Jurassic Kingdom

More than a year has passed since Jurassic World was single handedly ripped apart by the Indominus Rex. Now, the dinosaurs are for sale. One of the big buyers? London zoo.

I scowled bitterly, buttoning up my knock off parker jacket as the hard hats beckoned through another worryingly large truck, that inevitably must have had another worryingly large crate inside it.
 It was cold. Cold without reason, I thought. The tinsel, lights and other such Christmas merriment had been stored away again, and what was left was the usual grey, sodden normality of London.

‘Baryonyx’, the large American man next to me muttered idly as he ticked off another name on his clipboard, managing to keep his umbrella upright as he did. ‘Early cretaceous, fish eater and scavenger. And a local, too! Poor b*****d comes from England, Steve’.
 ‘Poor b*****d indeed’, I said vacantly, making a point of throwing the fluffy hood of my coat over my head. ‘So this… Baryonyx, I could get in the cage with one of these, then?’
 ‘If you want to get eaten, yeah. 10 metres long, 2 tonnes… it’s a carnivore, Steve. This one ain’t goin’ in the petting zoo’.

 I should probably explain the titanic stool sample of events that was so generously being dumped on me at this point. I work at London Zoo, as a zoo keeper, would you believe. I’m pretty high up. I know the behaviours of the animals under our care back to front, from the lions to the boa constrictors. I know which elephant is an all round great bloke and which elephant is a stroppy old hag who can’t stand children. I know we shouldn’t really be keeping the bears ‘cos they always look miserable and no one notices. I know it all. Or rather, I did.

 There had been increasing pressure to keep up with the giant, reptilian strides that Jurassic World was taking. Oh, as if. As if we can make a Bengal Tiger interesting when they have a T Rex. I suppose I didn’t think people could afford to fly their families out to Costa Rica for two weeks, but hey, I guess it’s one stop further than Disney Orlando.
 So yeah, the people who were going to Jurassic World, when they got home, they didn’t take one look at us again. And why would they? They’ve been back in f*****g time, for god sake. They don’t need our King Cobras or our inflatable giraffe balloons anymore.

And then it happened. The incident. They, and by they I mean those guys at In-Gen, they bred this new, genetically modified dinosaur, called it Infurious Rex or something. No, Indominus Rex. It means untamed king in latin, I think. I mean that’s a red light right there, am I right? Anyway, this monstrous abomination broke out of its cage, killed a bunch of people and single handedly destroyed the entire park. If it weren’t for a huge dino fight that ended up with the thing getting eaten by some aquatic hellbeast they’d bred, who knows how many others would have died. Anyway, the Island gets evacuated, the prize t-rex is caught and tended to and the lawyers and bigwigs fly in, suing everyone suable and treating the remaining dinosaurs like ornaments in a divorce settlement. In-Gen, the company responsible for this astronomical c**k-up of nature, well I don’t know what’s going on with them now. Surely they’re history. The Costa Rican government uncovered a massive breeding facility on one of the nearby islands, one very few people new about. Turns out those b******s at In-Gen were getting ready to open a second theme-park with mostly unseen dinosaurs, ones not even in the original theme park that went to s**t in the 90’s. Apparently carnivores bigger than the damn T-Rex and herbivores bigger than the Brachiosaurus. I’ve seen brachiosaurus on youtube. How do you get

bigger than that?

 So the Costa Rican government gets a hold of these dinosaurs, fresh faced from their 150 million year kip. They claim ownership, stating that as these dinosaurs weren’t on the books and weren't discussed with them, so they shouldn’t exist in the first place. And I mean In-Gen were hardly in any position to fight for them. They were busy explaining to about a hundred different families why their beloved close relatives had been torn apart. And this is where, against my wishes, us at London Zoo came in. Those dinosaurs went on auction within two months of them being found. And this auction, I think it went on record as the most expensive auction in the history of mankind. Zoo keepers, theme park owners and eccentric billionaires from all over the world flew to Costa Rica and personally viewed the animals. Of course the British Government had to get involved. ‘Tourism is essential to the continuing success of our great country’, the Prime Minister declared upon hearing about this opportunity. He made allowances for a colossal f**k tonne of money to be spent on bringing some of these monsters back to the UK, and more specifically, London Zoo. The place had to quadruple in size, and when you consider this is London we’re talking about; well, it was a multi-billion dollar investment. Fast forward almost two years and the state of the art zoo expansion known as Dinoland is in its final stages of completion (find the man who came up with that name and give him a knighthood, seriously). The paddocks had been built, the dietary requirements for each dinosaur were ready for eating and the security checks had been checked. Multiple times.

