THE LOST WORLD Essays - The Lost World, Jurassic Park, Sarah Harding

THE LOST WORLD by Michael Crichton This story takes place six years after the Jurassic Park disaster. The book starts out with Ian Malcom giving a speach on his theory of extinction at a place called the Santa Fe Institute. As he's talking, a tall man stands up. His name is Richard Levine. He's a paleontologist, and he is fairly wealthy. He interrupts Ian to tell him that he doesn't think dinosaurs are really extinct. He believes there's a lost world on an island somewhere off Costa Rica. "I'm quite serious. What if the dinosaurs did not become extinct? What if they still exist? Somewhere in an isolated spot on the planet?" (5) Ian tells him this is nonsense, and continues on explaining his theory. Outside of the Santa Fe Institute, Ian meets up with his long time friend, Sarah Harding, a well-known biologist who studies large predators in Africa. They discuss what Levine said, and they come to the mutual conclusion that Levine probably doesn't know what he's talking about. Meanwhile, Levine is secretly preparing equipment for a jungle expedition. He enlists the help of a man called Doc Thorne, who was a college engineering professor, but now designs souped-up vehicles for expeditions and searches. He also enlists Doc Thorne's best mechanic, Eddie Carr. Levine has Doc Thorne and Eddie rig a Ford Explorer and a motorcycle to run on batteries. He also has them build reinforced trailers to house biological labs. Levine inspects the equipment and sees that it is satisfactory and almost ready to go. He suggests that instead of testing the prototype vehicles first, they take them directly to Costa Rica to start the expedition. Thorne doesn't like the idea, but because Levine is so enthusiastic, he agrees. Levine sets to leave at midnight from San Francisco, and the expedition is to join him in Costa Rica about forty-eight hours later. As they're finalizing their plans for the trip, a black kid, Arby Benton, about ten years old, wearing glasses and a suit, and a taller white girl named Kelly Curtis walk in and catch wind of the plan and immediately want to go. They had been expecting to go on another small expedition with Levine over their spring break to study fossils having already had permission from their parents. Since they already had permission to be away from home, they decided it wouldn't hurt to go a little farther. Levine, Thorne and Eddie immediately say, "No," thinking that the risk would be too high. Levine leaves later that night for Costa Rica. Back at the Santa Fe Institute, Malcom says goodbye to Sarah, because she is going back to Africa to continue her study of hyenas. As Malcom watches her leave, he decides to go visit his friend Doc Thorne in a day or two. Levine reaches Costa Rica the next day and charters a fishing boat to bring him to Isla Sorna, one of five islands in a chain known as the "Five Deaths." Satellite evidence indicates to Levine that a volcanic island in this area may be home to nests of living dinosaurs. Before Levine leaves for the island, he hires a local guide, named Diego, who visited the island frequently as a child and claims to have knowledge of the island's trails and primitive roads. They set out for Sorna and reach it two hours later. Levine and Diego are forced to climb steep cliffs to reach the plateau at the top of the island. As they reach the top, Diego looks around and confidently tells Levine to follow him. Diego leads the way to a stream where Levine stoops down to take a drink. In the undergrowth around him, he notices several small, chicken-sized dinosaurs. He recognizes them as procompsagnathuses. Diego also notices them and reaches out his hand to pet them. Levine warns him that even though these dinosaurs are small, it's possible that they could have a venomous bite. Diego quickly pulls his hand back just as one of the dinosaurs jumps at him and tries to bite him. Suddenly, the little dinosaurs begin to chirp and become skittish. They quickly scatter into the underbrush and disappear. Levine looks around worriedly for a some sign of what has frightened the diminuative dinosaurs. As he glances around, he can tell something is wrong, but he can't put his finger on what it is. Suddenly, Diego is jerked from his feet and dragged screaming