History Revived

"It’s getting through the ceiling!" Keith shouted, and aimed the gun at the elevator roof.

"We got to get out of this!" said Hammond.

"Jonny! Hit the emergency brake!"

Jonny shot one glance upwards and as a new blow shook the cage, he smashed the STOP button. What if we stop between floors, he thought, but quickly shook it off.

The elevator gave a high shrieking sound as the brake went on, and they came to a halt with a bump.

"Quickly! Open the door!"

Another crack appeared at the ceiling, and bits and pieces of it began to fall down. They caught a glimpse of a reptile-like head looking down at them with ferocious eyes. Then a long, clawed arm struck down through the ceiling and gripped the torn edge, starting to pull upwards, making the hole bigger.

Jonny struggled at the door. "It won’t open! Help me!"

Hadji and Keith joined him at the door and together they managed to wrest it open. They had stopped about three feet high off the ground.

"It’s open. Jessie! Go first!"

"No, wait", Keith said. "I go first. In case there are some more raptors here." He bent and slid down out of the cage, keeping an eye on the hall.

"Okay, Jessie. Go!"

She slid down and out as well, and Jonny and Hadji followed her. Then Hammond and Benton got out.

"Bill! Come on!"

A crack was heard, and a big part of the ceiling was torn loose.

"Hurry!"

The computer engineer raised his gun and fired. A shriek of rage was heard, and the cage shook. Then he quickly bent down and slid backwords out of the elevator, not taking his eyes off the ceiling.

"I think I hit it, but I’m not sure", he said.

Then the ceiling bulged and fell inward, and with it came the raptor. The beast was almost half way though, head down, through the ceiling, and it would only be a matter of seconds before it was down in the cage.

"It’s through!!! We got to close the door!" Bill shouted.

Jonny didn’t think twice. During the following years, he many times wished he had, and for several months, he would have nightmares about it. Quickly he climbed up and reached inside the elevator cage. The raptor looked menacingly at him from above, and as his fist hit the "close doors"-button, the ceiling collapsed and the raptor fell right down at him.

He felt it as in slowmotion, how he fell to the floor, seeing the raptor coming head first at him. Then he felt someone pull his legs, and he was dragged out of the elevator. The raptor threw itself at him and its jaws slammed together, no more than an inch from Jonnys face. As Benton pulled him down to the floor, the doors closed.

"Jonny! Are you hurt?"

He shook his head. "No… let’s get out of here…"

Jessie looked around her. "Where are we?"

"The Research Laboratories", Hammond replied. The other of our two main laboratory areas. "Come quick. We must go though the labs to the exit at the other end."

They started down the corridor in a hurried trot. At the end of the corridor they came up to a steel door with a code-lock. Hammond quickly hit the code and opened the door. They entered, and as the last person, Benton took a look back. He saw a claw coming out between the elevator doors, starting to force them apart.

He slammed the door shut behind them.

"Is the door safely locked?" he asked Hammond who nodded.

"It was locked when I unlocked it", the old man answered… "Atleast I think it was…"

"Well, we have no time to find out." Benton sounded grim. "Let’s go. John, show the way."

They walked through a dressing room, and entered the labs. As the other lab, this was full of scientific equipment, lab-benches, freezers, centrifuges and more. They hurried along, but then there was a sound from somewhere near, and they all swung around, fearing to face another danger.

They couldn’t see anything, but then Jessie saw a motion behind a big freezer.

"THERE!" She screamed. "Shoot it!"

Bill and Keith pointed their guns and fired at the freezer. A voice cried out, a human voice, and they abruptly stopped firing. A trembling hand was seen behind the freezer, and then a pale face.

"Don’t… don’t shoot!

They starred in surprise as Robbie Nordberg got up from behind the freezer and looked at them. The young scientist was pale, and his whole body trembled.

"Robbie! What in Gods name are you doing here?" Hammond asked baffled.

"I… I was up here to get a few chemicals… I was working on the new solvent for the purification of the transcription inhibitor protein... I was just getting back from the storage, when I saw a raptor in the hallway. When I heard the door open I thought it was the raptor what somehow had gotten through."

He swallowed. "Genetics and cloning is all fine, but did we really HAVE to breed Raptors, Mr. Hammond?"

Hammond nodded sad. "I think I’ve done many mistakes with this whole project… I am sorry Robbie."

"Well", Benton said. "Let’s get moving…" They turned around to start off again, but stopped dead. In front of them stood a raptor.

"Oh man!" Jonny exclaimed. "How DO they get in everywhere?"

"Don’t move." Benton motioned to the others. "Back, slowly… John, is that the only exit from here?"

Hammond nodded. "Yes", he said weak.

"Bill, Keith? You got her?"

