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Around the roo views of different parts of the park, Most of the i, but one showed the outside of the lodge, with a raptor on the roof, and then another switched to an iht sunlight-
"What was that?" Ti forward
"What?"
"That picture!"
But the i the inside of the lodge, one roo in a bed-
"Stop it," Lex said "I see them!"
Tiot submenus Then more submenus
"Wait," Lex said "You&039;re confusing it"
"Will you shut up! You don&039;t know anything about computers!"
Now he had a list of monitors on the screen One of them was marked SAFARI LODGE: LV2-4 Another was REMOTE: SHIPBOARD (VND) He pressed the screen several ties came up on monitors around the room One showed the bow of the supply ship, and the ocean ahead In the distance, Tinized the harbor because he had flown over it in the helicopter the day before It was Puntarenas The ship see
But his attention was drawn by the next screen, which showed the roof of the safari lodge, in gray mist The raptors were mostly bidden behind the pyra into view
And then, on the thirdin a bed, and Ellie stood next to hi upward As they watched, Muldoon walked into the roo up with an expression of concern
"They see us," Lex said
"I don&039;t think so"
The radio crackled On the screen, Muldoon lifted the radio to his lips "Hello, Tim?"
"I&039;m here," Tim said
"Ah, we haven&039;t got a whole lot of tirid on" And then Ti heads duck down through the glass, briefly entering the picture fro its jaws
Hurry, Timmy!" Lex said "Get the power on!"
The Grid
Tiled series of et back to the le command to return to the previous screen, or to the main menu But this system did not-or at least he didn&039;t know it Also, he was certain that help commands had been built into the syste up and down and shouting in his ear,hiot the main screen back He wasn&039;t sure what he had done, but it was back He paused, looking for a co, Timmy!"
"Will you shut up? I&039;et help" He pushed TEMPLATE-MAIN The screen filled with a co boxes and arrows
No good No good
He pushed COMMON INTERFACE The screen shifted:
[picture]
"What&039;s that?" Lex said "Why aren&039;t you turning on the power, Tinored her Maybe help on this system was called "Info" He pushed INFO
[picture]
"Tiot another uselessHe pushed GO BACK
On the radio, he heard Muldoon say, "How&039;s it co, Tim?" He didn&039;t bother to answer Frantic, he pushed buttons one after another
Suddenly, without warning, the main screen was back
[picture]
He studied the screen ELECTRICAL MAIN and SETGRIDS DNL both looked like they rids He noticed that SAFETY/HEALTH and CRITICAL LOCKS rowl of the raptors He had to roaned when he saw it:
[picture]
He didn&039;t knohat to do He pushed STANDARD PARAMETERS
STANDARD PARAMETERS
Park Grids B4-C6 Outer Grids C2-D2
Zoological Grids BB-07 Pen Grids R4-R4
Lodge Grids F4-D4 Maint Grids E5-L6
Main Grids C4-G7 Sensor Grids D5-G4
Utility Grids AH-B5 Core Grids Al-Cl
Circuit Integrity Not Tested
Security Grids Remain Automatic
Tim shook his head in frustration It took hiotten valuable infore! He pushed grid F4
POWER GRID F4 (SAFARI LODCE)
COMMAND CANNOT BE EXECUTED ERROR-505
(POWER INCOMPATIBLE WITH COMMAND ERROR
Ref Manual Pages 409-411)
"It&039;s not working," Lex said
"I know!" He pushed another button The screen flashed again
POWER GRID D4 (SAFARI LODCE)
COMMAND CANNOT BE EXECUTED ERROR-505
(POWER INCOMPATIBLE WITH COMMAND ERROR
Ref Manual Pages 409-41 1)
Tih For soe whenever he tried to turn on a grid It was saying the poas inco But what did that mean? Why was power incompatible?
"Ti at his arm
&039;Not now, Lex"
"Yes, now, " she said, and she pulled him away fro of raptors
It was co from the hallway
In the skylight above Malcolh the second h the shattered glass, and lunge and snarl at the people below Then after aon the metal
Malcol now Three, four minutes" He pressed the button on the radio: "Tim, are you there? Tim?"
