Chloe and Jocelyne were waiting together in a room inside their hotel. After Sobek announced that he would accept the peace, they withdrew to await the response of the NMWA. Sobek had let them do it, knowing that the human political system was much longer than that of the dinosaurs, and he had simply stretched out outside the hotel waiting for news.

The tension in the room was such that it could be cut with a knife. Chloe was nibbling on her fingernail while Jocelyne was playing with a lock of her hair.

In the end it was Chloe who broke the silence: "What will you tell the NMWA?"

"The truth" Jocelyne replied. "Either they accept, or we all end badly. There are no third options"

"The NMWA won't be sympathetic to you. You had already irritated them in the previous days, but after you bypassed the information block and disclosed those things..."

"I don't care if they're angry. What interests me is that they accept, so that all of us can finally all breathe a sigh of relief"

Chloe realized that she wasn't going to get much more from Jocelyne. She sighed deeply. She that girl had unparalleled intelligence, but she was terribly stubborn at times.

Eventually Chloe's tablet chirped and she immediately accepted the video call. The most important personalities of the NMWA appeared on the screen. "Hello, excellencies" both Chloe and Jocelyne greeted them politely.

"Hello to you. We have called you to confirm some things" President Palma greeted them, and then went straight to the point. "Are those news that leaked true?"

Both women nodded. "It's all true. And not only that: lord Sobek has already declared that he is in favor of these terms. He is just waiting for your response to be able to officially proclaim peace" Chloe replied.

Despite the good news, the five people didn't seem happy. "So do you confirm that you have disclosed this information before talking to the NMWA?" asked emperor Wafner. "Why do such an act?"

"I wanted to give you one more reason to accept, just in case you are doubtful"

The members of the NMWA wrinkled their noses. It was clear that they didn't like that attitude. Chloe tried to intervene: "Gentlemen, I can understand that Miss Jersey's methods are not orthodox, but I can assure you that they have been efficient. We have the possibility..."

"Stay silent, miss Tousignant"

Chloe bit her lip and closed her mouth.

"We don't like your conduct, miss Jersey" President Pascal grumbled. "You made too autonomous decisions"

Jocelyne was listening to one word out of five of what the man was saying; she had imagined this conversation so many times that she could have anticipated every single word. "Not only have you committed deliberately dangerous acts that cost the physical health of one of your men, but you have also ignored any advice given to you by our correspondent and acted on your own terms. And then you even divulged uncontrolled information..."

"Forgive me, I didn't know the censorship was in effect" Jocelyne said, almost rolling her eyes.

President Pascal did not seem to appreciate the comment, and his sentiment seemed shared by the other members of the NMWA. "I wouldn't be so sarcastic if I were you. The control of information was established for a reason, that is to avoid disturbances"

'Who knows why this is the excuse for any censorship' Jocelyne thought bitterly.

"Now the whole world believes that this peace is already practically signed, when we have not yet taken any decision on the matter. If we were to refuse the consequences will be very serious and you would be responsible"

'Sure, because you who are too moronic to accept such a beneficial peace would be untouchable' Jocelyne grumbled in her mind. "If so, then accept peace is enough"

"It's not that simple, miss Jersey. The price to pay for such a peace is certainly not indifferent. It is about giving up years of colonial projects and a good portion of our food needs"

"I have already set out my ideas on how to resolve the situation"

"Ideas that, even if they work, will have a very high cost"

"You will only have to pay a little more than what you would have had to pay for colonial projects. The finances of each country of the NMWA are more than sufficient to comply with this project"

"You still don't get the point. Money..."

"ENOUGH!" Jocelyne snapped in exasperation, making Chloe jump. "The damn point isn't the money! The point is that there is no better peace than this!"

"Miss Jersey! It seems like the way to..."

