Jocelyne watched the setting sun settle behind the trees that flowed past her eyes with a blank stare. She seemed not to have the strength to do anything else. She had stood still for so long that Jackson finally asked him, "Are you feeling bad, miss? Do you want I stop the car?"

The girl shook her head: "No, keep driving. I was just lost in my thoughts"

"You should take advantage of this trip to rest a little, miss. You don't look good lately"

"Shut up and drive"

Jocelyne knew she was a mess. She was pretty sure that if she looked in the mirror she would have seen two huge dark circles beneath her eyes, a far more hollow face and her hair set in absurd hairstyles. But there was nothing she could do about it: the period she was experiencing was definitely not calm.

In the first place she had had to deal with the anger of the NMWA. Many governments were already furious with her for having been 'too autonomous' in the negotiations and were eager to make her pay. In addition to her they wanted to know how she had managed to overcome the information blockade and were looking for any pretext to accuse her publicly. Add to this the fact that she had also disappeared for twenty-four hours after the negotiations were over (time she had used to meet the scientists), the NMWA's anger couldn't help but overwhelm her.

Jocelyne didn't fear the judgment of the governments: she after all had done nothing wrong and hadn't broken any law, and no one could force her to reveal anything against her will. However, she was still talking about the people who had the whole world in their hands. Jocelyne had to be extremely attentive every time she opened her mouth to avoid saying anything that could get her into trouble.

In comparison, negotiating with dinosaurs had been a piece of cake. Lord Sobek was authoritarian, sure, but he had never been too intrusive towards her. On the contrary, spending a minute talking to the NMWA made Jocelyne feel as if she were swimming in a bathtub full of sharks, if not snakes.

And then there were the journalists, the curious, the glory hunters, the editors and all those countless categories of people who haunted her the instant she stepped out of the NMWA building until she could get back to the hotel where she was staying in. And even there she was never quiet: in the era of communication it was impossible to hide from the delirious crowd, so much so that in order to sleep she needed to ask the hotel staff to completely disable any electronic device in her room.

And finally, there was the constant fear of being spied on. After everything she'd done, the governments were keeping her under control, albeit not very tightly. Fortunately Jackson was an expert in the field and he knew how to mislead her spies, but it was still unnerving.

In short, with all that stress it was impossible that her body wouldn't have been affected. She was pretty sure that if she got on a scale at that moment she would have found she had lost at least five kilos without even trying to diet.

"Miss, we're arriving" Jackson said suddenly.

"Optimal. Nobody follows us?"

"I misled them long ago"

Jocelyne nodded and looked straight ahead. The road was now finished and instead of the wood there was an imposing gate that was slowly opening. The car entered and walked down a short driveway that led her to a gigantic villa.

"So this is where John Hammond lives" Jocelyne murmured looking at the house. The car reached a large courtyard and parked there. Other people were waiting for her: Robert, Ian, Alan, Mitch, Ellie and Jamie were already there. "You're late" professor Malcolm obviously teased them.

"Sorry champion, we were busy throwing off government spies" Jackson replied in a tone as he got out of the car and opened the door for Jocelyne. Obviously this was the beginning of an argument between the two that everyone already knew had no chance of ending with Jackson's victory; and in fact within a minute he fell silent, while professor Malcolm laughed heartily.

The group reached the door and started to knock, but before any of them could do so the doors opened and a butler appeared. "Welcome, kind guests. Mr. Hammond is waiting for you"

"Uh... do you have a radar?" Mitch asked surprised.

"No, we have a circuit of security cameras system. They are also useful for welcoming guests at the right time" the butler replied. "Please enter. I'll go and call Mr. Hammond right away"

The group entered the villa. Jocelyne hoped not to soil the floor: even though she had only walked on the gravel ground of the courtyard, she felt bad at the thought of making a dent in such a polished floor. Everything that happened to her eyes was clean and tidy, a clear example of the perfect work of the servants. The house was large, much larger than hers: the hall alone measured at least eight meters in height.

