Chapter 8: Plans Change

              Alan slowly opened his eyes and rolled over. Ellie was sound asleep, right next to him. He glanced over at the clock. It was 5:30am. He decided to let Ellie sleep a little longer. He gently made his way out of the bed and went to take a shower.

              Ellie continued to sleep. She was having another nightmare. Only this one wasn't made up. She was reliving one of her own personal wars with Mark. She kept stirring, as the nightmare went on. It was the first time Mark had hit her. He was drunk and had gone into Charlie's room to yell at him about leaving a toy on the floor. Charlie was way too young to understand, of course. Mark only succeeded in making Charlie cry. Ellie had gone into the room to try and reason with Mark, but was pushed out of the room. Mark came out of Charlie's room and slammed the door. He walked right up to Ellie, grabbed her by the throat, and then slapped her in the face, knocking her down. Ellie sat on the floor of the living room for quite a long time, just holding her nose. It was bleeding really bad. Mark threw his hands up in the air and then left the house. He didn't come back all night.

              After Alan was finished with his shower, he went back to the bed. He gently sat on the edge of the bed and just watched Ellie sleep. As he looked at her, he realized what a truly stupid person he really was. He let the love of his life go without much of a fight. Maybe, if he had fought a little harder, Ellie wouldn't have left and she would have never met Mark Degler.

              He leaned over and carefully moved a strand of hair away from her face. He was very careful, but still managed to wake Ellie up. She opened her eyes, as she was startled awake. She looked at him and realized where she was. She was very happy to know that she was just dreaming. Alan smiled at her.

              "Good morning, sunshine."

              Ellie smiled. That was what Alan used to say to her every morning when they would wake up. She really wanted to kiss him suddenly, but she stopped herself. At this point, a move like that would be hard to explain.

              "Good morning," she said, stretching out her arms.

              "Did you sleep okay?"

              "Yeah, I did. Thanks."

              Alan nodded.

              "The shower is all yours. I'm supposed to meet Ian downstairs sometime between 6 and 7 o'clock. God, I'm not looking forward to that, let me tell you."

              Ellie laughed. She made her way to the bathroom. Before she closed the door, she called out to Alan.

              "Could you get me some coffee?"

              "Black, right?"

              Ellie smiled.

              "Right."

              "I'll get right on it," Alan said.

              Alan fiddled with the coffee maker that was in the room. When he plugged it in, it suddenly began to spark, quickly catching fire. He pulled the cord from the wall and started to frantically throw water on the coffee maker. When he finally had the fire contained, he just stood there, looking at the mess he had just made. The fire had traveled very quickly. The entire wall, where the thing was plugged in, was scorched, all the way to the ceiling. He shook his head and went to the phone.

              "This is Al . . . uh, Ian Malcolm . . . in room 717. I would like some coffee brought up. Yes, I know there's a coffee maker in the room. Yes, I found that. The one in this room doesn't work. Yes. Okay, thanks."

              As Alan hung up the phone, Ellie came out of the bathroom. She looked around and saw the mess, and then she looked at him.

              "What did you do?"

              "Nothing. All I did was plug that damn thing in," Alan said, pointing at the coffee maker.

              Ellie laughed at him. Alan looked at the burn marks on the wall and then he looked back at Ellie, who was still laughing. He finally smiled.

              "Ha, ha, ha. I'm going to get some ice for my soda," he said.

              Ellie nodded. As Alan opened the door, he looked back at her.

              "I ordered some coffee for you. It should be here shortly."

              "Thanks," Ellie said.

              Alan walked out of the room. Ellie shut the door back and began to get dressed.

              Alan had to walk down a few hallways to find the ice machine. He found it and then began the trek back to the room. When he reached the room, there was a man there with the coffee, about to knock on the door.

              "Oh, here, I'll get that," Alan said.

              He gave the man a tip. The man nodded, smiled, gave Alan the coffee, and then left. It was then that Alan realized he had forgotten to take the keycard with him. He knocked on the door. Ellie didn't open it. He knocked again.

              The door quickly opened. Before Alan knew what happened, he was grabbed by a man and pulled into the room forcefully. Hot coffee spilled on him, as he fell to the floor. He still didn't see who grabbed him. As soon as he hit the floor, his attacker was right on top of him, hitting him in the face. After a few seconds, Alan was able to push the man away from him. He slowly stood up and looked around the room. He saw Ellie on the floor, next to one of the chairs. Her mouth was bleeding. He turned his attention toward his attacker. It was fairly easy to guess who it was.

              "Well, hi there, Mark," he said.

              Mark was furious. He had gone back to Ellie's room and didn't find her. All of her things were gone. He had found out which room Alan was staying in and had found some other person. He recognized the man, though. So he had found out which room Ian Malcolm was in and had found Ellie there. They had talked for a few seconds, and then he had gone after Ellie in a rage. Mark had thrown Ellie to the floor and had been pacing back and forth, when Alan had knocked. Now, he went after Alan again.

