18. DINOSAUR ROUNDUP
Based from early scripting for the movie The Lost World: Jurassic Park by
Michael Crichton
Wednesday, July 13, 1999 Isla Sorna, Valley
A flare was thrown up into the air by one of the hunters. When the brilliant flare cleared, the engines roared, wheels spun and dug in the dirt, men shouted and radios squawked as the hunter vehicles pursued the fleeing herd they'd flushed. The hunters shouted with glee, incredulous and thrilled by the spectacular animals they were pursuing.
One of the snaggers pulled ahead of the others. Darris Sumner stood in the passenger seat, holding a long pole with a noose dangling from the end of it. He swung the pole out over the side of the jeep and shouted to his driver, "Faster!"
Miguel Sanchez hit the gas and the snagger leaped forward, gaining on the herd. Aware of the danger behind them, the animals veered to the right, toward the cover of thick jungle, but the motorcycle roared in from the right side, cutting them off, herding them back out into the open.
In the container truck, Jeff Rossiter stood in a conning tower, a command post in the heaviest pursuit vehicle. He barked into a walkie- talkie. "Alive, Darris, and uninjured!"
In the snagger, Miguel could barely keep up with the twists and feints thrown by the herd ahead of him. Darris cursed and threw the lasso pole into the back of the vehicle. Rossiter's voice continued over the radio in Darris snagger. "Those are very expensive animals! Can you hear me?"
"Turn that off," Darris yelled at Miguel.
Miguel snapped the radio off as Darris grabbed a long-barreled rifle from the back of the vehicle. The motorcycle at the front of the herding group gunned it, forcing the herd back into the middle of the plain. From the trees to the left, two heads on enormous necks rose up in alarm. Two Apatosaurs were startled from the bush and lumbered out across the middle of the plain. The herd didn't even break stride, but kept running, scampering after the giants and stampeding right between their massive legs. One smaller pachycephalosaur bolted loose, but the motorcycle cut it off and herded it back into the middle, which now took the motorcycle right through the rising and falling legs of the Apatosaurs. The bike chased the pachy out the other side, and as the Apatosaurs disappeared into the distance, the cycle isolated the juvenile.
A scissor rig spotted the isolated animal. High in the back of the truck, a hunter manned a tranquilizer cannon, drawing a bead on the pachy as the cycle ran it down. He fired and the tranquilizer dart and it hit the animal in the neck. Its pace slowed and another hunter from the truck tossed a lasso around its neck. They cranked a winch, reeling in the animal. As the truck gained on it, two six-foot padded arms with what looked like heavy airbags on the insides opened up on the front of the truck. As the animal was pulled in, the scissors closed with a hydraulic whir, trapping the animal between its airbags. Then a pick-up rig roared up and dropped its back gate. The scissor rig rolled forward, depositing the squirming pachy in this dino-contaiment vehicle. Two hunters threw levers on the side of the scissor bars and the scissor rig backed away, leaving the animal, still pinched between the bars, imprisoned in the back of the pick-up rig.
The Hunters quickly fitted new scissor bars onto the scissor rig and it took off, back into the hunt. Darris Sumner had his rifle in hand dropping down into the passenger seat, and he whipped a harness over himself and clicked it into place. He jabbed his thumb into a flashing red button in the dashboard. Immediately, a motor underneath the seat hummed to life and the seat itself telescoped, extending a good four feet out as Darris raised his gun, picked a Parasaurolophus, a red-crested herbivore, from the rear of the fleeting herd, and took aim and fired the gun. The Parasaur staggered as a tranquilizer dart stuck in its left hindquarter. The snagger shuddered to a halt in the dirt, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. The motorcycle spun to a stop beside it. Darris pushed his mask up to reveal his sweat and dirt-streaked face. The wrangler truck backed up and dropped its rear door, which clanged heavily to the ground.
Four hunters carrying wire noose poles and chains raced down the ramp and out of the truck. Darris jumped off the snagger. He put down his tranquilizer gun, picked up a long steel rod, and walked forward slowly. Ahead of him, the Parasaur was still on its feet. The sedated animal staggered, fighting to retain its balance while the wary hunters surrounded it.
"Easy," Darris yelled. "Easy, not too close! Full extension!"
