“We are witnessing the end of the scientific era. Science, like other outmoded systems, is destroying itself. As it gains in power, it proves itself incapable of handling the power. Because things are going very fast now. Fifty years ago, everyone was gaga over the atomic bomb. That was power. No one could imagine anything more. Yet, a bare decade after the bomb, we began to have genetic power. And genetic power is far more potent than atomic power. And it will be in everyone’s hands. It will be in kits for backyard gardeners. Experiments for schoolchildren. Cheap labs for terrorists and dictators. And that will force everyone to ask the same question—What should I do with my power?—which is the very question science says it cannot answer.”
“So what will happen?” Ellie said.
Malcolm shrugged. “A change.”
“What kind of change?”
“All major changes are like death,” he said. “You can’t see to the other side until you are there.” And he closed his eyes.
“The poor man,” Hammond said, shaking his head.
Malcolm sighed. “Do you have any idea,” he said, “how unlikely it is that you, or any of us, will get off this island alive?”
SIXTH ITERATION
“System recovery may prove impossible.”
IAN MALCOLM
RETURN
Its electric motor whirring, the cart raced forward down the dark underground tunnel. Grant drove, his foot to the floor. The tunnel was featureless except for the occasional air vent above, shaded to protect against rainfall, and thus permitting little light to enter. But he noticed that there were crusty white animal droppings in many places. Obviously lots of animals had been in here.
Sitting beside him in the cart, Lex shone the flashlight to the back, where the velociraptor lay. “Why is it having trouble breathing?”
“Because I shot it with tranquilizer,” he said.
“Is it going to die?” she said.
“I hope not.”
“Why are we taking it?” Lex said.
“To prove to the people back at the center that the dinosaurs are really breeding,” Grant said.
“How do you know they’re breeding?”
“Because this one is young,” Grant said. “And because it’s a boy dinosaur.”
“Is it?” Lex said, peering along the flashlight beam.
“Yes. Now shine that light forward, will you?” He held out his wrist, turning the watch to her. “What does it say?”
“It says … ten-fifteen.”
“Okay.”
Tim said, “That means we have only forty-five minutes to contact the boat.”
“We should be close,” Grant said. “I figure we should be almost to the visitor center right now.” He wasn’t sure, but he sensed the tunnel was gently tilting upward, leading them back to the surface, and—
“Wow!” Tim said.
They burst out into daylight with shocking speed. There was a light mist blowing, partially obscuring the building that loomed directly above them. Grant saw at once that it was the visitor center. They had arrived right in front of the garage!
“Yay!” Lex shouted. “We did it! Yay!” She bounced up and down in the seat as Grant parked the cart in the garage. Along one wall were stacked animal cages. They put the velociraptor in one, with a dish of water. Then they started climbing the stairs to the ground-floor entrance of the visitor center.
“I’m going to get a hamburger! And french fries! Chocolate milk shake! No more dinosaurs! Yay!” They came to the lobby, and they opened the door.
And they fell silent.
In the lobby of the visitor center, the glass doors had been shattered, and a cold gray mist blew through the cavernous main hall. A sign that read WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH dangled from one hinge, creaking in the wind. The big tyrannosaur robot was upended and lay with its legs in the air, its tubing and metal innards exposed. Outside, through the glass, they saw rows of palm trees, shadowy shapes in the fog.
Tim and Lex huddled against the metal desk of the security guard. Grant took the guard’s radio and tried all the channels. “Hello, this is Grant. Is anybody there? Hello, this is Grant.”
Lex stared at the body of the guard, lying on the floor to the right. She couldn’t see anything but his legs and feet.
“Hello, this is Grant. Hello.”
Lex was leaning forward, peering around the edge of the desk.
Grant grabbed her sleeve. “Hey. Stop that.”
“Is he dead? What’s that stuff on the floor? Blood?”
“Yes.”
“How come it isn’t real red?”
“You’re morbid,” Tim said.
“What’s ‘morbid’? I am not.”
The radio crackled. “My God,” came a voice. “Grant? Is that you?”
And then: “Alan? Alan?” It was Ellie.
“I’m here,” Grant said.
“Thank God,” Ellie said. “Are you all right?”
“I’m all right, yes.”
“What about the kids? Have you seen them?”
“I have the kids with me,” Grant said. “They’re okay.”
“Thank God.”
Lex was crawling around the side of the desk. Grant slapped her ankle. “Get back here.”
The radio crackled. “—n where are you?”
“In the lobby. In the lobby of the main building.”
Over the radio, he heard Wu say, “My God. They’re here.”
“Alan, listen,” Ellie said. “The raptors have gotten loose. They can open doors. They may be in the same building as you.”
“Great. Where are you?” Grant said.
“We’re in the lodge.”
Grant said, “And the others? Muldoon, everybody else?”
“We’ve lost a few people. But we got everybody else over to the lodge.”
“And are the telephones working?”
“No. The whole system is shut off. Nothing works.”
“How do we get the system back on?”
“We’ve been trying.”
“We have to get it back on,” Grant said, “right away. If we don’t, within half an hour the raptors will reach the mainland.”
