Andromeda looked around the Florida home and smiled, the sun and warm climate would do Harry good, it wasn't like they had to worry about the commute to work thanks to magic. She would be working with private patients, not wanting to come under another Ministries thumb as much as working in a hospital would entail. Ted would keep his practice in Britain to an extent, it wasn't like many of his cases went to court. For those that did, he could take a portkey and use their London home as a base for the duration. Harry would either be home schooled, something that existed in America to allow students to continue their non-magical education at the same time, or he could attend Ilvermorny and ignore his non-magical studies. She doubted he would choose that method, not after seeing his reaction to getting to go to this wildlife park. It was Nymphadora she was unsure of, her daughter had planned to train as an auror, something she couldn't do in America unless they became full citizens.
She was just hoping they were behaving themselves for Mr. Hammond, this weekend was apparently very important to the park's future.
~~
"Perhaps you should stay here," Ellie offered as Alan rushed off, needing to see the adults. She may not study the various breeds of raptors herself, but she was dating a man obsessed with them, so she had learnt a lot over the years. And after he had scared that kid on the dig with them...maybe it was best for the boy to remain in the lab.
"Sounds good to me," Nym agreed, if that kind of dinosaur looked that deadly as a baby she wasn't too keen on letting Harry anywhere near the adults. Harry looked at Nym, green eyes pleading, and she hesitated, not wanting to disappoint him. "We can go see them later Harry, let the others check it out first," she offered the compromise and Ellie nodded, she would see if the enclosure was appropriate for a teen. Harry nodded, knowing that was as good as he was going to get.
"We will meet up for lunch then," John agreed happily and led the others out, leaving Harry and Nym with Henry.
Henry wanted to groan at being left with the kids, but he knew better. He went back to observing the raptor eggs and they joined him, at least they were staying out of the way.
"How do you know what animal's DNA you have, or is it just a guess the first time until the egg develops? It's not like there's a database of dinosaur DNA you could look up," Harry pondered, and Henry nodded, surprised by the question.
"The first few times were very much trial and error, but with every successful hatching our own database grows. The very first dinosaur successfully hatched was the T-Rex, we now know what that DNA looks like, so we avoid implanting any more eggs with it."
"Why?" Nym asked. "One animal would be pretty lonely."
"Perhaps, but they are apex predators and need a lot of room to roam, we don't have the necessary space."
"I know you said these are Velociraptors...but aren't they a bit big? I read they only get to two meters longs, these guys won't have a lot of growing to do," Harry offered as he mentally compared the baby's size to the diagrams he'd seen in books.
"The adults are between 3 and 5 metres long, 2 metres tall," he answered, proud of his creations.
"So, they're actually closer to Deinonychus or even Utahraptor. Why call them Velociraptors then?" Harry pushed, and Henry stared at him. No one else had ever questioned the name.
"My guess is Velociraptor gets shortened to raptor which is catchier. Though that still leaves Utahraptor as a possibility," Nym offered with a shrug, the name didn't bother her. A dragon was a dragon, no matter if it was a Chinese Fireball or a Norwegian Ridgeback.
"They are Velociraptors," he smiled tightly and was not happy when the boy rolled his eyes. He was the scientist and they had deemed them to be velociraptors.
"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."
"You don't give us our due credit. Our scientists have done things no one could ever do before."
"Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should. Science can create pesticides, but it can't tell us not to use them. Science can make a nuclear reactor, but it can't tell us not to build it!" Ian argued passionately, and Harry frowned, was it wrong to bring dinosaurs back? It wasn't like they had been put on the mainland somewhere where they could spread and get totally out of control, they were contained on the islands, right?
"But this is nature! Why not give an extinct species a second chance?! I mean, Condors. Condors are on the verge of extinction – if I'd created a flock of them on the island, you wouldn't have anything to say at all!"
"Hold on... this is no species that was obliterated by deforestation or the building of a dam. Dinosaurs had their shot. Nature selected them for extinction."
"I don't understand this Luddite attitude, especially from a scientist. How could we stand in the light of discovery and not act?" Hammond asked, actually enjoying the discussion.
"What's so great about discovery? It's a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores. What you call discovery I call the rape of the natural world!" he then looked at Harry and winced. "Sorry for the language kid."
"Please...let's hear something from the others. Dr. Grant? I am sorry...Dr. Sattler?"
