She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.
“That nearly everything that’s been written or said is wrong. Like the gorilla. George studied mountain gorillas ten years before Dian Fossey ever thought of it. And he found that what was believed about gorillas was exaggerated, or misunderstood, or just plain fantasy – like the idea that you couldn’t take women on gorilla expeditions, because the gorillas would rape them, Wrong. Everything…just… wrong.”
Sarah finished tying her boots, and stood.
“So, Kelly, even at your young age, there’s something you might as well learn now. All your life people will tell you things. And most of the time, probably ninety-five percent of the time, what they’ll tell you will be wrong.”
Kelly said nothing. She felt oddly disheartened to hear this.
“It’s a fact of life,” Sarah said. “Human beings are just stuffed full of misinformation. So it’s hard to know who to believe. I know how you feel.”
“You do?”
“Sure. My mom used to tell me I’d never amount to anything.” She smiled. “So did some of my professors.”
“Really?” It didn’t seem possible.
“Oh yes,” Sarah said. “As a matter of fact – ”
From the other section of the trailer, they heard Malcolm say, No! No! Those idiots! They could ruin everything!”
Sarah immediately turned, and went into the other section. Kelly jumped off the seat, and hurried after her.
The men were all clustered around the monitor. Everyone was talking at once, and they seemed to be upset. “This is terrible,” Malcolm was saying. “Terrible!”
Thorne said, “Is that a jeep?”
“They had a red Jeep,” Harding said, coming up to look.
“Then it’s Dodgson,” Malcolm said. “Damn!”
“What’s he doing here?”
“I can guess.”
Kelly pushed through to get a look. On the screen, she saw foliage, and intermittent flashes of a red-and-black vehicle.
“Where are they now?” Malcolm said to Arby.
“I think they’re in the east valley,” Arby said. “Near where we found Dr. Levine.”
The radio clicked. Levine’s voice said, “Do you mean there are now other people on the island?”
“Yes, Richard.”
“Well, you better go stop them, before they mess everything up.”
“I know. Do you want to come back?”
“Not without a compelling reason. Inform me if one arises.” And his radio clicked off.
Harding stared at the screen, watching the Jeep. “That’s them, all right,” she said. “That’s your friend Dodgson.”
“He’s not my friend,” Malcolm said. He got up, wincing in pain from his leg. “Let’s go,” he said. “We have to stop these bastards. There’s no time to waste.”
Nest
The red jeep Wrangler rolled softly to a stop. Directly ahead was a wall of dense foliage. But through it they could see sunlight, from the clearing beyond.
Dodgson sat quietly in the car, listening. King turned to him I I about to speak, but Dodgson held up his hand, gesturing to him to be silent.
Then he heard it clearly – a low rumbling growl, almost a purr. It was coming from beyond the foliage ahead. It sounded like the biggest jungle cat he had ever heard. And intermittently, he felt a slight vibration, hardly anything, but enough to make the car keys clink against the steering column. As he felt that vibration, it slowly dawned on him: It’s walking.
Something very big. Walking.
Beside him, King was staring forward in astonishment; his mouth hung open. Dodgson glanced back at Baselton; the professor was gripping the seat with white fingers, as he listened to the sound.
A shadow moved across the ferns directly ahead. judging the shadow, the animal was twenty feet high, and forty feet long. It walked on its hind legs, and had a large body, a short neck, a very big head.
A tyrannosaur.
Dodgson hesitated, staring at the shadow. His heart was pounding in his chest. He considered going on to the next nest, but he was confident that the box would work here, too. He said, “Let’s get this over with. Give me the box.”
Baselton handed him the box, just as he had done before.
Dodgson said, “Charged?”
“Batteries arc charged,” King said.
“Okay,” he said. “Here we go. Exactly the same as before. I’ll go first, you two follow, and bring the eggs back to the car. Ready?”