DEM Corporation

-

Josie rubbed her chin in thought as Thera spoke, considering the situation.  She knew she couldn’t afford the island either, but perhaps with the drop in shares, someone could make an acquisition of the company that did own the island.  Or at least, a controlling interest.  She would have to research that.  Aloud, she answered, “The distance for me to fly here isn’t terrible, but I may be able to work up a solution to this ownership issue more easily if I was present.”  She shrugged.  “I know a few folks who could be persuaded to invest in this, take it off the previous companies hands.”  She turned and began to walk up the path towards the hotel, and sighed as she placed her hands on her hips as she walked.  “Still annoyed that those hybrids destroyed my rifle.  I just don’t feel right without one.  Especially now that I’ve run into those creatures.”  Her body involuntarily shuddered.  “I’m almost positive one of them was the attendant, at one point.” 

“Mm, yes, the hybrids.” Thera frowned, with perhaps a little more gravitas than she truly felt; man’s inhumanity to man was generally their problem, not hers. “I suppose if that’s who it was, they’d call it recycling their assets.” Someone already signed and sealed into the company, possibly on an industrial secrets contract … and voluntarily working on a hidden base to illegally fuck around with genetics to make a war machine.

In her harsher moments, Thera would figure they reaped (and maybe deserved) what they’d sown.

----------

Next morning...

Thera glanced down at herself then up again, about to apologise for that ‘strong scent’ probably coming from her - but then remembered the kind of day Josie had had and realised that smell probably wasn’t ‘new’. “I keep saying I’m going to wash up, and then I don’t …” She almost brushed at the front of her shirt for emphasis, but the crustiness there wasn’t something she really wanted to touch.

“Don’t worry about Seamus. He told me about the …” Waving vaguely at the back of her head, having gotten the impression the implants were somewhere around there, “comms-device-things. If he acts up I’ll just holler really loud in his ear and pretend I’m trying to reach you.” She could also use the timbre she’d learned from the T-Rex to add an extra screech.

That said, however, the smirk that had twitched her lips faded once again. “I’ll admit,” Thera followed Josie’s look into the growing dark, “we’ve been essentially in a holding pattern here so far. As I said earlier - the bottom line is a whole bunch of helpless animals who were made and raised to depend on humans … and the humans abandoned them. Those of us here have been picking up that slack, but we haven’t dared look too far ahead.” She blew out a breath, sounding resigned. “I guess it’s time we should.”

Quiet for a moment, it might have been possible to imagine the wheels turning behind her eyes. “I could never own the whole place. Even if I could afford it, too much of my money is either not liquid, or … well, let’s say I’d prefer to keep eyes off it, if you know what I mean. Come to that, I don’t need a spotlight on me, personally.” With all the accompanying dirt-digging any business rivals were likely to do.

-

He laughed and shrugged.  “Well, suit yerself lass, but ya be missin out.  On the Scotch, at the very least.”  Seamus grinned as he turned for the docks, giving a jaunty wave over his shoulder. “I’ll be havin a couple’a fingers of it on yer behalf.  No point letting it go to waste!”  He had gone completely out of sight when Josie landed softly nearby in front of Thera.  “I see he’s settling in well.”  She mused, hands on her hips as she looked down the path towards the docks.  “I suspect he much prefers this gig than the usual rotation to the Congo.”  The raven and platinum streaked woman turned her gaze to Thera, eyes filled with mirth.  “If he gets obnoxious though, just call him out on it.  Or you can let me know and I’ll deal with him.” 

“As long as he can take no for an answer, we’re cool.” Thera rubbed a hand over her brow, aware once again that her clothing still smelled bad. “Though if he prefers this because he thinks he might get some tail, I’m afraid he’s going to be disappointed.”

Here eyes followed the direction Seamus had taken, forehead creasing a little as if some disturbing thought had just occurred. “You know, I didn’t get a chance to ask what you did want in return for all this. If it’s a financial piece of the Park, I can let you know what I find when I go looking for shares?”

