“Then you have to shoot,” Sarah said. “Now, look: trigger’s here. Okay? Safety’s here. Twist it like this. Okay? It’ll be a rough ride, so don’t release it until we get close.”
“Close to what?”
But Sarah didn’t hear her. She gunned the engine, and the bike accelerated, heading out into the plain, chasing the fleeing raptor. Kelly put one arm around Sarah, and tried to hold on.
The Jeep bounced along the jungle trail, splashing through muddy pools. “I don’t remember it this rough,” Levine said, clutching the armhold. “Maybe you should slow down—”
“Hell no,” Thorne said. “If we lose sight of him, it’s over. We don’t know where the raptor nest is. And in this jungle, at night . . . Ah, hell.”
Up ahead, the raptors were leaving the trail, running off into the underbrush. The cage was gone. Thorne could not see the terrain very well, but it looked like a sheer hill, going almost straight down.
“You can’t do it,” Levine said. “It’s too steep.”
“I have to do it,” Thorne said.
“Don’t be crazy,” Levine said. “Face facts. We’ve lost the kid, Doc. It’s too bad, but we’ve lost him.”
Thorne glared at Levine. “He didn’t give up on you,” he said. “And we’re not giving up on him.”
Thorne spun the wheel and drove the Jeep over the edge. The car nosed down sickeningly, gained speed, and began a steep descent.
“Shit!” Levine yelled. “You’ll kill us all!”
“Hang on!”
Bouncing, they plunged downward into darkness.
SIXTH CONFIGURATION
“Order collapses in simultaneous regions. Survival is now unlikely for individuals and groups.”
IAN MALCOLM
Chase
The motorcycle raced forward across the grassy plain. Kelly clutched Sarah with one hand, and held the rifle with the other; the rifle was heavy; her arm was getting tired. The motorcycle jolted over the terrain. The wind blew her hair around her face.
“Hold on!” Sarah shouted.
The moon broke through the clouds, and the grass before them was silver in the moonlight. The raptor was forty yards ahead of them, the animal just within range of their headlamp. They were gaining steadily. Kelly saw no other animals on the plain, except for the apatosaur herd in the far distance.
They came closer to the raptor. The animal ran swiftly, its tail stiff, barely visible above the grass. Sarah angled the bike to the right, as they came alongside the raptor. They moved steadily closer. She leaned back, her mouth close to Kelly’s ear.
“Get ready!” she shouted.
“What do I do?”
They were running parallel to the raptor, back by its tail. Sarah accelerated, passing the legs, moving toward the head.
“The neck!” she shouted. “Shoot it in the neck!”
“Where?”
“Anywhere! The neck!”
Kelly fumbled with the gun. “Now?”
“No! Wait! Wait!”
The raptor panicked as the motorcycle approached. It increased its speed.
Kelly was trying to find the safety. The gun was bouncing. Everything was bouncing. Her fingers touched the safety, slid off. She reached again. She was going to have to use two hands, and that meant letting go of Sarah—
“Get ready!” Sarah shouted.
“But I can’t—”
“Now! Do it! Now!”
Sarah swerved the bike, coming alongside the raptor. They were now just three feet away. Kelly could smell the animal. It turned its head and snapped at them. Kelly fired. The gun bucked in her hands; she grabbed Sarah again. The raptor kept running.
“What happened?”
“You missed!”
Kelly shook her head. “Never mind!” Sarah shouted. “You can do it! I’ll get closer!”
She angled the bike toward the raptor again, moving closer. But this time was different: as they came alongside, the raptor abruptly charged them, butting at them with its head. Sarah howled and twisted the bike away, widening the gap. “Smart bastards, aren’t they!” she shouted. “No second chances!”
The raptor chased them for a moment, then suddenly turned, changing direction, racing away across the plains.
“It’s going for the river!” Kelly shouted.
Sarah gunned the engine. The bike shot forward. “How deep?”
Kelly didn’t answer.
“How deep!”
“I don’t know!” Kelly shouted. She was trying to remember how the raptors looked when they crossed the river. She seemed to remember they were swimming. That meant it must be at least—
“More than three feet?” Sarah said.
“Yes!”
“No good!”
They were now ten yards behind the raptor, and losing ground. The animal had entered an area marked with thick Benettitalean cycads. The rough trunks scratched at them. The terrain was uneven; the bike bounced and jolted over the bumps. “Can’t see!” Sarah shouted. “Hold on!” She angled left, moving away from the raptor, heading for the river. The animal was disappearing in the
grass.
“What’re you doing?” Kelly shouted.
“We have to cut him off!”
Shrieking, a flock of startled birds rose up in front of them. Sarah drove through flapping wings, and Kelly ducked her head. The rifle thunked in her hand.
“Careful!” Sarah shouted.
“What happened?”
“It went off!”
“How many shots do I have?”
“Two more! Make ’em good!”
The river was up ahead, shimmering in the moonlight. They burst out of the grass and came onto the muddy bank. Sarah turned, the motorcycle swerved, slipped, and the bike shot away. Kelly fell, hitting the cold mud, Sarah landing hard on top of her. Immediately Sarah jumped up, running for the bike, shouting, “Come on!”
Dazed, Kelly followed her. The rifle in her hands was thick with mud. She wondered if it would still work. Sarah was already on the bike, gunning the engine, waving her forward. Kelly jumped on, and Sarah headed up the riverbank.
The raptor was twenty yards ahead of them. Approaching the water. “It’s getting away!”
Thorne’s Jeep crashed down the hillside, out of control. Palms slapped against the windshield; they could see nothing at all, but they felt the steepness of the incline. The Jeep fished sideways. Levine yelled.
Thorne gripped the steering wheel, tried to turn the car back. He touched the brake; the Jeep straightened and continued down the hill. There was a gap in the palms—he saw a field of black boulders looming directly ahead. The raptors were scrambling over the boulders. But maybe if he went left—
“No!” Levine shouted. “No!”
“Hang on!” Thorne yelled, and he twisted the wheel. The car lost traction and slid downward. They hit the first of the boulders, shattering a headlight. The car swung up at an angle, crashed down again. Thorne thought that had finished the transmission but somehow the car was still going, angling down the hillside, moving off to the left. The second headlight smashed on a tree branch. They continued down in darkness, through another layer of palms, and then abruptly they banged down on level ground.