Chapter 5: Grant and Ellie

              Alan walked to Ellie's door. Before he knocked, he could hear her crying. He was not prepared for that. The suspicions he was having about Mark seemed to be justified. He stood there for a few seconds, without moving. He finally knocked.

              Ellie didn't feel like holding all of her emotions in anymore. She was crying loudly, when she heard the knock at the door. She took a couple deep breaths and tried to regain her composure.

              "Who is it?"

              "It's Alan."

              She closed her eyes for a moment. She was certain that he must have heard her crying. She wiped most of the tears away and walked up to the door. She put her hand on the doorknob, started to turn it, and then changed her mind. She couldn't bring Alan into her personal family problems. She didn't want Mark finding out and then taking it out on him. She backed away from the door.

              "Alan, I'm fine. I was just about ready to go to sleep. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

              "Ellie, please. Would you please let me in."

              "No."

              "Just for a minute," he said.

              "No, Alan. Just go away, okay?"

              "Look, I'm not sure what's going on, but I'm very worried about you."

              "Please, don't be worried. Everything is fine."

              Alan was still standing in front of the door, but he didn't respond this time. He simply stood there. Ellie waited for a reply, but there wasn't one. She stood there, in the middle of the hotel room, for a few minutes. Still, there was no reply.

              "Alan?" She whispered.

              There was no answer.

              "Alan?" She repeated.

              There was still no answer. She waited a few more minutes, just standing quietly with her arms crossed. She walked to the door and opened it slowly. She managed a smile when she realized she was tricked.

              "Hi there," Alan said.

              "Oh, my . . . you're a sneaky one, aren't you?" Ellie asked.

              "I just want to know what's wrong. May I please come in?"

              "Alan . . . "

              "Just for a minute, Ellie. What's one minute going to hurt?"

              "Okay, you win. Come on," Ellie said, finally giving in.

              Alan nodded and walked into the hotel room. He quickly glanced around the room, as Ellie shut the door. When he turned to look at her, he noticed she had a black eye.

              "What happened to you?"

              "Would you believe I walked into a door?"

              "No."

              "Well, I don't really want to talk about it right now. How's that?"

              "Okay."

              "Thank you," she said.

              "Where's Mark?"

              "He's downstairs in the casino."

              "Was he up here with you earlier?"

              "Yes, Alan."

              "So, he did that to you?" Alan asked, pointing at her eye.

              "I already told you, I don't want you involved in my personal problems."

              "Ellie, if he's hurting you, you need to talk about it and get help."

              "Maybe I do need help. But from a professional, okay? Not you. I don't want you involved."

              "Why? I want to help you."

              "Have you seen Mark, lately, Alan?"

              "No."

              "Well, he's been working out. He's about as tall as you are, as you might remember. And about 235 pounds now."

              "And he feels the need to hit . . . " Alan didn't finish the sentence. He looked at her for a few seconds. "Ellie, I don't think you should be here when he gets back."

              "Thank you for trying to help. But I really don't think it's a good idea."

              "Ellie," he said, as he walked very close to her.

              He reached out and gently grabbed her arm. He needed to change her mind, this much he knew. As he was about to speak again, Ellie gently pulled her arm away from him and winced a little bit. He noticed a few tears streaming down her cheek.

              "Are you all right?" He asked.

              "Yeah, my arm just hurts a little bit."

              "Did Mark do that, too?" Alan asked.

              He was starting to feel a lot of anger toward Ellie's absentee husband.

              "Alan, please. I don't want to go into the details right now."

              "Okay, then I'm going downstairs to find him," Alan said.

              He turned around toward the door. Ellie grabbed his arm and turned him back around.

              "No. I don't want you to get hurt."

              "I think I can take care of myself."

              "Listen to me," Ellie said. "He is dangerous, okay? He's somewhat . . . no, completely insane. Do not go looking for trouble."

              "I don't want to argue with you anymore," Alan said.

              "That's a relief. You can go now, okay?"

              "Come back with me, to my room. You shouldn't be here when he gets back. I'm serious. Please?"

