The plane jolted and rattled as Pythagoras attempted to finish organizing his research on the tiny table before him. Books and papers labeled with dinosaur related titles shifted and slid up and down as the ride got significantly more turbulent. The captain's voice over the intercom woke his sleeping companions.
"We're about to start landing, so please fasten your seat beats." In the movies people in private jets didn't have to wear seatbelts, but Pythagoras couldn't complain. Things don't happen in real life like they do in films, and he could live with that.
"Hercules. Hercules! You have to put on your seatbelt!" Pythagoras scolded as his clicked into place.
"What are they gonna do? Throw me off the plane?" The older man said sarcastically as he lay back down to get some more sleep. Pythagoras shared a look with Jason, his other companion for the journey, as they both settled in for the landing. Pythagoras and Hercules had known each other for years, back when he was Professor Hercules, Pythagoras' archeology teacher at university. Their friendship was slow, but they were forced to grow fond of each other as the years past and Pythagoras continued ending up with classes which had Hercules as the teacher. They stayed close even after Py graduated and Hercules retired. Jason was more a new friend, but one who was going to stay. He was a Paleontologist, like Pythagoras, but also a Marine Biologist. When Py started working for the Museum Jason was giving lectures on his findings from the bottom of the sea, and the two became the closest of friends, then the golden trio after Jason and Hercules met.
The three all shared common interests, with dinosaurs and ancient history, yet the one rift between Py and the others was experience. Before being a professor Hercules travel to Egypt to study at dig sites. Jason had been on dozens of trips, from the land to the sea in search of answers. But Pythagoras had never left the confines of his precious museum, with its safety and its predictability. Except for now. He stared wistfully out the window, watching the island appear through the clouds as they descended, wondering what to expect. Ms. Pasiphae's letter hadn't been very clear. It mentioned dinosaurs and a special visit to an island that would greatly enhance their research, but nothing about what kind of dig this was going to be, or if it was even on at all.
The island didn't look like a dig site usually did. It looked highly civilized, with lots of buildings among the forest of trees from what could be seen out the window. There were large gates and giant signs that said words that could not be read from such a distance. Maybe a national park? Pythagoras mused as he attempted to piece together what he was seeing.
The plane hit the surface harder than expected, causing Hercules to take a tumble of the sofa he had been so comfortable on. Jason laughed hard enough to cry, watching the professor attempt to climb back onto the chair while they speed down the runway. He eventually gave up and sat dejectedly on the floor.
"Get up. We're supposed to be professionals." Jason grinned as he grabbed his gear and stood up, waiting for the doors of the freshly stopped jet to open.
"I am a professional. Clearly all of this was intentional." Hercules mumbled half-heartedly, not really concerned with his friends believing him or not as he rubbed his injured side.
'Professional' Pythagoras thought as he began to disembark, all his papers and books now collected and stored in his carry-on. He could try to be. Just do what they do. As he walked down the short flight of stairs he saw several people waiting for him. The sun was just starting to rise over the water and set a glorious glow over the small crowd. Trees reached for the sky everywhere around them past the road they stood on. How odd their jet looked in such a forest.
"Honored guests!" A woman approached them as they touched land. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you in person. I'm Pasiphae, head of the park." She shook all their hands as they introduced themselves in order. "Allow me to introduce you to my most esteemed employees. First, the head of stem cell research, my step-daughter Ariadne," the young woman to the right of Pasiphae gave a curt nod and smile after her name was mentioned, "and my top Game Warden, Icarus," who gave an enthusiastic wave as he stepped up from the way right of his boss.
Pythagoras took in everything she said before speaking. "Sorry, but 'park'? Is this a landmark location?" As he spoke, he looked to Jason for more information, but he seemed to be expecting an answer as much as Py was. Pasiphae smiled in a pleasant sort of way as they waited.
"You were all selected especially for you exceptional talent to be the first guests at my new park. While you are guests, you will be here to give feedback and offer your professional opinions." She explained. Pythagoras processed what she said but ended up more confused than he'd started. Jason made a small noise, as if he intended to speak, or object, or ask her what she meant dragging them all the way here to be her personal critics, but was cut off. "Here are your badges. They tell everyone that you're my guests. Here is your car. This one right here." As she spoke she pointed to a Jeep with the words "Jurassic Park" splayed across the front. "Icarus will take you to the first check point, while Ariadne and I follow behind. I'm sure you must be tired from your trip, but we don't have any time to waste, so your initial tour starts now. See you soon," she finished, walking off to another identical Jeep.
"Are you coming?" Icarus asked, already standing at the door of the car. Py was the first to follow, but he climbed into the backseat with Jason, leaving the passenger seat open for Hercules. Everyone climbed into the spacious vehicle silently, and only started speaking once the car was started.
"A theme park? Is this a bloody theme park?" Hercules asked, straining his neck to see into the backseat.
"Well, sort of. It's a special, one-of-a-kind type park. A lot of work went into making this park, and keeping it secret for so long. You're going to be the first patrons ever to walk through, and trust me, it's worth it!" Icarus said excitedly, looking at Pythagoras through the rearview mirror.
"You're the Game Warden? Of what, exactly? What have they got at a theme park that needs someone with that title?" Py asked, trying to speak up over the sound of the car crunching the ground terrain they had begun travelling on. He was rather interested in the answer, but was decidedly cut off by an impatient Hercules.
"I flew all the way here for an amusement park! Why not invite a school of kids, I bet they can tell you better than I can? What, did you need to make sure your workers are pronouncing Albertosaurus correctly! Or maybe…" Hercules continued to come up with more to say, but Pythagoras stopped listening as Icarus offered no answers. He just grinned, like he knew something big was coming. So this wasn't a dig, and he wasn't going to get any real field time. He wished he wasn't so disappointed. For what Pasiphae were paying the three of them he should be pleased that the job is so easy. Yet, he had been hoping he could finally use all the knowledge he'd stored up for some good.
