Investing in the Future

Chapter Seventeen

Harry wandered down main street, watching the carefully selected guests gawk at everything. The park was very impressive, and it was definitely making one on them. The wealthy and famous plus those who had won tickets in a prize draw, along with the world press had filled the park all on Masrani's word, although from the looks he'd gotten up on stage, some had come to get a glimpse of him too.

So far, everything was going very well, and the only incidents had been people overindulging or not keeping well enough hydrated. He was keeping in the loop via earpiece, Hoskins hadn't approved but Harry outranked him thankfully.

~~

Harry groaned and tossed down the paper, so Hermione snagged it and then laughed.

"You were right," she leant over and kissed him gently. "I'll make a few public appearances at the Park over the next month to help disprove it, okay?"

He nodded and ate his breakfast, both ignoring the headline speculating if an heir would soon be born.

~~

Alan stood at the back of the massive 'log' that was used to let visitors get a good look at the T-Rex. He wondered if the animal remembered him, but he doubted their memories were that good. He definitely remembered her and even from behind well-hidden wards and more mundane safety measures, he still felt wary.

~~

Ian watched the scientists work, he was no geneticist, but he could decipher some of their work. He was keeping as close an eye as possible on Wu and his people, he didn't trust Wu as far as Kelly could throw him. He knew Harry and the others who had been at Jurassic Park felt the same way. Until he did something though, Masrani wouldn't do anything.

Wu was the kind of scientist who liked to push the boundaries without considering the long term results. He'd already tried once to add in a clutch of raptor eggs which thankfully Masrani had stopped. Raptors were not the kind of dinosaur that could be put safely on display after all.

Fortunately, talks had begun on a new exhibition making use of the lagoon and that would keep Wu and his people very busy for the next several years. Harry had vetoed any chance of a Megalodon, and Masrani had agreed that it was far too dangerous should it ever somehow get loose into the ocean. While it wouldn't be able to breed, it could cause havoc due to how much it would need to eat.

~~

Hermione walked hand in hand with Harry, taking everything in. She hadn't been to the park in a very long time, so seeing it complete and full of visitors was a very big change. The world was still going crazy over the existence of dinosaurs and the park six months after opening, and it had taken attention off speculation over whether she might be pregnant which was nice. Then again, by now she'd definitely be showing if she was and she'd made sure to be seen in well fitted jeans and blouse just last week.

They were dressed casually, just two more tourists enjoying themselves with VIP passes. It was working, no one gave them a second glance. It was fun to just be a normal person again, not that anyone at home really treated them like Royalty unless others were around.

It was fun, trying to spot what was technology and what was cleverly disguised magic. She was sure the Gyrospheres used magic somehow, but she couldn't find it and Harry refused to tell, smiling at her frustration. Still, being close to the herds was amazing.

"How's work on the Cretaceous Cruise coming along?" she asked as Harry drove their sphere through the valley.

"Good, Claire said they've begun taking VIP bookings for the opening late next year."

"I like her, she was a good choice despite how young she is," Hermione admitted, and Harry laughed.

"You do know she's older than us, right?" he grinned at her, and she laughed.

~~

Claire read the proposal; Dr. Wu seemed to think that they could create a mosasaur from traceable DNA fragments on a recently discovered mosasaur specimen. It wasn't like aquatic species got bitten by mosquitoes after all. The proposal looked good to her, so she signed off on it and then sent it to King Harry, it was his lagoon after all and he retained veto powers over what kind of animal they used it to house, something that she knew frustrated Wu.

She knew the young King's history with Hammond and his experiences at the original park. That explained a lot about his desire to ensure the safety of visitors and the animals and she thought it was good to have someone else who could look things over, someone not as invested in making money. He didn't interfere in the day to day running of the park, neither did Mr. Masrani, leaving it up to the staff.

InGen's proposal was a little more difficult. They wanted raptors for a new project I.B.R.I.S., the Integrated Behavioral Raptor Intelligence Study. The proposal included a design for the area where they would live, well away from the park, isolated. She thought Mr. Masrani might agree, the hard sell would be the King. Still, she would forward it to them both.

~~

Harry stood at the front of the garden, smiling as Blaise shifted nervously. "Relax," he murmured too quietly for the guests to hear. "She loves you and Ian actually seems to like you too."

"Thanks," he rolled his eyes but then stiffened as the bridal march began playing, turning to look down the aisle, watching the bridal party but obviously trying to spot Kelly.

Harry grinned when he saw her in an elegant white gown, on the arm of a tuxedo wearing Ian, and it was obvious he was not a tuxedo kind of guy. Harry grinned at him and Ian mock glared before both went back to smiling for the photographer.

He had come to really enjoy performing weddings and was always willing to do so for the citizens of Sanctus.

~~

Harry put InGen's proposal down on the conference table and Remus took it to pass the copies around.

"No," Alan said as soon as he saw what the acronym stood for.

"Not even going to read it?" Ian taunted playfully and Alan glared at him, even as Ellie opened her copy.

"These things can't be harder to contain than dragons, can they?" Sirius asked as he began to flip through his.

"They're smarter," Alan answered. "From observations of the Sorna Pack I'd put their intelligence at dolphin level, maybe even higher. Sooner or later, they would have found a way out of the enclosure at the original park."

"Wards would keep them in, dinosaurs aren't magical," Remus offered. "Still, I can't see why InGen would want to run studies on their intelligence."

"Obviously, they have future ideas for them," Ian shrugged.

"So do we shut this down now or do what we did with Ludlow and give them the rope?" Hermione asked. "If we let this go ahead, there are a lot of risks. We'd need trustworthy people on the inside and every ward possible."

"There's someone I know Simon's been eyeing to bring into the park, he could be a good fit. He's just left the US Navy where he trained dolphins and other animals as part of various programs. He's an animal behavioralist who gets very good results. No record of attending a magic school but I'd say he has some with the way he works, he's a lot like Charlie and his lot," Harry answered her concern. "Raptors are fascinating, but what InGen created originally weren't velociraptors, as I pointed out to Wu then."

That got chuckles from those who'd met the man or had been at the park then. In the end, they decided to give the go ahead, so long as all of their security concerns were met, and they had a lot more than the proposal mentioned.