Jurassic Sanctuary

by coldfusion9797

Summary:

After the 2018 dino outbreak, Eric Kirby rescues a young dinosaur. She inspires him to reevaluate his life and create a sanctuary for dinosaurs in need.

Notes:

The idea of this story began with me thinking about the kind of movie I wanna see next in the Jurassic franchise. I wanted something focussed on dinosaurs, but then it kinda became a way for me to gather some characters I wanted to see more of, or thought the franchise could have treated better. It picks up the story a few months after Fallen Kingdom.

No promises on the posting timeline for this fic. I anticipate it will be the work of years, like many stories I have written.

Chapter 1

He was driving along Route 412, heading back to Enid after a delivery. One of the drivers had called in sick, so Eric had to make the run. Usually he worked with his dad in the store, processing orders, running the books, but today his dad had needed him to take a van load of tiles halfway across Oklahoma. It was a nice change of pace he guessed, life hadn’t exactly turned out like he had planned. Once, he’d had bigger dreams, maybe something with dinosaurs, but his parents had pitched an absolute fit when he’d mentioned that, so he’d let it go. He was grateful for surviving the island, and having his parents back together, so family had taken priority. They had come for him after all, risking their own lives, to save his. Together they’d escaped the very big, very sharp, jaws of death, and it made them appreciate what they had in a new way. Still, paint, tiles and bathroom fixtures wasn’t exactly thrilling.

Looking down at the gas gauge, Eric saw that the tank was almost empty, so he pulled in at the next gas station. As he fixed the nozzle to the vehicle, he sighed. He’d be thirty next month, and even though he had a decent life with everything he needed, he still felt like he hadn’t really begun to live it yet. His parents were so clingy every time he mentioned moving out and finding a place of his own. He supposed he couldn’t really blame them for the emotional scars that the island had inflicted.

Once the tank was full, he headed towards the shop to pay. That was when he heard an unmistakeable sound, the bay of a dinosaur. His heart sped up with excitement, and he followed the sound to a tiny, dirty, baron cage that contained a small herbivore. It was something ceratopsian, standing about a metre tall on four thick legs, one of them a little swollen where it was chained. It had a large head with a rounded nose and a thick, mottled grey hide. It had a frill with small horn nubs around it. It was only a baby he realised. Alone in the steel and concrete cage, it looked miserable. It needed space, grass and others of its own kind.

Maybe it was sympathy or an early mid-life crisis, but Eric felt a kinship with the trapped creature. He marched into the service station, determined to help it.

“How much for the dino?” he asked.

“Not for sale,” the old guy behind the counter said. “I only just got it, it’s gonna bring in loads of business.”

“Buddy, I was the only one who even gave it a second glance. Plus you do know that it’s gonna end up weighing like four tons, right?”

That seemed to grab the guy’s attention.

“What?”

“It’s a dinosaur. They get big.”

“Shit. The guy I got it from said it was near full-grown.”

“It’s not. So let me take it off your hands before it becomes too big of a problem for you to handle.”

The client from today’s delivery had paid him cash, and Eric dumped it all on the counter now.

“That should be enough.”

Eric’s dad was gonna be pissed, but that was a later problem. Helping the little dino was a now problem.

“Deal?”

“Deal,” the guy agreed, scooping the cash up greedily.

“Great,” Eric grinned. “I’ll back the van up and we can load it now.”

Even though it was young, the dinosaur was already too big for them to lift. With some seaweed crackers, Eric managed to coax it into the back of the van. The axles creaked, but it should be okay. Tiles and paint cans were pretty heavy after all.

“Nice doing business,” the gas station guy grinned, thumbing his cash. It wasn’t behaviour Eric really wanted to encourage, but getting the dino out of here as quickly as possible was his main priority.

An hour later he was back at Kirby Paint and Tile Plus.

“Eric! You’re back!” his dad said, meeting him in the carpark. Eric still hadn’t really decided how he was going to explain this.

“Hey, Dad…”

“You got the cash? I’m heading to the bank now.”

“Yeah, about that…”

Just then there was a loud bang and the van rocked, as the dino stomped around in the back.

“What was that..?” his dad said, pressing his face to the window on the back door, stumbling back in shock when he saw the dinosaur.

“Eric! What did you do?!”

“It’s just a baby, Dad. I couldn’t leave it there.”

“Just a baby… Eric! It’s a dinosaur! Have you forgotten they tried to kill us?!”

“Of course not! But this one is a herbivore. It’s not dangerous.”

“It’s a dinosaur! Of course it’s dangerous! Get rid of it now!”

“I can’t get rid of it, it’s just a baby!”

“I mean it, Eric. Now!”

“No.”

“What are you going to do with it?”

“First I’m gonna feed it, then I’m gonna get it somewhere safe.”

“Safe? Like where?”

“I dunno. It should be fine in the backyard for now.”

“Backyard..? You mean you wanna bring that thing to our house?! No way! Your mother will have a fit.”

“She’s always having a fit. Now,” he said, jumping back into the driver’s seat. “I gotta go to the rural supply store and get some hay.”

“Eric! Hey!” his dad yelled after him. “Where’s my money?!”

“I dunno, I gave it to some guy at a gas station for this dino.”

“Eric! That was a huge order!”

“I know, I had to unload all the boxes. I’ll see you later, Dad.”

- - -

After getting the feed for the dino, Eric wasn’t ready to go home quite yet. His dad was right, his mom wasn’t going to like it one bit, he was definitely going to get yelled at again. Instead, he drove just far enough out of town that he could see the stars, pulling up at a rest stop near the Cimarron River.

He got out of the driver’s seat and went to the back of the van, opening the door to find a bit of a mess. The young dino had destroyed the hay bale, and had also left some droppings. Another thing his dad was going to be mad about, but he could clean the van up tomorrow. Right now, he needed to think about the future, both his and the dinosaur he’d assumed responsibility for.

Eric sat down in the back of the van, leaning back, legs outstretched, leaving the door open so he could see the vast midwest sky. Looking up at the stars he thought about all the things he might have done, all the dreams that he’d failed to realise.

“What do you think?” he said to the dinosaur. “I did the right thing, right? It’s not like I could leave you there…”

At the sound of his voice the dinosaur stopped its snuffling and looked at him.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’ll figure something out.”

The dinosaur made a small rumbling sound and took a step closer. He held out his hand for it to sniff.

“Yeah, there you go…”

Apparently he passed the test because the dino lay down close to him, resting its large head against his thigh. Dinosaurs were social animals, especially big herbivores that lived in herds. This one probably had siblings it should be with now. It was totally unethical that this one was isolated from its own kind, so for now, he would have to do as its companion.

Back when he was a kid he’d spent eight weeks on an island of dinosaurs, and while it had been hard and scary at times, it had also been the adventure of a lifetime, a chance to be around the creatures that he had loved so much. After that, dinosaurs had been inaccessible for a long time, Jurassic World was expensive, and his mom had cried every time he’d talked about going. To be fair, it turned out her fears were founded. Still, he could never hate them the way his parents did. They’d had to get more comfortable with the idea of them now though, since the breakout from Lockwood Manor, potentially encountering dinosaurs was a reality for every American. Eric was one of the few people though, that thought having them here was a good thing, and finding this one felt important, like he had a chance to do something more with life. His parents wouldn’t understand that, but he knew someone that would.