The hunters adjusted their poles, extending them another three feet, which allowed them to stay further from the reeling, ten-foot tall animal.
"Now," Darris yelled. Almost as one, the hunters flipped their nose over the stunned animal's neck. It thrashed, but the hunters held their poles tightly, surrounding and immobilizing it. A bolero-type device a rope with a round weight at either end whipped around the Parasaur's legs. The animal thudded to the dirt with a snort of defeat. Rossiter and James stepped up next to Darris and the three stared down at the helpless animal. James breathed heavily, eyes glowing.
The animal was still thrashing, pumping its legs crazily. Darris turned a knob on the side of the steel rod he was holding and thrusted it into the defenseless animal's neck. A blue arc of electricity cracked and danced over the Parasaur's body. The animal convulsed in pain, a horrible, high-pitched squealing ripped the air.
Evan Baker, their Paleontologist, hurried forward with a syringe. He drew a certain amount of tranquilizer from a bottle and injected it into the animal's thigh.
Miguel stepped up with a can of spray paint and quickly tagged the animal with an ID number in day-glow orange. Darris pulled the card with an icon of a Parasaur from the dashboard of the jeep and marked a black X over the drawing of the animal.
"Next case," Darris smiled as he looked at his employers.
"Hey guys," Evan said. "You might want to see this."
Rossiter, James, and Darris walked over to where Evan and Miguel were. They looked down at the Parasaur that had just been captured. Evan had just taken some blood from the Parasaur and was holding it up toward the sun.
"What is it Dr. Baker," Rossiter asked.
"I'm no doctor of medicine," Evan began, "but I can tell when blood doesn't look right. There is something wrong with this animal, and there's probably something wrong with the rest of them as well."
"What do you the problem is," Rossiter asked, basically rephrasing his first question, and getting very annoyed.
"I'm not quite sure sir," Evan replied. "The blood looks way too thin to be healthy. I can even see in the sunlight that there's some kind of weird substance in it. I think there may be some kind of epidemic. Whatever it is though, I'm not sure. I'll have to research it."
"Do whatever you need to do," Rossiter said. "Just make sure that the mistake is corrected before we leave this island. I don't want to be taking sick dinosaurs back to the park in San Diego."
Michael Crichton
Wednesday, July 13, 1999 Isla Sorna, Valley
A flare was thrown up into the air by one of the hunters. When the brilliant flare cleared, the engines roared, wheels spun and dug in the dirt, men shouted and radios squawked as the hunter vehicles pursued the fleeing herd they'd flushed. The hunters shouted with glee, incredulous and thrilled by the spectacular animals they were pursuing.
One of the snaggers pulled ahead of the others. Darris Sumner stood in the passenger seat, holding a long pole with a noose dangling from the end of it. He swung the pole out over the side of the jeep and shouted to his driver, "Faster!"
Miguel Sanchez hit the gas and the snagger leaped forward, gaining on the herd. Aware of the danger behind them, the animals veered to the right, toward the cover of thick jungle, but the motorcycle roared in from the right side, cutting them off, herding them back out into the open.
In the container truck, Jeff Rossiter stood in a conning tower, a command post in the heaviest pursuit vehicle. He barked into a walkie- talkie. "Alive, Darris, and uninjured!"
In the snagger, Miguel could barely keep up with the twists and feints thrown by the herd ahead of him. Darris cursed and threw the lasso pole into the back of the vehicle. Rossiter's voice continued over the radio in Darris snagger. "Those are very expensive animals! Can you hear me?"
"Turn that off," Darris yelled at Miguel.
Miguel snapped the radio off as Darris grabbed a long-barreled rifle from the back of the vehicle. The motorcycle at the front of the herding group gunned it, forcing the herd back into the middle of the plain. From the trees to the left, two heads on enormous necks rose up in alarm. Two Apatosaurs were startled from the bush and lumbered out across the middle of the plain. The herd didn't even break stride, but kept running, scampering after the giants and stampeding right between their massive legs. One smaller pachycephalosaur bolted loose, but the motorcycle cut it off and herded it back into the middle, which now took the motorcycle right through the rising and falling legs of the Apatosaurs. The bike chased the pachy out the other side, and as the Apatosaurs disappeared into the distance, the cycle isolated the juvenile.
