The Lost World (17 page)

The radio clicked. "Yes, Dr. Thorne. I see him."

"Where is he?"

"He's following the tyrannosaur. On his bicycle."

"Following the tyrannosaur." Malcolm sighed. "I should never have gotten involved with him."

"We all agree on that," Thorne said. He accelerated, driving past a section of broken stone wall which seemed to mark the outer perimeter of the compound. The car plunged on into jungle, following the game trail.

Over the radio, Arby said, "Do you see him yet?"

"Not yet."

The trail became progressively narrower, twisting as it ran down the hillside. They came around a curve, and suddenly saw a fallen tree blocking the path. The tree had been denuded in the center, its branches stripped and broken - presumably because large animals had repeatedly stepped over it.

Thorne braked to a stop in front of the tree. He got out, and walked around to the back of the Explorer.

"Doc," Eddie said. "Let me do it."

"No," Thorne said. "If anything happens, you're the only one who can repair the equipment You're more important, especially now that we have the kids."

Standing behind the car, Thorne lifted the motorcycle off the carrier hooks. He swung it down, checked the battery charge, and rolled it to the front of the car. He said to Malcolm, "Give me that rifle," and slung the rifle around his shoulder.

Thorne took a headset from the dashboard, and put it over his head. He clipped the battery pack to his belt, placed the microphone alongside his cheek. "You two go back to the trailer," Thorne said. "Take care of the kids."

"But Doc…" Eddie began.

"Just do it," Thorne said, and lifted the motorcycle over the fallen tree. He set it down on the other side, and climbed over himself. Then he saw the same pungent, pale secretions on the trunk; it had smeared on his hands. He glanced back at Malcolm, questioningly.

"Marking territory," Malcolm said.

"Great," Thorne said. "Just great." He wiped his hands on his trousers.

Then he got on the motorcycle, and drove off.

Foliage slapped at Thorne's shoulders and legs as he drove down the game trail, following the tyrannosaur. The animal was somewhere up ahead, but he couldn't see it. He was driving fast.

The radio headset crackled. Arby said, "Dr. Thorne? I can see you now."

"Okay," Thorne said.

It crackled again. "But I can't see Dr. Levine any more," Arby said. He sounded worried.

The electric motorcycle made hardly any noise, particularly going downhill. Up ahead, the game trail divided in two. Thorne stopped, leaned over the bike, looking at the muddy path. He saw the footprints of the tyrannosaur, going off to the left. And he saw the thin line of the bicycle tires. Also going off to the left.

He took the left fork, but now he drove more slowly.

Ten yards ahead, Thorne passed the partially eaten leg of a creature, which lay at the side of the path. The leg was old; it was crawling with white maggots and flies. In the morning heat, the sharp smell was nauseating. He continued, but soon saw the skull of a large animal, some of the flesh and green skin still adhering to the bone. It, too, was covered with flies.

Speaking into the microphone, he said, "I'm passing some partial carcasses…"

The radio crackled. Now he heard Malcolm say, "I was afraid of that."

"Afraid of what?"

"There may be a nest," Malcolm said. "Did you notice the carcass that the tyrannosaur had in his jaws? It was scavenged, but he hadn't eaten it. 'There's a good chance he was taking the food home, to a nest."

"A tyrannosaur nest…" Thorne said.

"I'd be cautious," Malcolm said.

Thorne slipped the bike into neutral, and rolled the rest of the way down the hill. When the ground leveled out, he climbed off the motorcycle. He could feel the earth vibrate beneath his feet, and from the bushes ahead, he heard a deep rumbling sound, like the purr of a large jungle cat. Thorne looked around. He didn't see any sign of Levine's bicycle.

Thorne unshouldered the rifle, and gripped it in sweating hands. He heard the purring growl again, rising and falling. There was something odd about the sound. It took Thorne a moment to realize what it was.

It came from more than one source: more than one big animal, purring beyond the foliage directly ahead.

