Jurassic Park Page #3

Grant SIGNS and sits up, stretching out his back.

GRANT:

I hate computers.

He shoves the claw absent-mindedly into his pocket and he and

Ellie walk toward the source of the voice. As they walk, we get our

first look at the badlands. Exposed outcroppings of crumbling

limestone stretch for miles in every direction, not a tree or a bush in

sight.

In the dig itself, the ground is checkered with excavations

everywhere. There's a base camp with five or six teepees, a flapping

mess tent, a few cards, a flatbed truck with wrapped fossils loaded on

it, and a mobile home. There are a dozen VOLUNTEERS of all ages at

work in various places around the dig. The Volunteers are from all

walks of life, dinosaur buffs. Three or four of them have CHILDREN

with them, and the kids run around, like in a giant sandbox.

Grant , Ellie and a Volunteer walk down the hill. Grant spots a

KID kicking dirt onto one of the digs. He notices and frowns.

GRANT:

What's that kid doing?

(to the kid)

What are you doing there!? Excuse me! Can you just back

off? This is very fragile! Are you out of your mind?

Get off that and go find your parents!

(to Ellie)

Did you see what he just did?

The kid stomps away, pissed off.

KID:

A**hole.

GRANT:

(to Ellie)

Why do they have to bring their kids?!

ELLIE:

You could hire your help. But there's four summers of

work here, with the money for one. And you say it's a

learning experience, sort of a vacation, and you get

volunteers with kids.

He and Ellie arrive to where several VOLUNTEERS are clustered

around a computer terminal that's set up on a table in a small tent,

its flaps lashed open.

GRANT:

(to the Volunteer)

Ready to give it a shot, Jerry?

A LITTLE GIRL moves a little too close to the machine.

ELLIE:

Want to watch the computer?

Ellie quietly moves her out of Grant's way, to a place she can

see.

VOLUNTEER:

Thumper ready?

MAN:

Ready.

VOLUNTEER:

Fire.

The VOLUNTEER throws a switch on a machine that looks a bit like

a floor buffer. The whole thing hops up into the air as it drives a

soft lead pellet into the earth with a tremendous force. There is a

dull THUD, the earth seems to vibrate, and all eyes turn to the

computer screen - -

ELLIE:

How long does this usually take?

VOLUNTEER:

It should be immediate return. You shoot the radar into

the ground, the bone bounces back....

The screen suddenly comes alive, yellow contour lines tracing

across it in three waves, detailing a dinosaur skeleton.

VOLUNTEER:

This new program's incredible! A few more years of

development and you don't have to dig any more!

Grant looks at him, and his expression is positively wounded.

GRANT:

Well, where's the fun in that?

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