Eric pulled his phone from his pocket and called the only person in the world that would get it. His friend answered on the fifth ring.

“Eric, hey.”

“Hey, Billy,” Eric smiled. “How are you?”

“Kinda bored actually. We finished up on the latest dig and Alan’s fundraising again. Doing guest lectures. How are you?”

Eric ran his hand over the sleeping dinosaur’s frill.

“I, um, might have done something crazy.”

“Really? Sounds fun.”

“It kinda was actually. I bought a dinosaur.”

“Seriously?”

“Maybe it was more like rescued. Some guy was using it as a roadside attraction at his gas station, but you shoulda seen it, Billy, it was pitiful. I couldn’t leave it there like that.”

“What species?”

“Pachyrhinosaurus, I think. It’s a juvenile.”

“Send me a photo.”

Eric pulled up his camera roll and sent the photo through.

“Yep,” Billy confirmed. “Pachyrhinosaurus alright. Eric, this animal is gonna get huge.”

“I know,” Eric agreed. “That’s why I called, I need your help, Billy.”

“What are you thinking?”

“This probably sounds crazy, but being around this dino, taking care of it, reminded me how much I love them. I wanna keep it. I wanna find a place it can live safely and comfortably.”

“You wanna start a dino sanctuary?”

“Maybe? Yeah, I guess I do.”

“Awesome. I’m in.”

“For real?”

“Yeah, I’m sick of dusty bones and no money to dig for them.”

“Billy, there’ll be no money for this either.”

“Yeah, but it’s alive and here right now. We’ll figure something out.”

“Thanks, Billy.”

“Sure. I’m a day’s drive from you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? What’s Dr Grant gonna say?”

“I told you, he’s away. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him for now, right?”

“Better to ask for forgiveness, huh?”

“Something like that. I gotta go pack now.”

“Okay, see you tomorrow then. Thanks a lot, Billy.”

“No, thank you. Bye, Eric.”

With that they ended the call and Eric felt good. For the first time in a long time he felt excited, content, hopeful. Tomorrow was something to look forward to.

Chapter 2

The three Kirbys stood in their kitchen, looking out the glass door at the backyard where a three foot high ceratopsid browsed.

“It’s destroying the yard!” his dad lamented.

“It ate all the roses,” his mom complained.

“They needed pruning anyway,” Eric pointed out.

“It can’t stay,” his mom stated.

“I know,” Eric said as he sipped his morning coffee, happily watching the baby dino enjoy having space and vegetation. It was actually kinda sad that his parents couldn’t appreciate what a privilege this was. “Billy is on his way here. We’re gonna figure something out.”

“You dragged Billy into this?” his dad questioned.

“He didn’t take much convincing. As hard as it is for you both to understand, we actually like dinosaurs.”

“I really don’t know where I went wrong,” his dad said, shaking his head, getting a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from his mom. They really were going to be disappointed when Eric revealed his plans, but he was determined to change his life. If he was going to do this, he was going to have to go all in.

- - -

Eric was scrubbing out the back of the van, cleaning up the dino poo, when Billy arrived.

“Hey, Billy!” Eric grinned, always happy to see his friend. Billy had been twenty-five when they first met, definitely the coolest, bravest guy in the group that had come to rescue him. That was seventeen years ago, but despite the fact that he’d only been a kid then, they’d stayed in touch, mostly emailing, Billy letting him know when they found something cool on the digs. One summer he’d convinced his parents to let him go to Montana, it had been awesome to work along side Billy and Dr Grant for a few weeks, but his parents hadn’t let him go again, saying that he didn’t want to be a burden. In hindsight, they were probably reluctant about encouraging his love of anything dino-related.
Once he’d grown up, he’d committed to working alongside his dad and had let it go.

Still, he and Billy kept up with emails and spoke on the phone sometimes. Usually when Billy called it was because he was annoyed about something Dr Grant had done, mostly not appreciating the tech Billy tried to utilise on the digs.

“Hey, Eric,” Billy smiled. Eric went to shake Billy’s hand, but then they laughed.

“Yeah, maybe not,” Billy said, looking at Eric’s poop-covered glove.

“I’m nearly done here,” Eric said. “I’ll clean up then I can show you the pachy.”

“Cool.”

- - -

Inside, Billy said a quick hello to Eric’s parents, but he was keen like Eric to check up on the pachy. They went out into the backyard, not having to worry about privacy, there was no chance his parents would set foot out here with a dinosaur.

Billy, of course, loved the little pachy like Eric did. He crouched down, running a hand over its hind leg.

“The chain rub doesn’t look too bad.”

“I put some antiseptic on it, but I don’t think it was there too long.”

“Where’d the guy get it?”

“I don’t know. Some wildlife trader, I assume.”

Billy stood up and looked around the suburban backyard, which had already sustained a bit of damage from just half a day housing a dinosaur.

“You’re gonna need space.”

“Yep.”

“Any ideas about where?” Billy asked. “How much money you got?”

It wasn’t a rude question, just one that someone who lived their life from grant to grant, always had to ask.

“Not enough.”

“Then that’s the first thing we need to take care of. You got any rich contacts?”

“Not really…”

“Your dad owns a business, right? He won’t sponsor you?”

“No way. Mom and Dad aren’t dinosaur fans.”

“Maybe we can try crowd funding. Start a social media campaign. You any good with a camera?”

“That I can do.”

“Good. Let’s see if we can tug on some heartstrings, get some donations coming in.”

“So we’re doing this?”

“Keeping it here isn’t an option, setting it free isn’t really either. What other choice do you have?”

Of course there was always the option to turn it over to a facility that was already equipped, but Billy knew Eric had been waiting for this, a chance to be back with dinosaurs, it was the excuse he needed to change his life. Billy was ready to argue the case right along with him when Eric’s parents protested.

They spent the afternoon scrolling real estate listings. Billy found a decent 20 acre lot with water and some trees. It was in the back country, so it was reasonably cheap. Eric was surprised by the price, he actually had nearly enough saved to afford it.

“Let’s go take a look,” Billy said.

They climbed into his jeep, and drove the couple of hours south.

On the drive they brainstormed, thinking about ways they could raise some money.

“Hey, what about a tell-all?”Eric suggested. “We get in touch with some journalist and get paid to talk about how we survived Sorna.”

Eric knew his parents had struggled a lot with PTSD after getting off the island, but he hadn’t really. He’d trusted his survival skills, kept himself alive for months, and dinosaurs had never been monsters to him, just animals doing what animals did. He didn’t regret his time on the island.

“We can try, but dinos don’t sell like they once did.”

“I guess not… It’s crazy, huh? I mean dinosaurs exist and people aren’t interested.”

“Since the Lockwood thing, they’re just an inconvenience to most people. They don’t get the rush like we do.”

“It’s too bad for them.”

“Yeah.”

“What does Dr Grant think about them on the mainland? He still rather be an astronomer than an astronaut?”

