Jurassic Park: My Way

Almost Paradise

   Cut Lawquane whistled cheerfully as he drove his landspeeder through the Cabo Blanco Biological Reserve, on the west coast of Costa Rica. It was a beautiful morning, and the road before him was spectacular: hugging the edge of a cliff, overlooking the jungle and the blue ocean. According to the guidebooks, Cabo Blanco was unspoiled wilderness, almost a paradise. Seeing it now made Lawquane feel like the vacation was back on track.

   Cut Lawquane, a twenty-six-year-old farmer–and clone, but since he rarely saw any of his brothers, he forgot about it most days–had come to Costa Rica, Terra with his wife and two adopted kids– a daughter, Shaeeah, who was nine, and a son, Jek, who was seven–for a two-week holiday. The trip had actually been his wife's idea, and for weeks all Suu talked about was the wonderful national parks of Costa Rica, and how good it would be for the children to see them after being cooped up on Saleucami their whole lives. Then, when they arrived, it turned out Suu had an appointment to see a plastic surgeon who specialized in Twi-leks at San Jose. That was the first Cut had heard about the excellent and inexpensive plastic surgery available on Terra, specifically Costa Rica, and all the luxurious private clinics that dealt with different species in San Jose.

   Of course they'd had a huge fight. Cut felt she'd lied to him, and she had. And he put his foot down about the surgery business. It was ridiculous. Suu was only thirty, and was a beautiful woman. Hell, she could've gone back into the dancing business if she wanted to. But recently, Suu seemed very insecure, worried, even. It seemed she was mostly worried about losing her looks.

   That, and everything else.

   "Cut, are you sure this is the right road?" Suu asked. "We haven't seen any other people for a while."

   "There was a speeder bike fifteen minutes ago," he reminded her. "The blue one, with the Togruta driver? Remember?"

   "Yes, but he was going the other way–"

   "Mesh'la, you wanted a deserted beach," he said gently, "and that's what you're gonna get."

   Suu smiled. "You're right," she said.

   "At least, we hope you're right," said Shaeeah from the back seat.

   "Trust me, I'm right," he said, driving in silence for a moment. "It's beautiful, isn't it? Just look at that view. Beautiful."

   "It's okay," she said.

   "Come on, Shaeeah!" Exclaimed her brother. "It's spectacular!"

   Cut smiled to himself, then focused on the road as it began to descend. Suddenly, a small black shape flashed across the road, and Shaeeah and Jek shrieked simultaneously, "Look! Look!"

   Cut swerved, slamming on his brakes, and everyone jolted as the speeder stopped.

   "Cut, are you okay?" Suu asked.

   He nodded, but he knew he wasn't. He hadn't seen a lot of combat, but he'd been through the Battle of Geonosis. Still, he didn't know he'd react like that. Then again, he supposed even four years of life as a civilian couldn't change his training. Cut sighed, releasing the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in.

   "Daddy, are you okay?" Shaeeah asked, leaning forward in her seat and putting her small blue hand on his shoulder.

   "Yeah, honey," Cut replied, forcing a smile. He started up the speeder again, and then drove in silence for a few minutes.

   "What do you think it was, children?" Said Suu, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "A monkey?"

   "Maybe a...squirrel monkey," said Lawquane, jumping at the change of subject.