Chapter 6-Ray Arnold and Dennis Nedry
Hammond was still in a bit of awe of the baby Brachiosaur sitting in the lab, and it showed on his face when he got back up to his office. Regis had decided to pay a visit to see how Hammond was doing with the amount of work that needed to be done, and had arrived while Hammond was downstairs. Seeing John's face now, Regis was confused.
"Sir, are you okay?" he asked, getting Hammond a glass of water.
"Yes, yes I'm perfectly fine. We have our first animal Ed, it is resting downstairs. We are on our way I tell you, on our way. Now that animal production has been made a reality, the next bit we need to take care of is the computer systems. Where is that list of programmers you made for me?"
Regis opened up his folder and pulled out a sheet of paper with about ten names listed down the right column of the page with phone numbers across from the names.
It was a grueling process and one that Hammond took very little joy in. Pitching the idea and the logistics of the park was getting tiresome, and many of the programmers on the list were either already working on projects, or refused to relocate to San Diego and than to a tropical island to be the head programmer for this little business venture. Hammond's luck finally turned, however, when got down to Ray Arnold's name and number.
Arnold was well known throughout the United States as a brilliant programmer who specialized in designing security systems. He would fit in well with what Hammond had in mind for the systems of Jurassic Park, considering he wanted everything to run on automation, which security systems are renowned for running on.
The phone conversation was brief. Arnold had been out of work for a very long time, even with his name and reputation. The truth of it was that he was TOO good, and when his system was designed and integrated, it never needed maintenance nor did it have bugs in the coding. Arnold was easy to sell on the idea, especially when Hammond guaranteed to match and even increase his salary based on what the top programmers in the world were being paid. Even better was that Arnold, having no real commitments at the present time, agreed to pack his thing up that night and catch a flight to California in the morning, but Hammond did one better for him and explained that the company helicopter would pick him up at Newark airport in the morning. Free ride aside, Arnold agreed as Hammond was already showing commitment to his employees, something Arnold, and many other people in the business field found impressive.
It was a steamy morning in New York, the smog and pollution making the air thick and heavy. Suitcase packed with clothes and various software programs, Arnold stood at the airport, cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He had been waiting for about fifteen minutes, and was wondering where the helicopter was. Even though he didn't have anything better to do, he would have liked to get out of the sun. He finished the cigarette and stomped the butt out in the grass, and lifted his head as the faint sound of rotor blades could be heard. He looked up and ignoring the sun, saw a helicopter with two twin blue stripes running down the sides of it approach, and slowly descend. As soon as the pilot cut the power and the blades stopped spinning, Arnold ran over and jumped inside.
The pilot promptly got the chopper up into the air, and they set off for California. It was a long ride to be sure, and took about five hours before the helicopter touched down at the INGEN complex. Arnold had fallen asleep in the cab of the chopper, and awoke with a start as the whirring noise from the chopper was ceased and the pilot's door slammed shut. He slowly stepped out of the chopper, rubbing his eyes and made his way inside.
He greeted Hammond with a hearty hello and the two were off on a tour of the building which led into a brief introduction session about the company and the newest project. Arnold was surprised at the dinosaur theory and when he was shown the baby, he knew the magnitude of the project at hand.
"So" Hammond said as they sat down for dinner. "Any starting ideas for the system?" he asked, as a plate of baked ziti was placed in front of them.
"I want to form the system around a Unix system, a new and highly effective computer system." he said, digging into the pasta.
"However, I don't like the fact that every system runs off of one control point, it feels like there is too much dependence on automation."
Hammond waved off his concern, as they continued eating.
"Oh, and John, I need another programmer here, it is too much for me to do all by myself" he said, finishing his food and leaning back in the chair, lighting a cigarette.
"Do you have someone in mind?" Hammond asked quickly, knowing full well that the entire list of programmers save for Arnold were otherwise occupied.
"Actually, yes, I do," he answered, blowing out a puff of smoke.
"There is a talented computer designer by the name of Nedry; his first name is Dennis I believe. He works in Cambridge...if I can get him this will be a piece of cake."
"Do what you will, just make sure he understands that he needs to come now, we are
on schedule, but with a project like this, it is easy to fall behind," he said sternly.
Arnold nodded and excused himself from the table to make the phone call. Nedry was not as easy a sell as Arnold was, but in the end he agreed to join the project. Being relatively closer to California than Arnold was, Nedry was able to get a flight right away, only if INGEN paid for the ticket. Hammond resentfully agreed and Nedry arrived early the following morning.
Now that he had his two core computer engineers on staff, he had a few more positions left to fill, notably a Veterinarian for the park, and a Game Warden. He had ideas about who he could get for a Game Warden, but veterinary staff was going to be tricky, he could feel it already.