“Alan’s set in his ways. He just wants to dig up bones. He still says the InGen animals aren’t real dinosaurs.”

“Maybe, but they don’t know that. I really hope we can do right by this little pachy.”

“Me too.”

The lot looked good, plenty of forest, and green grass. It was totally undeveloped, that’s why it was so cheap, but if they could get a fence up, get some electricity connected, bring in a trailer to live in for now, it could work.

“What do you think?” Billy said, gazing over the lush space.

“I love it,” Eric said, already envisaging what they could do here.

“Then take some photos, start telling this story. I’ll call the agent, see how far I can screw them down.”

“Thanks, Billy.”

- - -

That night at dinner he broke the news to his parents, at least it was two on two with Billy to back him up.

“Eric, this is crazy,” his dad told him. “You want to spend every cent you have on land for a pet dinosaur?”

“I have to.”

“No, you don’t,” his mom said.

“You guys don’t get it…”

“That’s right, we don’t.”

“I want to do something with my life, something more.”

“The shop isn’t enough for you?”

“The shop is fine, but I like dinosaurs. And now because of what’s happened, I have a chance to work with them. No one else cares about them, but I do. They need me.”

“We need you.”

“Mum, it’s only 200 miles down the road. Isn’t that better than an island that’s thousands of miles away?”

“Mr and Mrs Kirby, what else are you gonna do with the pachyrhinosaurus in your backyard?”

His parents shared a look, unable to argue that the dinosaur didn’t need to go somewhere.

“How about we name it Kirby?” Billy suggested. “Get a nice big banner with your logo on it? Statewide advertising…”

“I guess that could be okay…” his dad accepted.

After dinner they checked on Kirby, and Eric brought his laptop outside to sit with the dino while he got started with work on the socials. They dropped Dr Grant’s name, knowing that it would optimise searches and that the palaeontologist himself was basically allergic to technology, so he wouldn’t find out for a while. Billy sat with him, helping out, a master at wringing every dollar he could from people. And they were going to need it.

Chapter 3

The first thing Eric did when he got up in the morning was go check on Kirby. Billy was already up, out in the yard working with the dino. Of course having studied palaeontology and working on digs for twenty years, he had a better understanding of dino behaviour than Eric did. Not that Eric was clueless, he’d read every book he could get his hands on, and had lived among them for months when he was twelve.

Billy was feeding the young pachy some fruit, trying to get it to wait before taking the apple from him.

“How’s it going?”

“She’s pushy, but getting the idea I think.”

“She?”

“Hard to tell at this age, but the shape of the nasal boss makes me think so. See how it’s just slightly concave…”

“Yeah. How intelligent do you think she is?”

“Um,” Billy said, holding another apple up out of reach, trying to get Kirby to wait. “I’d say something like a cow. Certainly trainable.”

“That should make things easier.”

“Yeah. This isn’t my area of expertise though, if you’re thinking of taking on more dinos, you should consider finding a real handler.”

“I’m guessing there aren’t too many of those around. And the ones that did survive the disaster at Jurassic World probably aren’t keen to try again.”

“You never know, we can’t be the only dino crazy guys left on the planet.”

“Sometimes I wonder…”

The next thing Eric did was check his laptop, pulling up the fundraising page. He couldn’t believe what he saw.

“Hey, Billy. Come take a look at this…”

Billy gave Kirby the last apple and came over.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

“Shit,” Billy said. “That’s a lot of zeros. Is it for real?”
Eric hit refresh, the account still showing the very generous donation. He clicked on the donor. It came up as anonymous, but there was a message. Eric, I admire your courage. I hope this helps you realise your dream.

“I think it’s legit.”

“Do you think it’s your dad’s way of supporting you?”

“I’ve seen the accounts for the shop and he doesn’t have that much spare cash to drop. Oh wow…” Eric said, heart racing. “We can really do this with money like that.”

“Good work,” Billy grinned, clapping him on the shoulder. “I told you a few cute photos of her would do wonders…”

“Thanks… So we’re really gonna do this?”

“Yep. When you get a cash injection like that you don’t waste any time spending it.”

- - -

Over the next few days they had finalised the land purchase and talked about what equipment they would need to start, now that they could afford it. Then there was nothing left but to take the plunge and start building a place to take care of Kirby.

“Oh honey, be careful,” his mom said, giving him an extra tight hug.

“Come on, Mom,” he said, prizing her off. “I’m nearly thirty. It’s time for me to live my own life.”

“You’ll always be my baby,” she told him.

“Well good luck, son,” his dad said, holding out his hand. Eric knew he was just trying to be tough, Eric was leaving the family business after all, and while tiles and paint weren’t his passion, he was grateful for the decade he’d been able to spend working alongside his dad. So he ignored the hand and hugged his dad too.

“Thanks, Dad. For everything.”

“You can always come back if you need to.”

“I know.”

Then it was time to hit the road.

This time he rented a horse trailer to transport the dino. He and Billy managed to load Kirby up, enticing her with treats.

Down south, they bought some portable livestock fence panels to contain Kirby for now. It wasn’t ideal, but it was a lot better than where she’d come from, and it would do until they got the permanent fence completed.

“Do you think we should get her a friend?” Eric wondered.

“Where are you gonna find another pachyrhinosaurus?”

“I was thinking more like a cow or a pony. Herbivores don’t mind being in mixed species herds, right?” They’d seen that on Sorna, with the brachs, stegos and ankylos.

“I guess we could try a cow, they exhibit charging behaviour too, the social cues might be similar enough.”

Just then, Billy’s phone rang. Billy looked down at the caller ID with a wince.

“Shit.”

“Who is it?”

“Alan. He only calls when he’s mad.”

Billy answered the call anyway.

“Alan, hey…” he answered cheerfully. Eric had known them both for a long time now, and despite the hard time Dr Grant often gave Billy, Billy always remained incredibly loyal to him. Maybe it was a symptom of surviving Sorna, or maybe it was something else.
“I’m helping Eric out… No, actually we got a huge donation… I don’t know. But it’s enough to establish this place… I don’t know. Jurassic Sanctuary, I guess… This is different. We won’t take on anything we can’t handle… Alan, it’s fine. You should fly down here once you’re done. We should have made some progress by then… Okay. Alan, hang on…”

Then Billy stepped away to continue the conversation in private. It sounded like Billy was right, Dr Grant wasn’t happy.

While he waited, Eric pulled his phone out and searched the livestock market for cattle. He found a lone black baldy heifer that was nearby and ready for pick up, so he messaged the seller.

By the time he’d done that, Billy returned.

“How’d you go?”

“He’s not happy, but then that’s not really anything new. I did convince him to come down here once he’s done, which gives us a month before he gets here and starts complaining.”

Eric had been a fan of Dr Grant before he’d met him. He’d loved Dr Grant’s first book, and hoped that if they did a good job here, maybe they could convince the palaeontologist to like dinosaurs again.

“Okay,” he decided. “Then we better knuckle down for the next month and make sure there’s nothing for him to complain about.”

“That’ll be nearly impossible,” Billy grinned. “But I’m up for the challenge.”

