But nobody answered. After a moment, he looked at the dashboard systems monitor, which registered all the systems that were operative. He didn't see anything about communications. It occurred to him that the communications system was probably hooked into the computer. He decided to turn the computer on.
So he went back to the middle of the trailer, unstrapped the keyboard, plugged it in, and turned the computer on. There was a menu screen that said "Thorne Field Systems" and underneath that a listing of subsystems inside the trailer. One of them was radio communications. So he clicked on that, and turned it on.
The computer screen showed a scrambled hash of static. At the bottom was a command line that read: "Multiple Frequency Inputs Received. Do you want to Autotune?"
Arby didn't know what that meant, but he was fearless around computers. Autotune sounded interesting. Without hesitation, he typed "Yes."
The static scramble remained on the screen, while numbers rolled at the bottom. He guessed he was seeing frequencies in megahertz. But he didn't really know.
And then, suddenly, the screen went blank, except for a single flashing word in the upper-left corner:
LOGIN:
He paused, frowning. That was odd. Apparently he was required to log into the trailer's computer system. That meant he would need a password. He tried: THORNE.
Nothing happened.
He waited a moment, then tried Thorne's initials: JT.
Nothing.
LEVINE.
Nothing.
THORNE FIELD SYSTEMS.
Nothing.
TFS.
Nothing.
FIELD.
Nothing.
USER.
Nothing.
Well, he thought, at least the system hadn't dumped him out. Most networks logged you off after three wrong tries. But apparently Thorne hadn't designed any security features into this one. Arby would never have made it this way. The system was too patient and helpful.
He tried: HELP.
The cursor moved to another line. There was a pause. The drives whirred.
"Action," he said, rubbing his hands.
Laboratory
As Thorne's eyes adjusted to the low light, he saw they were standing inside an enormous space, consisting of row after row of rectangular stainless-steel boxes, each fitted with a tangled maze of plastic tubing. Everything was dusty; many of the boxes were knocked over.
"The first rows," Malcolm said, "are Nishihara gene sequencers. And beyond are the automatic DNA synthesizers."
"It's a factory," Eddie said. "It's like agribusiness or something."
"Yes, it is."
At the corner of the room was a printer, with some loose sheets of yellowing paper lying beside it. Malcolm picked up one, and glanced at it.
[GALRERYF1] Gailimimus erythroid-specific transcription factor eryf1
Chapter 6
mRNA, complete cds. [GALRERYF1 1068 bp ss-mRNA VRT 15-DEC-1989]
SOURCE [SRC]
Gallimimus bullatus (Male) 9 day embryonic blood, cDNA to mRNA,
clone E120-1.
ORGANISM Gallimimus bullatus
Animalia; Chordata; Vertebrata; Archosauria; Dinosauria;
Ornithomimisauria.
REFERENCE [REF]
1 (bases 1 to 1418) T.R.Evans, 17-JUL-1989.
FEATURES [FEA]
Location/Qualifiers
/note='Eryf1 protein gi: 212629"
/codon_start=l
/translation="MEFVALGGPDAGSPTPFPDEAGAFLGLGGGPRTEAGGLLASYPP SGRVSLVPWADTOTLGTPQWVPPATQMEPPHYLELLQPPRGSPPHPSSGPLLPLSSGP PPCEARECVNCGATATPLWRRDGTGHYLCNACGLYHRLNGQNRPLIRPKKRLLVSKRA GTVCSNCQTSTTTLWRRSPMGDPVCNACGLYYKLHQVNRPLTMRKDGIQTRNRKVSSK GKKRRPPGGONPSATAGGGAPMGGGGDPSMPPPPPPPAAAPPQSDALYALGPVVLSGH FLPFGNSGGFFGGGAGGYTAPPGLSPQI"
BASE COUNT [BAS]
206 a 371 c 342 g 149 t
"It's a reference to a computer database," Malcolm said. "For some dinosaur blood factor. Something to do with red cells."
"And is that the sequence?"
"No," Malcolm said. He started shuffling through the papers. "No, the sequence should be a series of nucleotides....Here."
He picked up another sheet of paper.
SEQUENCE
1 GAATTCCGGA AGCGACCAAG AGATAARTCC TGGCATCAGA TACAGTTOGA GATAAGGACG
61CACGTGTGGC AGCTCCCGCA GAGGATTCAC TGGAAGTGCA TTACCTATCC CATGGGAOCC
121 ATGGAGTTCG TGGCGCTGGG GGGGCCGGAT GCGGGCTCCC CCACTCCGTT CCCTGATGAA
181 GCCGGAGCCT TCCTGGGGCT GGGGGGGGOC GAGAGGACGG AGGCGGGGGG GCTGCTGGCC
241 TCCTACCCCC CCTCAGGCCG COTGTCCCTG GTGCCGTGGG CAGACACGGG TACTTTGGGG
301 ACCCCCCAGT GGGTGCCGCC CGCCACCCAA ATGGAGCCCC CCCACTACCT COAGCTGCTG
361 CAACCCCCCC GGCGCAGCCC CCCCCATCCC TCCTCCGGGC CCCTACTOCC ACTCAGCAGC
421 GGGCCCCCAC CCTGCGAGGC CCGTGAGTGC GTCATGGCCA OGAAGAACTG CGGAGCGACG
481 GCAACGCCGC TGTGGCGCCG GGACGGCACC GGGCATTACC TGTGCAACTG GGCCTCAGCC
541 TGCOGGCTCT ACCACCGCCT CAACGOCCAG AACCGCCCGC TCATCCGCCC CAAAAAGCGC
601 CTGCTGGTGA GTAAGCGCGC AGGCACAGTG TGCAGCCACG AGCGTGAAAA CTGCCAGACA
661 TCCACCACCA CTCTGTGGCG TCGCAGCCCC ATGGGGGACC CCGTCTGCAA CAACATTCAC
721 GCCTGCGGCC TCTACTACAA ACTGCACCAA GTGAACCGCC CCCTCACGAT GCGCAAAGAC
781 GGAATCCAAA CCCGAAACCG CAAAGTTTCC TCCAAGOGTA AAAAGCGGCO CCCCCCGGGG
841 COGGGAAACC CCTCCGCCAC CGCGGGAGGG GGCGCTCCTA TGGGGGGAGG GGGGGACCCC
901 TCTATGCCCC CCCCGCCGCC CCCCCCGGCC GCCGCCCCCC CTCAAAGCGA CGCTCTGTAC