"Yes, since apparently you are not able to put two and two together!" Chloe was looking at her by now like she was crazy, and she probably wasn't that far from the truth, but by now Jocelyne was in fourth gear. "Put it in that head, dinosaurs won't accept different terms. They want to get their land and their people back. If we refuse, they will declare war on us. Bargaining on these terms isn't an option. And dinosaurs are far more prepared for war than we are, they've made it clear several times. Does this peace have a cost? Well, I remind you that wars have a slightly higher cost. I managed to get the best price ever and you still complain! There is no peace that will make you spend less. There is only war, and I can assure you that if it breaks out, money will be the least of your problems. Dinosaurs won't look anyone in the face; if a war breaks out then they will kill everyone indiscriminately. Men, women, children, elderly, riches, poors, politicians, citizens... there will be no office that can protect you from their fury, so if you care about your skin or the one of your citizens, accept the inevitable and admit defeat. You will spend a little more than usual, but at least you can sleep peacefully"

Jocelyne gasped slightly from the effort. "We have to accept this peace. There is no other solution"

The members of the NMWA were silent for a moment. Then someone asked: "What do you think, miss Tousignant?"

Chloe closed her eyes and nodded sadly. "I agree with her. The dinosaurs seem more than prepared for a full-scale war. With their superb paraphernalia they could wipe out entire nations in a few days, furthermore their numbers appear to be much higher than what we knew and they apparently have no supply problems. This not counting the unique abilities they possess. I could personally see a dinosaur roar so loud that the sound wave alone could tear a tank to pieces. And they certainly have many other tricks up their sleeves that we aren't aware of. Our lack of information would make open warfare very difficult, if not insane. At the moment, peace is the only possible option, at least until we have more information, and I personally believe that the one proposed by miss Jersey is the best peace we can aspire to. The dinosaurs won't settle for anything less, so we can only try to get lost as little as possible, and the peace proposed by miss Jersey is certainly the best way ever"

The NMWA was silent for a moment, then one of its members said, "Let us discuss it calmly. We will call you back as soon as we have made a decision"

The video call went out. Both Jocelyne and Chloe breathed a sigh of relief. "Talking like this to the leaders of the world… you really like to play with fire, girl" Chloe murmured.

"I know, but that's how I got peace"

"You say they will accept?"

"They will have to do it. We have made it very clear that a war is impossible and that this is the best peace available. What's more, the entire world population expects the NMWA to announce peace at any moment" Jocelyne replied with a sigh. "The question isn't if they will accept this peace or not. The question is how long it will last..."

They had to wait a couple of hours before the NMWA called them back. As soon as the tablet started ringing, both women felt their nerves tense and anxiously turned on the video call.

There was a moment of silence, then the response was finally communicated: "We have decided to accept"

If she could she Jocelyne she would have yelled 'YES!', But for decency's sake she restrained herself: "I will immediately communicate your decision to lord Sobek"

"Go ahead. We will take care of drafting the treaty"

"Uh... the treaty"

"Sure, the peace treaty. Now that the terms have been decided we just have to put them in writing, right?"

Jocelyne bit her lip. She hadn't thought of that possibility. "Um… I don't think the dinosaurs know what a peace treaty is. I don't even know if they can read our alphabet, or even if they know what writing is"

The members of the NMWA were silent, then said, "Well, you just inform lord Sobek. If he doesn't agree with a treaty we will find an alternative solution". That said, the screen went blank again.

Jocelyne wasted no time and left immediately. Lord Sobek was still outside the hotel and was clearly waiting for her: "Governments all over the world agree" she declared.

"Can the agreed peace be defined here?" Sobek asked.

"Um… there would still be one detail. World leaders would like to put everything in writing, so they intend to print a peace treaty with the agreed terms which we will then have to sign. Is it ok for you?"

Sobek snorted. As a reincarnated human he knew how important contracts and treaties were to humans, since putting the terms on paper guaranteed protection in case they were not respected, but from his dinosaur point of view it was just a waste of time. However, it was certainly not a problem for him to wait a little longer. "No problem. But I warn you that I don't know how to write, so I'll just print my footprint with ink"

Jocelyne was delighted to see that it had been so easy. "Fantastic! So... we can say that everything is solved"

"Apparently" Sobek nodded. "It seems that soon there will be no more enmity among our people"

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

AUTHOR'S THOUGHTS

Hi! It's been a long time. The story is progressing faster than I thought, so we have some things to talk about. Let's start another of our conversation!