“Great. Time to start drawing up some plans then.”

“Let’s do it.”

- - -

Over the next month, Eric and Billy worked with engineers and construction crews, to get the perimeter fence in place. They followed zoo standards for elephant fencing, and had it electrified for extra safety. They both understood how important containment was, even if they didn’t plan on housing the most dangerous dino species available. Kirby might be a herbivore, but when she reached adult size, she’d easily be capable of fatally injuring a human.

They also had three concrete pit enclosures constructed, with underground dens. The underground quarters added to their security, lessening the chance of an outbreak. Plus, this was Oklahoma, the inhabitants would be protected in the case of a severe storm. These enclosures would allow them to deal with most species under baryonyx size.

During the construction, Eric kept up with the socials, sharing the journey. They were building a following, people asking if the sanctuary would be open to the public. It wasn’t something they could offer in the foreseeable future, but maybe they could start with private tours, if the sanctuary worked.

Construction, fundraising, animal husbandry, public relations, it was a lot to get his head around and Eric was exhausted at the end of every day. But he had Kirby, this was all for her after all, and having the privilege of caring for her (and her bovine paddock mate, Matilda), made every hardship worth it. Kirby was an amazing animal, and caring for her was the realisation of a long-held dream. He was grateful for finding her, grateful to Billy for all his help, and grateful to the anonymous donor who had made so much of this work possible. He’d like to thank them, whoever they were, for having faith in him, and for caring enough about dinosaurs make a real contribution towards their wellbeing. Whoever they were, they really must be an incredible person.

Chapter 4

Two things happened at once. While Eric was checking an email with a request for help, their first one, Dr Grant arrived.

Of course Billy was excited to see Dr Grant, his smiles were always the brightest for his mentor. Dr Grant seemed glad to see Billy too, though he was much more subdued about it.

“I’m glad you could come, Dr Grant,” Eric smiled, offering the palaeontologist his hand. The older man grasped his hand and shook.

“I hope I don’t regret this.”

“You won’t,” Billy said. “You gotta see this pachyrhinosaurus, Alan. Come on.”

“Actually,” Eric said. “I got an email this morning from a ranch owner over near Amarillo. They locked some troublemakers up in their barn…”

Eric turned his phone to Billy and Dr Grant to show them a photo.

“Compies…” Billy said excitedly.

“Compsognathus is a carnivore,” Dr Grant frowned.

“A tiny one though,” Eric pointed out. It didn’t seem to help.

“Billy…” Dr Grant warned.

“What else have we been doing here, if not preparing for situations like this? We’re ready, Alan.”

“You said Amarillo?” Dr Grant checked.

“Yeah.”

“That’s in Texas. It’s impossible. Lockwood Manor is in California. They couldn’t have spread that far, that fast.”

“Not naturally, but with human assistance,” Billy said. “People are thinking they can keep them as pets and then releasing them when they realise they can’t.”

“That’s why education is part of our mission,” Eric added.

“Come on, Alan,” Billy said. “Let’s go get them. We can catch up on the drive.”

“This is how it starts…” Dr Grant grumbled as he followed Billy to the truck. “Soon enough we’ll be running for our lives…”

“From twelve inch high theropods?” Billy laughed as he opened the door for his mentor.

They settled in for the six hour drive west, filling Dr Grant in on their progress, and listening to him talk about the people he had encountered on his lecturing tour, and what they thought about the outbreak and having dinosaurs on the mainland. Considering the circles Dr Grant worked in, most people he’d talked to were excited by the idea of wild dinos, and he said some were even actively seeking them out to observe. It sounded dangerous, but Eric could appreciate the desire to do so. It would be a rush to encounter wild dinosaurs in America.

They stopped on the way and bought some canine carry cages to hold the little dinos.

“I thought you said you were ready…” Dr Grant said.

“Mostly,” Billy replied, unworried by Dr Grant’s criticism.

“Do you have containment for them at the sanctuary?”

“State of the art,” Billy told him.

“Did you ever find out who the donor was?”

“No,” Eric answered. “I’d like to though, to thank them.”

“I’d like to for a different reason…” Dr Grant muttered.

“Lighten up, Alan,” Billy encouraged. “You like dinosaurs, remember?”

“InGen’s creations aren’t dinosaurs.”

“Okay, Alan. We get it. But they’re here now and who’s more qualified than us to deal with them?”

“I’d rather have you back on the digs, Billy.”

Billy went quiet for a moment and Eric felt like he was intruding. He concentrated on the road, wondering if he was going to lose his biggest supporter. There was no way he’d have achieved as much as he had without Billy’s help, but Billy did have his own life.

“I will be,” Billy offered. “But I can’t leave before we find a handler. Eric can’t do everything himself.”

“What about someone from the DPG?” Dr Grant suggested. “They’re mostly hands off, someone there might rather be hands on.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Billy agreed. “Do you have any contacts?”

Dr Grant just gave him a flat look.

“Guess I’ll google,” Billy said.

When they arrived at the ranch, the owner met them at the gate.

“You the dinosaur wranglers?”

“Yes, sir,” Eric agreed, while Dr Grant rolled his eyes, and Billy went into ‘wrangling’ mode.

“Just the three in the barn?” Billy checked.

“As far as I know. Damn things were terrorising my daughter. I wanted to shoot them, but my wife said they was endangered or something and that I should contact you people.”

“You did the right thing,” Eric said. “We’ll get them out of here soon.”

“Any idea where they came from?” Dr Grant asked, while Eric and Billy grabbed the gear.

“Nope. Never heard of anything like them around here.”

The ranch owner took them to the barn.

“They ran in here so I shut the door.”

“Perfect,” Billy said. “Okay, three of them, three of us. We can keep eyes on all of them and get this done.”

“I’m not going in there,” Dr Grant stated.

“Alright, fine. You go over to that window there and distract them, so that Eric and I can slip inside.”

“If I must…” Dr Grant grumbled, walking off to do as Billy had said.

They watched as Dr Grant opened the window and called out to the dinos, flapping his hat to gain their attention.

“Okay,” he called. “I’ve got all three.”

“Copy that,” Billy called back, then they quickly went inside.

The compies were the usual vivid green ones with darker striping that Eric had seen on Sorna. He knew how crafty and relentless they could be, so he and Billy needed to be careful. They had nets to catch them. The first one would probably be easy enough, catching them off guard, but after that who knew?

Billy handed him a net.

“Go ahead,” he encouraged.

Eric gripped the handle and slowly approached the little dinos with Billy. They were mostly focused on Dr Grant, but they were flighty and curious, constantly checking their surrounds. Billy pointed to the one on the right, indicating his chosen target. Eric nodded, and went for the closest one, at the back of the group. He mouthed a countdown and then they pounced, each nabbing their target. The little dinos fought furiously to escape the nets, biting and clawing. If they kept it up too long, they might break free. Neither Eric nor Billy had considered how much fight would be in them, and they had to hold on tight, to stop them escaping. They definitely wouldn’t be as easy to catch a second time around now that they knew what was up.

“Hey, Alan?” Billy called over the ruckus. “Can you come in here and grab the cages?”

