Thorne extended his hand, and Levine started to reach for it, when, from the clearing behind them, the tyrannosaurs gave a deafening roar.
“Oh, no!” 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 ear. “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.
“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.
FOURTH CONFIGURATION
“Approaching the chaotic edge, elements show internal conflict. An unstable and potentially lethal region.”
IAN MALCOLM
Levine
They came running across the clearing, shouting, “Dr. Levine! Dr. Levine! You’re safe!” They hugged Levine, who smiled despite himself. He turned to Thorne.
“Doc,” Levine said. “This was very unwise.”
“Why don’t you explain that to them?” Thorne said. “They’re your students.”
Kelly said, “Don’t be mad, Dr. Levine.”
“It was our decision,” Arby explained to Levine. “We came on our own.”
“On your own?” Levine said.
“We thought you’d need help,” Arby said. “And you did.” He turned to Thorne.
Thorne nodded. “Yes. They’ve helped us.”
“And we promise, we won’t get in the way,” Kelly said. “You go ahead and do whatever you have to do, and we will just—”
“The kids were worried about you,” Malcolm said, coming up to Levine. “Because they thought you were in trouble.”
“Anyway, what’s the big rush?” Eddie said. “I mean, you build all these vehicles, and then you leave without them—”
“I had no choice,” Levine said. “The government has an outbreak of some new encephalitis on its hands. They’ve decided it’s related to the occasional dinosaur carcass that washes up there. Of course, the whole idea is idiotic, but that won’t stop them from destroying every animal on this island the minute they find out about it. I had to get here first. Time is short.”
“So you came here alone,” Malcolm said.
“Nonsense, Ian. Stop pouting. I was going to call you, as soon as
I verified this was the island. And I didn’t come here alone. I had a guide named Diego, a local man who swore he had been on this island as a kid, years before. And he seemed entirely knowledgeable. He led me up the cliff without any problem. And everything was going just fine, until we were attacked at the stream, and Diego—”
“Attacked?” Malcolm said. “By what?”
“I didn’t really see what it was,” Levine said. “It happened extremely fast. The animal knocked me down, and tore the backpack, and I don’t really know what happened after that. Possibly the shape of my pack confused it, because I got up and started running again, and it didn’t chase me.”
Malcolm was staring at him. “You were damn lucky, Richard.”
“Yes, well, I ran for a long time. When I looked back, I was alone in the jungle. And lost. I didn’t know what to do, so I climbed a tree. That seemed like a good idea—and then, around nightfall, the velociraptors showed up.”
“Velociraptors?” Arby said.