Giving the darkened park a look, she rubbed her chin.  “As for what I want, I want to make sure that nobody uses them for war, or for genetic experimentation.  They didn’t ask to be brought back, but they’re here, so best way to keep them from that fate is to protect them.  Even if some of our clients won’t like that attitude.” 

“That said...we will have to work out something eventually on the financial side of things.  We can cover the expenses for a period of time, but if this is going to be a more permanent arrangement, then we should probably have a contract worked up.  If that includes a piece of the park...” She shrugged once more.  “...I’m not adverse to that.  But that’s going to be up to whoever the legal owner becomes and the eventual negotiations that come from that.  In my opinion, you’re here, you’re not doing anything wrong that I’ve seen, so you’re the owner and the point of contact that I will accept.  If you don’t want to keep us around though, I can accept that too.”

-

Seamus considered, and then nodded.  “I believe we have a couple lads who could make use of that.  As for the extra mouths, if’n ya need it, I can tell the boss to line up a supply line.” He paused, before adding, “At least for humans.  I dinna think the company will be willin to foot the bill for feeding the beasties.” He moved to follow her, doing that for the rest of the work that needed to be done to get everything set up, assisting her or others as needed, and generally following her directions without qualm or complaint.  It was getting on into twilight by the time they had everything set up.  He stretched an yawned.  “Well lass, I think it be time to call it for the day.”  He gave a big grin.  “Wouldn’ya wanna come to my yacht? I saw a fine bottle of Scotch that could stand to lose a couple fingers of.  Will do wonders for them kinks in yer shoulders, as would these hands.”  He wiggled his hands as if he was massaging a shoulder.  “Ya may not believe me, bit tis the Lord’s truth, I was learnin the ways of the masseuse before went this route.  Be willin to fix ya up, free of charge, of course.”  He winked at the last. 

“We still kinda-sorta have an allowance coming in as far as food goes … the Park had a very substantial safety net financially. So … so far so good, but I’ll keep that offer in mind.”

They went about the business as far as was needed, letting the keepers likewise see to whatever needed doing - including the late afternoon parade of Petting Zoo poop being wheel-barrowed by. “They used to have to take those the long way around so none of the guests would see.” Thera pointed out with a smirk. “It’s so much easier not having to give a damn.”

-

“Aye, that’ll do well.” Seamus agreed.  “Had we had a bigger team we would have placed teams per floor that had yer personnel in to provide security.  But the lads can bunch up on the first two floors.”  The rest of the group nodded or looked patiently curious.  He turned to them and clapped his hands.  “Right, break up into your teams, decide amongst yourselves who goes per floor if’n ya had the option.  I’ll set up a rotation schedule so we maintain at least a single team coverage as much as possible.  If’n Miss Thera asks fer a hand, ya give it.  All good?”  A chorus of acknowledgements came back and he nodded.  “Off ya go then, work that out, while the lass and I get your arraignments resolved.”  They shuffled away into the lobby as Seamus returned to Thera.  “I’ll still take up in the yacht, but I may set up a couple small posts, either here or at a more centrally located structure.  That lab could work, now that it’s been emptied out.  If’n ya dinna mind.” 

“We can maybe organise better later on - like, tomorrow later on, when I can properly think.” Hands in her back pockets she shifted her shoulders a little, just enough to ease the thread of tension that still niggled. “I’m glad you were here, but you guys were still another surprise on a rapid-fire day.”

She smirked quickly, catching sight of a couple of the lads doing ‘rock-paper-scissors’ over some decision or other, and scratched the back of her neck. “How about the main control building? That’s the grey one up by the helipad. We’d have to boot it up again, but if any of you are good with computers …” A shrug. “We’ve been functional with what we’ve got here, so nobody’s really troubled with it so far.”

