With summer approaching many of the plans for the summer were going forward. Some related the UFC-A's first tournament and having Animalia and the other Animalian colonies opened up four tourism, but those related more to private industries that Animalia didn't directly control. In this, every colony, or planned colony would operate as its own town/city and would function in cooperation with the respective countries political entities. It was something that was done deliberate given that there were a fair number of people from the proverbial "tin hat society" that saw the establishment of Mieni as part of an effort by Animalia to take over the world. In some places, it would mean a lot of actions to adhere to various laws and restrictions, but it would demonstrate that Animalia had no desire to come off as aggressive or anything of that nature.
It had so far done great with Mieni and in Brazil and looked surprisingly optimistic in Egypt and Kenya. There was also some optimism with regards to colonies in Asia, and particularly in Japan, and possible sites in Europe weren't presently out of the question, but the biggest colony plans at the moment related to Project Mesozoic and the establishment of the Dinotopian Colony. That presently had Clara, Robbie, Countess Irena, Jeremy, Molly, and two men in suits. A white felt cowboy hat sat on the desk in front of one of the two men. Clara knew that they were representatives of one of the groups that had been quite interested in "hosting" the Dinotopian colony. Doctor Stein was also there to officially represent Horizon's interests and he had a set of notes with him.
"Well, Ms. Clara," the first man commented, his voice carrying a heavy Texas accent, "I believe we've actually reached a point where we need a decision. Dinosaur Valley State Park and Dinosaur World are tremendously popular tourist sites and would surely attract a lot of people to the colony in addition. It'd be a mighty big opportunity to help educate people on prehistoric life."
"It could," Jeremy spoke up, "but Dinosaur Valley State Park has ALSO been a host to a bunch of conspiracy and hyper religious theories that have argued that dinosaurs and man lived together... Not to mention that Glenn Rose, Texas ALSO has an entire museum dedicated to creationism. Which would mean scientific evidence is the LAST thing on your mind."
"Here now, I represent the park," the first man commented, " not the city."
"I represent the city of Glen Rose," the second man added, "and you can't go claimin' that people who believe in God don't want to learn."
"It's not so much a question of learning as what they already agree with," Doctor Stein spoke up, "Would the people of Glen Rose accept a population that is more likely to agree with Darwin rather than Genesis? After all, a part of your offer has also included providing work space for Doctor Ramos to conduct his own work with regard to his own research with regard to paleontology, and from what conversations I've had with him is that he is not going to twist the evidence that he finds with any and all new fossils to make it seem as though Earth is young enough to where man and non-avian Dinosaurs lived together."
"We can tolerate the presence," the second man answered as he raised his head, more an act of pride than anything else, "Just so long as the presence doesn't turn inta some kinda flame war between sides."
"Animalia has no desire to set anyone's homes or businesses on fire," Clara spoke firmly, "and so long as we are tolerated and treated as sentient beings with equal rights we can cooperate and get along with a fair number of people. And this would include any humans living in the area that is to become part of "Dinotopia" as well. They wouldn't be in any danger and would have all the same rights and privileges they'd have in any American city."
Both men then smiled with rather broad grins.
"So it's agreed that the Dinotopia Colony WILL come to Glen Rose?" the second asked with his smile showing well polished teeth.
"That isn't fully reached, yet," Robbie said slowly, "as we've had two offers to consider..."
"And not every "Dinotopian" is a land based ancient reptile," Molly spoke up, "Dolichorhynchops spent all of its time at sea. And while I can go on land as a Dinotopian, and can thus use swimming pools... it would be a bit nice to have a place to swim where I'm not caged in by tile or concrete... You know... room to actually SWIM."
Both the men representing the Texas town of Glen Rose and the fossil site of Dinosaur Valley State Park were silent on that. The town and the park had been greatly interested in hosting the Dinotopian Colony, and had obviously put a fair amount of money into the project already, which was impressive to Clara, but she couldn't just accept the offer because they'd thrown money at it. The potential political hiccups that related to the local creationist sentiments was there, and had been a big part of why she and Robbie had some agreement to consider the Caribbean island location, particularly after it was found that Countess Irena through the various deals between the US and Spain for the purchase of Florida technically owned the island.
This discovery was what had brought her into the main debate on the Dinotopian Colony and why she had returned to Animalia from Spain for the discussion. It carried the plus side that Animalia wouldn't likely have to pay for the land, as the Irene might well donate the island to Animalia to establish the colony, which would grant them greater control over the island, which would be something they wouldn't get out of Glen Rose. There they would have to buy up a fair amount of land, which would be difficult and would almost require a lot of cooperation with both Dinosaur Valley State Park and Glen Rose and their agendas just to handle the legal issues. The proposals weren't actually all bad, but there was enough that it was worth the debate.
"Countess," Robbie spoke politely, "You are the present land owner... even if the island is considered US territory... did you get a chance to look at it?"
"I did," Irene said slowly with a small nod.
"What do you think on it as a colony site?" Jeremy wondered, "Could it support a full colony?"
"That, I'm afraid is going to depend on how many Dinotopians there are and how many move there," Irene answered, "I'm not an engineer or land specialist... but your government did provide them to explain the geology of the island. And while it isn't an island on a foundation of sand... in that there is some solid rock to build on... it ISN'T of great size and would probably still be vulnerable to things like Hurricanes on a routine basis."
"If it has solid ground..." Doctor Stein commented, "buildings probably COULD be built to withstand hurricanes."
Irene nodded. She had gotten a chance to look at many of the buildings in Florida on the way to the island, and she could see that the people in that state had put a fair amount of effort into building buildings that could take the sort of punishment that a force of nature could deliver, though she knew that this was also to a human scale and over a wider amount of territory. From what she knew on Project Dinotopia and it's attached Dinotopia Aquatica that many of the Dinotopians would likely dwarf even many of the larger Animalians based on modern animals.
