The Lost World (16 page)

VIDEO NETWORK 

A, 1-20 CCD NDC. 1. I

So it really was an old system: files hadn't been modified for years. Wondering if it still worked, he clicked on VIDEO NETWORK, And to his amazement, he saw the screen begin to fill with tiny video images.

There were fifteen in all, crowding the screen, showing views of various parts of the island. Most of the cameras seemed to be mounted high up, in trees or something, and they showed -

He stared.

They showed dinosaurs.

He squinted. It wasn't possible. These were movies or something he was seeing. Because in one corner he saw a herd of triceratops. In an adjacent square, some green lizard-looking things, in high grass, with just their heads sticking up. In another, a single stegosaurus, ambling along.

They must be movies, he thought. The dinosaur channel.

But then, in another image, Arby saw the two connected trailers standing in the clearing. He could see the black photovoltaic panels glistening on the roof He almost imagined he could see himself, through the window of the trailer.

Oh, my God, he thought.

And in another image, he saw Thorne and Malcolm and Eddie get quickly into the green Explorer, and drive around the back of the laboratory. And he realized with a shock:

The pictures were all real.

T
hey drove the Explorer to the back of the main building, heading for the power station. On the way, they passed a little village to their right. Thorne saw six plantation-style cottages and a larger building marked "Manager's Residence." It was clear that the cottages had once been nicely landscaped, but they were now overgrown, partially retaken by the jungle. In the center of the complex, they saw a tennis court, a drained swimming pool, a small gas pump in front of what looked like a little general store.

Thorne said, "I wonder how many people they had here?" Eddie said, "How do you know they're all gone?"

"What do you mean?"

"Doc - they have power. After all these years. There has to be an explanation for it." Eddie steered the car around the back of the loading bays, and drove toward the power station, directly ahead.

The power station was a windowless, featureless concrete blockhouse, marked only by a corrugated-steel rim for ventilation around the top. The steel vents were long since rusted a uniform brown, with flecks of yellow.

Eddie drove the car around the block, looking for a door. He found it at the back. It was a heavy steel door, with a peeling, painted sign that said: CAUTION HIGH VOLTAGE DO NOT ENTER.

Eddie jumped out of the car, and the others followed. Thorne sniffed the air. "Sulfur," he said.

"Very strong, " Malcolm said, nodding.

Eddie tugged at the door. "Guys, I got a feeling…"

The door opened suddenly with a clang, banging against the concrete wall. Eddie peered into darkness inside. Thorne saw a dense maze of pipes, a trickle of steam coming out of the floor. The room was extremely hot. There was a loud, constant whirring sound.

Eddie said, "I'll be damned." He walked forward, looking at the gauges, many of which were unreadable, the glass thickly coated with yellow. The joints of the pipes were also rimmed with yellow crust. Eddie wiped away some of the crust with his finger. "Amazing," he said.

"Sulfur?"

"Yeah, sulfur. Amazing." He turned toward the source of the sound, saw a large circular vent, a turbine inside. The turbine blades, spinning rapidly, were drill yellow.

"And that's sulfur, too?" Thorne said.

"No," Eddie said. "That must be gold. Those turbine blades are gold alloy."

"Gold?"

"Yeah. It would have to be very inert." He turned to Thorne. "You realize what all this is? It's incredible. So compact and efficient. Nobody has figured out how to do this. The technology is - "

"You're saying it's geothermal?" Malcolm said.

"That's right," Eddie said. "They've tapped a heat source here, probably gas or steam, which is piped up through the floor over there. Then the heat is used to boil water in a closed cycle - that's the network of pipes up there - and turn the turbine - there - which makes electric power. Whatever the heat source, geothermal's almost always corrosive as hell. Most places, maintenance is brutal. But this plant still works. Amazing,"

Along one wall was a main panel, which distributed power to the en-tire laboratory complex. The panel was flecked with mold, and dented in several spots.

Doesn't look like anybody's been in here in years," he said. "And a lot of the power grid is dead. But the plant itself is still going - incredible."

Thorne coughed in the sulfurous air, and walked back into the sunlight. He looked up at the Year of the laboratory. One of the loading bays seemed in good shape, but the other had collapsed. The glass at the rear of the building was shattered.

Malcolm came to stand beside him. "I wonder if an animal hit the building."

"You think an animal could do that much damage?"

Malcolm nodded. "Some of these dinosaurs weigh forty, fifty tons. A single animal has the mass of a whole herd of elephants. That could easily be damage from an animal, yes. You notice that path, running there? That's a game trail going past the loading bays, and down the hill. It could have been animals, yes."

Thorne said, Didn't they think of that when they released the animals in the first place?"

