Alan�s back was pressed against the bank of steel vaults, and his face vividly expressed the fright he had experienced at their most recent discovery plus a trace of embarrassment at his reaction to it.
�Damn near wet my pants!� he exclaimed with a shaky laugh as he shifted his gaze from the corpse to Ellie. �That was just about the last thing I expected to see in there!�
Ellie had also taken a quick step backward on reflex, but was stopped by the examining table behind her. Her hands gripped the cold edge of the steel table as she stared at the lifeless remains of what had once been a living, breathing human being, a man who had likely been employed at the facility. Tearing her eyes away from the body on the slab, she and Alan stared at one another with an equal amount of shock and bewilderment.
�Yeah, me too,� she agreed, breathlessly.
As they recovered from their initial surprise, they both moved forward again, one on either side of the slab, and observed the body with interest. Already, questions were beginning to run through their minds, questions they knew might never be answered.
The clothing had been removed from the corpse along with any identification he might have been carrying, but his colleagues had covered him with the sheet that Alan had unwittingly removed. Unlike the carcasses of the dinosaurs, attempts had clearly been made to at least partially embalm the body of the human with a chemical kept on site. There had been some deterioration, but it was in relatively good condition with the skin and much of the muscle tissue still in place. Dark brown hair still clung to the man�s scalp, arms, chest, and abdomen. The lips were drawn back from the open mouth, giving the impression that he been caught in an eternal scream of unspeakable pain and terror.
Having recently experienced the crushing loss of loved ones, Ellie could not help but speculate about the man�s personal life: Did he have a wife and children somewhere who continued to await his return? Did his parents wonder at their son�s continued absence? Or did they somehow sense that his life had been taken from them? Unable to look away from his heartrending face, she shared their sorrow and their grief as tears crowded behind her eyes, and she blinked rapidly to force them back.
�He�s been here a long time,� she heard herself say in a voice that was choked with emotion. She was stating what she knew was the obvious, but spoken for lack of anything else to say at that particular moment. Softly, she cleared her throat to ease the painful knot in her throat. �I wonder who he was, and why he was placed in one of these vaults instead of just sending him back to his family. All these years,� she added, sadly. �They must be wondering what happened to him.�
Absorbed by his own thoughts, questions, and observations, Alan had not been listening to Ellie�s comments, nor was he thinking about the man�s identity or family. He did not notice the emotion in her voice as she spoke, and seemed unaware that she had spoken at all.
When he made no comment, Ellie pulled her eyes away from the disturbing countenance of the corpse and looked into Alan�s face. His fascinated expression was not surprising, for she had seen it before each time they had unearthed a major find in the field; new discoveries always carried him to a different level of observation. His eyes were traveling up and down the body, taking in every detail and easily interpreting the evidence left behind which pointed to the manner in which he had died.
�Look at this,� he said at last, indicating the man�s torso.
Ellie did not really want to look, but her eyes obeyed Alan�s request.
His finger was poised above several long ragged tears in the dried skin of the man�s torso, starting at the collar bone and continuing down past his naval where the belt of his trousers had obviously stopped it. The slashes were deep, peeling back the skin and the body hair so that it exposed the bones of the ribs and sternum, and penetrating deep into the soft tissue of his abdomen.
�He was attacked,� she said, observing the gashes with revulsion on her face. She looked up at Alan again, and although she already knew the answer to her question, she asked it anyway. �Raptor?�
�Raptor,� he confirmed. �Look at the pattern.� Using his forefinger as a pointer, his hand moved descriptively over the body to indicate areas of interest without actually touching it, his scientific mind unwilling to disturb a major find without the proper equipment. He would save that task for a licensed medical examiner, even though the cause of death was obvious. �Three claws, one larger claw that ripped deeper into the flesh than the other two. In the abdomen, the gash goes at least four inches deep. Even if there had been emergency services here, there was probably no way he could be saved. He almost certainly died quickly of massive bleeding and from damaged internal organs.�
Ellie was unable to suppress a shudder, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the eeriness of the facility combined with the knowledge of the violent manner in which the victim had passed away. Nervously, she glanced at the open doorway behind Alan, half expecting to see a velociraptor standing there, and was relieved to see that it was empty. �Such a horrible way to die,� she mused, softly. Unable to get the thoughts of his family out of her mind, she added, �It would have driven me insane if I had never known what had happened to Mark and the kids. The endless waiting and wondering must be horrible. Why didn�t they just return him to his family, instead of keeping him here?�
He looked up, his eyes meeting hers from across the width of the cold steel slab on which the body lay. �That is a good question.� His eyes traveled the length of the body again, and Ellie could almost see the scientific mind behind them, always working, always thinking, and always trying to find the answer to a riddle. Then he noticed: �The body has been washed. See?� He pointed again to the ragged tears on the torso. �There would be a great deal of dried blood caked on his skin and in all this body hair, so it may be that they were preparing him for transport, but something stopped them.�
�The hurricane?� she asked.
