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第21节

michael crichton.congo-第21节

小说: michael crichton.congo 字数: 每页4000字

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e city as precisely as Ross did。
 Timelines had to be adjusted; unfavorably to the ERTS team。 And the updated puter projections were unequivocal…Ross or no Ross; the likelihood of the ERTS team reaching the site ahead of the Japanese and Germans was flow almost nil。
 From Travis's viewpoint; the entire ERTS expedition was mow a futile exercise; and a waste of time。 There was no hope of success。 The only unfactorable element was the gorilla Amy; and Travis's instincts told him that a gorilla named Amy would not prove decisive in the discovery of mineral deposits in the northeastern Congo。
 It was hopeless。
 Should he recall the ERTS team? He stared at the console by his desk。 〃Call cost…time;〃 he said。
 The puter blinked COST…TIME AVAILABLE。
 〃Congo Field Survey;〃 he said。
 The screen printed out numbers for the Congo Field Survey: expenditures by the hour; accumulated costs; mitted future costs; cutoff points; future branch…point deletions。 。 。 。 The project was now just outside Nairobi; and was running at an accumulated cost of slightly over
 189;000。
 Cancellation would cost 227;455。
 〃Factor BF;〃 he said。
 The screen changed。 B F。 He now saw a series of probabilities。 〃Factor BF〃 was bona fortuna; good luck…the imponderable in all expeditions; especially remote; dangerous expeditions。
 THINKING A MOMENT; the puter flashed。
 Travis waited。 He knew that the puter would require several seconds to perform the putations to assign weights to random factors that might influence the expedition; still five or more days from the target site。
 His beeper buzzed。 Rogers; the tap dancer; said; 〃We've traced the piggyback slurp。 It's in Norman; Oklahoma; nominally at the North Central Insurance Corporation of America。 NCIC is fifty…one percent owned by a Hawaiian holding pany; Halekuli; Inc。; which is in turn owned by mainland Japanese interests。 What do you want?〃
 〃I want a very bad fire;〃 Travis said。
 〃Got you;〃 Rogers said。 He hung up the phone。
 The screen flashed ASSESSED FACTOR B F and a probability: 。449。 He was surprised: that figure meant that ERTS had an almost even chance of attaining the target site befure the consortium。 Travis didn't question the mathematics; 。449 was good enough。
 The ERTS expedition would continue to the Congo; at least for the time being。 And in the meantime he would do whatever he could to slow down the consortium。 Off the top of his head; Travis could think of one or two ideas to acplish that。
 
 3。Additional Data
 
 THE JET WAS MOVING SOUTH OVER LAKE RUDOLPH in northern Kenya when Tom Seamans called Elliot。
 Seamails had finished his puter analysis to discriminate gorillas from other apes; principally chimpanzees。 He had then obtained from Houston a videotape of three seconds of a garbled video transmission which seemed to show a gorilla smashing a dish antenna and staring into a camera。
 〃Well?〃 Elliot said; looking at the puter screen。 The data flashed up:
 
 DISCRIMINANT FUNCTION GORILLA/CHIMP
 FUN CT IONAL GROUPINGS DISTRIBUTED AS:
 GORILLA: 。9934
 CHIMP: 。1132
 TEST VIDEOTAPE (HOUSTON): 。3349
 
 〃Hell;〃 Elliot said。 At those figures; the study was equivocal; useless。
 〃Sorry about that;〃 Seamans said over the phone。 〃But part of the trouble es from the test material itself。 We had to factor in the puter derivation of that image。 The image has been cleaned up; and that means it's been regularized; the critical stuff has been lost。 I'd like to work with the original digitized matrix。 Can you get me that?〃
 Karen Ross was nodding yes。 〃Sure;〃 Elliot said。
 〃I'll go another round with it;〃 Seamans said。 〃But if you want my gut opinion; it is never going to turn out。 The fact is that gorillas show a considerable individual variation in facial structure; just as people do。 If we increase our sample base; we're going to get more variation; and a larger population interval。 I think you're stuck。 You can never prove it's not a gorilla…but for my money; it's not。〃
 〃Meaning what?〃 Elliot asked。
 〃It's something new;〃 Seamans said。 〃I'm telling you; if this was really a gorilla; it would have showed up 。89 or 。94; somewhere in there; on this function。 But the image es out at 。39。 That's just not good enough。 It's not a gorilla; Peter。〃
 〃Then what is it?〃
 〃It's a transitional form。 I ran a function to measure where the variation was。 You know what was the major differential? Skin color。 Even in black…and…white; it's not dark enough to be a gorilla; Peter。 This is a whole new animal; I promise you。〃
 Elliot looked at Ross。 〃What does this do to your timeline?〃
 〃For the moment; nothing;〃 she said。 〃Other elements are more critical; and this is unfactorable。〃
 The pilot clicked on the inter。 〃We are beginning our descent into Nairobi;〃 he said。
 