-

As inured as the group of mercenaries appeared to be with the scent, they gave appreciative chuckles at her commentary, Seamus included.   “Well, coulda been worse, lass.  Ya coulda fallen into a massive pile of dung.”   “Or a lagoon from a hog confinement.”  One of the others piped up, prompting Seamus to wince. “I would care greatly if’n ya dinna mention instance.  Not one of my favorite memories.”  He requested as they began to amble towards the Hilton.   He gave Thera an embarrassed glance. “And I dinna feel like recounting it out in the open here.  Would ruin what little reputation I have.”  He looked forward as he followed, expression bemused.  “In fact, I think I’ll be definitely partakin of the yacht’s bar after this lot is all settled in.” 

“And there we have it,” Thera wagged a finger at Seamus and continued on, “you are obviously new.” She chuckled in spite of herself, “I’ll take you by the Petting Zoo later, they seem to win the ‘dung per capita’ award.” Actually, that would be a fine idea - the youngsters would enjoy someone new to chase.

In fact, she thought she could hear the thunder of their over-sized feet already, even at the distance. A few human figures in ‘jungle tan’ uniforms were gathered by the entrance to the hotel, which might once have been a sparkling testimony to the brand but was now starting to grime and becoming a haven for nesting sea birds. Thera greeted the keepers, assured them that all was well for now and introduced the new arrivals.

“We did get some …unwelcome visitors, but that’s been taken care of.” She didn’t go into detail, but by the smirks and wry nods that returned, she didn’t need to - they’d heard the order to shut the fences down and knew exactly why.

-

Before Josie could respond, the Osprey had lifted up and started to move out over the lagoon, gaining further altitude before the tilt-rotors shifted forward, the chopper gaining speed quickly.  Josie watched it go for a few moments before looking back to Thera.  “I doubt we’ll have a problem getting them somewhere, but I’ll keep it in mind if we have to bring them back.  Rest well when you’re able.”  She walked past the Guardian, and then Seamus, adding, “And don’t get yourself into too much trouble, Seamus.”  He playfully held up to fingers.  “Scouts honor, I dinna get up into any shenanigans.” Josie snorted in response, before an aura of energy flared around her, and she leapt up into the sky, a puff of dust kicking up behind her as she flew away.  Seamus turned to Thera with a sly grin.  “Well, I really dinna intend ta share the yacht with anyone, cept maybe one, if’n ya wanna partake of the bar aboard for a wee nightcap before ya turn in. I can get the lads sorted out otherwise, just tell me the hotel they should hole up in and I’ll get’em settled in.” 

“You might also want to keep an ear open in case Casa del Mar’s previous owner reports it missing.” That wasn’t very likely given the mission it had been sent on - and in fact it probably had a radio that would warn them if anyone was coming to follow up. That, however, was something else Thera was going to worry about some other time.

She looked over to where the ‘lads’ were wandering over with their gear, waiting to be shown their billets, and gave them a nod. “This way, all. I’ll introduce you to our head keepers and support people on the way. And then, you’ll all get to stay at the Hilton! No room service, though.”

At around that point, she happened to move the wrong way and promptly froze, face screwing up as her clothes released a burst of … well, she didn’t bother analysing exactly what, but it was the kind of yuck that tended to get into the fabric when you were … well. Killing people, not to put too fine a point on it.

-

“I have a yacht, so I’ve got a place to stay.”  Seamus snorted, chomping off a chunk of the granola bar with a cocky grin.  “The rest of the team is on their own.  Unless they call me Captain.”  Josie shook her head, eyes rolling at the same time. “Now it’s just getting thick.  I leave him to you.”  Looking to the Irishman, she added, “Keep me appraised as to what’s worked out and if additional resources are needed.  If you’re going to be here longer than a month, we’ll work up a rotation.”  He sketched a salute with the granola bar.  “Aye, lass, I’ll be lettin ya know in due time.” In the background, the sounds of whining engines began to filter through the rest of the sounds of the park as the Osprey started to spool up.  Giving a quick look to the direction of the chopper, Josie gave a short nod and then looked back to Thera.  “And that’s my cue to leave.  Let Seamus know if you need anything else, we’ll work something out.  Should be able to get the animals to a couple rescue organizations pretty quickly, but if you want to know their exact deposition, I’ll pass that along.” 