He shrugged. �Could be. Sounds as logical as anything else I can come up with at the moment.�
Stooping, he retrieved the sheet that he had dropped during his leap backward when he had initially discovered the body. He shook loose the dust it had picked up from the floor, and covered the remains with it again. He then pushed the drawer back into the vault and closed the door.
�We�ll have to report this to Hammond.�
With the vault closed and the body hidden from view, Ellie began to relax. She fell silent for several moments, gazing at the closed vault as the image of the smiling, white haired Scotsman came into her mind. �Do you think there�s a chance he already knew about it?� she asked, soberly.
Alan shook his head slowly. �Possibly, but something about that old man makes me want to give him the benefit of doubt.�
�Yeah, me too. I still don�t understand why this area was hidden by the tapestry,� Ellie said, her eyes exploring the room again, sweeping over the items she had already noticed, and stopping briefly on those she hadn�t, before continuing on. �I just don�t see anything in this room that justifies the need for the secrecy. It was already protected with the card slot. Why go to the trouble of covering up the door?� She paused briefly, pondering the mystery, then added, �It was like they were trying to prevent others from knowing of its existence. But the workers must have known about it. I mean, MacFarland was obviously a high-profile scientist here, judging by the work he was doing. He couldn�t have just disappeared inside this room for nine or ten hours a day, or more, without people wondering where he was!�
Alan shook his head again; he didn�t have a clue. �Well, there must have been a reason for it. Hopefully, we�ll find the answers somewhere in one of those file cabinets. If not, we�ll ask Hammond for an explanation.�
Leaving the vaults, he moved toward the file cabinet and grasped the handle of the top drawer in an attempt to pull it open. It was locked. He yanked on it a couple of times, making a great deal of noise as the drawer clattered against the lock, but it did not yield. Turning, he found that Ellie was smiling at his forceful attempt to get inside. He shrugged, conceding the uselessness of the gesture.
�I�ve been through a lot of file cabinets in this building, and this is the first locked drawer I�ve encountered. See if there�s a key inside that desk,� he suggested, reaching for the next drawer down. It was also locked. He did not bother trying the two lowest drawers, assuming that they, also, would be locked.
Ellie sat down in the dusty swivel chair and opened the desk drawers one by one, searching through the contents, but failed to produce a key. One drawer, the center one, was locked, and therefore inaccessible. She looked up and shook her head. �No key. It�s probably on the same chain with the key that opens this desk drawer, and I�d be willing to bet that MacFarland took them with him when he left.�
�Yeah, probably,� he agreed.
Not to be deterred by that detail, Alan shoved his hand in the front pocket of his jeans and withdrew his pocket knife. He opened the blade, and inserted the tip in the keyhole, and carefully worked it, but the blade was too thick to properly penetrate the narrow slit, and the lock refused to budge.
He folded the knife and returned it to his pocket, then looked around the room for something else that he could use. His eyes came to rest on a scalpel which lay on the table beside the infant raptor. He picked it up, but its rounded tip was not suitable for picking a lock. He dropped it back on the table.
Turning slowly, his eyes searched the room, seeking out a suitable tool. Finally, he spotted the scalpel rack which stood on one of the shelves, each blade carefully arranged according to size and shape. Moving to the shelf, he examined the scalpels that were standing on end in the rack, points up to exhibit their varying sizes and shapes. Some displayed rounded tips, while others had pointed tips. All of them possessed a razor sharp edge. Alan moved his hand slowly along the row of blades, touching each one, turning some of them on their base for closer inspection, before he finally settled on a slender blade with a tiny, curving point, perfect for his needs. He snatched it from the rack, scrutinizing the blade and its sharp point.
�This ought to do the trick,� he said, returning to the cabinet.
He inserted the point into the lock, and carefully worked the tip inside it. For several moments, nothing happened. The lock, unused for many years, was stiff and refused to budge. He shifted the point�s position slightly and applied more pressure. This time, he felt it �give� slightly a moment before the blade tip snapped off in the lock, effectively halting any further attempts to probe the security device.
Frustrated, he slammed the heel of his hand against the front of the file cabinet with a bang that echoed through the room. �Damn it!� he swore, resisting the urge to slip his stinging hand between his knees until the pain eased. Turning toward Ellie, their eyes met, and he acknowledged his discomfort by opening and closing his hand several times.
She had been watching with an amused smile, silently teasing him that his temper had served no purpose except to leave him with a throbbing hand.
�Don�t say it,� he told her.
