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| Jurassic Secrets By Tanith |
| Disclaimers – I own no-one except myself and a friend. I don’t want to cause offence to Arnold Vosloo and Oded Fehr as this is just fiction and in this neither man is married, so as to cause no problems for their families. I hope Rhonda and Sylvia understand. This is the 3rd story in the Jurassic Park Series This story is rated PG-13 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ |
| It was three months since Mortimer had been killed by the Brachiosaurus. Nothing could have been done; they were protecting their young, a natural instinct. Oded had been asked to take over the management of the two parks but he put someone else in charge of the smaller one where the TRexs were. He still didn’t want anything to do with them. A lot of the more complicated data on the computers he didn’t really understand but once shown, he found he could pick up bits and pieces. He’d learn as he went on, he trusted the lab people to do most of the work. He had been given access to Mortimer’s more personal data, which he found very interesting. How the park first started, right up to the first baby dinosaur being born. It was fascinating. Sue was helping him but had more to do with the babies and getting them ready to be released into the park. Their relationship wasn’t bad but Oded was getting obsessed with the park. She didn’t mind really, at least they were together but it did annoy her sometimes. He had decided to give up acting altogether, one because he liked the work and the life at the park and two because his leg was still giving him trouble even though it had been nearly a year or more since the first encounter with the raptors. He had gone to the mainland once to post a letter to Arnold, enclosing a letter to Steven Sommers and one to his family saying he wouldn’t be back and not to worry. He sent them to Arnold as he didn’t want them to be traced and Arnold and Denise were the only ones who knew where he and Sue were. One of the things Oded was working on was how Mortimer had got the dinosaur blood in the first place. He had been told it was from mosquitoes feeding off dinosaurs all those millions of years ago and then getting trapped in tree sap to be found by diggers and then lab technicians drawing off the blood to get the DNA. It sounded easy enough but there had to be something else. A mosquito could account for half a dozen of the dinosaurs but there were now 20 different species on the two islands and he had been told that another three would be ready to hatch an a months time. This was from the experiments Mortimer had carried out before he was killed. Oded wouldn’t have been too bothered but there was quite a few million years between the Jurassic and Cretaceous period and the animals came from both although now mixed together. How did they manage to find mosquitoes from two totally different periods so precisely? This was what he was trying to find out from Mortimer’s personal computer banks. He had been working at it for a week now and in the last two days had shut himself in the office not coming out for anything. He told the staff he didn’t want to be disturbed only for meals, even then he’d cover the computer with a cloth when they came in. Sue was worried and decided that this time she would take his lunch in and see what he had found out. She didn’t have to really; he rang her and told her he had something to show her and to tell no—one where she was. It seemed very curious and intriguing. When Sue went in, Oded was writing in a book next to the computer. “Oded, what’s so secretive and why have you stayed in here all this time?” “I’ve found some very interesting things on Mortimer’s files. I’ve written a lot of it down but I’M not sure exactly what it all means. It seems he made several trips before he started the park properly. Where I don’t know but wherever it was, that’s where the dinosaur blood came from.” “Maybe another organization was doing the same thing and they were partners.” “I don’t think so, no—one else is mentioned, no firm, no names.” He fiddled with the computer and several new screens came up. “Look, these are what I found earlier.” Sue read the information on the screen. FOOD AND GASS CANNISTERS ON BOARD’CAR WORKS FINE’LEAVE 8 TONIGHT, HOPEFULLY BACK TOMORROW ————TOOK LONGER THAN FIRST THOUGHT BUT HAVE BLOOD OF SIX JURASSIC DINOSAURS ——— PUT INTO COLD STORAGE FOR FUTURE USE. “Now about two weeks later, it seems he went on another trip, look.” SECOND TRIP SUCCESSFUL——— 8 MORE SPECIES ——— IF ALL WORK WILL HAVE MADE A FORTUNE ——— MUST CHANGE DATA AND GO TO THE NEW PLACE ——— NEED SOME MORE GAS CANNISTERS —— VITAL —MUST TAKE JOHNSON WITH ME’TRUST HIM TOTALLY. “It seems whatever he was doing, was all done in what he calls Area C. Now this man Johnson is nowhere to be found. One of the other lab techs says he just disappeared. One weekend at the beginning of the project and no—one has seen him since.” While Oded drank his coffee, Sue pushed the continue button, there was a lot more figures