              "Mark!" Ellie yelled, but it was no use.

              Mark charged at Alan. This time Alan was more prepared. Mark ran into him and Alan deflected his body and shoved him to the right. Mark fell into the dining table. He ran into it at an awkward angle, and ended up flipping the small circular table over. Alan walked past Mark and farther into the room.

              "Let's try and calm down, okay?" Alan asked.

              Mark stood up and threw one of the dining chairs in anger. He stared at Alan.

              "I'm going to kill you," he said. Then he looked at Ellie. "Both of you."

              Alan was close enough to smell the alcohol on his breath.

              "Nobody needs to die here. You need to calm down," Alan said again.

              Mark reached under his shirt and pulled out a gun. Ellie was shocked. Alan quickly backed away from him.

              "Somebody is going to die. Right now," Mark said, waving the gun around.

              "Look, Mark, John Hammond is waiting downstairs for me. Right now," Alan calmly said. "If I'm not there in the next few minutes, Hammond will send some people up here to find me. If you kill me, you won't get far. Hammond's men will find you."

              "Is that so?" Mark asked.

              "Yes," Alan said, hoping that Mark would believe his lie.

              There was a knock at the door. Mark was closest to the door, but his back was to it. When he heard the knock, he turned around. Alan seized the moment. He grabbed the lamp that had fell to the floor, hit Mark in the head, and managed to knock him out.

              He ran to Ellie, who was trying her best to get up. He helped her and the two of them walked over Mark and opened the door.

              It was Malcolm. He looked at Alan and Ellie and shook his head.

              "Are you two lovebirds ready to go?" Malcolm asked.

              Alan just shook his head. As Alan and Ellie left the room, Malcolm saw a man on the floor, unconscious.

              "Who is that?"

              "My husband."

              "Why is he on the floor?" Malcolm asked Ellie. He looked at Alan. "Don't tell me. I don't want to know."

              Alan didn't say a word. He just looked at him.

              "Ian, my husband is very . . . mean. Alan was helping me," Ellie said.

              "I suggest we go downstairs to talk about this," Alan added.

              Alan turned around quickly and went back in the room.

              "What are you doing?" Ellie asked, concerned.

              "Getting the gun," Alan said, as he pried the gun from Mark's hand.

              "Gun?" Ian asked. "He had a gun?"

              "Later," Alan said to him.

              The three of them got into the elevator. No one said a word. The elevator stopped on the lobby floor and opened. Malcolm got out first, and then Alan and Ellie followed.

              "Where are we supposed to meet Hammond's team?" Alan asked Malcolm.

              "I don't know. I thought you knew," Malcolm answered.

              "No."

              "Well, let's try the bar," Malcolm offered.

              "No, let's not," Alan said.

              "You are so very uptight, my friend. You could use a drink," Malcolm said.

              "Ian, you are. . . " Alan began to say, as he pointed in Malcolm's face.

              Ellie grabbed Alan's arm.

              "Please don't finish that sentence," she said to him.

              Malcolm put his hands up, in a surrendering gesture.

              "All right, all right. I give up. I'll leave you alone," Malcolm said.

              "Good," Ellie said, nodding at Malcolm. Then she looked at Alan. "You really don't know where Hammond's team is supposed to be?"

              "No, I don't. If I had to guess, I figured they would have met with us at our rooms," Alan answered.

              "Hey, Ellie?" Malcolm asked. "Does this mean you're joining us?"

              Ellie thought about that question for quite a while. She looked at Malcolm, and then she looked over at Alan.

              "Yeah. I think it would be . . . safer . . . for me to accompany the two of you."

              "Well, let's try and find Hammond's guys and get this show on the road," Alan added.

              "Should we split up?" Malcolm asked.

              "Probably," Alan said.

              As the three of them were figuring out what to do, an oriental man walked up to them. He looked directly at Alan.

              "Dr. Grant?"

              Alan looked at the man in a weird way. He was sure he had seen him somewhere before. He finally answered, after Ellie gently hit his arm.

              "Uh, yes, yes. I'm Dr. Grant. What can I do for you?"

              "Ah! Dr. Grant, I was hoping that was you. My name is Henry Wiggans. I am Mr. Hammond's personal assistant. I believe we met in Montana a couple of days ago."

              Finally, Alan could place the familiar face.

              "Yes. I remember you. Are you a part of Hammond's team?"

              Henry laughed.

              "Oh, no, Dr. Grant. I am here with Mr. Hammond. The team won't arrive for about another hour or so."

              Malcolm walked in front of Alan.

              "Excuse me, hello . . . I'm Ian Malcolm. How do you do?"

              Malcolm and Henry shook hands.

              "Now that's out of the way. I thought Hammond's team was due to meet us at 7:00am? It's already 7:30am. I can't help but notice . . . Henry . . . that there are no signs of Hammond's team."

              Henry was beginning to look a little uneasy.

              "Well, Dr. Malcolm, the team had to be re-evaluated and re-assembled because of an unforseen emergency."