"The question is...how much can you know about an extinct ecosystem, and therefore, how could you assume you can control it? You have plants right here in this building, for example, that are poisonous. You picked them because they look pretty, but these are aggressive living things that have no idea what century they're living in and will defend themselves. Violently, if necessary," Ellie explained, trying to get Hammond to see.
Exasperated, Hammond turned to Grant, who looked shell-shocked. "Dr. Grant, if there's one person who can appreciate all of this...What we're trying to do?"
But Grant spoke quietly, really thrown by all of it. "I feel...elated and...frightened and...The world has just changed so radically. We're all running to catch up. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look..." He lent forward, a look of true concern on his face. "Dinosaurs and man – two species separated by 65 million years of evolution...have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we have the faintest idea of what to expect?"
"I don't believe it. I expected you to come down here and defend me from these characters and the only one I've got on my side is the bloodsucking lawyer!?"
"Thank you," Gennaro grumbled.
"Harry, what do you think so far?" John asked, and Harry frowned.
"I think there's a lot of guess work in all of this and that's dangerous. Any kind of raptor or apex pack hunter is very dangerous to try and control or display. I think the park can work, but as long as everyone is very careful, and everything has a backup that has another backup. What would happen if the power went out?" he offered and Nym nodded. She knew Charlie Weasley, he was mad about dragons, and had told her that the Reserves were all very carefully regulated, with lots of redundancies, just in case. Of course, they used wards and magical barriers instead of electric fences.
One of the waiters walked over and whispered something to Hammond. "Ah...they're here."
"Who?" Alan asked warily as Hammond stood. They all stood and followed him out, most of those who had gone to see the raptors had left a lot on their plates. They walked into the lobby of the visitor's centre and down the stairs.
"You six are going to have a little company out in the park. Spend a little time with more of our target audience. Maybe they'll help you get the spirit of this place," John explained happily, glancing at Harry. He got the feeling the boy didn't have many friends so hopefully the three of them would get along well.
"What does he mean by 'target audience'?" Alan asked his girlfriend who shrugged.
Hammond turned toward the door of the centre and threw his arms out expansively. "KIDS!"
Two kids standing in the doorway to the centre broke into broad smiles. "Grandpa!" They raced across the lobby and into Hammond's arms, knocking him over on the steps.
"We missed you," Lex hugged him tight.
"Thanks for the presents," her brother, Tim, added.
"We love the presents," she agreed.
"You must be careful with me. Did you like the helicopter?" he asked, smiling and hugging them as they sat on the stairs.
"It was great! It drops, we were dropping!" Tim demonstrated with his hands as Alan looked on in horror. Eventually the kids let their Grandpa up and they went outside to find two modified Ford Explorers coming up out of an underground garage beneath the visitors centre. They moved quietly, with a faint electronic hum, and straddled a partially buried metal rail in the middle of the road. They pulled to a stop where the group was gathered. Ellie was off to the side with Lex, introducing herself warmly.
"Have a heart gentlemen. Their parents are getting a divorce and they need the diversion. And they'll be good company for young Harry here," John nodded at where Tim was approaching Harry.
"Hey! Where are the brakes?" Gennaro asked from where he was looking one of the Jeeps over.
"Brakes? No. No brakes. They're electric cars, guided by this track in the roadway, and totally non-polluting, top of the line!" John explained as Lex and Tim rushed over to explore the vehicles. Harry hung back with Nym, he wasn't very good at making friends his own age.
"It's interactive CD-ROM. Look, see...you just touch the right part of the screen and it talks about whatever you want," Lex gushed in awe.
"Spared no expense. Have fun. I'll be watching you from the control room," he took Ellie's arm. "Come along, my dear. You'll ride in the second car, I can promise you you'll have a real wonderful time."
"Oh, thank you so much. So, we'll see you later then."
Hammond turned and headed back towards the Visitor's Centre.
"I'm going to ride with Dr. Sattler," Ian quickly moved for the second car.
Grant frowned, not liking that one bit. He moved to follow, but Tim cut him off, and stared up at him, wide-eyed.
"I read your book."
"Oh, yeah...great." There were two of them. Grant headed for the rear car, but Tim followed.
"You really think dinosaurs turned into birds? And that's where all dinosaurs went?"
Grant opened the door of the rear car and climbed in. Tim follows. "Well, uh, a few species may have evolved, uh...along those lines...yeah."
"Two to four passengers to a car, please. Children under ten must be accompanied by an adult."
Tim was right behind Grant, so Alan kept moving, across the back seat of the car and out the other door. But Tim followed. "Because they sure don't look like birds to me. I heard a meteor hit the earth and made like this one-hundred-mile crater someplace down in Mexico..."