"I would believe it's possible," Irene said slowly, "but given the size of various Dinotopians and the costs in construction that will likely be taken while trying to minimize Hurricane damage... from what the engineer type people said to me... the cost of construction for all the Dinotopians would probably be rather high and would also pack them in all into a relatively small space."
Clara and Robbie both sighed at that. With those that had joined Project Mesozoic as part of its testing phases was already testing the sizes of buildings in Animalia in that regard. From what the Countess had said, it seemed that while building on the island wouldn't have the same legal costs in terms of procuring ownership of the land might not be as high, the cost of construction would have the potential to offset it.
"Maybe ya could divide 'em into two colonies," the Dinosaur Valley State Park representative offered, "let the island be the base for Dinotopia Aquatica..."
"While Glen Rose can cover the rest," the Glen Rose representative said with a smile, "we can work to get "Dinotopia" the ownership of land between Dinosaur Valley State Park and the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center... especially with regards to cooperation between Animalia and the state of Texas and that any and all human owned/run businesses in Dinotopia won't be forced into anything they don't want if they decide to remain in the area and be incorporated into the colony... And while we won't have the land for a local airport... even by Texas standards, we aren't that far from Dallas/Fort Worth, which means that while it might take some overland travel, you'd still have access to Animalia and all the other colonies."
"And depending on how close this island is, the State of Florida would surely do the same for Dinotopia Aquatica," the Dinosaur Valley State Park representative said with a nod, "which could lessen some o' your construction costs and allow each colony to be distinctive. As while... we would like to be able to provide lessons on all sorts of prehistoric life... especially as Glen Rose was under the Interior Seaway during the Cretaceous Period... but we are well inland."
Molly brought a hand up scratch at her lower jaw before she looked to Clara and Robbie. She gave a small offhand wave to the two Texas lawyers, one representing a state park and the other representing a town.
"That might actually work," Molly commented, "It might still take some money and might require making some deals with Florida for help too... but it may allow for everyone to get a bit of what they want. Those of us wanting to swim can have the island off Florida as a swimming site and could even arrange it as a possible site for swimming races for Animalians... similar to those on Mieni... while the Texas site will allow for those based on those that are more land based to have the room to be on land."
"And we promise to try and keep folks in line," the Glen Rose representative spoke, "and we won't tolerate anyone doin' anything without reason."
"It may take a little while for surveyors to actually look island over and work with engineers with regard to any and all homes and buildings," Jeremy commented slowly, "especially if it's going to be specially designed to resist hurricane damage."
"My villa is not too far from the sea," Countess Irene spoke, "and the Mediterranean is a calm sea. If the island is to be a separate colony for Dinotopia Aquatica and built after the main Dinotopian Colony is built... I can offer hospitality to those looking for time and warm water to exercise in..."
"And I suppose Mieni could also provide an outlet while those looking for Dinotopia Aquatica wait until they're ready," Robbie said slowly to Clara, "and might have some room that new members could earn some money while waiting."
"Then, I suppose we have an agreement," Clara spoke, "the notes for this meeting, which Doctor Stein has kept for us will be presented to the Animalia City Council for its vote and to Horizon for what they will likely need to consider with regards to their financial needs with regard to the new colonies, but I believe we are at a point where things can look well..."
The two Texans looked quite pleased as they all shook hands. There were sure to be some issues a head, particularly with making sure that the buildings for Dinotopia were scaled UP to fit Dinotopians for their comfort and their size. It reflected a lot of the same issues that had essentially lead to the founding of WSA in that the school in Lyre wasn't easily scaled up to the larger Animalians which made using that school difficult for everyone. This time, with some of the larger sizes already known, things would be built for the Dinotopians from the beginning. There would of course be things that would have to be adaptable, so that smaller Dinotopians and Humans could use them as well, but that shouldn't be too hard to work out.
The biggest thing was that of timing. The original plan and hope had been for a large single colony, but the Glen Rose site was too far inland for the Dinotopia Aquatica members and the island that was thought of for them was too small to fit them and all the likely land based Dinotopians that might well move to the colony. The end result was that they agreed to two smaller colonies rather than one big one. That would have its own potential headaches, but it might just provide a compromise for all involved in the long run.
"So, when will ya be makin' the announcement?" the Dinosaur Valley State Park rep spoke.
"The establishment of the colony..." Clara said slowly, "if you're looking at construction, that can begin whenever you're ready... though you will need to speak with Jeremy and Doctor Stein as they will have all the data needed for how big the buildings will need to be for Dinotopian comfort..."
"What on the announcement on the plans for the colony?" the Glen Rose representative asked.
"That will wait until we're ready to go public with regard to Project Mesozoic, which will be toward the end of the month," Clara spoke, "once the colony is build we can handle the issues related to those moving to Dinotopia."
Of course some may not. Heather might have to remain in Animalia for some time, at least until all the legal issues for her past transgressions were settled and was thus allowed to move where she wished. Clara also had the sensation that while Sophie and Roland were planning to join Project Mesozoic, their parents intended to remain human and remain in Lyre. That would mean that both of them wouldn't likely move until after college, if they moved at all. And some, like Miko, were more interested in the Japanese Colony and essentially returning to her home country, and thus wouldn't likely move to the new colony. However, Clara was fairly certain that wouldn't matter too much, as Doctor Stein had told her that Horizon had gotten a LOT of requests to join Dinotopia, and while they'd agreed to wait until after the project was open to the public, the list was fairly big, with regard to conversion requests, and that many of them would have to settle for living in the colony because of the size they'd likely grow to as a Dinotopian.
"Then here's to a beautiful friendship," the Glen Rose representative spoke and clapped his cowboy hat up and down on the table.