Chapter Seven

Sophie had stood on the steps to the Innovation center that morning, looked in her Uncle Owen's eyes longingly, hoping and praying he'd stay and instead of go off to work that morning. Instead, her heart was crushed when he'd kissed her on the head, told her to stay out of trouble, and winked at her before zooming away on his motorcycle. Her heart had dropped down into her sneakers when he'd left.

Now, she sat on the very same steps, watching as the pretty blonde woman paced back and forth talking on her cell phone. Sophie, chin in hand, stared blankly at the thin woman, who twirled a lock of hair around her index finger and blabbered on about her job. The woman, Sophie knew her as Magnolia, scuffed her booted feet as she paced, Sophie glancing at her own sneakers-complete with rainbow laces-and tapped them on the stone steps to no apparent tune. A breeze, filled with the smell of jungle and animals, flittered the ends of her French braids, taking the perspiration from her temples away.

It was almost noon, and Uncle Owen had promised he'd be around for lunch. She hadn't seen very much of him so far, him only coming to pick her up from the boat, escort her to the resort, eat supper, and then leave. He'd come to wake her up and then drop her here with Magnolia before going on to work. She glanced up at the clear blue sky, where a bird floated overhead, and squinted against the sun. It was hot, but not unbearable, but she had no desire to go swimming. Not with Magnolia anyway. Really she didn't even like this woman, who had spent the majority of their time together on the phone. Uncle Owen had suggested she was a tour guide, but Sophie gathered she was more of a cell technology-worker, because she spent more time consulting her phone than she did guiding.

The park was buzzing with activity as people moved in and out of buildings and made their way to and from attractions-having fun, like Sophie was supposed to be doing. She watched as a family-Mom, Dad, and a little girl, consulted a map and pointed in the direction of the Tyrannosaurs Kingdom. The girl began jumping up and down, then slipped her hand into her father's, who draped his arm around his wife's shoulder. Sophie, green with envy, watched as they disappeared into the attraction like a fairy tale.

She missed her Dad. He and her Mom had split up before school had started last year, and she hadn't seen much of him since. He'd dropped by to visit and check in, but his "new girlfriend" didn't really seem interested in Sophie, so they never went anywhere. He sometimes sent letters, but not very often. It had been her, her Mom, and Zoe for awhile, and of course Uncle Owen when he was in the States.

Sophie puffed out a breathe and tried to block out the sounds of other people having fun, wishing she was having as much of a good time as they were. She was thirsty and hungry, and was dying to do something fun, when Magnolia ended her phone call and trudged up the steps towards her, looking more like she was heading to prison much less to spend the day with a little girl. Sophie's stomach flopped over with disappointment, a teenage boy and girl walking past her and giving her a look of confusion has they headed away from the Innovation center.

"Sophie," Magnolia stopped before her, looking down at the little girl. Sophie looked up to her and squinted, "Why don't we get something to eat before heading to the Gyropsheres?" Sophie looked away from her and shook her head, one of the ends of her braids brushing against her chin.

"No, I want to wait for Uncle Owen,"

Magnolia groaned and shielded her eyes from the sun, "Sophie, it's been-" she watched the clock on her sleek, fancy phone, "-almost thirty minutes."

"He's coming. I want to wait."

Magnolia, rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses, plopped down next to her. "Alright then. You win." Then, she took out her phone, and Sophie caught her playing a lively game of Angrybirds, and she was on level 71. Reaching up to fiddle with one of the ends of her braids, she looked out into the massive, swelling crowds of people, watching for her Uncle. Her heart hammered in her chest for any sign of him, hope egging her on.

It was another ten minutes before she heard the familiar rumble of a motorcyle, Sophie watching the crowds next to the road gated off and with a sign reading "Employees Only-Maintenance Road" part slowly. She shot to her feet when she saw Uncle Owen breeze in on his bike, squinting in the sun. He stopped abruptly, revved the engine, and scanned the crowds before his gaze landed on the Innovation Center building. Sophie, grinning and excitement swelling in her belly, waved at him and jumped up and down. He waved his hand at her, nodded, and walked the motorcycle through the crowds towards the steps.