Jocelyne noticed that next to the hall there was a strange corridor; unlike the rest of the house, it didn't have a door. She was about to look out to see what was there, but a nasal voice stopped her: "What a pleasure! I am so happy with your visit!"

It was John Hammond; he was coming down the stairs with the help of a maid. The now elderly tycoon was slightly hunchbacked and he had to lean on a stick to be able to stand up. It was a very special stick, the tip of which ended with a finely worked piece of amber. Despite his old age, however, the man was jovial and smiling and did not have a trace of tiredness on his face.

"It's a pleasure for us to see you again, John" Ellie greeted him with a smile. Alan and Ian smiled too: Hammond had always been a good person and it was nice to be able to meet him from time to time. They certainly couldn't consider him a friend, but he was certainly a pleasant person to chat with. Certainly more than Ian Malcolm.

"I swear to you, when Ellie called me and told me you were coming I couldn't believe it!" Hammond said, then walked over to Jocelyne and looked at her with a jovial smile. "You must be the new star of the moment. I'm surprised you wanted to visit me"he told her, holding out his hand.

Jocelyne shook it. John's grip was quite strong for a man his age. "I see my fame precedes me" she joked. "Anyway, I'm happy to meet you, Mr. Hammond. I've heard a lot about you. I know that you are an exceptional man, at least in the field of finance"

"Ha ha! I wouldn't call myself great, but yeah, I was pretty good in my day" Hammond replied, then headed over to Robert, Mitch, Jackson and Jamie. "You must be the other scientists that Ellie told me about" he said, holding out his hand as well. The four returned smiling in turn.

"Robert Oz"

"Jamie Campbell. It is a pleasure to meet you"

"Mitch Morgan. Nice to meet you"

"Jackson Oz, and I'm not a scientist. I'm just miss Jersey's bodyguard"

Hammond greeted everyone one by one, then he nodded. "Follow me, come on! Since I had to welcome so many illustrious guests, I took the liberty of preparing a feast. Drink what you want, I've already had the guest rooms prepared: you don't have to drive"

'So are we going to stop and sleep here?' Jocelyne thought, who had not been informed of that detail. In a certain sense, however, he didn't mind her: unlike the city, that villa in the middle of the woods and surrounded by a gate and a wall was certainly more silent.

Hammond led them into the dining room, where there was an abnormal table with all kinds of delicacies. "Forgive me, with the short notice you gave me there was no time to prepare a dinner, so I decided to go for a buffet"

"Buffet?" Jamie murmured dazedly at the amount of food that would have fed four families.

"That's the way of the rich people" Jocelyne whispered to him; she being born into a millionaire family she knew very well what she was talking about. Having said that she took a fork and tasted some kind of pudding. The taste was sweet and it melted in her mouth. "It's really good"

"No expense is spared here" Hammond said in a fatherly tone. "So, what does the young ambassador of humanity bring to the dinosaurs here in my house?"

Jocelyne suddenly felt the pudding turn from sweet to bitter, or maybe it was just her imagination. Behind her she heard several coughs and even some spitting, a sign that the others must also be feeling the same discomfort.

Ellie spoke first. "You better sit down, John. You won't like what we're about to reveal to you"

The smile on Hammond's face disappeared, replaced by a stunned and worried expression; the old man listened to the woman's advice and sat down. Jocelyne and the others wasted no time and told everything; mostly Ellie, Alan and Ian spoke, but from time to time the others made a comment too. As they unfolded Hammond's face he went from worried to horror and then to utter despondency. When they were done, the old man seemed to have lost at least another ten years of his life.

"So... are you sure it's him?" he asked as soon as they finished the tale.

Strange, Jocelyne thought: Hammond's voice didn't sound surprised. She seemed rather resigned, as if she were asking just to verify what she was already thinking.

"Well, I'd say it's pretty obvious" Ian grumbled. "In short, who better than him could play with nature? He was the father of the Indominus rex, the first hybrid ever created..."

"He wasn't the first hybrid" Hammond interrupted.

Ian looked surprised for the first time. "What?"