              Ellie looked into his eyes. He was so concerned for her. She didn't want to argue anymore, either. Alan spoke again.

              "That is the only way I would feel comfortable leaving this room. If you were with me."

              "Okay." She finally gave in. "Okay, Alan."

              They were still standing close, looking at each other. Ellie stepped a little closer and embraced Alan tightly. She started to cry again. Alan gently embraced her, being extra careful not to hurt her again. The two of them stood in the hotel room for a few minutes, with Ellie crying into his chest.

              "I think we should get going now," Alan whispered to her.

              Ellie nodded.

              "Let me get a few things together. It'll only take a few minutes."

              "Okay," Alan said, nodding.

              Alan watched as Ellie put everything she owned in her suitcase. When she was finished, he picked it up and opened the door for her. They went into the hallway.

              "Wouldn't Mark just be able to look up your name and find us?" Ellie asked.

              "He doesn't even know I'm here."

              "Yes, he does. That's what the argument was about."

              "Ellie, I'm so sorry."

              "It's not your fault," she said.

              "Well, you were arguing about me."

              "He saw us talking in the casino. I shouldn't have been out in the open like that. It was stupid."

              "What do you mean, in the open?"

              "I came here alone. I lied to you earlier. Mark and I had a fight. A very big fight, back at home. Hammond really was offering me a trip to Vegas, so I took him up on it. I needed to get my head together and decide what I was going to do about Mark. He found out about it somehow."

              "Where are the kids?"

              "With my mother. They're fine. I talked to them today."

              They got into the elevator. Alan put Ellie's suitcase down and pressed the button for the 7th floor.

              "So, Mark followed you here?" He asked.

              "Yes. He just showed up at the door, barged in, and demanded to know where you were." 

              "I'm really sorry about all of this, Ellie."

              "Not as sorry as you'll be if he finds you."

              "Well, he shouldn't be able to find us. Ian and I switched rooms."

              "Ian Malcolm?"

              "Yeah."

              "Oh, my god. I haven't seen him in a long time."

              "You're the lucky one."

              Ellie smiled.

              "So, you're in his room? Why, may I ask?"

              "Something about his room being nonsmoking. I don't know," Alan said, laughing.

              "What's so funny?"

              "Oh, well, I was just thinking that if Mark did look me up, he would get Ian. That's funny to me."

              "Alan."

              "Sorry," Alan said, smiling.

              "All these years later and you still don't like Ian."

              "No, I don't. I guess I'll never change."

              "No, probably not. That's not such a bad thing, though. Being consistent."

              The elevator doors opened. Alan picked up the suitcase and started down the hallway. Ellie followed. Alan reached his room, opened the door, and held it open for her.

              "Wow, Alan. This room is bigger than mine was," Ellie said.

              "I guess Hammond was trying to impress me . . . or Ian," Alan said. As he looked around the room, he smiled. "Hey, look. My bags. I guess Ian really did take care of that, like he said he would."

              Ellie laughed, as she looked around the room. It was a two room suite. There was a dining room table just to the right of the door and a wet bar, just beyond that, complete with 4 bar stools. Past the wet bar were two plush chairs along with a matching couch, a television armoire, and a sliding glass door on the other side of the room. Ellie went into the bedroom that was attached on the left. This room was enormous, as well. In addition, the bathroom was attached to the bedroom. Ellie was taken aback by the expensive looking and roomy suite. Then, she got serious for a minute.

              "Alan, there's only one bed."

              "Yeah. I see that. You can have it. I'll take the couch."

              "Thanks," Ellie said.

              She was relieved that he was making this so easy. Although, a big part of her wished they would be sharing the bed. She was starting to remember her past life with Alan, and it was a much better life than what Mark was giving her now. No contest. She looked at her watch.

              "Oh, my god. It's already 12:30am. I'm going to turn in. First, I'd like to take a shower, if that's okay with you."

              "Of course it's okay with me."

