"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." –Henry David Thoreau
After a restless night, seven hour flight spent getting air sick or my chair kicked by a young child, and waiting two hours for my luggage: I finally found myself on the ferry heading towards Jurassic World. The humid, salty air was slightly comforting and I found my anxiety beginning to ebb. After about fifteen minutes, a large island came into view. It had two large mountains peaking on either sides of it covered in green canopy. The sight was absolutely mesmerizing.
Pulling into the dock, I felt like a little kid. I had always wanted to visit this place, even its predecessor. My father never even let us utter the words 'Jurassic Park' without laying into us about the chaos theory and why Isla Nublar and Isla Sorna proved it, if we had asked for a vacation here, he probably would have skinned us alive right on the spot.
Once I was sure I would not be trampled by a stampede of adolescent Homo sapiens, I stepped off the boat and onto the dock, adjusting my sunglasses and baseball cap before scanning my surroundings. Everywhere you looked there was greenery and bright open sky dotted with flying figures. I silently prayed to myself that these were just birds and not pterosaurs.
A loud whistle pulled me from my thoughts, and my eyes focused on a monorail system, a clusterfuck of tourists, and a tall, scruffy, dorky looking male (wearing a Jurassic Park t-shirt, at that) holding a sign with 'Dr. Logan Malcolm' printed on it. Bingo, that's my ride.
"Doctor Malcolm! It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Lowery Cruthers, and I am a huge fan of your thesis on the Smilodon populator!" he babbled as I rolled my luggage over to him.
"You can call me Logan. Doctor Malcolm is my father." I said, shaking his hand before retracting my own to fan myself.
"I normally work in the control room but I just had to be the first person to meet you, I am absolutely star struck." He grinned. "I have the car and I'll take you to the hotel. Mister Masrani told me to let you know he'll be meeting you at dinner tonight around eight, oh and to look nice."
I scoffed, pretending to be hurt. Lowery's face immediately dropped and he launched into an episode of constant apologies.
"I am so sorry; you always look nice you are absolutely stunning. God I am so sorry. I just meant-"
"Cruthers, relax. I was kidding. It's not a big deal, I know what you meant." I laughed.
"I'm a total moron." He sighed, folding the piece of paper with my name on it. "Anyways, after making an ass out of myself, the car is this way. It's much better and faster than the monorail." He chuckled shyly, leading me towards a brand new Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe. I took a few seconds to look him up and down; studying his shirt before opening the door, appreciating the cool blast of the air conditioning hit my face. "Nice shirt." I chuckled, sliding in. Lowery groaned.
The hotel room was a bit excessive. And by a bit, I mean extremely.
Opening the door to the room, you were in the kitchen/living room area. It was wide open and decorated nicely, with most of the walls made from tinted glass. The back porch over looked the Mosasaur exhibit along with the monorail system that ran around it. It also gave me a view of what I can only assume, was referred to as a 'petting zoo'. If I squinted my eyes, I could see children petting and riding on baby Triceratops, Diplodocus and Gallimimus. The younglings seemed to have hues of blue, orange, green or even purple. Across the water was the Village, where I was sure multiple clothing, souvenir and coffee shops littered the street.
To the left of the living room, was the door to the bedroom. A perfectly made California king bed sat in the middle of the room, a large glass wall to the right overlooked the Mosasaur exhibit as well. The bathroom door was to the left of the room, and inside sat a glass shower along with a large hot tub.
I would only be using the bedroom and bathroom for the week, but I wasn't exactly complaining.
After unpacking, I sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, finally checking my phone. There was nothing from my mother or father, but a text message from my sister was enough to perk up my day:
Thinking of you, hope you landed safely. Sarah and Dad will come around, and if not then you always have us to support you. Malia and James send their love. Please call me when you get the chance Lo.
Tapping the call button next to her contact, I held the phone to my ear as I got up, walking over to the glass wall and gazing down at the Mosasaur. You could see the shadow of her frame underneath the waves and boy was she big. She had to be at least sixty feet long, large enough to destroy anything in her path. I wondered if the exhibit had other prehistoric aquatic animals as well.
"Logan! How are you!" came my sister's voice, pulling me from my thoughts.
"Hi Kell, I'm good I just got settled into my hotel room. It's beautiful here." I smiled, sitting on the granite windowsill.
"I'm glad you like it so far. Have you seen anyone? Or anything?" She asked, I was pretty sure she was washing dishes as I could hear the faucet running.
"Mm no one except this guy Lowery, he had volunteered to get me from the ferry. Apparently he really likes my thesis, and apparently me as well. I commented on his shirt, because it was a Jurassic Park shirt and once he realized who Dad was, he nearly shit himself." I chuckled folding my arms.
"You're awful, he's probably mortified," Kelly laughed, "Any dinosaurs?"
"Nothing up close, from my hotel room you can see the mosasaur exhibit. She's huge." I said, my eyes wandering over to focus on her exhibit again.
"And that's a?"