“To be honest ‘Captain’, yachts can get very cramped very fast.” Thera threw a glance down toward the dock. “What is she, a fifty-footer? Sixty? You’re better off keeping the space for yourself.” She’d often found that luxury lost its sheen when you could barelyt move without bumping elbows with somebody else. “We might want to check the Coast Guard’s not looking for it, too.”

Even as that last left her lips, she felt a huge wave of tiredness sweep over her. Not sleepy, just … tired. She’d been carrying the place pretty much on her shoulders since the evacuation, and today there seemed no end of things she had to do.

-

Josie gestured to Seamus.  “You opened that door, you explain it.” He chuckled and gave an unapologetic look.  “Why, he is but one of the finest movie poster artists in the world.  Probably best known for his Indiana Jones posters, as well as his Star Wars ones.”  The mercenary moved over to one of the benches and put a booted foot on the arm to adjust the laces.  “He does fine work.  Tho, I hear he has retired.” “Well, if he made those posters, he probably doesn’t need to do anything else if he didn’t feel like it.”  Josie stretched her neck from side to side before rising.  As she rose up, her armor seemed to collapse down and almost melt into a comfortable looking body suit within moments.  “And for your awareness, the shares of Masrani Global Corporation has taken a pretty solid hit.  Some might say they’re in free-fall, but they have enough other businesses that they’ll probably slow down soon.  Either way, if you have the means, you may want to make a move relatively soon.”  Rolling her shoulders, she moved closer to Thera as Seamus finished with his boot and drew out a granola bar from a pouch.  “In the meantime, you have Seamus and his team until you’re required to leave or some other arraignment works out.  Or you tell him to leave.”  “That could happen sooner than ya think, lass.”  Seamus snickered. “I dunna have the charm of the ‘Conquistador’ after all.” 

“Ohh, movies!” Thera’s eyes rolled, but in the manner of realisation rather than annoyance or dismissal. “Within the last century, no wonder I didn’t know him.” She thought back on the posters she’d seen over the years. “You mean the sort of … montage ones? Lots of different things mixed in?” A pause, then a shrug. “I guess that actually is a bit like me.”

Faintly, she could hear the ‘baw-ing’ of the young dinosaurs in what used to be the petting zoo, accompanied by the less exotic cries of the few goats who had once been destined for ‘live feedings’, but the park had fallen apart in time for them to survive. Now they’d just settled in and adopted the juveniles as part of their herd.

“Ohh, crap. I’m going to have to explain all this to the crew. As well as about you guys.” Thera glanced toward Seamus with a sigh, “And find you all accommodation - though that’s not a big deal, we have whole fucking hotels to choose from.” The matter of Masrani would wait until she had access to her computer, when she could do a bit of shopping for shares. Buying in was probably the fastest way to get any influence for the future.

-

Seamus grinned wider, gesturing to Thera.  “There, ya heard the lass!  We can supplement the rations here.  And unlike the cartel goons, I willna partake of too many shenanigans…or call Miss Thera a Picasso.  If anything, maybe go with a Monet, or a Drew Struzan.”  Josie couldn’t help but smirk, shaking her head.  “Well, you carry on then.  Continue with the mission, and get the animals shipped out as soon as you can.  If either of you find that you need more, we’ll see about adjusting the rotation for the Congo to include here.  And you be on your best behavior.”  She added the last with an admonishing finger. The Irishman gave a jaunty flourish, bowing.  “I will endeva to perform at my best and make sure to not give ya a reason to be annoyed with us.”  “I’ll probably be annoyed for other reasons.”  Josie retorted, before looking back to Thera, an eyebrow raising as the previous comments finally sunk in.  “And you’re a Picasso?  What brought that on?”

“Apparently,” Thera shrugged, looping the deflated hose over some hooks to dry out before rewinding, “when your opposition is a woman, the best way to get around her is to instantly turn on the charm. Or so the leader of that happy little band seemed to think.” She tipped her head toward Seamus, who might have filled in the basic shape of it with his remark.