Her smile broadened. �I wasn�t going to say anything.�
�No, but you were thinking it!�
Alan was not a man who easily conceded to defeat. Difficulties only seemed to increase his determination, and at that moment, he was determined that he was going to get inside that drawer. Tossing the now useless scalpel onto one of the tables, he strode from the room and crossed the hall to the incinerator room. His eyes traveled around the room, searching for a crowbar or some other effective tool with which to break into the file cabinet. His gaze paused briefly on the chainsaw, then dismissed it as excessively impractical, even if there had been power to run it. Finally, his eyes came to rest on an ax. Snatching it from its hook, he hefted it for weight. It was smaller than a lumberman�s ax, only slightly larger than a tomahawk. Obviously, its use was similar to that of the chainsaw, to reduce the animals to manageable size before placing them inside the incinerator. Satisfied with his find, he carried it back to the autopsy room, examining the edge with his thumb.
Ellie rose from the chair, startled by the sight of the ax. �Alan . . . �
�It�s all right. I�m not going to hack it open. I just need something strong enough to apply some leverage.�
Sliding the sharp edge of the ax into the narrow slit between the drawer and the frame near the lock, he applied his weight to it, and the drawer snapped open, its frame bent. Laying the ax on top of the cabinet, he pulled the drawer fully open, and looked inside.
Large three ring binders, all of them neatly labeled on the spine with various headings, were filed on their edge so that the spine could be read without removing them. Eagerly, he scanned the labels. The first one read Ankylosaurus. He withdrew it and opened it up. It was similar to the one that was lying open on the table top beside the infant raptor, except that its pages had been protected inside the drawer, and were still crisp and white.
Watching from the swivel chair as he read the contents, Ellie asked, �What are they?�
"They�re the life records of the species,� he announced. He turned several pages. �One species per book, with the individual animals identified by assigned numbers. He�s included dietary requirements, illnesses, and the autopsy reports on those that didn�t survive. Fascinating.�
�But would you consider it classified?� Ellie asked. �Worth the expense of a secret room, in which only select people could gain access?
He shrugged. �If I didn�t want it to fall into the hands of competitors, yes. Remember, they had a mole inside Jurassic Park. Could be they wanted to avoid something like that happening here.�
Closing the binder, he returned it to its place in the drawer. His eyes scanned each label. They were filed in alphabetical order. Some species filled several binders, and he withdrew one of them to find out why it warranted the additional binders. It was a less successful species with a high rate of infant and juvenile deaths. Returning the folder to its place, he closed the top drawer and opened the second one. Like the top drawer, it was filled with neatly arranged binders.
�There are a number of species here with which they had no success at all.� He withdrew one of the files that bore a name not on the InGen list. �Gresslyosaurus. They never managed to keep a single one alive longer than a couple of days. They gave up after a half dozen clutches. Tests on the remains were inconclusive.� As he returned the binder to the drawer, he glanced at Ellie, who was busily rummaging around in the desk drawers. �Anything of interest in the desk?�
�Not much in these unlocked drawers,� she announced. She withdrew a box of unused file folders, an opened package of what had once been chocolate chip cookies, some unopened candy bars, and a couple of miniature pecan pies, still in their original wrapping. She looked up and smiled. �I think the good Doctor had a sweet tooth!� Turning her attention back to the contents of the drawer, she continued, �There are also some InGen letterhead forms, paper clips, rolls of tape; just your basic office supplies. If there is anything important in this desk, it�s probably in this locked drawer.�
�I can fix that,� Alan said. Taking up the ax again, he approached the desk. Prudently, Ellie pushed the chair farther away to give him ample room. Using the same method to open the drawer that he had used on the file cabinet, he popped the drawer open. Because the drawer was made of wood, the frame splintered, leaving a gaping hole in the front of the drawer where it had been held fast by the lock. �There you go.�
Ellie smiled. �You�re just leaving a trail of destruction, aren�t you? First the door knob, then the file cabinet, and now the desk. Good thing you don�t have to pay for all this!�
�They should have known better than to try to keep me out of them!� he replied with humor.
While he returned to the file cabinet, Ellie rolled the chair close to the desk again, and pulled open the center drawer. With an amused laugh, she held up a key ring. �I�ll bet these open that file cabinet!�
He smiled in response. �I guess we should have opened the desk drawer first.�
Inside the middle drawer were the usual office supplies, such as pens and pencils, erasers and rubber bands. Also included were calculating devices, such as slide rules, and boxes of microscope slides.
�More office and lab supplies,� she announced. �I guess the keys were the reason he had the desk locked. Oops, I see something that might be of interest.�
Farther back, behind the pencil tray, was a metal box, but when she attempted to pull it out, she discovered that it was wedged in place. Leaning over to better see inside the drawer, she tried to work it free.
�What is it?� Alan asked.
�A box. Can�t tell what�s in it though, until I get it out, and it�s wedged in here pretty good.�
While Ellie struggled with the box, Alan returned to the files. Closing the second drawer, he opened the third one. Inside was more of the same type of binders. Like the others, all of them were matching in color and design, and all the labels were typed and carefully applied, so that they were all straight and even. Although he never would take the time for such precision, he could not help but feel impressed with MacFarland�s fastidious labeling system. He closed the third drawer, and his eyes came to rest on the last one.
