Investing in the Future

Chapter Four

"Do you only use frog DNA to fill the gaps or other amphibians as well?" Harry changed the subject, sensing he would get nothing more out of the man on the species name.

"Only frogs for now, we may try other species later," he stopped as another scientist approached. "Ah, they are returning from the raptor paddock for lunch."

"Thank you for your time Dr. Wu," Harry offered with a smile before they left. He did not like that man, there was something about him that reminded him a bit of Dumbledore but also Snape. Not a good combination.

~~

Harry watched the slides go past, listening to the narration of various upcoming rides and attractions.

"None of these attractions have been finished yet. The park will open with the basic tour you're about to take, and then other rides will come on line after six or twelve months. Absolutely spectacular designs, spared no expense."

Gennaro grinned, very happy with what he had seen so far...other than the bloodied cow harness at least. "And we can charge anything we want! Two thousand a day, ten thousand a day...people will pay it! And then there's the merchandising..." he was practically babbling!

"Donald, this park was not built to cater only to the super rich. Everyone in the world's got a right to enjoy these animals," Hammond cut in and Harry nodded along, it wouldn't be fair to deny the world the opportunity to see these animals.

"Sure, they will, they will," he laughed, thinking Hammond was joking. "We'll have a...coupon day or something."

Harry looked down, at the plate he was eating from. It was in the shape of the island itself. He looked at his drinking cup to see it had a T-Rex on it, and a splashy Jurassic Park logo. There was a stack of folded amusement park-style maps on the table in front of Dr. Grant. Harry picked one up, reaching slightly to get it. He looked at it to find boldly, across the top of it, 'Fly United to Jurassic Park!' "Mr. Hammond's right, this park isn't for the rich, it's for everyone."

"...from combined revenue streams for all three parks should reach eight to nine billion dollars a year..." the recording continued in the background.

"That's conservative, of course. There's no reason to speculate wildly," Hammond told Gennaro to keep him happy.

"I've never been a rich man. I hear it's nice. Is it nice?" the lawyer asked.

Ian, who had been watching the screens with outright contempt, snorted as if he'd finally had enough. "The lack of humility before nature that's been displayed here staggers me." They all turned and looked at him.

"Thank you, Dr. Malcolm, but I think things are a little different than you and I feared," Gennaro offered.

"Yes, I know. They're a lot worse."

"Now, wait a second, we haven't even seen the park yet. Wait...we were invited to this island to evaluate the safety conditions of the park, physical containment. The theories that all simple systems have complex behavior, that animals in a zoo environment will eventually begin to behave in an unpredictable fashion have nothing to do with that evaluation. This is not some existential furlough, this is an on-site inspection. You are a doctor. Do your job. You are invalidating your own assessment. I'm sorry, John..."

"Alright Donald, alright, but just let him talk. I want to hear all viewpoints. I truly do."

"Don't you see the danger, John, inherent in what you're doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force ever seen on this planet. But you wield it like a kid who's found his dad's gun." Gennaro tried to but in, but he kept going. "The problem with the scientific power you've used is it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge yourselves, so you don't take the responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you knew what you had, you patented it, packaged it, slapped it on a plastic lunch box, and now you want to sell it."