"Animal traffickers. Looking at them, they have no intention of taking these dinosaurs to a sanctuary. They're going to sell them."
Owen's gaze remained fixed on Charlie as he answered Zia's question.
"No, I think they have other uses for the Raptors."
Zia could see the disparity just from the way these people treated the animals. If the ordinary dinosaurs were being treated like economy class, the Raptors were practically in first class. These people... or at least their leader, definitely needed the Raptors for sothing else.
"What kind of use?"
"I don't know, but she..."
"Aorrk..."
Claire wanted to keep digging into the motives of those bastards, but Charlie's pained whimper reminded them that there were more urgent matters at hand.
"I don't have the surgical tools to stop the bleeding and maintain her vitals."
Charlie's struggling beca more frequent. Owen imdiately placed his hand on her snout.
"It's okay... it's okay..."
Charlie saw Owen. Perhaps mories were resurfacing; she grew uncharacteristically quiet and calm.
"Claire, get over here... use your hands to press down right here. Press hard."
Zia had never felt so understaffed. She motioned for Claire to take over her position.
"Okay..."
Claire pressed down on the gauze over Charlie's wound. Zia took the opportunity to move around to Charlie's back, next to Owen, to begin checking the Raptor's condition.
"Be careful," she warned Claire before proposing her solution. "I need a blood sample from the sa species to give her a transfusion, otherwise I can't remove the bullet... Do either of you know how to find a vein?"
"I volunteered at a Red Cross blood drive once. I think I can find it," Claire responded after adjusting her pressure, much to Zia's relief.
"Great... Franklin, take Claire's spot."
Zia turned to hunt for the blood collection kit. Hearing her words, Franklin froze in his tracks.
"No, no, no, I can't—"
Despite his protest, he obediently moved to Claire's side.
"Franklin, hurry up!"
Under Zia's prodding, Franklin finally took over the position.
Splurt—
Having just taken the gauze, he failed to control the pressure correctly and took a face full of Charlie's blood.
"Oh my god... is it in my mouth? Did it get in my mouth?"
He looked up at Owen. Seeing that almost half the kid's face was covered in blood, Owen gave a well-intentioned shake of his head.
"The other Raptors are locked on a different ship. We can't get blood from them."
Zia handed the collection equipnt to Claire.
"All the animals should be sedated. Look for a theropod, the blood type should be similar to Charlie's. It has to be a carnivore, and no more than three toes..."
"That's impossible."
Claire cut Zia off mid-instruction.
"Wait, what do you an 'impossible'?"
Zia blinked, only then noticing that Claire's expression was becoming increasingly grim.
"According to the original manifest... this ship is full of herbivores. All the carnivores were loaded onto the other vessel."
"So we're... out of options?"
Owen walked over to join the conversation. Zia, unwilling to give up on Charlie, began frantically thinking of alternatives.
"No... there has to be a way, there has to be..."
"Hey, rember the one in our truck?"
While Zia was racking her brain, Franklin, who was busy stanching the wound alone, suddenly rembered sothing.
"That one's a carnivore, right?"
"Which one are you talking about?"
"The Ceratosaurus."
Zia wasn't aware of the trio's recent escapades, so Owen filled her in on the na of the dinosaur that had boarded with them. He then looked at Claire; the silent plea to try was written all over his face.
…
Inside the grand hall of the Lockwood Estate, amidst the towering dinosaur skeletons, Maisie peeked her head out. After confirming the coast was clear, she darted toward the panel where she had seen Mills input the elevator code.
She entered the sequence from mory. With a soft ding, the hidden elevator door, disguised as part of the wall, slid open.
Before anyone could spot her, Maisie slipped inside. She hesitated for a second before pressing the button for the lowest floor. The doors closed slowly, and the lift began its descent.
The cold tal walls reflected the white clinical lighting, stretching Maisie's shadow wide and distorted.
A mont later, the doors opened silently.
Is this my ho?
Maisie knew her grandfather had a secret lab, but she hadn't expected a facility of this magnitude. It was like an underground version of the Lockwood Estate... no, perhaps even larger.
Dim blue lights bathed the secret laboratory. Orbital shakers humd softly as they rotated, keeping the culture dia mixed to ensure the cells inside had full contact with nutrients.
Maisie ignored the "Restricted Access" signs and walked in, discovering row upon row of unidentified dinosaur eggs sitting in incubators.
Ever since the Jurassic Park incident, the United States had strictly banned the de-extinction of prehistoric life. So where did these eggs co from?
A glowing monitor nearby caught her eye. She walked over slowly, checked her surroundings one last ti, and sat at the desk. She moved the mouse and clicked "Play."
"Barry, help add today's paddock surveillance footage to the log."
The screen showed Owen recording a video log. He looked into the cara and said, "Alright, that's it for today. The following footage is the incident from this afternoon."
The screen went black for a mont before flickering back to life.
"Aok?"
A sub-adult Velociraptor appeared on the screen. In front of it, a worker had fallen to the ground, backing away in terror.
Maisie flinched slightly, then began to observe the background. It appeared to be an accident during a Raptor transfer. Based on the tropical foliage, this certainly wasn't anywhere near the Lockwood Estate. Was this Jurassic Park?
"Hey, hey, hey! Look at !"
A man wearing a denim jacket stepped into the fra. He lowered his body, extending his right hand to stand between the Raptor and the fallen worker.
"Charlie... back up."
His voice was soft, careful not to startle the predator. But can a Raptor really understand him? Maisie wondered. She thought the man was being reckless; this Charlie was a carnivore, after all. There was no way…
"Aok!"
Charlie eased out of her attack stance. She let out a light, chirping trill and tilted her head, curiously sizing Owen up.
In front of the computer, Maisie gasped and covered her mouth. Although the cara wasn't focused on Owen's face, the shock in his posture was evident.
The scene cut again. There were no humans in the paddock now; four Raptors were playing together.
Echo and Delta were engaged in so strange ga while Blue watched with curiosity. And Charlie?
She just tilted her head, watching them with inquisitive eyes.
The video returned to the original log setting. Owen faced the cara, sharing his thoughts.
"Charlie seems to tilt her head every ti she sees sothing she's curious about or likes. Honestly, I was fully prepared for her to lunge at ."
"She's mischievous, but her loyalty to those she recognizes as pack is absolutely beyond reproach."
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