A scissor rig spotted the isolated animal. High in the back of the truck, a hunter manned a tranquilizer cannon, drawing a bead on the pachy as the cycle ran it down. He fired and the tranquilizer dart and it hit the animal in the neck. Its pace slowed and another hunter from the truck tossed a lasso around its neck. They cranked a winch, reeling in the animal. As the truck gained on it, two six-foot padded arms with what looked like heavy airbags on the insides opened up on the front of the truck. As the animal was pulled in, the scissors closed with a hydraulic whir, trapping the animal between its airbags. Then a pick-up rig roared up and dropped its back gate. The scissor rig rolled forward, depositing the squirming pachy in this dino-contaiment vehicle. Two hunters threw levers on the side of the scissor bars and the scissor rig backed away, leaving the animal, still pinched between the bars, imprisoned in the back of the pick-up rig.
The Hunters quickly fitted new scissor bars onto the scissor rig and it took off, back into the hunt. Darris Sumner had his rifle in hand dropping down into the passenger seat, and he whipped a harness over himself and clicked it into place. He jabbed his thumb into a flashing red button in the dashboard. Immediately, a motor underneath the seat hummed to life and the seat itself telescoped, extending a good four feet out as Darris raised his gun, picked a Parasaurolophus, a red-crested herbivore, from the rear of the fleeting herd, and took aim and fired the gun. The Parasaur staggered as a tranquilizer dart stuck in its left hindquarter. The snagger shuddered to a halt in the dirt, kicking up a huge cloud of dust. The motorcycle spun to a stop beside it. Darris pushed his mask up to reveal his sweat and dirt-streaked face. The wrangler truck backed up and dropped its rear door, which clanged heavily to the ground.
Four hunters carrying wire noose poles and chains raced down the ramp and out of the truck. Darris jumped off the snagger. He put down his tranquilizer gun, picked up a long steel rod, and walked forward slowly. Ahead of him, the Parasaur was still on its feet. The sedated animal staggered, fighting to retain its balance while the wary hunters surrounded it.
"Easy," Darris yelled. "Easy, not too close! Full extension!"
The hunters adjusted their poles, extending them another three feet, which allowed them to stay further from the reeling, ten-foot tall animal.
"Now," Darris yelled. Almost as one, the hunters flipped their nose over the stunned animal's neck. It thrashed, but the hunters held their poles tightly, surrounding and immobilizing it. A bolero-type device a rope with a round weight at either end whipped around the Parasaur's legs. The animal thudded to the dirt with a snort of defeat. Rossiter and James stepped up next to Darris and the three stared down at the helpless animal. James breathed heavily, eyes glowing.
The animal was still thrashing, pumping its legs crazily. Darris turned a knob on the side of the steel rod he was holding and thrusted it into the defenseless animal's neck. A blue arc of electricity cracked and danced over the Parasaur's body. The animal convulsed in pain, a horrible, high-pitched squealing ripped the air.
Evan Baker, their Paleontologist, hurried forward with a syringe. He drew a certain amount of tranquilizer from a bottle and injected it into the animal's thigh.
Miguel stepped up with a can of spray paint and quickly tagged the animal with an ID number in day-glow orange. Darris pulled the card with an icon of a Parasaur from the dashboard of the jeep and marked a black X over the drawing of the animal.
"Next case," Darris smiled as he looked at his employers.
"Hey guys," Evan said. "You might want to see this."
Rossiter, James, and Darris walked over to where Evan and Miguel were. They looked down at the Parasaur that had just been captured. Evan had just taken some blood from the Parasaur and was holding it up toward the sun.
"What is it Dr. Baker," Rossiter asked.
"I'm no doctor of medicine," Evan began, "but I can tell when blood doesn't look right. There is something wrong with this animal, and there's probably something wrong with the rest of them as well."
"What do you the problem is," Rossiter asked, basically rephrasing his first question, and getting very annoyed.
"I'm not quite sure sir," Evan replied. "The blood looks way too thin to be healthy. I can even see in the sunlight that there's some kind of weird substance in it. I think there may be some kind of epidemic. Whatever it is though, I'm not sure. I'll have to research it."
"Do whatever you need to do," Rossiter said. "Just make sure that the mistake is corrected before we leave this island. I don't want to be taking sick dinosaurs back to the park in San Diego."