How do we know which animals to shoot?"
"They're marked with red paint," said Travis. "Today, before our journey, we sent Lesperance here back with the Machine. He came to this particular era and followed certain animals."
"Studying them?"
"Right," said Lesperance. "I track them through their entire existence, noting which of them lives longest. Very few. How many times they mate. Not often. Life's short, When I find one that's going to die when a tree falls on him, or one that drowns in a tar pit, I note the exact hour, minute, and second. I shoot a paint bomb. It leaves a red patch on his side. We can't miss it. Then I correlate our arrival in the Past so that we meet the Monster not more than two minutes before he would have died anyway. This way, we kill only animals with no future, that are never going to mate again. You see how careful we are?"
"But if you come back this morning in Time," said Eckels eagerly, you must've bumped into us, our Safari! How did it turn out? Was it successful? Did all of us get through-alive?"
Travis and Lesperance gave each other a look.
"That'd be a paradox," said the latter. "Time doesn't permit that sort of mess-a man meeting himself. When such occasions threaten, Time steps aside. Like an airplane hitting an air pocket. You felt the Machine jump just before we stopped? That was us passing ourselves on the way back to the Future. We saw nothing. There's no way of telling if this expedition was a success, if we got our monster, or whether all of us - meaning you, Mr. Eckels - got out alive."
Eckels smiled palely.
"Cut that," said Travis sharply. "Everyone on his feet!"
They were ready to leave the Machine.
The jungle was high and the jungle was broad and the jungle was the entire world forever and forever. Sounds like music and sounds like flying tents filled the sky, and those were pterodactyls soaring with cavernous gray wings, gigantic bats of delirium and night fever.
Eckels, balanced on the narrow Path, aimed his rifle playfully.
"Stop that!" said Travis. "Don't even aim for fun, blast you! If your guns should go off - - "
Eckels flushed. "Where's our Tyrannosaurus?"
Lesperance checked his wristwatch. "Up ahead, We'll bisect his trail in sixty seconds. Look for the red paint! Don't shoot till we give the word. Stay on the Path. Stay on the Path!"
They moved forward in the wind of morning.
"Strange," murmured Eckels. "Up ahead, sixty million years, Election Day over. Keith made President. Everyone celebrating. And here we are, a million years lost, and they don't exist. The things we worried about for months, a lifetime, not even born or thought of yet."
"Safety catches off, everyone!" ordered Travis. "You, first shot, Eckels. Second, Billings, Third, Kramer."
"I've hunted tiger, wild boar, buffalo, elephant, but now, this is it," said Eckels. "I'm shaking like a kid."
"Ah," said Travis.
Everyone stopped.
Travis raised his hand. "Ahead," he whispered. "In the mist. There he is. There's His Royal Majesty now."
The jungle was wide and full of twitterings, rustlings, murmurs, and sighs.
Suddenly it all ceased, as if someone had shut a door.
Silence.
A sound of thunder.
Out of the mist, one hundred yards away, came Tyrannosaurus Rex.
"It," whispered Eckels. "It......
"Sh!"
It came on great oiled, resilient, striding legs. It towered thirty feet above half of the trees, a great evil god, folding its delicate watchmaker's claws close to its oily reptilian chest. Each lower leg was a piston, a thousand pounds of white bone, sunk in thick ropes of muscle, sheathed over in a gleam of pebbled skin like the mail of a terrible warrior. Each thigh was a ton of meat, ivory, and steel mesh. And from the great breathing cage of the upper body those two delicate arms dangled out front, arms with hands which might pick up and examine men like toys, while the snake neck coiled. And the head itself, a ton of sculptured stone, lifted easily upon the sky. Its mouth gaped, exposing a fence of teeth like daggers. Its eyes rolled, ostrich eggs, empty of all expression save hunger. It closed its mouth in a death grin. It ran, its pelvic bones crushing aside trees and bushes, its taloned feet clawing damp earth, leaving prints six inches deep wherever it settled its weight.