Sophie, completely ignoring Magnolia's protests, hurried down the steps and darted in-between guests, until she reached the last step as her Uncle came slipping up to it on his bike. He braked, moved the kickstand down with his foot, and swung his leg over, only to dip to a knee and receive her in a hug. Sophie moved into his embrace immediately, and squeezed him tightly. He smelled of exhaust, jungle, and sweat, but she didn't care. He took her shoulders and parted them, grinning lopsidedly and winking at her before poking her in the belly playfully.

"Hey little bug," he grinned at her, calling her by the nickname he'd given her since she was a baby, "How's it going, hm? Ready for something to eat?"

She nodded quickly, "Yeah! I'm starved!" As if on cue, her stomach rumbled and he looked down to it and then up to her, raising a brow and giving her a confused, suspicious look.

"You sure you're my niece? I don't remember her having such a loud stomach," he looked up to the sky, "and I certainly don't remember her having such an appetite." He crossed his arms. "You look like her, though."

She giggled. "It's me, I promise. Sophia Anastasia Forester." She patted her chest and raised her chin in pride. "Your very own niece, thank you very much." Her stomach rumbled again, and they both burst out laughing, him standing to his full height and extending a hand for her to take.

She wrapped her hand in his and they began climbing the stairs. "Aha! I knew you were my niece, I knew it all along." He winked at her again and stopped when they reached Magnolia. She shielded her eyes, looked up at him, and smiled weakly.

"I'm taking her to lunch and I'll have her the rest of the day,"

The woman gave him a scared, concerned look, why Sophie had no idea. "Are you sure-?"

He put up a hand, "Yeah. It's an office day so we'll be good." He looked down to her and raised his brows, expectantly, "Huh, little bug? You can help me with some of my stuff in the office, right?" He shrugged a shoulder, "You can meet my assistant and my friends and stuff. Sound good?"

Not even caring that it meant not riding rides of looking at dinosaurs, she nodded rapidly, smiling at him. He nodded, said goodbye to Magnolia after setting up a time tomorrow to drop her off, and they headed down the stairs to his motorcycle. Swinging his leg over, he lifted her onto the front of the bike and turned the key forward, but not all the way, and kicked the stand up. Dropping it into neutral, he nuzzled his chin into the side of her neck, his stubble and mustache tickling her soft skin. She giggled, crunched up in a ball, and he chuckled. "What do you want to eat, Soph?"

"Burgers and fries!" She blurted, not even thinking twice.

He laughed, "My kinda girl," he began walking the bike towards the shops lining the heart of the resort, dodging people and moving the handle bars to steer around, Sophie's body racked with excitement and joy. Her toes were wriggling in excitement and she felt almost as if she were going to tremble she was so excited. Blinking the sweat off her eyelashes, he finished, "I know just the place with fries, burgers, and milkshakes. I'm in the mood for chocolate, how about you?"

She wrinkled her nose, "No way! Strawberry is my favorite."

He snorted, "Not a chance. You? Strawberry? And here I thought you were a choca-holic." He winked at her again and turned the bike to the right, towards a hut-looking building which she assumed was the restaurant, because it had a delicious smell coming from it. She inhaled it and her mouth began to water.

"Nu-uh. Strawberry is me and Mom's favorite."

He nodded. "Well, that explains it. Your Mom always was kinda weird."

She giggled and he parked the bike behind the building. Swinging off, he helped her scramble to the ground and took her hand, heading towards the front of the building, keys twirling on his finger. He reminded her of a comic book character or a movie star, the kind her Mom always thought were "handsome" on TV. He opened the door, held it for it, and ushered her inside. Bowing low at the waist, he grinned at her, "After you, little bug." The AC blasted away the heat and she beamed at him being deliberately silly. Mom called him a big kid, and she was beginning to see why.

