Thanks for all the follows/favorites/reviews for this story! To those who reviewed, I replied to your reviews individually. But if you'd rather me just address your reviews in the text before the start of the next chapter instead, let me know.
Countdown - I couldn't PM you, so here's my thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter!
Additional author's note after the end of the chapter.
August 2008
"Mr. Grady, would you please pay attention?"
"Sorry, Miss Dearing," Owen gave his best impression of a schoolboy who'd just been scolded. "I'll pay attention now, I swear."
"Maybe if you took your job a little more seriously, you wouldn't feel the need to doze off during important meetings," she narrowed her eyes. "Or sleep through important meetings with Commander Hamada."
Her retort earned a few snickers from the other ACU members and park employees in the room. Even Commander Hamada chuckled. Dylan, who sat on Owen's left tried to stifle his own laughter.
Owen resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Claire Dearing. Of all the people who worked at Jurassic World, Claire seemed to be the only one who was beyond serious about her job. Sure, Owen was serious about his own work, but he already knew Claire was on a level of her own in that aspect. Especially when it came to meetings about the park and its dinosaurs—or 'assets' as she so often called them.
Every four months, a meeting was held in order to go over the park's operations and attractions. With no signs of slowing down, Jurassic World had gained some investors who wanted to help the park expand its attractions.
Owen had been sitting in the large meeting room above the Hammond Creation Lab listening to Dr. Wu go over the plans for dinosaur creation for the next six months. Then Claire began discussing where the dinosaurs would go within the park as they completed new attractions. Sure it was exciting news to know he still had job security for at least the next couple of years, but Owen would have preferred to find that out some time later than right at the crack of dawn.
Most of the dinosaur species being created were ones that the park already had. The lab just wanted to increase the numbers in some of the herbivore herds. Plus, there were talks of adding a petting zoo area within the next two years so they wanted to test some of the hatchling herbivores to see if they would be fine for visitors to interact with. They planned on adding dimorphodons, a small pterosaur species, to the aviary that already housed a small flock of much larger pteranodon.
Owen listened attentively for the first hour until his attention span got shorter and shorter. The final straw for Claire had been when Owen began to nod off as she was speaking.
"Attendance is still growing every month, but it had slowed a little bit earlier this year," Claire continued on after she sent a pointed look in Owen's direction. "That's why we opened the Cretaceous Cruise a couple months early. The new attraction has brought in thousands more visitors."
"Are you sure it's safe for visitors to be out on that stretch of river in kayaks?" a new member of the ACU questioned. Owen couldn't remember her name, but he did remember how she questioned everything about the park's security features for the first week.
"I assure you it's safe," Claire answered. "The dinosaurs for that exhibit pose no threat to the visitors. There are four guides for that attraction who also help keep an eye out for any potential problems. We have done our best to ensure the visitors' safety here… "
He tried to focus more on what she was saying, even if his attention did turn to the large window that overlooked the Main Street as the morning sun lit up the island. He could see the Mosasaurus Lagoon from there. The large aquatic dinosaur was swimming lazily around the perimeter of the lagoon as she often did early in the mornings.
He had hoped that there would have been mention of velociraptors. A paddock was being built on the northern end of the island, but nobody knew why or what species it would hold. While most of the park's employees figured it was going to be for a new attraction, Owen wondered if it was being built so far from main part of the park because it would house a dangerous species that would need to be kept away from the busiest area on the island.
Although 'dangerous' was a relative term depending on species. There really were no safe dinosaurs in the park, except maybe the hatchlings in the nursery.
Finally, the meeting ended just after the park opened for the day.
"So far, this park is exceeding expectations and there are many more attractions planned for the near future." Claire concluded her long-winded talk about the park's assets and visitor safety. Owen would be lying if he said he listened to even half of what she had said. "If any of you have questions or concerns about anything, please feel free to speak to my assistant Zara to schedule a meeting. Thank you for your time this morning."
As quickly as possible, Owen left the room. He never could sit still very long when it came to meetings. Everyone hurried off to start their duties for the day. Owen knew he had nothing pressing to do unless an emergency situation arose so he took the elevator down to the main floor of the building. The ferries from the mainland had yet to unload all the visitors for the day so the main floor of the building was still fairly quiet.