Oh, I'm sure they just planned to release them for a few weeks or months, then round them up when they were still juvenile. I doubt they ever thought they - "

They were interrupted by a crackling electrical hiss, like static. It was coming from inside the Explorer. Behind them, Eddie hurried toward the car, with a worried look.

"I knew it," Eddie said. "Our communications module is frying. I knew we should have put in the other one." He opened the door to the Explorer and climbed in the passenger side, picked up the handset, pressed the automatic tuner. Through the windshield, he saw Thorne and Malcolm coming back toward the car.

And then the transmission locked. " - into the car!" said a scratchy voice.

"Who is this?"

"Dr. Thorne! Dr. Malcolm! Get in the car!"

As Thorne arrived, Eddie said, "Doc. It's that damn kid."

"What?" Thorne said.

"It's Arby."

Over the radio, Arby was saying, Get in the car! I can see it coming!"

What's he talking about?" Thorne said, frowning. "He's not here, is he? Is he on this island?"

The radio crackled. "Yes, I'm here! Dr. Thorne!"

"But how the hell did he - "

"Dr. Thorne! Get in the car!"

Thorne turned purple with anger. He bunched his fists. "How did that little son of a bitch manage to do this?" He grabbed the handset from Eddie. "Arby, God damn it - "

"It's coming!"

Eddie said, "What's he talking about? He sounds completely hysterical."

I can see it on the television! Dr. Thorne!"

Malcolm looked around at the jungle. "Maybe we should get in the car, he said quietly.

"What does he mean, television?" Thorne said. He was furious.

Eddie said, "I don't know, Doc, but if he's got a feed in the trailer, we can see it too." He flicked on the dashboard monitor. He watched as the screen glowed to life.

"That damn kid," Thorne said. "I'm going to wring his neck."

"I thought you liked that kid," Malcolm said. "I do, but-"

"Chaos at work," Malcolm said, shaking his head. Eddie was looking at the monitor.

"Oh shit," he said.

On the tiny dashboard monitor, they had a view looking straight down at the powerful body of a Tyrannosaurus rex, as it moved up the game trail toward them. Its skin was a mottled reddish brown, the color of dried blood. In dappled sunlight, they could clearly see the powerful muscles of its haunches. The animal moved quickly, without any sign of fear or hesitation.

Staring, Thorne said, "Everybody in the car."

The men climbed hurriedly in. On the monitor, the tyrannosaur moved out of view of the camera. But, sitting in the Explorer, they could hear it coming. The earth was shaking beneath them, swaying the car slightly.

Thorne said, "Ian? What do you think we should do?"

Malcolm didn't answer. He was frozen, staring forward, eyes blank.

"Ian?" Thorne said.

The radio clicked. Arby said, "Dr. Thorne, I've lost him on the monitor. Can you see him yet?"

"Jesus," Eddie said.

With astonishing speed the Tyrannosaurus rex burst into view, emerging from the foliage to the right of the Explorer. The animal was immense, the size of a two-storey building, its head rising high above them, out of sight. Yet for such a large creature it moved with incredible speed and agility. Thorne stared in stunned silence, waiting to see what would happen. He felt the car vibrate with each thundering footstep. Eddie moaned softly.

But the tyrannosaur ignored them. Continuing at the same rapid pace, it moved swiftly past the front of the Explorer. They hardly had a chance to see it before its big head and body disappeared into the foliage to the left. Now they saw only the thick counterbalancing tail, some seven feet in the air, swinging back and forth with each footstep as the animal moved on.

So fast! Thorne thought. Fast! The giant animal had emerged, blocked their vision, and then was gone again. He was not accustomed to seeing something that big move so fast. Now there was only the tip of the tail swinging back and forth as the animal hurried away.

Then the tail banged against the front of the Explorer, with a loud metallic clang.

And the tyrannosaur stopped.

They heard a low, uncertain growl from the jungle. The tail swung back and forth in the air again, more tentatively. Soon enough, the tail brushed lightly against the radiator a second time.

Now they saw the foliage to the left rustling and bending, and the tail was gone.

Because the tyrannosaur, Thorne realized, was coming back.

Re-emerging from the jungle, it moved toward the car, until it was standing directly in front of them. It growled again, a deep rumbling sound, and turned its head slightly from side to side to look at this strange new object. Then it bent over, and Thorne could see that the tyrannosaur had something in its mouth; he saw the legs of a creature dangling on both sides of the 'aws. Flies buzzed in a thick cloud around the tyrannosaur's head.

Eddie moaned. "Oh, fuck."

"Quiet," Thorne whispered.

