Reiling’s passengers were quiet; each lost in their own thoughts. Grant and Sattler weren’t hanging all over each other, but there had been a look here and a touch there that made it clear they had a relationship.

 

Ellie stared out the van window, her mind in turmoil. On the helicopter, she had put all thoughts of the dead aside. They were alive, she, Alan, Tim and Lex. On the helicopter, she had repeated that to herself, like a mantra. She had never experienced violent death first hand, and now she could not stop thinking about the gruesome way their lives had ended. She had never felt so helpless; so frightened in her life. She didn’t know if she would ever feel safe again. Overwhelmed and fighting back tears, she leaned her head against Alan’s chest. “Oh Alan…”

                                                                                                                                                                                

His arm around her shoulders, he rubbed her arm, trying to comfort her. “I know, I know, but it’s over now,” he said softly. His emotions surged again in helpless anger at her sorrow. Not knowing what else to do, he kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes. “Hey, we’re going to get through this,” he said with every bit of determination he could muster.

 

Reassured by his calm manner and words of determination, she nodded, wiping her eyes. “I know we will.”

 

Lex turned around from the front seat and looked at her in concern. “Ellie, are you okay?”

 

With a smile, Ellie patted her on her arm. “Yeah, I am now, thanks to this guy,” she said, patting Alan on the thigh. “How are you doing?”

 

“I don’t know,” she said honestly, her expression reflecting a range of emotions. “Everything seems like a bad dream.” She looked at Alan intently. “Is it true…about Grandpa?”

 

“Yes, I’m afraid it is,” he said regretfully. “I’m sorry you and Tim had to find out like that. I should have thought about what I was saying.”

 

“It’s okay. You were just trying to help Tim.” Lex frowned and turned around.

 

Concerned about Tim, Ellie leaned forward and smiled encouragingly. “Hey, kiddo…doing okay over there?” The outgoing youngster had clung to them and scarcely said a word since they had left the island.

 

Tim nodded at Ellie, but remained silent. Alan put his other arm around the youngster and gave him a hug. Tim gave him a wan smile in return.

 

Reiling wondered what their relationship was to the children. Ellie looked too young to be their mother, and the girl had called Grant by his first name. Grant was extremely protective of the children, especially the boy, who seemed very fragile emotionally. Curious about what had happened to them, he decided not to pry.

 

“Alan, I’ve been thinking about something,” Ellie said as they walked into the hospital accompanied by Reiling. “I think we’d better think up some kind of story about what happened.”

 

“I’ve been thinking about that too.” He could see them trying to explain the situation to their friends and families. Well, first, a T. rex tried to eat the kid’s car and because the car was stuck 50 feet in the air, I had to climb up that damn tree and get him. Said car then chased us all the way down the tree and fell on top of us. Later, Tim took a 10,000-watt shock from a fence and stopped breathing. I gave him CPR and he was fine. Oh yeah, as a bonus we were nearly slaughtered by velocoraptors, but we were saved when the rex attacked and killed the raptors. Good God, they’d have the men in the white coats after them for sure. “For simplicity’s sake, how about we say we had a boating accident and had to be rescued from one of the islands.”

 

“Marooned on an island… You know, that might be nice in certain circumstances.” Ellie said, nudging him with her hip.

 

“As long as it doesn’t have tall fences and animals with sharp teeth…”

 

Tim stopped suddenly. “Do we really have to go in here? I feel okay.”  

 

Alan bent down at Tim’s level and looked at him in sympathy. “You don’t like hospitals?”

 

“No,” he whispered, eyes wide in apprehension.

 

“Tim’s scared of hospitals,” Lex said derisively.

 

Tim’s face grew stormy and Alan knew from experience the two were about to get into an argument.

 

“Well Lex, a lot of people don’t like hospitals, including me.” Alan said.

 

Lex looked at him in surprise. “That’s right, I hate them, which isn’t a good thing when your mother’s a doctor and works at a hospital.”