1) During the battle between dinosaurs and humans, both of them used tanks (in case of dinosaurs they were cannons on sauropods' backs) and dinosaurs won due to the longer range. But how powerful is a tank really? One of the most powerful tanks in existence is the T-72, which joined the USSR Armed Forces in 1973, has a range that is between 2100 and 4000 meters depending on the ammunition used. It is certified that it can break through up to forty centimeters of reinforced concrete. However, if we want to talk about the greatest range ever reached by an artillery piece we have to mention the legendary Wilhelmgeschütze, more commonly referred to as the Paris Cannon (Parisgeschütz in German). The weapon was used during the First World War by the German army for the terrorist bombing of various French cities and operated with a 94 kg projectile which was capable of being launched up to a distance of 130 km and reaching an altitude maximum of 40km. At the start of its 170-second trajectory, each projectile traveled at a speed of 1,600 m/s, nearly five times the speed of sound. Since the System provides Sobek with the best of the best, the dino cannons can reach a similar range. On the contrary, the tanks of Odaria's army are comparable to the old Mark I tanks of the First World War, and can therefore reach a maximum range of 1.8 kilometers.

2) Now let's talk about the other important weapon used in the battle, namely the nerve gas. In reality it is not a single gas, but a group of aggressive organophosphate volatile chemicals used for warfare. Their toxic, often lethal effect is based on the inactivation of the acetylcholinesterase enzyme, which degrades acetylcholine. Acetylcholine mediates the transmission of impulses from the nervous system to the muscle in the neuromuscular plate, and within the nervous system itself (cholinergic synapses). It basically turns off the brain. The first nerve gases were invented by Nazi Germany, although they were never used for warfare, but public opinion only became aware of them in 1968, although it is suspected that the United States used them in the Korean War and in the of Vietnam.

3) Sobek's speech to his troops after the battle is inspired by that of Lieutenant Rasczak in the 1997 film 'Starship Troopers'.

4) Dariela Marzan is another protagonist of the TV series 'Zoo', and also there is a soldier who has the misfortune to see the death of all her comrades. Here she has a similar role and personality, and her relationship with Abe is also inspired by that of the series. Chloe Tousignant too is a protagonist of 'Zoo', and she too had a similar role.

5) The woman who tries to escape from the dinosaur prison is inspired by one of the characters in the 2007 film 'The Mist'. It is the mother who, during the beginning of the emergency, decides to go out challenging the monsters to go and recover her children . Since her name was never revealed, I called her by a made-up name. The name of her children, on the other hand, is the one featured in the film.

6) The dinosaur names that are part of the 'welcoming committee' are inspired by the names given to the dinosaurs in the 'Prehistoric Park' series. Terence and Matilda are the names of the two tyrannosaurs in the park, Teo is the name of the triceratops, and Martha is the name of a woolly mammoth.

7) The scene where Buck and Jocelyne talk is a little dig at the 'Walking with dinosaurs' series. Since the series is quite old, at the time we had an idea of tyrannosaurs as very stupid and violent creatures; as a result, it is incorrectly stated in the series that the male tyrannosaurus had to bring food to the female to avoid being eaten by it. Obviously today we know very well that it doesn't work like this, but I wanted to remember this little anecdote by inserting the very embarrassing dialogue between Jocelyne and Buck, where this time it is the tyrannosaurus who mistakenly thinks that if the human male doesn't offer dinner to the female, the latter will tear him to pieces.

8) Ellie Sattler is, of course, the last major character of 'Jurassic Park' still missing from the cast. I certainly couldn't not let it appear. Also, the words she and Alan exchange when they meet are a reference to their meeting in 'Jurassic World: Dominion'. The names of Ellie's partner and children are also canonical in the franchise. The fact that Ellie works for the Department is instead a reference to 'Jurassic Park 3' where Ellie works for the U.S.State Department.