"An aquatic dinosaur. Kind of like a giant shark meets a giant crocodile and dolphin. They existed in the late Cretaceous period, aquatic lizards." My sister didn't know much about dinosaurs except the ones that she saw when she had stowed away on the RV and was on the island with my parents, clearly we were complete opposites.
"Sounds horrifying, I don't think I'll ever go in the water again now. Thank you Logan." She sighed as I laughed lightly.
"How are the kids? I didn't mean to leave without saying bye last night, I was just furious and you know how bad it gets when dad and I fight." I sighed, chewing the inside of my cheek.
"No, I know. It's fine, I told Malia that you had to leave for work right then. They miss you but they're fine and looking forward to your dinosaur stories, my child of a husband is as well."
I laughed, picturing Billy eagerly waiting for Kelly to get off the phone and tell him everything I had witnessed. "Did mom and dad say anything after I left?" I asked.
"Dad went on some spiel about you being too reckless with life and how you'll never find a job after this because you'll be dead. Then he mentioned something about an intervention-"
A spark of anger lit inside me. "An intervention? I'm sorry, I'm taking a job offer. Not drinking a liter of vodka a day."
"Lo, relax. Sarah is probably getting through to him as we speak."
"Mom is cool with it?" I asked, a look of shock spreading across my face. I knew my mother wouldn't be as riled up as my dad, but I knew she wasn't going to be peachy-keen with it. She had given up yelling at me when I was around sixteen, she knew that I was my father's daughter and nothing she said or did would get through to me. Not to mention, she was never a good listener as well. When she first went to Site B, my father had told her a million times not to go. Then the next thing he knew, he was meeting her in front of a pod of stegosauri. I think it's safe to say, my whole family has a listening problem.
"Well, she was pissed but she cooled off. While we were doing dishes she kept saying how you're old enough to make your own decisions and there's no stopping you." Kelly sighed; I could practically hear her rolling her eyes through the phone. "You're all hot heads, you're all going to cool off and once you tell them about the job offer, everything is going to be okay."
"You're probably right, but you will never hear me come right out and say it." I chuckled, Kelly laughing a bit as well.
"Anyways, I'm going to shower and take a nap. I'm meeting with the owner over dinner in a few hours." I said, kicking my shoes off and heading towards the bathroom.
"Alright, please be careful. I know I sound like Sarah but I'm a little concerned. Call me when you get a chance."
"I will, Kell. I promise. Love you." I smiled, turning the shower on.
"Love you too."
Deciding to make an impression, I went down to the hotel restaurant ten minutes early. Standing in the elevator, I smoothed over my dress a million times and checked my hair in the mirror. I felt good, and as the saying goes; "Feel good, look good."
My dress fit nicely, not too fitted or loose. It was a nice yellow that fell to my knees with an o-neck. I noticed that the nude heels I had paired with it were a bit too high for a business meeting, but it was too late to turn back now.
Stepping off the elevator, I spotted Mr. Masrani outside of the restaurant already. Oh boy, I already fucked up. Clearly in my world even when you try, you fail.
"Doctor Malcolm, hello there." He grinned, making eye contact as I strode over.
Simon Masrani was a business man by all means, but looking into his eyes, you could immediately tell that he was one of the kindest people on earth. He stood an inch or so taller than I, and looked to be in his late forties. He was dressed in a gray business suit, paired with a lavender colored shirt.
"Mr. Masrani, hello. Please, call me Logan. Doctor Malcolm is my father," I began; smiling, I'm sorry I thought I'd make a nice impression and be early, but clearly you beat me to it." I finished, laughing slightly as I shook his hand.
"Oh don't worry about it dear, you're not the late one. We're waiting on Miss Dearing and Doctor Wu, our operations director and lead geneticist."
My eyebrow rose at both of these titles. Clearly my potential job title was not just a reference point or keeper. Mister Masrani seemed to pick up on the curious look on my face, causing him to chuckle and pat my shoulder. "Don't worry dear, I know the suspense must be killing you. We will reveal our offer in no time."
"I think killing me may be an understatement at this point." I laughed slightly, crossing one leg in front of the other. The humid, tropical hair was beginning to make my hair frizzy and I longed to be back inside of an air conditioned room before I looked like a toy poodle.
Luckily, my wish was granted as two people strolled over to us. The red-headed lady, this I assumed was Miss Dearing, was dressed in an all-white business skirt suit and carried a brief case. Her blazer was draped carefully across her shoulders and her personality screamed 'workaholic'. She couldn't have been more than a few years older than me.
The Asian-American man dressed in black business pants and a black button up shirt, I assumed was Doctor Wu. He was definitely older than I but younger than Mister Masrani. He had less of an intimidating aura around him than Miss Dearing did.
I smiled as they approached closer and Mister Masrani began introductions. "Doctor Wu, Miss Dearing, this is Doctor Malcolm." He said as I extended my hand to shake theirs.
"Please, call me Logan. Doctor Malcolm is my father." I said, lightly laughing. "Claire, call me Claire." Smiled the red head.