 And now the dinosaurs have arrived. Nothing could go wrong. As if you’re buying that one right now.

 The rain continued to drizzle down on the fenced off, dirt filled enclosure that my colleague and I stood in. The large American guy on my left was palaeontologist Bob Stanley. When the planning of Dinoland originally began, one of the terms of the investment was that they had two paleontologists assist with the project. One of these had to have been involved some way, or at least had some sort of affiliation, with the care of dinosaurs bred for Jurassic World and/ or Jurassic Park, and the other had to have no affiliation with In-Gen whatsoever. I think the end goal was to not only get some expertise and experience in, but also get an alternative opinion of how things could be improved. Two opposites working together to find a compromise that was best for the dinosaurs and for the park, they had said. 

‘When’s the other guy arriving?’ I asked. 

‘He should be coming in with the Styracosaurus’, Bob replied, pulling the hood of his waterproof jacket tight. 'There was an issue with the bull’s sedative amount. The thing woke up as they left Wales. Almost rammed the damn truck off the road’.

 I shook my head angrily, but decided not to voice my dissatisfaction. They’d heard me repeat the same doubts about the whole thing a thousand times; I was getting a reputation.

 ‘Any idea who this guy is?’ I asked. ‘No idea’, Bob said gruffly. ‘They wanted Dr Grant, everyone wants Dr Grant. But he’d rather jump in a shark tank than go anyway near a dinosaur again. And those guys that survived Jurassic World, the behaviourists and zookeepers, they’re either already signed up by places in America, China and Dubai, or, like Dr Grant, seeking a more dinosaur free career path’.

There was a sudden scraping of tyres over gravel as four more trucks rolled in through the open gates. Three of them were beckoned on through another set of gates by a man in a high vis jacket; the fourth truck came screeching to a halt beside Bob. The back doors kicked open, and a slender figure jumped athletically out. She pulled up her hood and walked confidently towards the two of us, a smile on her face. 

‘That styracosaurus, he’s a gentlemen really’, she laughed, her red yet slightly greying hair blowing in the wind in front of her face.

 ‘Well I’ll be damned’, Bob gasped. ‘They got you?’

 The woman grinned cheekily and pulled Bob towards him, planting a violent kiss on his cheek. Then she turned to me and outstretched her hand. 

‘Sarah Harding’, she said. 

‘Steve Goggin’, I replied, grabbing her hand and shaking it. ‘Don’t ask, I think it might be Irish’. Harding appeared to be in her forties, and was still very beautiful. She carried herself with a certain wild charm; I was instantly taken with her. Steve frowned at me, a wry smile appearing on his face. ‘So you’re this fantastic zoo keeper everyone keeps talking about, huh?’ Harding said to me. She pulled out her phone, apparently checking the time, then shoved it back in her pocket again. 

‘Well I hope so’, I replied. ‘What was your involvement with Jurassic World, if you don’t mind me asking?’ 

‘No, man… you mean you don’t know who this is?’ Bob exclaimed. ‘This is the Sarah Harding!’ ‘The one from Girls aloud?’ I said somewhat idiotically. My poor attempt at humour appeared to confuse the both of them. 

‘Wha- who? No… this is the Sarah Harding that survived Site B! Isla Sorna!’ 

‘Was that the time with the spinosaurus thing?’ 

