Stepping foot first onto an island that once held the first park of its kind - Jurassic Park - and one that your grandfather made possible was an unreal experience for Jacqueline, with her mouth hanging open as she stepped off the helicopter with her rucksack in her firm, but gentle grasp as she spotted a brunette holding a sign with her name on it.
"Miss Jacqueline Hammond?" The brunette asked her, taking her sunglasses and pushing them up onto of her head with a smile, before holding out her hand.
"Yes, that's me" Jacqueline responded as she took the woman's hand firmly in hers and shook it. Her grandfather always used to say, a firm handshake is the best kind of handshake.
"Zara, I'll be escorting you around to the lab where Dr Wu and Mr Masrani are waiting for you" She explained, as she began to walk and Jacqueline quickly followed, looking back and forth between the pair of them and the helicopter.
"What about my stuff?" She inquired, not for fear of her possessions getting lost or sent to the wrong place, but more because of wanting to check some of her more prized possessions weren't broken.
"They'll be sent straight to your living quarters, your bungalow along with anything else you'll need along with your own jeep" Zara explained, a woman on a mission as she marched through corridors and down hallways with Jacqueline struggling to keep up.
"Wait, what? My own jeep?" She asked in surprise, as Zara stopped at two large doors, turning back to face Jacqueline.
"Yes Miss Hammond, you have been assigned your own jeep to escort yourself around the park once you've settled in. Mr Masrani thought it would be a nice welcoming gift to yourself, they led an expedition team to the old site to salvage one of the jeeps for you to use just for yourself. Everyone else has standard terrain ones or fancy cars. He thought it would be nice to have something of your grandfathers" Zara replied with a smile, before she pushed open the two large doors.
Sunlight streamed in and Jacqueline quickly raised her arm to shield her eyesight from the blinding sun - she would be no use to her new position if she was blind - and once she felt her eyes adjusting to the brightness, she stepped forward and slowly lowered her arm, along with her mouth in the process, as her bright eyes widened.
Jurassic World. The what seemed small area of shops and restaurants she could see was overshadowed by the large green mountains that towered above the park, the crystal clear blue sky meeting the line of green and contrasting perfectly. The landscape looked prehistoric, ancient and as though it had been untouched for thousands of years, thick forests could be seen for miles and a rail system zooming around the park to the different attractions, near and far. The park was an absolute wonder and to anyone, it was definitely something that needed to be seen, a sight to behold.
Crystal blue waters lapped at a sandy beach, no doubt a part of the resort for parents to have some much needed relaxation time as their children ran around like headless chicken's, experiencing a park like this, as people from all over the world entered the park and went about their stay. It was a sight to behold indeed and Jacqueline wished her grandfather could have been here to see it. Taking out her cellphone - an iPhone 6 plus - she held it out to Zara.
"Would you take a picture? So I can send it to my mum?" She asked, as Zara smiled and took the item from her grasp and held it up.
"Say Jurassic" Zara joked, as Jacqueline smiled, listening for the click of the shutter, and once the photo was taken, she extracted it from Zara's grasp and quickly sent the picture to her mother.
"She would love to see this.." She whispered to herself, only imaging Eloise's reaction, before her mind quickly snapped to her grandfather and how he would have loved to see this himself. After all, this park was modeled on Jurassic Park, the first one of its kind, a rare spectacle to see and a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"Shall we?" Zara inquired, as Jacqueline nodded and followed Zara, down a flight of steps to an awaiting Mercedes jeep, along with a row of them just like it. As the engine roared to life, Jacqueline's head snapped up at the sound of a much louder roar.
"Tyrannosaurus Rex.." She whispered, as Zara nodded her head, pulling the jeep out of the line and out of the parking lot. Signs were everywhere pointing tourists in the right direction for various attractions. T-Rex Kingdom, Gentle Giants Petting Zoo, The Aviary, Gyrosphere and the Underwater Observatory were just a few of the attractions that held dinosaurs, but Jacqueline also saw signs for a Bamboo Forest, Botanical Garden, an aquatic park and even a spa. As the jeep pulled to a stop outside the Innovation Center, Jacqueline climbed out as Zara handed her a badge.
