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In the Beginning
By Paws
In the Beginning
By Paws
“Jenkins? What’s our ETA?”
Captain J. Jenkins swiveled in his plush leather chair, “Three hours to Dallas Sir, and then after refueling another two and a half.”
The man in white nodded his acknowledgment. He sighed and let his shoulders sag back into the leather seat. Six hours, six long hours to wait. The man hated to wait; it was not his nature. If he had to wait, however, he enjoyed it best while being seated in his own plane. The feeling of freedom flying so high above all the hustle and noise of the ground. The clouds so close, and the patchwork of fields interwoven with twisting snake-rivers, and the speed made flying one of his favorite ways to relax.
But six hours was too long to be kept interested with scenery, not to mention the low cloud cover obscuring the ground. The man had too much on his mind to relax, he was restless. He sighed and shifted position in his chair again. Of course he knew the real reason he was so restless. Was it restlessness or anxiety that he felt? At any rate he had to be in top form upon his arrival…top form. He had to be charming as well as sincere; after all, these were the two people that were going to do all the fighting for him. They just didn’t know it yet. Top form!
The man reminded himself of what exactly he needed these people to do. On paper it was simple; endorse the safety. That was what the lawyers and investors wanted wasn’t it? It did not matter to those pencil pushing idiots what engineers and architects thought. No they wanted Diggers as their guides to safety. Diggers to quell their fears.
What about your own fears? His mind questioned. He snickered at the very thought. Fears…no. Anxiety…maybe. But that was to be expected with the complexity and scale of the project. Not to mention the money spent. Good Lord, he shivered at the thought of the amount of money spent. But within a decade, hell, within the seventh year, the rewards will be reaped hand over fist. He stroked his beard as he thought. The dream that had begun eight years ago was about to come alive. All that stood in the way was a couple of nervous investors, but they would be quieted after he talked to these two people. This pair will be honored, just honored to have been selected. Not to mentioned amazed at what he had done…no matter the steps it took to get there. Just the sights alone will be enough to buy their certification. He was sure of it. Some of the pressure melted off his shoulders as he rationalized.
An attractive stewardess walked towards him, “Any refreshments Sir?” she asked politely.
John Hammond turned to her, “No, thank you. I’m fine…everything is fine.” He smiled and turned back to face the window and thought back to when Jurassic Park had been only an idea, back when the whole world was waking up to a new technology, back to a Thanksgiving dinner.
John Hammond sat in his favorite recliner in front of a roaring fire. His New York mansion had a furnace of course, but something about a fire that warms you to the bones. He could hear his daughters, Alice and Amber, politely refusing the maid’s insistence that she did not need to help clearing the dishes. Hammond smiled as his eldest, Alice, countered, “You deserve breaks on Holidays too, you know.” And then the pleasant sounds of dishes clattering and water splashing emitted from the spacious kitchen. Alice’s husband, Jerry, sat down on the loveseat across the room from Hammond with a contented sigh.
“I can’t remember being this full,” he said as he took a cigar from his breast pocket, “Do you mind.”
Hammond waved his hand, “Go ahead.” and turned back to the fire. He liked Jerry enough, but he always felt Alice could have done better. Suddenly two small, sticky hands covered his eyes.
“Guess who Grandpa?” a voice shrieked.
Hammond smiled, “Uh…is it Dorothy?”
His Grandson Tim, five years old, squealed in delight as he took his hands away and ran around to the front of the chair. “No it’s me!” he laughed spreading his arms out wide.
Hammond laughed at his grandson and said, “Come on up here you little scamp.” Tim flew into his grandpa’s lap as Hammond suppressed a gasp.
“Tim…take it easy on him.” His dad warned.
“He fine, fine and dandy aren’t we my boy.”
“Yea…I’m good!’
“Well.” Jerry corrected him. Hammond rolled his eyes.
“So Tim,” Hammond said, “Are you excited about going to the zoo tomorrow?”
Tim bounced on his grandpa’s knee excitedly, “Yes!”
“What animals do you want to see?”
Tim turned the question over in his mind carefully. “I want to see the…I want to see the dinosaurs.”
Hammond laughed out loud as Jerry said, “That kid, I swear, has dinosaurs on the brain!”
Hammond ignored him, “Well Tim, we’d have to go to a museum to see that.”
“No, I want to see real ones, not just bones.”
Hammond kept smiling, “well, I’ll see what I can do huh? Maybe put a horn on an alligator?” he said as he tickled Tim’s sides. Tim squealed and writhed out of Hammond’s grasp. He scampered down the hall to join his mom in the kitchen.
Jerry spoke up again, “Every toy is a dinosaur, we have more of those stupid lizards around than baseballs!” He nodded over to the corner where his two-year-old daughter, Alexis, slept on a couch. “I hope I can turn her into a ball player.” He said as he puffed on his cigar.
Hammond grunted a reply and resumed staring at the fire.
Kids. We should all take a lesson from children Hammond thought. They have it figured out. So full on energy, and most importantly, full of life. Everything amazed them. Especially things that were intangible. Like Tim with his dinosaurs. Of course dinosaurs appealed to children, they had to a young John Hammond in Ireland. Of course much had changed in the views of dinosaurs since he was a child. Hammond still read up on the subject sponsored a dig or two. Those bones had to be found didn’t they? Museums had rooms with high ceilings just waiting to be filled. A poor-mans excuse of what they were. These huge beasts reduced to one pose on steel supports. It was the best that could be done. A museum instead of a park, not good enough really. He could do better. Maybe an interactive zoo. Virtual reality was progressing at an incredible rate. Perhaps a park where visitors walked around wearing those goggles and could see computer generated images of dinosaurs. He shook his head, still not good enough. Still just an illusion of what they were. Hammond thought some more. He doubted anything would come from this pondering, but pondering was his favorite thing to do. And his best way at making money. A dinosaur park like no one had ever seen. The thought danced on his brain, an exciting thought. A thought of a zoo filled with extinct beast. One filled with the most fascinating creatures ever to walk on this planet. The looks on children’s faces. He shook his head in disgust at himself. A park with real dinosaurs. The only way would be cloning, the new technology that has everyone up in arms. This was a subject that interested Hammond immediately. The possibilities were endless. Organs, tissues, livestock, even extinct animals could be made in the laboratory. Even dinosaurs? Its not like he was the first person ever to think of cloning a dinosaur. It couldn’t be done.
However, his mind reasoned, advancements in bioengineering where being made every day. He leaned in towards the fire and contemplated the money that would be made if he did succeed, and the cost to do it. John Hammond fell back into the chair and smirked, he was dreaming the most impossible dream of all, bringing dinosaurs back to life. He had accomplished a lot but everyone knew it was not possible, to clone you needed DNA, complete DNA. None had ever been found and none ever would. The only things that survived from the age of dinosaurs were their fossilized bones, which did not contain complete strands, rocks, dirt, footprints, and eggshells. Hammond looked at the flickering flames; nothing else survived, right? Nothing that contained blood or flesh. Nothing else...
“Amber?” Jerry asked, “Could you bring me a cup of coffee.”
John Hammond’s throat went dry.
5/6/2002 2:27:39 PM
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