Jess Harding

Jess Harding was the daughter of Gerry Harding.

## Biography

### Early Life

Jess Harding was born prior to June in the summer of 1978 to Gerry Harding, the child of his second marriage. She already had an older half-sister, Sarah Harding.

When she was a child, Jess was a handful for her father, and one time strayed into a tiger exhibit at the San Diego Zoo. She spent much of her time around animals at the zoo where her father worked.

Her father and mother divorced at some point, causing her to become less and less connected with her father. Gerry saw both of his daughters very little after InGen hired him and he began working at Jurassic Park.

### Teenage Years

During her adolescence, Jess became rebellious as she felt that her parents were not paying her enough attention, especially her father. Her mother began seeing a new boyfriend, named Steve, who Jess got along well with. He secretly gave her driving lessons and diving lessons against Jess's mother's wishes.

Jess attended Westlake Academy in Westlake, Texas during her teenage years (in the Overworld, Westlake Academy did not open until 2003).

In 1993, Jess was caught shoplifting, stealing a T-shirt, and almost went to jail. Her mother decided that Gerry might be able to curb her rebelliousness, so they began planning to send her to see him on Isla Nublar.

They planned to send her to the island at the same time as the endorsement tour for Jurassic Park, probably because the island would be prepared for visitors then.

### Isla Nublar Incident

Jess spent the day on Isla Nublar with her father seeing various dinosaurs, which excited her. That night, as they traveled to the boat to leave the island, they encountered a severely wounded woman, Nima Cruz. In order to save her, they have to get back to the Visitors' Center. They treat her in the jeep while driving to the Visitors' Center, but are interrupted by a *Triceratops* in the road which attracts its herd's alpha. She destroys the jeep while Jess, Gerry, and Nima struggle to escape. Buttercup, having escaped her paddock when the power was cut, attacks and kills the trike while the humans hide in a nearby maintenance building.

The following day, the group left the maintenance building after the endorsement tour had already escaped the island. They traveled to the Visitors' Center with the remote help of Laura Sorkin. They were able to save Nima, escape Buttercup a second time, and were then held hostage by Nima after she recovered. Nima led them toward the north, where she was supposed to meet her contacts. They had to use the Bone Shaker to descend a cliff, but were attacked by juvenile herrerasaurs and rescued by mercenaries Oscar Morales and Billy Yoder.

The whole group goes to rescue Dr. Sorkin, and before they do Jess helps her release her *Parasaurolophus* and unwittingly helps her cure the dinosaurs' lysine deficiency. Before they can leave on the helicopter, Nima causes it to crash and Valkyrie's pack of raptors attack Gerry, Sorkin, and Jess. They barely escape into the maintenance tunnels beneath the island. The raptors pursue them by a different way. They reunite with the others in the tunnels, but have to fight off Val and her raptors again. While fixing the malfunctioning geothermal power plant, Val kills Oscar, causing Jess great distress.

When the group discovers that the Troödon killed the mercenaries' partner, Billy wants to kill Sorkin, but Jess stops him. They escape the Troödons and reach the Marine Facility. Here Sorkin tries to stop the island from being bombed, and when the United States government refuses, she threatens to release the Park's tylosaur. However, it rams the aquarium and knocks Sorkin into the water where it eats her. Billy traps the group inside the facility while he leaves with the valuable cryocan he took from Nima, but unbeknownst to him, Jess used her pickpocketing skills to take it from him.

The group outswam the mosasaur and prevented it from escaping, using the caves to reach the island's North Dock as the morning breaks. Billy is already there and takes back the cryocan, but is killed by Buttercup, who is wandering nearby. They all try and escape into the docks, Gerry distracting Buttercup when she singles out Jess. Nima saves Jess, though her actions cause the cryocan to be lost and crushed by Buttercup. They all escape on the boat left by Nima's contacts.

Using the money Nima's contacts left her, Jess and Gerry were able to help Nima's daughter Atlanta get out of poverty and secure a good education. From here on, Jess and her father were much closer with one another again.