Chapter 19: Knowing Jodie

              As the sun rose and lit up the room, Alan woke up. He had been up quite a few times in the night, checking both on Jodie and on the window. He looked at his watch. It had stopped on 3:00am. He shook it a few times, but the second hand didn't move. It must have finally succumbed to being waterlogged. His clothes were still slightly damp, too.

              He looked over at Jodie. She was still sound asleep next to him. He smiled, as he remembered his cousin Richard calling him at about 3:00am, over a decade ago. Ellie had answered the phone, and Richard had just started yelling "It's a girl. It's a girl!" Ellie had congratulated him and then had handed the phone to Alan. He had congratulated him and they had talked for a few minutes. Then, the doctor had wanted Richard for something, so he had told Alan good-bye, hanging up the phone. Alan had talked to Richard a few times after that, but he had mostly lost track of him. Alan and Richard were very close as kids in Australia. Then, when Richard was about 14 years old, his family had moved to the United States. To Illinois. That's where Richard had stayed all these years.

              Jodie yawned loudly and stretched her arms out. Alan watched her, as she began to remember where she was. Her happy and content demeanor went away and the frightened child came back.

              "Good morning," Alan said.

              "Good morning," Jodie said, trying to smile at him.

              She moved her leg around a little and winced.

              "How's your leg?"

              "It feels better, but it still hurts."

              Alan wanted to give her some time before he tried to talk her into walking. He just started making small talk.

              "So, you know a little bit about dinosaurs, huh?" Alan asked.

              "Yeah. Ever since I knew that I was related to a famous palaeontologist, I've studied about them. Mostly just the dinosaurs that were on those dinosaur islands. I've read your two books and I also read Eric Kirby's book."

              Alan nodded.

              "You ever read Eric Kirby's book?" Jodie asked.

              "No, I haven't had the time. I do own it, though."

              "He really says some very nice things about you. He was really happy to see you, on the island. He was all alone before finding you. When he realized who you were, he had a lot of faith that he would get off that island alive."

              "Eric is a good kid. And a smart kid. And it seems to me that you're pretty smart yourself."

              Jodie smiled.

              "I have to tell you, I felt just like Eric did when I recognized you. Plus there's that added feature of meeting someone related to me."

              Alan started to fell awkward at all the praise and attention. Mostly, he felt guilty.

              "I'm sorry I never made it to any of the family functions. I haven't really been out of Montana that much in the last 12 years," Alan said.

              "I understand. At least we've talked on the phone a few times."

              "Yeah, we do have that, don't we?" Alan said, smiling.

              "Yep."

              There was an uncomfortable silence between them. Jodie looked to the floor. Alan decided on talking about something impersonal.

              "So, how many men did Bodan have with him? Any idea?" He asked.

              Jodie looked up, clearly relieved that he had started the conversation again, so she didn't have to.

              "About five or six. I saw that many, but he was always talking to a another person on the walkie talkie."

              Alan nodded.

              "Did they have guns?"

              "Yes. All of them had guns. A few had guns and rifles."

              "Well, that's great."

              "Guns and rifles didn't help against that big thing that attacked the jeep. What did you call it again?"

              "Suchomimus or Baryonyx. Possibly one of those. Hopefully, we won't run into it, so I won't have to identify it."

              Jodie began to think about what had happened.

              "A few of the men were killed. I'm still not sure how I got away from there without being eaten or shot."

              "Well, I'm glad you got away," Alan said, smiling. "Besides, if you hadn't, I would have been eaten, myself."

              Jodie returned the smile. Alan seized the opportunity.

              "You think you can get up?"

              Jodie's smile faded.

              "I . . . I think so. I don't really have a clue. Do we have to go right this minute?"

              "No. I just wanted to warm you up to the idea of moving on."

              "Oh. Okay. Well, I think I need just a few more minutes."

              Alan smiled.

              "Okay," he said quietly.

              "Maybe a few more hours," Jodie added.

              Alan laughed. So did Jodie.

              "Look at us," Alan said. "We're in the middle of one of the most dangerous places in the world, and we're sitting here, laughing."

