Dad and I charge across the compound, ahead of everyone else. John struggles to keep up.
"Dr. Grant? Uh we planned to show you the raptors later, after lunch." John said. But Dad and I stopped abruptly next to the Velociraptor pen, John finally catches up, slightly out of breath.
"Dr. Grant, as I was saying, we've laid out lunch for you before you head out into the park. Alejandro, our gourmet chef "John says.
"What are they doing?" Dad asked, interrupted John. A giant crane lowers something large down into the middle of the jungle foliage inside the pen. Something very large. It's a steer. The poor thing looks disconcerted as hell, helpless its in a harness, flailing its legs in the air.
"Feeding them. Alejandro is preparing a delightful meal for us. A Chilean sea bass, I believe. Shall we?" John says pointing to the way out.
Dad goes up to the viewing deck. We follow, staring as the steer disappears into the shroud of foliage. The line from the crane hangs for a moment.
The jungle seems to grow very quiet. I stare at the motionless crane line. It jerks suddenly, like a fishing pole finally getting a nibble. There's a pause
and then a frenzy. The line jerks every which way, the jungle plants sway and snap from some frantic activity within, there is a cacophony of GROWLING, of SNAPPING, of wet CRUNCHES that mean the steer is literally being torn to pieces and is almost makes it worse that we can't see anything of what's going on and then it's quiet again. The line jerks a few times, then stops. Slowly the sound of the jungle starts up again
"Fascinating animals, fascinating." John smiles.
"I want to see them. Can we get closer?" I asked. Ellie puts a hand on my arm, like calming an overexcited child.
"We're still perfecting a viewing system. The raptors seem to be a bit resistant to integration into a park setting." John said. A voice comes from behind us.
"They should all be destroyed."
I turn around and see the man who spoke. He joins us and takes his hat off.
"Robert. Robert Muldoon, my game warden from Kenya. Bit of an alarmist, I'm afraid, But he's dealt with the
raptors more than anyone." John introduced.
"Alan Grant. Tell me, what kind of metabolism do they have? What's their growth rate?" Dad introduced.
"They're lethal at eight months. And I do lethal. I've hunted most things that can hunt you, but the way these things move" Robert said.
"Fast for biped?" Asked Dad.
"Cheetah speed. Fifty, sixty miles per hour if they ever got out in the open. And they're astonishing jumpers." Robert answered.
"They show extreme intelligence, even problem solving. Especially the big one. We bred eight originally, but when she came in, she took over the pride and killed all but two of the others. That one, when she looks at you, you can see she's working things out. She's the reason we have to feed 'em like this. She had them all attacking the fences when the feeders came.
"The fences are electrified, right?" I asked.
"That's right. But they never attack the same place twice. They were testing the fences for weaknesses. Systematically. They remembered." Robert said. Behind them, the crane whirrs back to life, raising the cable back up out of the raptor pen. I turn around and stare as the end portion of the cable becomes visible. The steer has been dragged completely away, leaving only the tattered, bloody harness. Hammond claps his hands together excitedly.
"Who's hungry?"
YOU ARE READING
Jurassic Park: Grant's Daughter
FanfictionA 14 years old girl is sent to Montana to live with her Dad and his girlfriend. They get invited to a theme park by the famous, John Hammond. Join them as they go through bumps through the park.