“The form of ‘charm’ was to compare me to a work of art. Somehow, I don’t think Picasso was what he was looking for.” She snorted amusement and put on a vaguely Spanish accent. “I do not t'ink it means what he t'ink it means.”

She looked over toward the Irishman again, rubbing her neck and turning things over in her mind. “As for how long … that’s really going to depend on what happens with Masrani’s estate, and how long that takes to settle. Nobody seems to give a fuck about the animals right now, except as currency - I’ll wager InGen were using their share of the Park to finance their little side trip.”

Which meant … what? That eventually this little enclave was going to have its real investors back, people with the big dollars and probably no fucks to give. Simon Masrani, like John Hammond before him, had been an outlier, the dreamers waved politely aside from those of more avaricious intent. And when they came, she wasn’t going to be able to hold the island either.

But on the other hand … her fingers tapped.

“Oh believe me, the Muscle had a much higher opinion of themselves than anyone else would have. And apparently,” She couldn’t help but smirk a bit, remembering the early conversation, or to lift her voice a little so it carried to Seamus as he returned, “I’m a Picasso!”

So maybe it was just the after-adrenaline reaction, or more likely the reminder of the laughter she’d swallowed at the time, but she had to keep giggles down until the last bits of … whatever had been flushed down the drains - where no doubt the tinier carnivores would find a few morsels over the coming days.

Switching off the hose she half listened to the conversation, the rest of her attention on her phone and letting the keepers know that the coast was clear. “Yeah, all clear. We can debrief in a couple of hours. Let’s get the fences up before she decides to come back …” Hanging up, she turned back to her apparent new companions, giving a shrug.

-

Josie shrugged, strolling over by the railing and leaning against it, crossing her arms as she did so.  “Well, they definitely had done more than theoretical work on the hybrids.  Lost a perfectly good rifle to the two of them, one male and one female.  I’m fairly confident the female was once a lab tech.”  She shuddered as thoughts of how the lab tech had transformed intruded, and she hoped like hell that was not the case.  “They were nasty to deal with.  Took me awhile to put them down, not that they gave me any other choice in the matter.  Destroyed the lab they were in afterwards, so there shouldn’t be any repeats of that experiment anytime soon. They were definitely hellacious fighters.  If I didn’t get the call about the cartel here…” She looked to the refuse and offal on the pavement.  “…I would probably have continued on my way for some recovery.” Giving the area a look and the absolute mess that had been made, she added, “Speaking of recovery, I suppose I could put myself to work now that I’m here, help recover after this mess.”

Thera paused, hand on the switch to start the water, and gave Josie an incredulous stare. “They actually went and did it? Holy shit.” Suddenly, the blunt stupidity of the cartel goons didn’t seem so extreme after all. “For a so-called advanced species, humans really, truly don’t learn.”

Turning on the water, she used just a bit of extra control to keep the stream better focused where she needed it to be. “If you’re offering,” She called over the noise, “There’s three bodies in among those trees over there. Or, at least, one’s definitely a body. The others sorta depend on what dinosaur level tranquilisers will do to a human.”

-

Josie watched the T-Rex walking away, supposedly back to her enclosure, and let out a long held breath of relief.  Taking that as her cue, she landed just out of sight of Thera and moved to where the other woman stood.  “I leave for a few hours and a huge mess is made.”  Josie called out as she approached, arms swinging easily, even if inwardly she wished she still had a rifle (especially one not sliced into pieces) in case the T-Rex changed her mind.  Coming to a stop near the other woman, she put her hands to her hips and looked the scene over.  “So, I take it the cartels decided to try to move in and take over.” 

“‘The cartels’ need to move on from the 19th century.” The glance Thera threw over was only a bit surprised - Seamus had mentioned the Boss and logic suggested who that was, but on the other hand Josie had said pretty emphatically that she wouldn’t be coming back. “Even if there hadn’t been opposition here, I don’t know how they planned to hold the place when somebody’s military showed up.”

