The Tiki Hut was on an extended happy hour for the special occasion of Noona's birthday celebration, so Robert had to fight his way through a crowd of party-goers to reach the bar and ask the bartender Eva for a whiskey bottle that she always had set aside just for Robert since he preferred straight alcohol instead of the flourishes of tropical-flavored drinks. Eva was a golden-haired young woman of about twenty-two who worked along with her younger brother and father on Isla Nublar. Her father, Simon Bridges, was one of the veterinarians and her younger brother Trenton was here for the season on a summer internship. Eva actually helped bartend at night once her shift as an aviary pod observatory operator ended at five o'clock when the attraction closed.
"Cheers, love," said Robert, tipping his hat to her as he went upstairs to the balcony to watch the replaying slideshow of Noona's first three years of life on a giant projector below. The sidewalks were packed with tourists who had come to celebrate and some children waved sparklers around while others sent celebratory triceratops-shaped balloons into the atmosphere.
"Enjoying the festivities?" asked a voice from behind Robert and he saw Dr. Alan Grant approaching with a beer clutched in his hand. He leaned on the railing beside Robert and took a swig of his drink, shaking his head. "A triceratops's birthday is more exciting and better funded than a celebrity's."
"She's one of two triceratops to walk the earth in millions of years; of course she's going to have a big celebration."
"But all of the expenses that went into her party would have been better-served going towards further experimentation or extra security measures. Do you realize that we've had two of the aviary pods crack in the past week alone because the dimorphodons keep flying into them? Either we have created a batch of stupid dinosaurs, or the pods aren't thick enough, and seeing as how dimorphodons have the intelligence to fly in formation, I think we can assume that they aren't stupid."
"Have you talked to Hammond about this?"
"His hands are tied," said Grant. "He can't spend any more money on things that aren't directly beneficial to the tourist experience."
"And safety isn't a top priority for tourist experience?" said Robert incredulously.
"Apparently not."
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the countdown to Jurassic Park's very own triceratops celebration!" said the practiced and capricious voice of the park's announcer, Elliot Palmer. Elliot had the gift of impressions and was able to adopt different voices for the situation, but he mainly spent his days reporting things such as, "Toby Hollens, your family is waiting for you at the Video Arcade on the East Boardwalk," and "Would the owner of the fog horn please remove the batteries to your device?". Still, Elliot was an expert in putting on a false face for the occasion, something Robert had never mastered.
"Noona is one of two triceratops bred on the island, the other being our adolescent, Neo. She's also the only triceratops that has allowed handlers to ride her when she was introduced in our Jurassic Circus. But her circus days are over, because as of tonight, we are retiring Noona from anything but free roaming in her paddock. We're pleased to announce that a batch of four more triceratops were born this morning, and the babies will be available for viewing tomorrow at ten o'clock in the hatchling center."
"I don't know about you, but I just love the thought of thousands of people pressing their faces in at me hours after I was born to snap pictures of me trying to adjust to life," said Robert sardonically and Grant chuckled as he drained his beer.
"And now, join me in the countdown to Noona's birthday!" said Elliot. "Ten…nine…"
Robert watched the people on the pavement below start to jump up and down and pump their fists in time to the countdown and in the midst of it all, there was a drunken duo shoving at each other and starting to knock into the people around them. Though he was off duty, Robert knew he should go diffuse the situation, but two other members of security got there first, one of whom Robert recognized to be Christoph Landau, another one of his more trusted friends who shared in Robert's cynicism for the park's operations.
"How fares the raptor pack?" asked Grant presently in a slightly slurred voice.
"They made a go at Tobias today when he dropped his wallet."
"Did you report it?"
"The only way the pack is going to get taken out of the equation is if they eat someone, and seeing as how the race track is safer than their own paddock, I don't see the races being canceled any time soon."
Robert and Grant observed the crowd below for a while and it slowly started to thin out as people with children were forced to take their fussy offspring home and those who were drunk had their friends steer them back to their hotel rooms. It was when the balcony was all but empty that they were joined by another park veterinarian, Bianca Gigilo. At present, she was Grant's girlfriend of a little over a year since he and Dr. Sattler had parted ways when Grant went to work for Hammond. Where Sattler was mildly sarcastic, a bit of a mumbler, and rather shy, Bianca was nearly the exact opposite, which was why Grant planted a large, sloppy kiss on her cheek as stood beside him.