 4。Nairobi
 
 FIVE MILES OUTSIDE NAIROBI; ONE CAN FIND WILD game of the East African savannah。 And within the memory of many Nairobi residents the game could be found closer still…gazelles; buffalo; and giraffe wandering around backyards; and the occasional leopard slipping into one's bedroom。 In those days; the city still retained the character of a wild colonial station; in its heyday; Nairobi was a fast…living place indeed: 〃Are you married or do you live in Kenya?〃 went the standard question。 The men were hard…drinking and rough; the women beautiful and loose; and the pattern of life no more predictable than the fox hunts that ranged over the rugged countryside each weekend。
 But modern Nairobi is almost' unrecognizable from the time of those freewheeling colonial days。 The few remaining Victorian buildings lie stranded in a modem city of half a million; with traffic jams; stoplights; skyscrapers; supermarkets; same…day dry cleaners; French restaurants; and air pollution。
 The ERTS cargo plane landed at Nairobi International Airport at dawn on the morning of June 16; and Munro contacted porters and assistants for the expedition。 They intended to leave Nairobi within two hours…until Travis called from Houston to inform them that Peterson; one of the geologists on the first Congo expedition; had somehow made it back to Nairobi。
 Ross was excited by the news。 〃Where is he now?〃 she asked。
 〃At the morgue;〃 Travis said。
 Elliot winced as he came close: the body on the stainless steel table was a blond man his own age。 The man's arms had been crushed; the skin was swollen; a ghastly purple color。 He glanced at Ross。 She seemed perfectly cool; not blinking or turning away。 The pathologist stepped on a foot petal; activating a microphone overhead。 〃Would you state your name; please。〃
 〃Karen Ellen Ross。〃
 〃Your nationality and passport number?〃
 〃American; F 1413649。〃
 〃Can you identify the man before you; Miss Ross?〃
 〃Yes;〃 she said。 〃He is James Robert Peterson。〃
 〃What is your relation to the deceased James Robert Peterson?〃
 〃I worked with him;〃 she said dully。 She seemed to be examining a geological specimen; scrutinizing it unemotionally。 Her face showed no reaction。
 The pathologist faced the microphone。 〃Identity confirmed as James Robert Peterson; male Caucasian; twenty…nine years old; nationality American。 〃 He turned back to Ross。 〃When was the last time you saw Mr。 Peterson?〃
 〃In May of this year。 He was leaving for the Congo。〃
 〃You have not seen him in the last month?〃
 〃No;〃 she said。 〃What happened?〃
 The pathologist touched the puffy purple injuries on his arms。 His fingertips sank in; leaving indentations like teeth in the flesh。 〃Damned strange story;〃 the pathologist said。
 The previous day; June 15; Peterson had been flown to Nairobi airport aboard a small charter cargo plane; in end…stage terminal shock。 He died several hours later without regaining consciousness。 〃Extraordinary he made it at all。 Apparently the aircraft made an unscheduled stop for a mechanical problem at Garona field; a dirt track in Zaire。 And then this fellow es stumbling out of the woods; collapsing at their feet。〃 The pathologist pointed out that the bones had been shattered in both arms。 The injuries; he explained; were not new; they had occurred at least four days earlier; perhaps more。 〃He must have been in incredible pain。〃
 Elliot said; 〃What could cause that injury?〃
 The pathologist had never seen anything like it。 〃Superficially; it resembles mechanical trauma; a crush injury from an automobile or truck。 We see a good deal of those here; but mechanical crush injuries are never bilateral; as they are in this case。〃
 〃So it wasn't a mechanical injury?〃 Karen Ross asked。
 〃Don't know what it was。 It's unique in my experience;〃 the pathologist said briskly。 〃We also found traces of blood under his nails; and a few strands of gray hair。 We're running a test now。〃
 Across the room; another pathologist looked up from his microscope。 〃The hair is definitely not human。 Cross section doesn't match。 Some kind of animal hair; close to human。〃
 〃The cross section?〃 Ross said。
 〃Best index we have of hair origin;〃 the pathologist said。 〃For instance; human pubic hair is more elliptical in cross section than other body hair; or facial hair。 It's quite characteristic…admissible in court。 But especially in this laboratory; we e across a great deal of

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