A Sound of Thunder Page #2

A DNA strand of some kind.

- Can you tell what kind?

- No, I got a D in Biology.

His ancestor.

When I was a little boy,

my grandfather used to tell me stories

about actually seeing

real animals in the wild.

Imagine seeing him run free.

The last wild animal born

out of captivity was a crocodile.

She died 38 years ago.

Then the poachers started

hitting the zoos and the virus

took care of the rest.

Millions of years of evolution,

and we kill them off

in a few thousand...

and screw up their DNA.

We can't even clone them.

- He was beautiful.

- That's why I do this job.

When we go on a hunt we obviously

can't take physical samples,

but I've created a way

to take remote DNA readings.

I can only do it in bits,

but the bits add up.

One day, I'll reconstruct

the DNA from animals

that lived long before the virus.

I can bring them back.

Saving animals by killing them,

that makes sense.

The animals we hunt have to be

in the last seconds of their life

so we don't upset

the course of history.

That allosaurus is shot cleanly,

seconds before

he gets bogged down in a swamp

5 minutes before

a volcano erupts and fries him

in hot lava.

I wish people would pay

for a photo safari

instead of a hunting safari.

But they don't.

There's no other way.

So you bring rich tourists back

to the past o jeopardize the future.

I appreciate

what you're trying to accomplish.

But it's dangerous. This is bigger

than what you

or anyone else is working on.

It's bulletproof.

A new government agency

is assigned to us.

They check our protocols up,

down, and sideways.

That's how Hatton

got the green light.

You don't have a clue about

Charles Hatton! It's about money.

It's always the same

when there's so much of it involved.

But this is different.

You are messing

with the whole of evolution.

Nothing is bulletproof.

It must have been amazing.

God help us.

Hey, pal, you break it,

you bought it.

Sorry.

Whoa, what's that?

The molecular structure

of allosaurus blood.

No way.

Cool.

The doorman let me in.

I told him I was

your cousin from St. Louis.

I always did like Aunt Martha.

I'm afraid I've killed it.

Or at least driven it to suicide.

Got a bit of a brown thumb.

- Maybe a little sunlight will help.

- You just moved in?

No, I've been here

for about two years.

Okay.

Chloe thinks I'm going to a farm.

What's that about?

My wife told her I was

going to sow some wild oats.

Adorable. Little kids are adorable.

Could you say that

with less enthusiasm?

I'm not fond of adorable.

I rate it just below perky.

It's nice you have a family.

Without families,

what would we do with Christmas?

Me? I run my company

and that's about it.

Your kids will grow up.

My company will be

acquired by somebody. So what?

We're sleepwalking through life.

Admit it or not,

we're bored out of our minds.

I'm not bored out of my mind.

What's the last exciting thing you did?

- Play fetch with your dog?

- I don't know...

Come on! This'll arouse

the old, dormant male instinct.

- Make us feel alive.

- It's awfully expensive.

Why be rich if we don't buy things

other people can't afford?

George, how's life?

I can't complain.

If I did, who would listen?

Tell me about it. Oh, could you...

- I'll get a cab for your cousin.

- Thanks.

Standard liability release forms.

- That's a lot of forms.

- There's a lot of liability.

We take you back

65 million years to hunt

the greatest predator

the world has ever seen.

We are the first

and only people able to do this.

We use technology that wasn't

even a dream a few years ago.

A new federal agency,

the Department of Temporal Regulation,

was created for us.

This is not a game.

There is no reset button.

Today, on this hunt...

someone will die.

The prey... or the hunters.

There is no middle ground.

Imprint where indicated.

By the way,

deposits are non-refundable.

- Sure we should do this?

- There's a 6-year waiting list.

We paid double to cut

to the head of the line

and you want to slink home?

You want to spend the rest of your life

with balls the size of BBs?

What the hell!

They're so big

I can hear 'em clanging.

How was the other night

with the lovely Ms. Wallenbeck?

- It's none of your business.

- He said defensively.

If you must know, I sent her home.

Before or after?

Sometimes you can be a real brat.

Jen, I promised your father

that I would always look after you.

- Are you going to lecture me?

- No, I just...

Good, because Jeffrey

and I only went out for...

Who is Jeffrey?

- You don't know?

- No. Who is he?

I thought you were talking

about Jeffrey.

What exactly did you and Jeffrey do?

- Nothing.

- Tell me now.

Not going to happen.

What were you going to say just now?

I don't know.

I know we're sure

about what we're doing...

Yeah, and?

But maybe...

Maybe what?

I don't know. It's nothing.

Derris, what do you do

when you're not spying

for the government on us?

You got a family? Wife?

Significant other?

Goldfish?

No, you probably

go crazy at home, right?

Lampshade on your head,

chicken feet, whips.

I know it.

Everyone,

this is Mr. Middleton

and Mr. Eckles.

Gentlemen, this is your jump team.

Jennifer Krase will record

the holo-disc of your hunt.

Marcus Payne is your jump technician.

Dr. Lucas keeps

everyone ticking. And this...

is Dr. Travis Ryer.

You must be Mr. Eckles.

It's an honor to meet you, Dr. Ryer.

You're half the reason

my wife let me do this.

- What's the other half?

- He has a huge insurance policy.

Mr. Middleton.

It's nice to have clients who look

like they know what they're doing.

I have a good feeling about this jump.

You're in for the ride of your life.

We have developed technology

that is absolute cutting edge.

Actually, it was developed for us

by a Dr. Sonia Rand.

Isn't that correct?

Gentlemen, your weapons are

laser designated.

They're gauss rifles. They fire

frozen liquid nitrogen bullets

- that completely dissolve in 2 minutes.

- Wait a minute.

We'll take down a dinosaur with ice?

Second rule of time jumping:

Don't leave anything behind.

Not another.

I'm getting track marks.

The third rule of time jumping:

Don't bring anything back.

What's rule number one?

No matter how small, never change

anything in the past. Nothing.

You kill a bee, then maybe the flower

it was going to pollinate doesn't grow

and its seeds don't get spread

and the animal that was going to

eat the vegetation can't,

and it dies,

and it was carrying genes

for a new kind

of animal that doesn't occur

and it alters the course of evolution.

A single bee.

The farther back,

the more catastrophic changes could be.

So, rule number one?

Don't change anything.

Hey. Brass balls, remember?

Everyone, visors down.

This is a com check.

Everyone hearing me okay?

- Ryer, check.

- Krase, check.

- Derris, check.

- Lucas, check.

Check.

Tell him you can hear him.

Okay, follow me.

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