and data which they didn’t understand then another piece of writing. “Look at this Oded, you must have missed this.” THIRD TRIP WENT WELL AT START ——— SEVERAL MORE SPECIES ——— WILL MAKE ONE MORE TRIP THEN LEAVE IT A FEW MONTHS ——— UNFORTUNATELY JOHNSON KILLED GETTING ONE SPECIMEN ——— ~MXN~ COULD’T BE HELPED ———HAS NO FAMILY SO NO QUESTIONS. WILL HAVE 2~ SPECIES BY END OF NEXT TRIP——— THAT WILL BE ENOUGH FOR NOW ——— CAR WILL THEN BE HIDDEN MORE SECURLEY TILL NEEDED. “Where did he go that Johnson was killed and what and where is this car he is so careful about?” asked Sue. “I don’t know but Peterson was here at the start maybe he knows something. I’m going to ask him.” About an hour later Oded came back and said that it had taken a lot of persuasion but Peterson said that there is another smaller island that Mortimer owned, to the south, no—one was allowed anywhere near it. But it seems every time Mortimer disappeared for a few days, he’d come back with dinosaur species. “The secret has to be on that island, I’ve booked on the chart and there is a small island about 10 miles south of Jurassic park. We’ll get a boat and go over there tomorrow. The more I find out, the more intriguing it gets,” said Oded. Oded told the others he was going to the mainland for a couple of days and that he had the radio with him if they needed him. Sue helped Oded put the supplies into the boat and they headed for the island. It took them about half an hour. There was a small jetty where they securely tied the boat. Going by the map he had of the island it was about the same size as the one the T Rex were on. It looked like part of it was jungle but there were clearings too. They had only walked about 2 miles when they came to some buildings, about 6 of them. They were nothing much, more like port cabins. None of them were locked. Two held stores like petrol, food etc. Another two had computer stuff in them, all connected up. One of which was directly linked to the main building. The other huts were more or less empty except for the bare essentials, a bed, table, cooker, and toilet. “It looks like Mortimer lived here for a while or at least was set up for when he did,” said Sue. Oded agreed but was looking at the screen on~ one of the computers. Sue looked through the paperwork on the desk and called Oded over. “Look at this, according to this map, about 7 miles east of here is another lab and some sort of building. The lab is Marked but the other says private. Nothing to say what it is used for. There seems to be a fence round one side and forest the other. Completely hidden from anyone.” “Yes and the computer says he was carrying out other experiments over here. But what, no—One seems to know about the existence of this island or at least they’re not saying. Whatever Mortimer did, he did it alone or at least with Johnson on one occasion,” replied Oded. “Let’s go and find this place and try and find out what he was up to.” After about 3 hours they came to a large fence, which was looked with great steel chains, it was about 10 ft high and disappeared into the distance to the right and left. “Whatever is behind here, he didn’t want anyone getting in, that’s for sure,” said Oded. “So how do we get in?” asked Sue. Oded held up a bunch of keys. “I found these back at the hut, one of them must fit.” It didn’t take long to get inside. About 5 mins walk bought them to the labs on the right and a smaller building on the left. They went to the labs first. They were quite sparse but had the equipment to freeze embryos, incubators and it looked like they had all been used but everything had been transferred, according to the paperwork they found. What was more interesting was all the information about each dinosaur, height, colour, weight etc and this was before Jurassic Park existed. It seemed that Mortimer had experimented with DNA and embryos long before he admitted he had. Why the secrecy? “These papers tell what the dinosaurs were thought to be like and next to them what they were really like but it seems long before any were born, how?” asked Sue. “I don’t know,” said Oded. “But look at this, a plan of a car and a lot of data. I don’t understand, maybe the answers are in that building on the other side of the compound. Let’s go and look.” As they entered the other building and turned on the lights, they were surprised to see a car (if you could call it that). “What sort of car is that, it can’t go on the road, it has no wheels,” said Sue. “No idea, but it reminds me of something, give me a minute, I’ll think of it,” said Oded. There were plans, clipboards etc on the desk, he started to go through them. Sue looked round the car. It had a boot on the back with iceboxes in it and tools, a place for food and 3 rifles plus ammunition. The dials on the front of the car were like nothing she had ever seen before. Only two levers where the steering wheel should be, one dial giving the date exactly and one, the time. That was it. On the back was an enormous wheel, that in a way looked like an umbrella, facing forward. There were two seats