Authors note: Greetings readers! And welcome to another chapter. First off, thank you everyone for their reviews for the last chapter, it really is exciting to see my story reach an audience and I'd really like to thank everyone who has been reading and reviewing so far. Also, I have a small announcement, I'll be having my college finals next week so there probably won't be an update after this. It really depends on how much time I can find to work on this.
Invader Johnny: Thanks for noticing my wording gaffe at the end of chapter three, I meant to say she felt the Indominus watching them but somehow I didn't notice it, I guess that what happens when you try to write two stories at the same time, gonna have to rewrite that soon.
Zelene2004 and Rockyrose13: This story will stray away from canon, but some of the park stuff I wasn't sure how to change due to the limited number of exhibits in the park's main street, so I kept the exhibit flow mostly the same and things like Karen's phone call and Claire's conversation with Owen stick somewhat to canon with some changes here and there. But I have changed the Gyrosphere and the Indominus encounter with something that fits more with the spirit of Jurassic Park, so the next chapter is where things get a little more exciting.
As always, comments and constructive criticism are very much welcome, always looking for ways to improve and I always love reading the comments. So now onto the story, hope you enjoy.
Zara was broken out of her reverie by Claire gently shaking her shoulder, "Zara, Zara, Are you okay?" she asked, worried about the dazed look in her partners face.
She shook her head to banish those memories from her mind, replying, "I'm fine, but just be safe alright? Whatever we have in there, it's no dinosaur."
"Don't worry about me, just go out there and have fun."
"And don't forget, we have reservations for Winston's tonight, eight o clock."
With that, Claire kissed her goodbye, said goodbye to her nephews and walked away to continue her call.
She turned to Zach and Gray, took Gray's hand and led them both out of the center, "Come on, we have a long day ahead of us. Petting zoo sound good to you, Gray?"
"What was that all about?" he asked as they walked out, wondering why she just spaced out.
"It's nothing, just a bad memory."
"Gray, Gray, sweetie over here!" She called out as she aimed her phones camera at him as he was excitedly riding on the back of a baby Triceratops, he turned to her, grinning from ear to ear and she took a picture, sending it to Claire with a 'Wish you were here!' caption.
That done, she turned her attention to a rather bored looking Zach, who was tapping away at his phone, sending a message to someone. "So Zach, how does it feel to finally be here?" she asked, remembering that he was always excited to hear about the park whenever she came over to visit.
"Oh, it's ok, I guess." He replied, not once looking up from his phone.
"OK? Now that's not the Zach I know, what's wrong?"
He looked up from his phone and sighed, "Look, I know why you and Aunt Claire are doing this alright and I appreciate it, but it's just….."
"It's just what?"
Before he could reply however, an overexcited Gray tackled her, knocking her off balance slightly.
"You've had your fun, Gray?" He nodded to her and she grabbed his hand again, "Good, now let's go somewhere else, we have a lot of park to cover."
Behind her, Zach sighed, glad to have the topic dropped, for now.
They made their way to Main Street, where Gray led the way, pointing excitedly towards the T-Rex Kingdom when he heard the intercom announce that the next feeding would occur in 10 minutes. The T-Rex or Rexy as she was nicknamed was one of the oldest specimens the park currently had, originally a resident of the old park before the Isla Nublar incident.
They arrived at the observation deck just as Rexy's handler tossed a flare into her paddock, landing next to a goat that was tethered to a post near the observation window.
For a while, nothing happened but then she emerged from the trees, fully revealing her massive body, the ground trembling with each of her titanic steps as she covered the distance to the goat, reared her head and sunk her powerful jaws into it, causing the visitors to crowd all over the glass to view the carnage that unfolded.
Zara felt someone tug at her shirt and looked down to see Gray excitedly jumping up and down pointing to the window.
"I can't see what going on, can you lift me up, Aunt Zara, please, please?!"
"Alright, up you go!" she said and lifted him up onto shoulders so he could see, hearing him scream with excitement at what he saw.
Behind them, Zach felt his pocket vibrate and pulled out his phone, the contact ID displaying MOM, "Hello."
"Hey Zach, how are things?" the boys' mother, Karen asked.
"We're ok, I guess, Aunt Claire gave us these special wristbands so we wouldn't have to wait in line."
"Wait, you mean she's not with you?" she said, brows furrowed in confusion.
"No, but Zara's with us, you want me to put her on?"
"Yes, thank you."
He went to her and tapped her shoulder, "Mom wants to talk to you."
Zara took the phone in her hand and put it up to her ear, "Hey, Karen, how are you?"
"I'm fine, nice to hear from you again, Zara."
"It's nice to hear from you too, Karen. So, what's up?"
"Well, I heard from Zach that Claire isn't there with you, is that true?"
"Yeah, about that…" she said sheepishly, hearing Karen sigh from the other end of the line.
"Just promise me you'll take care of the boys, alright? I'll call her myself."
In another part of the island, Claire was driving through the jungle when her phone rung, the caller ID displaying Karen. She picked up, the phone connecting the call to her cars Bluetooth.
"Hi there, Karen."
"Hi Claire, how are the boys doing?" Karen asked from the other end.
"Well, the boys are doing fine, they're having fun -"
"You're not with them are you?" she cut in accusingly, this was so typical of her.
Claire could only sigh at that, "I'm sorry, it's just today ended up being incredibly busy for me. But don't worry, I left them with Zara, and you know how much she loves spending time with the boys."
"I know, I talked to her a second ago. But Claire, it's like you're not even there for them anymore, this was supposed to be a family weekend and I thought just this once I could trust you with something," She said, tears springing to her eyes.