Briefly, he considered skipping the bottom drawer, certain that it probably contained more of the binders, but in the end, decided that he might as well have a look to be sure. Squatting down, he pulled the drawer open. Instead of the expected binders, he found file folders, all neatly labeled with identifying headings on the tabs. He thumbed through them.
�This is interesting,� he announced.
Ellie looked up. �What is it?�
�Most of them appear to be alphabetized files on individual species, but the funny thing is, they seem to be only the carnivorous species.�
His eyes immediately fell on one particular file, and he withdrew it from the cabinet for closer examination. The label had clearly been affixed over a previous label, and he tipped it slightly in the poor light, hoping to read through the top one, but he had difficulty seeing the faint lettering underneath. Carefully, he attempted to peel back the edge of the top label, but it began to rip, so he abandoned the effort.
�Ellie, did you happen to bring your glasses with you?� he asked.
�No, they�re still over at the dorm. Why?�
�The label on this file has been placed over another one, and I want to see what�s under it.�
�Will a magnifying glass help?� she asked, producing one from the middle drawer of the desk and holding it up for him to see.
He looked up, surprised. �Yes!� He stood up and reached for the magnifier. Moving closer to the window to obtain better light, he carefully scrutinized the words on the tab. Several letters were obscured by the letters on the label that had been placed over it, but he easily began to make out the rest of the print.
Ellie was watching with interest, observing his pensive expression. �Can you tell what it says?� she asked.
�Yes. Unidentified Species.� He passed the glass back to her as he returned to the file cabinet. �Obviously, they weren�t sure what they had at first.�
�What�s the label on the top?� she asked, curiously.
�Spinosaurus.�
She felt her heart jump slightly at the mention of the terrifying animal that had nearly killed them several weeks earlier. �If they didn�t know what they had, that might explain why the Spino was omitted from InGen�s list,� she suggested.
He held up the file and its identifying label for evidence. �Obviously they did know, at least later on.�
Lowering the file again, he opened it up. The documents inside were held securely in place by two inch prong fasteners at the top. He quickly scanned the first few pages.
�These are detailed handwritten accounts of the species, a chronology from the fertilization of the eggs to hatching.� He paused to scan the documentation, then he looked up at Ellie again. �This isn�t official documentation. These are MacFarland�s own personal observations and concerns.�
He closed the file and placed it on top of the file cabinet, then squatted down beside the open drawer again to thumb through the tabs of the other files inside it.
�There are a lot of interesting files in here,� he said, withdrawing a couple more. �We�re going to have to take a closer look at all of them, but we�ll start with these.� He started to stand up again, but then caught sight of something else.
At the rear of the bottom drawer in the cabinet, filed behind the species folders, was a simple spiral notebook, but the fact that it was different than everything else in the cabinet seemed to beg for attention. Curiously, he extracted it from the cabinet for closer scrutiny. The front of the file was stamped in large red letters: PERSONAL and CONFIDENTIAL � Do not remove from this room.
He opened it up to the first page. It was narrow ruled and hand-written in blue ink with a surprisingly easy to read script. MacFarland was obvious as much of a perfectionist about his handwriting as he was about his records. His eyes scanned the first page, and he drew in a sharp breath as he rose slowly to his feet.
Ellie rose up again from the stubborn box in the desk drawer, recognizing his sudden intake of breath as the signal that he had made a major discovery. �What did you find?�
�It�s a private journal, written by Doctor MacFarland. We�re going to have to read this thing carefully,� he said with conviction. �It and the files in this cabinet may be the most important documents in this whole building!�
�Let�s take them back to the dormitory with us,� she suggested. �We�ll be able to study them in detail. We can come back later to get other files.�
As he gathered up the files he had pulled from the drawer and stacked them on the edge of the desk, his attention was drawn to an overhead cabinet attached to the wall in the corner behind the desk. It was locked with a padlock. �See if one of those keys fit this lock,� he said. �Anything with a lock on it grabs my attention!�
Ellie fetched the key ring from the drawer again, and tried several of the keys before finding the one that fit. She turned it, and removed the lock.
Alan opened it, and examined the assortment of bottles and vials. Various compounds, including those which had been used to preserve the body, were arranged neatly by the identifying name and lot number.
�This guy was really meticulous about his organizational skills,� Alan observed with admiration. �You should see the notebooks in that file cabinet. I�ve never seen such perfectly managed notes and labels.�
�Unlike you,� Ellie quipped with a smile. �All of your chemicals and compounds are shoved into cabinets in no order whatsoever. And your filing cabinets are a complete wreck!�
He gave her a quick glance, feigning contempt, but she could see the smile that played around the corners of his mouth. �All right, all right. So I�m not the most organized person in the world. I know where everything is, and that�s all that matters.�
�Unless you ask one of your students to fetch something for you, and then you get mad because they can�t find it. When we get back, I�m going to have to rearrange things for you again. I bet they�re worse than ever!�
Alan glanced at her, confirmation that he had heard, but did not respond. He had not expected her to want to continue working with him when they got home, but he found the idea tremendously appealing.
