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 ambassador has managed to win the favor of the enemy leader" Jocelyne replied, wiping her face with a napkin. "And anyway, by tonight I intend to bring further results. Let them replace me if they want, they will only lose out"

Chloe didn't know if the girl was talking nonsense or had serious intentions, but from what she had learned about her it was very likely that the latter was the right one. "What results do you intend to bring?"

"If possible, a satisfying peace for everyone" Jocelyne replied, then stood up and walked away from the table. "Now, with your permission, I have some dinosaurs to meet"

The girl left the dining room without saying another word. Chloe didn't try to stop her, but she rubbed her temples expecting that she would soon have a big headache. After what had happened the day before, she had no doubts that Jocelyne's methods could work, but she doubted that the NMWA would see her the same way. She would have had the hard work of her to appease the governments.

As she left, Jocelyne passed into the hall. Jackson was still sprawled on the loveseat. His arm had returned to his place and several bands covered his chest. He slept soundly, probably due to the anesthetic effect of the painkillers.

Even though she didn't show it, Jocelyne felt a pang in her heart to see him like that. Unfortunately, she had no choice. He and Chloe had messed up the relationship between dinosaurs and humans too much to be able to settle the matter in a less peaceful way. She hoped Abe and Robert didn't get too angry. When that situation ended she would have to apologize to a lot of people.

The girl looked away and threw open the door. A few dinosaurs were waiting outside her, and among them Jocelyne immediately noticed the members of the welcoming team, among them Pierce and, of course, Al. "Good morning, ambassador. I hope you slept well" the allosaur greeted her.

Jocelyne immediately perceived that the atmosphere was different than the day before: the dinosaurs did not show the slightest sign of hostility, indeed in their eyes there was only curiosity and interest. The duel had really paid off. "Good morning to you too, Al. I trust that you too have rested properly". The allosaurus puffed out his chest satisfied.

Pierce spoke up. "The pack leader sent us to take you to him" he said, and motioned for her to climb onto his back.

But to his surprise, Jocelyne shook her head: "Thank you, but now I'd like to go somewhere else. You say the pack leader will be offended if I ask him to come to a place?"

"Uh? No, I don't think…" Pierce murmured in confusion.

"Gorgeous! So tell me: is there a place where I can observe you dinosaurs while you work to restore the forest without disturbing anyone?"

The members of the reception team looked at each other doubtfully, obviously not understanding what was happening, then Al spoke up: "There is a hill just outside the city. From there you can see everything within a radius of kilometers"

"It's perfect!" Jocelyne exclaimed with a smile. "Pierce, would you be so kind to go tell the pack leader to join me there? I'll take responsibility, don't worry"

The dinosaurs didn't know what to do. Sobek had ordered them to bring Jocelyne to him, but he had also ordered them to grant him any requests from him. Unfortunately now the two orders clashed with each other, and it was impossible to execute one without obliterating the other. Eventually Pierce chose to trust the human. "Okay, I'll tell him" he replied, hoping that Sobek would understand that the stegosaurus had found himself on a dead end street.

"I thank you. Al, would you be kind enough to give me a lift?" Jocelyne asked without losing her smile. The allosaurus looked at the other dinosaurs with questioning eyes, then nodded and bent down just enough to allow the girl to get on his back.

The reason why Jocelyne had chosen Al was simple: besides the fact that she had developed a bit of affinity with him thanks to their previous encounter, of all the dinosaurs present he was the fastest. Jocelyne wanted at all costs to get to the hill before Sobek, so she had chosen the quickest means of transport.

Al carried out his request and set out for the reclaimed desert. Very soon the fast legs of the allosaurus took the two out of town, making them find them in the vast fields where the new grass was growing. After about a quarter of an hour they reached the designated hill.

Jocelyne got off Al and sat down on the soft ground; the allosaurus stood for a moment, unsure what to do, then imitated her and sat a little further back than her to give her space, but not too much to be ready to intervene in case of danger. After all, the ambassador's safety was now his responsibility.

Jocelyne took a deep breath. Fortunately it was winter, otherwise the air would have been much warmer, even if it still touched thirty degrees celsius. Fortunately the night breeze had generated a light, refreshing wind that tickled her hair. The wind smelled of damp grass, wet earth and flowers, and also a strong stench of manure. The reason was easy to guess: from the hill in fact he could admire the dinosaurs as they worked to restore the forest.