"You wouldn't happen to be related to Doctor Ian Malcolm, would you?" asked the Doctor as we entered the restaurant, welcoming the cool air graciously.
"Doctor Ian Malcolm is my father actually." I said, flashing a smile. Doctor Wu's body stiffened and a forced smile spread across his face. I knew that he and my father were not fans of each other; my father often said that Doctor Wu was a crazed scientist obsessed with the power at his hands. Truth be told, I think the same could be said about Ian Malcolm as well.
Sitting down at the table, I crossed my legs and sat up straight. I was itching to find out why they wanted me to be employed at Jurassic World. I was hoping that Claire would shoot straight into the business proposal, she was already taking papers out of her brief case while typing on her phone. I could see why she held the business title that she did.
A waiter came along, pouring us each a glass of water and a glass of wine. We scanned the menu in the mean time, finally ordering salad as appetizers and our main course.
"So, I don't mean to be pushy," I said, clearing my throat after taking a sip of my water. I caught a smile spreading across Mister Masrani's face as I began to speak. "But, I am very excited and anxious to hear about your offer.". Mister Masrani and Claire's eyes looked right into mine, met as they shared a smile, and then looked back over to me. It was almost frightening how in sync their movements were.
"Well, Logan, we want to increase our flow of visitors," began Claire, shuffling the papers in her hand, "After the Indominus Rex incident, people were hesitant to come back. We heightened security features, built higher walls around enclosures, and added some new exhibits, rides and a larger waterpark. This of course, brought a good flow of visitors back."
Claire took a sip of her wine before continuing and looking at me once more. "So, we had an idea to add an asset that we think visitors will love. Thanks to the movie Ice Age, plenty of people love sloths and woolly mammoths and sabretooth tigers."
Suddenly, it clicked. A smirk spread across my face, and Mister Masrani's as he saw the excitement bubbling up inside me.
"You're making sabers?" I asked, my eyes darting at the three people around me.
"Well, only if you agree to come on as their lead behavioral analyst, keeper and researcher." Mister Masrani said, his smile nearly reaching his ears.
I sat back and laughed lightly, years of dreams and research were being presented in front of me.
"Your position holds great insurance, for obvious reasons. It includes dental, optometry and indeed OBGYN," Claire began reading off of the paperwork, her eyes never leaving the paper. A blush crept across my face as she mentioned obstetrics in front of two men, whom I barely knew. "You will be provided a Sunrio style bungalow; this is one of four that have been built there. It does indeed come furnished."
"There are some non-disclosure agreements. If you are terminated or quit, you're bonded to a fifteen year non-complete clause. No books, papers, movies relating back to the work you carried out here. While we do not recommend it, employee relationships are not in violation of your contract as long as it is not an employee working directly with you in the sabretooth field. I only add this because it is a commonly asked question from female employees." She finished, looking up at me as she handed me a packet and a pen.
I hesitated briefly, looking between the three of them. "I have some preconditions before I accept." I stated, crossing my legs as I leaned forward.
Mister Masrani nodded, gesturing his hand over the table.
"No more than four Smilodon cubs, I would prefer if they all looked similar because I know you tweak your animals to look different in order to tell them apart. I noticed the adolescent triceratops range anywhere from blue to orange, that is not natural and I will not have a blue Smilodon." I began, my eyes boring into Doctor Wu's as I said this.
"Also, I will need my own vehicle along with access to all areas of the park. Special training with the Asset Containment Unit, you will not be shooting my cats unless its teeth are inches away from sinking into someone's throat. And if my father ever decides to visit, a week free of charge for my family to visit." I finished, taking a sip of my water.
"Deal." grinned, putting his hand up as Claire went to object. Smirking, I took the pen and paper. Signing my name and initialing the document, I was in.
"Doctor Wu will take you to the lab tomorrow to show you the incubation area and explain the process, Wednesday you will meet with the architect to discuss enclosure specifications, Thursday you will be with me to pick files of those applying for jobs to be a part of your team, Friday is your day off, you will depart at four am on Saturday," Claire said, handing me a printed out schedule of what was expected for this week.
"When do I fly back?" I asked, looking up from the paper.
"August 26. We need several weeks to start the creation and incubation process of the cubs." Doctor Wu said, his eyes never leaving mine. "When you arrive here it will be two weeks until they are, well born for lack of a better word."
I nodded, pursing my lips.
"Welcome aboard, Doctor Malcolm." Grinned Claire.
Hello all! I hope you're enjoying Kairos as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I know it's pretty slow, but trust me it will pick up within the next few chapters. Logan should be meeting Owen pretty soon as well ;-)
If you wouldn't mind leaving some reviews, that would be great. I love feedback, good or bad. Anything that could help make this story better for the both of us.
If you were wondering, Logan is portrayed by a dark-haired Emma Roberts. I know in the book cover you can't see many of the characters I placed on there.
Thank you for reading and chapter 3 should be up pretty soon :-)
