The Lost World - Michael Crichton [123]
Then the second tyrannosaur came up on the opposite side. The two animals began to circle the trailer, growling and snorting. Heavy footsteps shook the floor beneath them. They smelled the pungent predator odor. One of the tyrannosaurs brushed against the side of the trailer and they heard a scraping sound, scaly flesh on metal.
Malcolm felt sudden panic. It was the smell that did it, the smell that he suddenly remembered, from before. He began to sweat. He glanced over at Sarah, and saw that she was intent, watching the movements of the animals. “This isn’t hunting behavior,” she whispered.
“I don’t know,” Malcolm said. “Maybe it is. They aren’t lions, you know.”
One of the tyrannosaurs bellowed in the night, a frightening, ear-splitting sound.
“Not hunting,” she said. “They’re searching, Ian.”
A moment later, the second tyrannosaur bellowed in reply. Then the big head swung down, and peered in through the window in front of them. Malcolm ducked down, flattening himself on the trailer floor, and Sarah collapsed on top of him. Her shoe pressed on his ear.
“It’s going to be fine, Sarah.”
Outside, they heard the tyrannosaurs snorting and growling.
Malcolm whispered, “Would you mind moving?”
She edged to one side, and he eased up slowly, peering cautiously over the seat cushions. He had a glimpse of the big eye of the rex staring in at him. The eye swiveled in the socket. He saw the jaws open and close. The hot breath of the animal fogged the glass.
The tyrannosaur’s head swung away, moving back from the trailer, and for a moment Malcolm breathed more easily. But then the head swung back, and slammed with a heavy thud into the trailer, rocking it hard.
“Don’t worry, Sarah. The trailer’s very strong.”
She whispered, “I can’t tell you how relieved I am.”
From the opposite side, the other rex bellowed and struck the trailer with its snout. The suspension creaked with the impact.
The two tyrannosaurs now began an alternating, rhythmic pounding of the trailer from either side. Malcolm and Harding were thrown back and forth. Sarah tried to steady herself, but was knocked away at the next impact. The floor tilted crazily under each blow. Lab equipment flew off the tables. Glass shattered.
And then, abruptly, the pounding stopped. There was silence.
Grunting, Malcolm got up on one knee. He peered out the window, and saw the hindquarters of one of the tyrannosaurs, as it moved forward.
“What do we do?” he whispered.
The radio crackled. Thorne said, “Ian, are you there? Ian!”
“For God’s sake, turn that off,” Sarah whispered.
Malcolm reached for his belt, whispered, “We’re okay,” and clicked the radio off.
Sarah was crawling on her hands and knees forward through the trailer, into the biology lab. He followed her, and saw the big tyrannosaur peering in through the window, at the baby, strapped down. The tyrannosaur made a soft grunting sound.
Then it paused, looking in the window.
It grunted again.
“She wants her baby, Ian,” Sarah whispered.
“Well, God knows,” Malcolm said, “it’s all right with me.” They were huddled on the floor, trying to stay out of sight.
“How are we going to get it to her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe push it out the door?”
“I don’t want them to step on it,” Sarah said.
“Who cares?” Malcolm said.
The tyrannosaur at the window made a series of soft grunts, followed by a long, menacing growl. It was the big female.
“Sarah—”
But she was already standing up, facing the tyrannosaur. She immediately began to speak, her voice soft, soothing. “It’s okay. . . . It’s all right now. . . . The baby is fine. . . . I’m just going to loosen these straps here. . . . You can watch me. . . .”
The head outside the window was so huge it filled the entire glass frame. Sarah saw the powerful muscles of the neck ripple beneath the skin. The jaws moved slightly. Her hands trembled as she undid the straps.
“That’s right. . . . Your baby is fine. . . . See, it’s just