              "It must be the company, because I haven't really laughed since I got here."

              Alan smiled again. He got up and walked over to the window. He slowly peaked out of it, looking for signs of the missing Albertosaurus.

              "Anything?" Jodie asked, hoping that the answer was no.

              "Nope. Nothing."

              Jodie sighed with relief.

              "So, Alan. How many people are with you?"

              Alan thought about it for a second, as he mentally counted the people.

              "There were six of us."

              "Were?"

              "Our boat was attacked by some sort of Plesiosaur. Half of us were killed. The mercenaries. That leaves just us three scientists." Alan said, thinking about the irony of that.

              "Who? Anyone I would know?" Jodie asked.

              "Well, there's Ellie."

              "Ellie?" Jodie asked excitedly.

              "Yeah. And then there's Ian Malcolm."

              "Really?" Jodie asked curiously.

              Alan laughed and nodded.

              "Then there were the three mercenary-type men that I didn't really know all that well. Craig, Pete, and . . . and . . . " Alan couldn't remember the third guy's name. "Oh, and . . .Tilk."

              "What?" Jodie asked with a puzzled look on her face. "Tilk?"

              Alan laughed.

              "That's exactly what I said when I was introduced to him. To myself, though. The man was huge and I didn't think making fun of his name was a good idea."

              Alan took a moment to think about how amusing it was when Ian did just that.

              "Probably not. Still, you have to wonder about it," Jodie said.

              "I don't know, it was some sort of codename. Strange."

              He was still standing by the window. He didn't really think it was in good taste, to keep talking about the deceased. He was about to change the subject, when Jodie beat him to it.

              "I thought you didn't like Ian Malcolm. That's what my dad said," she said.

              "Well . . . I don't," Alan said, smiling, "but Mr. Hammond invited him along. Do you know who John Hammond is?"

              "Yeah, he's the Grandfather of Tim and Lex, right?"

              "Right. You really did read my books, didn't you? I am truly impressed."

              "Thanks," Jody said proudly.

              Alan suddenly started thinking about Ellie. He hoped that she was okay. He didn't want to really admit it, but he was happy that Ian was with her. For protection. As he was thinking about Ellie, he started to talk about her out loud.

              "Ellie is married now," he rambled.

              "Married? Really?"

              "Yeah, to a guy named Mark."

              "Wow. I always thought that you and her would . . . you know . . . stay together."

              "Yeah, well, I messed that up."

              "I'm sorry to hear that," Jodie said.

              "Well, enough about me," Alan said, coming back over toward Jodie. "What about you? How's your dad?"

              "How would I know. I never see him." Jodie said, shrugging her shoulders.

              Alan stopped next to her. He had struck an emotional chord with Jodie. He sat down next to her.

              "Why not?"

              "He's always busy visiting different places. He has me in a private all-girls school now. I have to stay at the school. In a dorm. I hate it."

              "Does he know you hate it?"

              "I don't know. I don't talk to him much either."

              "Jodie, if you're unhappy, you should tell him. I'm sure he would listen."

              "I doubt it. We haven't been very close for a few years now. It's no big deal."

              "Well, when we get out of here . . . I think you should tell him how unhappy you are. I'll come with you."

              "Really? You would do that?"

              "Sure," Alan said, not fully comprehending what he just got himself into.

              "Okay. Then, that's a deal."

              Jodie held out her hand. Alan smiled and shook it.

              "Okay, deal," he said. "And now, if we want to get off this island, we have to start moving."

              Jodie shrugged.

              "Oh, all right. I'll try."

              "Good. I'll help you."

              "I hope so," Jodie commented. "I don't think I could get up on my own."

              Alan got up and held out a helping hand. Jodie looked at him, took a deep breath, and then took it. Alan pulled her up gently, helping her as much as he could. He was able to get Jodie to her feet without much of a problem. She leaned on him, as she spoke.

              "Well, that part was easy. Walking shouldn't be too much worse, huh?" She joked.

              Alan smiled.

              "That's what I'm hoping. Let's give it a try."