Claire swallowed hard at the distress in her sister's voice and replied, "I promise, tomorrow I'll clear my whole schedule and spend the whole day with them, I won't leave their side, I promise."
"You know a promise tomorrow is worth a lot less than trying today right?"
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Claire couldn't help but chuckle, "Oh my god, are you using mom's lines on me?"
"I am, aren't I? I'm sorry, but I have to tell you they work, you'll know when you have kids."
"I'll cross that bridge if I come to it, I suppose."
"When, it's worth it."
"Goodbye, mom."
"Goodbye."
With that, Claire hung up and turned her attention back on the road.
Owen Grady was busy working on his bike, a 2006 865 CC Triumph Scrambler, near his lakeside villa. A former Navy Seal, INGEN selected him for his successful career training dolphins and brought him on to help with the raptors. But it wasn't just that, he knew what the end game was, they never told him but it was obvious, and from day one he dug his heels pretty deep anytime the words raptors and field test came from the guys upstairs.
His focus was halted when he saw the familiar sight of the park operations manager arrive in her Mercedes GLE. "What the hell do they want now?" he muttered to himself, taking a sip from his bottle of coke as he stood up, park guys never usually came down here unless it was for something dinosaur related, raptor or otherwise.
"Greetings, Mr. Grady." Claire said, a professional smile on her face as she exited the car and approached him, looking impeccable and proper as always, clothes and hair ironed to perfection, everything about her oozing precision, meticulousness and professionalism. Which made her contrast against him even more in his dirty oil soaked shirt, jeans and mud soaked shoes.
"Please Claire, you can drop the formalities, it's just Owen."
"Ok, Owen."
"So, what brings you down to my humble abode?" he said as he wiped his hands on a rag, tucking it into the back pocket of his pants.
"Well, we need you to come look at something," She said, "If you're not too busy."
"Oh, I'm pretty busy."
"It's about a new species we've made." Now that piqued his interest.
"Wait, you just went and made a new dinosaur?" he said as he went to his tool bench and grabbed a ratchet wrench. "Well, it's kind of what we do here," She stated as if it was a normal thing, "The exhibit opens in three months and Mr. Masrani wanted me to consult with you."
Owen turned to her, stepping closer, "You wanna consult here or in my bungalow?" he asked, voice lowering an octave at the last part.
Claire was nonplussed by the attempt however, shaking her head and shooting a frown back at him, "It's not funny."
He laughed slightly, a grin plastered on his face. "It's a little funny," he said as went up the stairs of his bungalow, going to the back to check his tool box.
"We'd like you to evaluate the paddock for vulnerabilities," She climbed the stairs halfway and stopped, hearing him reply, "Why me?"
"Well, I guess since Mr. Masrani thinks you can control the raptors-"
"See, it's all about control with you," He cut in as he returned, new wrench in hand, "I don't control the raptors. It's a relationship. It's based on mutual respect, that's why you and I never went on a second date."
"Excuse me, I never wanted a second date!" she said as he passed by on his way down.
"Who prints out an Itinerary for a night out?" he stated, sitting down to continue working on his bike.
"I'm an organized person!"
"Well, what kind of diet doesn't allow for tequila?"
"All of them actually!" Claire shot back, then took a deep breath and recomposed herself, "And besides, I'm already in a happy relationship, thank you very much."
"Makes me wonder how she puts up with you." he said while tightening some nuts and bolts.
"Can we just focus on the asset please?"
"The Asset?" he said, stopping work on his bike and standing up to face her. "Look, I get it, you have a lot of tough decisions to make and it's easier to imagine that these animals are all just numbers on a spreadsheet but you don't know what you have here, and from what I've been hearing, that animal you have is no ordinary dinosaur."
"Wait, how do you know all this?" she asked, curious to hear how he found about the Indominus.
"She told me," He says, taking the rag out of his back pocket to rub his hands on it.
"Who?"
"Zara, she told me about that little 'incident' you had last month. Now I don't know about you, but I've never heard of any kind of dinosaur that is that intelligent. She seemed to enjoy making her squirm and attacked you again when you had your guard down, just for the sake of scaring you."
"I think you're overestimating its intelligence here, Owen," She said firmly.
He rebutted her with a firm shake of the head, "No, I think you're the one underestimating what that animal is capable of. You can tell when a predator is about to attack you, it's in the eyes and the body language, and what she told me was that the animal had her sights zeroed in on her, she was ready to strike, coiled for an attack, but she didn't. She was playing mind games with her, not to hunt or drive people away from her territory, but just for the hell of it."
"And your point is?"
"My point is, that animal is more dangerous than you think she is."
"Then, I think you can understand our concern with the assets containment."
"Yeah, but the kind of control your attempting is dangerous, that dinosaur you made is an unpredictable, hyper aggressive killing machine and If there is one thing that working here has taught me it's that no matter how much control you exert, you can't contain and control life. It breaks free, it expands, painfully, maybe even dangerously, but in the end, life finds a way."
Claire simply chuckled at the quote from Ian Malcolm, "Really, you're giving me a lecture on Chaos Theory?"
"I'm just stating the facts, you created a hybrid dinosaur that you have absolutely no idea how it's going to behave and containing it is just going to make it worse," He said.
"Look Owen, we can argue here all day long but I have a schedule to keep, so if you would please come with me," She walked by him, wincing when the smell of motor oil hit her. "And please, change into something more sensible, the asset is very sensitive to…Smell."
Coming up in the next chapter: More park fun times! And an appearance from a character who has also faced an invisible enemy in a jungle, so stay tuned.