Jurassic Space - Part I
Posted on Tue Oct 21st, 2025 @ 3:23am by Lieutenant Christopher Blake & Ensign Nala Rider
Edited on on Tue Oct 21st, 2025 @ 4:14pm
3,040 words; about a 15 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Sins of History
Location: Holodeck 2 - Deck 4 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD014 1600 hrs
Nala tinkered with the wiring of an Ancient Earth jeep emblasoned with the symbol of the infamous Jurassic Park logo on both sides. While Nala was particularly TERRIFIED of the movies, she had a fascination with dinosaurs.
Nala was waiting for Lt. Blake to join her for a ride through Jurassic Park...which she was sure was NOT gonna have individuals being eaten...at least, that's how she HOPED she'd programmed it. Certain levels of technology were, as an old Earth adage went, "above her pay grade".
"You weren't kidding." Chris said as he walked up and patted the jeep. "I didn't even know they had remastered this one. Jurassic Park is a classic. "
He walked around the jeep and took in the smell of the old combustion engine mixed with the wilds. "Are we characters or observers? Last remaster I did was observer only, which took you out of the experience when the boat started to sink. And don't get me started on how much room was on that door."
"Oh! Hi, Chris. You started me! Yeah, we're gonna be part of the action...just no getting eaten," Nala giggled at Chris's description of The Titanic as she gently let the hood fall back into place.
"I'm a fan of not getting eaten." Chris replied with a lopsided grin. He peered inside the jeep and whistled. "There's something to be said for the ancient designs. So simple." He looked up from the jeep toward Nala. "You want to drive or me?"
"Yep, it sure is! You can drive. I also have the rail mechanics installed incase," Nala rummaged around in the trunk for a moment, and pulled out two vests also emblazoned with the Jurassic Park logo.
"Wanna make it more authentic?" Nala asked with a smile.
"Absolutely!" Chris replied as he took the vest from Nala and pulled it over his shoulders in a single fluid movement. He did half a spin and then posed next to the jeep. "Does this count as camouflage?"
"Pffff! I should say so!" Nala giggled at Chris's antics as she slipped into her vest.
"And the rails shouldn't be needed. Maybe..." He glanced again inside the jeep and admired the physical controls. "Wonder how she'll handle being chased by a stegosaurus."
"We'll find out! I think I programmed it so that only plant-eaters chase us, you know, protecting their territory and what not. We'll still see meat eaters, but they should just ignore us," Nala again wondered if she'd set the program right.
"Sounds like a plan." Chris replied. "Did you leave in the monstrous ones from the original or the updated dinosaurs? I kind of prefer the original, it's interesting to see what they used to think they looked like."
He walked to the passenger side of the jeep and held the door open for Nala. "After you."
"Thank you. I stayed with the original, particularly because those are the only ones I've seen so far, and because I don't really wanna see an Adomitus Rex up close just yet," Nala shuddered as she got into the jeep.
"Original works for me." Chris replied with a grin before shutting the door and walking over to the driver side and hopping in.
"Safety first." He commented as he pulled the belt down across his shoulder and clipped it in. "Where we're going, there are no inertial dampers." He reached down to the right of the steering column and turned the key. The motor turned once and came to life with it's own little roar.
"Naturally. Ya know, kinda wish they still had these...in addition to the dampeners," Nala amended her statement.
Chris stepped down on the gas and the jeep rumbled down the rocky and bumpy road through the ancient jungle. As they made a turn, the plants seemed to give way to the large gate flanked on either side by firry torches. As the grandeur of the gate came into full view a man's voice spoke from the intercom in the jeep.
"Welcome, to Jurassic Park!"
"This is gonna be so FUN!" Nala squeaked.
Even knowing it was only solid light didn't take away from the awe-inspiring spectacle of the stone arch and reinforced wooden gates as they passed through.
"Only the plant eaters right?" Chris asked with a chuckle. There were a few signs ahead the guided them along the trails toward the main visitors pavilion.
"There'll be some meat eaters also, but we won't get chomped on because of the safety protocols," Nala assured, drinking in the richness of the world around her.
Initially as they drove, there was hardly more than a shutter or leaves that could easily be dismissed as the wind. Triumphant music played through the radio in the jeep as the dense tropical forest began to thin from around and above them.
A sudden cracking and rustling above them made Chris slam on the breaks. As they looked up, the large scaled jaw of a dinosaur came through the foliage and pulled back a chunk of the canopy. Sunlight shone through as they watched the long neck of the brontosaurus rise skyward.
Chris glanced over at Nala and realized he'd been holding his breath all this time. Letting it out slowly, he chuckled. "That... that scared the crap out of me."
"Nno kkidding! Wow that's so beautiful!" Nala gulped a few breaths as she studied the brontosaurus.
Chris put his hands back on the wheel and whistled. "And we haven't even gotten into the program proper yet."
