"For a change," Malcolm said, sighing. It was so difficult working with Levine; he was so erratic, you never knew what to expect. Malcolm had been the one to post bail when Levine was arrested in his Ferrari. He riffled through the faxes: conference dates, requests for reprints…nothing interesting. "Okay. Thanks, Beverly."
"Oh. And the photographers came. They finished about an hour ago.
"What photographers?" he said.
"From Chaos Quarterly. To photograph your office."
"What are you talking about?" Malcolm said.
"They came to photograph your office," she said. "For a series about workplaces of famous mathematicians. They had a letter from you, saying it was - "
"I never sent any letter," Malcolm said. "And I've never heard of Chaos Quarterly."
He went into his office and looked around. Beverly hurried in after him, her face worried.
"Is it okay? Is everything here?"
"Yes," he said, scanning quickly. "It seems to be fine." He was opening the drawers to his desk, one after another. Nothing appeared to be missing.
"That's a relief," Beverly said, "because - "
He turned, and looked at the far side of the room.
The map.
Malcolm had a large map of the world, with pins stuck in it for all the sightings of what Levine kept calling "aberrant forms." By the most liberal count - Levine's count - there had now been twelve in all, from Rangiroa in the west, to Baia California and Ecuador in the cast. Few of them were verified. But now there was a tissue sample that confirmed one specimen, and that made all the rest more likely.
"Did they photograph this map?"
"Yes, they photographed everything. Does it matter? "
Malcolm looked at the map, trying to see it with fresh eyes. To see what an outsider would make of it. He and Levine had spent hours in front of this map, considering the possibility of a "lost world," trying to decide where it might be. They had narrowed it down to five islands in a chain, off the coast of Costa Rica. Levine was convinced that it was one of those islands, and Malcolm was beginning to think he was right. But those islands weren't highlighted on the map…
Beverly said, "They were a very nice group. Very polite. Foreign - Swiss, I think."
Malcolm nodded, and sighed. The hell with it, be thought. It was bound to get out sooner or later.
"It's all right, Beverly."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's fine. Have a good evening."
"Good night, Dr. Malcolm."
Alone in his office, he dialed Levine. The phone rang, and then the answering machine beeped. Levine was still not home.
"Richard, are you there? If you are, pick up, it's important." He waited, nothing happened.
"Richard, it's Ian. Listen, we have a problem. The map is no longer secure. And I've had that sample analyzed, Richard, and I think it tells us the location of Site B, if my - "
There was a click as the phone lifted. He heard the sound of breathing.
"Richard?" he said.
"No," said the voice, "this is Thorne. And I think you better get over here right away."
The Five Deaths
"I knew it," Malcolm said, coming into Levine's apartment, and glancing quickly around. "I knew he would do something like this. You know how impetuous he is. I said to him, don't go until we have all the information. But I should have known. Of course, he went."
"Yes, he did."
"Ego," Malcolm said, shaking his head. "Richard has to be first. Has to figure it out first, has to get there first. I'm very concerned, he could ruin everything. This impulsive behavior: you realize it's a storm in the brain, neurons on the edge of chaos. Obsession is just a variety of addiction. But what scientist ever had self-control? They instruct them in schooclass="underline" it's bad form to be balanced. They forget Neils Bohr was not only a great physicist but an Olympic athlete. These days they all try to be nerds. It's the professional style."
Thorne looked at Malcolm thoughtfully. He thought he detected a competitive edge. He said, "Do you know which island he went to?"
"No. I do not." Malcolm was stalking around the apartment, taking things in. "The last time we talked, we had narrowed it down to five islands, all in the south. But we hadn't decided which one."
Thorne pointed to the wallboard, the satellite images. "These islands here?"
"Yes," Malcolm said, looking briefly. "They're strung out in an arc, all about ten miles offshore from the bay of Puerto Cortes. Supposedly they're all uninhabited. Local people call them the Five Deaths."
"Why?" Kelly said.
"Some old Indian story," Malcolm said. "Something about a brave warrior captured by a king who offered him his choice of deaths. Burning, drowning, crushing, hanging, decapitation. The warrior said he would take them all, and he went from island to island, experiencing the various challenges. Sort of a New World version of the labors of Hercules - "
"So that's what it is!" Kelly said, and ran out of the room.
Malcolm looked blank.
He turned to Thorne, who shrugged.
Kelly returned, carrying the German children's book in her hand. She gave it to Malcolm.
"Yes," he said. "Die Funf Todesarten. The Five Ways of Death. Interesting that it is in German…"
"He has lots of German books," Kelly said.
"Does he? That bastard. He never told me."
"That means something?" Kelly said.
"Yes, it means a lot. Hand me that magnifying glass, would you?"
Kelly gave him a magnifying glass from the desk. "What does it mean?"
"The Five Deaths are ancient volcanic islands," he said. "Which means that they are geologically very rich. Back in the twenties, the Germans wanted to mine them." He peered at the images, squinting. "Ah. Yes, these are the islands, no question. Matanceros, Muerte, Tacano, Sorna, Pena…All names of death and destruction…All right. I think we may be close. Do we have any satellite pictures with spectrographic analyses of the cloud cover?"
Arby said, "Is that going to help you find Site B?"
"What?" Malcolm spun around. "What do you know about Site B?"
Arby was sitting at the computer, still working. "Nothing. Just that Dr. Levine was looking for Site B. And it was the name in the files."
"What files?"
"I've recovered some InGen files from this computer. And, searching through old records, I found references to Site B…But they're pretty confusing. Like this one." He leaned back, to let Malcolm look at the screen.
Summary: Plan Revisions #35
PRODUCTION (SITE B)____________________
AIR HANDLERS Grade 5 to Grade 7
LABSTRUCTURE 400 cmm to 510 cmm
BIO SECURITY Level PK/3 to Level PK/5
CONVEYOR RATES 3 mpm to 2.5 mpm
HOLDING PENS 13 hectares to 26 hectares
STAFF 17 (4 admin) to 19 (4 admin)
COMM PROTOCOL ET(VX) to RDT (VX)
Malcolm frowned. "Curious, but not very helpful. It doesn't tell us which island - or even if it's on an island at all. What else have you got?"
"Well…" Arby flicked keys. "Let's see. There's this."
SITE B ISLAND NETWORK NODAL POINTS
ZONE I (RIVER) 1-8
ZONE 2 (COAST) 9-16
ZONE 3 (RIDGE) 17-24
ZONE 4 (VALLEY) 25-32
Malcolm said, "Okay, so it's an island. And Site B has a network- but a network of what? Computers?"
Arby said, "I don't know. Maybe a radio network."
"For what purpose?" Malcolm said. "What would a radio network be used for? This isn't very helpful."
Arby shrugged. He took it as a challenge. He began typing furiously again. Then said, "Wait!…Here's another one…if I can just format it…There! Got it!"
He moved away from the screen, so the others could see.
Malcolm looked and said, "Very good. Very good!"
SITE B LEGENDS
EAST WING WEST WING LOADING BAY
LABORATORY ASSEMBLY BAY ENTRANCE
OUTLYING MAIN CORE GEO TURBINE