              "Well, you're the grown-up."

              Jodie turned her body in the direction she was going to walk. Alan still had his arm around her waist and a firm grip on her arm. She took a step. It didn't hurt that bad, so she took another one.

              "Hey, this isn't that bad. It doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would."

              "Well, that's good to hear," Alan said. "You think you could walk through all the debris in the next room?"

              "Maybe."

              "Okay, let's get to the door."

              Jodie walked toward the door. She walked slowly, as Alan assisted her. She still couldn't believe how easy it was. They got to the door and Jodie pushed, and pulled, the switches and levers again. The door made a clicking noise.

              "Okay, it's unlocked," Jodie whispered.

              Alan briefly stared at the door. He looked at Jodie, briefly wondering how she learned to do that, and then he became serious. He turned the handle of the door. It opened. He took a deep breath, and then he slowly pulled the door back. Jodie had a tight grip on his arm, as he opened the door all the way. He looked around. There were no signs of movement. He turned his attention back to Jodie.

              "You ready?" He asked.

              She nodded. He helped her walk around the debris from the destroyed room. They got to where the door used to be and walked out of the building. They walked in a westerly direction for about 15 minutes, before Jodie needed to rest. Alan helped her get situated on a rock. Then, he looked around, trying to get his bearings. It was already very hot. Sweat was beading on his forehead, as he placed his hands on his hips.

              "Do you know where we are?" Jodie asked.

              Alan thought about that for quite a long time before he answered.

              "I briefly saw a sketch of the island map. If I had to guess, I'd say we're very close to about the center of the bigger portion of the island."

              "I saw the island from the air," Jodie said.

              "You did?"

              "Yeah. I was brought here by helicopter."

              "How far do you think the smaller portion is from here?"

              Alan knew that he had to get to the lab. And the lab was just across the smaller portion.

              "Kind of far. The island is pretty big."

              Alan looked all around him slowly. He was almost positive that he had somehow gotten turned around and that the lab was the other way.

              "I think we need to go back the other way. I need to get to the lab. It's located on the east coast of this portion."

              Jodie frowned.

              "So we walked this far for nothing?"

              "Sorry. I'm just a little turned around," Alan said.

              "So, what's on the smaller portion? Do you know?"

              "Yeah. The right portion is strictly park control. Offices and things. No dinosaurs of any kind. The left portion is where all the danger is."

              Jodie shivered. She was already scared before that information.

              "Well, if we're in the center . . . what kind of dinosaurs are in the center?"

              Alan tried to remember the map he had only briefly seen.

              "I'm thinking it was something not dangerous. An herbivore or some sort."

              "I remember seeing Brachiosaurs near the bottom center, as we flew by."

              "I think that's where we are," Alan said.

              "Well, that's a relief," Jodie said, breathing a little easier.

              Alan smiled at her. He was really hoping that he had remembered correctly. He was fairly sure that he had. There were so many potential mistakes to make, at this point. He hoped he hadn't made one now, as it could prove to be a deadly miscalculation.

              "Well, Jodie, are you about ready to go on?" He asked.

              "Yeah, I guess so."

              Alan helped Jodie to her feet, and then checked the bandage. It was holding up pretty well. They started to walk again, continuing to go West. Along the way, a few strange noises were heard, but nothing was seen. Alan kept looking all around them to make sure they weren't in danger. Even if this was herbivore territory, they could still be trampled. As they were walking, Alan made small talk, to try and calm Jodie's obvious anxiety. And his own.

              "So, why don't you like your father?"

              Jodie smiled at him.

              "I see what you're doing, Alan. I'll play along," she said, as she continued. "It's not like I don't like my father. It's just that he has no time for me. He seems to always put everyone else before me, even his employees."

              "He is a very busy man, that I do know. He has a very stressful job."

              "I don't care. I really don't. All I want is a father. A father that I could tell how my day went. A father that would tuck me in before bedtime. A father that would, at the very least, care about the words that come out of my mouth."

              "Jodie, I didn't realize it was so bad between the two of you."

              "If you asked him, he wouldn't have a clue either. Ever since Mom passed away, he just keeps to himself a lot."