The jeep continued on the path until the trees gave way entirely as they came out onto the top of a hill. As if on cue, and it probably was, orchestral music played over the radio as various large dinosaurs moved in herds and grazed on the foliage. A few flying dinosaurs glided over head and brought their attention to the small valley ahead and the visitors center.
"That's how they got people into this place, give 'em a show, and they'll follow you anywhere," Nala said, gazing out at the spectacular wonders unfolding before her.
A young armored dinosaur came up to the jeep and let out a small squawk as it moved excitedly from one foot to the other and play charged the jeep before running back to the rest of his herd.
"Aw! He was so CUTE!" Nala squealed, pumping her hands and thumping her feet on the floor excitedly.
"As much as he wanted to play, I don't think the momma would have liked us playing tag in the jeep." Chris chuckled as he guided the vehicle down the bumpy path into the valley.
"Probably not, but he sure would have like it!" Nala giggled, grabbing the hand bar as they hit a bump.
As they approached, they could bee a half dozen or so other people gathered out front of the visitor center. It looked like everyone was amazed by the dinosaurs milling about. They pulled up along side one of the parked jeeps and Chris turned off the engine.
"Welcome welcome!" An older gentleman in white khakis greeted them with an enthusiastic wave. "Come, the tour hasn't begun yet!"
Chris looked over to Nala. "Wasn't that the voice from the speakers as well?"
"Thank you, kind Sir. I think so. Perhaps he is the head man himself," Nala was intrigued by the enthusiast little man.
"Well, I think we're about to find out." Chris said a little in surprise as the doors to the jeep swung open automatically. He looked back at Nala and chuckled in amusement as he undid the restraints and stepped out of the vehicle.
Nala exited the car and allowed the wind to tease her hair.
"I'm John Hammond." The older gentleman said with a broad friendly smile as he walked over and extended his hand to Chris. "I'm glad you could make it and I hope you enjoy your time here."
Chris took the man's hand and was a little shocked by the grip and vigour that John had. "Hi John, I'm Chris and this is Nala."
John's smile seemed to brighten even more as Nala came around from her side of the jeep. "Ah! You've made it too! Good good! Not sure if you heard my introduction, but I'm John Hammond and this..." He motioned around to the surroundings wistfully before turning his full attention back to Nala. "This is Jurassic Park, the fruits of many many years of hard work and dedication."
"By the skin of my teeth! It's nice to officially meet you, Mr. John. I've read up on your efforts and I was thoroughly impressed with how sophisticated it all is!" Nala praised, following Mr. John's sweeping arm with her eyes.
John Hammond gave a chuckle that seemed to make his whole body smile. "You haven't seen anything yet young lady. Please, follow me inside."
Chris motioned for Nala to go ahead of him as John turned and walked into the main visitor center. Following behind, he took in the splendor of the building. The structure itself seemed to evoke sandstone with fossils carved over the cracked faux surface. The skeleton of a T-Rex stood like a guardian in the center of the large atrium filled with exotic long extinct plants.
Nala re-tied her bandana around her neck as she took in the building and it's contents.
John allowed all the visitors to take in the sights while trying to hide a knowing smile. "Please, this way to continue the tour."
Chris took an extra long look at the skeleton before following along with the group. Two people dressed for what he could only assume was an outdoor expedition talked excitedly amongst themselves, while another man with glasses wearing mostly black casually made his way over to Chris and Nala.
"Well this all seems uh interesting so far, don't you uh think?" The man said casually as he offered his hand. "Ian Malcom. Did you see the uh dinosaurs back there?"
"Nala Rider, pleasure to meet you Mr. Ian. Yes, it does and yes I did," Nala tried to stay nonchalant at meeting one of her favorite characters...but it was hard!
Chris took the offered hand and nodded. "Chris Blake. And yes, quite impressive."
"Impressive and uh concerning." Ian said with a sly grin. "If that was our first uh impression then I'm wondering what the finale will be."
Chris nodded and bit his tongue. He couldn't remember enough about the story if Ian was one of the survivors or not, either way he was intrigued that the character already seemed suspicious.
Chris looked at Nala and raised his eyebrows in a knowing manner. "I'm wondering as well. We should catch up with the rest of the tour or we may never find out."
"Definitely. Come on ya slow-pokes!" Nala nodded to Chris with a grin before she bounced after the group, acting a little more like a young teenager than a young adult.
Chris shook head head and chuckled a bit at Nala's enthusiasm as he picked up his pace and followed close behind.
John was leading the group down a wide beige hallway lined with large murals depicting various scenes of dinosaurs and the accepted method of fossilization through the ages. Chris glanced at the paintings, but compared to the dinosaurs they'd already seen it was more of an after thought.
By the time they had caught up to the whole group, they were in a small theater. John was already motioning for everyone to take a seat as he fumbled with some cards from his pocket. Chris took a seat next to a well dressed man with thinning hair. Unlike himself and Nala, the man didn't seem to be enjoying himself and wasn't even trying to hide it.
