind he knew why. Somehow, if Biosyn was caught, they could follow the trail to him, and he might go to jail. It was he who had given Biosyn the technique, and the embryos. In a way, it was his fault that some people had died. He would have to live with that guilt forever. Finally, Wu said, "Yes, yes you say you're fixing it. And I hope it goes well."
Dodgson sank back and seemed to be relaxing, but when his phone on his desk beeped, and Mrs. Linson's voice came on, he immediately slapped the talk button on the phone, and yelled,"I said, not NOW!"
Linson apologized, and hung up.
There was a moment of silence, where Dodgson seemed to be just examining Wu. He was watching his every move, and especially, how Wu tolerated it all. He was sizing him up. Wu broke the silence by asking,"When will I be able to leave?"
Dodgson's stern expression didn't change as he asked,"You want to leave?"
Wu slowly nodded.
A small wicked smile appeared on Dodgson's face, he sensed fear, and Wu knew it. "You will be permitted to leave tomorrow morning. I'll arrange a flight for say around. . . . noon?"
It was later than Wu wanted, as he wanted to leave now, but he agreed. Dodgson called Linson back, had a guard come to his office, and lead Wu to a small barren, boring bedroom, with the words on the door reading "Visitor Suite".
Without undressing, Henry Wu layed down on the pillow, and immediately, he fell into a deep sleep. In his sleep, he drempt of dinosaurs, and about how they were slaughtering him as he slept.
CHAPTER 20
It was a quick in and out job, Grant kept repeating in his mind. Brunell and his men were professionalls. They had every chance of suceeding and not being caught. He was sure of it.
So sure you have to repeat it over and over to yourself? Grant sighed, it wasn't a good sign when your brain disagreed with itself.
But now, wasn't a time to think. He watched as Brunell, then Smith, then Harris slid quietly down the hill. Then he looked to Malcolm, who looked as unsure as he did, and slid down behind them.
They reached the bottom of the hill with a soft thump, and steathily, they made their way around the fence, to where they could here the animal sounds.
They kept low, even though there were no search lights in operation. But there were guards, many were inside the fence, and a lone two were stationed at the gate. Which they had purposely avoided.
Now, as they made their way around the humming fence, with the mercenaries armed with cameras, they could begin to hear the animal sounds much more clearly. Until suddenly, on the other side of the fence, stood a ten foot tall drooling carnotaurus.
Grant, along with Smith and Malcolm, almost fell backwards with shock. The animal was silent, save for the deep raspy breaths it made every few seconds. The dinosaur was red in color, and it had a very boxy head with two bull-like horns protruding from above the eyes.
The animal watched them closely, shifting its eyes from one human to the next, but never moving its big dripping head.
That's when Grant looked closer, for it was weird that the carnotaur was drooling like it was. He thought of back home, where his students were working hard to uncover the skeleton of a carnotaur. He had always wondered how this particular creature worked. How it hunted, how it killed, and how it survived so long as a species with such primitive weapons. But maybe this was its secret to sucess. Maybe the drool. . . . .
He turned around as Brunell elbowed his arm, they had to keep moving. Stand in one place too long, and they might be discovered.
They crept along the side of the fence for about another mintue or so. They finally stopped once Brunell felt there were enough dinosaurs on the other side, in view.
Slowly, Brunell, Smith and Harris raised their cameras, and began filming. They were careful not to either alert any guards, or dinosaurs.
Meanwhile, Grant and Malcolm stepped behind them, and tried their best to quiet their breathing.
Leah Owens and Aaron Madison watched from the top of the hill, as Grant's team moved quietly along the fence line. Leah knew that if they were to get the pictures they wanted, they would have to do the same. But, instead of creeping along the fence, they decided to walk across the top of the hill, it would be quicker that way, and would give them a better shot.
Alan Grant watched uneasily as Brunell and his men continued to film. Didn't they have enough? All they needed was proof. Proof that this had nothing to do with InGen, then they could leave.
Slowly Grant walked over to Brunell and whispered into his ear,"Is there a problem?"
Brunell's voice was grim,"Yes, they show no logos. We have no proof. We'll need to find a logo or something that prooves it isn't InGen."