and it stood on, what looked like ski—type things. “This thing is weird,” said Sue. “I’ve never seen a car like this before, where on earth would you use it and what does it run on, there’s no engine or petrol tank.” “Come here, I think I know. But it’s impossible,” said Oded. After reading the document, Oded had found, they looked at each other. “According to this, it’s a time machine. But it can’t be, time machines are only fantasy, H.G. Wells stuff,” said Sue. “Well if this is true and I say a big if, it seems he has gone back to the time of the dinosaurs and that’s where he has got specimens and proper descriptions of them. But why that period, he could have gone back to any era or forward for that matter,” said Oded. “If that is a time machine, maybe he has. I’m going to look in the filing cabinet to see if there is anything else that would give us proof.” “There is another way of getting proof, let’s try it.” “We don’t know how it works, we may not be able to get back. Let’s see what else we can find first.” About 2 hours later, they had found a lot more proof and the instructions. Mortimer had written down about using the car. There were photos of the dinosaurs on Polaroid, obviously, taken all those centuries ago. The world looked a really different place. Swamps, forests and some of the dinosaurs looked so different from what was portrayed in the museums. Most of the features were correct but the colorings were different. Also it looked like they could move in groups and family units, including the T Rexes. It was getting late, they decided to get something to eat and some sleep. They wouldn’t do anything at the moment but take relevant stuff back to he other island, study it and then decide whether to try and use the machine. By the middle of the next morning they were back on the other island. Oded said he would read everything first and then they would work out when and more importantly, if they were going to take a chance and try out Mortimer’s machine. But nobody but nobody must know. Sue hadn’t seen Oded for 4 days, no—one knew where he was, they assumed he was out round the park. Then one morning he came into the lab and called Sue over. “I’ve something to show you. Come in here.” “Where have you been, we’ve all been worried about you!” “I went back to the island, I’ve tried the machine, only slightly but I’ve tried it. It works, it’s fantastic but it really works. I went back an hour, a day, then a week and came back.” “You idiot, if anything had happened, no—one would have known, why do it?” “I wanted to find out and now I have, let’s do what Mortimer did, go way back and see for ourselves.” “No Oded, it’s madness, we have all the dinosaurs we need, hopefully, the park will open to the public next year, we don’t need anymore.” “Look, there are two dinosaurs we haven’t got that we have no way of getting unless we do go back. Just once, that’s all I ask. I’m not going alone, you have to come with me then we’ll lock the place up and leave it. It’s a chance of a lifetime. Please Sue!” “Come on, I know you, once you have an idea in your head, nothing will stop you. You won’t just want to use it once; you’ll keep using it until it kills you. It’s dangerous you’d be safer on the other island with the raptors than using that thing.” Sue walked out and left Oded alone. She needed to think. If she didn’t go with him she knew he would go alone, regardless of his own safety. There was really no option, it wasn’t as if he was going to the mainland for a week, he would be the only human in the world back in that time and there was no way she could handle that worry, she loved him too much. An hour later, she went back and told him that she would go; on condition he checked and double—checked everything, how it worked, getting back, supplies, everything. “I was going to anyway, look we’ll go the end of the week, that gives us 3 days to make sure everything works. We’ll make a list of things we need to take. I’ve found a rough map that Mortimer drew of the area he went to, he’s even Marked where he found the dinosaurs and we are in luck, the two I wanted are in the area. We won’t go that far I am not putting our lives in danger for nothing, we don’t know what’s there, and we can only go by what Mortimer has recorded. Let’s hope he hasn’t left anything out.” ‘‘Well, he did, didn’t he, what happened to Johnson; there is nothing about him at all. Did he die or did Mortimer just leave him there?” “I did notice that and I haven’t got the answer. Maybe we’ll find out when we get there. We’ll never get this chance again, we’ll just take things as they come alright?” “Are you going to tell anyone?” asked Sue. “No, but I will leave instructions, details etc of where, we went, how and what to do in the safe in here and instructions that it’s only to be opened if we are not back in a week. Only one person will know, that’s Peterson, I trust him.” “What about the machine?” asked Sue. “Well if we’re not back, that won’t be either, so they’ll never find out.” They loaded everything they needed into the back of