Owen strolled by the lab windows where anyone could look in on the geneticists working. A few eggs were in an incubator by the window. Owen recognized them as apatosaur eggs. He hoped these babies survived. The previous month had seen the park lose six adult apatosaurs and three juveniles after an illness struck that nearly wiped out the entire herd. Only two adults and one juvenile apatosaur remained.
"Are you as disappointed as I am that nobody mentioned raptors?"
Owen didn't have to turn around to know Dylan had caught up with him. His teammate stepped up to his right to look in at the eggs.
"Maybe that was just a rumor to throw everyone off from what that paddock in that northern area is really for," Owen suggested. "If raptors were going to be an addition to this park, I think there would be a lot more talk about it though."
"Or maybe InGen doesn't want anyone to know the truth," Dylan countered, the sighed sadly as his gaze fell on the apatosaur eggs. "I hope those will make it. It's sad to see just how few of them are left in the valley now."
"I helped Dr. Harding move the five from the last clutch into the larger nursery paddock a few days ago," Owen informed him. "They were all healthy. Still can't believe how big they are at three months old. They're already as tall as I am."
"They definitely grow fast," Dylan nodded. "I asked Dr. Wu what happened with the herd. Apparently it was something in their DNA sequence that had left them vulnerable to whatever virus it was that struck. He said he changed the sequence for that last clutch and this one too so they'd hopefully have better immune systems."
"I think they'll be fine," Owen assured him.
"I hope so," Dylan looked at the eggs a moment longer before changing the subject. "I forgot to mention it, but I saw some guy from InGen talking to Dr. Wu last week. I didn't catch all of what he said, but I heard him mention raptors. Dr. Wu didn't seem to be bothered much by whatever the guy said though. I've actually seen that guy talking to Dr. Wu a few times over the last few months."
"If InGen wants to study them for whatever reason, can't they just set up a base on Isla Sorna? Why bother having them in a park again?"
Dylan shrugged. "Beats me. Let's just hope they don't decide to bring back the troodons."
"Troodons?"
"They were small carnivores, about three feet tall. Think of them as sort of mini velociraptors."
"What happened to the first ones?"
"Hammond asked for them to all be euthanized. The surviving ones left after the Jurassic Park fell were all killed before Masrani began building on the island again. Apparently they were a lot more dangerous than anyone expected."
"How so?"
"They were intelligent pack hunters. And they had a nasty bite with venom that would paralyze anything they bit. They'd just follow whatever they bit until it was no longer able to run. But that's not even the worst part."
"It gets worse?" Owen was almost afraid to ask.
"Dr. Harding was with her father and a few others here during the incident back in ninety-three when they had to escape the island," Dylan explained. "Apparently some mercenaries from InGen showed up to evacuate the island. One of them fell victim to the troodon. Dr. Harding said they later found him, paralyzed but still alive with his abdomen eaten out and one of the troodon had actually laid eggs in his abdomen."
Owen swallowed back the gag that threatened to make his breakfast from that morning reappear on the tiled floor.
"Even the raptors were terrified of the troodons," Dylan continued on, oblivious to the fact Owen was dangerously close to actually getting sick from the mental imagery of the InGen soldier's horrific death. "So, basically, the raptors might have been the bigger story once Jurassic Park failed, but even they weren't as bad as the troodons."
"I can't believe they'd lay their eggs like that!" Owen blurted out then tried to get his mind off the subject. "And how do you know all of this? You're like a history book on this place."
"I was curious about the first park after news of it got out, so I've been researching a lot since then," Dylan smiled brightly. "Dinosaurs always fascinated me as a kid. So when I learned that dinosaurs had been brought back to life, I wanted to learn everything I could possibly learn about that. I once wanted to be a paleontologist, but here I am now instead, working around dinosaurs that are alive and breathing instead of just digging up their bones in some barren Jurassic dinosaur graveyard. Still a few species I'd love to see them bring back to life one day though."
"And I also have to ask, why are you so convinced InGen wants raptors again?"
"There's always some tiny bit of truth to a rumor," Dylan shrugged then added. "That guy I've seen talking to Dr. Wu just seems suspicious. I think his last name is Hodges or something like that. I overheard them talking a couple weeks ago, and he said something about raptors. Dr. Wu told him not to worry and that everything was going according to plan. Whatever that means."
