The Lost World
"Richard?" he said.
Chapter 4
"No," said the voice, "this is Thorne. And I think you better get over here right away."
The Five Deaths
"I knew it," Malcolm said, coming into Levine’s apartment, and glancing quickly around. "I knew he would do something like this. You know how impetuous he is. I said to him, don’t go until we have all the information. But I should have known. Of course, he went."
"Yes, he did."
"Ego," Malcolm said, shaking his head. "Richard has to be first. Has to figure it out first, has to get there first. I’m very concerned, he could ruin everything. This impulsive behavior: you realize it’s a storm in the brain, neurons on the edge of chaos. Obsession is just a variety of addiction. But what scientist ever had self-control? They instruct them in school: it’s bad form to be balanced. They forget Neils Bohr was not only a great physicist but an Olympic athlete. These days they all try to be nerds. It’s the professional style."
Thorne looked at Malcolm thoughtfully. He thought he detected a competitive edge. He said, "Do you know which island he went to?"
"No. I do not." Malcolm was stalking around the apartment, taking things in. "The last time we talked, we had narrowed it down to five islands, all in the south. But we hadn’t decided which one."
Thorne pointed to the wallboard, the satellite images. "These islands here?"
"Yes," Malcolm said, looking briefly. "They’re strung out in an arc, all about ten miles offshore from the bay of Puerto Cortes. Supposedly they’re all uninhabited. Local people call them the Five Deaths."
"Why?" Kelly said.
"Some old Indian story," Malcolm said. "Something about a brave warrior captured by a king who offered him his choice of deaths. Burning, drowning, crushing, hanging, decapitation. The warrior said he would take them all, and he went from island to island, experiencing the various challenges. Sort of a New World version of the labors of Hercules – "
"So that’s what it is!" Kelly said, and ran out of the room.
Malcolm looked blank.
He turned to Thorne, who shrugged.
Kelly returned, carrying the German children’s book in her hand. She gave it to Malcolm.
"Yes," he said. "Die Fünf Todesarten. The Five Ways of Death. Interesting that it is in German…."
"He has lots of German books," Kelly said.
"Does he? That bastard. He never told me."
"That means something?" Kelly said.
"Yes, it means a lot. Hand me that magnifying glass, would you?"
Kelly gave him a magnifying glass from the desk. "What does it mean?"
"The Five Deaths are ancient volcanic islands," he said. "Which means that they are geologically very rich. Back in the twenties, the Germans wanted to mine them." He peered at the images, squinting. "Ah. Yes, these are the islands, no question. Matanceros, Muerte, Taca?o, Sorna, Pena…All names of death and destruction…All right. I think we may be close. Do we have any satellite pictures with spectrographic analyses of the cloud cover?"
Arby said, "Is that going to help you find Site B?"
"What?" Malcolm spun around. "What do you know about Site B?"
Arby was sitting at the computer, still working. "Nothing. Just that Dr. Levine was looking for Site B. And it was the name in the files."
"What files?"
"I’ve recovered some InGen files from this computer. And, searching through old records, I found references to Site B….But they’re pretty confusing. Like this one." He leaned back, to let Malcolm look at the screen.
Summary: Plan Revisions #35
PRODUCTION(SITE B)_______________________________________________
AIR HANDLERSGrade 5 to Grade 7
LABSTRUCTURE400 cmm to 510 cmm
BIO SECURITYLevel PK/3 to Level PK/5
CONVEYOR RATES 3 mpm to 2.5 mpm
HOLDING PENS13 hectares to 26 hectares
STAFF 17 (4 admin) to 19 (4 admin)
COMM PROTOCOL ET(VX) to RDT (VX)
Malcolm frowned. "Curious, but not very helpful. It doesn’t tell us which island – or even if it’s on an island at all. What else have you got?"
"Well…" Arby flicked keys. "Let’s see. There’s this."
SITE B ISLAND NETWORK NODAL POINTS
ZONE I (RIVER)1-8
ZONE 2 (COAST)9-16
ZONE 3 (RIDGE)17-24
ZONE 4 (VALLEY) 25-32
Malcolm said, "Okay, so it’s an island. And Site B has a network- but a network of what? Computers?"
Arby said, "I don’t know. Maybe a radio network."
"For what purpose?" Malcolm said. "What would a radio network be used for? This isn’t very helpful."
Arby shrugged. He took it as a challenge. He began typing furiously again. Then said, "Wait!…Here’s another one …if I can just format it….There! Got it!"
He moved away from the screen, so the others could see.
Malcolm looked and said, "Very good. Very good!"
SITE B LEGENDS
EAST WING WEST WING LOADING BAY
LABORATORYASSEMBLY BAYENTRANCE
OUTLYINGMAIN CORE GEO TURBINE
CONVENIENCE STORE WORKER VILLAGE GEO CORE
GAS STATION POOL/TENNIS PUTTING GREENS
MGRS HOUSEJOG PATHGAS LINES
SECURITY ONESECURITY TWOTHERMAL LINES
RIVER DOCKBOATHOUSE SOLAR ONE
SWAMP ROADRIVER ROADRIDGE ROAD
MTN VIEW ROAD CLIFF ROAD HOLDING PENS
"Now we’re getting somewhere," Malcolm said, scanning the listing. "Can you print this out?"
"Sure." Arby was beaming. "Is it really good?"