Nala took notice of the man, but decided to ignore him in favor of the adventure.
"Ok everyone," John began as he got his cards in order. "Please remain seated for the entire ride."
Chris raised and eyebrow and glanced at Nala before whispering. "Ride?"
"Oh heck yeah!" Nala giggled, excitedly bouncing up and down in her seat.
As if to answer his question, a lap bar eased down across their laps and locked into place.
"Omph! Forgot about this part," Nala omphed, rubbing her waist.
John stood still and beamed like a child about to show off his new toy to his class. A projector whirled to life somewhere behind them as a the screen was illuminated and and an animated T-Rex skeleton came into view before morphing into the Jurassic Park logo.
A moment later, there were two Johns. The real one still happily stood by the screen, but now there was another life-size John on the screen, albeit dressed in a more traditional business suit.
"Hello everyone!" Suit John said with a smile as he waved his hands outward. He looked then toward where Real John stood. "Hello John."
Real John stood still for a moment before muttering to himself and chuckling. "Sorry, forgot my line!"
"I'm fine, Thanks for asking." Suit John continued the conversation himself. "Well yes John. I'm you and you're me. Well, kind of. I'm a clone John! An exact duplicate of you!"
Real John found his place and looked down at his card. "How is that possible John?"
"It's a complex and wonderful process that involves your DNA and a lot of science John. Here, let's let our friend here tell everyone all about it!" As Suit John spoke, an animated double-helix with a smiling face and large eyes swirled to life next to him.
"I'm Mr. DNA! And I'm a part of all living things!"
Chris leaned over and whispered to Nala. "This is more your thing right? Sciency stuff? Just let me know when they say something that's been disproven."
"Huh? Oh, sure, Chris...sorry," Nala'd been so absorbed in the talk that she'd almost missed what Chris was saying to her! Nala leaned forward in her chair...well, as forward as she could with the seatbelt on anyway.
The movie ended a short while later with a multitude of John's on the screen talking in unison while the animated DNA strand waved good-bye. Chris instinctively reached for the bar expecting it to come up when his seat and the whole theatre shifted and moved.
He chuckled nervously to Nala as he screen rotated away and was replaced by a large window looking into a science lab.
"I guess the ride isn't over yet." He muttered.
"Guess not. As they say, hang on!" Nala joked, hoping to put Chris at ease.
They watched as a voice from the speakers explained they were watching real scientists extract and work with real DNA in real time. This was the heart of the park; not the pop and flash but the science. The theatre continued to rotate and show them different parts of the science labs. Finally showing large incubators filled with eggs and robotic hands gently turning them.
Nala's eyes bulged as she drank everything in, tucking away notes for when she attempted to make her own dinosaur...someday.
As Chris watched, there was a commotion nearby and the theatre lurched to a halt as someone had plied their safety bar up, unlocking it for everyone. Chris stood up from his seat as a part of the group rushed to a door next to the large window. He smiled at Nala and shrugged. "I guess this is where we get off."
"Omph! Yep, looks like it. Nuts, wish I'd re-watched the movie before coming in here...I don't remember what's happening!" Nala huffed, reorienting herself before standing and following the group. Nala noticed the grumpy man again, but paid him no mind as she tried to see what was going on.
Following the group through a door marked 'No Entrance', Chris tried to keep up and listened to the excited conversations about the robots and the eggs.
One scientist seemed like he was going to try and stop the group, but was quickly pushed out of the way. John, for his part, followed along happily. He seemed genuinely excited by the guests letting their curiosity get the better of them.
Finally they crowded around what looked like a mix between a giant bird next and a car assembly line. A large heat lamp shone down onto the eggs as the next slowly rotated and robotic arms gently rotated the eggs. Chris glanced at Nala and smiled. "The miracle of life."
"Whoa...just whoa," Nala grinned back, a thrill racing through her at the momentous event she was witnessing.
One of the eggs moved on it's own and instead of the robotic arm simply turning it over, it lifted the egg out of the nest and rotated it over the crowd to another smaller next on a nearby table. Chris gave one more glance to the large next before following everyone over to the single egg.
There was more movement now as the shell cracked. After a bit more movement, part of the shell fell away as a tiny claw poked through and scrapped down through the shell. Everyone was in awe as the tiny creature cracked away more of the shell until it poked a scaly head up and looked around slowly. It let out a high pitched squawk as the robotic arms began to move it once more into an incubator.
"Was that..."
"Yes. It is."
John giggled excitedly. "Yes everyone, that was a velociraptor." The smile on his face stood in stark contrast to the horror that seemed etched on most of the group.
Nala couldn't help giggling as well. John's enthusiasm was just that contagious!
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Christopher Blake
Chief Flight Control Officer, USS Artemis
Second Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Ensign Nala Rider
Facial Reconstruction Specialist, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
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