Jurassic Park

Hammond also concealed from prospective investors the fact that the elephant's behavior had changed substantially in the process of miniaturization. The little creature might look like an elephant, but he acted like a vicious rodent, quick-moving and mean-tempered. Hammond discouraged people from petting the elephant, to avoid nipped fingers.

And although Hammond spoke confidently of seven billion dollars in a

Even so, with Ge

Sitting in the leather chair of the jet, Ge

Ge

"Oh, I understand," Hammond said. "Kids set their hearts on things."

"Anyway, is the park ready for visitors?" Ge

"Well, not officially," Hammond said. "But the hotel is built, so there is a place to stay…"

"And the animals?"

"Of course, the animals are all there. All in their spaces."

Ge

"Ob, we're far beyond that. We have two hundred and thirty-eight an'mals, Donald."

Two hundred and thirty-eight?"

The old man giggled, pleased at Ge

"Two hundred and thirty-eight… How many species?"

"Fifteen different species, Donald."

"That's incredible," Ge

"All of it, all of it," Hammond said. "Everything on that island is state-of-the-art. You'll see for yourself, Donald. It's perfectly wonderful. That's why this… concern… is so misplaced. There's absolutely no problem with the island."

Ge

"And there isn't," Hammond said. "But it slows things down. Everything has to stop for the official visit…"

"You've had delays anyway. You've postponed the opening."

"Oh, that " Hammond tugged at the red silk handkerchief in the breast pocket of his sportcoat. "It was bound to happen. Bound to happen."

"Why?" Ge

"Well, Donald," Hammond said, "to explain that, you have to go back to the initial concept of the resort. The concept of the most advanced amusement park in the world, combining the latest electronic and biological technologies. I'm not talking about rides. Everybody has rides. Coney Island has rides. And these days everybody has animatronic environments. The haunted house, the pirate den, the wild west, the earthquake-everyone has those things. So we set out to make biological attractions. Living attractions. Attractions so astonishing they would capture the imagination of the entire world."

Ge

"I remember," Ge

"And the secret to making money in a park," Hammond said, "is to limit your Perso

"I remember…"

"But the plain fact is," Hammond said, when you put together all the animals and all the computer systems, you run into snags. Who ever got a major computer system up and ru

"So you've just had normal start-up delays?"

"Yes, that's right," Hammond said. "Normal delays."

"I heard there were accidents during construction," Ge

"Yes, there were several accidents," Hammond said. "And a total of three deaths. Two workers died building the cliff road. One other died as a result of an earth-mover accident in January. But we haven't had any accidents for months now." He put his band on the younger man's arm. "Donald," he said, "believe me when I tell you that everything on the island is going forward as pla

The intercom clicked. The pilot said, "Seat belts, please. We're landing in Choteau."

Choteau  

Dry plains stretched away toward distant black buttes. The afternoon wind blew dust and tumbleweed across the cracked concrete. Grant stood with Ellie near the Jeep and waited while the sleek Grumman jet circled for a landing.

"I hate to wait on the money men," Grant grumbled.

Ellie shrugged."Goes with the job."

Although many fields of science, such as physics and chemistry, had become federally funded, paleontology remained strongly dependent on private patrons. Quite apart from his own curiosity about the island in Costa Rica, Grant understood that, if John Hammond asked for his help, he would give it. That was how patronage worked-how it had always worked.

The little jet landed and rolled quickly toward them. Ellie shouldered her bag. The iet came to a stop and a stewardess in a blue uniform opened the door.

Inside, he was surprised at how cramped it was, despite the luxurious appointments. Grant had to hunch over as he went to shake Hammond's hand.

"Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler," Hammond said. "It's good of you to join us. Allow me to introduce my associate, Donald Ge

Ge

"These things happen," she said, and Grant thought: She doesn't like him, either-

Hammond turned to Ge

"Take your seats, please," the stewardess said, closing the door. Immediately the plane began to move.

"You'll have to excuse us," Hammond said, "but we are in a bit of a rush. Donald thinks it's important we get right down there."

The pilot a

"And how long will we be in Costa Rica?" Grant asked.

"Well, that really depends," Ge

"Take my word for it," Hammond said, turning to Grant. "We'll be down there no more than forty-eight hours."

Grant buckled his seat belt. "This island of yours that we're going to-I haven't heard anything about it before. Is it some kind of secret?"

"In a way," Hammond said. "We have been very, very careful about making sure nobody knows about it, until the day we finally open that island to a surprised and delighted public."

Target of Opportunity

The Biosyn Corporation of Cupertino, California, had never called an emergency meeting of its board of directors. The ten directors now sitting in the conference room were irritable and impatient. It was 8:00 p.m. They had been talking among themselves for the last ten minutes, but slowly had fallen silent. Shuffling papers. Looking pointedly at their watches.

"What are we waiting for?" one asked.

"One more," Lewis Dodgson said. "We need one more." He glanced at his watch. Ron Meyer's office had said he was coming up on the six o'clock plane from San Diego. He should be here by now, even allowing for traffic from the airport.

"You need a quorum?" another director asked.

"Yes," Dodgson said. "We do."

That shut them up for a moment. A quorum meant that they were going to be asked to make an important decision. And God knows they were, although Dodgson would have preferred not to call a meeting at all. But Steingarten, the head of Biosyn, was adamant. "You'll have to get their agreement for this one, Lew," he had said.

Depending on who you talked to, Lewis Dodgson was famous as the most aggressive geneticist of his generation, or the most reckless. Thirty-four, balding, hawk-faced, and intense, he had been dismissed by Johns Hopkins as a graduate student, for pla

In the 1980s, a few genetic engineering companies began to ask, "What is the biological equivalent of a Sony Walkman?" These companies weren't interested in pharmaceuticals or health; they were interested in entertainment, sports, leisure activities, cosmetics, and pets. The perceived demand for "consumer biologicals" in the 1990s was high. InGen and Biosyn were both at work in this field.