It ran with a gliding ballet step, far too poised and balanced for its ten tons. It moved into a sunlit area warily, its beautifully reptilian hands feeling the air.
"Why, why," Eckels twitched his mouth. "It could reach up and grab the moon."
"Sh!" Travis jerked angrily. "He hasn't seen us yet."
"It can't be killed," Eckels pronounced this verdict quietly, as if there could be no argument. He had weighed the evidence and this was his considered opinion. The rifle in his hands seemed a cap gun. "We were fools to come. This is impossible."
"Shut up!" hissed Travis.
"Nightmare."
"Turn around," commanded Travis. "Walk quietly to the Machine. We'll remit half your fee."
"I didn't realize it would be this big," said Eckels. "I miscalculated, that's all. And now I want out."
"It sees us!"
"There's the red paint on its chest!"
The Tyrant Lizard raised itself. Its armored flesh glittered like a thousand green coins. The coins, crusted with slime, steamed. In the slime, tiny insects wriggled, so that the entire body seemed to twitch and undulate, even while the monster itself did not move. It exhaled. The stink of raw flesh blew down the wilderness.
"Get me out of here," said Eckels. "It was never like this before. I was always sure I'd come through alive. I had good guides, good safaris, and safety. This time, I figured wrong. I've met my match and admit it. This is too much for me to get hold of."
"Don't run," said Lesperance. "Turn around. Hide in the Machine."
"Yes." Eckels seemed to be numb. He looked at his feet as if trying to make them move. He gave a grunt of helplessness.
"Eckels!"
He took a few steps, blinking, shuffling.
"Not that way!"
The Monster, at the first motion, lunged forward with a terrible scream. It covered one hundred yards in six seconds. The rifles jerked up and blazed fire. A windstorm from the beast's mouth engulfed them in the stench of slime and old blood. The Monster roared, teeth glittering with sun.
The rifles cracked again, Their sound was lost in shriek and lizard thunder. The great level of the reptile's tail swung up, lashed sideways. Trees exploded in clouds of leaf and branch. The Monster twitched its jeweler's hands down to fondle at the men, to twist them in half, to crush them like berries, to cram them into its teeth and its screaming throat. Its boulderstone eyes leveled with the men. They saw themselves mirrored. They fired at the metallic eyelids and the blazing black iris,
Like a stone idol, like a mountain avalanche, Tyrannosaurus fell.
Thundering, it clutched trees, pulled them with it. It wrenched and tore the metal Path. The men flung themselves back and away. The body hit, ten tons of cold flesh and stone. The guns fired. The Monster lashed its armored tail, twitched its snake jaws, and lay still. A fount of blood spurted from its throat. Somewhere inside, a sac of fluids burst. Sickening gushes drenched the hunters. They stood, red and glistening.
The thunder faded.