              She smiled and headed for the bathroom. She hadn't even realized it until this moment, but Mark had gotten her into the habit of asking permission to do things. She stayed in the shower for quite a while, thinking about things. When she finished with her shower, she wrapped up in the robe that was in the bathroom and came out.

              Alan was sitting on a barstool, reading a label on a bottle of wine. He looked up at her.

              "There's only one robe and I claimed it," she said.

              He smiled.

              "Wanna drink?" He asked.

              "Yeah, I could use one," she said.

              Alan poured some wine into two glasses and handed one to Ellie.

              "Thank you," she said.

              Ellie drank the wine and handed the empty glass back to Alan. She went over to her suitcase and found her nightgown. She quickly changed and then slipped under the covers. When she was settled, there was a knock at the door.

              Alan got up from the stool and walked toward the door.

              "He found me. He found me already. Don't answer it," Ellie said.

              Ellie started to get out of the bed. Alan walked into the bedroom doorway.

              "Ellie, wait. It's just the concierge. I asked for more towels and a blanket."

              Ellie felt completely stupid, as she listened to him open the door and take the towels and blanket from the stranger. It had only been about a half hour and there was no way Mark could have hunted her down that quick.

              Alan walked through the bedroom and put the towels in the bathroom. When he came out of the bathroom, he walked to the bed and sat at the end of it. Ellie looked down.

              "How long has this been going on with Mark?" He asked.

              "Do you want me to count the verbal abuse, or just the physical?"

              Ellie looked at him. She could tell he was having a hard time coping with this.

              "I'm sorry. I'm just angry with myself for letting it happen for so long."

              She didn't want to explain how she choose to marry a maniac and then choose to stay with him all those years.

              "What about the kids?" He asked.

              "I don't think so. I think he saves it all for me."

              Alan was fighting back his anger with Mark.

              "Ellie, why didn't you tell me? I talk to you almost once a week."

              "I don't know. There were a few times when I almost told you, but then I just chickened out."

              "I wish you would have told me," Alan said, thinking. "That must be why you only let me visit your house once."

              "Yes. That, and the fact that Mark really hates you."

              "Me? Why?"

              "Because I talk to you once a week."

              Alan nodded.

              "And because we have a past," Ellie said.

              Alan nodded again.

              "And because you're a better man than he is," she added.

              Alan briefly smiled at her. He was starting to get uncomfortable with the conversation, all of a sudden. He changed the subject.

              "I'm going to take a quick shower, and then try to get some sleep."

              "Okay," she said.

              Alan smiled and nodded. He got up from the bed and went into the other room to grab a few things from his bag. He came back through the bedroom and went into the shower. About 10 minutes later, he opened the bathroom door and quietly walked through the bedroom. He had decided on wearing pants and a shirt. If Mark did somehow find them, he wanted to be dressed and ready for him. When he reached the doorway, he turned around and looked at Ellie. She was sound asleep in the bed. He smiled. He made his way to the couch. He grabbed the extra blanket, laid down, and covered himself up.

              Several hours later, Ellie suddenly awoke and sprang up out of bed. She was having a nightmare. She was dreaming that Mark had found them and killed Alan. She sat there in the dark, for a minute, breathing heavily. It was 3:30am. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she remembered where she was, and started to feel safe again. She got out of bed to check on Alan. From the bedroom doorway, she could see him on the couch. She smiled. Then she looked closer at him and noticed that the couch wasn't quite long enough for him. His legs were hanging off the side. The more she looked at him, the more uncomfortable he looked to her.

              "Alan," she whispered.

              He jumped up quickly.

              "You okay?" He asked.

              "Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," she whispered.

              Alan nodded. She watched as he started to stretch out his body. Clearly, he was sore.

              "Does your back hurt?" She asked.

              "Yeah, a little."

              "Looks like a lot, to me."

              Alan smiled.

              "It's fine, Ellie. It's just been awhile since I had to sleep on a couch."

              Ellie waited a few seconds before she asked her next question. She took a deep breath.

              "Why don't you get into the bed. It's much more comfortable," Ellie said.