the machine; there was plenty of room. They took mainly the same as Mortimer plus a few extras. Oded had studied the machine and dials and everything Mortimer had written about it. Sue wasn’t looking forward to it in one way; it was the unknown but in another way it was exciting. Oded pushed the lever slowly, the dials were set for 100 million years before the present. Even he didn’t know what would happen, he just hoped that everything he had read was true and they would get there and more importantly get back safely. There was a skylight above them and as they moved back in time they saw the sun rise in the west and set in the east, slowly at first and then faster until it was a blur. The dials were moving backwards, year by year, within 15 minutes they were nearly 20 million years behind, only another 80 million to go. As it reached 68 million, Oded started to slow the lever down and slowly the dial stopped at precisely 100 million years. Sue had had her eyes closed most of the time but now she opened them. It was amazing as far as the eye could see in one direction was mountains, forest and clearings were in the other directions. “My God,” exclaimed Oded. “We are not even on an island anymore. I forgot that, none of the continents were formed till millions of years after the dinosaurs, most were joined together. That is why dinosaur bones were found all over the world from some species. Now they would have been confined to one continent like animals are now. It’s great!” “Look at the mountains, three of them are volcanic, you can see the lava running down the slopes.” “Sue, over there, a herd of dinosaurs. I don’t know what sort, they are too far away even with binoculars but there must be 50 or more.” Sue looked and it seemed so strange to see them in the wild, so to speak. She was used to seeing dinosaurs in the park but never imagined ever seeing them in their natural state. “Do you realize Oded, we are the only human beings in the world, 35 million years before anyone else?” “I hadn’t thought of that, now that is a bit scary, to be here before evolution had invented us.” “ By the way, you never said what dinosaurs you were after, how do you know they are here, at this time or even this area?” “I don’t, I’m just hoping. One is the diplodocus.” “Look, well put our stuff in these rocks, just in case. We’ve got to leave the machine where it is or we won’t get back to the same place. We can cover it up with these branches It should be safe.” Sue took some photos of the landscape, it was fantastic. Oded got the incubator box a rifle and some food and they started to walk across the clearing towards the herd of dinosaurs. “Look we won’t stay here too long, just enough time to hopefully collect what we want. Let’s hope we don’t have any problems with any uninvited guests,” said Oded. He was remembering their first ever encounter with a T Rex and Veociraptor. If the got hurt out here, they were definitely on their own. Sue was game for most things but she was still a woman and couldn’t help him much if he got hurt. Last time Arnold and Denise were there to help and he was a large man, 6ft 8” and 24~t. They’d have to be very careful and more importantly, he must not let her know he was already having doubts about going there and not a little bit scared. As they walked, they saw quite a few dinosaurs in the distance and heard quite a few rustles near them but they kept going. Oded was trying to follow the rough map that Mortimer had made of the area. He had Marked where he had found the other dinosaurs, including the T Rex and raptors. They were about 5 miles south of the machine according to the map. But Oded and Sue were going north and hoped not to run into them. As they rounded a large rock they came face to face with a small group of dinosaurs neither knew what they were but they were eating leaves, so it was a safe bet they were herbivores. They stopped eating and one of the smaller ones slowly walked towards them. It sniffed the air and then carried on eating a bush next to it. “They don’t seem to be bothered about us, maybe they can sense we mean them no harm.” “Well maybe it’s because they have never seen man before, they don’t know what we are. Let’s just walk past, I don’t think they will cause any trouble.” As they walked past, the dinosaurs just looked at them and carried on. Oded wrote down where they were on the map and also added bits and pieces so they would be able to get back to the machine without getting lost. He hoped. “Oded do you think we’ll find out what happened to Johnson while we are here?” “I don’t know, maybe, if this is where he disappeared.” It was getting dark but it wasn’t the sort of darkness that they were used to. The sky had a sort of purplely—red glow to it. They put it down to the volcanoes that were active. It was very pretty but also very eerie. The sounds of the dinosaurs at night sounded really loud and close and obviously neither of them knew whether they were dangerous or not. They lit a fire and decided to keep watch just in case. Both were tired and it didn’t