Jurassic Park The Beginning

Prologue: The First Born

Disclaimer: I do not own Jurassic Park.

Author Note: This is a prequel to my story Jurassic Park Broken Lives. The timeline is my own that I created using information gathered from the novels, movies, games, and various sites. Enjoy.

John Parker Hammond stood impatiently watching several machines care for the eggs. He leaned on his cane, a bamboo pole with a piece of polished amber at the end. His graying hair reflected his old age but his eyes were that of an excited youth.

For years now, his company, Ingen, has spent vast resources into cloning the dinosaurs with only limited success. The investors were now pressuring him for results but he had none to show and several were beginning to doubt it was possible.

This was the third attempt at cloning the velociraptor, the first attempt ended in the infants dying in the egg before three weeks, the second died only minutes after emerging from their shell. Several other species were having the same difficulties as well, from the underdeveloped bodies and unknown genetic complications. The problem Wu concluded was that a gene was missing and that he had to find a suitable match or else the creatures would die because of genetic defects within minutes of hatching.

Damn Wu if he did not get it right this time, John though as he rocked on his the balls of his heels as he always did when he got angry or nervous. "Do you know how long this will take?" John questioned as he watched the unmoving eggs. "You said there was movement earlier."

"Yes and there was." Wu replied as he checked a chart. "All nine eggs showed sighs of activity this morning."

"Yes, well now it is evening," John said and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Why is it so humid in here?"

"Your researchers said that we needed to mimic the environment that they would have originally…" Wu stated.

"Yes, yes, I get it." John sighed. "Call me if they have any movement."

John turned towards the door leading outside and slowly made his way pass several large tanks and machines. He passed rows of labeled tables, Stego, Tric, and Galli, each of which had three rows of eggs, sixty in each row. The room was windowless because the light could affect the sensitive machinery and possibly hinder the eggs development. Seven scientists around the area were constantly checking the temperature of the eggs and monitoring all the statistics on the small flashing screens on the machinery.

John opened the door and stepped out side. He sighed. Isla Sorna, a large island off the coast of Costa Rica, center of Ingen's dinosaur development project, vast and green with nothing to live in it. He hoped that would soon change.

He took in a deep breath and sighed. The island had a wonderful diversity of plant life, including thirty kinds of year-round flowering plants. The air was heavy and humid, though not as much as in the building. John moved against the wall of the building and leaned against it, letting his cane sit against the wall as well. He rubbed his eyes with wrinkling fingers, the stress of running a company the size of Ingen was too much at times and cost of keeping the project secret only added to the tension.

Over an hour passed as John remained outside by the door to the lab, the sun was beginning to set and the air became chilly. The sky above turned a vibrant color of blended shades of blue, green and purple. Small clouds drifted gingerly in the wind while leaves fluttered about on the ground. The surrounding jungle came alive with crickets and frogs. Their sounds, a soothing melody that always helped John cope with any anxiety he had.

The door next to him opened and a scientist, in his early thirties with brown hair and average build, stepped out. His white lab coat moved slightly as a small gust blew past. His nametag said "Dr. Harold Serentis."

"Mr. Hammond, Dr. Wu asked me to get you." The man said. "He said to tell you that the eggs are defiantly going to hatch within a few minutes."

"He said that last time," Hammond reciprocated. "Is he sure?"

"Yes, the eggs are moving quite a bit, I believe several have started to crack."

"Why didn't you say so," John said and grabbed his cane. He rushed past the man and hurried to the table with the raptor eggs. By now, a small group of scientist had gathered around the area to observe. "Out of my way," John said as he reached the group. He pushed past several scientists and looked to Wu.

"Here," Wu said and handed John a pair of gloves.

"Thank you," John said and slipped on the sterile rubber gloves.

Several squeaks quickly got the attention of the group and everyone turned to see a robot it arm gently grab one egg to steady it. Large cracks formed on the shell and the squeaks grew more intense.

John smiled as the tip of a snout broke free, the tiny mouth opened, showing dozens of tiny teeth. A high-pitched squeak sounded from the infant. Carefully, John pulled fractured pieces of shell form the egg and soon, the infant tumbled onto the mosses and plant material that lined the artificial nest.

The young raptor was a dark blue in color with a neon strip down its side. Large red eyes stared awkwardly at the surrounding environment from a triangular head. Tiny arms clawed at the air while little legs twitched as the infant tried to right its self. A pitiful chip echoed in the lab as John picked up the tiny animal.

"Hello little girl," John said as the infant struggled to free its self from his grip, "Active little one isn't she."

"Uh John," Wu said. "I think we should get her into a stress free environment as soon as possible, several of the last animals died of stress."

"Yes, yes," Hammond said approvingly and handed the infant to Wu. "Here comes the next one."

Wu carefully placed a tag around the neck of the velociraptor, the code "000-381-139 v3" labeled the white band. A nearby scientist picked up the creature and walked out of the room.

Hours passed as each of the nine eggs hatched one by one, in total, five were blue while four were white. In seemingly good health, each infant moved from the lab to a specialized care center to decrease the stress and fright of the animal, while maintaining an environment that could support it.

John stood outside the room the infant velociraptors were in, a smile lined his face. Next to him, Wu stood with his hand behind his back.

"Well Mr. Hammond, we did it," Wu said with a deep sense of pride. "It's early to say for sure, but I think we did it."

"Yes you did Wu," John said and patted him on the shoulder. "I have one question, why are they two different colors?"

"I don't know," Wu admitted. "I'm sure it is nothing to worry about though."

The infant raptors jumped and wrestled with each other, unaware of the fret over their survival. They tugged on each other's tails and nipped playfully at another's limbs. The first-born velociraptor stopped and sniffed the air before jumping on another.

John smile and turned away. Tomorrow will be a real test of Wu's work, John thought. He whistled as he headed towards his room…