Jurassic Park Page #12

ELLIE:

Timmy, Timmy.

LEX:

Come back here, blanket head.

Fearless, Tim walks forward behind Grant.

HARDING (O.S.)

Hi everybody, Don't be scared.

Tim reaches the clearing and sees:

A Triceratops, a big one, lying on its side, blocking the light

at the end of the path. It has an enormous curved shell that flanks

its head, two big horns over its eyes, and a third on the end of its

nose. It doesn't move, just breathes, loud and raspy, blowing up a

little clouds of dust with every exhalation.

Grant stands next to Harding, almost in a daze.

GRANT:

Beautiful. Is it okay? Can I touch it?

HARDING:

Sure.

Grant walks next to the animal and strokes its head. Ellie

moves forward to the animal.

GRANT:

Oh Ellie. It's so beautiful. It's the most beautiful

thing I ever saw.

ELLIE:

It's my favorite.

They both kneel, checking the animal.

He furrows his bow, noticing something, all professional

curiosity now. The animal's tongue, dark purple, droops limply from

its mouth.

GRANT (cont'd)

Ellie, take a look at this.

ELLIE:

Yeah, baby girl, it's okay.

She scratches the tongue with her fingernail. A clear liquid

leaks from the broken blisters.

ELLIE:

Micro vesicles. That's interesting.

Grant, fascinated, wanders all the way around to the back of the

animal. Harding joins Ellie and hands her his penlight.

ELLIE (cont'd)

What are her symptoms?

HARDING:

Imbalance, disorientation, labored breathing. Seems to

happen about every six weeks or so.

ELLIE:

Six weeks?

She takes the penlight from the veterinarian and shines it in

the animal's eyes.

ELLIE (cont'd)

Are there pupillary effects from the tranquilizer?

HARDING:

Yes, mitotic, pupils should be constricted.

ELLIE:

These are dilated. Take a look.

HARDING:

They are?

(checks it out)

I'll be damned.

ELLIE:

That's pharmacological. From local plant life.

She turns and studies the surrounding landscape. Her mind's

really at work, puzzling over each piece of foliage.

ELLIE (cont'd)

(pointing)

Is that (or) this West Indian lilac?

HARDING:

Yes. We know they're toxic, but the animals don't eat

them.

ELLIE:

Are you sure?

HARDING:

Pretty sure.

ELLIE:

There's only one way to be positive. I need to see some

droppings.

(or)

I have to see the dinosaur's droppings.

HARDING:

You won't be able to miss them.

(or)

Can't miss them.

Malcolm walks up to Ellie.

MALCOLM:

Dino droppings?

ELLIE:

Yeah.

She walks way, Malcolm looks on.

41AINTCONTROL ROOMDAY

HAMMOND and ARNOLD are watching the video monitors, displeased

about something. Arnold is looking at one that gives them a view from

the beach, looking out at the ocean. The clouds beyond are almost

black with a tropical storm.

ARNOLD:

That storm center hasn't dissipated or changed course.

We're going to have to cut the tour short, I'm afraid.

Pick it up again tomorrow where we left off.

HAMMOND:

You're sure we have to?

ARNOLD:

It's not worth taking the chance, John.

MULDOON:

(into phone)

Sustain winds 45 knots.

HAMMOND:

(nods)

Tell them when they get back to the cars.

MULDOON:

(into phone)

Thanks, Steve.

ARNOLD:

(making an announcement to the others)

Ladies and gentlemen, last shuttle to the dock leaves in

approximately five minutes. Drop what you are doing and

leave now.

HAMMOND:

Damn!

41ACROSS THE ROOM

NEDRY stares at his video monitor, watching the boat. He's on

the phone with the MATE, whose images he can see on the monitor. The

seas around the dock are much rougher now.

MATE:

We're not well-berthed here without a storm barrier! We

may have to leave as soon as the last of the works are

aboard.

NEDRY:

(low voice)

No, no. You stick to the plan. You wait till they're

back from the tour.

42EXTFIELDDAY

As the weather grows darker, ELLIE, GRANT, HARDING, and MALCOLM

are grouped around an enormous spoor of triceratops excreta that stands

at least waist high and is covered with BUZZING flies.

MALCOLM:

That is one big pile of sh*t.

Ellie has plastic gloves on the reach up to her elbows, and is

just withdrawing her hand from the middle of the dung.

ELLIE:

(to Harding)

You're right. There's no trace of lilac berries.

That's so weird, though. She shows all the classic

signs of Meliatoxicity,

(thinking aloud)

Every six weeks - -

She turns and walks out into the open field a few paces,

thinking. Malcolm watches her, and looks back at the dung.

MALCOLM:

to Grant)

She's, uh - - tenacious.

GRANT:

You have no idea.

MALCOLM:

to Ellie)

You will remember to wash your hands before you eat

anything?

43INTCONTROL ROOMDAY

DENNIS NEDRY is busily and surreptitiously typing a series of

commands into his console. On his screen, a cartoon hand winds up a

cartoon clock, moving its second hand up to the twelve. The clock

rotates around to face us.

It has a large green dollar sign in the middle. A big word

appears on screen, an option surrounded by forbidding red box.

"EXECUTE," it says.

44EXTPARKDAY

The skies are really foreboding now, and there's a sense of

growing urgency. ELLIE is by the animal, a short distance away from

the group. GRANT is near her, thinking.

GRANT:

Ellie, I've been thinking there's something about the

periodicity doesn't had up.

ELLIE:

I know.

Tim holds one of the smooth rocks up and calls out, a little

timidly.

TIM:

These look kind of familiar.

GRANT:

Triceratops was a constant browser, and constant

browsers would be constantly sick.

ELLIE:

Constantly sick.

GRANT:

Not just every six weeks.

ELLIE:

Yeah, I know.

TIM:

I've seen pictures of these!

Grant turns and looks at him, a little annoyed.

TIM:

In your fully illustrated book.

Grant just rolls his eyes, but Ellie comes over and checks out

the stones.

ELLIE:

What's that?

A light goes on in her eyes.

ELLIE:

Alan - - gizzard stones!

She throws Grant one of the stones. They look at each other in

amazement.

As before, when they get excited, they talk right over each

other.

GRANT:

Elm that's it, it explains the periodicity, the - -

ELLIE:

- - the undigested state of the berries because it's - -

GRANT:

- - totally incidental

(or)

unrelated to the feeding pattern - -

TIM:

What are you guys saying?

ELLIE:

(turning to Tim)

It's simple, see. Some animals like her, don't have

teeth - -

GRANT:

- - like birds - -

ELLIE:

- - like birds. What happen is, they swallow the stones

and hold them in a muscular sack in their stomachs - -

GRANT:

- - a gizzard - -

ELLIE:

- - which is called a gizzard, and it helps them mash

their food, but what happens after a while - -

GRANT:

- - what happens is that after a while, the stones get

smooth, every six weeks, so the animal regurgitates them

- -

ELLIE:

(for Tim)

- - barfs them up - -

GRANT:

- - and swallows fresh ones.

ELLIE:

And when she swallows the stones, she swallows the

poison berries too. That's what makes her sick.

(impressed)

Good work Tim.

She looks at Grant pointedly. Tim looks up at Grant too,

smiling from ear to ear. Grant GRUNTS, not so easily convinced.

THUNDER rumbles as the storm overhead is about to bust loose.

GENNARO, scared of more than one thing now, puts his foot down.

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