MICHAEL CRICHTON

“No question. They have to surround her with metal, it’s the only thing they cando.”“Why?”“Shielding.” She picked her way around the broken cars, pausing frequently torefer to her electronic box.Then Elliot heard a grunt.It came from inside an ancient rust-red Mercedes bus. Elliot climbed throughthe shattered doors, the rubber gaskets crumbling in his hands, into the interior.He found Amy on her back, tied with adhesive tape. She was groggy, butcomplained loudly when he tore the tape off her hair.He located the broken needle in her right chest and plucked it out with forceps,Amy shrieked, then hugged him. He heard the far-off whine of a police siren.“It’s all right, Amy, it’s all right,” he said. He set her down and examined hermore carefully. She seemed to be okay.And then he said, “Where’s the second bug?”Ross grinned. “She swallowed it.”Now that Amy was safe, Elliot felt a wave of anger. “You made her swallow it?An electronic bug? Don’t you realize that she is a very delicate animal and herhealth is extremely precarious—”“Don’t get worked up,” Ross said. “Remember the vitamins I gave you? Youswallowed one, too.” She glanced at her watch. “Thirty-two minutes,” she said.“Not bad at all. We have forty minutes before we have to leave Nairobi.”8. Present PointMUNRO SAT IN THE 747, PUNCHING KEYS ON THE computer. He watchedas the lines crisscrossed over the maps, ticking out datalines, timelines,information lock coordinates.102