Chapter 90: It sounds bigger

"Ian?" A huge container ship was moving along the river. Anyone with binoculars would have noticed that through a porthole you could see a man in his forties with a particular rock star look who was dozing in an armchair. "Ian, wake up. We're almost there" The man opened his eyes with a start, finding himself in front of the face of a young woman with blond hair. "Uh, yeah. Thanks Sarah" he said standing up. "We should wake up the others..." "You were the only one absent. The others are already on the deck of the ship" Sarah answered jokingly. "Roland told me, and here I quote his words, 'if he's not dead bring him here'. So come now" "Who knows why it doesn't surprise me at all" Ian grumbled standing up. His 'old' bones ached from the sudden movement. The two quickly walked across the huge ship. They had been going up the river for more than three months now: due to the size of the ship they had had to avoid shallow areas and make constant detours. It had been a very long and boring journey, but at least they seemed to have finally reached their destination. Once on the bridge several men were waiting for them. Among them a short guy with a kind face waved to him. "Professor Malcolm, we've been waiting for you for a long time now. I assumed he had passed away in his sleep" "And I took it for granted that I could accompany my girlfriend on an expedition in the forest in peace, but unfortunately I found you in the way, Eddie" Ian answered in a gruff voice. The man laughed. "You should fire the guy who writes you the jokes, professor Malcolm. Believe me, you can aspire to much better". Having said that he turned and walked next to a guy in a white shirt who was photographing something. Eddie Carr was a field equipment expert who was indispensable when traveling to the wilderness. Generally he and Ian were quite accommodating towards each other, but when Professor Malcolm was just awake he turned into a grumpy who didn't look at anyone. "You're such a bear" Sarah grumbled in annoyance. "Here we go. I am not that bad. When I have been awake for at least half an hour and I was able to enjoy a good coffee" Ian tried to calm her down. Sarah glared at him: to say that Ian Malcolm was a tolerable person was a cardinal sin for most of the scientific world. Sarah Hardy was a biologist and although she was not as famous or esteemed as other famous individuals such as Alan Grant, who the name featured in countless magazines and was known for making some of the best dinosaur discoveries. She was a person who worked on the territory, who loved to get her hands dirty and study the legendary creatures up close. Ian Malcolm, on the other hand, was a professor of theoretical physics, a staunch advocate of chaos theory; his exaggerated and somewhat disturbing ways clashed strongly with the tranquility desired by poor Sarah, who had taken her boyfriend's behavior as a training for when she would have to confront predators in their habitat. Ian wasn't even supposed to be on that expedition, since he was a physicist and not a biologist, but his fiancée's presence in the group had made his presence obligatory. Although Sarah had assured him that everything would be okay, Ian had been persistent. And so the woman was forced to take him with her. Trying not to think about the annoying character's presence, Sarah headed for the edge of the ship. From there he could see where they were heading: a huge lake several kilometers long in the middle of the forest. "Did you see anything while I was sleeping?" "Many things in truth. This place is a refuge for countless animals. Nick has already photographed several spinosaurs moving in the water: we think the lake is full of them" Eddie replied. "Good. It's flattering to us" Sarah said. "However, I doubt that we will be able to find what we are looking for with photographs. We're talking about animals that are too intelligent to be caught so easily" "You are right" Nick replied, looking up from the camera lens. "Do you think it's here? The nest of that spinosaurus?" "If it's not here, it'll be near" Sarah said, observing the lake in all its immensity. When the discovery of a new species of spinosaurus was made public, Sarah Hardy immediately mobilized to go and study it. It had taken him some time to prepare an expedition, but she was not a hasty girl. According to his reasoning, the Spinosaurus superior that had clogged the news a few months earlier was probably native to an inner area of the continent of Maakanar; it was the only way to explain why it wasn'tt known yet. Sarah was convinced that the spinosaurus was lost and approached human settlements by accident, but that its true habitat (and therefore the herd) was found much more internally in the forest. Sarah had then plotted an eventual course that the spinosaurus could have followed. Since thanks to professor Morgan it was found that it moved mainly across the river, Sarah had used the waterway as a reference point. From here it was easy to go up to the lake, which from his point of view was an excellent meeting point for a herd of spinosaurs. Sarah wanted to closely study this new species she thought was magnificent. Unfortunately, the Three Hundred Years War that had scourged Laurentia and Saramir had caused the disappearance of almost all the dinosaurs: most of them had been killed to avert the dangers for the soldiers. Many species found on the Maakanar continent were therefore still unknown to science, since they had never come into contact with humans. Studying them was therefore the task of biologists like Sarah or nature photographers like Nick. Behind her a dry voice interrupted them: "I hope it's here. I don't want to wait too long to collect my prize" Sarah turned up her nose and so did Nick. Behind them had appeared a tall, bald man, also with a bizarre cowboy hat on his head. "You remember our deal, Mr. Tembo" Sarah said in an annoyed voice. "One animal. Not one more" "I'm aware of that. Always assuming you find it" the man laughed. Sarah disapproved of Roland Tembo with all her heart. He was a famous hunter who caught animals and sold them to zoos for money. After the sudden disappearance of the famous poacher Wheathley during a hunt, many were those who wanted to claim the title of 'white hunter', and Roland was among the favorites. Sarah hated these people, but in order to lead her expedition, a compromise had to be made. Hardly anyone was eager to get close to the spinosaurus after it showed its intelligence. No one was willing to escort him. In the end, only Roland had had the courage to step forward, promising him a ship and a hundred men, but on one condition: permission to hunt and capture a Spinosaurus superior for resale. Sarah had resisted as long as possible, but in the end he had been forced to accept, however making it clear that the agreement included the capture of a single animal, not one more. Nick walked over to Roland until he was face to face with him. He was even taller than him and had a grim look. "An animal is discovered for the first time and the only one you know how to deal with it is by shooting it?" "Hey, calm down, 'World first'. I'm here to make money, and that animal can give me a lot of money. We have already discussed it, if you want me to protect you you have to repay me like this" Roland replied without losing his temper. "Keep your ecological bullshit for some nut like you who listens to it" Nick Van Owen was one of the most famous photographers in the world. His naturalistic shots were known by practically the entire community in the sector. In addition to that, however, he was also a member of 'World first', an ecological association that was meant to stop hunters and poachers. So it was natural that he couldn't bear Roland's presence; during the journey he and another hunter had even come to blows, forcing Ian and Sarah to mediate. After that episode, at least, it seemed that the tension had momentarily subsided, even if neither group was sparing digs at the other. Just when Nick seemed to want to reply, Sarah stepped in with Eddie's support. "Guys, please, don't start over. Enjoy the view" she said to calm the two contenders. "Yeah, listen to the lady" Ian laughed amused. Sarah responded by punching him in the stomach; the others just ignored him. They knew that if they answered they would start a conversation that could highly harm their sanity. At least professor Malcolm's unsolicited entry had been enough to calm the spirits: Nick and Roland had instantly abandoned all aggressive intent and were both looking in a random direction to ignore Ian. Sarah was about to imitate them when suddenly something caught her attention. A roar shook the air. It came from the other side of the lake, but it was loud enough to be heard at this distance. It was so unexpected that many jerked around at the source of the sound, and some even jumped in fright. "What is it?" Eddie murmured. "A tyrannosaurus?" "I don't think so..." Sarah whispered. "It sounds bigger"