So that was it? Why hadn't they thought of this before? Of course there wouldn't be any logos, this was supposed to be a secret. How would they ubtain proof now? He thought of the possibility of just recording a species that InGen had never created, but that too wouldn't stand. Grant new first hand that InGen had lied about their bred species list. He had met their lies close up, when a couple years ago, he was nearly eaten by both a spinosaurus, and a pteranodon. Later, Hammond confessed that yes, they had bred a spinosaur, and a hole flock of pteranodons. (which were now missing somewhere in the world) Maybe Hammond had lied about the carcharadontasaurus? Maybe they had bred one? Maybe, what he was looking at right now, was actaully one of InGen's facilities? Maybe, this whole expedition, was just a way of exterminating Malcolm and himself?
Then, a thought occured to him; had he told anybody he was leaving? No, he remebered, he had almost been too embarrassed to tell anybody. He had even lied to his dig team, telling them, he was off to find more funding, which in reality, he actually kind of was.
Slowly, he walked back to where Malcolm was standing, and whispered,"Did you tell anyone where you were going?"
Malcolm looked confused,"Excuse me?"
"You know," Grant attempted to explain without Brunell or his men hearing,"when Hammond called you. Did you tell anyone you were going here?"
Malcolm didn't need to think, he immediately responded,"No. Why do you ask?"
Grant frowned, "No reason I guess. Just got a bad feeling."
Malcolm smiled,"Uh oh. When you get one of those, it means trouble."
Grant smiled, too. Somehow, Malcolm just had a way of making him smile.
Leah and Aaron were now right behind Grant's team, up the hill. Leah spied down on them with delight. This was going to be good!
Her enthusiasm was broken, when she noticed Madison not filming.
"What is it?" she whispered harshly to him.
Madison looked complexed, like he wasn't able to decide on something,"This isn't a good view point," he said,"I need to go up this tree." He pointed to the tree beside him. It was thick and sturdy, but Madison was a big man.
"Are you crazy?" Leah snapped. "That thing'll fall if you push it the wrong direction."
But Madison had already started up, he had set the big camera at the foot of the tree. And once he had reached a height that he found suitable, and had situated himself so that he wouldn't fall, he whispered softly for Leah to hand him the camera.
She picked it up with both hands. Man, it was heavy! She slowly handed it up to him and, after he grabbed it, she let out a sigh. No wonder all camera men had to be big and buff.
Madison rested it upon his shoulder, and once he had Grant's team in his sights, he began filming. He saw Grant's team take out their cameras, and begin to film wildly, like they were searching for something. Then he heard a soft crack. Madison shot an angry glance down at Leah, but she shrugged, implying that she had not made the sound. Then he heard another sharp crack, this one louder. Then, he felt his body begin to sway on the tree. Suddenly he realized it; his branch was breaking. He quickly tried to move to a different branch, but the heavy camera slowed his movements. He heard another sharp crack, then he was falling.
Grant heard the cracking behind him, and turned just in time, to see something large fall out of a tree. Then, within seconds, lights were cascading all around in their direction. Until, they landed on an injured man and woman, with a large camera. The lights stayed on the couple, until after a few moments, guards with large guns were surrounding them on all sides. The woman screamed as a man grabbed her gruffly.
Quickly, Grant turned around, to ask Brunell what they should do, but what he saw made his blood chill, and his heart stop. He was staring right into the barrel of an assault rifle. Immediately, he put his hands in the air, as he and all the others were escorted with guns to their backs, into the compound.
CHAPTER 21
As soon as Grant's team, as well as the two other people, went through the gates, they were blind folded. Now, an overpowering sense of fear washed through Dr. Grant, as the Spanish man behind him guided him, with a gun, through a compound full of some of the most vicious monsters ever to walk the planet.
They led them to a door, at which they paused as it unlocked, then they continued downstairs and after making a couple of turns down the halls, they were brought to what seemed to be a very large, and empty room. There, they were handcuffed, then their blind folds were removed.
After most of the men had left, except for two, Grant began to look around the room. It was completely bare. It had hard tiles for a floor. One single door, which he was sure was guarded on the other side. The walls were featureless, with no windows. And the ceiling, was bare, with only one light, and a ventilation duct.
Now, Grant looked at the gaurds, only half aware he was actually doing it. They wore dark blue uniforms. With high shiny black boots. But, what he was looking for, was a badge, or a symbol of some sort. But, after a quick search, he found that neither of the two gaurds wore any symbol on any part of their uniforms.
