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" Probably, yes"
"Why?"
"Because of what you are atte here Look, this island is an attempt to re-create a natural environment from the past To make an isolated world where extinct creatures roam freely Correct?"
"Yes"
"But fro is impossible The mathematics are so self-evident that they don&039;t need to be calculated It&039;s rather likeyou whether, on a billion dollars in income, you had to pay tax You wouldn&039;t need to pull out your calculator to check You&039;d know tax ed And, sily that one cannot successfully duplicate nature in this way, or hope to isolate it"
"Why not? After all, there are zoos"
"Zoos don&039;t re-create nature," Malcolm said "Let&039;s be clear Zoos take the nature that already exists andpens for animals Even those ularity But a zoo is not afara space station on earth"
Gennaro shook his head "I don&039;t understand"
"Well, it&039;s very si about this park isout The anireater ecosystems of earth They are never to escape"
"And they never have," Hammond snorted
"Such isolation is impossible," Malcolm said flatly "It simply cannot be done"
"It can It&039;s done all the ti your pardon," Malcol about"
"You arrogant little snot," Hammond said He stood, and walked out of the rooentlemen," Gennaro said
"I&039;m sorry," Malcolm said, "but the point remains What we call &039;nature&039; is in fact a co to accept We e of nature and then we botch it up, I&039;m no environmentalist, but you have to understand what you don&039;t understand How many times must the point be made? How many times must we see the evidence? We build the Aswan Da to revitalize the country Instead, it destroys the fertile Nile Delta, produces parasitic infestation, and wrecks the Egyptian economy We build the-"
"Excuse me," Gennaro said "But I think I hear the helicopter That&039;s probably the sample for Dr Grant to look at" He started out of the room They all followed
At the foot of theover the sound of the helicopter The veins of his neck stood out "You did what? You invited who?"
"Take it easy," Hammond said
Gennaro screaoddamned mind?"
"Now, look here," Haet so clear-"
"No," Gennaro said "No, you get so This is not a weekend excursion-"
"This is my island," Hammond said, "and I can invite whomever I want"
"This is a serious investigation of your island because your investors are concerned that it&039;s out of control We think this is a very dangerous place, and-"
"You&039;re not going to shut me down, Donald-"
"I will if I have to-"
"This is a safe place," Ha-"
"It&039;s not-"
"And I&039;ll demonstrate its safety-"
"And I want you to put theht back on that helicopter," Gennaro said
"Can&039;t," Ha toward the clouds "It&039;s already leaving" And, indeed, the sound of the rotors was fading
"God damn it," Gennaro said, "don&039;t you see you&039;re needlessly risking-"
"Ah ah," Hammond said "Let&039;s continue this later I don&039;t want to upset the children"
Grant turned, and sao children cois There was a bespectacled boy of about eleven, and a girl a few years younger, perhaps seven or eight, her blond hair pushed up under a Mets baseball cap, and a baseball glove slung over her shoulder The two kids made their way nimbly down the path from the helipad, and stopped some distance from Gennaro and Hammond
Low, under his breath, Gennaro said, "Christ"
"Now, take it easy," Ha a divorce, and I want them to have a fun weekend here"
The girl waved tentatively
"Hi, Grandpa," she said "We&039;re here"
The Tour
Tirandfather was in the er, red-facedbehind, looked embarrassed and unco back, tossing her baseball in the air He had to push her: "Go on, Lex"
"Go on yourself, Timmy"
"Don&039;t be a worlared at hiis said cheerfully, "I&039;ll introduce you to everybody, and then we can take the tour"
"I have to go," Lex said
"I&039;ll just introduce you first," Ed Regis said
"No, I have to go"
But Ed Regis was alreadyintroductions First to Grandpa, who kissed the with This man was muscular and his name was Gennaro The rest of the introductions Were a blur to Ti shorts, and a man with a beard ore jeans and a Hawaiian shirt He looked like the outdoors type Then a fat college kid who had so to do with computers, and finally a thin man in black, who didn&039;t shake hands, but just nodded his head Ti at the blond wos, when he suddenly realized that he kneho the bearded man was
"Your mouth is open," Lex said
Tim said, "I know him"
"Oh sure You just met him"
"No," Tim said "I have his book"
The bearded man said, "What book is that, Tim?"