              Alan remembered hearing about Richard's wife passing away about five years ago. He had missed the funeral because of some unforseen problem at the dig site. He couldn't even recall what that problem had been, which made him feel even worse about not attending.

              "I'm really sorry about your Mom," he said. "But it's not really fair to think he doesn't care. Have you ever complained about how he treats you?"

              "Well . . . no."

              "Well, how could he know then?"

              "Because he's my dad. He should be able to see that I'm not happy. He should be able to look at all he has done, and realize what a bad father he really is."

              Alan didn't know how to continue this conversation. All that he could think was that if the situation were reversed, and he was Jodie's father, he wouldn't have been able to tell that she was unhappy either. Kids were not his strong suit, that was for sure. Kids, often times, really confused him. Like now.

              "Well, when we get out of here, we'll straighten everything out."

              "It won't be easy."

              "I can see that," he said.

              Jodie smiled.

              "Thanks for trying to help me, Alan. It's a change to meet someone in my family who is actually nice."

              Alan laughed.

              "You're welcome."

Chapter 20: Awakenings

              Ellie's eyes slowly opened, as the morning sunshine invaded the tiny office she was sleeping in. The very bright sunlight was glistening into the room, causing tiny dances of light to protrude all around the objects in the office. She stretched and sat up. Ian was already awake and looking through the file cabinets again. When he heard movement, he looked over at her.

              "Hey, you're awake," he said.

              Ellie smiled.

              "Yeah. Hello, Ian," she said, as she watched him. "What are you looking at?"

              "Oh, this. I was just checking to make sure there wasn't anything else important here."

              "Find anything?"

              "Uh, no," Ian said, smiling. "We already seemed to have found all the important things."

              Ellie began to stand up. As she did, she noticed the outside of her right thigh was very sore. She thought about what might have happened to make her leg hurt. She finally remembered. It must have happened, when she slipped and fell on that slippery deck, back on the boat. She slowly got to her feet and walked to the tiny window.

              As she was looking through the window, Ian approached her.

              "So, what's the plan? You have one yet?" He asked.

              "I think we should try finding the bridge to get across to the other side."

              "Yes, boss," Ian said.

              Ellie shook her head at him. She walked to the door and cracked it open, peering outside. There were no signs of people, so she opened the door fully. She and Ian walked outside and took a quick look around. There was a runway, off in the distance, to the east, and a very high security fence, off to the distance, to the north. Ellie turned to the west. There was water, fairly close to where they were. She started to walk in that direction and Ian followed. They went past the small offices, of which there were four, and then walked until they reached the shoreline. From where they were now, Ellie could see the bridge, off to the north. There were other things visible, too, from this angle. There was a helipad, to the south, and another building, just to the north. The small offices had been blocking the view.

              "Let's get over that bridge. Alan should be over there," she said, walking in that direction.

              Ian nodded and followed her. As they were walking and keeping an eye out for anything unusual, Ian did, in fact, notice something unusual.

              "Why aren't there any people, or employees, around here?" He asked.

              "I was wondering the same thing," Ellie agreed.

              In the complete silence, Ian snapped his fingers, causing Ellie to slightly jump. He smiled and looked at her.

`             "It's Saturday. I think. Maybe there's not much of a crew on Saturday?"

              "I think you're right. It is Saturday. Good thinking," she said, smiling.

              Ian began to make grand gestures with his hands, as he spoke.

              "You know me . . . uh, my mind is constantly traveling into the unknowns of---"

              "Let's not get carried away, Ian." She said.

              Ellie walked away from him, as he stood there, smiling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Tim and Lex awoke, just about at the same time. They both got to their feet. Lex went to the window, while Tim looked around the small maintenance building. He was fairly sure of which maintenance building they were in. The number 3 was etched into almost every single thing in the building, right down to the blankets. Tim walked to where Lex was.

              "What are you thinking about?" He asked.

              "I'm thinking we should try and call for help. We need to find a computer, or better yet, a phone," she said.

              "Are you sure that we should go out there? Shouldn't we just hide, until help comes?"