Thorne bent over, picked up a handful of grass, and released it in the air. The grass blew back toward his legs: he was downwind. He slipped forward through the foliage.

The ferns around him were huge and dense, but up ahead he could see sunlight shining through, from a clearing beyond. The sound of purring was very loud now. There was another sound as well-an odd, squeaking sound. It was high-pitched, and at first sounded almost mechanical, like a squeaking wheel.

Thorne hesitated. Then, very slowly, he lowered a frond. And he stared.

I
n the midmorning light, two enormous tyrannosaurs - each twenty feet high - loomed above him. Their reddish skin had a leathery appearance. Their huge heads were fierce-looking, with heavy jaws and large sharp teeth. But somehow here the animals conveyed no sense of menace to Thorne. They moved slowly, almost gently, bending repeatedly over a large circular rampart of dried mud, nearly four feet high. The two adults held bits of red flesh in their jaws as they ducked their heads below the mud wall. This movement was greeted by a frantic high-pitched squeaking sound, which stopped almost immediately. Then, when the adults lifted their heads again, the flesh was gone.

There was no question: this was the nest. And Malcolm had been right: one tyrannosaur was noticeably larger than the other.

In a few moments, the squeaking resumed. It sounded to Thorne like baby birds. The adults continued to duck their heads, feeding the unseen babies. A bit of torn flesh landed on the top of the mud mound. As he watched, Thorne saw an infant tyrannosaur rise into view above the rampart, and start to scramble over the side. The infant was about the size of a turkey, with a large head and very large eyes. Its body was covered with a fluffy red down, which gave it a scraggly appearance. A ring of pale-white down circled its neck. The infant squeaked repeatedly and it crawled awkwardly toward the meat, using its weak forearms. But when it finally reached the carrion, it jabbed, biting the flesh decisively with tiny, sharp teeth.

It was busily eating the food when it screeched in alarm and started to slide down the outer wall of dried mud. Immediately, the mother tyrannosaur dropped her head and intercepted the baby's fall, then gently nudged the animal back inside the nest. Thorne was impressed by the delicacy of her movements, the attentive way she cared for her young. The father, meanwhile, continued to tear small pieces of meat. Both animals kept up a continuous purring growl, as if to reassure the infants.

As Thorne watched, he shifted his position. His foot stepped on a branch: there was a sharp crack.

Immediately, both adults jerked their heads up.

Thorne froze; he held his breath.

The tyrannosaurs scanned the area around the nest, looking intently in every direction. Their bodies were tense, their heads alert. Their eyes flicked back and forth, accompanied by little head jerks. After a moment, they seemed to relax again. They bobbed their heads up and down, and rubbed their snouts against each other. It seemed to be some kind of ritual movement, almost a dance. Only then did they resume feeding the infants.

When they had calmed down, Thorne slipped away, moving quietly back to the motorcycle. Arby whispered over the headset, "Dr. Thorne. I can't see you."

Thorne didn't answer. He tapped the microphone with his finger, to signal that he had heard..

Arby whispered, "I think I know where Dr. Levine is. He's off to your left."

Thorne tapped the mike again, and turned.

To his left, among ferns, he saw a rusted bicycle. It said "Prop. InGen Corp." It was leaning against a tree.

Not bad, Arby thought, sitting in the trailer and watching the remote videos as he clicked on them. He now had the monitor divided into quarters; it was a good compromise between lots of views, and images large enough to see.

One of the views looked down from above on the two tyrannosaurs in the secluded clearing. It was midmorning; the sun shone brightly on the muddy, trampled grass of the clearing. In the center he saw a round steep-walled nest of mud. Inside the nest were four mottled white eggs, about the size of footballs. There were also some broken egg fragments, and two baby tyrannosaurs, looking exactly like featherless, squeaking birds, They sat in the nest with their heads turned up like baby birds, mouths gaping wide, waiting to be fed.

Kelly watched the screen and said, "Look how cute they are." And then she added, "We should be out there."