Eventually, the car slowed to a stop and Icarus turned so everyone could see his face. "Are you ready?" He asked, as a loud roar came from somewhere to their right. They all turned and a gasp came from Hercules and Jason, who both stood up in the open-top car, both effectively blocking Pythagoras' view of what was so interesting. Finally, with great caution, Jason exited the vehicle and cleared Py's line of sight to the vast expanse of land before him.
"Charonosaurus!" The word left his mouth as he looked out at a field where they were apparently roaming. "It's… Their…," he stuttered while attempting to clamor out of the car. Hundreds of acres of land lay before him, populated with every sort of greenery imaginable, and a river that was rushing past, dividing the humans from what very much appeared to be dinosaurs. But they couldn't be. This was a trick of some kind. Animation or electronic or hallucination. It wasn't real. Things like this just didn't happen; couldn't happen.
"They're real." Pasiphae's voice startled them from their daze. "Gentlemen, welcome to Jurassic Park, where extinction is an object of the past." Jason swiveled around and managed to open his mouth first.
"That's not possible. You can't just create a dinosaur. It doesn't work like that, we don't know enough about them to even write about them accurately. They can't be real."
"They are actually," the previously silent Ariadne chimed in. "I helped make them. And while their bones don't hold enough information to reanimate them, their blood does, which we've been finding in preserved mosquitoes for quite some time. Of course it doesn't give us the exactly correct DNA, but we have enough to go on so we can use other, similar creatures DNA to fill in those gaps. Tomorrow we'll take you to the lab to show you how all of this is done in a more in-depth setting, but in a broad sense, this is very possible."
Pythagoras was the only on still staring at the charonosaurus's. He was looking at something that his mind was denying the existence of, and yet did exist. Looking down the river he could see a large docking area where dozens of canoe and kayak racks stood waiting.
"This is an attraction." He said quietly, but only just loud enough for the game warden to hear.
"Yeah. Every dinosaur in this part is a herbivore, so they'll be perfectly safe for people to travel downstream alongside." Icarus was standing closer to him than Py had thought.
"Every!? There are more kinds?" Pythagoras was shouting this time. "Can we see more?" He had clearly just interrupted a conversation between Jason and Ariadne, but there were more dinosaurs and he had to see them; all of them. A nod from Pasiphae, and Icarus was gently grabbing the astounded paleontologist's arm, towing him back to the car. It was only morning, and they had the whole day to explore. Pythagoras stayed glued to the car window for the driven parts. Along the way they stopped at several of the most prominent attractions. A swim-with-dinosaurs reef, which Jason loved excessively, a fake dig site for children, a gondola across the park, a river rapid ride, and separate safari rides through the park to see all manner of dinosaurs. The day past by with one wonder after another, each planned to showcase the dinosaurs while keeping the exhibits from becoming like a zoo. To Pythagoras everything seemed almost real. As if it almost nearly existed, but was too far away to be truly tangible. Jason and Hercules didn't seem to feel bothered so he tried to not be as well. But while the idea of seeing real life dinosaurs was exciting and interesting, seeing them was also dangerous and thought-provoking. There was so much good that could come from this, of course, but a lot more bad seemed inevitable.
Nearing the end of the journey at the welcome center, Icarus, who Py had spent the day at the side of so he could ask endless questions, approached the paleontologist with his own questions. "What's got you so worried? You should be excited. Isn't this what you've been working towards your whole life?" Py paused before he answered; looking around at the area he was in. He saw advertising for different areas in the park. Stock photos of dinosaurs plastered everywhere, merchandise available for purchase, ticket prices posted for shows, the whole building designed to look like what it was promoting was something natural.
"No. I don't think so. I think… I do what I do so I can learn more about these creatures that lived hundreds of years ago. So I can explore an incredible part of our history and make discoveries about our own existence. I love dinosaurs, but maybe there was a reason they're gone. Everything happens for a reason, and I don't think we were supposed to co-exist. And certainly not like this," he said, gesturing to the endless advertising and merchandising surrounding the pair of them. "These aren't animals, their dinosaurs. Maybe that doesn't mean something to you, but it does to me. I just feel like all of this is too good to last." Icarus tilted his head at an angle, trying to figure out the man standing before him, the one speaking about humanity and danger. There was a click breaking the silence. Pythagoras turned the full way around and stood face to face with Pasiphae.
"Well, that's some kind of criticism. But, the way we see it, all animals can be dangerous, but zoos are still considered safe. This place is really no different than an interactive zoo, if that helps." She seemed rocked by his critique, but he was glad she had heard it. "Well, it's been a day. Tomorrow we can get up close and personal with our dinosaur friends, and then maybe you'll change your mind about how you feel. I do want your opinion; I just don't want anyone making snap judgements because of a fear of the unknown. Your rooms are upstairs in the 'Specials' suites. Icarus, take them to their rooms. When we get actual staff hired, of course, we'll have specific people for this sort of job." She'd said that all day as they passed exhibits without workers. She seemed to be taking no chances with word getting out early about this park, having only the minimal staff required actually at the park right now. For the most part that meant just them, and the odd dinosaur wrangler who Icarus gave orders to if needed.
Icarus led them through the clear elevator that allowed for surveying of the outside and inside depending which way you faced. The welcome center was on a hill that allowed you to look over and see large gates and giant signs. Not a National Park. Pythagoras reflected on his earlier predictions, back when he was in the plane. Was that this morning? It felt far away. Like it was 65 million years in the past. Had the world really gotten so much bigger in a matter of hours? Or was it smaller now?
Maybe all of this was relative.