Jurassic Park II: The Lost World (Victoriana)

Chp. 6: Meeting the Parents

Ariana and Solàna raced back up to the ridge trail where the green AAV was parked. They hurried inside, trying desperately to catch their breath as they slammed the doors shut.

"I was hoping we could get to that infant before the hunters did," Ariana said breathlessly.

"Maybe it got free during all the commotion," Solàna replied.

Just then, Nick busted around from the other side of the car, Kehlani right behind him.

"Oh, thank god," Ariana said. "I didn't know if you two-"

Opening the door, Ariana's whole body froze at the sight of the baby tyrannosaur in Nick's arms, its head being held up by Kehlani. With a piercing shriek, the infant was now in the back of the AAV, flinging itself at the open door as its jaw snapped short of the small woman's nose. She was about to let out a shriek of her own before Solàna reached over to cover her mouth.

"Those men are still down there," she warned. "We don't want to give away our position."

Ariana nodded before Solàna took her hand away. The Italian then eyed Nick.

"You're crazier than I thought," she said. "How did you guys find it?"

"We were right by it when we got switched around," Nick answered as him and Kehlani hopped into the car.

"Its leg is broken," Kehlani continued. "Like really bad. I don't think it did that to itself, either."

"Those bastards harmed it to get to the adult quicker," Ariana seethed. "We'll bring it back to base camp to treat it."

"You know Vic's gonna be pissed, right?" Kehlani warned.

Ariana rolled her eyes as she drove away from the ridge.

"What else is new?"

Meanwhile, back at base camp, Victoria and Hazel make their way into the trailer. The ebony went straight to the elaborate radio console and hit a series of switches. The console blinked to life, a large dial in the middle illuminating the frequency selector. Victoria sat down before hitting the volume switch. Latin music came over the speaker.

"Damn," she cursed. "It's not set on the frequency."

Hazel found a logbook on the shelf in front of her mother, ripping the Velcro straps off and opening it.

"Try looking in here," she suggested.

Victoria smiled before taking the book. The two of them looked through it, running their fingers down a column of numbers.

"Ah!" Victoria said. "Here."

She reached out to the frequency modulator and turned the dial, whizzing through various noise and static on her way to the appropriate number. She was almost there when Ariana and Nick busted through the door of the trailer, carrying the screaming infant with them as Kehlani and Solàna came in behind them. Victoria's eyes bugged out as she swiftly brought Hazel behind her back. She eyed Ariana intently as the small woman brought the infant to the metal dining table to hold it down.

"Hi, honey," she greeted, trying to make light of the situation. "Please, no lectures."

"Oh my god!" Hazel exclaimed, chuckling in awe at the creature in front of her.

Ariana yanked open a drawer of medical supplies, holding a small syringe. Her shirt was streaked with blood from the baby's injured leg.

"Hold him tighter, Nick," she instructed.

Nick did so as Ariana made an injection into the infant's thigh. The animal objected quite loudly.

"What the absolute, fucking hell?" Victoria asked aloud, her body frozen in utter shock at what was happening.