 

“Your mom’s a doctor? Wow, that’s cool…” Lex exclaimed.

 

Alan nodded at Lex. “That she is, Lex. So see, you can never tell about people.” It was true, hospitals had always given him the creeps; he had never been able to figure out why. He felt queasy right now; only the urgency of the situation kept him moving forward.

 

Ellie kneeled down beside Alan. “Tim, we took a beating on the island, and the doctors need to check us all out, just to make sure everything’s in working order.” She didn’t want Tim to feel singled out. “You don’t have to worry; we’ll be there with you.”

 

Tim considered this for a moment. Visibly gathering his courage, he nodded. “Okay,” he said firmly.

 

“Good lad. Come on let’s get this over with.” Alan said, patting his shoulder affectionately.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

I look like five miles of bad road, Alan thought as he peered into the bathroom mirror. He gingerly washed a gash in his cheek. He looked down at his clothes, and grimaced in distaste. They were going to have to get some more clothes; his were stiff with dried mud, dirt and sweat. He didn’t mind getting dirty; it was unavoidable in his line of work, but he hadn’t been this—grimy in a long time. Oh well, at least he had gotten a few layers of dirt off his face and hands.

 

“Ready, Tim?”

 

“Yep…”

 

Alan noticed Tim had brightened up a bit, which was a good sign.

 

“Hey, Tim…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I want you to know you’re being really brave, you know that? I’m very proud of you.”

 

Tim beamed proudly, and he thought what a strange sensation it was to have such influence over one so young. He had to admit he got a kick out of it.

 

“Alan, you’re not just saying you don’t like hospitals, are you?”

 

“Nope, they give me the willies.” Alan had an idea, and stuck out his hand. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll take care of each other. Deal?”

 

Tim put his small hand into Alan’s large hand and gave it a shake. “Deal!”

 

They found Reiling, carrying a clipboard, waiting with Lex and Ellie. Ellie glanced at her watch and cleared her throat. “Now, who is always complaining that it takes me such a long time to get ready?” Ellie teased.

 

“Ha, ha…” Alan replied dryly. He saw Reiling grin. “You see what I have to put up with?”

 

“Let’s grab some seats,” Reiling said. “The clerk wants you to fill out these forms. They’re in English, by the way. There have been so many Americans move down here in the last few years that most official forms are bi-lingual.”

 

“I’m glad of that, I’m too tired to translate,” Ellie said with a chuckle.

 

“Alan, I’m thirsty, can I get a drink?” Lex asked, pointing at a water fountain.

 

“Yeah, me too,” Tim echoed.

 

His throat was parched, but he wasn’t sure if the water was safe. The last thing he wanted them to get was the touristas. He had once gotten a case on an expedition in South America, and it had been the most miserable experience of his adult life.

 

“Is the water okay?” he asked Reiling. The truth was he didn’t know much about Costa Rica, other than the president had received the Nobel Prize a few years earlier for helping end the Central American wars.  

 

“It’s perfectly safe. I know I’m sounding like a tour guide, but I think you’ll find Costa Rica is a very modern country.” Posted to Costa Rica, he had reacted with disappointment, feeling it was a backwater country. However, over time he had learned to love the country and its people.

 

Ellie laughed. She liked Reiling, and she thought Alan did too. Alan tended to make up his mind quickly about people, and more often than not, he was right.

 

The little group trooped over to the water fountain. Alan lifted Tim up to the fountain and again he felt a twinge of pain, which he tried to ignore. He thought he had hurt it when the skeleton collapsed in the visitor center. He would take the back pain; the alternative would have been impalement. After the kids and Ellie had drunk their fill, it was his turn. The water was delicious; he could have drunk for an hour.

 

They found some seats in the waiting area; the uncomfortable plastic kind, Alan noted with distaste. For a moment, he wished for his comfortable recliner back home.

 

“Hey, while you guys are filling those out, I’m going to check in with the Embassy,” Reiling said.

 

“Okay, we’ll be here.” Ellie said.