take long before they were asleep. Oded woke with a start as he felt the ground shake, at first he thought it was an earthquake, then he remembered he’d heard that sound before. He shook Sue and they quickly gathered up their stuff and keeping the fire alight, moved to nearby rocks. The sound got louder and suddenly, though the bushes, not 200 yds the other side of the fire came a T Rex. They estimated, from the cries in the park that it was only a youngster, not fully grown. But where there was young, there was sure to be parents. What they had found out in the park was that even a T Rex are very protective of their young, even when they are 2 years old. They kept as quiet as they could and watched, although they were shaking as much as the ground. Suddenly from out of the bushes came an adult, twice the size of the other one and a lot bigger than the ones at the park. They both sniffed the air and seemed to be afraid of the fire that kept them back a bit. Some of the stuff was still by the fire, the things Oded didn’t pick up. The adult nudged them, and sniffing the air, looked straight towards where Oded and Sue were. Then without warning, the adult nudged the youngster and they both went through the trees. Oded and Sue decided to move away from the area. “Let’s get out of here, I don’t like this place, it’s not like the park. At least you know where and what dinosaurs are around. Here they’re free and could be anywhere,” said Sue. “Ok, if we don’t find the ones we want today, we’ll go back to the machine and leave, alright?” Sue agreed and putting the rucksacks on, they went off in the opposite direction to the T Rex. At least they could hear them coming but the others. By late morning, they had found a nest belonging to the Diplodocus and while the adults were feeding, they crept up and took 3 eggs from a nest of about 20. Putting them in the incubator box very carefully, they quietly made their way back. The parents were coming back. “Well, we’ve got the eggs from that one,” said Oded. “Maybe we’ll find another one that we haven’t got. Suddenly I have a very bad feeling about this place, as though something is going to happen. Let’s make out way back to the machine and see what we find on the way. I just want to get out of here.” “I thought you were enjoying the adventure, it was your decision to come here.” “I know it was, but I can’t explain why I feel like this suddenly. I just know we should leave that’s all.” “Well that’s good enough for me, I’ll take a few photos on the way back but to be honest, I’ll be glad to be leaving too.” It was about 5pm and they had about a mile to go. They had made better time on the way back, hurrying rather than taking their time as they did before. Oded was about 50yds ahead of Sue when suddenly there was a crash of branches and two small dinosaurs leapt out on top of Oded. They were about 5ft high and very aggressive. Sue didn’t know what they were but did know they were nasty. She screamed as they attacked Oded. He was trying to fight them off when two shots rang out. Sue hit one of them in the leg and both suddenly stopped and letting out a shriek ran for the bushes. Running over to Oded, who wasn’t badly hurt but did have some nasty cuts on his arms and shoulders. He was more stunned than anything else. They didn’t know how long before the animals would be back, maybe they didn’t scare that easily. Luckily he had a leather jacket on. They picked up their stuff and turned towards the machine. Keeping a watch behind them they ran to some rocks about a mile away. “I’ve got to rest for a minute,” said Oded. “These are killing me.” “They’re not too bad, your jacket saved you but they could be infected, you don’t know what these dinosaurs have got.” As Oded put his jacket back on, Sue stood on the rocks and looked over the valley. They were quite high up and you could see for miles. If it wasn’t for the fact where they were in time, it was quite lovely. They carried on and as they got closer to the machine, they saw that there were a few dinosaurs between them and the machine. The way they were eating plants showed then that they were harmless. But what worried them was getting past them and hoping that the machine hadn’t been damaged. The opportunity came when the ground started shaking again and the herbivores scattered. The T Rex was about and Sue and Oded didn’t waste any time in getting to the machine before it came into view. Hearing it was ok but they didn’t know exactly where it was. Putting all the stuff in the back of the car, they got in. About 200 yds away they saw the Rex. “Come on, let’s get out of here. I hope this thing still works,” said Oded. The dates were on a pre—set dial, so they hoped they didn’t have to touch it. They could end up miles away in a different time. Just as the T Rex got within 20 ft of them, the scenery changed and they were on the way back. Within 20 minutes they were back at the island in the lab where they started. It was the same day as they left. “I never thought we’d get back,” said Sue. “But it was an experience