"Your work ID, so you can get to anywhere in the park, anywhere at all" Zara stated, as Jacqueline took it, staring down at the picture of her face, a simple headshot with her name and ID badge number underneath along with a barcode to scan through the doors. She took one last look at it, before placing the lanyard around her neck.
The park was incredibly eerily quiet, not being open yet there were obviously no visitors and tourists and no screaming children, eager to see their first real dinosaur and a shiver ran down Jacqueline's spine as her mind flashed back to the images that had been shown on the television of Jurassic Park, abandoned and destroyed in the carnage of the events that had followed and the same images flashed in Jacqueline's eyes as she pictured the same park destroyed and in rubble and ruins, though with the new technology there was a safety factor and Dr Wu had assured Eloise several hundred times that this park was completely and utterly safe. Still, the silence that should be filled with chatter and children's screams and laughter made Jacqueline shiver.
Entering the Innovation Center, a large 3D image of a Triceratops in the center as the pair moved across the floor, Jacqueline taking her time to stop and admire the technology that was in front of her.. Moving through the center, Jacqueline took it all in before she stopped dead in her tracks, before slowly moving forwards as Zara stormed ahead before stopping and at realizing Jacqueline was no longer following her, her dark eyes darted around the large room before settling on the head of blonde hair stood in front of the statue.
With a small smile on her face, Zara moved over to Jacqueline, coming to stand beside her as the blonde stared up at the bronzed statue of her beloved grandfather, John Hammond.
"It looks just like him.." Jacqueline whispered in a low voice, as her eyes began to slowly fill with tears, yet none spilled over and she quickly swallowed the lump in her throat, stopping her movements at the sight of a white tissue in front of her face, and she looked to the side to see Zara holding it out to her with a sincere smile on her face. Smiling and nodding in thanks, Jacqueline took the offered tissue, quickly dabbing at her eyes, before taking a deep breath.
"He would have loved to see this.." She said, in a matter of fact tone. There was no one who knew John better than Jacqueline, after all the time she had spent with him over the years before his death, all the secrets they had shared and all the times they had laughed together, cried together and just been together.
"You must miss him a whole lot" Zara commented as she watched the emotions come and go from Jacqueline's eyes, as Jacqueline nodded in response.
"Every day.." She replied. "But Jurassic World is here thanks to him, and no one can change that" She smiled, turning to Zara. "I'm sorry for holding you up, its just surreal to see a statue of him" She said, as she looked up at the bronzed face of John, smiling down at her.
"Shall we?" Zara gestured, and Jacqueline nodded in reply, taking one last look at her grandfather's statue before following Zara.
It was white, so incredibly pristine and white, this is what people must have imagined it to be like when stepping into heaven - if you believed that sort of thing - Jacqueline thought to herself, as she slowly followed Zara through the empty corridors, past the large glass windows allowing the public to see the scientists hard at work and into an office in the back, where Dr Henry Wu was sat at his desk, signing papers.
"Ah Jacqueline, how lovely to see you again" He expressed with a smile, as he stood up and walked over to the blonde to shake her hand.
"Lovely to see you again too Henry" She responded with a smile, as she turned to look back at the lab.
"This is all so impressive" She exclaimed, as she watched people move from one piece of equipment to the other, making notes on clipboards and watching things carefully. Catching view of a room behind Henry, Jacqueline began to make her way around his desk. "Whats behind there?" She inquired, as Henry quickly shut the door, blocking her view and the entrance.
"Something that's not for public eyes, we complete work in there when its closed for the day" He explained as he steered Jacqueline back into the lab. "Now about your position. You'll be working under my authority, so deputy chief geneticist. You'll have full access to the lab at any time, day or night. Full reign to do whatever you so wish. And you'll be the only one who has access to your grandfather's research notes, everything he wrote down" He explained, as Jacqueline looked around the lab once more, before nodding. "We're very excited and happy to have you with us Jacqueline" Henry smiled towards the blonde.
"I think I'm going to like this" Jacqueline said with a smile, as Zara tapped her on the shoulder.
"Time to meet the rest of the team" She informed Jacqueline, who smiled and nodded.