Arby didn't answer her. He was not at all sure he wanted to be any closer. The adults were being very cool about it, but Arby found the idea of these dinosaurs very unnerving in some deep way that he couldn't analyze. Arby had always found it reassuring to organize, to create order in his life - even arranging the images neatly on the computer monitor was calmlng to him. But this island was a place where everything was unknown and unexpected. Where you didn't know what would happen. He found that troubling.

On the other hand, Kelly was excited. She kept making comments about the tyrannosaurs, how big they were, the size of their teeth. She seemed entirely enthusiastic, without any fear at all.

Arby felt annoyed with her.

"Anyway," she said, "what makes you think you know where Dr. Levine is?"

Arbv pointed to the image of the nest, on the monitor. "Watch."

"I see it."

"No. Watch, Kel."

As they stared at the screen, the image moved slightly. It panned to the left, then centered again. "See that?" Arby said.

"So what? Maybe the wind is blowing the carMera or something."

Arby shook his head. "No, Kel. He's up in the tree. Levine's moving the camera."

"Oh." A pause. She watched again. "You might be right."

Arby grinned. That was about all he could expect to get from Kelly. "Yeah, I think so."

"But what's Dr. Levine doing in the tree?"

"Maybe he's adjusting the camera."

They listened to Thorne's breathing over the radio.

Kelly stared at the four video images, each showing a different view of the island. She sighed. "I can't wait to get out there," she said.

"Yeah, me too," Arby said. But he didn't mean it. He glanced out the window of the trailer and saw the Explorer coming back, with Eddie and Malcolm. Secretly, he was glad to see them return.

Thorne stood at the base of the tree, looking up. He couldn't see Levine through the leaves, but he knew he must be somewhere up above, because he was making what seemed to Thorne like a lot of noise. Thorne glanced nervously back at the clearing, screened by intervening foliage. He could still hear the purring; it remained steady, uninterrupted.

Thorne waited. What the hell was Levine doing up in a tree, anyway? He heard rustling in the branches above, and then silence. A grunt. Then more rustling.

And then Levine said aloud, "Oh, shit!" Then a loud crashing sound, the crack of branches, and a howl of pain. And then Levine crashed down on the ground in front of Thorne, landing hard on his back. He rolled over, clutching his shoulder.

"Damn!" he said.

Levine wore muddy khakis that were torn in several places. Behind a three-day growth of beard, his face was haggard and spattered with mud. He looked up as Thorne moved toward him, and grinned.

"You're the last person I expected to see, Doc," Levine said. "But your timing is flawless."

Thorne extended his hand, and Levine started to reach for it, when, from the clearing behind them, the tyrannosaurs gave a deafening roar.

"Oh, not" Kelly said. On the monitor, the tyrannosaurs were agitated, moving swiftly in circles, raising their heads and bellowing.

"Dr. Thorne! What's happening?" Arby said.

They heard Levine's voice, tinny and scratchy on the radio, but they couldn't make out the words. Eddie and Malcolm came into the trailer. Malcolm took one look at the monitor and said, "Tell them to get out of there right now!"

On the monitor, the two tyrannosaurs had turned their backs to each other, so they were facing outward in a posture of defense. The babies were protected in the center. The adults swung their heavy tails back and forth over the nest, above the babies' heads. But the tension was palpable.

And then one of the adults bellowed, and charged out of the clearing. "Dr. Thorne! Dr. Levine! Get out of there!"

Thorne swung his leg over the bike and gripped the rubber handles. Levine jumped on behind, clutched him around the waist. Thorne heard a chilling roar, and looked back to see one of the tyrannosaurs crash through the foliage and charge them. The animal was running at full speed-head low, jaws open, in an unmistakable posture of attack…

Thorne twisted the throttle. The electric motor whirred, the back wheel spun in the mud, not moving.

"Go!" Levine shouted. "Go!"

