While Jocelyne and Hammond were discussing their business, another eting was taking place in another room.
Jackson and his father sat on either side of a table. Both had a glass of beer by their side and kept their heads down, not having the courage to look each other in the eye.
Jackson didn't know what to say. He had imagined that eting many tis over the past few weeks, repeating in his mind every word he wanted to say to his father. Yet he now he did not rember even one. What did he an? Was he sorry? Proud of the old man of him? Did he admire him? He didn't know. He almost would have preferred Robert to insult him or boast; it would have been much easier.
In the end, he simply chose to say what was on his mind. "I owe you an apology..."
"Jackson..." Robert murmured, but his son stopped him. Jackson didn't want his father to talk, or he wouldn't be able to go on anymore. He didn't dare look him in the eye because he knew that if he looked into them he would freeze for a mont and forget what he was saying.
"Don't talk, please. Let finish" he said. "An apology is a must. You were right, you were always right, and I didn't believe you. You had foreseen a disaster on a global scale years in advance and I didn't want to stay by your side. I left when you needed emotional support most and I never ca back. In the last twenty years we will have seen each other four tis outside the last few months, and we have never even had a coffee together. I can say that I have let you down as a son. If I had stayed maybe I could have helped you, maybe..."
"Nothing can be solved with maybe" Robert stopped him.
"I asked you..."
"Yes, you asked to not interrupt you. But I do it anyway" the old scientist grumbled. "You don't have to give any excuses. I was right, yes; but that does not an that mine was really an exemplary conduct. When you and your mother left I was a pathetic alcoholic who was being mocked by half the world. You were right to leave. The life you have had would have been worse with around. You would never have t Abe..."
"In reality it was mom the one who found him"
"For real?"
"When he was a child and she worked as a volunteer doctor. He had a strong cough and so he went to be examined. Abe would leave imdiately after receiving the dicine, but mom understood that it was another the dicine that he needed. He proposed him to stay for dinner. Abe accepted. Since that day we have beco a family"
Robert smiled. "Yeah, it sounds just like sothing your mother would do. She's so… selfless" he murmured. "You see? You have lived better without . If there is anyone to bla in this room it is who was a bad father"
"You were emotionally upset during that ti. You can't bla yourself"
"No instead. The first duty of a father is to take care of his child, regardless of his physical and ntal condition. If necessary, a self-respecting father turns his back on the whole world in order to raise his son correctly. On the contrary, I let my work and the opinion of others condition to the point of becoming a scourge for you and your mother. You don't have to bla yourself for leaving, Jackson: you did the right thing, in every respect. The fault was mine, only and uniquely mine"
Jackson took a deep breath of those words, trying to contain his emotions. "But this was true when I was a child. After growing up, I should have tried to stay close to you..."
"You had your reasons for not doing it, and I agree with them" Robert replied. "We lived with an ocean in the middle and you had a steady job, a brother to take care of and a mother who, however energetic, is also suffering the effects of old age. Likewise, I was too cowardly to attempt any rapprochent attempt"
Jackson didn't appreciate the way the conversation was going. He would have preferred his father to yell at him, maybe even hit him. He hated to see him in that state, intent on taking all the bla for what had happened to their family. "Seriously don't you have any resentnt?"
Robert took his hand. Despite her years, her grip was still as strong as Jackson rembered it. "I'm your father. I could never have any resentnt towards you. Stop blaming yourself, Jackson; torturing yourself doesn't lead to anything good, I learned it in the worst way. Now we are here, together in this room; that's what counts"
Jackson shook his father's hand in turn. Paternal warmth ran through his palm like an electric current. "So… what are you going to do now? Will you go back to mom, or...?"
Robert shook his head: "I will not bring you this pain. It's been years now and I bet she's moved on with her life. She had other n, right?" Jackson would have liked to say otherwise, but it would have been a lie. His father only seed to find confirmation of his thoughts. "You see? It would be selfish of to try to get back with her after all these years. I will definitely go to see her, I must apologize to her after all; but I won't be so arrogant as to expect you to co back with . She has her lifeand I can't take it away from her" Robert shook his head. "No, I won't make any more mistakes. She'll be better off without . Anyway, I'm going to spend more ti with you, and maybe even Abe… he's my stepson, in a way. I don't intend to intrude on your life more than I have already done, but every now and then it would be nice to et and spend a day together"
"It would be nice"
"Right. And of course we will keep in touch. I will call you more often in the future. And from ti to ti we might as well just have a drink together, like we're doing now. Or play a ga of chess. You loved chess, do you rember? "
"Yes. You never let win"
"It wouldn't have been a real win. Do you rember what I told you?"
"What to beat you where to think five moves ahead. But I would have liked to win at least once"
"Oh, but you won once. Don't you rember? You were ten years old"
Jackson's eyes lit up at that mory. "I forgot... it was an intense match"
"Right. That day you thought twelve moves ahead and you defeated . As a reward, I made you take a sip of my beer. I asked you to not tell your mother, but of course you told her anyway"
"I rember it. She almost tore you alive" Jackson laughed.
"You are laughing now, but that ti I had a really bad mont"
Father and son looked into each other's eyes, then burst out laughing. "Despite everything that's going on, I'm glad I had this conversation, dad" Jackson said sincerely.
" too. I am happy to know that in your mories I am not only the degenerate father who abandoned you. This warms my heart" Robert replied with a smile.
The two of them raised their glasses and made a short toast, then gulped down the beer in one gulp. They would spend a lot of ti together in that room, rembering the good tis of the past. That simple father-son conversation would certainly not have been enough to nd their relationship, but for the first ti, both were planning to make a serious commitnt to it.
*******
"We have cleared all the contents. The interior is large enough and there are no windows"
"I see. It's perfect"
Sobek was inside a departnt store in Marsala, a warehouse that Old Li had cleaned up. It was big enough to hold his huge bulk, exactly what he needed.
Sobek had decided that he couldn't wait any longer: now that humans knew of the existence of intelligent dinosaurs, evolving had beco even more imperative. Evolution would unlock new abilities and a new [Secondary system], exactly what he needed in anticipation of any open warfare.
At the ti, relations between humans and dinosaurs were stable; the negotiations were over, both sides were on schedule, and the humans were still in the throes of shock. It was unlikely they would make a move any ti soon. Sobek intended to use that respite to evolve; however he did not want humans to discover that he was asleep, nor by seeing his body change they understood that he was evolving, much less he did not want them to understand that he could not react during evolution. Humans had to believe that he was still awake and active. So he had chosen to hide in one of the buildings in the city to perform the mutation without being able to be spied on.
His disappearance might have attracted so attention, but not enough to give humans enough confidence to launch an attack. As far as they knew he too could only be back in the forest. Furthermore, ti was on his side: evolution took only two weeks, it was difficult for humans to be able to put together a strong enough army and coordinate an efficient attack in that ti fra.
Sobek lay down in the center of the warehouse and ordered Old Li: "Close all entrances and let no one in for the next two weeks". The ankylosaurus nodded and went out; the door slamd as it closed.
Sobek was ready. He needed a billion fa points to evolve, but he had a lot more at his disposal. News of talking dinosaurs easily broke into people's hearts and he was their leader.
[You have t the requirents for evolution. Do you wish to evolve into Spinosaurus perfectus?]
"Yes, without a doubt" was Sobek's reply, and after a mont he sank into the world of dreams.
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