 

He started to walk off, then stopped and snapped his fingers. “Oh wait,” he said and came back to the children. “Guys, I’m going to have the Embassy phone your parents and let them know you’re okay,” he said. Sitting down beside them, he took out a pad and pen. “Can I have your last name?”

 

“Our name is Murphy.” Lex said.

 

“Great… And your Mom and Dad’s name is?”

 

“Our Mom’s name is Lynda…”

 

“Don’t bother calling our Dad, he won’t be there,” Tim broke in, a hint of bitterness in his voice. “They’re getting a divorce.”

 

Ellie looked at Alan and he shrugged at Tim’s words. He remembered Lex had called out to her father when he pulled her out of the car, but other than that, they had not mentioned either parent the entire time.  

 

“Oh okay. I’m sorry to hear that, guys, it’s a tough thing to go through.”

 

They both nodded, but didn’t say anything.

 

“Our phone number’s 415-026-4478,” Tim said.

 

“Good deal, thanks for the info…”

 

“We’ll talk to her tonight.” Ellie said. She looked at her watch; it was almost two. They still had to talk to the Costa Rican government people; there was no way they were going to be able to leave today. They all needed a change of clothes, but everything they had was still on the island. Included her glasses, she realized. She had miraculously kept her contacts in, but she would need another pair for a backup.

 

“Okay, I’ll let them know. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Reiling dialed the Embassy’s number at the payphone and asked for his supervisor’s extension.

 

“Ellington…” came the gruff voice.

 

“Roger, it’s Joe.”

 

“Joe, where the hell are you, and where are the people you were supposed to pick up? The Costa Ricans are having a fit.”

 

“We’re at the hospital—“

 

“The hospital? What in the world are you doing there?”

 

“Greg, you should see these people; they look like they’ve gone ten rounds with Mike Tyson. We’re here because they needed medical attention. The Costa Rican in charge was being an asshole; hell, hell they were at each other’s throats when I showed up. Besides, you didn’t tell me what to do after I got there. I did what I thought was right.”

 

“You’re right, I didn’t tell you what to do,” he admitted. “Is his name Grant?”

 

“Yeah, it is. There’s a woman with him named Sattler. ” Reiling wondered how the Embassy knew his name. Once again, he had the distinct impression something big had happened. “Look, why don’t you tell me what’s going on here, or are you going to keep me in the dark for good?”

 

Reiling heard Ellington exhale. “Okay, this is what we know; things are chaotic right now. We got this information from one of the people who came off the helicopter, a Robert Muldoon. He’s some kind of big game hunter. An American company leased Nublar a few years ago and set up some kind of zoo, and something went wrong. All hell broke loose, and the animals killed the owner and some other people, including a mathematician by the name of Malcolm.”

 

Reiling remembered one of them was dressed like a hunter, he wondered what kind of animals they had kept there. “There was somebody else on the chopper. He seemed mostly interested in getting away.”

 

“Oh yeah, him… His name is Donald Gennaro. The Costa Rican’s have gotten very little out of him other than the people you have are some kind of dinosaur experts, PhDs.”

 

“You mean they’re paleontologists?” He wasn’t into the subject, but his younger brother had been nuts about dinosaurs for practically his whole life. He never would have thought they were scientists; they didn’t fit the nerdy stereotype at all. Ellie Sattler was downright beautiful, and she had the brains to match. Alan Grant was a lucky man.

 

“Whatever they’re called, Gennaro said Grant’s a major player in the field, one of the biggest. Anyway, the Costa Rican’s are royally pissed about the whole situation, and they want him down there post haste.”

 

Oh rats, he thought. If they were PhD’s, he should have been calling them Doctor. He hoped they were not offended. As a freshman in college, he had once accidentally called a PhD Mr., and the man had practically torn his head off. Fortunately, he never had to take one of his courses; he would probably have never passed.

 

What in the world had two paleontologists and a mathematician been doing on the island, he wondered. The whole situation was getting weirder and weirder. Something unusual had happened that was certain; he recalled their decision to say they had been in a boating accident.