He closed the cabinet doors. �I don�t see anything in there of particular interest; just the typical chemicals used in autopsies, preservations and experiments. Certainly nothing sinister.�
He turned away from the cabinet, and faced the long, stainless steel tables again, hands on his hips, allowing his eyes to travel over each item on the tables, shelves, and walls. A large, very expensive looking binocular microscope was set up in the corner. Curiously, he crossed the room and looked into the twin eyepieces, even though he knew he would be unable to see the slide it held, for it contained an electric light underneath. He pulled the slide from it, and held it up toward the window, observing the rust colored stain on the glass.
�Looks like a blood smear,� he said. �I wonder what he was looking for.�
He replaced the slide in the holder, and turned the microscope to examine it closely. It was very heavy and sturdy, and its binocular eyepieces were superior to the monocular eyepiece on his own microscope. After a few moments of inspection, he unplugged it from the wall and carried it back to the desk, where he placed it with the other items they were removing from the room.
�We�ll take this back to the dorm with us,� he announced. �I don�t know if it still works, but if it does it�s far more advanced than mine. If Hammond lets you buy the tapestry, maybe he�ll agree to sell me this.�
�Top of the line,� she agreed, recognizing the top-quality merchandise that John Hammond always provided his workers. �It�s just going to ruin, here. It would be a shame to let that happen, if you can get some use out of it.�
�I don�t see anything else of immediate importance,� Alan said, completing his visual sweep of the room. Noticing that Ellie was still seated at the desk and was bent over the open middle drawer of the desk, rummaging around at the back of it, he asked, �What did you say you found in there?�
�There�s some kind of box wedged in here at the very back,� she said, tugging. �It�s hung up on the frame. I think you upset the position of the drawer when you broke the lock. It�s hanging a little cockeyed.�
�Want me to give it a try?� he asked.
�I think I�ve ��
They heard the box break free of whatever was holding it.
�--- got it!�
She withdrew the box from the drawer, and placed it on the desk top. It was not very large, but was surprisingly heavy and scuffed by Ellie�s attempts to remove it from the drawer. Wondering what secrets it contained, she looked at Alan, and was surprised by his expression.
His face expressed a multitude of emotions and suppressed excitement as he gazed at the box, hoping beyond hope that it contained what he was expecting. �You don�t suppose . . . � he began, then his voice trailed off without completing the thought.
He pressed the catch on front of the box, and opened the lid. Nestled in a bed of blue felt was a 10 mm Glock pistol. Beside it was the magazine.
Alan exhaled a long shaky breath. He leaned his hands on the edge of the desk, head bowed and eyes closed, as if offering a silent expression of gratitude to the owner of the weapon for leaving it there to be found. Rising up again, he reached into the box and his fingers closed around the handle of the pistol. Carefully, he lifted it for examination. He was not an expert on firearms, but he could see that this pistol was in excellent condition with no corrosion. The specially designed box in which it had been stored had done its job well of protecting the gun. He inserted the magazine and heard the click as it locked into place.
�Ellie, do you know what this means?� he asked. �I�ll have to test fire it to make sure it works, but if it does, we now have a weapon to protect ourselves! And to think, it�s been here all this time!� He returned the gun to its box, and closed it, allowing his hand to remain on the box lid a moment longer as if to reassure himself that it was real. �We�ll still have to be totally alert,� he cautioned. �We can�t get careless. Raptors are so stealthy that they could be on us before we could have a change to withdraw the gun from the pack.�
She nodded her agreement.
Then, he turned his attention back to the objects in the room. �We made a lot of important discoveries today,� he said, �but we need to finish documenting the items in this room.�
Ellie stood up and swatted the seat of her jeans a couple of times with the palm of her hands to remove the dust she had picked up from the chair.
Alan lifted the camcorder from the table and began shooting various angles of the room while Ellie snapped a few additional photos. When that was complete, Alan began opening the vault drawers, one by one, and took footage of the dinosaur remains inside. He seemed to be avoiding the drawer that contained the human remains. Ellie wondered if he planned to do it last, or if he intended to omit it from their video documentation.
Finally, he lowered the camera as his eyes came to rest on the drawer he had been avoiding. After a moment, he glanced at Ellie without saying anything.
She looked back at him. �What do you think?� she asked.
He sighed, regretfully. �Seems disrespectful, doesn�t it? Still, since we don�t know exactly what the situation was that led to his death or why he was placed in here instead of sending him home, we need to approach it as merely a scientific discovery, and document it along with everything else. We�ll be as respectful as we can, though.� He gestured toward the drawer with his camera. �You open the drawer and describe the body and the wounds while I film it.�
She grimaced. �Why don�t you open the drawer and describe the body while I film it?� she suggested. �I don�t have as much experience with giving lectures as you do. Remember, I�ve been out of the loop for years.�
�All right.� He passed the camcorder into her hands, then returned to the drawer and grasped the handle. �Ready?�
She nodded and pressed the record button.