The tyrannosaur rushed toward them, roaring. Thorne could feel the ground shake. The roar was so loud it hurt his ears. The tyrannosaur was nearly on them, the big head lunging forward, jaws wide open Thorne kicked back with his heels, pushing the bike forward. Suddenly the rear wheel caught, throwing up a plume of mud, and the bike roared up the muddy track. He accelerated fast. The motorcycle fished and swerved treacherously on the trail.

Behind him Levine was shouting something, but Thorne didn't listen. His heart was pounding. The bike jumped across a rut in the path and they almost lost their balance, then regained it, accelerating again. Thorne did not dare look back. He could smell the odor of rotten flesh, could hear the rasping breath of the giant animal in pursuit…

"Doc! Take it easy!" Levine shouted.

Thorne ignored him. The bike roared up the hill. The foliage slapped at them; mud spit up on their faces and chests. He was pulled over into a rut, then brought the bike back to the center of the trail. He heard another roar, and imagined it was a bit fainter, but -

"Doc!" Levine shouted, leaning close to his car, "What're you trying to do, kill us? Doc! We're alone!"

Thorne came to a flat part of the path, and risked a glance back over his shoulder. Levine was right.They were alone. He saw no sign of the pursuing tyrannosaur, though he still heard it roaring, somewhere in the distance.

He slowed the bike.

"Take it easy," Levine said, shaking his head. His face was ashen, frightened. "You're a terrible driver, do you know that? You ought to take some lessons. You almost got us killed there."

"He was attacking us," Thorne said angrily. He was familiar with Levine's critical manner, but right now -

"That's absurd," Levine said. "He wasn't attacking at all."

"It sure as hell looked like it," Thorne said.

"No, no, no," Levine said. "He wasn't attacking us. The rex was defending his nest. There's a big difference."

"I didn't see any difference," Thorne said. He pulled the bike to a stop, and glared at Levine.

"In point of fact," Levine said, "if the rex had decided to chase you, we d be dead right now. But he stopped almost immediately."

"He did?" Thorne said.

"There's no question about it," Levine said, in his pedantic manner. "The rex only intended to scare us off, and defend his territory. He'd never leave the nest unguarded, unless we took something, or disrupted the nest. I'm sure he's back there with his mate right now, hovering over the eggs, not going anywhere."

"Then I guess we're lucky he's a good parent," Thorne said, gunning the motor.

"Of course he's a good parent, Levine continued. "Any fool could tell that. Didn't you see how thin he was? He's been neglecting his own nourishment to feed his offspring. Probably been doing it for weeks. A Tyrannosaurus rex is a complex animal, with complex hunting behavior. And he has complex childrearing behavior as well. I wouldn't be surprised if adult tyrannosaurs have an extended parenting role that lasts for months. He may teach his offspring to hunt, for example. Start by bringing in small wounded animals, and letting the youngsters finish them off. That kind of thing. It'll be interesting to find out exactly what he does. Why are we waiting here?"

Through Thorne's earpiece, the radio crackled. Malcolm said, "It would never occur to him to thank you for saving his life."

Thorne grunted. "Evidently not," he said.

Levine said, "Who are you talking to? Is it Malcolm? Is he here?"

"Yes," Thorne said.

I "He's agreeing with me, isn't he," Levine said.

"Not exactly," Thorne said, shaking his head.

"Look, Doc," Levine said, "I'm sorry if you got upset. But there was no reason for it. The truth is, we were never in danger - except from your bad driving."

"Fine. That's fine." Thorne's heart was still pounding in his chest. He took a deep breath, swung the bike to the left, and headed down a wider path, back toward their camp.

Sitting behind him, Levine said, "I'm very glad to see you, Doc. I really am."

Thorne didn't answer. He followed the path downward, through foliage. They descended to the valley, picking up speed. Soon they saw the trailers in the clearing below. Levine said, "Good. You brought everything. And the equipment's working? Everything in good condition?"

"It all seems to be fine."

"Perfect," Levine said. "Then this is just perfect."

"Maybe not," Thorne said.

Through the back window of the trailer, Kelly and Arby were waving cheerfully through the glass.

"You're kidding," Levine said.