It was going to be a good day.

. . .

It had been noon when Owen had sauntered into the office, demanding the attention of the air inside, as well as Marianne's.

She, despite the AC, was sweating slightly as she fumbled through files and scribbled notes on a legal pad with the same pen she hadn't let out of her hand morning. Now, with one less button buttoned on her shirt and her glasses propped on her head, Marianne was neck deep in notes and reminders, as well as what were now stacks of organized papers and files. The cabinet behind her was open and filled with what was a start of Blue's paperwork, who appeared, according to her notes, to be the beta of the Raptor's. It had taken her awhile to establish the animals as Blue, Delta, Charlie and Echo, but she'd figured it out after peering through their lab reports and their personal histories.

Raptors. If Alan could see her now, he'd kill her-then revive her, only to probably kill her again. Marianne had no idea she'd be working with these animals, much less the very one's who'd almost killed her mentor and her father's best friend so many years before. He'd warned her about them, telling her stories after stories about the intelligence in their eyes and their uncanny ability to process new information. Raptor's had been the focus of Alan's research before Jurassic Park, but had absorbed his life and his career afterwards. The research and discoveries he had been able to ascertain after the events of Hammond's failed project had changed the world of paleontology as doctor's had known it, much less his very own life. Marianne hadn't been able to escape it. It was inevitable around Alan.

And, it was apparent it was inevitable now.

The man in the vest and button down (she was beginning to wonder if he had anything else in his wardrobe) gave her a look and sauntered over, Marianne immediately noticing a clipboard under his arm, stained with dirt. He scanned the stacks of files and the neat stack of loose, unmatched paperwork sitting directly in front of her. Marianne had stopped sketching a small sketch of Delta's head and drawing a diagram of her olfactory pathway to look up at him. Her fingers black with ink, she blinked at him and set the pen down.

"Hi." Was all she said. Whatever aura he was giving off; half macho and half friendly, she wasn't exactly sure what it was doing to her stomach. But, she would have to get over it, as he was her boss and would demand a lot of her attention. She found herself willing to give it to him, but cautious in the endeavor as well.

"Hi." He put a finger on the tallest stack of files, then wrinkled his brow in confusion. She noted the perspiration on his forehead, soaking his hair, and gathered decently under his arms. It must've been hotter outside than she anticipated. "Looks like you've...managed."

She shrugged. "It was a lot simpler than I imaged. You've basically got three main categories of files here." She stood and put her hand on top of the first stack to the left of her, "Training," she locked eyes with him a moment as if engraving it into his mind, then reached for the middle stack which was smaller but had thicker files, "Health", and then she motioned with her head towards the biggest stack, "and finally behaviors. You've got some nice stuff here-a lot of information. All you needed to do was keep it organized."

He shrugged. "They like me to keep close tabs," Owen then moved toward the file cabinet and began fingering through Blue's drawer, "This is Blue?"

Marianne nodded, heading over, "The start. There's some stuff in the windowsill I still have to go through for the girls' individual files. This is most of the stuff you have logged and what the lab has on Blue, from what I can understand," she reached for the laboratory listing and pulled out one of the forms. Flattening her lips, she gave a firm nod, "like this for instance is her pheromone count as of last spring. It's doubled from what her blood count read the year before."

Owen shot her a look and nodded, brows raising, giving her an impressed look. "Great." He scratched his head, "You blew through that like it was nothing. It looked like the apocalypse when I left." He chuckled at his own exaggeration.

"It wasn't bad. None of the files were sprawled around, you kept all the papers inside nicely. It's just you failed to categorize them and keep them sorted," she shrugged, grabbed the legal pad, and pressed it to her chest, feeling hot and exhausted. She hadn't even began to enter stuff into the computer yet. The job nagged at her like a fly buzzing around her head, but she ignored it mostly, "I've seen worst, honestly."