Slowly, he turned his head to Brunell, who he saw, was staring madly at the gaurds. Grant didn't like his eyes, they looked---murderous.
Sitting beside Grant, Ian could hardly keep himslef from smiling. He knew he shouldn't have come. He had calculated all of this. But, here he was, in an area which was about to collapse under an unspeakable force. A force that even he could not foresee. But still, he knew it was coming. Whether it be a storm, a computer virus, an angry employee, he wasn't sure.
But he was sure, that there would be much blood spilled over the next day, and he was quite certain, that he would not be able to cheat fate for a third time.
Somewhere on the other side of the compound, Leah Owens and Aaron Madison were being interrogated. They were sitting on hard chairs, in the middle of a small blank bedroom. Leah and Aaron were sitting on one side by a metal bar enforced window. On the other side, by the door, stood two guards and a tall balding man that wore dark sunglasses, despite the fact that it was the middle of the night.
The other man was walking towards them now. He bent down slightly, to get a better look at his hostages. And when he did, Aaron attempted to stand up and ram into the man. But, the guards were fast, and they butted him with their rifles, and he fell backwards to the ground. Leah was amazed to realize, that the man in sunglasses didn't even flinch.
"I must admit,"started the man,"I am quite surprised to see you two here. I have been watching your reports, and I knew you were getting close, but I never expected for you to get this close." The man paused for a second then continued,"But, then I suppose it wasn't just pure luck though was it? You followed Dr. Grant and his friends. I must say, they were quite pissed when you two blew their cover." He gave a slight chuckle.
"You knew they were coming?" Leah asked in a frightened tone.
"Well of course I knew! I practically sent them!" The man said with a smile.
When he saw that both Leah and Aaron looked confused, he explained,"I am Lewis Dodgson, I work for a bioengineering company, that is a rival of InGen."
Leah was still confused,"InGen?"
Dodgson growled,"Typical of reporters. Just here for the story, not here for the truth. I pity you for your lack of vision!" Dodgson took a few deep breaths, then said,"InGen was the company that created Jurassic Park. I have been searching for their methods for years, and at last I have found them. And my company will succeed where InGen failed. But, with all great plans, there are flaws. And you two, as well as Grant and his friends, are my plan's flaws." Slowly, he reached over to one of the beds, where Madison's camera was resting, and picked it up and began to inspect it. "You suffered quite a fall Mr. Madison," he commented as he looked over the broken camera, then he found a button and ejected the tape, in perfect condition. "If you don't mind, I'll be taking this." He took out the tape and handed it to one of the guards telling him,"Give this to Mrs. Linson, tell her to put it on my desk." And immediately, the guard left with the tape in hand.
Then Dodgson turned back to Leah and Aaron, and said,"I'll be leaving you now, but I shall see you again in time."
Then Dodgson set the camera back down on the bed, and began to exit the room, with the guard following him. But, before he could leave completely, Aaron asked in a weazy voice,"Why did you tell us all of that?"
Dodgson stopped, and looked in at Leah and Aaron and said in all seriousness,"Isn't it obvious?"
"I'm going to kill you."
CHAPTER 22
Henry Wu sat in his room awake, despite the time. He had heard the shouts in Spanish, then the yells back in English. Something was going on, something not normal. He had the feeling, that someone must have stumbled upon the compound, and had been captured by Dodgson's men. After debating it with himself for almost an hour, he decided to go and check.
He got up from the rock hard bed, and walked over to the door. When he turned the knob, he was suprised to find it locked. He tried to force himself out, but the lock held strong. He didn't like the fact that Biosyn was locking him in his room at night. He began to bang on the door with his fists and yell. And after about five minutes, a guard came to the door and opened it.
The guard was American, and asked Wu,"Is something wrong Dr. Wu?"
Wu, exhausted from the beating on the door and out of breath from the yelling, said in a raspy voice,"I need to speak with Dodgson."
The guard frowned,"I'm sorry, Dr. Wu. Dr. Dodgson has retired for the night, but I'll let him know that you want to speak with him when he wakes."
Wu had played Dodgson's games long enough, now he was tired of it,"Don't give me that shit! I heard him down the hallway speaking to some woman just a couple of minutes ago." Wu looked madly into the guard's eyes. They seemed to stare at each other like this for eternity, but finally, the guard caved.