“Where’s the third one?” Dr Grant checked. They looked around.

“Can you see it?” Billy asked him.

Eric scanned the barn floor, spotting it standing behind them.

“Yeah, it’s behind us. You’re good, Dr Grant.”

“Knock when you’re ready to open the door,” Billy said.

A few moments later the head the knock, the third compy still watching them.

“Yep. Come in,” Billy called.

Dr Grant entered the barn, swiftly closing the door.

“Grab the cages, Alan. Bring them over.”

Dr Grant did so, all the while the trapped compies fighting against them.

“Okay, open it up. I’ll put this one in,” Billy said. With a bit of struggling and manoeuvring, they managed to get it secured, then repeated the process with Eric’s catch.
“Alright, two down,” Billy said, looking around for the third. It was nearby, agitated, concerned for its flockmates.

Eric took a step towards it and it darted away.

“It’s not gonna fall for that trick again,” Dr Grant said.

“Maybe we could get some bait to distract it?” Eric suggested. “They’ve been in here all night so it’ll be hungry.”

“Worth a try,” Billy agreed. He and Dr Grant were heading for the door, Dr Grant in the lead when it opened, a small blonde girl peeking in. Quick as a flash the compsognathus made a break for the gap, but the girl was still there. In an instant Dr Grant went for the girl to shield her and Billy grabbed for the dinosaur. He managed to catch it by the tail, which meant it had room to fight back, snapping it jaws and thrashing its claws.

It all happened very quickly, and hearing the struggle, the rancher grabbed his daughter. With the girl safe, Dr Grant could help Billy.

In the meantime, Eric grabbed the empty cage and brought it over to them, holding it open so they could secure the dino.

“Drop it, Billy.”

“I can’t,” Billy said. “The door…”

The rancher had left it open when he’d scooped up his child.

“Eric’s got the cage, just get it in there,” Alan said. Between the three of them they managed to get the struggling dinosaur into the carrier, but not without incident.

“Damn!”

“Alan!”

As Eric clapped the cage shut, he saw blood pouring from Dr Grant’s hand.

“Here, show me,” Billy said, examining the wound.

“Damn, it’s deep. There’s a first aid kit in the truck.”

Billy led Dr Grant away, while Eric checked the cages were secure, but Eric could still hear them. They were arguing.

“You see? I told you something like this would happen.”

“It’s hardly life-threatening.”

“Billy, I was bitten by a dinosaur. What happens when it’s a big one? What happens when it’s you?”

“Alan… I’ll be fine.”

“How can you have survived Isla Sorna and say that?”

“That’s exactly why. I survived. We survived.”

“Barely…” Dr Grant grumbled.

“Look, I promise this is different. At least give us the chance to show you the sanctuary. Alan, please…”

There was a tense silence, and then a sigh.

“Fine.”

- - -

Back at the sanctuary, they introduced the compies to their den and fed them.

“We’ll let them into the enclosure tomorrow when we can monitor them,” Eric decided.

“Sounds like a plan,” Billy agreed.

Back above ground, the sun was setting. Dr Grant cast his eyes around.

“Where’s the emergency bunker?” he checked.

“Alan, we have a baby pachyrhinosaurus, three toy poodle-sized pipsqueaks and a cow. Hardly the makings of doomsday…”

“Better to be safe than sorry.”

“Come on,” Billy said, grabbing the older man’s arm. “Let’s eat.”

They cooked dinner in the trailer, sharing a meal not too dissimilar to what it was like on the digs. That had been one of the best summers of Eric’s childhood and they reminisced about it while they ate.

“You wanna take my bed, Alan?” Billy offered when they were finished. “I don’t mind sleeping outside.”

“I’m not staying here,” Dr Grant refused, starting towards the truck. “I’m going into town.”

Billy grabbed his own bag and chased after him.

“You’re not escaping that easily, Alan. Eric, I’m going with Alan.”

“Okay. We’ll relocate Kirby in the morning.”

“Cool, we’ll be back then.”

“Will we?” Dr Grant grumbled.

“Trust me, you’ll wanna see this, Alan.”

“If you say so, Billy. Now let’s get away from here.”

“See you in the morning,” Billy called back to him.

“Bye,” Eric waved, and then he was alone, really alone, maybe for the first time since he got stranded on Isla Sorna.

To occupy himself he took Dr Grant’s advice and looked into the DPG. They were a volunteer group founded by Claire Dearing, the former operations manager of Jurassic World. They’d been heavily involved in advocating for the rescue of the dinos on Isla Nublar when Mt Sibo was set to erupt, but the events that followed, leading to the Lockwood Manor outbreak, had left the group in tatters. They still had a website, so Eric checked it out, scrolling through the team bios. There was a paleo-veterinarian named Zia Rodriguez, who it said was an expert on dinosaur biology. Someone like that on the team would be a real asset, and because of the anonymous donor, he could even afford to pay her. It said she had been accepted for an internship at Jurassic World, but the incident had put a stop to that. It also said she wanted to work in paleo-medicine once the DPG had achieved their goals. Since the outbreak things had gone quiet at the DPG, but the website still listed contact details, so Eric tried calling the office. He was told by a volunteer that they were in a reset phase, still taking donations while they worked to redefine their mission to provide protection to the dinosaurs that now inhabited the mainland. He explained his situation, and asked if he could speak to Zia, but the volunteer said that Zia wasn’t in, and didn’t know when to expect her back. He managed to get an email address out of them for Zia, but they weren’t sure how often she was checking them. He thanked the volunteer and ended the call.

He wrote an email to Zia, telling her about the sanctuary, how it started, the dinos they had, and asked her if she’d be interested in visiting. If she accepted, if she liked what she saw, and if he and Billy got along with her, then he would talk to her about recruitment.

- - -

“Hey,” Eric greeted when Billy and Dr Grant showed up in the morning. He hadn’t been sure that Dr Grant would come back, but he seemed happy enough to be by Billy’s side this morning. “I got in touch with the DPG,” he told them. “I reached out to a paleo-veterinarian there, hopefully I’ll hear back from her soon.”

“Sounds good,” Billy told him.

“You guys ready to see what Kirby thinks of her new home?”

“What’s Kirby?” Dr Grant asked suspiciously.

“Come on,” Billy grinned at the older palaeontologist. “You’ll love her.”

They headed over to Kirby’s pen. She was resting peacefully on a bed of straw.

“I know you like ceratopsids,” Eric said.

“We waited for you,” Billy added with a smile, bumping his arm against Dr Grant’s, whose expression did soften a little.

“She’s trained to follow us. It wasn’t too hard considering her age and the sociability of her species. She wants to be part of a herd. Come say ‘hi’.”

Eric opened the gate and the three of them entered the pen.

Despite all Dr Grant’s grumbling so far, he couldn’t help but be drawn in by the young pachyrhinosaurus, quizzing them on all the behavioural traits she exhibited.

Because Kirby was used to being handled, she was calm around them, and Dr Grant couldn’t resist touching her when she approached them. Eric smiled, it was good to see one of his childhood idols enjoying the thing that Eric had admired him for. Maybe if he spent enough time here, he might come to like dinosaurs again.

