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"What kind of a distraction?"

"Go to the fence"

"Yes? And do what?"

Malcolh"

"Oh Christ," Muldoon said, turning away

"Wait a ht There are only two raptors here Which o out and provide a distraction"

"And then what?"

"And then Grant would be free to go to the enerator"

"And then go back to the control room and start up the system?"

"Exactly"

"No time," Muldoon said "No time"

"But if we can lure the raptors down here," Wu said, "ht work Worth a try"

"Bait," Muldoon said

"Exactly"

"Who&039;s going to be the bait? I&039;ood My ankle&039;s shot"

"I&039;ll do it," Wu said

"No," Muldoon said "You&039;re the only one who knohat to do about the coh the start-up"

"Then I&039;ll do it," Harding said

"No," Ellie said "Malcolm needs you I&039;ll do it"

"Hell, I don&039;t think so," Muldoon said "You&039;d have raptors all around you, raptors on the roof"

But she was already bending over, lacing her running shoes "Just don&039;t tell Grant," she said "It&039;ll make him nervous"

The lobby was quiet, chilly fog drifting past them The radio had been silent for severalto us?"

"I&039;ry," Lex said

"They&039;re trying to plan," Grant said

The radio crackled "Grant, are you-nry Wu speaking Are you there?"

"I&039;m here," Grant said

"Listen," Wu said "Can you see to the rear of the visitor building from where you are?"

Grant looked through the rear glass doors, to the pal

"Yes," Grant said

Wu said, "There&039;s a path straight through the pal That&039;s where the power equipenerators are I believe you saw theyesterday?"

"Yes," Grant said Though he was momentarily puzzled Was it yesterday that he had looked into the building? It seeo

"Now, listen," Wu said "We think we can get all the raptors down here by the lodge, but we aren&039;t sure So be careful Give us five minutes"

"Okay," Grant said

"You can leave the kids in the cafeteria, and they should be all right Take the radio with you when you go"

"Okay"

"Turn it off before you leave, so it doesn&039;t et to the "

"Okay"

Grant turned the radio off Lex crawled back "Are we going to the cafeteria?" she said

"Yes," Grant said They got up, and started walking through the blowing er," Lex said

"I don&039;t think there&039;s any electricity to cook with"

"Then ice cream"

"Tim, you&039;ll have to stay with her and help her"

"I will"

"I&039;ve got to leave for a while," Grant said

"I know"

Theythe door, Grant saw square dining-roo stainless-steel doors beyond Nearby, a cash register and a rack with gum and candy

"Okay, kids I want you to stay here no matter what Got it?"

"Leave us the radio," Lex said

"I can&039;t I need it Just stay here I&039;ll only be gone about five minutes Okay?"

"Okay"

Grant closed the door The cafeteria becahts," she said

"I can&039;t," Tim said "There&039;s no electricity" But he pulled down his night-vistion goggles

"That&039;s fine for you What about me?"

"Just hold et soreen he saw the tables and chairs To the right, the glowing green cash register, and the rack with gurabbed a handful of candy bars

"I told you," Lex said "I want ice cream, not candy"

"Take these anyway"

"Ice cream, Tim"

"Okay, okay"

Tim stuffed the candy bars in his pocket, and led Lex deeper into the dining rooed on his band "I can&039;t see spit," she said

"Just ith me Hold my hand"

"Then slon"

Beyond the tables and chairs was a pair of swinging doors with little round s in them They probably led to the kitchen He pushed one door open and it held wide

Ellie Sattler stepped outside the front door to the lodge, and felt the chilly h she knew she was completely safe behind the fence Directly ahead, she saw the heavy bars in the fog

But she couldn&039;t see much beyond the fence Another twenty yards before the landscape turned milky white And she didn&039;t see any raptors at all In fact, the gardens and trees were al, tentatively

Muldoon leaned against the door fraot toa steel rod froainst the bars like a dinner gong "Coet it! Dinner is served!"

"Very alanced nervously toward the roof She saw no raptors

"They don&039;t understand English" Muldoon grinned "But I ieneral idea"

She was still nervous, and found his hu, cloaked in the fog Muldoon resu on the bars At the lihostly pale animal A raptor

"First customer," Muldoon said

The raptor disappeared, a white shadow and then came back, but it did not approach any closer, and it seee She was starting to worry Unless she could attract the raptors to the lodge, Grant would be in danger

"You&039;retoo much noise," Ellie said

&039;Bloody hell," Muldoon said

"Well, you are"

"I know these animals-"

"You&039;re drunk," she said "Let me handle it"

"And hoill you do that?"

She didn&039;t answer hient"

"They are At least as intelligent as chi?"

"Yes, excellent"

"Maybe they&039;ll know this sound," she said, and opened the gate The es, rusted froain, opened it with another creak

She left it open

"I wouldn&039;t do that," Muldoon said "You&039;re going to do that, let et the launcher"

"Get the launcher"

He sighed, re "Gennaro has the shells"

"Well, then," she said "Keep an eye out" And she went through the gate, stepping outside the bars Her heart was pounding so hard she could barely feel her feet on the dirt She ly fast in the fog Soon it was lost behind her

Just as she expected, Muldoon began shouting to her in drunken agitation "God dairl, don&039;t you do that," he bellowed

"Don&039;t call irl,"&039; she shouted back

"I&039;ll call you any da I want," Muldoon shouted

She wasn&039;t listening She was turning slowly, her body tense, watching from all sides She was at least twenty yards fro like a light rain past the foliage She stayed away froray The s and shoulders ached from the tension Her eyes strained to see

"Do you hear me, daood are these anih to cut off my retreat? There wasn&039;t much distance back to the fence, not really-

They attacked

There was no sound

The first anie at the base of a tree to the left It sprang forward and she turned to run The second attacked fro to catch her as she ran, and it leapt into the air, claws raised to attack, and she darted like a broken field runner, and the ani flat out, not daring to look back, her breaths coe fro hi her arh so hard she was yanked off her feet and fell to the ground And she turned in time to see first one, then two-then tbree-animals hit the fence and snarl

"Good work," Muldoon shouted He was taunting the ani the forward, and one of them nearly made it over the top "Christ, that was close! These bastards can ju at the scrapes and bruises, the blood running down her leg All she could think was: three animals here And two on the roof That , somewhere