Threshold shift

Chapter 4

Claire cornered him after the quarterly meeting Owen had to attend. He had no idea why, but he did it anyway. Sometimes it was interesting what people fought over verbally. Such trivial matters, easily solved with some common sense.

Sadly, common sense was severely lacking

"That's why I keep you around," Claire told him when he commented on the behavior of highly paid conservationists, who seemed to revert to sandbox quarreling on a moment's notice. He wondered if handing out plastic toy shovels would solve the matter faster.

"The voice of reason?"

"The hands-on approach. Now, what I wanted to talk to you about..."

Owen groaned silently. Interns. It had to be interns. His track record so far had been fifty-fifty. There had been one or two promising candidates and two had decided that being a trainer was too physical for them.

"Zach has finished high school."

"Congrats."

"He hasn't enrolled for a university yet. He wants to take a gap year."

Owen's shrugged. He had no idea what else to do. He had a suspicion where this was going.

"Here," Claire clarified.

"I figured when you mentioned gap year."

"He told me he is slightly talented, that he talked with you about it."

"In a way. He asked a few questions, said he suspects he is talented, but that was about it. Aside from a few phone calls and emails, we never went that deeply into his preternatural abilities."

Zach had confided in him when he and Gray had come to their first visit after The Incident, but he hadn't wanted to pursue the topic. Just talk.

"You knew before his parents did," Claire pointed out and there was just enough jealousy in there to have Owen on his toes.

"We were in a tense situation together. I think he had decided to trust me."

Claire didn't look happy. She might not have been the perfect aunt, but she had polished up her act, had become better at juggling family and work, and she liked her nephews.

"I talked to my sister, and also to Scott, and I cleared everything with HR. Zach is going to spend most of his gap year here at Jurassic World. I've arranged for him to rotate through the park, assisting, learning, working with all departments."

"And you want him to work with me, too?" Owen finished. He had known where this was leading.

"Zach wants to. He specifically mentioned the raptors."

Owen pushed his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants. "Alright."

"You're that easy, hm?" she teased, eyes alight with mirth. "What happened to all the protesting?"

"Hey, I like the kid. And he knows what's going on here. I don't have to lecture him on safety and not trying to pet the raptors. Is Gray coming along?"

"Only for the summer vacation time. He's eager to spend time with Zach and me, and with dinosaurs. Looks like he still likes them."

Owen smiled.

After the experience the boy had had, it was truly good.

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Owen walked out of his house, his permanent residence on Isla Nublar, and yawned. It was already close to ten in the morning, but last night had ended just around four, with the pack and him coming home from extended night training.