"I doubt that," he puffed out a breathe, "I never really was organized."

She smiled at him, chuckling, "Well, you unorganize any of this and I'll kill you myself." He shot her a surprised look before she smiled, "Just kidding."

"Wow. Threatening the boss on your first day of work? You're fearless."

She put the pen behind her ear and tossed the pad onto the desk, a shining stainless steel masterpiece of handiwork he could no appreciate, "Not fearless. Just confident." She rubbed the back of her neck, feeling beads of sweat pooling in her curls and in her palm. Was she ever going to get used of this heat? "What's that?" She gestured to his clipboard.

He set it on the desk, waved it off, and headed towards the door. "It can wait until after lunch."

She nodded and rounded the desk, "I didn't bring anything, I figured I'd head into the resort-"

He laughed, "Not your lunch. The girls' lunch."

She stopped short. "Oh."

"We don't break until one." He jerked his head out the door, one hand on the knob, gesturing her forward. She obeyed, slipping past him in the doorframe, and waited for him to close the door and lead the way down the stairs. "But, I think it's a good time to introduce you to the girls formally before lunch." He grinned at her and winked, "They usually behave decently before they chow down. As if I'd starve them if they didn't."

She wasn't sure if he was joking or not.

Owen led her all the way down the steps until they were on the ground, in the dirt. Her Camaro was still somewhat in the shade, the paint hopefully not frying in whatever sun it was going to get during the day hours. From the stairs, he took her to the main gates, buzzed them in, and led her towards the observation yard, which was again heavily fenced in.

Barry was already there, and so were the animals. Marianne stopped short, taking in the scene before her, the other workers moving around outside the yard and casting uneasy looks inside. The Raptor's were lined up formally, all four of them, and encased in a head-only containment unity which was touchable by hands. They were secured as to only stand there, not move their heads, much like cattle were contained to be branded-tightly, as to not move. Their bodies, Marianne noted, were free moving, but safely contained behind a thick, steel wall like a racehorse stall. Their eyes shifted as Owen entered the yard, opening the door. He stopped, gave Marianne a look, and waved her in. "C'mon," he said confidently, "it's good. There's no way for them to get out."

For some reason, the old saying "where there's a will, there's a way", was the only thought she could think as she crossed the threshold.

Instantly, her body kicked into survival mode. Adrenaline spiking, it pumped blood into her ears and hammered her heart as if it were a racecar running circles through her chest. Her lungs burned for oxygen, and only then did Marianne realize she had been holding her breathe. Exhaling slowly, she gently approached the second animal she came to, Owen beside her. He grabbed her elbow slightly as if to stop her and then slowly walked towards the mechanism, reaching out gently.

Her breathe hitched. The animal snorted, shifted behind the wall, and whined with a light shriek. Marianne's body braced for impact, expecting her to burst out of the enclosure at a moment and tear her into ribbons. But she didn't, and she watched as Owen gently wrapped his arm around her thick neck, stroking the animal's head graciously as if she were a cat and not a flesh-eating Raptor.

Her amber eyes skitted around as if she were terrified only for a moment before they locked onto Marianne. Her body trembled, reptile-like skin beautiful with greens and gray patterns and speckles. She had to have been the most beautiful, terrifying thing Marianne had ever seen, much less the most astronomical. Her belly flushed with excitement and caution, and her nerves became so overwhelmed with anticipation as she listened to Owen coo the animal and whisper sweet nothings into her ears, as if soothing her. However, the animal's stare was locked on her. Marianne didn't break eye contact, swallowed thickly, and Owen outstretched an arm to her and waved her forward with his hand.

"Come. Slowly," he ordered, taking a brief second to scan her from head to toe. "She's calm. Easy." Marianne took a tentative step forward as if she were approaching a god, feeling slightly overwhelmed and overpowered, and as she stepped closer than animal shrieked, rattled behind the wall, causing the other animals to respond in the same manner. Barry instantly set to work calming the animals, Owen turning to look at the other, his attention however not leaving Marianne as she came closer, now unable to stop, as if she could. Her gaze was locked with the animal's, it drawing her in as if in hypnosis.