Matilda the cow had been halter-trained, so Billy clipped a lead on her and then opened the gate, walking the her to the new paddock, Kirby following, encouraged by treats of fern fronds which Dr Grant enjoyed offering her.

Eric had thrown a few biscuits of hay into the new paddock, because that’s what Kirby was used to, but there should be enough grass and browse to sustain the saurian and bovine in their new habitat.

They lead the animals inside and closed the gate. Matilda ran around the pasture, jumping and kicking with joy. Kirby wasn’t as quick or nimble, but she tried to mimic her herdmate, trotting through the grass. It was good to see her with space and a stimulating environment. So far she’d been held in a tiny cage, and then a small pen, but now she had room to roam and explore. Eric shared a grin with Billy, this moment was the culmination of what they’d been working towards for the past month. In reality it was pretty quick turnaround, made possible by the very generous donation they’d received, but they’d worked non-stop to make it happen.

“We did it,” Eric said.

“Rescuing her was the right thing to do,” Billy agreed. “What do you think, Alan? Worthwhile, right?”

“It’s hard not to be awed by her.”

Billy clapped a hand to Dr Grant’s shoulder and grinned.

“Told you it’d be worth the trip.”

At some point Kirby would get too big and powerful for them to free handle, and maybe too much for the cow to handle too, but they’d monitor the situation and change things if they had to.

They stayed and watched her for an hour or so, delighting as she discovered new plants to eat and finally settled down to rest, then they had to go check the compies.

Down in the den, the three of them were hopping about, exploring every corner of their living space.

“They’re all still here, that’s a start…” Dr Grant commented.

“They won’t escape this enclosure,” Billy said.

“That’s what they always say…”

“Well,” Eric said, pushing the handle to lift the gate. “No time like the present to find out, I guess…”

The gate opened and the three small theropods immediately bounded out into the enclosure.

Compsognathus were a very social species, they worked as a unit to surveil and explore their new habitat. It was hard to say if they should have been allowed to remain wild, but then problem wildlife, no matter the species, had always been dealt with by removal, either by euthanising or relocating. This way they got a chance at a decent life, and it was impossible to know what the future held for dinosaurs, maybe one day there would be the chance for them to live wild or at least semi-wild in reserves, depending on what the government decided to designate their status, and how much funding they should throw at the issue. For now, the little group wasn’t doing too bad.

“I think you should focus on herbivores,” Dr Grant said, rubbing his bandaged hand. “Even without the issue of how dangerous they are, carnivore care is much more difficult, supplying their diet and managing their complex social needs.”

“We’re only equipped to house predators up to baryonyx size anyway,” Billy said, probably thinking that would ease some of Dr Grant’s concerns. It didn’t.

“Raptors fall under that threshold. Do not bring raptors here.”

“I doubt we could anyway,” Eric offered. “The only one on the mainland is Blue. I can’t see us being the place that gets the call about her, so I don’t think raptors are something you have to worry about.”

“And don’t you dare think about taking on any of those juvenile allosaurs that escaped. They might be small enough now, but they’ll grow to twelve feet high. With lots of teeth.”

“Relax, Alan.”

“I want this place to work,” Eric said. “I don’t plan on taking on anything we can’t handle.”

With only four dinos to take care of for now, Eric had time in the afternoon to check on the construction. Due to the popularity they were experiencing online, they’d decided it was worthwhile building a small visitor hub where they could greet guests and provide basic amenities if they did decide to offer tours in the future. Work was progressing as expected. He returned to the trailer to find Billy and Dr Grant in another tense discussion.

“Come back to Montana with me, Billy.”

“I will, just not yet.”

“Something will go wrong, it always does.”

“Eric’s smart and so am I. We’re not reckless.”

Dr Grant gave Billy a dubious look.

“Okay, well Eric’s not. And I’m following his lead. Right?” Billy checked, turning to him. He really didn’t want to be involved in the nuances of their personal relationship, but he did want Dr Grant to feel comfortable here.

“I’m being careful, taking everything one step at a time. Trust me, Dr Grant. My parents would never forgive me if I got myself hurt.”

Considering the lengths they’d gone to, to rescue him, Dr Grant couldn’t argue that the Kirby’s were very protective of their son and if they could live with this, then maybe he could too.

Dr Grant turned to Billy.

“I’ll never forgive you either if anything happens to you, Billy.”

“I’ll be fine, Alan. You know me.”

“I do,” Dr Grant frowned. “I have to go now or I’ll miss my flight...”

It wasn’t quite a question, but the silence that followed did leave space for Billy to concede and return with his mentor to Montana.

“Let me know when you get back to the dig,” Billy said, confirming his resolve to stay.

“Maybe…” Dr Grant grumbled.

“Bye, Dr Grant,” Eric smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “Thanks for visiting. You’re welcome any time.”

Then Dr Grant jumped in with one of the construction guys to get a lift back to the airport.

“Are you sure you should stay?” Eric checked as they watched the vehicle drive away. “I know how important he is to you…”

“He’ll get over it. I’m not leaving until you find at least one more person to help you run this place.”

Chapter 5

It was a week later when Eric got an email from Zia. It wasn’t exactly the reply he’d expected. She said she was in northeast California, dealing with a wildlife intervention situation and was asking if they could help.

He showed Billy the email.

“A baby trike! Eric, we have to do this.”

Eric knew triceratops was Dr Grant’s favourite dinosaur, Billy knew that too. Maybe this would be the one to convince Dr Grant that the sanctuary was a good thing.

“Call her,” Billy encouraged. “Tell her you’ll be there.”

“It’s nearly 2000 miles from here.”

“Fly. I’ll stay here and take care of things. Charter a cargo flight back if you need to.”

“Okay,” Eric agreed. It would give him a chance to get to know Zia and see if she’d be a good fit for the sanctuary.

Half a day later Eric was in the Sacramento airport, after connections in Oklahoma City and Denver.

Zia and another guy met him at the airport.

“Hey, I’m Zia,” she said, greeting him with a firm handshake. “This is Franklin.”

“Eric. Good to meet you both.”

Zia appeared to be around Eric’s age, she had dark hair and glasses, and a Semper Fi tattoo on her collarbone.

“You were a Marine?”

“Seemed like a good idea if I planned to work around dinos.”

“Definitely,” Eric agreed. Back on Isla Sorna, it was the Navy and the Marines that had come to their rescue.

“How’s the trike situation?”

“The park rangers are blocking our access,” Zia explained as they walked. “They’re saying we should let nature take its course.”

“Maybe they should have told InGen that.”

“Exactly. We brought dinosaurs back so it’s our job to take care of them.”

On the three hour drive north she explained the situation. A juvenile triceratops had been sighted in Lassen Volcanic National Park. Because Zia and Franklin had been present at the Lockwood Manor outbreak, they knew details that hadn’t been made public. Eric had seen the news reports and scoured the net for anything dino sighting related, dreaming up trips he would never take to see them.

