“Abe? Abe!"
"I'm awake, Mr. Jersey, I'm awake!" she screamed the big man pulling himself to his feet with a snap, only to find himself in front of a female face that giggled under his mustache. "I'm not your boss" Dariela said making him blush.
Abe grunted like a bear in response and sat up. He hadn't slept very well for the past few days. The soldiers Dariela took care of had become more unstable, so the two had decided to take turns on guard to keep them in check and prevent them from doing anything irreparable. But Abe also wanted to stay awake during the day, since both dinosaurs and humans were awake at the time, and he wanted to be alert in case something happened. If all this was combined with the anxiety, fear and tension of the current situation, well, sleeping became quite difficult. Abe now did not rest more than four hours a night, with the result that he often ended up dozing off during the day without wanting to, as in that case, for example.
While Jackson was busy arguing with Abe and Chloe talking about the conditions of the prisoners, Jocelyne was left behind. She certainly didn't need to go and interrogate anyone to find out what the captive humans were thinking and she was sure that Sobek had been telling the truth about how the dinosaurs treated them. After all, despite the frightened faces, no prisoners looked hurt, thin or particularly traumatized.Rather than wasting precious time talking to humans, Jocelyne preferred talking to the dinosaurs.It was Sobek she had to convince, that was clear; however, Sobek was unlikely the only one that take the decisions. As charismatic, intelligent and wise as a leader might be, he couldn't rule such a large herd on his own strength alone. He would need to lend some of his power to other dinosaurs to administer the various departments into which the pack was divided efficiently.That was probably why the herd was divided into castes. This was primarily du
Sobek sat down again in the center of the square, and the delegation did the same in front of him. "I would say it's time to start""I agree" Jocelyne replied. “Let's make the terms clear. We humans want to have the people imprisoned here back"Sobek narrowed his eyes: “I understand that. We are willing to return every single prisoner unharmed, but we want something in return""Naturally. What do you want?""First of all, we want the guarantee that you will never again come to destroy our territory""Understandable"“I want to be very clear. By 'our territory' we don't just mean this land. We will not pretend to get back the places already colonized by you, except this one, but you will never have to touch any other place. In this and the other two continents still virgin"Jocelyne bit her lip. That was certainly not an inexpensive request! Basically the dinosaurs were asking him to keep his hands off not only Maakan
Exactly two hours later Jocelyne, Jackson, Chloe and the other humans show up outside the walls at the designated spot. Sobek and Carnopo were already there, and they weren't alone: several dinosaurs were evidently eager to watch, they were evident.The area of the collision had already been partially reclaimed and was in fact covered by a light blanket of grass. Jocelyne had chosen her precisely because it would be safer for Jackson to fight on soft, malleable ground than on hard, sandy desert ground; moreover man could have everything with the earth in his eyes lighter to accede, which is much more difficult since he was lighter.Jocelyne had remained expressionless the whole time; as soon as she arrived she just looked for a large stone and sat on it, staring blankly at the battlefield. Not a single hint of fatigue, anxiety or tension showed through her.Sobek walked over to her and lay down beside her. The huge reptile practically shadowed the girl, but
Jocelyne didn't leave her room all night; she didn't even show up to eat anything for dinner. Only the next morning she finally emerged from her room, and judging by the rush with which she ate breakfast she intended to meet Sobek as soon as possible.However Chloe had something to tell her. "I spoke to the NMWA last night" she confided. “They aren't happy with your behavior. They call it dangerous"Jocelyne snorted. She certainly didn't expect thanks, but she wasn't prepared to tolerate reproaches. “They can think what they want. Here I am the one that speak for humanity. If they don't like my methods, their problems"Chloe sighed. “I suspected you would answer this way, but please be careful. Governments don't like ambassadors who are too autonomous""And so? They can't do anything to me while I'm here"“They could revoke your title of ambassador. Have you thought about it?""Well, then you can remind them that this
"Have you proposed WHAT!?"Chloe was completely stunned. Of all the peace proposals she had heard, this was by far the most absurd."I don't see anything wrong with it" Jackson murmured, who was sitting nearby. Just a day after the duel he was already able to sit up, testimony that the injuries were not so serious. And that he had a strong stamina. "In this way, there will be assured peace"“Yeah, but… well…” Chloe didn't know what to say. "More than a peace proposal, it looks like a trade agreement!""I'm not a tycoon's daughter for nothing" Jocelyne replied, barely picking something off the plate she had in front of her. Her stomach was closed. Even though she had done her best to stay confident throughout the day, as soon as she returned to the others all her anxiety and mental fatigue fell on him. “Peace negotiations are no different from trade agreements, they are simply called differently. It all consists in convincin
"This is ridiculous""I told you that you should have disguised yourself"“I was thinking of a fake mustache! Why am I dressed like this!?""I couldn't think of anything else to get you to put on a balaclava"Ellie was trying hard not to laugh, but it was next to impossible. Not with Alan next to her bare-chested, in a pair of sexy knickers, a balaclava on his head and tied by big chains.The two entered the Department. It was night, so it was obviously deserted, but some people were always there: guards, orderlies, and obviously some technicians who kept the situation under control even when everyone was asleep. After all, if an emergency occurred, someone had to be ready to intervene.In fact, as soon as they entered they had not taken three steps before four guards met them. "Doctor Sattler!" they greeted her. "How come here at this time? And who is yours… ”Their eyes widened as they saw Alan. "… friend?"
"I accept"Jocelyne smiled at those words. She had predicted that Sobek would accept, but she clearly she couldn't be one hundred percent sure, not until he himself confirmed her agreement. "You made the right choice"“I decide to hope so. I want to trust you” Sobek said. “But I have one condition: we will fulfill our obligations when you fulfill yours. We won't give you prisoners back in advance and we won't give you meat in advance. As for the stocks, you can take them the moment the peace treaty enters into force, given that you have fulfilled our request to leave our territory; but as for the flesh, it will be delivered to you every time you deliver us a member of our people, and a prisoner will be returned to you every time you free forty of our brothers. This is the deal, take it or leave it. I won't accept exceptions on this"A wise man once said that trusting was good, but not trusting was better. Sobek had no doubts that if he immediat
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