"How many has he had?" asked Bianca, shoving Grant away.
"As far as I know, one," said Robert.
Bianca scowled at Grant. "You are such a lightweight. Come on, let's put you to bed."
"I'm not drunk," Grant insisted. "I'm angry and alcohol is not helping."
"Then count from sixty to sixty-nine," said Bianca with her hands on her hips.
"Give him more credit than that," said Robert. "As a paleontologist, make him recite all of our species of dinosaurs alphabetically."
"Go to hell, Robert."
"How about you go to bed, Grant? I don't want to have to detain you for disorderly conduct, especially since you work here. And since you're one of the few people on my side, I want you to be completely sober when the investors show up tomorrow night. If you make me go into that meeting alone, I'll feed you to Red."
Bianca led Grant away and Robert stood alone on the balcony for a few moments more, watching the lights go out in the movie theater across the way. Deciding he had best leave so that the employees could clean up, Robert began his decent down the stairs, but stopped when he was just barely in sight of another member of security talking to Eva. The man was in his mid-twenties and was known for his pompous attitude as well as his futile attempts to hit on Eva.
Kurtis Drone had a rather large neck that seemed disproportionate to his head and a protruding jaw that made him look like he was always looking down on people, but apparently he thought these qualities were what earned him a spot with the ladies, for he was trying yet again to make a move on Eva as she wiped counters and piled used glasses onto a tray.
"Look, all I'm saying is that you'd be missing out. I can get you front-row seats to the next raptor race and I'll give you great odds on who wins."
"I don't like watching the races and even if I did, I work here, so I already can get front-row seats, especially since my dad's one of the top vets," said Eva without looking at Kurtis.
"I think you're just avoiding me."
"And why do you think that is?"
"Because he's a dumbass who can't take a hint," said Rhett from behind the counter with soapy hands. It was a mark of how much Hammond trusted Tobias and Marx to allow underage Rhett to work in the bar after closing to wash dishes.
"Beat it, junior," said Kurtis.
"Hey, man, she's clearly not interested, so leave her alone."
"I'll let her tell me that," said Kurtis.
"I'm not interested, Kurtis," said Eva with an appreciative nod to Rhett.
"Tell me you're not dating the human stick figure over there," said Kurtis with a roll of his eyes.
"Actually, I am, so if that's not reason enough to get lost, I'll be having a word with security."
"I am security, babe," Kurtis reminded her, nodding at his yellow badge.
"And I'm your superior," said Robert, deciding this adolescent quarrel had gone on long enough. "She's stated her opinion, Mr. Drone, and if you can't handle it, I'll have you put on suspended leave without pay for sexually harassing one of the best workers on the island and daughter to Mr. Hammond's most trusted vet. Now, sod off."
Robert stood in the doorway to ensure that Kurtis left, and then turned to the young adults who were finishing up their sweep of the area to round up any spare shot glasses and sweep away salt from margarita rims.
"I didn't know you two were an item," said Robert to break the silence.
"I didn't either," said Rhett, but there was a flush to his face.
"If Kurtis thinks we are, that's all that counts," said Eva.
"I'll keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't take any aggressive steps towards the pair of you," said Robert. "In the meantime, though, don't let yourselves be caught alone with him."
On the lonely walk back to his bungalow at a remote section of the compound situated away from most of the other live-in employees, Robert's thoughts jumped from Tobias's wallet to Grant's declaration of disgust over how the park's income was spent to Kurtis's advances on Eva. These concerns should have been the worst of anything Robert had to deal with, but they all seemed like minute discrepancies when compared to the real issues like raptors learning to ambush their handlers and safety pods obviously not being safe enough. The walls, the electric fences, the gates and security guards—it was all a lie on how virtually unsafe the park was. If the animals wanted out, they would find a way out and no man-made barrier could keep them at bay.
