San José (chapter)

Shortly after arriving back in San Jose, Levine has a beer at an airport bar while waiting for his plane to arrive. Marty approaches him and after a few moments of silence begins trying to talk to Levine, who brushes off his attempts at small talk. Marty decides to tell Levine the truth, and insists it be held in strict confidence. He tells Levine that the unidentified animal carcasses have become a large problem over the past several years and that five years ago a group of animals was discovered in the mountains near a remote agricultural site that was developing test varieties of soy beans. The animals were destroyed and for a few years nothing else happened but then aberrant forms (the government's name for the corpses) started showing up again, with four more being discovered in the past year. At around the same time the animals in the mountains were discovered, there were rumors that something was wrong on one of the offshore islands called Isla Nublar and the government flew people out there to investigate it only to deliberately fly them to the wrong island and they never knew the difference.

Levine presses Marty on why the Costa Rican government is being so secretive, and Marty admits that the government is afraid of disease. Costa Rican epidemiologists have been tracking a new type of encephilitis on the coast and suspect that it might be related to the aberrant forms, and since Costa Rica is heavily dependant on tourism it doesn't want to scare people away. Levine asks just how thorough the government's search for the animals has been; Marty tells him the entire country has been searched and even the offshore islands including Isla Nublar have been searched and nothing is there. Levine inquires about the other islands, having only heard about Nublar. Marty tells him about the other islands; Isla Talamanca is home to a Club Med resort, Isla Sorna is leased by a German mining company and Isla Morazan is privately owned by a wealthy Costa Rican family plus another island he may have forgotten and insists that all have been thoroughly searched. Marty mentions that there has also been outside interest in the animals; a year or so prior a couple of Swiss geologists were seeking permission to visit the offshore islands to collect gas samples. It turns out that the geoligists were really scientists working for Biosyn, a genetics company. Levine hears an annoucement that his plane is ready to be boarded, says farewell to Marty and leaves.