�The date is April 15th,� Alan said to the camera. �On this day, concealed in a vault in a secret room that was hidden behind a locked door and covered by a tapestry, Ellie and I discovered the remains of a human male, presumably one of the workers here at the research facility before the evacuation. So far, no documentation has been found regarding this man�s death or his identity.� He pulled open the vault door and pulled out the drawer, and then, more carefully than before, he folded back the sheet to the victim�s waist, exposing only the head and torso.
Ellie moved to the side of the slab to get a good view of the damage to the man�s body.
�I estimate the victim�s age at the time of death to be in the mid to late thirties, Caucasian. As you can see,� Alan continued, �this individual quite clearly died as the result of an attack by a velociraptor. The pattern of the wounds is consistent with the killing technique of this species, and the depth of the claw penetration indicates that the animal was an adult. Notice the three claw marks, one of them gouging deeper than the others, going at least four inches deep and possibly deeper. I have not probed the wound, preferring to leave that to a licensed medical examiner.�
Completing his speech, he gestured for Ellie to turn off the camcorder.
She did as instructed, and lowered the camera.
�We need to get a few snapshots,� he said.
She handed him the 35 mm camera, and watched as he snapped several photographs of the man�s face and torso.
�Once we get back to the States, perhaps Hammond will recognize him from these photographs, or perhaps put us in touch with some of the other employees who might,� he said. �He�s earned a proper burial under his rightful identity. I also want to make a copy of this particular tape, just in case someone at InGen decides to confiscate it.�
�Confiscate it?� she asked, curiously.
He lowered the camera, replaced the sheet, and closed the vault again. �I don�t trust those corporate attorneys,� he replied. �They might be of a mind to try to hush this up. Once his family finds out about this, I think it will be a lawsuit waiting to happen.�
�Yes, you�re right,� she agreed.
Satisfied with the progress they had made, he reached for the camera, intending to return it to her backpack. �Well, I�d say this has been a very productive trip. I�m getting kind of hungry. I didn�t bring my watch with me. Is it getting close to lunchtime?�
Ellie allowed him to take the camera, then turned over her wrist to glance at her watch, and was surprised at how rapidly the day had gone by. �No wonder you�re hungry. It�s almost four o�clock.�
�All right. Lets take these things back to the dorm and have supper, and afterward we�ll start going over these files and the journal.�
�Sounds good.�
Alan placed the camcorder and camera back inside the backpack Ellie still carried, as well as the journal and the stack of file folders. The microscope and the box containing the pistol he carried himself.
Leaving the autopsy room, they made their way back down the short, narrow corridor and pushed back the tapestry that had fallen across the door. Alan closed the door behind them, and allowed the lovely work of art to cover it again. He left the sledgehammer against the wall, for there was no compelling reason to return it to the shed. Then they worked their way through the maze of corridors, until they finally reached the hatchery once again. They trotted up the stairs, and back through the reception area.
Ellie was glad when they finally emerged from the building into the open air outside. The sun had traveled across the sky, and was sinking slowly toward the opposite horizon, proof of the passage of the day while they had been inside the facility.
Alan also noticed the track of the sun, and said, �I just can�t believe the day went by so fast!�
�Time flies when you�re having fun,� she quipped.
He looked at her and smiled. �I had no idea that there were still major discoveries to be made inside that building. I�m glad you were there to see them.�
�So am I.�
He turned to look back inside the open doorway. �Makes me wonder if there are any other secrets in there, waiting to be found. Well, I guess we have enough to keep up busy for a while!�
�That was fascinating, although I could have done without the body in the vault.�
�Yeah, me too.�
After first looking cautiously about for any signs of predators, they walked down the steps into the yard. When they were well away from the building, Alan, eager to learn of the condition of the pistol, looked around for a target. He did not want to fire randomly into the air or into the forest, because a stray bullet could wound or kill a harmless specimen that happened to be nearby. He wanted to fire at something solid.
�I want to test fire this weapon, just to make sure it works,� he told her. �I�d hate to need it, and have it fail on us at an inopportune moment! I just need a target.�
She agreed wholeheartedly. �How about one of those vehicles?� she suggested.
There were plenty of damaged vehicles in the yard which would make suitable targets and were large enough that he wouldn�t miss. �Good idea.�
Alan led the way to one of the cars, and placed the microscope and the pistol box on the hood of it, and opened the lid to withdraw the pistol from it.
Standing beside the vehicle, Ellie watched as he did this. The backpack she carried was heavy now, loaded down with the cameras, file folders and the journal, so she slipped it off and laid it down on the hood beside the microscope.
Alan scanned the vehicles that littered the yard, and settled on a badly mangled pick-up truck at the other end of the yard. �Cover your ears,� he suggested.