Robbie shook his head. "You must hit her head straight on to kill her. A shot to the body will only stop her for so long… I got another idea…"

He looked around him, and moved slowly towards a glassframed cupboard, taking out a brown glass bottle and pouring the liquid content in a wide bowl. Then he advanced towards the raptor, his hands shaking as they held the bowl.

"Robbie, NO!" Hammond cried out.

The raptor looked at the young swede with what looked like an evil grin. Then, with a shriek it charged.

Robbie stood still, and his fate as the raptor’s next meal seemed sealed. But in the last second, he threw the liquid at the raptor’s face. The beast shrieked in pain and jerked its head back, seemingly in agonizing pain. It tried to clutch at its eyes, and bumped into the machines that stood nearby. It howled and fell to the floor, still twitching with its legs and jerking its head around.

"NOW! Go quickly!" Robbie shouted, and they dashed around the raptor that lay on the floor. It gave a few attempts to strike at them, but it had no control of its movements. The next second, they were all through the lab and slammed the door shut.

They rested a few moments, trying to regain their breath.

"Robbie", Benton panted. "What was it you threw at it?"

The scientist smiled weakly. "Sodium Hydroxide. A ten molar alkali solution… it practically burns her eyes out… I’m sorry Mr. Hammond… I didn’t want to hurt her…"

"Well, in this case I’m bound to say I fully consent with your action. I think we’ve let us come closer to our ’pets’ than we should have… They weren’t, aren’t and never will be pets to Man… How could I have been so blind to that…" Hammond sounded weary, and Benton put a comforting hand on the old man’s shoulder.

"John… You did what you thought was right… and it IS a un-surpassed scientific achievement you have done. Now, the important thing is to get ourselves back to the plane and off this island."

They went on, steadily jogging through the corridors. Jessie looked pale, and Jonny saw she was thinking of her father. Silently, he took her hand and squeezed it gently. She gave him a quick glance and squeezed back.

Soon, they reached the hangar, and found the Questoid 2 standing in the middle. There were no signs of Race or Peter though…

They rushed up to the plane, and Bill went to the control panel by the hangar doors, and hit the open-button. The doors began to open. Then he gasped and cried out. Outside stood three raptors, and when the doors opened they slid through, one moving towards Bill, the other two towards the plane. Bill held the gun pointed at the raptor, that didn’t seem to care much about it, although it was clear it knew the power of the gun.

Benton motioned to the kids to get in the plane as he and Keith stood facing the approaching raptors.

Bill raised his gun and fired, and the raptor shrieked and back a few steps, blood coming from it’s chest. It hissed and lounged its head at him, and then came closer once more.

Then, another shot rang out, and the raptor’s head exploded in a gush of blood.

In the doorway stood Race, smoke coming from his shotgun.

"When will you reptiles realize that you’re EXTINCT!"

The other two raptors had turned around as well at the sound of the lethal shot and they now approached Race, obviously seeing him as the most prominent enemy.

"Get into the plane and start her up!", he shouted, and ejected the empty shell from the gun.

Bill ran up to the plane and they all got inside. Hadji turned the switch, and the engines started to hum. As he increased the power, the plane started to roll forward.

"DAD!" Jessie cried, and hit her hands on the closed door. Jonny had to grip her around the waist to stop her from opening the door and jump out.

The plane passed the hangar door and passed Race as he moved quickly backwards towards the runway, followed a few steps away by the raptors.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Jessie cried. "LET ME OUT!! DAD!!!" She fought wildly against Jonny. "YOU CAN’T LEAVE HIM HERE, YOU CAN’T…."

"We won’t Jess, trust me!" he said, as he tried to hold the kicking and screaming girl.

The plane started to gain momentum as they sped down the runway, and Hadji turned the plane around, heading back towards the hangar and Race. He had reached the T-cross of the runway, and kept moving around, so that the raptors wouldn’t surround him. The plane came closer, and Race moved towards the middle of the runway. He knew that the second he fired at one of the raptors, the other would be at his throat.

When the plane passed him, he turned and ran after it, running as never before. Benton stood by the now open door, stretching out his hand.

"ROGER! TAKE MY HAND!!!"

Jessie saw how the raptors came running after his father, seeing how they gained on him for each second.

"Can’t…. reach.. him…"Benton said though clenched teeth.

Hadji lowered the power, and the plane slowed down slightly. Race lounged forward and threw out his hand. The clasp when the two men’s hands met made Jessie’s heart jump.

"GOT HIM!" Benton shouted to Hadji. "GO!"

Hadji increased the speed, and Benton, Jonny and Keith helped dragging Race on board the plane and closed the door. Race lay panting on the floor, and Jessie ran up and knelt, throwing her arms around her father.

"Man… do I get hazard pay out of this?" he snickered and breathed heavily.

