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“Jurassic Park: Rise of the Reptiles” - Prologue
By sithraptor!
“Jurassic Park: Rise of the Reptiles”
By Sithraptor!
Prologue - Of Dollars and Dinosaurs
Three Years After the Kirby Expedition
General Rick McMarkson slumped in his chair, nervously drumming his desktop. He flexed his fingers, cracked his knuckles, and flexed his fingers again. He reached forward to drink what was left of his coffee, but then though better of it. He was anxious enough without the caffeine, and besides, he wouldn’t be able to digest it in this state anyway.
He glanced up at his sleek digital clock mounted on his wall, which showed the time in every major city in the world, in both regular and military hours. The man he was meeting was late. That came as no surprise. The man was late for almost every meeting. The only exception would be the first conference theat had occurred, where the man had arrived twenty minutes early to make sure the General would listen to his proposal. Since then, the man had been late.
McMarkson clicked his intercom, and leaned forward to address his secretary, Lisa. The girl was a grad-school student from Mississippi, with curly red hair and a thick Southern accent. McMarkson truly enjoyed the way words just rolled off her tongue as they pronounced them with that sweet voice of her’s. In fact, he had been smitten with her since she had entered his office, holding a little green purse that matched her outfit perfectly. However, McMarkson reminded himself, his wife, three ex-wives and six kids would probably not approve.
“Lisa,” he said into the intercom, “Is our visitor here yet?”
“Not yet, General,” Lisa stated. “And truthfully sir, I’ve been here an hour too long already. I was supposed to join some friends at a study group downtown. Mind if I head out?”
McMarkson started. His first reaction was to say, “NO!” After all, he really despised the thought of being alone in the office with the man who was coming, with no one outside to help him if he needed it. He couldn’t really say why he would need help. In fact, he couldn’t really say at all why the man made him so nervous. He was, after all, a General in the United States Military, and had made it all the way through Basic and Officer Training. But, those facts gave him little comfort around the man. There was just something about him, something reckless and ruthless that made him quietly menacing. And then there was his File. McMarkson had read the File on the man, which didn’t tell him very much. It did tell him, however, that the man was considered dangerous by competitors, and with good reason.
“Sir?”
Lisa’s voice startled him out of his reverie. He realized that he had to let her leave. He couldn’t make her stay after hours without good reason, and he didn’t want to explain his feelings about the man to her. He didn’t want her to think he was crazy or something.
“Yes, yes, Lisa, you can go. Have a nice evening.”
“You to, General. See you tomorrow.”
He heard her packing up her purse as she quickly prepared to disembark. Tiredly, he rubbed his forehead, feeling a killer of a migraine coming on. He considered just going home and having Lisa reschedule the meeting for some time next week. Then he thought of his wife and children, at home just waiting for him, and considered heading for Colonial Deer’s apartment instead.
He listened as Lisa strode out from behind her desk and opened the office door. Then, he heard her talking to someone. He could guess who it was.
“Oh, excuse me.”
A rough voice quietly answered her.
“Is General McMarkson here?”
“Oh, yes, he’s in his office. He’s been waiting for you for a couple hours, now.”
‘Don’t scold him,” McMarkson silently willed to her, “Don’t aggravate him.’
“I had pressing matters to deal with. But I’m here now, aren’t I, honey?”
‘Honey?! HONEY?!’ McMarkson felt the anger rising in him. ‘Hey, buster, that’s my girl!’ Then he remembered that she wasn’t, and went back to feeling afraid.
“I guess so,” Lisa replied to the man. “Well, good-night.”
“Right back at you,” said the man. McMarkson could just imagine him smirking that irritating, yet confidant smirk. Then, he heard the man walking purposefully towards the office, and McMarkson gulped and pulled at his collar.
‘Here we go,’ he thought.
The man strode into the room, and looked McMarkson square in the eye.
“Are we ready to begin?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, Mr. Dodgson, right away,” replied McMarkson, as he smiled a carefully planned smile at one of the head scientists at BioSyn Corporation.
5/16/2004 3:08:34 PM
(Updated: 5/17/2004 6:57:51 PM)
(Updated: 5/17/2004 6:59:21 PM)
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