 

Reiling remembered Lex and Tim. “They have two kids with them who they aren’t related to. Their parents need to be notified that they’re safe.”

 

“Okay, I’ll do that. What are their names?”

 

The kid’s names are Murphy; Lex and Tim; the mother’s name is Lynda—

 

“Murphy? Wait a minute…” Reiling heard the rustling of papers; he imagined the scene. Ellington kept the messiest desk he had ever seen. How he managed to get any work done was an ongoing mystery to the other people in his department.

 

“Here it is…” he muttered. “The guy who owned the company was named Hammond, and his daughter’s name is Lynda Murphy.”

 

“Oh man… They must be his grandkids.” The conversation he had overheard between Lex and Grant now made complete sense. “Have you talked to her yet?” The Embassy routinely handled such matters in cases like this. It was one of the unpleasant parts of the job. “Apparently, she’s getting a divorce from her husband.”

 

“I haven’t yet, that was the next thing on the list. Are the kids hurt?”

 

“Cuts and bruises.... Grant’s concerned about the boy for some reason, that’s why we’re here. He’s sure had the hell scared out of him, that’s clear. They said they’d call her tonight.”

 

“Well, the Costa Ricans want to talk to Grant ASAP.”

 

“Okay I’ll bring them down afterward. I’m not sure how much they’re going to get out of him, he’s about out on his feet. Look, they’re going to have to stay overnight anyway, why can’t Grant talk to them tomorrow?”

 

“The Costa Rican’s aren’t going to be put off, I’m afraid. Pauley’s already there, trying to put the fires out.”

 

Reiling whistled; it took a major incident to get the Ambassador involved.

 

“Joe, I hope your new friends don’t have any pressing business back in the states. I think they’re going to have a nice long Costa Rican vacation.”

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Alan and Ellie huddled together filling out the forms. She realized they would have a clinic bill to pay for. “You have your wallet, right?”

 

“What’s left of it,” he said as he pulled it out of his pants pocket. The mud and water had ruined the leather, and he would have to replace the pictures of Ellie and his family. His credit cards and driver’s license had survived intact however. He knew what she was thinking. They had insurance through the university, but it wouldn’t be any good here. “I hope they take credit cards.”

 

“I have mine, too.” She had put it in her pocket before they had started on the tour, almost as an afterthought. “I don’t have any Costa Rican currency though.”

 

“I don’t either; hell, I don’t even know what kind of currency they use here.”

 

“I don’t have a clue either. I guess we’ll have to find that out.” Ellie hoped they weren’t there long enough to become experts on Costa Rica.

 

They finished gathering the information from the children they needed and Alan took the clipboard back to the clerk.

 

“Thank you Señor, the doctor will see you as soon as possible,” she said in English. The waiting room was crowded; it would probably be a while.

 

Alan wearily walked back to his chair and slumped into his seat. Finding a moderately comfortable position, he closed his eyes. What little energy he possessed was fast running out. If he was going to keep going, he was going to need some caffeine, and fast. What he wanted more than anything was to take a long hot shower and sleep for a couple of days.

 

Ellie clasped her hand into his rough, strong hand; and intertwined their fingers. She had always loved his hands; they had talents beyond digging up dinosaurs. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and though he didn’t open his eyes, he smiled. She wished she could relax as Alan could. She was desperately tired, but she could not relax.

 

Tim and Lex were talking and laughing which was a good sign to Ellie after Tim’s previous withdrawn behavior. They had been through an extremely traumatic event, she was afraid they were in for some rough times for a while. She noticed Reiling striding towards them. “Alan…” she said.

 

“Hmm…” Alan muttered as he opened his eyes. “I didn’t get you in trouble, did I?”

 

“Nope…” Reiling said. “They wanted to know where we were. They’re expecting you after you finish. Hey, it appears that I should be calling you Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler. I apologize for that.”

