MICHAEL CRICHTON

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The others wouldn’t like it, but it might work. .Munro called the logistics equipment list. Yes, they were equipped for it. Hepunched in the routing, smiling as he saw the line streak straight across Africa,within a few miles of their destination. He called for outcomes.PROPOSED ROUTING UNACCEPTABLE.He pressed the override button, got the data outcomes anyway. It was just ashe thought—they could beat the consortium by a full forty hours. Nearly two fulldays!The computer went back to the previous statement:PROPOSED ROUTING UNACCEPTABLE / ALTITUDE FACTORS /HAZARDS TO PERSONNEL EXCESSIVE / PROBABILITY SUCCESS UNDERLIMITS /Munro didn’t think that was true. He thought they could pull it off, especially ifthe weather was good. The altitude wouldn’t be a problem, and the groundalthough rough would be reasonably yielding.In fact, the more Munro thought about it, the more certain he was that it wouldwork.9. DepartureTHE LITTLE FOKKER S-144 PROP PLANE WAS PULLED up alongside thegiant 747 cargo jet, like an infant nursing at its mother’s breast. Two cargo ramps104
were in constant motion as men transferred equipment from the larger plane tothe smaller one. Returning to the airfield, Ross explained to hot that they wouldbe taking the smaller plane, since the 747 had to be debugged, and since it was“too large” for their needs now.“But the jet must be faster,” Elliot said.“Not necessarily,” Ross said, but she did not explain further.In any case, things were now happening very fast, and Elliot had otherconcerns. He helped Amy aboard the Fokker, and checked her thoroughly. Sheseemed to be bruised all over her body—at least she complained that everythinghurt when he touched her—but she had no broken bones, and she was in goodspirits.Several black men were loading equipment into the airplane, laughing andslapping each other on the back, having a fine time. Amy was intrigued with themen, demanding to know What joke ? But they ignored her, concentrating on thework at hand. And she was still groggy from her medication. Soon she fellasleep.Ross supervised the loading, and Elliot moved toward the rear of the plane,where she was talking with a jolly black man, whom she introduced as Kahega.“Ah,” Kahega said, shaking Elliot’s hand. “Dr. Elliot. Dr. Ross and Dr. Elliot, twodoctors, very excellent.”Elliot was not sure why it was excellent.Kahega laughed infectiously. “Very good cover,” he announced. “Not like theold days with Captain Munro. Now two doctors—a medical mission, yes? Veryexcellent. Where are the ‘medical supplies’?” He cocked an eyebrow.“We have no medical supplies.” Ross sighed.“Oh, very excellent, Doctor, I like your manner,” Kahega said. “You areAmerican, yes? We take what, M-16s? Very good rifle, M-16. I prefer it myself.”“Kahega thinks we are running guns,” Ross said. “He just can’t believe wearen’t.”Kahega was laughing. “You are with Captain Munro!” he said, as if thisexplained everything. And then he went off to see about the other workmen.“You sure we aren’t running guns?” Elliot asked when they were alone.“We’re after something more valuable than guns,” Ross said. She wasrepacking the equipment, working quickly. Elliot asked if he could help, but she105
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technically referred only to the dr
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esulting conversations were beyond
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He’d better go wake Driscoll, the
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most of the programmers, but despit
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“Carrier fix. We’re rolling.”