"Listen, ahh..."
"Tim," he grinned at the paleontologist.
"Tim. Which car were you planning on..."
"Whichever one you are," Tim practically chirped. Grant went to the front car again, opened the rear door, and held it for Tim, who climbed into the back seat, rattling on and on. "Then I heard about this thing in OMNI? About the meteor making all this heat that made a bunch of diamond dust? And that changed the weather and they died because of the weather? Then my teacher told me about this other book by a guy named Bakker? And he said the dinosaurs died of a bunch of diseases."
Grant closed the car door on Tim. He turned and headed for the rear vehicle...and bumped right into Lex.
She pointed at Ellie who was grinning. "She said I should ride with you because it would be good for you." Grant looked at Ellie, annoyed.
Harry, Nym and Ian were also watching, trying not to laugh. Ian moved to join Ellie and Alan in the second car. "Looks like we have to split so pick a car," Nym offered, not surprised when Harry scrambled in with the scientists. Well, the poor lawyer probably needed a hand with the siblings.
"Don't want to ride with the others?" Ian asked when Harry sat in the driver's seat, careful not to touch the controls.
"We're at a dinosaur park, makes sense to go with the experts."
"Can't argue with that," Ian chuckled. "So, how old are you?"
"I'll be thirteen at the end of next month."
Ian nodded, eyes briefly flickering up to his forehead, but Harry didn't notice as he studied the car.
With a bit of a lurch, the Explorers started forward along the electrical pathway. They drove away from the Centre and down a road before they passed through two enormous, primitive gates, torches blazing on either side.
"What have they got in there, King Kong?" Ian asked, and the others chuckled.
The Explorer's speakers blared with a fanfare of trumpets, and the interior video screen flashed 'Welcome to Jurassic Park.' A familiar voice came over the speaker: 'Welcome to Jurassic Park. You are now entering the lost world of the prehistoric past, a world of creatures long gone from the face of the earth, which you are privileged to see for the first time.'
In the control room, Hammond watched the cars on the monitor. His grandchildren were obviously enjoying themselves, as was young Harry. "BY the way, that's Richard Kelly. We spared no expense!" he informed them over the speakers and then stepped back.
The fences were retaining walls, covered with greenery and growth, to heighten the illusion of moving through a jungle.
"The accident took place in a restricted area. It would not have been available to public access. SO how can the safety of the public be called into question?" Gennaro muttered to himself as they moved along the track.
The cars came to the top of a low rise, where a break in the foliage gave them a view down a sloping field that was broken by a river. The tour voice continued, "To the right, you will see a heard of the first dinosaurs on our tour, called Dilophosaurus."
Tim and Lex practically slammed up against the windows, to get a look.
"The safety. That's the problem I had to answer," the lawyer was still lost in his own world. Nym had made sure to sit as far from the strange man as possible, subtly altering her eyes to improve her vision as she looked for the dinosaur, though if anyone could spot it in the greenery it would be Harry.
"Shhh," Lex hissed at him as Tim scrambled into the back of the car to see better.
"I can't see," the boy mumbled in annoyance as he scanned the greenery for the dinosaur.
"What are we looking for?" Gennaro finally paid attention.
"Dilophosaurus," Tim answered as he searched for a sign.
Grant looked at his map as the voice came on and Ellie reacted instantly. "Oh, shit." She spun to look out the window, trying to get even a glimpse.
In the front seat Ian leant back as he looked so Harry could see past him. "Swap seats," he undid the seatbelt and slid across while Harry climbed over.
"Thanks!"
"Dilophosaurus," Alan whispered in shock as he removed his hat to see better.
There were a lot of beautiful plants, but no sign of a heard of anything or even a single animal. The tour voice continued anyway. "One of the earliest carnivores, we now know Dilophosaurus is actually poisonous, spitting its venom at its prey, causing blindness and eventually paralysis, allowing the carnivore to eat at its leisure. This makes Dilophosaurus a beautiful, but deadly addition to Jurassic Park."
"There's nothing there!" Tim crawled back into his seat, disappointed.
"Alan, where?" Ellie asked, knowing he had the better eye.
Grant sat back, disappointed. "Damn."
"There!" Harry pointed at a flash of movement but then it was gone, he'd caught a glimpse of a coloured frill but that was about it. That got him another look from Ian, not that he noticed. The cars moved on, headlights on even in the daytime.