              "You sure?"

              "Yes, Alan. I think we can manage to share the same bed, don't you?"

              Alan smiled and slowly got up. He walked across the room and walked up to Ellie. He raised his arm.

              "After you," he said.

              Ellie nodded and got into the bed. Alan followed her and got into the other side. Ellie covered him up and then moved to her side of the bed. It was like there was an invisible wall between them. They both lay there quietly, on their designated sides of the bed. Neither of them spoke. After a period of silence, Alan drifted off to sleep.

              After she knew he was asleep, Ellie turned on her side. She was staring at him. She was looking at him and thinking about how she had broken things off with him. She remembered the day very clearly. He was in the trailer that they shared, working on a research paper. She had walked in and told him that she was taking a job offer in Oregon. At first he was happy that her professional life was becoming so successful. She had left the dig site before, for other jobs, but then she would always come back. That's when she had informed him that she needed more. She told him that she wanted a family, and that she knew he didn't. After about 2 hours of talking, she had left the trailer . . . and Alan. She had packed her things up and headed for Oregon. He had shown up at the airport to see her off. He had kissed her one last time and then she boarded the plane, crying. That was about 7 years ago.

              Looking at him now, she wondered why she let such a good man get away. When they first went their separate ways, she almost went back to Montana to see him. Then, as fate would have it, she had met Mark Degler at a conference in Oregon. Mark was a very charming man, who swept her off her feet. They had gotten married about 6 months later and had moved to Arizona. Ellie had their first child, Charlie, about two years later and their second child, Samantha, about 2 years after that. Now, her kids were 5 and 3 years old.

              Her mind traveled back to the present time. Back to Alan, who was laying right beside her, in the dark. He was sleeping so soundly. She looked at him and suddenly wondered how old he was now. She was 35. She did a little bit of quick math in her head and figured he was 44, since they were 9 years apart.

              She inched a little closer and carefully put her arm around him. He woke up and looked in her direction. He didn't say a word. He just grasped her hand in his and kissed it gently. After a few minutes, he spoke quietly.

              "Everything's going to be all right, Ellie."

              "I know," she said.

              She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, feeling very safe and sound.

Chapter 6: Hammond's New Mission

              John Hammond was awakened by the sudden ringing of the phone. He was staying in a hotel in Montana. He hadn't left Montana since he talked to Alan the day before. He had sent his assistant back home because he wanted to have a little independence. He glanced over at the clock. It was 4:30am. He shook his head, trying to wake himself up, and then he picked up the phone next to the bed.

              "Hello?"

              "Mr. Hammond. Sorry to wake you, sir. We have a situation."

              "Henry?"

              "Yes, sir, it's Henry. Something, very serious, was just brought to my attention and I thought you would want to know right away."

              "Well, what is it, Henry?"

              "Mr. Hammond, we have proof that Tim and Lex were taken from your house about two nights ago."

              "What? What?"

              "John, your Grandchildren are missing. We think we know who is behind it."

              Hammond was already reaching for his suitcase and getting his things together, as he held the phone to his ear.

              "Let me guess. Envoy?"

              "Yes, sir. We have witnesses who saw his number one henchman, Patrick Bodan, take Lex and Tim."

              "What witnesses?"

              "Some of your security officers saw them."

              "Why didn't they stop them?"

              "Most of them were taken out, sir. Killed."

              "Oh, my god."

              "A few made it through and they were able to identify Mr. Bodan."

              "Are my grandchildren all right, Henry?"

              "As far as we know, yes. There's more, John."

              "More? What more?"

              "Bodan made his way to Chicago and nabbed him another hostage yesterday evening."

              "Who is in Chicago that would interest me?"

              "Jodie Grant."

              "Oh, dear. As in Alan Grant?"

              "Yes, sir."

              "Oh, dear."

              "John, do you want to go to Las Vegas to meet with Dr. Grant?"

              "Let me think a minute."

              "Sir, you should tell him."

              "Yes, yes, that is probably the right thing to do, Henry."

