Gargantua (26 page)

“Will you be coming back?” Jack asked.

“That’s the plan. Still gotta put those seismographs through their paces. ’Sides, this is still the best place for a good nap,” he finished with a grin. Offering Jack his hand, he said, “Listen, Jack, when your six weeks’re up, give me a ring. We can always use a good marine biologist.”

Jack accepted the handshake. “I may just do that,” he said, though he looked at Alyson as he said it.

With that, Hale left.

Alyson smiled. “Six weeks, huh?”

“Well, five now, unless I can convince Emily to let me make up the time I lost chasing giant reptiles.”

Checking over Jack’s dressing, Alyson said, “Well, good. That gives me at least five weeks to convince you to accept Hale’s offer.” Flashing Jack another one of her amazing smiles, she turned and left the room.

Well, that’s certainly an incentive to stick around,
he thought.

“Dad?” Brandon said hesitantly.

“Yeah?”

“Do you
want
to stay here?”

Jack frowned. “Well, if we did—would you mind?”

Quickly, Brandon shook his head. “No way. This place is great! I was worried
you
wouldn’t wanna stay.”

Smiling, Jack reached out to his son and pulled him into a gentle hug. “Yeah, well, maybe it’s time we stopped living like gypsies and settled down again.”

“Sounds good to me,” Brandon said.

What a week,
Jack thought.
First I find a new genus of reptile, then I bring the remnants of one family together, then I settle the remnants of my own.

He thought about the creatures they had discovered, a new species created by humanity’s folly.
I wonder if there are any more of them. If not, they’re destined to die out—there are just three males left. That’s a damned shame.

Thinking about Alyson, he thought,
But then, I found someone else. Maybe the giant creature will, too. I think after all this, we all, human and reptile, deserve some happy endings.