The two Explorers drove along a high ridge and stopped at the edge of the large, open plain that was separated from the road by a fifteen-foot fence, clearly marked with 'DANGER!" signs and ominous-looking electrical posts.
In both cars the voice of the radio droned on, but no one was listening anymore, dying of anticipation. "The mighty tyrannosaurus arose late in the dinosaur history. Dinosaurs ruled the earth for hundred and fifty million years, but it wasn't until the last..."
"Will you turn that thing off?" Alan asked, and Ian flipped the switch, leaving them to wait in silence except for Malcolm, who looked at the ceiling, thinking aloud.
"God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs."
"Dinosaur eats man. Woman inherits the earth," Ellie finished for him and the two adult males looked at her.
"Hold on, we'll try to tempt the rex." Arnold told them from the control room.
In the paddock there was a low humming sound. Out in the middle of the field, a small cage rose up into view, lifted on hydraulics from underground. The cage bars slid down, leaving the cage's occupant standing alone in the middle of the field. It was a goat, one leg chained to a stake. It looked around, confused, and bleat plaintively.
"What's going to happen to the goat? He's going to eat the goat?!" Lex demanded half hysterically.
"Excellent," Tim grinned in excitement.
"What's the matter, kid, you never had lamb chops?" Gennaro asked, eyes locked on the goat.
"I happen to be a vegetarian."
"I might join you after this," Nym admitted, feeling a little sick at the idea of watching the animal get eaten.
"T-Rex doesn't want to be fed; he wants to hunt. You can't just suppress sixty-five million years of gut instinct," Alan shook his head.
The goat waited and waited. From the Explorers, eight faces watched it expectantly. The goat tugged on its chain. It walked back and forth, nervous. It bleated.
Grant watched, his eyes glued, his breathing becoming a little more rapid. Harry grimaced, wasn't this cruel to the goat?
Tim and Lex couldn't tear their eyes away, as finally, the goat – laid down. Tim pouted while Lex relaxed a little, hoping that meant it was safe.
Everyone sat back, disappointed again, as the cars pulled forward to continue the tour. Malcolm picked up the microphone. "Now, eventually you do plan to have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right?"
Hammond just shook his head as Malcom's voice came through, "I really hate that man."
After some jostling, Alan joined Harry in the front, leaving Ellie and Malcolm in the back. He longingly looked out of the opposite window, while Malcolm rattled on to Ellie. "You see? The tyrannosaur doesn't obey set patterns or park schedules. It's the essence of Chaos."
"What's chaos?" Harry asked in confusion. He wasn't sure why Dr. Malcolm was there if he was some sort of mathematician.
"It simply deals with unpredictability in complex systems. Its only principle is the Butterfly Effect. A butterfly can flap its wings in Peking and in Central Park you get rain instead of sunshine."
Ellie gestured with her hand to show the information had gone right over her head and Harry nodded in agreement.
"I made a fly by, I go too fast."
Looking out of the opposite window, Grant saw movement at the far end of a field. He sat bolt upright, trying to get a better look.
Malcolm looked for another example before spotting what he needed. "Here. Give me your glass of water." He dipped his finger into the glass of water before taking Ellie's hand in his own. "We should be still and not in a car, but we'll make do. Now watch the way the drop of water falls on your hand." He flicked his finger and a drop fell on the back of Ellie's hand before rolling off. "Ready? Freeze your hand. Now I'm going to do the same thing from the exact same place. Which way is the drop going to roll off?"
"The same way," Ellie and Harry said together, leaning in.
The drop fell and didn't follow the same path. "It changed. Why? Because and here is the principle of tiny variations...the orientations of the hairs..."
"Alan, listen to this," Ellie called softly.
"...on your hand, the amount of blood distending in your vessels, imperfections in the skin..."
"Oh, imperfections?" she teased.
"Microscopic...never repeat, and vastly affect the outcome. That's what?"
"Unpredictability!" Harry grinned, and Ian nodded.
"And even if we haven't seen it yet, I'm sure it's going on in this park right now."
There was definitely something out in that field, and Grant had to see it. He jerked on the door handle and opened his door a few inches. Grant threw the door open and bolted out of the moving car.
"There, there see?! I'm right again!"
"Alan?" Ellie called after him in confusion.
"No one could have predicted Dr. Grant would suddenly jump out of a moving vehicle!"
"Alan?" She jumped out too and followed him into the field.
"There's another example!" Ian grinned even as Harry watched them in shock before crawling across the centre console.