According to Zia, five triceratops had escaped back in June. It was November now, so they’d had nearly five months to disperse. There had been three adults and two juveniles in two herds. The pair and their juvenile had been sighted further south. The adult female that should have been with this juvenile was unaccounted for. When hikers had posted photos of this juvenile online, the DPG had looked into it. While young dinosaurs weren’t reliant on their mothers for nutrition like mammals, they did need their parents for education, socialisation and protection. On top of that the terrain in this park was more dangerous than most, with thermal vents, canyons, glaciers and volcanoes. Without guidance, the odds were against the orphaned trike.

They discussed the options, from doing as the rangers advised and leaving it alone, to monitoring, or relocation.

“Our pachyrhinosaurus is around the same age,” Eric said. “This young, we could probably integrate them at least for a few years.”

“I thought so too,” Zia agreed. “I thought if we had you on our side, we at least had a viable option to go to park management with in terms of helping it.”

“Well, we have the space so we can definitely accomodate it.”

“Claire is on site with the animal now,” Zia explained.

“Without proper legislation, no one has jurisdiction, so we can’t leave it unsupervised. Who knows where it would end up if bureaucrats get to make the call.”

They arrived to find Claire in a heated discussion with park staff and other government officials. Paleo-law was an absolute mess, because no one could agree on whether or not the dinos classified as legitimate species, who owned them, or what management was appropriate. It meant that legally there was no clearcut right or wrong. All Eric knew for sure was that they existed and he wanted to help them.

Zia jumped out of the vehicle and marched over to the group, Franklin following her. Eric followed too.

“Great, more dino wackos,” a ranger complained.

“This is Eric Kirby,” Zia introduced. “He runs a dino sanctuary that is able to take the animal. Leaving it to suffer and die alone is not the kind thing to do.”

“Please,” Eric entreated. “I have the facilities, and experts on hand that can ensure it’s taken care of.”

“Removing wildlife from a national park is totally inappropriate,” the chief ranger argued.

“It’s going to die on its own,” Claire said.

“You can’t say that for sure. And if it does, that’s nature.”

“This animal was not put here by nature,” Claire pointed out. “Removing it will not harm the ecosystem. Please just let us help.”

“We can’t allow civilians dictate park management.”

“My sanctuary is a registered charity,” Eric informed them. “I’m legally permitted to hold these animals.”

“There are no permits for keeping dinosaurs.”

“For now it falls under the Exotic Animal Act.”

“There, you see? Animals. A part of nature. No intervention is required.”

Franklin leaned in.

“We’ve been having these same arguments for days,” he informed Eric. Eric believed it. For whatever reason everyone thought they knew best, whether they did or not.

That’s when a call came through to one of the government guys who stepped aside to take it.

They were all still arguing around in circles over rules that didn’t exist, when the official came back.

“Let them take it.”

“What?” the chief park ranger snapped.

“You heard me. They are free to capture the animal for removal.”

“Says who?”

“Says someone above your pay grade. Step aside.”

“This park is under my management, I’m not letting them take over.”

“I don’t care how you manage it, but that animal goes with the dino people.”

“Please,” Claire said. “We’re not here to cause trouble-“

“Coulda fooled me.”

“Hey!” Zia snapped. “Accept the circumstances and let us do our job.”

“You have no authority here,” the ranger said to Zia.

“Enough!” the guy who’d taken the call snapped. “Just make it happen. If you don’t this park might fall to the bottom of the funding pile.”

“Fine,” the ranger grumbled. “We’ll dart it in the morning. That suit you?”

Zia and Claire looked to Eric and he nodded.

“We can make it work,” Claire said.

“I can tranq-“ Zia began.

“My rangers can do it.”

“I’m a paleo-veterinarian.”

“And my staff are trained to deal with large wild animals.”

“Who’s doing the darting?”Zia asked. “Let me liaise with them, make sure the dosage is correct.”

“Are you saying my people are incompetent?”

“I’m saying they have no experience with large endothermic reptiles.”

“You just worry about the transport, and we’ll worry about the capture.”

Zia was set to argue further but Claire stopped her.

“Alright. We’ll have a truck here in the morning. Let’s go guys.”

“Claire-“

“Let’s go,” she repeated with a forced smile.

The four of them climbed into the vehicle to leave.

“Claire,” Zia started. “We can’t leave it with them.”

“I know, but something happened there, something big.” Claire turned to him. “Things changed when you arrived, Eric. Do you have government contacts?”

“No. I was as surprised as you.”

“Claire, do you trust them to safely dart it?” Zia insisted.

“No. We obviously have a high ranking supporter now, so I’ll talk to Owen. He can go with you tonight Zia, and we’ll get it out before dawn. Hopefully our mysterious backer can smooth it over.”

“That’s a big gamble,” Eric said. “I have a sanctuary to protect…”

“I know,” Claire said. “And I don’t want to compromise what you’ve built, but this is what it’s like. If you want to help them, every step is a battle.”

- - -

They ended up at a cabin in the mountains, where Claire introduced him to Owen Grady. Of course he knew who Owen was, he’d been the raptor trainer at Jurassic World. Anybody who cared anything about dinosaurs had heard of Owen Grady.

“Good to meet you,” Eric said, genuinely pleased.

“You the guy with the dino zoo? I hope you know what you’re doing…”

“I do,” Eric defended. He’d faced down spinosaurs and T rexes, he wasn’t about to be intimidated by one man.

Owen’s lip quirked.

“Is that so?”

“I survived eight weeks in the wild with them when I was a kid. I understand enough to know I have to work with them if I want any measure of control.”

“Okay, maybe you’re not a total newbie.”

“Owen,” Claire said. “They’ve given us permission to take the triceratops. But they won’t let Zia dart it. Can you go with her now? Help us sneak it out tonight.”

“What? No. Why would you do that when they’ve given you permission? Take the win, Claire.”

“It’s not a win if they kill it with the wrong drugs.”

“Owen, please,” Zia said. “With our training, you and I can do this in the safest, most humane way possible.”

“It’ll just cause trouble,” Owen said, throwing a pointed look at Claire. “Trouble we don’t need, Claire.”

“I agree,” Eric said.

“What?” the girls demanded.

“My sanctuary is very public facing. I share everything online, it depends on transparency and legitimacy for funding. I can’t do what I do if I break the law.”

“But they won’t know how to handle this like we can,” Claire argued.

“Claire,” Owen said. “You have to accept that we, that you, don’t have control of them anymore.”

Tears sprang to Claire’s eyes and she took a step back.

“I just…”

“I know,” Owen said, giving her a sad smile. “But we’ll never make up for what we’ve done.”

It was turning into a very personal moment so Eric turned to Zia to give the pair a semblance of privacy.

“I can see how much you care about this dino. We’ll be there to monitor and step in if we have to, but if you see my sanctuary one day, I hope you’ll understand why I can’t risk it.”

- - -

The following morning Claire, Zia, Franklin and Eric went back to the park, and he actually got to see the trike for the first time. It was dark grey, with brow horns that were about 15 inches long already.

The situation was a little worse than Eric had first realised. It wasn’t terrible, but the young dinosaur was obviously suffering without its parent. It wasn’t dangerously underweight, but it was on the thin side. Maybe it was caused by stress or an underlying illness. Either way, sedating it was a bigger risk and they would need to monitor it closely.