Despite what some people seemed to think - or had thought, given these in particular were now in bits around the walkway - possession was not nine-tenths of the law. She looked around briefly, reminding herself where the main fire-hose was, and went to it with a careful eye kept on the direction the Rex had disappeared. She couldn’t get anyone to switch the fences back on until they came out of the storm bunkers, and she didn’t want that while human remains were still obvious to see.

-

The massive T-Rex gazed in Thera’s general direction, a rumble emanating from her body, before she straightened up and roared in triumph to the sky, the ground shaking from the power of her bellow.  Above, Josie watched, feeling the vibrations from the roar even at her altitude.  “Crap, that’s loud!”  She exclaimed, holding her hands to her ears.  She did not look forward to the idea of being used as a bait to be chased, but she knew that even at its fastest, the T-Rex wouldn’t catch her.  Still…she didn’t like the idea of being close to those teeth.  Even her enhanced body would be hard pressed not to be badly damaged an injured if she miscalculated.  Josie hoped with all her being that Thera would be able to wrangle the big creature back.

There was a pause, and a long, high-volume HUFF that carried almost far enough for Thera to smell the breath of carrion in the air. Stubbornness. An agreement had sprung up in the time since the Indominus, two predators co-existing on their own turf and their own rules - but by habit the Rex still bluffed, sounded her out, just to be sure. She couldn’t be seen to be obedient or anything like that!

Thera smirked, relaxing slightly as the huge head drew back, lowering briefly to snap up a few more remains before tipping back to swallow. That suited her fine - it left less in the way of mess that needed cleaning up.

Another HUFF, glancing sidelong at the little human (who wasn’t, quite), then a low growl. Thera nodded once in reply, and the Rex turned with all the natural majesty she commanded, striding back the way she’d come. Thera watched her go, still watchful as the other deserved, then let out a long breath of her own as the huge tail vanished into the outside trees.

-

“No psychic shenanigans involved, lass. Dun think we have any of them on the payroll anyway.”  Seamus easily replied, tapping the side of his head near his ear.  “Just a comm implant.  Makes it easy to keep in touch and organize as needed.  Like when ya need to set up security at an island full of dinos, and possibly have to distract one back into her pen.”  He holstered pistol and drew his rifle from his shoulder.  “The boss is nearby, so if’n ya need her, should your…negotiations…not go so well, just shout for her. I’ll go scout out their transportation, see if they had any others aboard.”  He loaded a new dart into the rifle and grinned.  “Who knows?  Maybe I’ll get a yacht out of this trip.  Be a nice way to end it.”  With that, he headed south, staying within the trees and out of sight of the T-Rex. 

“Oh, so you’re the Bionic Man?” Bionic Family, more like, assuming Seamus was even old enough to remember those TV shows in the first place. She nodded, accepting this with the same aplomb he’d shown at her setting people on fire. “That explains how Josie was getting information from what looked like a screen-saver to me!”

She shook herself as he headed off, setting aside any remark about whether he could get the yacht on the aircraft or if he had a long sail home, re-settling her focus on what needed to be done. Such as convincing someone else who thought she owned the place that it was time to go on home.

And honestly, that someone had more of a claim than the bunch of creeps now scattered in bits around the promenade. She was going to have to do some cleaning up before any of the remaining keepers saw it, but she stowed that thought away as well, stepping out of the tree cover and into the Queen’s view.

Thank you. It was still just a little odd projecting to any of the dinosaurs, like a new dialect on a familiar  tongue - but this one had been around humans for a very long time and knew, mostly, who was friend or foe.

They wanted to take it from us. From you, she might have said, but this game had been played enough that they each knew where they stood. For a second they regarded each other, Thera trusting her senses to warn her if there was to be an attack - and then her lips curled back from her teeth in a sharp, predatory grin.

Remember, only a fool fights in a burning house.

Remember, only a fool fights in a burning house.