Jocelyne enjoyed the sight. She would never get tired of looking at him. She could have spent hours and hours admiring the huge animals digging, fertilizing and fertilizing the parched desert land. She was delighted to see the grainy sand give way to fertile soil and seeds ready to sprout.

She didn't have to wait long; after half an hour a huge shadow fell over her. Jocelyne turned her head and as she had imagined she found Sobek's gigantic body towering over her. "Welcome, lord Sobek. I was waiting for you"

The spinosaurus lay down beside her. Al moved away a little to make room for him. Jocelyne noticed that Sobek was not alone: some dinosaurs had followed him. Among them she noted some of the more important ones, such as Old Li and Buck. "Miss Jersey, when Pierce told me you wanted to meet me here I was thinking of a joke. Why did you want to go so far?"

"Oh, I just appreciate this view a lot more" Jocelyne said, gesturing to the dinosaurs at work in front of her. "There is an air of simplicity here. This vision, these smells, these sounds… they are beautiful. Much better than the concrete and asphalt of the city, don't you think?"

Sobek looked at her with a searching eye. "Yes, I admit it's better"

"See? Anyway, I want to reiterate that you really are an extraordinary people"Jocelyne said, looking back at the view. "Watch. In no time at all what used to be a desert is turning into a fertile land. In a few years the trees will come back to life here, and perhaps in a few decades there will be wonderful forests. Instead of the sound of the sand dragged by the wind, you will hear the songs of birds, the rustle of the leaves, the roar of the waters. Isn't that wonderful?"

Sobek felt relaxed at those words. Yes, that prospect was wonderful. Rebuild what used to be a dead forest completely from scratch, recreating a place where dinosaurs could come back to life. "Of course it's wonderful. I only live to see that day" he admitted.

"This makes you a far-sighted leader. Your subordinates are right to call you a sage" Jocelyne continued. "Wouldn't it be great if your subjects could always deal with this? Living their lives like this without having to worry about a thing? Let the war be just a distant memory?"

Sobek cracked his huge lids and stared intently at her. "What are you getting at?"

"What I believe you have arrived at. We must sign a peace" Jocelyne said, her smile fading. "But it cannot be just a simple peace. It must be a long-term peace. And for a peace to last for long it is necessary that both sides come out victorious". The girl sighed deeply. "The human world isn't idyllic and united as yours. There has never been a single pack or a complete unit. Many wars have divided it. And if there is one thing that history teaches, it is that every time the winner aimed to destroy the loser, the loser grew a grudge against him and within a few decades he would return even more ferocious than before to take revenge on him. You, lord Sobek, aren't a foolish leader. You said you don't fear war and I believe you; but you wanted to start this negotiation for a reason. You don't want your subordinates to suffer further suffering. As you have said, in order to coexist, there is a need for commitment on both sides. So let's commit ourselves, and try to come and meet each other"

Sobek snorted. Now he understood why Jocelyne had wanted to bring him there: from the top of the hill he could admire a large slice of his people she worked. Observing the dinosaurs his instinct as a pack leader inevitably gave him a strong sense of affection, and he trembled at the thought that only one of them should die as had unfortunately already happened. Sobek knew he could not save everyone: he was neither invincible nor omnipotent. If there had been a conflict they would have died by the thousands.

Sobek knew in his heart that a second war was inevitable: he still had two evolutions to experience, which meant that more battles awaited him. Furthermore, humans would not have given control of the world to dinosaurs so easily. But was it so wrong to have hope? To try in every way to stop a future conflict? Was it fate that shaped his choices, or was it himself? And what did he really want?

In the end he made his decision about him. "All right. I listen to you". Even if there had to be a future war, he wanted to at least try to avoid it, or at least make it break out as late as possible. More time meant more preparation and more preparation meant fewer deaths. Each additional life saved had its own value; it was right to fight for this.

From the smell, Sobek knew that Jocelyne was happy. Even the girl's heart was beating faster, a clear sign of contentment. "Thank you. Let me tell you what I have in mind. First of all, you must know that I don't intend to refuse any of your requests"

Sobek was surprised: "Really?"