 

Grant waved him off. He was proud of his PhD as Ellie was, but Reiling hadn’t known about that. Besides, he thought it was about time they went on a first name basis. “Don’t worry about it, call me Alan.”

 

“And please call me Ellie.”

 

“Okay, if you’ll call me Joe.”

 

“Joe, we have a small problem,” Alan said. “I need some caffeine, but we don’t have any Costa Rican money. What is the currency here, by the way?

 

“It’s called the Costa Rican Colon.”

 

“Colon…” He repeated the word. “Okay, we’ll remember that.”

 

“I have an idea. Since you guys are cash poor, how about I spring for some Cokes.”

 

“That would be great.” Alan said.

 

“Works for me...” Ellie said.

 

“Yeah, me too,” the two children chimed in as one.

 

“Okay, then. I’ll get some change, and find out where there’s a machine.”

 

“I think I’ll give Mr. Reiling a hand with the drinks,” Alan said.

 

Ellie knew Alan wanted to speak to the man privately out of the children’s curious earshot. She knew he would fill her in later.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

“It’s this way, I think.” Reiling said pointing down a hallway. He had gotten both directions and change from the clerk. “Yep, there it is.”

 

Alan saw the machine as they came around the corner. He decided it was time to find out how much Reiling knew. “Joe, do you know what InGen was doing on Isla Nublar?”

 

As he fed coins into the dispenser, he repeated what Roger had told him. Retrieving the can from the machine, he handed it to Alan. “Something went wrong and some people, including the owner, John Hammond, and a mathematician were killed.” Reiling saw Alan’s expression tighten.

 

“His name was Ian Malcolm. He saved our lives, the kids and mine both,” he said quietly, his mind drifting back to those frenzied minutes on the road. Malcolm had gotten on his nerves from the very start, but he would have never gotten Lex out of the car if Malcolm had not drawn the Rex off. With a shake of his head, he brought his mind back to the present. Reiling was looking at him, waiting patiently. “Sorry… I uh…I kind of got sidetracked.”

 

“No, problem, I understand. Anyway, that’s all I know. I was actually hoping you could fill me in.”

 

Alan knew Reiling would probably find out what happened, so he might as well tell him the whole story. How could he tell the story without sounding like a lunatic? He realized there was no other way than with the cold hard truth. “Hammond invited Malcolm, Ellie and me to take a look at the park. If we liked what we saw, we’d write up an endorsement. In return, we would get three years funding out of the deal. Nice and simple, right?” Taking a second can, he thought for a moment before speaking. “I’m a paleontologist, Joe, what kind of exotic animals do you think I might be interested in?”

 

About to put more change into the machine, Reiling stopped, Alan’s words slowly dawning on him.

 

“Wait, you can’t mean…”

 

“InGen is in the genetic engineering business. They cloned animals which have been extinct for millions of years.” Alan shook his head sadly. “It went so dreadfully wrong,” he said softly.

 

Reiling was stunned. “But how… I…I don’t know what to say.” How could they have resurrected dinosaurs? It just didn’t seem possible with the level of technology available.

 

“If somebody told me that story, I wouldn’t know what to say either. As God is my witness it happened,” he said with sudden intensity. He wasn’t sure why it was so important that Reiling believe him, he had just met him after all.

 

Reiling looked into Alan’s fierce blue eyes. As fantastic as the story was, somehow he believed him. The man radiated integrity and dignity.

 

“The kids are Hammond’s grandchildren,” Alan said.

 

“That’s what I figured. I feel sorry for them; they’ve obviously been through a lot. It’s a good thing you were there.”

 

“We were lucky, that’s all.”

 

“Alan, I told my boss I didn’t think you were in any shape to be interrogated, but everyone’s in crisis mode and they want to see you.”

 

Alan chuckled. “I look that bad?”

 

“Well, frankly you look like you’re about to fall over.”  

 

“That’s not far off the mark, but I need to get this over with and get home. I’ve got a skeleton to dig up before winter.”

 

Reiling hated to tell him the bad news. “Alan, I wish the situation was that simple.”