"Hey! I want to go with them!" Tim pointed and Nym swore, she just knew Harry was going to...yep, there he went out of a moving vehicle, Mum was going to kill her.
"See? Here I am now, by myself, talking to myself – that's Chaos Theory! What the hell am I doing here? I'm the only one who knows what's going on, etc, etc..." he sighed and then got out as well, just as the cars stopped and the others scrambled from the first car, Nym helping Tim down to be safe. She made sure the siblings were okay before running after Harry and the others, wand vibrating in its holster as her magic shifted in agitation. She caught up and looked at Harry who shrugged.
"Aunt Andromeda said stay with the adults."
"Cheeky," she groaned, and Ellie laughed as the others caught up and Tim immediately latched onto poor Alan.
"So, like I was saying, there's this other book by a guy named Bakker? And he said dinosaurs died of a bunch of diseases? He definitely didn't say they turned into birds."
Gennaro was scared as hell, following the others, but his head darting left and right.
"Alan? Where are we going? You see something?" Ellie asked curiously as they walked through the grass.
"Uh...anybody else think we shouldn't be out here?" Donald asked and Nym rolled her eyes, of course they shouldn't but it was a bit late to point that out now.
"And his book was a lot fatter than yours," Tim continued. Harry had read tat book too and he preferred Dr. Grant's.
"Really?" Alan asked absently.
"Yours was fully illustrated, honey," Ellie grinned, liking seeing him so discomforted. He didn't seem to have issues with Harry, but the boy was quiet, and his questions were always insightful and not about comparing books.
"Anybody at all. Feel free to speak up," Gennaro tried again but once again he was ignored.
Lex stumbled, and Grant took her hand, to stop her from falling. She looked up at him and smiled. Grant smiled back and tried to recover his hand, but Lex held tight. He was tremendously uncomfortable, and Ellie noticed. Suddenly they all stopped in their tracks. A huge smile spread across the faces of Harry, Tim and Grant. Grant walked forward, and the boys followed.
"Timmy, Timmy," Lex called after her brother while Nym just sighed and followed. They were so going to get eaten.
"Hi everybody, don't be scared," Dr. Harding called as they came into the clearing. A Triceratops, a big one, was lying on its side, blocking the light at the end of the path. It had an enormous curved shell that flanked its head, two big horns over its eyes, and a third on the end of its nose. It didn't move, just breathed, lid and raspy, blowing up little clouds of dust with every exhalation.
Grant stood next to Harding, almost in a daze and Harry wasn't much better. "Beautiful. Is it okay? Can I touch it?"
"Sure," Harding grinned as Grant walked next to the animal and stroked its head. Ellie moved forward to the animal to join him even as Harry reached out to touch the frill, running his hands over it gently.
"Oh Ellie. It's so beautiful. It's the most beautiful thing I ever saw. It's my favourite," he practically babbled, and she smiled and then they knelt, checking her over. Alan furrowed his brow, noticing something, all professional curiosity now. The animal's tongue, dark purple, drooped limply from its mouth. "Ellie, take a look at this."
"Yeah, baby girl, its okay," she soothed as she scratched the tongue with her fingernail. A clear liquid leaked from the broken blisters. "Micro vesicles. That's interesting." Grant, fascinated, wandered all the way around to the back of the animal. Harding joined Ellie and handed her his penlight. "What are her symptoms?"
"Imbalance, disorientation, labored breathing. Seems to happen about every six weeks or so."
"Six weeks?" She took the penlight from the veterinarian and shined it in the animal's eyes. "Are the pupillary effects from the tranquillizer?"
"Yes, mitotic, pupils should be constricted."
"These are dilated. Take a look." She passed the light back.
"They are? I'll be damned."
"That's pharmacological. From local plant life." She turned and studied the surrounding landscape. Her mind really at work, puzzling over each piece of foliage. "Is this West Indian lilac?"
"Yes. We know they're toxic, but the animals don't eat them."
"Are you sure?" She pushed.
"Pretty sure."
"There's only one way to be positive. I have to see the dinosaur's droppings."
"Can't miss them." Harding grinned.
Malcolm walked up to Ellie. "Dino droppings?"
"Yeah." She walked away, and Malcolm looked on.
Tim and Nym had joined Harry in gently petting the tranquilized herbivore, amazed to be actually touching a living dinosaur. Lex hung back at the edge of the clearing, nervous. Harry saw her and went over. "Come on, you can touch her, she won't hurt you, she's asleep." Harry offered his hand and she slowly took it and let him lead her over to touch the triceratops.