เราทราบได้อย่างไรว่ามีสัตว์จะยิงหรือไม่""พวกเขากำลังทำเครื่องหมาย ด้วยสีแดง กล่าวว่า ทราวิส "วันนี้ ก่อนการเดินทางของเรา เราส่ง Lesperance กลับมาที่นี่กับเครื่อง เขามาถึงยุคนี้โดยเฉพาะ และตามสัตว์แน่นอน""เรียนออก""ขวา Lesperance กล่าว "ผมติดตามพวกเขาดำรงอยู่ของพวกเขาทั้งหมด สังเกตชีวิตยาวนานที่สุดซึ่งพวกเขา มากน้อย จำนวนครั้งที่จะผสมพันธุ์ ไม่บ่อยครั้ง สั้น ๆ ของชีวิต เมื่อพบหนึ่งที่กำลังจะตายเมื่อต้นไม้อยู่บนเขา หรือที่ drowns ในหลุมทาร์ ผม ทราบชั่วโมงแน่นอน นาที วินาที ฉันยิงระเบิดสี มันปล่อยแพทช์สีแดงบนด้านข้างของเขา เราไม่คิดถึงมัน แล้ว ผมซึ่งเดินทางในอดีตนั้นเราพบมอนสเตอร์ไม่เกินสองนาทีก่อนที่เขาจะมีชีวิตต่อไป ด้วยวิธีนี้ เราฆ่าสัตว์เท่ากับอนาคตไม่ ที่จะไม่ไปคู่อีก คุณดูวิธีระวังเรา""แต่ถ้า คุณกลับมาเช้านี้เวลา กล่าวว่า Eckels ละไม คุณต้องได้ชนเป็นเรา ซาฟารีของเรา มันเปิดออกอย่างไรได้ ได้สำเร็จหรือไม่ ไม่ได้ทั้งหมดของเราได้รับผ่านมีชีวิตอยู่"ทราวิสและ Lesperance ให้กันดู"ที่จะเป็น paradox กล่าวว่า หลัง "เวลาไม่อนุญาตที่เรียงเป็นระเบียบคนประชุมเอง เมื่อโอกาสดังกล่าวคุกคาม ขั้นตอนเวลาไว้ เช่นเครื่องบินตีกระเป๋ามีอากาศ คุณรู้สึกว่าเครื่องกระโดดก่อนเราหยุดหรือไม่ ที่ถูกเราช่วยตัวเองบนเส้นทางกลับไปยังอนาคต เราเห็นอะไร ไม่มีทางได้ของบอกถ้า เร่งนี้ได้ประสบความสำเร็จ ถ้าเรามีมอนสเตอร์ของเรา หรือว่าเรา - หมายถึง คุณ นาย Eckels - ได้ออกมามีชีวิตอยู่"Eckels ยิ้ม palely"ตัดที่ กล่าวว่า ทราวิสอย่างรวดเร็ว "คนบนเท้าของเขา"พวกเขาพร้อมจะออกจากเครื่องป่าสูง และป่าได้กว้าง และป่าทั้งโลกตลอดกาล และตลอดไป เสียงเหมือนเพลง และเสียงเช่นบินเต็นท์เติมท้องฟ้า และนั้นเป็น pterodactyls ที่สูงขึ้นกับมีถ้ำมากสีเทาปีก ค้างคาวยักษ์ของ delirium และคืนไข้Eckels ความสมดุลบนเส้นทางแคบ มุ่งปืนของเล่น"หยุดที่" กล่าวว่า ทราวิส "ไม่ได้มีจุดมุ่งหมายเพื่อความสนุกสนาน ระเบิดคุณ ถ้าปืนของคุณควรไปปิด —"Eckels ล้าง "ที่เป็น Tyrannosaurus ของเรา"Lesperance ตรวจสอบนาฬิกาข้อมือราคาของเขา "ค่าล่วงหน้า เราจะ bisect บันทึกของเขาใน 60 วินาที หาสีแดง ไม่ยิงจนเราให้คำ อยู่บนเส้นทาง อยู่บนเส้นทาง"พวกเขาย้ายไปข้างหน้าในลมเช้า"แปลก murmured Eckels "ค่าล่วงหน้า หกล้านปี วันเลือกตั้งผ่าน คีธได้ประธาน คนฉลอง ที่นี่เรา มี ล้านปีที่สูญหาย และพวกเขาไม่ สิ่งที่เรากังวลเกี่ยวกับเดือน อายุการใช้งาน ไม่ได้เกิดหรือคิดว่าของยัง""ความปลอดภัยรับออก ทุกคน" สั่งทราวิส "คุณ ก่อน ยิง Eckels วินาที เรียกเก็บเงิน ที่สาม Kramer ""ฉันเคยล่าสัตว์หรือค้าเสือ หมูป่า ควาย ช้าง แต่ตอนนี้ นี้," กล่าวว่า Eckels "ฉันกำลังสั่นเช่นเด็ก""อา กล่าวทราวิสทุกคนหยุดทำงานทราวิสยกมือของเขา "ไป เขากระซิบ "ในหมอก เขาไม่ ขณะนี้มีพระบรมพระราช"The jungle was wide and full of twitterings, rustlings, murmurs, and sighs.Suddenly it all ceased, as if someone had shut a door.Silence.A sound of thunder.Out of the mist, one hundred yards away, came Tyrannosaurus Rex."It," whispered Eckels. "It......"Sh!"It came on great oiled, resilient, striding legs. It towered thirty feet above half of the trees, a great evil god, folding its delicate watchmaker's claws close to its oily reptilian chest. Each lower leg was a piston, a thousand pounds of white bone, sunk in thick ropes of muscle, sheathed over in a gleam of pebbled skin like the mail of a terrible warrior. Each thigh was a ton of meat, ivory, and steel mesh. And from the great breathing cage of the upper body those two delicate arms dangled out front, arms with hands which might pick up and examine men like toys, while the snake neck coiled. And the head itself, a ton of sculptured stone, lifted easily upon the