              "Well, we would still hide, of course, but I think we need to get to a phone," Lex said, as she became angry with their situation. "I just wish I knew if Grandpa sent help."

              Tim nodded in agreement. As they stood there, trying to figure out what their next move might be, Tim heard a strange noise.

              "What was that?" He asked.

              "What?"

              "That noise, didn't you hear it?" Tim asked.

              Lex was about to say no, when there was another noise.

              "There it was again. What is that?" Tim asked.

              "I don't know," Lex said, as she listened to the noise. It was getting louder and more frequent. "It sounds like chirping."

              "Compys," Tim said. "I bet it's Compys."

              The chirping was even louder now. As Lex was looking through the window, about a dozen Compys jumped on the window sill at the same time. She screamed at the sudden movement, and jumped back. When she saw the tiny creatures, jumping up and down, and trying to get through the window unsuccessfully, she felt stupid for being afraid. She bent down and examined them closer, from the safe side of the window. They looked evil, but they were only about a foot high.

              "Do these things have teeth?" She asked.

              "Yes. They're carnivorous. They attack you by the hundreds and eat people alive. It could be a slow and painful death."

              "Thanks for that pleasant explanation," Lex said, as she continued to observe the Compys.

              Tim was about to say something else, when he heard scratching at the door. He walked up to the door and noticed that the Compys were there, as well. They were clawing, scratching, and biting at the bottom of the door. In just that short time, they had already managed to pry away a small part of the wooden door.

              "Lex?" Tim asked.

              Lex was still watching the tiny carnivores through the window, with quite a fascination. She was lightly tapping the window with her finger, watching them try to attack it. She spoke without looking up.

              "These things are truly evil looking. I don't think I'd want to have a face to face encounter with them," she said.

              "I don't think it will be much longer, before you see them up close and personal," Tim said.

              "What?"

              Lex looked over at Tim. He was standing by the door, kicking at the bottom of it. She could see three or four Compys trying their very best, to squeeze under the door and into the room.

              "Oh, shit," she said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Ellie and Ian arrived at the bridge. There was a large wooden sign, just to the left of it, that said SOUTH BRIDGE. There was also an electric fence, stretching all the way across the bridge, with an accompanying gate. Ellie walked up to the gate. There was a keypad there.

              "It looks like we need a five digit numerical code," she said, disappointed.

              Ian walked past her and situated himself in front of the keypad. He quickly typed something in. There was a series of beeps, followed by a click. The gate opened.

              "What did you type in there?" Ellie asked.

              "12345," Ian replied.

              "I cannot believe it was that easy," she said.

              Ian shrugged, and then smiled, as he walked through the gate. Ellie looked around cautiously, before following him. They were walking on the bridge, moving toward the other side. As they walked, the gate behind them closed and clicked. Both of them suddenly felt very vulnerable, as they approached the electric fence and gate, on the other side. Ellie took a look at the keypad.

              "Another five digit numerical code," she said, sighing. "I don't think it could be that easy again."

              Ian walked in front of the keypad, and quickly typed something again. There was a series of beeps, but no click this time.

              "Great," Ellie said, looking around.

              They were stuck on the bridge, between to electric fences, with nowhere to go, but possibly into the water. They didn't have to figure out what to do. There was another series of beeps, and then the desired click. Ian put his hands up, like a magician, as the gate opened.

              "Presto," he said.

              Ellie hurried through the gate. Ian followed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Lex joined Tim, as the two of them kicked at the Compys. Quite a bit of the lower door was missing, as they continued to try to keep them back. When it looked like they were about to lose the battle with the Compys, Tim yelled to Lex.

              "The window! Jump through the window!"

              Lex nodded and turned toward the window and Tim quicky followed. She was about to try and open the window, but when she looked back, and saw about twenty Compys already in the room, she decided to just break it. She picked up a nearby paint can and hurled it through the window. She quickly jumped through, landed on the dirt outside of the building, and began to run. Tim was right behind her. As they ran, a few of the Compys followed them. Their tiny chirps and strange little growls echoed throughout the nearby jungle, as they communicated with their own. Soon, there were dozens of Compys grouped together, in pursuit of the humans.

