Chapter Four

I woke up to the sound of a helicopter landing near by. Sitting up and opening the door, I spotted the research lab fully built, a helicopter landing on top. But how? According to my wrist watch it was only eight in the morning.

"They finished while you were asleep." Anna informed me. Turning back to look at her, she looked back at me. She was sat in the tent, scrolling on the computer.

"You're telling me they worked through the night?" I asked, tilting my head at her. "And I didn't hear any of it." Anna nodded, taking care of the bedding.

"The tent is a thermal tent. It has special insulation to keep the climate out. It also doubles as an effective sound proofing." She replied matter of factly. Well, it was definitely darker in here than a normal tent. "And they rotated shifts." She added, referring to my first question.

"I see. I suppose that would make sense." I replied. As I walked out I noticed the tents were gone completely, other than ours of course. "Wait. They finished it all?" I stared at the hotel across from the lab, mouth agape.

"No sir. The restaurant is still being worked on." As she spoke, I did indeed notice a building next to the hotel, smaller in size. "Oh, here." Looking back at her, she handed me a smartphone, the load screen revealing to be that of the computers. "This will be easier to do quick things like selecting dig sites and such." I furrowed my brow a bit.

"What about my-" Interrupting my question, the helicopter flew over us. Tilting my head, I went to the laboratory, the helicopter's thrust causing my lab coat to flow behind me. Anna hurriedly followed behind me.

The inside was rather immaculate, the walls and ceiling white with a light gray tiled floor. Currently, there was no one here as I had not hired staff. Mainly due to my thinking it a joke, in part lack of a secured wage.

Following the signs, I walked into the genetic wing, computers and other machinations filling the room. Going to one of the computers, a tutorial prompt appeared, featuring the cartoon Tyrannosaur.

"Welcome! Before we begin, please put a fossil of you're choice into the grinder." Looking around, I spotted the machine. Luckily everything was labeled. But where were the fossils. As I looked around, I heard the sound of wheels. Looking at the door as it swung open, Anna came through with a trolley. On the trolley was an assortment of fossils, all labeled 'Tyrannosaurus Rex.'

"I figured I should get them for you." Anna explained in an almost cheerful tone. I looked at her with pursed lips. It seemed as though she may have an ulterior motive here. Nevertheless I took what appeared to be a jaw bone and set it inside the specified machine.

"Now the machine will clean the fossil of all alien DNA before grinding it into powder. Then the powder will be deposited into a chemical known as EDTA. The chemical will decalcify the DNA. However this process will take twenty four hours. Feel free to grind more bones, however remember to label them. I will proceed when the first step is completed." The cartoon Tyrannosaur then waved in place.

"Well, I suppose I should start making the labels." I mumbled to myself, looking at the bone grinder. There was a keyboard and a heads up display. Going through the selections, I found the labels, proceeding to enter it in. Looking back at Anna, she looked at the Tyrannosaur animation with a scowl.

"So cute yet so mean.."

"What was that Anna?"

"Nothing." She turned away as I pretended to not hear what she mumbled. I smirked a bit, taking the other fossils, a vertebrae and assumedly a leg bone. I put them in the grinder one at a time. After a minute or two, vials with the proper labels were dispensed. I moved them over to a rack, gently securing them.

The phone Anna gave me made a noise. Looking at it, it notified me of a new batch of fossils getting delivered. Sure enough, the sound of a rotor cutting through the air emerged, hovering over the building as it landed. Following Anna to the helipad, I helped the workers bring the crates into the storage.

I tried chatting with them, but they didn't seem interested, soon leaving.

"Oh! Dr. Sattler," I turned to her voice. "Look!" My eyes widened as I peered into the crate. On one side a lump of Gold, the other a lump of Rhodium.

"This uh.. This doesn't exactly seem to be a uh... a fossil." I stated, looking from Anna to the box.

"No, but we can sell these and acquire more funding." She replied, gazing into the precious metals.

"How would one do that?" To my question, she responded by snatching the phone from my lab coat pocket. "H-hey!" And while paying me no heed, tapping a bit and showing me the screen.

"See, you can go to this screen and sell the ores. The workers already added them to the inventory. You can also sell fossils." I nodded, snatching my phone back. "The delivery crew will pick up the crates when they drop the other fossils off."

"Okay, I understand.." I mumbled, selling the ores like she explained. "Now I should probably send the crew to another site." I mumbled to myself. I selected the "Lorihna Formation" and sent the crew back there. Who knows how much DNA we'll extract. I heard Anna huff as she looked over my shoulder. Smiling softly, I set the fossils on the trolley.

There was a fossil of both creatures. A back plate for the Stegosaurus, and the horn of the Ceratosaurus. We brought them to the DNA room and set up the machine. It was early morning yet, so we had more of the day to go. Based on earlier, I estimated it took about an hour, maybe an hour and a half for the helicopter to arrive. So while I waited I retrieved my laptop from the tent and proceeded to place the fencing.

"What dinosaur do you want first sir?" Anna tilted her head while asking.

"The Ceratosaurus. The Stegosaur lives in herds, and I don't feel like handling that right now. I also need a ranger station..." I responded, talking half to myself as she watched me make the placements. As I finished up, the sound of the phone, followed by the helicopter resounded.

As I went to the helipad, the men carried in three more crates and took the minerals, flying off. Inside the three crates was a leg bone to a Ceratosaurus, A piece of amber containing... something. The label was a question mark, helpful. And in the third crate, a lump of gold.

"Well... I guess I'll just repeat it..." I mumbled, selling the gold and sending the expedition back to the same site. I then bring them to the room to get ground.