Benton laughed relieved. "Anything you want my dear friend."

"Where’s is Peter?" Hammond asked, although he seemed to know the answer already.

"Dead." Race sighed. "We faced that raptor in the hallway when another one came up from behind. He shot one, and then told me to go to the hangar. I refused first, but then he told me to think of Jessie…" he smiled and caressed his daughter’s cheek." I wish I’d had a choice, but I didn’t… Peter wanted me to thank you, John, for giving him the opportunity to work at the park. He said this was the biggest challenge he could possibly have dreamed of, and that it was too good an opportunity to miss…"

Hammond shook his head and sighed. "Oh Peter… God forgive me for letting this happen…"

A thud was heard and Jonny looked out the window.

"Uh-oh… we’ve got an extra passenger…" They looked outside. On the right landing-gear clung a raptor, banging it’s head and its claws at the door.

"Hadji!" Benton demanded. "Can you get us in the air?"

"I do not know… The extra weight and imbalance makes it difficult."

"Okay" Race said, getting to his feet. "There’s only one way to deal with this one…" He took the shotgun and swung the door open, aiming the gun right at the raptors face, not a yard away.

"Sorry pal, no hitch-hikers!"

He fired and hit the raptor straight through the mouth. The raptor shrieked, its head torn to pieces, and fell off the landing gear, and Race shut the door closed again.

"Now… Hadji! Get her up!"

"Um…. Dr. Quest? I think we have a new problem…"

They turned at him, and he pointed forward through the glass. "How do we get past HER?"

Right on the runway, a couple of hundred yards away stood the T-Rex. The enormous beast roared at them and the sound was clearly audible over the engine noise.

"Hadji…." Race said, quickly taking his seat at the cabine. "Full power… we gotta get her up NOW!"

The plane rushed forward, and at the same time, the T-Rex started to charge towards them, making the distance between them decrease with a terrible speed.

"NOW!!!" Race shouted, and Hadji pulled the control stick back as much as he could. The plane started to lift into the air, but it wasn’t high enough to get above the T-Rex, who stood almost 25 feet tall.

"More! Get her higher!" Hadji pulled for all his worth as the Tyrannosaur came right at them.

"We’re not gonna make it!" Jonny screamed. "We’re gonna hit heeeeeeeeeer…"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Hadji shouted.

The plane passed the T-Rexs head with less than a foot, the wheels passing its shoulder on each side. The beast jerked its head and hit the bottom of the plane, making it bump in the air. Then they were passed it, and higher up in the air. Everyone exhaled.

"Whoa, that was TOO CLOSE!!!" Jonny said, and Hajdi nodded, his dark face pale.

"Yes, next time I too would want a little bigger margins…"

Benton checked on the others. "Everyone okay? John? Bill, Keith?, Robbie? Jessie, Jonny? Good. Then let’s go home.

The plane took a circle around the base, they saw the T-Rex standing on the runway, lifting its head and roar at them. Then they climbed higher, and starting the long flight east. Hammond stood looking backwards as the island with his magnificient park, his life’s work, disappeared from view, and he clutched his cane tight, emotions showing clearly in his face.

Benton once more put his hand on his friends shoulder. "I’m sorry my friend."

Hammond nodded silently and sighed. "I was so certain I did the right thing, Benton… I thought I was doing mankind a service, but I wasn’t… It was a mistake, all of it, a mistake…"

Benton did not reply, just squeezed Hammonds shoulder looking at him with compassion.

* * * * *

Everything had returned to normal in the lives of the Quest and Bannon families. Hammond had gone back to his home in Ohio for some recreation, and Robbie had started working at one of Hammonds labs, still in the genetic field, but this time trying to find the genetic causes behind Alzheimer’s disease. He was quite through with breeding dinosaurs…

They got a call from Hammond one day, telling them that he had informed all staff of the park that the park had been permanently closed and asking them to keep quiet about the island and their work.

He had sent special forces to the park to get some of his personal things and the techniqual equipment. They hadn’t encountered any dinosaurs, but they had seen an abandoned jeep standing off the road that led to the harbour. The dried bloodstains all over the hood of the jeep told them pretty clearly that who-ever it was that had driven the car hadn’t made it to the harbour.

* * * * *

"… and that is how we know so much about life in the pre-historic era, and our knowledge of the dinosaurs, in particular the predator species, comes from these sources. Thanks."

Jonny finished his presentation and the class gave a polite applause. Jessie gave him an approving smile.

"Well, that was very interesting Jonathan", his teacher, Ms. Sherman said and came up to him by the black board. "But I must say you failed to emphasize that we actually don’t know for certain that this is the way the dinosaurs looked and behaved."

Jonny and Jessie exchanged a quick look. "Ooooh yes, we know…"