"Yes. You only want two things: your land and your people. By denying them, we will achieve nothing but the foundations of another conflict. After all, if we refuse to return the dinosaurs, you could do the same with the humans" Jocelyne replied. "So you have the right to get your land back and you have the right to get your people back. So you will have no reason to declare war on us again. However, you must help me, so that we can also take away from humans the reason for declaring war on you"

Sobek stared intently at Jocelyne. He was genuinely amazed. Not so much because of Jocelyne's request, but more because he understood how things stood. Most people would not have understood the profound meaning behind the dinosaurs' demands; any other ambassador would have calculated the matter from a mere economic point of view. Instead, Jocelyne was evaluating the situation as if the dinosaurs were fully human, and as such they had deep feelings of affection towards their people and their land. If one nation had been invaded by another and its people deported, that nation would have turned ALL the deported people back. Dinosaurs were no exception.

And Jocelyne understood that. While other humans limited themselves to calculating how much money they would lose in fulfilling such requests, she tried to understand the reasons of her interlocutors and to find a happy medium for all.

"This is what I propose to you. Let's start with your first request. You'll get your land back, but you have to give us a reason why we don't want it anymore" Jocelyne explained. "Thanks to Chloe you already know why we wanted this place"

"Resources"

"Exactly. Resources. And you are right about one thing: it is our fault, since we have consumed all the resources of our territory. However, we have a chance that could satisfy everyone. We humans have been studying alternative methods for producing energy for some time"

"If that's true, why should you come here looking for resources?"

"Because these methods are more expensive and it is cheaper for the powerful of the world to continue using the old methods. But if you take the three virgin continents, then these people will be forced to change these methods of their own accord. However, this is hardly a job that can be done in one day. Your presence in this world will force companies and multinationals to change, but if you just close the borders with us, then all you will get is a tremendous economic crisis, and then an open war will be inevitable"

"I understand. What do you propose?"

"Give us time. This colony produced an immense amount of resources prior to your assault, resources that were used all over the world. They have no value for you, but they do for us. Return them to us. With those resources, we humans will have five or six years before we run into an energy crisis, time that companies, governments and multinationals can use to launch a large-scale energy plan based on alternative energy. By giving humans time to create a new energy regime, you will prevent them from declaring war on you for your resources"

"And do you think this will be enough?"

"It's still better than giving nothing to humans, let their economy collapse and consequently entice them even more to conquer your territory"

Sobek narrowed his eyes at the girl's dig. However, he knew she was right. The wars he had studied in his past life on Earth exemplified what happened when you destroyed an enemy. The most striking case was the rise of Nazism, much favored by the terrible conditions that France and England had imposed on Germany during the World War I.

Sobek had planned his terms with the prospect that a new war was inevitable. But maybe he could change his approach to him. Even if he didn't think he could change fate, perhaps he could at least lessen the hostilities a little. If the dinosaurs had given an image of selfish and evil creatures, future relationships would certainly not have been easy. Being generous and inclined to peace was the best option. "Yours is an interesting proposal. And the resources you speak of are all here in the colony?"

"Precisely. If you want my advice, your best bet would be to return them to the country they belong to. In this way the world economic system won't be affected and there will be no dangerous unrest"

Sobek let out a snort. The nation that owned the colony's resources was Odaria. In practice, Jocelyne was using the situation to help her own nation. However, she could not blame him: after all, it was normal for the ambassadors to try to tip the scales in favor of their country. Unfortunately, however, Sobek knew about Odaria's social structure, having inspected it in the past with the Internet, and doubted that entrusting them with the resources would be the best choice. "How do I get the guarantee that the people I return the resources to will do as you said? What assures me that you will not use them for something worse?"

"Because the economy of the country from which these resources come, the same one from which I come, is currently on the verge of collapse" Jocelyne replied impassively. "Believe me, lord Sobek, that nation will not even think about using resources any differently than restoring its economy. I have already spoken with many of their bosses and they agree to take advantage of the years that these resources will guarantee us to launch an alternative energy plan, which will probably be imitated by many other nations"

Sobek carefully sniffed Jocelyne's scent; he didn't perceive the typical hormones that were produced when someone lied. She was telling the truth.

