MICHAEL CRICHTON

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“Oh, no question,” Munro said, “but there isn’t much natural world left.”Elliot was reluctant to agree with Munro, but. in fact a well-known academicthesis argued just that. In 1955, the French anthropologist Maurice Cavallepublished a controversial paper entitled “The Death of Nature.” In it he said:One million years ago the earth was characterized by a pervasive wildernesswhich we may call “nature.” In the midst of this wild nature stood small enclavesof human habitation. Whether caves with artificial fire to keep men warm, or latercities with dwellings and artificial fields of cultivation, these enclaves weredistinctly unnatural. In the succeeding millennia, the area of untouched naturesurrounding artificial human enclaves progressively declined, although forcenturies the trend remained invisible.Even 300 years ago in France or England, the great cities of man wereisolated by hectares of wilderness in which untamed beasts roamed, as they hadfor thousands of years before. And yet the expansion of man continuedinexorably.One hundred years ago, in the last days of the great European explorers,nature had so radically diminished that it was a novelty: it is for this reason thatAfrican explorations captured the imagination of nineteenth-century man. lb entera truly natural world was exotic, beyond the experience of most mankind, wholived from birth to death in entirely man-made circumstances.In the twentieth century the balance has shifted so far that for all practicalpurposes one may say that nature has disappeared. Wild plants are preserved inhothouses, wild animals in zoos and game parks: artificial settings created byman as a souvenir of the once-prevalent natural world. But an animal in a zoo ora game park does not live its natural life, any more than a man in a city lives anatural life.Today we are surrounded by man and his creations. Man is inescapable,everywhere on the globe, and nature is a fantasy, a dream of the past, longgone.178
Ross called Elliot away from his dinner. “It’s for you,” she said, pointing to thecomputer next to the antenna. “That friend of yours again.”Munro grinned, “Even in the jungle, the phone never stops ringing.”Elliot went over to look at the screen: COMPUTR LNGWAGE ANALYSS NGREQUIR MOR INPUT KN PROVIDE?WHT INPUT? Elliot typed back.NOR AURL INPUT-TRNSMIT RECORDNGS.Elliot typed back, Yes lf Occurs. YES IF OCRS.RCORD FREQNCY 22—50,000 CYCLS—CRITICLElliot typed back, Understood. UNDRSTOD.There was a pause, then the screen printed: HOWS AMY?Elliot hesitated. FINE.STAF SNOS LOV came the reply, and the transmission was momentarilyinterrupted.HOLD TRSNMSN.There was a long pause.INCREDIBL NWZ, Seamans printed. HAV FOUND MRS SWENSN2. Swensn NWZFOR A MOMENT ELLIOT DID NOT RECOGNIZE THE name. Swensn?Who was Swensn? A transmission error? And then he realized: Mrs. Swenson!Amy’s discoverer, the woman who had brought her from Africa and had donated179
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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
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Houston to San Francisco that after
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“Expedition electronic expert,”
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Pearl predicted that fieldwork woul
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with computerized equipment, the ac
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The rain forests of the world had t
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“That’s ground truth,” Ross s
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“Just do it,” Elliot said.“Ca
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GOVERNMENT DISPATCHED GENERAL MUGUR
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Rogers nodded. “We’ve got a dil
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Water was heavy: seven-tenths of hu
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Apparently, Captain Munro found hum
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The song of the muezzin floated ove
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“Point of origin? In the middle o
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“Oh, no,” Munro said. “That w
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June 16,19791. TimelineIT WAS FARTH
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quantities specified: the contracto
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Even further, Rumbaugh anticipated
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2. Piggyback SlurpTRAVIS FELT LIKE
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The screen printed out numbers for
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“It’s something new,” Seamans
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Apparently the aircraft made an uns
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“You’ve hurt her feelings,” E
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“Twenty-four hours!” Ross said,
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“Let me tell you something,” Ro
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“Oh,” Ross said.She crossed the
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The computer ran through possible e
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were in constant motion as men tran
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During the sixteen hours following
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“I’ll take care of Amy,” Munr
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At seven in the morning, they flew
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evolution, Elliot could see the foi
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But that was before the Zaire army
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“Amy will be fine,” Munro said
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For an instant he thought he had hi
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It was like being in the middle of
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Munro squinted at the departing cra
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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
Page 155 and 156: ELLIOT SHIVERED, ZIPPED HIS PARKA T
Page 157 and 158: the jungle. And if Ross’s calcula
Page 159 and 160: Because the western slopes of Muken
Page 161 and 162: COMPUTR HAS INSFSNT INFO IN AURL ME
Page 163 and 164: much noise as possible, to frighten
Page 165 and 166: “They didn’t get their damn sup
Page 167 and 168: “No,” Elliot agreed. He glanced
Page 169 and 170: Bad things.Obviously he would get n
Page 171 and 172: Amy was gone.4. WEIRDHE COULD NOT B
Page 173 and 174: With night goggles in place, the se
Page 175 and 176: announced that this must be a post
Page 177: favored elaborately decorated, colo
Page 181 and 182: The earlier transmitted conversatio
Page 183 and 184: 1. ReturnTHE MORNING OF JUNE 22 WAS
Page 185 and 186: They found Malawi’s body just out
Page 187 and 188: organization of the human subject.
Page 189 and 190: Gorillas nice to Amy?With a smug lo
Page 191 and 192: He felt like crying.Peter good huma
Page 193 and 194: 2. Missing ElementsELLIOT GOT ROSS
Page 195 and 196: each new buildings in the heart of
Page 197 and 198: “Ask her,” Munro said, glancing
Page 199 and 200: won’t know where the firing is co
Page 201 and 202: DAY 11: ZINJJune 23, 19791. Gorilla
Page 203 and 204: Certainly Peter Elliot would have d
Page 205 and 206: Elliot was not convinced, and neith
Page 207 and 208: “Because they’re not,” Elliot
Page 209 and 210: During the evening, Elliot transmit
Page 211 and 212: Amy agreed to lead them into the ju
Page 213 and 214: Elliot said to Munro, “What do yo
Page 215 and 216: occurred to me that the linguistic
Page 217 and 218: Finally Elliot sat up on one elbow,
Page 219 and 220: stood: she was treating him like he
Page 221 and 222: calcium spectral lines but also the
Page 223 and 224: No talk.“Amy understand thing tal
Page 225 and 226: He gave three of the remaining port
Page 227 and 228: 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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