Clarissa Hammond

Chapter Four

I pushed my food around with my fork as I sat beside my father, knowing that if I weren't on his side to open it, it would show I was not a good daughter, but I couldn't let him do this. "None of these attractions are ready yet, but the park will open with the basic tour you are about to take, and then other rides will come on-line six or twelve months after that. Absolutely spectacular designs. Spared no expense. After I feel comfortable with everything. I'm handing it down to my youngest daughter. My Dearest Clarissa for her own vision."

Gennaro nodded, "We could charge anything we want. Two thousand a day, ten thousand a day, and people will pay it. And there's the merchandise-" My father looked at Gennaro, "Donald. Donald. This park was not built to cater only to the super-rich. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy these animals." Gennaro nodded, "Sure. They will. We'll have a coupon day or something." My father laughed as the rest of us looked at each other in wary. 

Ian shook his head, rubbing his thumb back and forth on the back of my hand, "The lack of humility before nature that's being displayed here staggers me." Gennaro frowned, "Thank you, Dr. Malcolm, but things are a little different than you and I had feared." I groaned, "They're not different! Father, please! This isn't right!" My father smiled at me, "I know you're worried about being an heir but when your mother passed, I promised her that I would leave you in good hands, but Dr. Malcolm....It will not be your hands!" My father swatted Ian's hand away. 

Ian nodded, "She's right. They're a lot worse." Gennaro smiled, "Now, wait a second, we haven't even the park yet. My father waved Gennaro off, "Donald, let him talk. There's no reason, I want to hear every viewpoint." Ian nodded, "Well, you could start with Clare's but that's fine. Don't you see the danger, John, inherent in what you're doing here? Genetic power's the most awesome force the planet's ever seen but you wield it like a kid that's found his dad's gun."

Gennaro spoke up, "It's hardly appropriate to start hurling-" I snapped my head over to him, "You shut up before I send you back to your lawyer friends in a briefcase." Alan laughed under his breath and Ian continued, "If I may. I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power you're using here and Clare please add if you want. 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 for yourselves so you don't take any responsibility for it." 

I sighed and grabbed my father's hand, "Father. I am happy that you have found your calling, but please look at the repercussions of this." Ian nodded, "You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could. Before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunch box, now you're selling it and giving it to your daughter as a business heiress power trip," My father chuckled, "I don't think you're giving us our due credit and I really love that you've taken interest in my daughter, but trying to convince her that her father is wrong is the worst way to do that. Our scientists have done things which nobody has ever done before."

I gripped his hand again, "Father. Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could they didn't stop to think if they should. God made these creatures and decided when their time was done on this earth. We as humans can not reverse what God has done." My father pointed at Alan, "Condors. Condors are on the verge of extinction. If I was to create a flock of condors on this island, Malcolm wouldn't have anything to say." 

Ian shook his head, "You're not listening to Clare. You're not listening to your daughter. This isn't some species that was obliterated by deforestation or the building of a dam. Clare is right. Dinosaurs had their shot and nature selected them for extinction." My father sighed and squeezed my hand softly, "I don't understand this Luddite attitude. Especially from a scientist. My daughter is worried. I understand but she will see soon that nothing will go wrong. How can we stand in the light of discovery and not act?" 

Ian looked around the table, "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." Ellie finally said something, "The question is, how can you know anything about an extinct ecosystem? And therefore, how could you ever assume that you could control it? I think Clary is right. You have poisonous plants in this building. You picked them because they look good. But these are aggressive living things that have no idea what century they're in and they'll defend themselves. Violently, if necessary." 

My father looked around the table and then finally looked at Alan, "Dr. Grant, if there's one person here who could appreciate what I am trying to do, other than my daughter." Ian looked at me in disbelief that my father was still in the mindset that I was just nervous and worried about the park. Alan sighed, "The world has just changed so radically and we're all running to catch up. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but dinosaurs and man, two species separated by sixty-five million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?"

My father laughed in disbelief, "I don't believe it," My father pointed to Ellie, Alan, and I, "You're meant to come here and defend me against these characters," He pointed to Ian and Gennaro, "and the only one I've got on my side is the blood-sucking lawyer." I sighed, "Father. I love you and I love the idea, but jumping headfirst into a world that none of us have the slightest idea of what to think? What if they found a way to get out? What if all the security went down? You have tried very hard and I'm proud of you, I just don't think dinosaurs that killed each other for survival is the way to go."

My father smiled softly and cupped my cheeks, "Just like your mother. Always worried about nothing." A man came over to my father and whispered in her ear and my father smiled at me, "Dearest Clarissa, they're here." I smiled widely and stood up, running out of the door, knowing who he was talking about. 

Tim and Lex screamed, "Aunt Clary!" I giggled as they both knocked into me and we went tumbling into the floor. My father laughed, "Kids!" Lex and Tim smiled, getting off of me to greet their grandfather, "Grandpa!" Ian helped me up and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, "You like kids?" I grinned, "Will my answer depend on how you think of me?" Ian grinned, "Depends on your answer." I smiled, "I love them." Ian smiled, "I believe this tiptoeing around each other will continue to happen." I giggled and then blushed as Tim and Lex made kissy faces at us.