The prospect was tempting, in a way. The dinosaurs didn't know what to do with oil, coal, or natural gas. The colony's resources were useless to them. However, if humans had enough time and good motivation, then they would have built a new energy regime. Which meant that practically half of Sobek's work could be considered done: the disappearance of fossil fuels in favor of alternative energies would drastically reduce global warming and pollution. At least the planet could have breathed a little.

Sobek had to think carefully about it. "And what about our second request?" he asked her.

"That too is more than legitimate, so I intend to fulfill it. However, I would like to make some changes" Jocelyne replied. "First, the number. We both know that humans haven't a hundred million dinosaurs. I offer you forty million"

Sobek's eyes widened in surprise. "For real?" he exclaimed unintentionally.

"Why? Wasn't that the amount you hoped to get?" Jocelyne asked rhetorically.

Sobek understood that the girl had understood her true intent. His plan was to bargain, starting with a very high amount and then lowering it. In this way, humans would have convinced themselves that they should have returned less than half of the dinosaurs requested at the beginning, when in reality they should have delivered all the dinosaurs they currently hold captive. In reality, Sobek did not even know if humans could reach such a figure: he knew that the dinosaurs raised for food were at least thirty million, but he didn't know how much the figure was if we also added those kept in zoos, reserves, parks. natural, or those used for illegal fighting or sport hunting. Did the number really go up to forty million?

"You turn your people back. I know you won't give it up, so I'm willing to give it back to you" Jocelyne continued. "However, forty dinosaurs for a single human is a little too much. If you want them back, you have to give us something more in return"

Sobek's expression became grim: "And what, exactly?"

"As we did with the first request, we must make sure that the second request is also not onerous. Here is my proposal: in addition to the prisoners, also give us a quantity of meat equal to the weight of the dinosaurs that we will deliver to you" Jocelyne replied. "That way, humans will have at least a year at their disposal before risking famine, perhaps even more if we add meat stored in warehouses. Humans can use this time to create a new diet. We will use other animals, for example cattle, or we will focus on the production of synthetic meat. All we need is time to get organized and build the right structures"

Sobek gritted his teeth. Delivering a quantity of meat equal to the weight of forty million dinosaurs, considering that almost all of them were sauropods, meant giving humans at least two billion tons of meat. "What if we don't have this astronomical figure?"

To his surprise, Jocelyne burst out laughing. "You can deceive others, lord Sobek, but not me. What you fed us wasn't boar's meat. I won't have your sense of smell or your sense of taste, but I've tasted the raw meat of a boar in the past and I know what it taste like" she replied. Sobek bit his lip: it was thanks to him that Jocelyne knew what raw animals tasted like since that was how he had fed her in the forest. "And I'm not stupid. You have been extremely generous with the rations for the prisoners. If you had a limited amount of food, would you waste it on human beings you don't even know if you will get anything out of it, since the negotiations hadn't even started at the time? Would you waste food when you have a huge army to feed? Oh, come on. It is obvious that you have a far superior food source than any other, and it certainly does not come from the animals of the forest. So you have found another way to guarantee food than agriculture and livestock"

Sobek was caught off guard. Did the little girl understand? She didn't aim to reveal the secret of the mangers any time soon. Did that girl really arrive there with a simple reasoning and a good spirit of observation? Extraordinary. A normal person would not even have calculated the possibility that dinosaurs used methods unknown to man to produce their food. How had she figured it out? Was she a little genius or was there more to it?

Seeing Sobek's threatening expression, Jocelyne hastened to add: "I won't tell anyone that you know how to make food in any other way. I don't know what methods you use and I don't want to know. Currently, what interests me is to achieve peace, and this is the best way"

Sobek nodded. "In practice, the agreement would be this: you leave us our territory, we give you back the resources of the colony. You give us back our people, and we give you back yours and a quantity of meat equal to what you will lose"

"So you will have no reason to wage war on us and we will have no reason to wage war on you. We eliminate the blunt object and there is no longer any need for any conflict. It's simple logic" Jocelyne replied.

"But humans rarely follow logic" Sobek thought bitterly. However, he couldn't avoid to admit that he was attracted by the proposal: certainly what would have been generated would have been a satisfactory peace for both parties, possibly even lasting. "Allow me to think about it for a while" he said at the end.

Jocelyne nodded vigorously. "Go ahead, I'm not going to rush you. If you are really wise, you will make the right choice" the girl replied.