The Lost World (Page 51)

But nobody answered. After a moment, he looked at the dashboard systems monitor, which registered all the systems that were operative. He didn’t see anything about communications. It occurred to him that the communications system was probably hooked into the computer. He decided to turn the computer on.

So he went back to the middle of the trailer, unstrapped the keyboard, plugged it in, and turned the computer on. There was a menu screen that said "Thorne Field Systems" and underneath that a listing of subsystems inside the trailer. One of them was radio communications. So he clicked on that, and turned it on.

The computer screen showed a scrambled hash of static. At the bottom was a command line that read: "Multiple Frequency Inputs Received. Do you want to Autotune?"

Arby didn’t know what that meant, but he was fearless around computers. Autotune sounded interesting. Without hesitation, he typed "Yes."

The static scramble remained on the screen, while numbers rolled at the bottom. He guessed he was seeing frequencies in megahertz. But he didn’t really know.

And then, suddenly, the screen went blank, except for a single flashing word in the upper-left corner:

LOGIN:

He paused, frowning. That was odd. Apparently he was required to log into the trailer’s computer system. That meant he would need a password. He tried: THORNE.

Nothing happened.

He waited a moment, then tried Thorne’s initials: JT.

Nothing.

LEVINE.

Nothing.

THORNE FIELD SYSTEMS.

Nothing.

TFS.

Nothing.

FIELD.

Nothing.

USER.

Nothing.

Well, he thought, at least the system hadn’t dumped him out. Most networks logged you off after three wrong tries. But apparently Thorne hadn’t designed any security features into this one. Arby would never have made it this way. The system was too patient and helpful.

He tried: HELP.

The cursor moved to another line. There was a pause. The drives whirred.

"Action," he said, rubbing his hands.

Laboratory

As Thorne’s eyes adjusted to the low light, he saw they were standing inside an enormous space, consisting of row after row of rectangular stainless-steel boxes, each fitted with a tangled maze of plastic tubing. Everything was dusty; many of the boxes were knocked over.

"The first rows," Malcolm said, "are Nishihara gene sequencers. And beyond are the automatic DNA synthesizers."

"It’s a factory," Eddie said. "It’s like agribusiness or something."

"Yes, it is."

At the corner of the room was a printer, with some loose sheets of yellowing paper lying beside it. Malcolm picked up one, and glanced at it.

[GALRERYF1] Gailimimus erythroid-specific transcription factor eryf1

Chapter 6

mRNA, complete cds. [GALRERYF1 1068 bp ss-mRNA VRT 15-DEC-1989]

SOURCE [SRC]

Gallimimus bullatus (Male) 9 day embryonic blood, cDNA to mRNA,

clone E120-1.

ORGANISM Gallimimus bullatus

Animalia; Chordata; Vertebrata; Archosauria; Dinosauria;

Ornithomimisauria.

REFERENCE [REF]

1 (bases 1 to 1418) T.R.Evans, 17-JUL-1989.

FEATURES [FEA]

Location/Qualifiers

/note=’Eryf1 protein gi: 212629"

/codon_start=l

/translation="MEFVALGGPDAGSPTPFPDEAGAFLGLGGGPRTEAGGLLASYPP SGRVSLVPWADTOTLGTPQWVPPATQMEPPHYLELLQPPRGSPPHPSSGPLLPLSSGP PPCEARECVNCGATATPLWRRDGTGHYLCNACGLYHRLNGQNRPLIRPKKRLLVSKRA GTVCSNCQTSTTTLWRRSPMGDPVCNACGLYYKLHQVNRPLTMRKDGIQTRNRKVSSK GKKRRPPGGONPSATAGGGAPMGGGGDPSMPPPPPPPAAAPPQSDALYALGPVVLSGH FLPFGNSGGFFGGGAGGYTAPPGLSPQI"

BASE COUNT [BAS]

206  a  371  c  342  g  149  t

"It’s a reference to a computer database," Malcolm said. "For some dinosaur blood factor. Something to do with red cells."

"And is that the sequence?"

"No," Malcolm said. He started shuffling through the papers. "No, the sequence should be a series of nucleotides….Here."

He picked up another sheet of paper.

SEQUENCE

1 GAATTCCGGA  AGCGACCAAG  AGATAARTCC  TGGCATCAGA TACAGTTOGA  GATAAGGACG

61CACGTGTGGC  AGCTCCCGCA  GAGGATTCAC  TGGAAGTGCA  TTACCTATCC CATGGGAOCC

121   ATGGAGTTCG  TGGCGCTGGG GGGGCCGGAT  GCGGGCTCCC  CCACTCCGTT  CCCTGATGAA

181   GCCGGAGCCT  TCCTGGGGCT  GGGGGGGGOC  GAGAGGACGG  AGGCGGGGGG  GCTGCTGGCC

241   TCCTACCCCC  CCTCAGGCCG  COTGTCCCTG  GTGCCGTGGG  CAGACACGGG  TACTTTGGGG

301   ACCCCCCAGT  GGGTGCCGCC  CGCCACCCAA  ATGGAGCCCC  CCCACTACCT  COAGCTGCTG

361   CAACCCCCCC  GGCGCAGCCC  CCCCCATCCC  TCCTCCGGGC  CCCTACTOCC  ACTCAGCAGC

421   GGGCCCCCAC  CCTGCGAGGC  CCGTGAGTGC  GTCATGGCCA  OGAAGAACTG  CGGAGCGACG

481   GCAACGCCGC  TGTGGCGCCG  GGACGGCACC  GGGCATTACC  TGTGCAACTG  GGCCTCAGCC

541   TGCOGGCTCT  ACCACCGCCT  CAACGOCCAG  AACCGCCCGC  TCATCCGCCC  CAAAAAGCGC

601   CTGCTGGTGA  GTAAGCGCGC  AGGCACAGTG  TGCAGCCACG  AGCGTGAAAA  CTGCCAGACA

661   TCCACCACCA  CTCTGTGGCG  TCGCAGCCCC  ATGGGGGACC  CCGTCTGCAA  CAACATTCAC

721   GCCTGCGGCC  TCTACTACAA  ACTGCACCAA  GTGAACCGCC  CCCTCACGAT  GCGCAAAGAC

781   GGAATCCAAA  CCCGAAACCG  CAAAGTTTCC  TCCAAGOGTA  AAAAGCGGCO  CCCCCCGGGG

841   COGGGAAACC  CCTCCGCCAC  CGCGGGAGGG  GGCGCTCCTA  TGGGGGGAGG  GGGGGACCCC

901   TCTATGCCCC  CCCCGCCGCC  CCCCCCGGCC  GCCGCCCCCC  CTCAAAGCGA  CGCTCTGTAC