              "Okay. I'll send someone for you right away."

              "Good, good. Thank you, Henry."

              Hammond hung up the phone. He sat in a chair in the hotel room and thought about how scared his grandchildren must have been. And Jodie Grant. She must have been frightened, too. Hammond wasn't quite sure how this whole mess was going to impact his plans. He would worry about that later. Right now, he needed to get out of Montana and get to Las Vegas. He only had about 3 hours before Grant, Malcolm and the rest of the team left for the island.

Chapter 7: Mr. Marcus Envoy, Madman

70 Miles West of the Baja Peninsula - Nighttime

              Tim was sitting in the dark, shivering. He was in some sort of military aircraft. He and Lex were forced to sit somewhere near the back and there was no heat there.

              His sister was right next to him. Lex was unconscious for a lot of the mysterious journey. She was still unconscious. Tim had been out for most of the trip, as well. There was one instance, that Tim vaguely remembered, when Lex awoke at some point. An unknown man approached them and gave them both some sort of an injection.

              Now Tim had been awake for the last half hour or so. He had no idea where they were. All he knew for certain, is that it had something to do with his Grandfather. He had overheard some of the men talking before he was forced into unconsciousness. While deep in his thoughts, he heard some movement in the darkness, next to him.

              "Lex?" He whispered.

              There was a long pause before he finally got an answer.

              "Yeah," she said. "Tim, where are we?"

              "I'm not sure yet."

              With Lex being awake, Tim filled her in on all that he knew. He told her how Bodan was able to get him, too. Then he explained to her how they were transported to some sort of large military aircraft and that he didn't know the destination.

              As they were whispering, the aircraft landed somewhere. Tim could feel the wheels touch down on the ground. The large door of the military aircraft opened from the rear. It was still quite dark outside, so they couldn't see much better. Tim noticed the silhouette of a man coming into the back of the aircraft. Tim and Lex were both understandably frightened.

              "Okay. Get up. Follow me. Both of you," the man ordered.

              Tim and Lex did what they were told. As they emerged from the aircraft, Tim looked all around him, trying to figure out where he was. It was too dark to see much more than trees. The ocean could also be heard, or at least some sort of body of water. He squinted in the direction they were being pushed and noticed a building. A man opened the door. Another man from behind them shoved them into the building.

              When everyone was inside, the door was shut. There was total darkness for a few seconds, then someone turned on a flood light from behind Tim and Lex. Most of the room was illuminated, with the exception of the corners. They were hidden in the shadows, since there was no direct light aimed that way. A tall man emerged from a door in the rear of the room. He walked very slowly. Tim guessed he was about 55-60 years old. He walked up to Tim and Lex, and then stopped.

              "Hello. I am truly sorry about all the secrecy," he said. Then he looked at Lex. "And all the violence."

              This man also had a British accent.

              Tim had a million questions. He was trying to get them situated in his head, so that he could ask one, when Lex beat him to it.

              "Where are we? Who are you?" She asked.

              The tall man laughed.

              "My, you're one of those right-to-the-point people, aren't you?"

              "Just answer the question," Lex demanded.

              Tim lightly bumped into her, to get her attention. She looked at him.

              "Don't make him mad," he whispered to her.

              "Mad? I'd say that I'm the one mad," Lex said. She looked at the tall man. "Please, where are we?"

              "Very well, then. You are on Isla Norte. Welcome to my life's work."

              Tim and Lex were still confused. Lex spoke up again, to Tim's dismay.

              "Well, that's nice. Where is Isla Norte?"

              "Near Mexico, my dear."

              Tim wanted answers, too. He decided to get into the conversation with a nicer attitude.

              "Sir, why are we here? Please, just level with us."

              "You are here because of your Grandfather. Unfortunately for the both of you, Mr. Hammond has involved himself in matters that do not concern him. And that's all you need to know for now, I'm afraid. This will be your home for now. We are building a more secure room for you to stay in, but it will not be ready until tomorrow."

              The tall man turned around to leave through the rear door.

