Chapter Nine

Breathe…just take your time.

The tape recorder hums to the left of them. Root loudly slurps a cup of tea.

"So, who would like to start?" the Englishman asks, grazing his hand against his stubble.

Owen glances over to Claire.

"The first I knew about this was when Claire asked me to consult with workers on the structure of the Indominus Rex enclosure. When we got there, it'd seemingly vanished and I was sent in to see how it escaped."

"I…" Claire begins, before she clears her throat. "I called Lowery to get a location on her tracker, and I sent Owen in. When Lowery found her, I was on my way to the control room…she was still in the cage."

"We got a call through telling us that she was still there. The gate was opened and we got out…as did the Indominus."

Root nods, scribbling something down on the pad of paper in front of him.

"ACU were called to get her but she clawed out her tracker…she lured them into an ambush."

"Who's decision was this?" Root looks up from the pad.

"Masrani's," they answer in perfect unison.

"And we closed off the whole area so no visitors would…get hurt…" Claire continues.

"Claire's nephews were MIA," Owen adds. "Claire commandeered me-"

"I asked you," she interjects.

"If I remember correctly," he turns to her, "you said that you 'needed me' to help bring your nephew back in. Like I had a choice when you said that Zach and Gray were in the valley."

"Fine," she sighs. "I commandeered him to bring them back safely."

"Thank you," his lips pull upwards. "We didn't find the boys but found her. Masrani must've taken it upon himself to take a 'copter up to take out the Indominus. We were close to the aviary when the Dimorphadons and Pteranadons escaped through the hole the helicopter left in its roof."

"This is what happened to Mr Masrani?"

"Yeah," Owen confirms. "We got back to the park and tried to get people in doors. By that time, Vic Hoskins had taken over and tried to use the raptors to hunt the Indominus."

"And you gave your permission for the velociraptors to be used as a means of destroying the creature?"

"Yes," Owen slowly replies. "I didn't want to, but people were dying. It was a last resort I guess. I wasn't told that the Indominus was part raptor until she became their new alpha."

"The velociraptors turned on you?"

"Yeah, they did," he rubs the back of his neck. "We managed to get back here and found Hoskins and Wu's minions clearing the place out. Taking embryos and information and stuff like that."

"What happened to Hoskins?"

"Delta," Owen replies.

"Right."

"Thankfully, I was able to get my girls back and set them on the Indominus. It was Claire that brought the T-rex to the party."

Root glances across at Claire.

"Gray said that we needed 'more teeth'," she shrugs.

"That was…brave of you."

"Yeah, she out ran the old girl…in heels," Owen smiles to himself.

"Really?" Root sceptically answers, raising an eyebrow.

"Anyway, I assume that you know the rest. They fought and the mosasaur killed the Indominus."

"I was told, but I needed to clarify it all."

"And that's it," Claire adds. "That's everything that happened."

"Is that everything that you need to know?" Owen puts in.

"No, I have a few more questions for you," he closes the pad and places his pen on the desk top. "Starting with InGen, I am right in assuming that they were responsible for not releasing the full genetic make-up of the Indominus?"

"I was informed that that was classified, as was Owen."

"And you were never curious about how this…dinosaur came to be?"

"No," she bluntly replies. "They made the monster; I sold it to the investors."

"I did nothin'," Owen holds his hands up in surrender.

"So the Indominus was a means to bring in more crowds?"

"Yes, that was what Masrani wanted," Claire affirms, "more teeth."

"And the velociraptors?"

"No, they weren't part of the park. They were a project… they were part of InGen's research department, I assume they were to be used to see if they could follow commands."

"Right, and that's where you fit in, Mr Grady?"

"I don't like where this is going," Owen answers Root, folding his arms. "You hiding something from us?"

"There have been reports that the Indominus and Raptors were a first attempt," Root briefly explains.

"You think that InGen wanted to use them as weapons?" Claire asks.

"Hoskins did mention something about using them as weapons, I guess that that was the main reason they kept the raptors separate from the park. Why else would you want to train raptors to obey commands? They wanted the brightest dinosaurs to become the new troops on the battlefield."

"Could it be possible that this was the reason the Indominus was made with Velociraptor DNA? The brains of one and the brawn of a T-Rex?" Root interjects.

"It's likely," Owen answers before taking a look at his watch.

"Hey, any chance we could call it a day? We've been travelling all day and I want to call in to see Blue again before it gets dark."

Root nods, "sure," he answers before he presses the 'stop' button on the colossal tape recorder.

"I'm sure this must be shit for you," Root sighs. "But thanks for doing this."

"Is that all you need?" Claire asks, rubbing her temple.

"Yeah, for now," Root grimaces. "I may need to clarify some things with others, but you gave me a lot of information that's gonna be used against InGen."

"But it was my fault."

Owen and Root turn to her.

"Ms Dearing," Root leans over the table forcing her to look at him. "None of what happened is your fault, okay? You don't have to blame yourself for anything; what happened was tragic, but an accident. From what you've told me, you followed protocol and did everything in your power to stop the Indominus. You even put your lives at risk to save others. You're bloody heroes so stop beating yourself up about it."

A sick feeling pools in her stomach. Owen bumps her shoulder.

"C'mon," he says. "Let's get some food before we die of starvation."

Owen dives into his mountain of fries, splattering himself with ketchup; Claire turns one between her fingers.

"You okay?" he asks after finishing a mouthful. "You look like crap."

"Thanks," she sighs.

"I'm sorry but you do. You need to eat."

"I'm not hungry," she drops it back on the plate.

"Fine," he leans back and folds his arms. "Then neither am I."

"Don't…just eat Owen. I'll be fine in the morning; I'm just too tired to eat."

"It isn't going to do you any good skippin' meals," he tells her.

"I know, it's just…"

The pool in her stomach grows, making her limbs feel like lead.

"Just what?" he leans closer. "We aren't gonna forget what happened here but-"

"Please can we not talk about it," she interrupts.

"Tell you what, if you eat some of these," he gestures to the small buffet on the table in front of them, "then I'll get us something to help forget it."

Her eyes narrow.

"Alcohol," he clarifies. "Just alcohol."

"You know both go against my diet," the corners of her mouth twitch upwards.

"To hell with the diet," he smiles. "Just one drink, I swear."

She takes a deep breath.

"Okay," she faintly nods, picking a medium sized fry from the pile.

A pile of lime wedges rest on the table, some drained of juice and dotted with salt grains. An empty glass sits nearby, enclosed in Owen's callused hand.

"Your turrrrrrrn," he pushes it towards her, almost sending it over the edge.

"I said just…just one," Claire swipes for the glass but Owen catches her hand in his.

"Do you still remember?" he asks, his emerald eyes fixing on her.

"Errr…yeah," she bobs her head.

"Then you need another shot," he giggles.

She opens her mouth to protest, but he sloppily pours another, saturating his hand with tequila.

"Remember the salt and lime this time," Owen leans back.

He licks his thumb, presses into the pile of white grains and grabs a wedge with his other hand. He offers her his thumb.

"Mmm-mm," she shakes her head and takes the shot straight.

"Woah," Owen smiles. "That was bad ass."

Claire squeezes her eyes shut.

"I…shouldn't have…done that," she coughs.

"No, even I'm not that insane," he replies. "C'mon, let's get out of here before we get chucked out."

"Yeah," she nods, bolting up.

"Na-ah," Owen appears at her side and wraps his arm around her. "You aren't walking down the board walk alone, you'll do some damage to somethin' or yourself."
"Thank you," she whispers into his chest.

His lips twitch upwards as he guides her to the door.

"So, your place or mine?"