              Lex had ran to the west, into uncharted territory, and Tim followed her. They were running right next to each other, going as fast as they could. Tim turned quickly to see how close the Compys were. They were gaining on them very quickly, as they continued to chirp and growl. They crossed another wooden bridge, over another river, and that's when Tim slowed down. Lex glanced at him, noticed him falling behind, and immediately began to question him.

              "What are you doing?" She asked.

              "This road isn't very good cover. We have no where to hide. They're just going to gang up and get us," he said, as he looked back.

              They continued to run, as the Compys got closer and closer to them. As Tim was running, he caught a sight, out of the corner of his eye. He looked to his right and saw the head, of what he was sure, was a Triceratops. He stopped and began to swing his arms around in a grand motion, temporarily causing the Compys to retreat. As he watched them scatter, he noticed that several of them ran between the bars of the electric fence in front of them. The Compys were scurrying so fast, that they were running into both one another, and the bars of the fence. Tim smiled.

              "Look at the bars. The fence. It isn't electrified," he said.

              Lex looked, too, and saw the Triceratops. The Compys were already regaining their courage and rallying together, toward Tim and Lex again.

              "Let's go in there. We might be able to lose them in there," she suggested.

              Tim couldn't think of anything better. In fact, that was the very thing that he was going to suggest. He nodded. The two of them squeezed through the bars pretty easily, as they were spaced apart quite a bit. They continued to run through the paddock, cutting between trees and bushes, trying to get out of sight. The pursuing Compys began to lose interest, as the chase started to become an awful lot of work for the tiny creatures. With a series of chirps and low growls, they finally called the pursuit off, and scurried back toward the maintenance road, where they were more comfortable.

              Tim and Lex slowed down, as they slowly began to realize that the Compys had given up. Tim finally stopped and looked around. Lex did the same, as she bent over, trying to catch her breath. Tim looked at her.

              "I think we lost them," he said, hoping he was right.

              "Yeah, I think so," Lex agreed, nodding. "So . . . now what?"

              Tim was already taking in his surroundings. There were at least four different species of herbivores that he could see. He looked around, in awe, as the Triceratops that he had seen from the maintenance road, came up for a closer look. Tim had seen a Triceratops before, of course, back on Jurassic Park, when he was 8 years old. But this one was very different. This one was standing up and looked to be fully healthy. His mouth stood wide open, as the large horned dinosaur approached him.

              Lex was taken aback by the sight, as well. The dinosaur was simply beautiful. It was gentle and very careful with Tim and Lex. It wasn't the least bit confrontational. It was simply investigating the strange creatures that wondered into its paddock. Lex reached out and attempted to touch it, as it placed its snout very close to the ground.

              Tim couldn't help but laugh, as he was reminded of what happened to his sister long ago.

              "Better watch it," he said, snickering. "It might sneeze on you."

              Lex gave him a dirty look.

              "Shut up, Tim."

              Tim was still laughing. He couldn't get that look, she had on her face back then, out of his head. He tried his best to stop making noise, as Lex made contact with the Triceratops. When she touched it, the massive creature backed up, slightly alarmed by what had just occurred.

              "Be careful. It doesn't understand what you're doing," Tim warned.

              "I know, I know. I won't do it again. I just had to touch it, once," Lex said.

              As she took a few steps back, to offer a surrender of sorts, she noticed another rather strange looking dinosaur. It was a little ways out in the distance, to the west.

              "What kind of dinosaur is that?" She asked Tim, as she pointed.

              Tim looked where she was pointing and immediately saw what she was asking about. It was a rather large dinosaur, about 30 feet in length. It walked on all fours. It had a long neck, together with a long tail, but a rather small head with large eyes. It was quite a unique looking dinosaur.

              "Riojasaurus. An herbivore. Don't worry," he said, as he began to laugh again. "It's a veggisaurus, Lex."

              Lex shook a finger at him.