‘No, you idiot. Do you even read anything? It was like seven years before that. Hammond sent her in to study the dinosaurs before In-Gen came in all gun-ho and screwed everything up. She helped recapture the tyrannosaurus that was let loose in San Deigo’. 

‘Oh, really?’ I said in a dumb shocked voice, genuinely impressed to be meeting her. I remembered watching the San Diego incident on the news. Everyone did, it was the craziest thing I’d ever seen. ‘I remember watching that on the news! Everyone does, it was the craziest thing I’d ever seen!’ I said. Was I rehearsing sentences in my head before I said them? I told myself to stop acting like a moron. So what, she was a genuine milf. Get over yourself, Steve, I mentally instructed myself. Sarah waved her right arm sheepishly. 

‘That was a long time ago’, she said matter-of-factly. ‘Too long, I think. Truth be told I loved watching those dinosaurs. Although I had a fair few close calls… even the stego’s had it In for me. Part of the reason I signed up for this was because of your conditions, Mr Goggin’. 

‘Call me Steve, please’, I said. ‘which conditions were those?’ 

‘Specifically the one about you keeping it old school with the paddocks and pens’, Sarah replied. ‘No more operating systems and programmes and stuff. That modern computer-ran nonsense. I mean how many times can a system fail or be infiltrated before people realise it doesn’t work?’ ‘Well, yeah, that was my thinking’, I said. ‘All you need is big locks and big keys that can’t be copied. As long as the security stays tight and the staff stay sane, nothing can go wrong. Nobody but the most senior of staff will ever have access. And that includes us three. Every key has to be signed off before being used. So if someone does lose their marbles and lets out a Deinon- Deinochy- Deinonychus? (Steve nodded with a mock impressed look on his face) we’ll know exactly who it is. And the amount that everyone is being paid, I doubt anyone will be that keen’. 

The rain seemed to be intensifying; I was starting to regret not bringing an umbrella. 

‘What came in before the Styracosaurus, Sarah? I didn’t get all the registrations’, Bob said. 

‘We had the four pteranodon, the six Ichthyosaurus and the two Iguanodon’. ‘Fantastic, so that’s all the non-dinosaurs done and most of the herbivores’. Bob flamboyantly ticked the aforementioned beasts off of his list as he said them. ‘And I think this must be the carnivores now’. 

Why all at once, I thought to myself. Extra staff had been hired and trained to help bring in the animals, but it was still a major task to get all of them settled in at once. This was one of the conditions of sale from the Costa Rican government; you buy them, you get them. They weren’t in the business of holding on to them for us. I think I knew why.

‘DL-DNCS-1-4’, Bob said robotically, reading the code on the side of the first truck. ‘Ah, the Deinonychus’. 

Sarah scratched her back uneasily, as if feeling for a bag that wasn’t there. 

‘You alright?’ I asked. ‘Do you know what a Deinonychus is?’ she asked me. 

‘Not really’, I replied. ‘To be honest I haven’t researched the dinosaurs too much. The only thing I was told about the both of you were that you were experts on dinosaurs and their behaviour, so I figured waiting for a professional description would be a good idea’. 

‘That is a good idea’, She replied. ‘Well, a Deinonychus is similar to a velociraptor. I’d imagine you’ve heard of them’.

 I nodded slowly, working hard to keep too much of the worry from my face. After the events of Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna in the 90’s reached the news, everyone in the world new what they were. 

‘How similar?’ I dared to ask. 

‘Well, they’re from the same order’, she started. I sensed it could only get worse from there. ‘They have the same sort of claws on their feet and they’re pack hunters, too. But they’re bigger, And faster. And they have bigger head to body ratio, their jaws are extremely powerful-‘ 

‘F*****g hell’, I said, failing to keep it in this time. Sarah and Bob laughed somewhat nervously.

 ‘I want a complete run down and description of these dinosaurs at tonight’s meeting’, I said seriously. ‘I know we were only going to describe to people the specific dinosaurs they were in charge of, but these are intelligent, tough, extremely terrifying monsters. Everyone has to know’.