The tyrannosaurus snorted, and looked at the car. It bent lower, and sniffed repeatedly, moving its head slightly to the left and right with each inhalation. Thorne realized it was smelling the radiator. It moved laterally, and sniffed the tires. Then it lifted its huge head slowly, until its eyes rose above the surface of the hood. It stared at them through the windshield. Its eyes blinked. The gaze was cold and reptilian.

Thorne had the distinct impression that the tyrannosaur was looking at them: its eyes shifted from one person to the next. With its blunt nose, it pushed at the side of the car, rocking it slightly, as if testing its weight, measuring it as an opponent. Thorne gripped the steering wheel tightly and held his breath.

And then, abruptly, the tyrannosaur stepped away, and walked to the front of the car. It turned its back on them, lifting its big tail high. The tyrannosaur backed up toward them. They heard the tail scraping across the roof of the car. The rear haunches came closer…

And then the tyrannosaur sat down on the hood, tilting the vehicle pushing the bumper into the ground with its enormous weight. At first: it did not move, but simply sat there. Then, after a moment, it began to wriggle its hips back and forth in a quick motion, making the metal squeak.

"What the hell?" Eddie said.

The tyrannosaur stood again, the car sprang back up, and Thorne saw thick white paste smeared across the hood. The tyrannosaur immediately moved away, heading down the game trail, disappearing into the jungle.

Behind them, they saw it emerge into the open again, stalk across the open compound. It lumbered behind the convenience store, passed between two of the cottages, and then disappeared from sight again.

Thorne glanced at Eddie, who jerked his head toward Malcolm. Malcolm had not turned to watch the departing tyrannosaur. He was still staring forward, his body tense. "Ian?" Thorne said. He touched him on the shoulder

Malcolm said, "Is he gone?"

"Yes. He's gone,

Ian Malcolm's body relaxed, his shoulders dropping. He exhaled slowly. His head sagged to his chest. He took a deep breath, and raised his head again. "You've got to admit," he said. "You don't see that every day."

"Are you okay?" Thorne said.

"Yeah, sure. I'm fine." He put his hand on his chest, feeling his heart. "Of Course I'm fine. After all, that was just a small one."

"Small?" Eddie said. "You call that thing small - "

"Yes, for a tyrannosaur. Females are quite a bit larger. There's sexual dimorphism in tyrannosaurs - the females are bigger than the males. And it's generally thought they did most of the hunting. But we may find that out for ourselves."

"Wait a minute,"Eddiesaid."What makes you so sure he was a male?"

Malcolm pointed to the hood of the car, where the white paste now gave off a pungent odor. "He scent-marked territory."

"So? Maybe females can also mark - "

"Very likely they can," Malcolm said. "But anal scent glands are found only among males. And you saw how he did it."

Eddie stared unhappily at the hood. "I hope we can get that stuff off," he said. "I brought some solvents, but I wasn't expecting, you know…dino musk."

The radio clicked. "Dr. Thorne," Arby said. "Dr. Thorne? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, Arby. Thanks to you," he said.

"Then why are you waiting? Dr. Thorne? Didn't you see Dr. Levine?"

"Not yet, no." Thorne reached for his sensor unit, but it had fallen to the floor. He bent over, and picked it up. Levine's coordinates had changed. "He's moving…"

"I know he's moving. Dr. Thorne?"

"Yes, Arby," Thorne said. And then he said, "Wait a minute. How do you know he's moving?"

"Because I can see him," Arby said. "He's riding a bicycle."

Kelly came into the front of the trailer, yawning and pushing her hair back from her face. "Who're you talking to, Arb?" She stared at the monitor and said, "Hey, pretty neat."

"I got onto the Site B network," he said. "What network?"

"It's a radio LAN, Kel. For some reason it's still up.

'Is that right? But how did - "

"Kids," Thorne said, over the radio. "If you don't mind. We're looking for Levine."

Arby picked up the handset. "He's riding a bicycle down a path in the jungle. It's pretty steep and narrow. I think he's following the same path as the tyrannosaur."

Kelly said, "As the what?"

Thorne put the car in gear, driving away from the power station, toward the worker compound. He went past the gas station, and then between the cottages. He followed the same path the tyrannosaur had taken. The game trail was fairly wide, easy to follow.

"We shouldn't have those kids here," Malcolm said, gloomily. "It's not safe."

"Not much we can do about it now," Thorne said. He clicked the radio. "Arby, do you see Levine now?"

The car bounced through what had once been a flower bed, and around the back of the Manager's Residence. It was a large two-storey building built in a tropical colonial style, with hardwood balconies all around the upper floor. Like the other houses, it was overgrown.