              "Quit making fun of me for being young and naive. I didn't know a thing about any of those dinosaurs back then. I wasn't, and never will be, a dinosaur expert, so why don't you cut me a little slack? Okay? Enough already. You're starting to get me very angry, Timmy."

              Tim noticed her use of the word "Timmy", and it upset him. He didn't like to be called "Timmy". He almost hated it, actually. But he didn't let on that he was mad about it.

              "Sorry," he simply apologized.

              They walked through the paddock for a little while longer, taking the time to observe some of the other herbivores. There were herds of Brachiosaurus and Stegosaurus, across the way to the east, in the distance. There was some other herbivore over there, too, but Tim couldn't quite make out what it was. He finally decided that it was either an Iganodon or a Maiasaura.

              Lex had been walked along very quietly, looking around, just taking it the beautiful surroundings. They had crossed over a very shallow river, while inside the paddock and were walking along, when she noticed a building to their left.

              "Do you see that?" She asked.

              Tim looked ahead.

              "Yeah. Looks like some sort of building. Let's head in that direction. Maybe there's a computer or a phone, in there."

              Lex nodded in agreement, as the two of them began to jog toward the electric fence, so that they could get out of the paddock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

              Ellie and Ian were making very good time, as they walked toward a grey building, that could be easily seen from the bridge. Ellie hoped it was the lab and that she would be able to find Alan there. She desperately needed to see him, as her woman's intuition was telling her that he was in some kind of trouble. She was walking, almost running, with a purpose.

              "You okay, Ellie?" Ian asked.

              When Ian spoke, Ellie came right back to reality. She stopped and looked at him for a second.

              "I'm fine. Why?"

              "You're just acting a little bizarre."

              "Bizarre? I'm acting bizarre?" Ellie asked, as she started to laugh. "You, my friend, are the king of bizarre. How am I acting bizarre?"

              Ian laughed. It was one of those run-on laughs of his, that Ellie didn't care for. In fact, now that she thought about it, the man was always laughing and smiling, and it made her a little uneasy. He continued to laugh.

              "Bizarre, uh, might not have been the correct word. Sorry. Don't be so high strung. Relax a little. You're going to give yourself heart palpitations."

              Ellie just shook it all off. She knew that she was overly anxious about the whereabouts of Alan, and that she was, more or less, just taking it out on poor Ian.

              "I'm sorry, Ian. I'm just worried about Alan."

              "It's understandable. No need to apologize."

              Ellie smiled.

              "Thanks."

              Ian nodded.

              "No problem. Now, let's get to that lab."

              They walked toward the large grey building, hoping that it really was the lab they were looking for.

Chapter 21: Introducing Ethan

              The morning hours were adding up quickly, as Bodan walked back into the Main Control Room. There were two young men in the control room, typing frantically. He saw that Daniel was hard at work on the far computer.

              "What's back online, Daniel?"

              Daniel took a slight break from the computer, and looked up at Bodan.

              "Well, sir. Most of the fences are operational again, with the exception of the Herbivore Paddock. I needed to reroute some power from there, to the Albertosaurus Paddock, after Ally went through the fence in two places."

              Daniel always referred to the Albertosaurus as "Ally". Ally was his favorite, so he had given it a nickname.

              "So, the fence in the Albertosaurus Paddock is fixed?"

              "Yes, sir. We had the adequate supplies over at the new construction site, where the Mini-Lab is."

              "Good. So it's back in its paddock, then?"

              "Yes, sir. And so is one of the lost Elasmosaurs. The other one, the infant, was unfortunately found dead, floating in the water."

              Bodan was honestly upset about that. Envoy was going to be very, very unhappy with that news. Maybe he would delegate the news update to Jacob.

              "Any idea what happened?" Bodan asked.

              "No, not yet. Jacob helicoptered the carcass over to the main lab last night. We might know more by the afternoon."

              "What about the cameras? Are they working?"

              "Not quite yet. I have a few online, right now, but only a small handful. Like seven of them."

              "When will they be up?"

              "Not until Monday, I'm afraid. Most of the computers used to serve the cameras, were in Control Room 3. There were a few here, in this control room, and that's why we have the seven cameras. The parts that I need won't be here until Monday."