They both nodded. Bob looked a little too half arsed about this instruction for my liking, but Sarah seemed impressed. My inner penis patted me proudly on my inner head. 

‘And here is our T-rex!’ Bob exclaimed excitedly as an extremely large truck with extremely large tyres rumbled past. ‘8 tonnes of cold hard cash, as far as your prime minister is concerned’. 

‘See, this one doesn’t bother me’, I said as I watched the massive truck pass through the second set

of gates. As long as you look after the damn keys, there is no way in hell that thing is getting out. I want to see it as soon as possible though. He was always my favourite as a kid’. 

‘She’, Sarah said pointedly. ‘She’s everyone’s favourite’. 

My inner penis punched my inner head several times, angry at me for blurting out the unintentionally sexist remark. 

‘How the hell did we manage to get a T-Rex anyway?’ I asked. ‘Surely everyone would have been after… her?’ 

‘Well, that’s the thing’, Bob said. ‘In-Gen must have always been planning to sell some of their dinosaurs to high bidders. And everyone knows the T Rex is the most popular and well known dinosaur of all, so they put an incredible amount of resources and funding into breeding as many rexes as possible. Every big zoo from here to Singapore will have one soon, they’ll be as essential as lions’.
I pondered at the thought of the king of dinosaurs being resurrected and becoming nothing more than a commodity. It wasn’t right. 

‘What’s this one coming now… ah, kentrosaurus, booorriiing. Although I believe that’s all the herbivores ticked off now. Only the big bosses left’.

 ‘Big bosses?’ I said, suddenly worried again. ‘What are the big bosses?’ 

There was a sudden rumbling as two more t-rex size trucks came creeping through the first set of gates. They instantly unsettled me, even more so than the idea of the Deinonychus. I don’t know how or why, but I swear there was something even then telling me that these were trouble. I really had no idea. 

‘Gigantosaurus’, Sarah said, almost whispering the name. ‘The most fearsome predator that ever lived, and it’s just entered London zoo’. ‘Two of them’, Bob chimed in cheerfully.
‘I thought the t-rex was the badass of the dinosaurs. And didn’t that Hildebrand guy say he saw one get taken down by a spinosaurus? Aren’t they the, er, big bosses?’ I remembered that from a documentary about the failures of In-Gen. They’d tried to cover that particular story up, but the family involved had other ideas and were very keen for their fifteen minutes.
‘The T rex was probably having an off day, no one knows how that happened. Can’t have been an adult female’, Bob said. ‘We think spinosaurus were mainly evolved to eat fish, although I suppose In-Gen could have had a little tinker in the lab to make it more ferocious. Anyway, the Gigantosaurus. 8 tonnes, same as a T rex. But longer and less bulky. This means faster, more aerobic. Think T rex but with a bit more ability for jumping and clawing. Doesn’t have those silly arms a T rex has either. There’s strong evidence to suggest that these dinosaurs weren’t afraid to take on gigantic adult sauropods. I’m telling you, if we could get a a secret gambling ring going… one of those things against our adult female T rex, it would be c**k fight of the century!’
 Bob yelped as Sarah smacked him around the head. ‘Well, that’s all of them’, she said, turning away from the flinching Bob and smiling at me. ‘Now, who do I have to screw around here to get a coffee?’

 ‘Right this way’, I said, managing to prevent myself from guffawing oafishly. As we walked towards my caravan, I stared at the two trucks as they trundled slowly through the second set of gates and out of sight. I was the best at my job in the country. My security system was perfect, it could not fail. I had a flawless history of nothing but success. It was all going to go ticketyboo. London Zoo would once again be crowned the greatest zoo in the world. Two months later, terrible, terrible things would happen.

Author's Note

This is more of a first chapter to a potential full novel than anything. I'm a big Jurassic Park fan and this seemed like a good outlet and a way to start putting my work online. This is indeed the first thing I have ever posted anywhere, so please, give it a read, be honest and let me know your thoughts! cheers!