"The Indominus rex, the one I showed to you and to the world, was the second hybrid. The first hybrid was another. Henry called it Scorpios rex. It was his first attempt" Hammond seemed to grow darker every second. "He thought her too uncontrollable, and we later discovered that she could reproduce by parthenogenesis. It was a truly invasive species. Henry preferred to finish both specimens, the one he had created and the one that was born spontaneously. After that event he learned his mistakes from him and tried to create a more easily controllable hybrid, the Indominus rex"

"With all due respect, John, if Wu had learned from his mistakes we wouldn't have had any Indominus rex" Alan said bitterly. "And that doesn't matter at the moment anyway. The fact that he is behind everything that is going on is practically certain. We have to find it and get it treated"

"There is no cure for the Mother Cell" Robert Oz said in a bored voice.

"We won't know for sure until the responsible party declares it!" Alan snapped.

Jocelyne sighed. Even though she was now almost certain that finding a cure was just a ridiculous fantasy, she couldn't blame Alan. Faced with the unknown and fear, men always clung to the possibility that the situation could return to normal, even though logic stated the opposite. In a certain sense, she too hoped a little...

Hammond was silent for a few seconds, then looked up: "What do you want me to do?"

Jocelyne leaned towards him. "If you don't want to participate in person, you are free to do so. What we need is the money" she replied. "If we want to take Wu we have to go back to Maakanar. I'm pretty sure the dinosaurs will let us pass, but governments don't think that way. They have already blocked all the naval routes to the continent and I dare not imagine how they would react if they knew that the person responsible for this situation is there. Therefore we will have to act outside their jurisdiction"

"How?"

"I already have a contact in the NWMA who will be able to shuffle the cards a little to guarantee us a free passage without anyone noticing. You will be able to manage the bureaucratic part. I haven't talked to her yet, but I'm pretty sure she'll accept" Jocelyne almost smiled as she thought of the face she would make Chloe when she asked her to do what was effectively an international crime. "We just need a boat and a crew crazy enough to take the risk of going to Maakanar"

"Aren't you rich? I had read something about you, you should be quite wealthy"

"Yes, but my accounts are checked. My whole life is controlled now. If I were to ask my father to send me enough money to get these things, I would find myself being hunted round the clock by the secret services, assuming they aren't already doing it". Jocelyne was not kidding: now to make sure she was not being heard she was forced to check her clothes and inspect the room to make sure there were no bugs. "I need outside help. Someone unsuspecting and rich enough to be able to afford to buy what we need"

"So you basically need me" Hammond sighed.

"I don't know who else to turn to. You are the only tycoon I can rely on. My scientists trust you and have described you as a good person, so I think I can trust you. However, you are the only rich man my scientists have spoken highly of. If you refuse, I don't know who can I contact"

Hammond deeply inspired. His glassy eyes seemed to tremble. His right hand gripped his stick tightly and his bony fingers continually grazed the amber placed on his tip.

Seeing him hesitant, Ellie walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "John, I know that Henry is your friend and I know you would like to believe that he has nothing to do with all of this. But there are people in danger now, and that's our responsibility. We need you now. The whole world needs you"

"The night your nephew let Spinosaurus ingens escape, you were the first to dash into the mayor's office and yell at him" Ian said. "There were people in danger and you didn't hesitate even a second to act, despite this it could have gotten you into trouble. You may be old, but that day I saw in you the energy you showed off when you were young. Even now there are people in danger… you can't back down, none of us can. Not when our choice can affect the lives of billions of people"

Hammond bit his lip. "Let me think about it for a while" he said as he got up, after which he quickly left the room. Though he moved very slowly before, now he seemed to have regained his energy.

"Think about it for a while?" Mitch snapped furiously. "There is no time to think!"

He seemed to want to run after Hammond, but Jocelyne stopped him: "Calm down, Dr. Morgan. We can wait for a day. Let's give him time to face his demons"

Mitch didn't seem convinced, but he stopped as he met the girl's stern gaze. Seeing this, no one tried to imitate him.

A few moments later a maid entered the room. "Mr. Hammond told me to take you to your rooms where you can rest. Follow me please"

One after the other, all of them left the dining room. Now the fate of the world was all in the hands of John Hammond.