Even though Zia was a trained soldier and vet, totally capable of darting the dinosaur, the park rangers still insisted on being the ones to do it. Eric agreed with Claire and Zia that it was stupid, but sometimes there was no arguing with egos.

“What drug are you using?” Zia checked.

“Etorphine,” the ranger assigned to dart the animal replied.

“I know it’s the go to drug for large animals but carfentanil would be better,” Zia suggested. “For dinosaurs it-“

“It’s been off the market for fifteen years.”

“Commercially yes, but it’s obtainable for a specific application.”

“We always use etorphine. Now step aside.”

“Be ready to work quick,” Zia told Eric, Claire and Franklin.

Because of the interest in it, the young trike was relatively used to the presence of humans so it wasn’t too difficult for the ranger to get in range for the shot. Everyone watched with bated breath as he aimed the CO2 rifle and pulled the trigger, darting the animal in its flank. The sting of the dart startled it, and it took off running.

“Come on,” Zia said. “We’ve gotta move.”

With the government official monitoring the capture, the park staff had to accommodate the DPG. They used a park jeep to follow the trike, directed by chopper surveillance.

As soon as the dinosaur was on the ground, Zia jumped into action. She grabbed her kit and ran to it. Eric, Claire and Franklin followed. Zia had briefed them on the procedure, so they were ready to follow her orders.

“We need to stabilise its respiration, help me get it in the sternal recumbency position. On its chest,” she directed. Eric, along with Claire, Zia and a young ranger that was willing to help, rolled the dinosaur into the correct position so it could breathe. It probably weighed around 400 pounds. Franklin used a towel to cover the trike’s eyes to protect them and reduce any visual stimulation.

“I need to administer butorphanol,” Zia said, drawing up a dose. “This will lift its respiration.”

She used a large gauge needle to pierce its thick hide and inject the drug. Eric watched on, impressed by Zia’s skills and dedication.

Once the trike was stable, they netted it and lifted it with the chopper, loading it onto the truck Claire had waiting. It would have been faster to fly it to the airport, but the park staff wouldn’t go outside park boundaries.

The airport was about forty miles north, so they trucked the dino there and loaded it onto a plane. Claire was resourceful and able to organise the flight, and thanks to the anonymous donor, Eric was able to finance it.

Eric didn’t know enough about sedating animals to deal with the trike alone, so Zia offered to come with him, which was perfect. This way she could help out and would get to see the sanctuary for herself. Franklin decided to stay with Claire to keep working on the dino protection campaign.

On the six hour flight back, Eric watched Zia carefully and methodically tend the young dinosaur. Her genuine care for the dinosaur convinced him that she’d be an asset to the team.

Billy met them at the airport. He was excited to see they had the trike with them.

“How’d you go?” Billy asked.

“Dino politics is messy and exhausting,” Eric replied truthfully. “Billy, this is Zia. The paleo-vet.”

“Good to meet you,” Billy smiled, shaking her hand. Zia was still mostly focused on the trike, not afraid to start handing out orders for the transfer of the crated dino from the plane to the trailer.

“Yes, ma’am,” Billy grinned. He was used to being ordered around.

They got the trike back to the sanctuary and unloaded it in the newly completed barn. Zia was very attentive in bringing it out of sedation. She stayed with it for hours, while Eric and Billy checked the rest of the sanctuary, and finally Zia was satisfied enough to leave the barn and share dinner with them.

“Thank you for this,” she said. “It would have had a tough time surviving on its own.”

“It’s exactly why I wanted to start this place,” Eric said. “We’ll show you around in the morning, see what you think about introducing it to our pachyrhinosaurus.”

“Sounds good,” Zia agreed.

The following morning after they had checked on the trike which was doing fine, greedily chomping on the hay and fresh browse they gave it, Eric and Billy showed Zia around.

They showed her the hub that was under construction and the pit enclosures where the compies lived.

“These were the second species I ever saw,” Zia commented.

“What was your first?” Eric asked.

“Brachiosaurus. They were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

Eric could see how moved she was, she definitely loved dinosaurs as much as he did.

“Brachs were Alan’s first too,” Billy said.

“What about you?” Zia asked Billy.

“I saw the herds on Isla Sorna from the air. Trikes, brachs, hadrosaurs. But the first up close encounter I had was with spinosaurus.”

“Oh wow, baptism of fire,” Zia said.

“It sure was.”

“What about you, Eric?”

He shared a look with Billy, who was one of only four people he’d ever talked to about it.

“Velociraptor,” he said quietly. Zia was smart and figured it out.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“It’s okay. I know they were only doing what comes naturally to them.” Truthfully, he’d been too busy running for his life to see much of what happened to Ben.

Billy clapped a hand to his shoulder and they headed over to Kirby’s paddock. Seeing her lifted his mood instantly.

The dino and the cow were grazing peacefully.

“You’ve already managed species integration,” Zia said in surprise.

“Yeah,” Eric agreed. “Being a herd animal, I thought she’d benefit from a companion, and her age made it easy for them to bond. She’ll outgrow the cow, but now we might have a more compatible herdmate for her.”

“Hopefully,” Zia agreed. “Socialisation is important for ceratopsids.”

“Wanna go in?”

“Yes, please,” she smiled.

They offered Kirby treats, and Zia had an instant rapport with the dino. Eric shared a look with Billy, he saw it too.

“Hey,” Eric said to Zia. “Are you interested in staying? It would be good to have you here for the introduction, and after that I’m going to need someone who can take care of all the dinos on site. A vet would really open up our options for rescues too.”

“Oh, I…”

“I can pay you. The equivalent salary of a zoo vet.”

“Oh wow, that would be a nice change.”

“I know it’s not really about the money. I can see how much you love dinosaurs and this would be a real opportunity for you to work directly with them.”

He knew she was loyal to the DPG, but the two roles didn’t have to be mutually exclusive.

“Think about it. I appreciate what Claire is doing at the DPG. Maybe we can work together, the new legislation will need to encompass free-roaming dinos and captive ones. We can try to make sure it’s right and fair for everyone.”

“Okay, I will think about it.”

“Great. Feel free to look around as much as you like.”

“Thanks.”

- - -

Zia agreed to stay. It was a bittersweet moment for Eric because he was very glad to have her on the team, but he also knew that it meant Billy was free to go back to the digs with Dr Grant now.

Zia had to fly back to California to finalise things with the DPG, so they dropped her off at the airport, with plans that she would be back in about a week’s time.

“She’s a good fit,” Billy said as they climbed back into the truck.

“Yeah,” Eric agreed. “She’ll definitely take good care of the dinos. When are you heading back to Montana?”

“Probably next week after Zia gets back. Alan wants me back as soon as possible.”

“Sure.”

“You’ll be okay, Eric. You can do this. And I’ll be back. What do you think is gonna happen when I tell Alan there’s a triceratops down here?”

Billy smiled, and Eric smiled back. They’d see each other again soon enough.

“And if you decide to open for tours, I’ll come back and help out,” Billy told him.

“Thanks, Billy.”