              Malcolm pointed at the man and yelled.

              "HA! You see, Chaos Theory is playing a solid role in this little adventure. You see, Henry, there is no such thing as an unforseen event . . ."

              "Shut up, Ian," Alan said. He looked at Henry. "What kind of an emergency?"

              "I believe that is Mr. Hammond's place to fill you in. Please, won't the three of you come with me? Mr. Hammond has a conference room booked here at the hotel."

              Alan shrugged.

              "Sure. Lead the way, Henry."

              Henry walked off toward one of the many conference rooms in the MGM Grand. Alan and Ellie followed. Malcolm was still standing in the same place, shaking his head.

              "We are all doomed," he said, as he finally started to walk in Henry's direction.

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

              Henry opened the door to the conference room. He looked inside, and after he made sure Mr. Hammond was ready for the visitors, he let them in.

              Alan went first.

              "John, what is going on?"

              Hammond didn't get out of his chair. He talked from where he was.

              "I'm afraid something terrible, just terrible, has happened."

              "Well, out with it, old man," Malcolm said.

              "Ian," Ellie scolded him.

              Hammond got up from his chair very slowly, with help from Henry.

              "Alan, my grandchildren have been taken."

              Alan stood there, not really putting it all together. Ellie spoke up.

              "Tim and Lex?" She asked.

              "Yes, I'm afraid so," Hammond said.

              "Oh, my god. Are they okay?" Alan asked.

              "They haven't been harmed, as of yet," Hammond said, looking down. "And that's not all."

              "What else?" Alan said, knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer.

              "They have also taken a little 12 year old girl," Hammond said. He finally looked up at Alan. "Your cousin, Jodie."

              Alan was shocked. Jodie was actually Alan's second cousin. She was the daughter of Richard Grant, Alan's cousin.

              "Jodie? Why the hell would they take Jodie?"

              "Take it easy, Alan," Hammond said, trying to calm him down a little.

              "I don't think so. Where did they take them?" Alan demanded.

              "To Isla Norte."

              "Where is that?" Ellie asked.

              Malcolm knew. He answered before Hammond could.

              "The third dinosaur island. It's near Mexico."

              Alan threw his hands up in the air. He hadn't heard the name of the third dinosaur island until that moment.

              "Well, isn't that just great!?" He yelled.

              He started to nervously pace back and forth. Ellie went to him and tried to calm him down. She was able to stop him from pacing. She managed to get him to look at her.

              "Alan," she whispered. "She's going to be okay. You need to calm down. Please, just calm down. We'll get a plan together to save them. Please, just try to breathe."

              As Ellie continued to relax Alan some, Malcolm walked up to Hammond.

              "So, what's the plan? Another rescue mission?" He asked.

              "Yes. I have brought together three mercenaries to bring back the innocent children."

              Alan interrupted.

              "So, how long have you known this, John? Before you came to see me? Before Malcolm? How about Ellie? Before her, too?" Alan asked. He was beyond angry.

              "Please, I assure you, I knew nothing of this until 4:30 this morning. I got here just as soon as I could. I'm very sorry."

              "You're sorry? You're always sorry," Alan said, staring at Hammond. "When do we leave? I want to get underway as soon as possible."

              "The men should be here within the half-hour," Henry offered.

              "Does Richard Grant know his daughter is missing?" Alan asked.

              "No, he doesn't. Not yet. She is enrolled in a private school and isn't due home for three weeks," Henry answered.

              "So, the school knows?" Ellie asked.

              "Yes, the school knows and has been cooperating with us," Hammond said.

              "What did you do, pay them off, too?" Alan snapped.

              Ellie grabbed his arm.

              "Maybe we should take a walk. Okay, Alan?"

              "You guys really shouldn't wander around the hotel with your gun-wielding husband on the loose," Malcolm said.

              Hammond looked at the three scientists in a puzzled manner. He hadn't known a thing about Ellie's husband. He made a mental note to himself, to check into that.

              Ellie hadn't thought about Mark since she walked into the conference room. Malcolm made a good point.

              "The conference room next door is unoccupied, if the two of you would like to go there," Henry offered.

              Ellie nodded.

              "Yes. That's a good idea," she said. She looked at Alan. "Come on. Let's go next door."

              She didn't give Alan a chance to answer. She pulled him toward the door and out of the room. When they were inside the other conference room, Ellie just stood back and let Alan take out his frustrations on the furniture. He threw several chairs around, pounded the table with his fists, and then hit the walls over and over again. After a few minutes of this, he finally settled down and collapsed into one of the chairs that was still upright. Ellie knelt down next to him.

              "You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" She whispered.

              He looked up at her. She noticed his eyes were watered up. He stared at Ellie for a bit, as a million thoughts ran through his head. He finally spoke.

              "I have never even met her," was all that he could manage to say.

              "Jodie?"

              "Yeah."

              Ellie leaned toward Alan and embraced him.

              "She's going to be fine because you and I are going to get her out of there."