There was no answer
Tim slipped out the door and saw the velociraptor, down at the far end of the corridor, standing by the balcony, He stared in astonishotten out of the freezer?
Then, as he watched, a second raptor suddenly appeared on the balcony, and he understood The raptor hadn&039;t come from the freezer at all It had coround below The second raptor landed silently, perfectly balanced on the railing Ti aniht up More than ten feet Their legs must be incredibly powerful
Lex whispered, "I thought you said they couldn&039;t-"
"Ssshh" Ti to think, but he watched with a kind of fascinated dread as the third raptor leapt to the balcony The animals milled aian totoward him and Lex
Quietly, Tiainst the door at his back, to re-enter the control room But the door was stuck He pushed harder
"We&039;re locked out," Lex whispered "Look" She pointed to the slot for the security card alongside the door A bright red dot glowed Somehow the security doors had been activated "You idiot, you locked us out!"
Tim looked down the corridor He saw several side That meant all the doors were locked There was nowhere they could go
Then he saw a slumped shape on the floor at the far end of the corridor It was a dead guard A white security card was clipped to his belt
"Coot the card, and turned back But of course the raptors had seen them They snarled, and blocked the way back to the control roo out in the hallway to surround Tian to duck rhyth to attack
Ti the card, he opened the nearest door off the hallway and pushed Lex through As the door began to close slowly behind theed
Lodge
Ian Malcolht be his last He watched the raptors with dull eyes Harding took his blood pressure, frowned, took it again Ellie Sattler rapped in a blanket, shivering and cold Muldoon sat on the floor, propped against the wall Ha They all listened to the radio
"What happened to Tim?" Hammond said "Still no word?"
"I don&039;t know"
Malcolly"
Hained it would turn out this way"
Ellie said, "Apparently Malcolm did"
"I didn&039;t iine it," Malcolm said "I calculated it"
Ha &039;I told you so&039; for hours But nobody ever wanted this to happen"
"It isn&039;t ait or not," Malcols "It&039;s a oes out in the rain forest to seek food for his faines that nature is beyond hi Beyond his control Maybe he prays to nature, to the fertility of the forest that provides for him He prays because he knows he doesn&039;t control it He&039;s at the mercy of it
"But you decide you won&039;t be at the mercy of nature You decide you&039;ll control nature, and from that moment on you&039;re in deep trouble, because you can&039;t do it Yet you have made systems that require you to do it And you can&039;t do it-and you never have-and you never will Don&039;t confuse things You can make a boat, but you can&039;t make the ocean You can make an airplane, but you can&039;t make the air Your powers are much less than your dreams of reason would have you believe"
"He&039;s lost o? He seemed such a responsible boy"
"I&039;et control of the situation," Malcolm said "Like everybody else"
"And Grant, too What happened to Grant?"
Grant reached the rear door to the visitor center, the saed on the handle: it was locked Then he saw the little red light The security doors were reactivated! Da, and went through the shattered front doors into the uard desk where he had been earlier He could hear the dry hiss of his radio He went to the kitchen, looking for the kids, but the kitchen door was open, the kids gone
He went upstairs but calass panel marked CLOSED AREA and the door was locked He needed a security card to go farther
Grant couldn&039;t get in
Fro
The leathery reptile skin touched Tim&039;s face, the claws tore his shirt, and Tiht
"Timmy!" Lex yelled
Tiain The baby velociraptor perched on his shoulder, chirping and squeaking in panic Tim and Lex were in the white nursery There were toys on the floor: a rolling yellow ball, a doll, a plastic rattle
"It&039;s the baby raptor," Lex said, pointing to the ani Tim&039;s shoulder
The little raptor burrowed its head into Tiht
Lex caainst her neck "Why is it doing that?" she said "Is it scared?"
"I don&039;t know," Tim said
She passed the raptor back to Ti up and down on his shoulder excitedly It kept looking around, headorked up and-
"Tim," Lex whispered