Ellie placed her hands over her ears and stood back to watch as Alan extended the pistol at arm�s length from his body, and took aim at the door of the damaged vehicle. The report was loud, echoing throughout the valley and sending flocks of alarmed birds skyward. They heard the loud �clang� of the bullet striking the door, and they saw the hole it made as it ripped through the thin metal, continued through the vehicle and bored through the other door, finally coming to rest in the fender of the next vehicle.
Alan turned to face Ellie with a triumphant expression. �It works!�
He returned the gun to the box, and then, in his excitement that he could at last protect them from harm, he did the unexpected. He flung his arms around Ellie�s waist, scooped her off the ground, and swung her around in a circle.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she laughed delightedly at his boisterous enthusiasm, and he was laughing with her. After making several circles, he returned her feet to the ground. As their laughter died down and their smiles began to fade, they stood for several moments facing one another. Ellie�s arms were still around his neck, and his arms were still around her waist, but neither was in a hurry to alter their position.
Their moods became more serious, and their eyes were locked together in an intensely penetrating gaze, each of them keenly aware of the physical closeness of the other. A lock of Alan�s hair, disturbed by a mild breeze, fell across his eye, and she moved her hand to stroke it back into place.
Her gentle touch was whisper soft against his skin as she brushed his hair back from his forehead, and he searched her eyes, gazing intently into each of them, first one and then the other as he struggled to convey the depth of his feelings for her.
Reaching up, he took her hand in his while his other hand slid down to the small of her back and drew her closer against him. �Ellie,� he whispered.
Ellie swallowed hard and she felt her heartbeat quicken in anticipation of the long desired feel of his lips on hers as she waited for him to instigate the kiss by moving his face toward hers. Several moments passed as his eyes continued to linger on hers, but she could not determine if he was hesitating or simply prolonging the moment.
His eyes are so beautiful! she thought, and she began to wonder if perhaps he was thinking back to their conversation following her breakdown, when she had been forced to admit that she had not yet been ready for an intimate relationship, in spite of her urgings to the contrary. Perhaps he was waiting for her to make the first move, to alert him when she was ready to put her past behind her and more forward. A simple kiss did not have to culminate into an immediate intimate involvement. A kiss could be no more than a gesture of the great affection she felt for him and knew that he felt for her. And she was ready to take that first step toward rekindling the relationship they had once had.
The haunting, trumpeting call of a distant Parasaurolophus broke the silence and interrupted the closeness they shared at that moment. Abruptly, he released her and took a step backward, forcibly pulling his eyes away from hers as he broke the physical contact. He turned away from her, dragging his hand through his hair, silently cursing the distinct reminder that they must always be alert when away from the dormitory. Although a relatively peaceful plant-eater, he knew it could just as easily have been something more sinister. They must never again allow their guard to drop as they had just done, to focus so entirely on one another that they completely failed to notice what was around them.
Ellie dropped her arms to her sides and sighed with disappointment as she marveled at the precision timing of the creature that had interrupted them.
Silently, she watched as Alan closed the lid on the box, noticing that his hands were trembling slightly, a fact which inspired a private smile. She was feeling a little weak in the knees herself! The attraction between her and Alan was still there, as vibrant as it had ever been, and she knew it was only a matter of time before they acted on that attraction.
�We�d better get back to the dorm,� he said, breaking the silence. �Even with the pistol, we�re vulnerable out here, especially to stealthy species like raptors.� He glanced back at the research building, thinking of the body in the vault. �We just saw what they�re capable of.�
�All right,� she said. Reaching for the backpack, she hoisted it onto her back again and started walking through the trees toward the dormitory.
Alan fell in step behind her, deeply troubled by what had just happened. It was not that he had not wanted to kiss her. He had; desperately. And he knew he would have had they not been disturbed by the wake-up call from the dinosaur. This was neither the time nor the place to lose sight of the dangers that existed every time they stepped outside, and he vowed never to let that happen again.
He had heard her soft sigh, and knew that she was disappointed. He shared her disappointment, and like her, he knew that sooner or later, it would happen. Eventually, they would both be unable to resist the strength of the mutual attraction that was pulling at them.
Unless I take measures to prevent it. The thought crept into his mind with the stealth of a thief, threatening to destroy the relationship they were slowly building. There is an alternative! Once again, he questioned the wisdom of allowing her to remain on the island with him. She was a lovely, enticing distraction that was placing his life and hers in danger. Would it not be better to remove her from that danger?
As they emerged from the trees and into the yard of the dormitory, Ellie stole a glance at Alan�s face, and immediately suspected the nature of the thoughts that were lurking behind his eyes. She felt a twinge of resentment at the notion that he might consider sending her back to the States. I thought we had moved past all that!
They did not speak as they approached the dormitory. Alan withdrew the key from his pocket and inserted it in the lock on the barred door, then held it open for her to enter first. Inside the foyer, Ellie immediately shed the heavy backpack and carried it into the front room, where she set it down on the coffee table to remove the items that were inside it.