              "Wait," Lex said.

              He turned around and spoke before Lex could.

              "I'm not answering more questions. I would like to make one more comment, though. You see how they are locking the doors and boarding up the windows in this room?"

              Tim and Lex nodded.

              "Well, it really isn't to keep you inside this building. It is to keep what is out there . . . out of this building."

              Tim looked at Lex. She shrugged and shook her head. Neither of them understood fully what he was alluring to. The tall man noticed this, too.

              "All that I am saying . . . do not go outside. Breaking out of this building would probably be very easy for two clever young people, like yourselves. But, don't attempt it. You will not be happy with what you run into out there. Trust me."

              The tall man turned around and headed for the back again. All of the men followed, leaving Tim and Lex alone.

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

              The tall man went through another door and ended up outside. There were several men with machine guns surrounding the area. They were lined up all the way to the helicopter that was waiting for the tall man. As the man got closer to the helicopter, a woman came out of it and hurried over to him. She was looking nervously around, as she approached. She was his assistant, Loretta Hart.

              "Loretta, you need to relax., dear."

              "Mr. Envoy, we should be going right now, sir."

              "I know, I know. I'm coming."

              Loretta took his arm and helped him in. Marcus Envoy was a 63 year old man. In his day, he was a brilliant scientist, developing several inventions for NASA. He was rewarded handsomely for his inventions and had been saving all of his money for some future endeavor.

              Back in 1993, when he read about John Hammond's little island experiment, he was enthralled. He had used a fair amount of money to get all the information that he could about it. Then, back in 2001, he was blessed with the best thing possible. He was visited by an agent from the InGen Corporation. He never even got the man's name, as the man was very secretive. The agent agreed to get samples of every dinosaur embryo that he could find. When he delivered, Envoy was overcome with joy. Of course, he had the delivery analyzed for accuracy. When the results came back, Envoy was very happy. Not only were the contents the real thing, but there were six additional species of dinosaurs included. Apparently, Hammond had authorized other species, but decided not to produce them. Most of the six species were carnivorous.

              He brought his newly acquired find to the Biosyn Corporation in the latter half of 2001. After researching all the provided test results, they decided on bringing Envoy on board, so they could use his discovery. They had offered Envoy a position in the company. He refused at first, and then finally agreed. They offered him the job of CEO. He would have been really foolish to turn that down.

              After his new appointment in the company, Envoy immediately began dreaming about people visiting an island with dinosaurs. An island with dinosaurs they had never seen before, not even on Hammond's island. Dinosaurs that were more dangerous than any living thing today. He began dreaming about an island with better security. An island with solar power. An island where computers would run security, but couldn't be re-programmed by would-be back stabbers. An island with monorails and aerial tours. An island completely safe for visitors.

              It would be several months after that agent visit in early 2001, before he would be able to find the perfect location, the perfect trustworthy people to work with, and the perfect government in which to deal with. Everything was coming together beautifully. Until John Hammond found out and began to assemble a team to stop Envoy's dream from coming a reality. The island was already built. The dinosaurs were already produced. Of course, there was all the little tweaking that still needed to be done, but the only real things missing were the visitors and the millions of dollars expected to roll in. Then, John Hammond was suddenly threatening all of it. He had to be stopped.

              When his associate, Mr. Bodan, found Lex and Tim in Hammond's house, Envoy decided to go after the children. He knew that Hammond had met with Alan Grant, so he authorized Grant's cousin to be taken. He knew very little about the rest of Hammond's team. There were rumors that Ian Malcolm would be involved, but there was no sufficient proof as of yet. Grant was the only one he knew for sure had met with Hammond. Envoy hoped that by holding innocent children hostage, Grant and Hammond would back off. He would sit tight and wait to see how they reacted.

              If it came to actually threatening the lives of innocent children, Envoy would do so. His dream was right on the brink of becoming something great. He wouldn't let Hammond defeat him. He would do anything he had to in order to stop Hammond. His island would survive and flourish, no matter what.

© 2002 by Yvonne Bartha