He started to explain about the boat when Muldoon cut him off. “I don’t think you understand, Dr. Grant. We haven’t got half an hour left, over here.”
“How’s that?”
“Some of the raptors followed us. We’ve got two on the roof now.”
“So what? The building’s impregnable.”
Muldoon coughed. “Apparently not. It was never expected that animals would get up on the roof.” The radio crackled, “—must have planted a tree too close to the fence. The raptors got over the fence, and onto the roof. Anyway, the steel bars on the skylight are supposed to be electrified, but of course the power’s off. They’re biting through the bars of the skylight.”
Grant said, “Biting through the bars?” He frowned, trying to imagine it. “How fast?”
“Yes,” Muldoon said, “they have a bite pressure of fifteen thousand pounds a square inch. They’re like hyenas, they can bite through steel and—” The transmission was lost for a moment.
“How fast?” Grant said again.
Muldoon said, “I’d guess we’ve got another ten, fifteen minutes before they break through completely and come through the skylight into the building. And once they’re in … Ah, just a minute, Dr. Grant.”
The radio clicked off.
In the skylight above Malcolm’s bed, the raptors had chewed through the first of the steel bars. One raptor gripped the end of the bar and tugged, pulling it back. It put its powerful hind limb on the skylight and the glass shattered, glittering down on Malcolm’s bed below. Ellie reached over and removed the largest fragments from the sheets.
“God, they’re ugly,” Malcolm said, looking up.
Now that the glass was broken, they could hear the snorts and snarls of the raptors, the squeal of their teeth on the metal as they chewed the bars. There we
re silver thinned sections where they had chewed. Foamy saliva spattered onto the sheets, and the bedside table.
“At least they can’t get in yet,” Ellie said. “Not until they chew through another bar.”
Wu said, “If Grant could somehow get to the maintenance shed …”
“Bloody hell,” Muldoon said. He limped around the room on his sprained ankle. “He can’t get there fast enough. He can’t get the power on fast enough. Not to stop this.”
Malcolm coughed. “Yes.” His voice was soft, almost a wheeze.
“What’d he say?” Muldoon said.
“Yes,” Malcolm repeated. “Can …”
“Can what?”
“Distraction …” He winced.
“What kind of a distraction?”
“Go to … the fence.…”
“Yes? And do what?”
Malcolm grinned weakly. “Stick … your hands through.”
“Oh Christ,” Muldoon said, turning away.
“Wait a minute,” Wu said. “He’s right. There are only two raptors here. Which means there are at least four more out there. We could go out and provide a distraction.”
“And then what?”
“And then Grant would be free to go to the maintenance building and turn on the generator.”
“And then go back to the control room and start up the system?”
“Exactly.”
“No time,” Muldoon said. “No time.”
“But if we can lure the raptors down here,” Wu said, “maybe even get them away from that skylight … It might work. Worth a try.”
“Bait,” Muldoon said.
“Exactly.”
“Who’s going to be the bait? I’m no good. My ankle’s shot.”
“I’ll do it,” Wu said.
“No,” Muldoon said. “You’re the only one who knows what to do about the computer. You need to talk Grant through the start-up.”
“Then I’ll do it,” Harding said.
“No,” Ellie said. “Malcolm needs you. I’ll do it.”
“Hell, I don’t think so,” Muldoon said. “You’d have raptors all around you, raptors on the roof.…”
But she was already bending over, lacing her running shoes. “Just don’t tell Grant,” she said. “It’ll make him nervous.”
The lobby was quiet, chilly fog drifting past them. The radio had been silent for several minutes. Tim said, “Why aren’t they talking to us?”
“I’m hungry,” Lex said.
“They’re trying to plan,” Grant said.
The radio crackled. “Grant, are you—nry Wu speaking. Are you there?”
“I’m here,” Grant said.
“Listen,” Wu said. “Can you see to the rear of the visitor building from where you are?”
Grant looked through the rear glass doors, to the palm trees and the fog.
“Yes,” Grant said.
Wu said, “There’s a path straight through the palm trees to the maintenance building. That’s where the power equipment and generators are. I believe you saw the maintenance building yesterday?”
“Yes,” Grant said. Though he was momentarily puzzled. Was it yesterday that he had looked into the building? It seemed like years ago.
“Now, listen,” Wu said. “We think we can get all the raptors down here by the lodge, but we aren’t sure. So be careful. Give us five minutes.”
“Okay,” Grant said.
“You can leave the kids in the cafeteria, and they should be all right. Take the radio with you when you go.”
“Okay.”
“Turn it off before you leave, so it doesn’t make any noise outside. And call me when you get to the maintenance building.”
“Okay.”
Grant turned the radio off. Lex crawled back. “Are we going to the cafeteria?” she said.
“Yes,” Grant said. They got up, and started walking through the blowing mist in the lobby.
“I want a hamburger,” Lex said.
“I don’t think there’s any electricity to cook with.”
“Then ice cream.”
“Tim, you’ll have to stay with her and help her.”
“I will.”
“I’ve got to leave for a while,” Grant said.
“I know.”