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The camera continued to pan. She co
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ERTS took Out term life insurance p
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imagery alone amounted to more than
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“I’m not buying that image,”
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From the main data room, Karen Ross
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going to scream—sending an untrie
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“Oh, yes . . .“ The voice remai
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This seemed so self-evident that fo
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Peter Elliot’s difficulties began
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4. The dreams are the first sign of
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their search for clues, although wh
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PETER ELLIOT REMEMBERED JUNE 14, 19
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Over the years, scientists had evol
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“Does she understand the experime
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covered with Amy’s finger paintin
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known about the Congo. The ancient
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Africa was not thoroughly explored
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Apparently it never occurred to Ell
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“Hello, Amy,” Karen Ross said,
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Amy stopped shredding. In her world
Page 53 and 54: Houston to San Francisco that after
Page 55 and 56: “Expedition electronic expert,”
Page 57 and 58: Pearl predicted that fieldwork woul
Page 59 and 60: with computerized equipment, the ac
Page 61 and 62: The rain forests of the world had t
Page 63 and 64: “That’s ground truth,” Ross s
Page 65 and 66: “Just do it,” Elliot said.“Ca
Page 67 and 68: GOVERNMENT DISPATCHED GENERAL MUGUR
Page 69 and 70: Rogers nodded. “We’ve got a dil
Page 71 and 72: Water was heavy: seven-tenths of hu
Page 73 and 74: Apparently, Captain Munro found hum
Page 75 and 76: The song of the muezzin floated ove
Page 77 and 78: “Point of origin? In the middle o
Page 79 and 80: “Oh, no,” Munro said. “That w
Page 81 and 82: June 16,19791. TimelineIT WAS FARTH
Page 83 and 84: quantities specified: the contracto
Page 85 and 86: Even further, Rumbaugh anticipated
Page 87 and 88: 2. Piggyback SlurpTRAVIS FELT LIKE
Page 89 and 90: The screen printed out numbers for
Page 91 and 92: “It’s something new,” Seamans
Page 93 and 94: Apparently the aircraft made an uns
Page 95 and 96: “You’ve hurt her feelings,” E
Page 97 and 98: “Twenty-four hours!” Ross said,
Page 99 and 100: “Let me tell you something,” Ro
Page 101 and 102: “Oh,” Ross said.She crossed the
Page 103: The computer ran through possible e
Page 107 and 108: During the sixteen hours following
Page 109 and 110: “I’ll take care of Amy,” Munr
Page 111 and 112: At seven in the morning, they flew
Page 113 and 114: evolution, Elliot could see the foi
Page 115 and 116: But that was before the Zaire army
Page 117 and 118: “Amy will be fine,” Munro said
Page 119 and 120: For an instant he thought he had hi
Page 121 and 122: It was like being in the middle of
Page 123 and 124: Munro squinted at the departing cra
Page 125 and 126: natives often come aboard with tusk
Page 127 and 128: “expunge the embarrassment” of
Page 129 and 130: produced a small silver unit, the s
Page 131 and 132: Their original plan had called for
Page 133 and 134: He had also expected the jungle to
Page 135 and 136: Amy never strayed far from the grou
Page 137 and 138: “Yes, we are real brothers. But w
Page 139 and 140: “He says a white man is dead in t
Page 141 and 142: centuries before. More than four th
Page 143 and 144: Two HOURS LATER, THEY WERE REUNITED
Page 145 and 146: Ragora Gorge, a limestone cut two h
Page 147 and 148: this three or four times in all the
Page 149 and 150: mosquitoes in the midst of the roar
Page 151 and 152: allowed river fish and other creatu
Page 153 and 154: And suddenly the front of the boat
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ELLIOT SHIVERED, ZIPPED HIS PARKA T
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the jungle. And if Ross’s calcula
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Because the western slopes of Muken
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COMPUTR HAS INSFSNT INFO IN AURL ME
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much noise as possible, to frighten
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“They didn’t get their damn sup
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“No,” Elliot agreed. He glanced
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Bad things.Obviously he would get n
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Amy was gone.4. WEIRDHE COULD NOT B
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With night goggles in place, the se
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announced that this must be a post
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favored elaborately decorated, colo
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Ross called Elliot away from his di
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The earlier transmitted conversatio
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1. ReturnTHE MORNING OF JUNE 22 WAS
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They found Malawi’s body just out
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organization of the human subject.
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Gorillas nice to Amy?With a smug lo
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He felt like crying.Peter good huma
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2. Missing ElementsELLIOT GOT ROSS
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each new buildings in the heart of
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“Ask her,” Munro said, glancing
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won’t know where the firing is co
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DAY 11: ZINJJune 23, 19791. Gorilla
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Certainly Peter Elliot would have d
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Elliot was not convinced, and neith
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“Because they’re not,” Elliot
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During the evening, Elliot transmit
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Amy agreed to lead them into the ju
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Elliot said to Munro, “What do yo
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occurred to me that the linguistic
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Finally Elliot sat up on one elbow,
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stood: she was treating him like he
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calcium spectral lines but also the
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No talk.“Amy understand thing tal
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He gave three of the remaining port
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COME .5459 .440GO .5378 .404SOUND C
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Would the message be clear? Would t
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they rushed into the compound, grun
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1. DiamondsIN THE MORNING A FINE LA
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Munro had firsthand experience with
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whatever minerals you were looking
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electronics. And in the 1980s, “s
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course of the conflict. If we decid
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At that moment, Ross emerged from t
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PROJECT VULCAN was secret but Munro
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computer slang fur “can not estim
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and the first flashes of lightning
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THEY HAD NO FOOD, NO WATER, AND VER
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Dark ash on wings and fuselage made
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It was then the Kigani attack ended
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On October 1, 1979, R. B. Travis fo
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MICHAEL CRICHTON

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