              Bodan didn't like that at all. He depended on those cameras quite a bit. He didn't really even realize his dependancy, until this moment. He decided to change the subject, before he grew more angry about it.

              "What about the gates? Were members of the crew able to get back to this side without incident?"

              "Yes. I had to reprogram the keypad, since the codes were completely wiped out. The men were frantic, though, and couldn't manage to type a correct code in. So I had to reprogram the keypad again, making it so that, no matter what five digit code they put in, the gate would still open."

              "So everyone got back safe? And the boat . . . did the boat launch successfully?"

              The boat would routinely leave every Friday evening, to take the crew back to the Baja Peninsula. That would leave them with a skeleton crew of about five, including Bodan and Daniel. The Baryonyx, after disabling the southern fences of the park, had delayed everything by about half a day.

              "Yes, Mr. Bodan. The boat left the East Dock about an hour ago. All the necessary crew made it aboard."

              Bodan walked toward the door.

              "I'll be right back, Daniel. I'm going to smoke a cigarette, or two."

              "Yes, sir."

              Bodan walked outside and began to vent, as he lit up a cigarette. He was beyond angry, with the events that had transpired since yesterday. He still hadn't figured out who was responsible for letting the Baryonyx out. The men were protecting the guilty party, and that enraged him. He would make it a personal mission to figure it all out.

              As Daniel was waiting, he began typing again. He was checking on security throughout the island. They were in the Main Control Room, located on the North side of the smaller portion of the island. This control room was only a few steps from the eight fully functional office buildings. The North Bridge was within walking distance, as well.

              Daniel had insisted on having three separate computer control rooms. There was Control Room 2, on the same portion, located at the Southern tip. It was very close to the South Bridge, the only existing runway, and Helipad 2. There were also four more office buildings in that area, but they weren't used by anyone at this time. Envoy had hoped to open them for tourists, at a later date. He wanted a place where tourists could book future trips to Isla Norte, after they would hopefully be dazzled by the first trip. He also wanted to use one of the offices for legal work. A place where the tourists would have to sign in writing, that they saw nothing more than a biological preserve. None of that was needed yet, though.

              And then there was Control Room 3, that had been located on the larger portion of the park, almost all the way on the West Coast of the island. Control Room 3 was stocked with wireless remote servers. Daniel always carried a laptop computer with him. Using the Secondary Control Room, he was able to operate the park from anywhere on the island.

              While Daniel was waiting for orders from Bodan, he noticed a potential problem with one of the undamaged remote servers in Control Room 3. He decided to get some details squared away.

              "Ethan?" He asked.

              "Yes?"

              "I'm not getting a reading on RS33. Could you check into that?" He asked.

              "No problem," Ethan said.

              Ethan Davis was a 22 year old college graduate that Daniel had hired. After seeing some of Ethan's work on an internet website three years earlier, Daniel felt the need to meet with the man. Ethan was a whiz with computers. He had hacked his way into an online banking website, just to prove that he could. He didn't tamper with anything, besides just loading a few harmless images of his own on every page of the site, just to let them know he was there. That little stunt would have gone unnoticed, if it weren't for the fact that Daniel Nupin was the bank's web master. The fact that someone could penetrate his security, both angered and impressed Daniel. He tracked the hacker down, using his own sophisticated techniques and the mysterious hacker agreed to meet with him. Three years, and countless computer hours later, they were working here, together.

              Bodan walked back into the room, as he had just thought of another question.

              "With all that's happened, I almost forgot about young Ms. Grant. Are you still able to track her, Daniel?"

              Daniel smiled.

              "Of course, Mr. Bodan. Jodie Grant hasn't been able to get by me."

              Daniel filed a few keystrokes, and a different screen appeared. It was a black screen, with green circles of varying sizes, along with a small red blinking dot. Daniel put his finger up to the monitor, right on the red dot.

              "There she is, sir."

              Bodan smiled.

              "Well, then, let's go get her."

© 2002 by Yvonne Bartha