"Very well. If it is urgent," the guard said, as he led Wu from his room and down the twisted halls that seemed like a maze. Until at long last, the guard brought Wu to Dodgson's office.
The guard knocked on the door, and as soon as he did, there came a sharp reply from Dodgson,"I said I didn't want to be bothered!"
The guard cleared his throat and said with as much confidence as he could muster,"Dr. Wu would like to have a word with you."
There was a short pause. Then, just when they were about to walk away, Dodgson opened the door and said with a smile that didn't fit his personality,"Well, why didn't you say so? I always have time for my friends. Now come in!" Dodgson wrapped an arm around Wu's shoulders, and ushered him into the office. Then he slammed the door on the guard's face.
"What is it you wanted to talk about Henry?" Dodgson asked in a cheery, almost guilty voice, as he walked around to the back of his desk.
Dodgson's room was the same way it had been since earlier in the day, except for a tape laying on the table. It had a sticker on the side of it with the CNN symbol. Wu tried to look like he hadn't seen it, and turned his face to Dodgson as he said,"Do you have any women working here?"
Dodgson's smile dissapeared, and was replaced by a look of total suprise. "What kind of a question is that?"
"I know it's weird, but could you please tell me."
Dodgson laughed,"Fine, if you must know, we have two women employed here. But, one of them is sick on leave, and the other you have met, Mrs. Linson. But she left earlier this night. Why do you ask?"
Henry tried to calm himself, "I heard a lot of yelling about an hour ago. What was it about?"
"Ha! You heard that huh? Yeah it about woke up everybody in the compound. It also scared a lot of the animals."
"What was it?"
Dodgson face turned from happy, to quizzical in a blink of an eye. "It was a fight. Something about racism or something like that. Some drunk American employee decided to pick a fight with a Mexican guard. They both got bloodied up pretty badly. . . . . Why?" And once again, his smile had returned.
Wu stood before Dodgson's desk, bracing himself, "I heard a woman screaming."
The smile vanished. Dodgson's eyes went a blaze with fiery anger. A sickly scowl formed upon his face, and he began to make fists with his hands, "I'll be right back, I need to attend to something." Dodgson stormed past Wu and out of the room, slamming the door behind him. But outside the door, he could here Dodgson telling the American guard, "Guard this door. If you here anything being moved around in there, kill him." Then he stormed off down the hall.
Those last words turned Wu's skin ghost white. He tried to think of where Dodgson might be going, but all he could think of, was that he was going to get a gun. He had to escape, but how? Not through the door. He looked around the room, and spotted another door. Being as quiet as he could, he crept over to the door, and opened it.
What was inside, proved his idea about Dodgson going to get a gun wrong. Behind the door was a closet. Filled with clothing, shoes, and on the far wall, weaponry. Dodgson obviously didn't want to be caught with his pants down.
Wu scanned the weaponry quickly. There was a shotgun, a couple pistols, a machine gun, and what looked to him like hand grenades. Moving as fast and quietly as he could, he pocketed two grenades, strapped on a holster, and buckled a pistol into it. Then, in his hands he carried the machine gun. He wasn't sure if the guns were loaded, but he didn't know anything about what button to press to check, so he looked to see if there were any ammo clips.
There weren't. Which led him to believe the guns were loaded.
He took in a deep breath. It was time to act, Dodgson could be back any moment now. He moved out of the closet and to the desk, he paused there for but a moment, as he pocketed the CNN tape, then he moved to the window. This window was not caged like his room had been. He unlocked the window, then slid it up, trying to make as little noise as possible.
He looked out the open window. They were on the second story, and there was no ladder, he would have to drop down. He put his left leg out the window, then his right one, then he let himself drop.
He landed on his back, and he groaned as he stood up. Once he was standing, he shouldered the machine gun, and turned off the safety, as he knew at least that much. Then he began to walk around the large octagon building, trying his best to keep out of sight of the rare guard that past by.
He made his way to the door into the building and paused, a thought finally rushing into his head. He had been so preocupied by getting out of Dodgson's office, that he had never thought about what to do next.
He stood at the entrance to the building, and tried to compose himself, as he slowly opened the door. . . . . .
1/12/2003 1:20:35 AM
(Updated: 2/3/2003 11:45:02 AM)
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