As the weather grew darker, the scientists gathered around an enormous spoor of triceratops excreta that stood at least waist high and was covered with buzzing flies. "That is one big pile of shit," Ian stated flatly, grimacing.
Ellie had plastic gloves on that reached up to her elbows and was just withdrawing her hand from the middle of the dung. "You're right. There's no trace of lilac berries. That's so weird, though. She shows all the classic signs of Meliatoxicity, every six weeks..." She turned and walked out into the open field a few paces, thinking. Malcolm watched her and looked back at the dung.
"She's, uh...tenacious," Ian offered, and Alan smirked.
"You have no idea."
"You will remember to wash your hands before you eat anything?" Ian called after her.
The skies were really foreboding now, and there was a sense of growing urgency. Ellie was by the animal, a short distance away from the group. Alan was near her, thinking. "Ellie, I've been thinking there's something about the periodicity doesn't add up."
"I know."
Tim held a smooth rock up and called out, a little timidly. "These look kind of familiar."
"Triceratops was a constant browser, and constant browsers would be constantly sick," Alan pondered.
"Constantly sick."
"Not just every six weeks."
"Yeah, I know."
"I've seen pictures of these!" Tim called, and Grant turned to look at him, a little annoyed. "In your fully illustrated book." Grant just rolled his eyes, but Ellie went over and checked out the stones.
"What's that?" She asked as Harry moved closer to listen, frowning at the familiar stone. A light went on in her eyes. "Alan...gizzard stones!"
She threw Alan one of the stones. They looked at each other in amazement. As before, when they got excited, they talked right over each other. "Ellie that's it, it explains the periodicity, the..."
"...the undigested state of the berries because its..."
"...totally incidental..."
"What are you guys saying?" Harry asked, and Tim nodded.
"It's simple, see. Some animals like her, don't have teeth..." Ellie turned to the boys.
"...like birds..." Alan butted in.
"...like birds. What happens is, they sallow the stones and hold them in a muscular sack in their stomachs..."
"...a gizzard..."
"...which is called a gizzard, and it helps them mash their food, but what happens after a while..."
"...what happens is that after a while, the stones get smooth, every six weeks, so the animal regurgitates them..."
"...barfs them up..." Ellie clarified for Tim, figuring Harry was old enough to know the other term.
"...and swallows fresh ones."
"And when she swallows the stones, she swallows the poison berries too. That's what makes her sick. Good work Tim," she reached out and ruffled his hair, making him smile. She looked at Grant pointedly. Tim looked up at Grant too, smiling from ear to ear. Grant grunted, not so easily convinced.
Thunder rumbled as the storm overhead was about to bust loose. Gennaro, scared of more than one thing now, put his foot down. "Doctors, if you please...I have to insist we get moving."
"Oh, you know, if it's alright, I'd like to stay with Dr. Harding and finish with the trike. Is that okay?"
"Sure. I've got a gas-powered jeep. I can drop her at the visitor's centre before I make the boat with the others."
"I'll catch up with you. You can go with the others," she told Alan who frowned.
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I want to finish."
There was a lightning flash, with a tooth-rattling thunderclap right on its heels. "Now." Gennaro pleaded.
"Can I stay too? Tour's probably postponed because of the storm." Harry looked from Nym to the vet who nodded.
"I can fit four easily enough."
"Alright, we'll stay," Nym agreed.
Grant turned and followed the others, Lex right in his tracks. Ellie and Harding went back to the triceratops, which was starting to come back to life. Harry and Nym stayed out of the way but close enough to observe. As Grant reached the Explorer, he turned back for one last look at Ellie. He raised his hand to wave, but she was turned the other way. Feeling silly, he dropped his hand and moved into the woods. Just as he did, Ellie turned and waved to him, but with his back turned, he missed it too. He cleared the trees and got into the Jeep with Ian, the kids up front with Gennaro. Once they were in, the Jeeps started up again, leaving the other three behind.
Harry was grinning even as it began to rain, watching the triceratops as she lumbered to her feet and began moving away, still a little wonky from the sedative.
"Okay, starting to see the appeal," Nym admitted and he laughed.
"Told you so." He bolted for the jeep as she chased him, the two scientists laughing as they loaded up the last of the gear before getting in and out of the rain. The conversation on the way back was rather scientific but they were good at dumbing it down for the younger listeners who asked the occasional question for clarification. As far as Harry was concerned this was almost as good as seeing live dinosaurs, without the park he would never have gotten the chance to talk to people in the field he wanted to work in one day.