"Easy," Owen breathe to the animal, "Easy Echo. I'm right here, she isn't going to hurt you," Owen lowered his head to Echo's skin, his cheek resting inches from her own, his eyes now glued to Marianne, taking her in as she stepped slowly closer, "She's ok, baby. Ok."

Marianne, finally within reaching distance, stopped. Her breathe was calm and steadied, and for some odd reason heat flared up her belly and into her throat. She wasn't trembling, nor did she feel fear churning in her stomach. No, she wasn't afraid of this animal, this fellow girl trapped in a world of unknowns, uncertainties, self-consciousness. This animal was just as terrified and out of her wits as Marianne was. No; Marianne wasn't afraid of her. She identified with this animal, who once was extinct, and now had been thrown into the mix of life as she'd been.

She wasn't afraid. No. She was fascinated.

"It's ok," Marianne said quietly, raising a hand gently to touch the animal. Echo, fearing assault and threat, shrieked and parted her mouth as much as she could within the mechanism. Owen jerked back, then looked to Marianne, expecting her to falter. Marianne stopped but did not let her hand fall, "It's ok, Echo. I won't hurt you." The animal was still panicking, her body jerking and clawing at the door to get out, to defend herself, to show her true colors and test her strength. Owen just watched them stand there, eyes locked on one another. Sweat trickled down Marianne's temple. "Easy girl," she moved her hand closer, "Easy."

The animal grunted, then released a high-pitched scream of distrust, terror, and defense. Marianne, sensing her discomfort lowered her hand. Owen gave her a look of uncertainty. She looked to Echo and nodded at her, "Maybe a different time then." She looked to Owen, and then gave him a lopsided smile.

"They don't trust people too well. Like I said, it's taken me four years."

Marianne shrugged. "Trust isn't in their genes. They're hunters. If you're not blood, you're not trusted. Simple survival logic." She looked at him, "It's what separates us from them."

He turned, waved to Barry, and led her out of the yard. "That's not what Masrani's team of brainiacs seems to think." She stepped through the door and he slammed it into place, locking Barry inside with the animals, where he seemed content to be. Crossing his arms, he gave her a look, "You're not scared of them, are you?"

Marianne laughed, then scratched her head, "I'm more scared of them than I think I am," she wrinkled her brow, "If that makes sense. I think it's just an instinct to be scared of them, especially since I don't know them. I'll stay on their good side and see what happens."

He laughed sarcastically, "You make it sound like they have a good side,"

"Maybe they do. And you just don't see it."

He snorted, shifting his weight on his feet. "What? Like a girl's only thing?"

She smiled. "Maybe. They've never interacted with a woman before have they?"

He shrugged a shoulder, shaking his head, "No. Not one that's stood their ground before."

"Well then. We're experimenting here with unknowns. A good thing," she stretched her neck and then glanced at the watch on her wrist. Grabbing her lanyard, she twisted it around her fist and began taking a few steps back from him, towards the stairs. "A good thing...right?"

"I don't know. Too soon to tell."

She winked at him. "Too soon indeed. See you after lunch."

He furrowed his brow, "It's only noon-"

She interrupted him, "It's one thirty," and, tapping the face of her watch, she turned on her heel and smiled to herself. "See you at two." She called, waving him off without turning around. Grabbing the railing to the stairs, she hurried up them, stopping at the top to cast a look over her shoulder at him. Shaking his head, he took a few steps back, smiling at her, before saluting, turning, and approaching the observation yard's fencing again. He laced his fingers through the gating, set one foot forward and cocked a hip like men usually did in a macho, observing stance.

Marianne felt a blush rise up her neck and blossom on her cheeks. Panic struck her heart, and she pushed down the wave of emotion.

He was way too handsome.

And he knew it.