"You sure he mentioned raptors?"
"Pretty positive," Dylan nodded. "So there's something going on, that's for sure. I'll admit that the raptors really were fascinating creatures. Their intelligence was incredible. I think it would be fun to observe them."
"Yeah, it's all fun until you get ripped to shreds by one of those things," Owen said wryly. "I'll admit that I think they were fascinating too, but it's a good thing they were removed from the island. They were too dangerous for the first park, and they'd definitely be too dangerous for this one."
"Dr. Wu admitted that they underestimated how smart and aggressive the raptors would be," Dylan went on. "I told him what you'd said about imprinting on them. He said that with the first raptors, they tried that but by the time the raptors were four months old, they had become so aggressive nobody wanted to continue working with them so they got put into a paddock and left alone. They were fed using a crane to lower the food, usually a cow, into the paddock because they had learned the routine and mauled an employee who was opening a gate to throw in food."
"And that's why it would be a bad idea to try it again," Owen tried to reason. "They were too smart and too aggressive for the first park. There's no use for them here."
"Could you imagine it though?" Dylan looked at him.
"Two months ago, you didn't seem to think it would be a good idea to have raptors, and now you do? What changed your mind?"
"This park needs something really interesting," Dylan looked back at the apatosaur eggs. "Don't get me wrong, all the animals here are interesting, but so far, we don't have any major predators aside from Rexy and the mosasaurus."
"I'd be okay if it stayed that way," Owen admitted. "There's less of a chance for this park to end up like the first one if they stay away from predators."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Dylan sighed. "But people will get bored of just seeing lumbering herbivores."
"Lumbering herbivores?" Owen chuckled. "Listen to you, using those big words."
"Hey now," Dylan shot back playfully. "I didn't get this job just because of my good looks. I'm not as dumb as I act sometimes."
"The jury's still out on that one," a female voice chimed in behind them. They turned to see another ACU member behind them.
"Hey, Abby," Dylan greeted her with a smile.
"Hey, Dylan, Owen," she smiled at them both. "So, Dylan, I was thinking that since it's sort of a slow day for us, maybe you'd like to meet up this evening for dinner at Margaritaville?"
Owen tried to hide his amusement. For the last year, he had watched Abigail and Dylan all but admit their feelings for each other. The entire ACU loved to poke fun of how they both acted like lovestruck teens at times.
"Sounds good," Dylan smiled even more. "How about we meet their around five or so? I've got patrol duty on the Main Street area until then anyway."
"Awesome," Abigail turned to Owen. "Would you like to join us? Maybe you could invite Ms. Dearing. I hear she just adores you."
"She adores me about as much as Rexy enjoys a salad," Owen retorted. "Thanks for the invite, but I'll have to take a rain check."
"Suit yourself," she laughed. "I better get going. I'm going to help out on the Cretaceous Cruise exhibit today. Later!"
She turned and hurried away. Owen shook his head, laughing, before he looked to Dylan.
"Have fun on your date," Owen clapped him on the back.
"It's not a date!" Dylan said, his face turning a faint shade of red.
"Keep telling yourself that, buddy," Owen smirked. "I'd be willing to bet more on it actually being a date than velociraptors being on this island again."
I know not much happened in this chapter, but a few things were said in the conversation between Owen & Dylan that will lay the groundwork for future events in the story, beginning with the next chapter. When I first had this story idea, I didn't plan on Dylan being present so much. He was more of a character I'd insert a few times, but my Muse demanded Dylan get a bigger part in the story than just being a character who didn't mean much in the long run. I hope he's not coming off as a boring character. I sort of wanted him to be like a younger brother to Owen & he's meant to be how I pass along some information I use to lay the groundwork for the park and the animals featured in this story.
There are things mentioned in this chapter that are from the Jurassic Park video game (such as the information on the troodons), so if you ever read something that you're not sure I've made up myself or used from something canon within a franchise item like the game, send me a PM and I'll explain.
Lastly, the title of this story isn't that great, I know. If you have suggestions for a better title, please feel free to let me know! Until next time... I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!