MICHAEL CRICHTON

the jungle. If Elliot drove his car past her favorite drive-in, she was quick to taphis shoulder and point out his error. What did she know of the jungle? It was asalien to her as it was to Elliot himself. And not only that— “We’d better makecamp,” Ross said, glancing at her watch. “She’ll come back—if she wants to.After all,” she said, “we didn’t leave her. She left us.”They had brought a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne but nobody was in amood to celebrate. Elliot was remorseful over the loss of Amy; the others werehorrified by what they had seen of the earlier camp; with night rapidly falling,there was much to do to setup the ERTS system known as WEIRD (WildernessEnvironmental Intruder Response Defenses).The exotic WEIRD technology recognized the fact that perimeter defenseswere traditional throughout the history of Congo exploration. More than a centurybefore, Stanley observed that “no camp is to be considered complete until it isfenced around by bush or trees.” In the years since there was little reason to alterthe essential nature of that instruction.But defensive technology had changed, and the WEIRD system incorporatedall the latest innovations.Kahega and his men inflated the silvered Mylar tents, arranging them closetogether. Ross directed the placement of the tubular infrared night lights ontelescoping tripods. These were positioned shining outward around the camp.Next the perimeter fence was installed. This was a lightweight metalloid mesh,more like cloth than wire. Attached to stakes, it completely enclosed thecampsite, and when hooked to the transformer carried 10,000 volts of electricalcurrent. To reduce drain on the fuel cells, the current was pulsed at four cycles asecond, creating a throbbing, intermittent hum.Dinner on the night of June 20 was rice with rehydrated Creole shrimp sauce.The shrimps did not rehydrate well, remaining little cardboard-tasting chunks inthe mix, but nobody complained about this failure of twentieth-century technologyas they glanced around them at the deepening jungle darkness.Munro positioned the sentries. They would stand -four-hour watches; Munroannounced that he, Kahega, and Elliot would take the first watch.172