going there.” She helped Oded into the chair, his wounds needed seeing to and it was best to do them there first. It took about an hour and Oded felt ok, but boy, did they sting. They wouldn’t go back to the park till the next day, it was getting dark anyway. They had something to eat and it wasn’t long before they dozed off. Oded went straight to the developing room when they got back to the park the next day, he wanted to see the photos they’d taken. Sue put the eggs from the box into the big incubator and left instructions with Peterson that no—one was touch them, just let her and Oded know if anything happened. Everything would be explained later. Oded called Peterson into the lab. “Peterson, you worked with Mortimer didn’t you, what do you know about how he got started?” “Only what he told me, Oded. I did what I was told when I came here, why?” replied Peterson looking worried. “Look at these photos, what do you know about them?” Peterson swallowed hard after he looked at the photos and glanced up at Oded. “You know where I took them don’t you. Why don’t you tell me what you know about the third island here?” “Ok, until now I was the only one who knew. I got a phone call from Mortimer one day about 5 years ago, he knew me from university. We got on well and he told me that he had invented a machine that could go back in time. This was before he started the park. I laughed at him but decided to humour him, he was an influential man to get to know and work with. He already owned these islands plus a few about 50 miles from here. I knew he had discovered something but I never believed in a time machine. Anyway, after we arrived on the island, he showed me the machine in the shed where you found it. He told me he had used it and wanted me to go with him so he could prove it.” “Did you go?” asked Sue. “After some persuasion, I sat in it, not at all believing it would work. Mortimer was a brilliant scientist but also very eccentric. We put a clock in front of us and turned it on. To my amazement it worked, we went back in time and forward in time, only a few days at first but it proved that it worked. Then he dropped the bombshell. He wanted to go back 100 million years and more to get dinosaur eggs. He showed me his plans and in theory they looked great but to make them reality was impossible. We’d worked on DNA and I thought that was how he would make the island. I never thought he would go back.” “Did you go back with him?” asked Oded. “Yes eventually but I was terrified we’d get stuck there. I never believed we’d get back or we would be killed or something while we were there.” “Well you did get back thankfully. Was that the only trip you made with him?” “Yes I went once, he and Johnson went several times, each time bringing back more different sorts of eggs. When they hatched then some of the problems started. The big XA* island wasn’t quite ready, so it was a rush job to get it done. Then the power went and you stumbled on the park. You know the rest.” “We found the files and machine on the island after some stuff we found on the computer here. We decided to try it when we realized what was going on. But everybody thinks it has to do with the DNA, how come?” asked Oded. “Well after the baby hatched, we got DNA from it and then from all the rest and took it a step further. We knew how to use DNA to clone but you needed it to start with. The rest believed it came from the amber and the insects inside. That’s it really.” “Right, ok, we have brought back some eggs from 3 more that Mortimer had wanted before he was killed. We’ll work it the same way as he did. But you will have to help me,” said Oded. “Yes of course, but what about the machine, is it still alright?” “Yes and we are going to build this park into the biggest attraction in the world. We’ll do what Mortimer was going to do but better. The security will made the best ever nothing is to get out. I knew about the other islands he owned, they are documented as well. One of them is 4 times the size of the main island we have here. We’ll build on it and make it more secure than fort Knox and move all the animals over there. In fact it’s big enough to move everything over there. I’m going to do what Mortimer never dreamed of.” Oded looked pleased with himself but Sue was having reservations. “Don’t you think we’re moving too quickly on this?” said Sue. “We could end up making more mistakes.” “1 don’t make mistakes Sue, Mortimer did, this will be the safest attraction ever built.” He walked out with Peterson leaving Sue to put the photos away. As much as she was on Oded’s side, it didn’t stop her worrying about it. She knew a bit about computers, so she fed all the information she had and what Oded had said plus details of the islands, animals etc and programmed it to tell her the possible outcome and to do a printout. As she picked up the printout, she gasped. In big red letters was: WARNING:— ALL DATA PROVIDED PREDICT ECOLOGICAL DISASTER ——— DO NOT COMMENCE’ ——— WARNING! She looked out of the window into the rain, what was Oded getting into to? |