Holding the heavy microscope by its neck in one hand and the pistol box in the other, Alan watched from the foyer as she pulled the files from the pack and placed them on the coffee table. For a moment, he considered going to her, taking her into his arms and picking up where they had left off, but he knew it wouldn�t be the same as it would have before the interruption. The romantic moment had been lost. Maybe that�s just as well, he thought.
Turning suddenly, she spotted him in the foyer watching her. They stood silently gazing at one another for several moments, then Alan indicated the items he carried by lifting the microscope a little higher. �I�m going to put these in the office.�
�Okay. I�ll start supper then. Just don�t look at those files without me!� she added. Then, avoiding his eyes, she brushed past him, and strode down the hallway to the kitchen.
Alan followed her down the hall, but turned into the office. He placed the microscope on the desk, and opened the drawer that contained the satellite telephone, and positioned the pistol box beside it.
After closing the desk drawer again, he turned his attention to the microscope. He knew that, after all this time, the halogen illuminator would no longer be working, so he opened up the base and removed the bulb. Inside was surprisingly clean, thanks to the sturdy casing. It was the same wattage as that used in his monocular scope, so he removed the bulb from it and inserted it in the illuminator.
Next, he found a clean cloth and cleaned up the exterior of the instrument, wiping away the dust and grime, and cleaning the lenses and the stage. Finally, he plugged it into the outlet and turned it on. The halogen light flickered several times, then illuminated the stage beneath the slide.
�Yes!� he exclaimed, excitedly.
Eagerly, he placed his eyes against the eyepieces and examined the slide that was on the glass. As he had suspected, it was a blood smear, but time and the elements had damaged the value of the specimen, breaking down the cell structure to a degree that it revealed no secrets about the creature from which it had come. He withdrew it from the stage and discarded it, only mildly disappointed. He now had a superior quality tool with which to work, one that far surpassed the less expensive model he had purchased for himself.
Wonderfully delicious smells soon drifted into the office from the kitchen, and he wandered to the doorway and watched silently as she prepared pork chops and fried potatoes with sliced tomatoes and cucumbers on the side. She moved around the kitchen with ease, as comfortable with her household duties as she had been on the dig sites. It seemed to Alan that Ellie would fit in anywhere, in any culture. She was as beautiful and graceful as any high society woman he had ever met, and as resourceful and dependable as any working class woman.
As he pondered the notion of sending her back to the mainland, the remembrances of what it had been like before her arrival entered his mind; the empty, echoing building, the isolation, the intense loneliness worse than anything he had ever experienced. It had not seemed so bad at the time, but now he knew he did not want to ever feel so alone again.
She had told him that she had come to Isla Sorna to save him from impending danger, or perhaps an underlying reason was that she needed him to help cope with her loss; but at that moment, he was thoroughly convinced that he needed her more. He needed her laughter, and he needed her gentle approval of his work and her encouragement during the difficult times that often accompanied his profession. Most of all, he needed her presence, the companionship they had shared. He could not imagine how he had he ever functioned so long without her.
Sensing his presence, Ellie turned toward him, frying pan in hand, and instantly suspected that he had been there for some time. �How long have you been standing there?� she asked.
�Just got here,� he lied, stepping into the room. �Anything I can do to help?�
She knew he was being untruthful, and wondered what he had been thinking about. �Yes,� she responded to his question. �This is almost done, so why don�t you grab a couple of sodas from the fridge? We�re out of tea bags, and we�re almost out of coffee.�
He moved to the refrigerator and opened it, his eyes scanning the cans of various brands of soda. �What�s your choice?�
�Anything�s fine, as long as it�s cold.�
He grabbed a couple cans of Root Beer, and set them on the counter top, then took a quick inventory of the few items that remained. �Ellie, I think it�s time to call Miguel.�
She did not look up from the skillet as she transferred the contents to two plates, wondering if he would take the opportunity to insist that she return to the mainland. �Okay,� she replied, guardedly.
He heard the wary tone to her voice, and smiled to himself behind the open refrigerator door. �Anything in particular you�d like me to request?� he asked. �More tea bags, perhaps?�
She relaxed visibly and turned to face him. He was smiling at her as pushed the refrigerator door shut. He had no intention of sending her back! �Yes. I�ll make a list,� she replied. �When are you going to call?�
�In a day or two. Why don�t we eat on the roof?� he suggested. �Then later, we�ll come back down and tackle the journal and those files.�
�Sounds good,� she agreed.
�Can you manage the plates?�
�Yep.�
Picking up the cans of soda from the countertop, Alan led the way from the kitchen and up the stairs to the roof.
Ellie followed a moment later with two plates and silverware. They sat down across from one another, and began to eat their dinners as they discussed the discoveries they had made in the research facility. They carefully avoided speaking of the moment they had shared in the yard of the research facility and the strong attraction they continued to feel for each other, but it was on their minds. Sooner or later, it would have to be addressed.
Go to Chapter 24