sky. Its mouth gaped, exposing a fence of teeth like daggers. Its eyes rolled, ostrich eggs, empty of all expression save hunger. It closed its mouth in a death grin. It ran, its pelvic bones crushing aside trees and bushes, its taloned feet clawing damp earth, leaving prints six inches deep wherever it settled its weight.It ran with a gliding ballet step, far too poised and balanced for its ten tons. It moved into a sunlit area warily, its beautifully reptilian hands feeling the air."Why, why," Eckels twitched his mouth. "It could reach up and grab the moon.""Sh!" Travis jerked angrily. "He hasn't seen us yet.""It can't be killed," Eckels pronounced this verdict quietly, as if there could be no argument. He had weighed the evidence and this was his considered opinion. The rifle in his hands seemed a cap gun. "We were fools to come. This is impossible.""Shut up!" hissed Travis."Nightmare.""Turn around," commanded Travis. "Walk quietly to the Machine. We'll remit half your fee.""I didn't realize it would be this big," said Eckels. "I miscalculated, that's all. And now I want out.""It sees us!""There's the red paint on its chest!"The Tyrant Lizard raised itself. Its armored flesh glittered like a thousand green coins. The coins, crusted with slime, steamed. In the slime, tiny insects wriggled, so that the entire body seemed to twitch and undulate, even while the monster itself did not move. It exhaled. The stink of raw flesh blew down the wilderness."Get me out of here," said Eckels. "It was never like this before. I was always sure I'd come through alive. I had good guides, good safaris, and safety. This time, I figured wrong. I've met my match and admit it. This is too much for me to get hold of.""Don't run," said Lesperance. "Turn around. Hide in the Machine.""Yes." Eckels seemed to be numb. He looked at his feet as if trying to make them move. He gave a grunt of helplessness."Eckels!"He took a few steps, blinking, shuffling."Not that way!"The Monster, at the first motion, lunged forward with a terrible scream. It covered one hundred yards in six seconds. The rifles jerked up and blazed fire. A windstorm from the beast's mouth engulfed them in the stench of slime and old blood. The Monster roared, teeth glittering with sun.The rifles cracked again, Their sound was lost in shriek and lizard thunder. The great level of the reptile's tail swung up, lashed sideways. Trees exploded in clouds of leaf and branch. The Monster twitched its jeweler's hands down to fondle at the men, to twist them in half, to crush them like berries, to cram them into its teeth and its screaming throat. Its boulderstone eyes leveled with the men. They saw themselves mirrored. They fired at the metallic eyelids and the blazing black iris,Like a stone idol, like a mountain avalanche, Tyrannosaurus fell.Thundering, it clutched trees, pulled them with it. It wrenched and tore the metal Path. The men flung themselves back and away. The body hit, ten tons of cold flesh and stone. The guns fired. The Monster lashed its armored tail, twitched its snake jaws, and lay still. A fount of blood spurted from its throat. Somewhere inside, a sac of fluids burst. Sickening gushes drenched the hunters. They stood, red and glistening.The thunder faded.
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