"Lost World of the Dinosaurs, " Tim said
Alexis snickered "Daddy says Tim has dinosaurs on the brain," she said
Ti of what he knew about Alan Grant Alan Grant was one of the principal advocates of the theory that dinosaurs ar Hill in Montana, which was fas had been found there Professor Grant had found s that had ever been discovered He was also a good illustrator, and he drew the pictures for his own books
"Dinosaurs on the brain?" the bearded man said "Well, as a matter of fact, I have that same problem"
"Dad says dinosaurs are really stupid," Lex said "He says Tiet out in the air and play more sports,"
Tio," he said
"In a minute," Lex said
"I thought you were in such a rush"
"I&039;m the one ould know, don&039;t you think, Ti herstance
"Tell you what," Ed Regis said "Why don&039;t we all just head on over to the visitor center and we can begin our tour" Everybody started walking Tirandfather, "I could kill you for this," and then Tim looked up and saw that Dr Grant had fallen into step beside him
"How old are you, Tim?"
"Eleven"
"And how long have you been interested in dinosaurs?" Grant asked
Tim sed "A while now," he said He felt nervous to be talking to Dr Grant "We go to museums sometimes, when I can talk my family into it My father"
"Your father&039;s not especially interested?"
Tim nodded, and told Grant about his family&039;s last trip to the Museum of Natural History His father had looked at a skeleton and said, "That&039;s a big one"
Tim had said, "No, Dad, that&039;s a medium-size one, a camptosaurus"
"Oh, I don&039;t know Looks pretty big to me"
"It&039;s not even full-grown, Dad"
His father squinted at the skeleton "What is it, Jurassic?"
"Jeez No Cretaceous"
"Cretaceous? What&039;s the difference between Cretaceous and Jurassic?"
"Only about a hundred million years," Tim said
"Cretaceous is older?"
"No, Dad, Jurassic is older"
"Well," his father said, stepping back, "it looks pretty dareeree with his father, so he justAnd they went on to another exhibit-
Tihtiest predator the earth had ever known-for a long ti at?"
"I&039; the vertebrae," Tim said
"The vertebrae?"
"In the backbone"
I knohat vertebrae are," his father said, annoyed He stood there a while longer and then he said, "Why are you counting them?"
"I think they&039;re wrong Tyrannosaurs should only have thirty-seven vertebrae in the tall This has more"
"You mean to tell me," his father said, "that the Museu? I can&039;t believe that"
"It&039;s wrong," Tim said
His father stouard in the corner "What did you do now?" his mother said to Tim
"I didn&039;t do anything," Ti, that&039;s all"
And then his father cauard told him that the tyrannosaurus had too many vertebrae in the tail
"How&039;d you know that?" his father asked
"I read it," Tim said
"That&039;s pretty aiving it a squeeze "You knoin that tail I&039;ve never seen anything like it You really do have dinosaurs on the brain"
And then his father said he wanted to catch the last half of the Mets game on TV, and Lex said she did, too, so they left the museum And Tim didn&039;t see any other dinosaurs, which hy they had cos happened in his fas used to happen in his fa a divorce fros would probably be different His father had already h it eird at first, Tiht his mother had a boyfriend, but he couldn&039;t be sure, and of course he would never mention it to Lex Lex was heartbroken to be separated from her father, and in the last feeeks she had become so obnoxious that-
"Was it 5027?" Grant said
"I&039;m sorry?" Tim said
"The tyrannosaurus at the museum Was it 5027?"
"Yes," Tim said "How&039;d you know?"
Grant s it for years But now it may never happen"
"Why is that?"
"Because of what is taking place here," Grant said, "on your grandfather&039;s island"