They moved to the cafeteria entrance. On opening the door, Grant saw square dining-room tables and chairs, swinging stainless-steel doors beyond. Nearby, a cash register and a rack with gum and candy.
“Okay, kids. I want you to stay here no matter what. Got it?”
“Leave us the radio,” Lex said.
“I can’t. I need it. Just stay here. I’ll only be gone about five minutes. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Grant closed the door. The cafeteria became completely dark. Lex clutched his hand. “Turn on the lights,” she said.
“I can’t,” Tim said. “There’s no electricity.” But he pulled down his night-vision goggles.
“That’s fine for you. What about me?”
“Just hold my hand. We’ll get some food.” He led her forward. In phosphorescent green he saw the tables and chairs. To the right, the glowing green cash register, and the rack with gum and candy. He grabbed a handful of candy bars.
“I told you,” Lex said. “I want ice cream, not candy.”
“Take these anyway.”
“Ice cream, Tim.”
“Okay, okay.”
Tim stuffed the candy bars in his pocket, and led Lex deeper into the dining room. She tugged on his hand. “I can’t see spit,” she said.
“Just walk with me. Hold my hand.”
“Then slow down.”
Beyond the tables and chairs was a pair of swinging doors with little round windows in them. They probably led to the kitchen. He pushed one door open and it held wide.
Ellie Sattler stepped outside the front door to the lodge, and felt the chilly mist on her face and legs. Her heart was thumping, even though she knew she was completely safe behind the fence. Directly ahead, she saw the heavy bars in the fog.
But she couldn’t see much beyond the fence. Another twenty yards before the landscape turned milky white. And she didn’t see any raptors at all. In fact, the gardens and trees were almost eerily silent. “Hey!” she shouted into the fog, tentatively.
Muldoon leaned against the door frame. “I doubt that’ll do it,” he said. “You’ve got to make a noise.” He hobbled out carrying a steel rod from the construction inside. He banged the rod against the bars like a dinner gong. “Come and get it! Dinner is served!”
“Very amusing,” Ellie said. She glanced nervously toward the roof. She saw no raptors.
“They don’t understand English.” Muldoon grinned. “But I imagine they get the general idea.…”
She was still nervous, and found his humor annoying. She looked toward the visitor building, cloaked in the fog. Muldoon resumed banging on the bars. At the limit of her vision, almost lost in the fog, she saw a ghostly pale animal. A raptor.
“First customer,” Muldoon said.
The raptor disappeared, a white shadow, and then came back, but it did not approach any closer, and it seemed strangely incurious about the noise coming from the lodge. She was starting to worry. Unless she could attract the raptors to the lodge, Grant would be in danger.
“You’re making too much noise,” Ellie said.
“Bloody hell,” Muldoon said.
“Well, you are.”
“I know these animals—”
“You’re drunk,” she said. “Let me handle it.”
“And how will you do that?”
She didn’t answer him. She went to the gate. “They say the raptors are intelligent.”
“They are. At least as intelligent as chimps.”
“They have good hearing?”
“Yes, excellent.”
“Maybe they’ll know this sound,” she said, and opened the gate. The metal hinges, rusted from the constant mist, creaked loudly. She closed it a
gain, opened it with another creak.
She left it open.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Muldoon said. “You’re going to do that, let me get the launcher.”
“Get the launcher.”
He sighed, remembering. “Gennaro has the shells.”
“Well, then,” she said. “Keep an eye out.” And she went through the gate, stepping outside the bars. Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely feel her feet on the dirt. She moved away from the fence, and it disappeared frighteningly fast in the fog. Soon it was lost behind her.
Just as she expected, Muldoon began shouting to her in drunken agitation. “God damn it, girl, don’t you do that,” he bellowed.
“Don’t call me ‘girl,’ ” she shouted back.
“I’ll call you any damn thing I want,” Muldoon shouted.
She wasn’t listening. She was turning slowly, her body tense, watching from all sides. She was at least twenty yards from the fence now, and she could see the mist drifting like a light rain past the foliage. She stayed away from the foliage. She moved through a world of shades of gray. The muscles in her legs and shoulders ached from the tension. Her eyes strained to see.
“Do you hear me, damn it?” Muldoon bellowed.
How good are these animals? she wondered. Good enough to cut off my retreat? There wasn’t much distance back to the fence, not really—
They attacked.
There was no sound.
The first animal charged from the foliage at the base of a tree to the left. It sprang forward and she turned to run. The second attacked from the other side, clearly intending to catch her as she ran, and it leapt into the air, claws raised to attack, and she darted like a broken field runner, and the animal crashed down in the dirt. Now she was running flat out, not daring to look back, her breath coming in deep gasps, seeing the bars of the fence emerge from the haze, seeing Muldoon throw the gate wide, seeing him reaching for her, shouting to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her through so hard she was yanked off her feet and fell to the ground. And she turned in time to see first one, then two—then three—animals hit the fence and snarl.
“Good work,” Muldoon shouted. He was taunting the animals now, snarling back, and it drove them wild. They flung themselves at the fence, leaping forward, and one of them nearly made it over the top. “Christ, that was close! These bastards can jump!”