“I don’t think I’m up for this,” Kevin said.
“Oh really?” Melanie questioned superciliously. “Hey, you’re the one who’s brought up this worry about what we’ve created. And now I’m really worried. I saw some more circumstantial evidence this morning.”
“Like what?” Kevin asked.
“I went into the bonobo enclosure out at the animal center,” Melanie said. “I made sure no one saw me go in, so don’t get yourself all worked up. It took me over an hour, but I managed to find a mother with one of our infants.”
“And?” Kevin questioned. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the rest.
“The infant walked around on its hindlegs-just like you and I-the whole time I was able to observe,” Melanie said. Her dark eyes flashed with emotion akin to anger. “Behavior we used to call cute is definitely bipedal.”
Kevin nodded and looked away. He found Melanie’s intensity unnerving, and her conversation was underlining all his own fears.
“We have to find out for sure what the status is of these creatures,” Melanie said. “And we can do that only by going out there.”
Kevin nodded.
“So, I made some sandwiches,” Melanie said, pointing toward the paper bag she’d brought in with her. “We’ll call it a picnic.”
“I came across something disturbing this morning as well,” Kevin said. “Let me show you.” He grabbed a stool and pushed it over to his computer terminal. He motioned for Melanie to sit down, while he took his own chair. His fingers played over the keyboard. Soon the screen displayed the computer graphic of Isla Francesca.
“I programmed the computer to follow all seventy-three bonobos on the island for several hours of real-time activity,” Kevin explained. “Then I had the data condensed so I could watch it in fast-forward. Look what resulted.”
Kevin clicked his mouse to start the sequence. The multitude of little red dots rapidly traced out weird geometric designs. It only took a few seconds.
“Looks like a bunch of chicken scratches,” Melanie said.
“Except for these two dots,” Kevin said. He pointed to two pinpoints.
“They apparently didn’t move much,” Melanie said.
“Exactly,” Kevin said. “Creature number sixty and creature number sixty-seven.” Kevin reached over and picked up the detailed contour map he’d inadvertently taken from Bertram’s office. “I located creature number sixty to a marshy clearing just south of Lago Hippo. According to the map, there are no trees there.”
“What’s your explanation?” Melanie asked.
“Hang on,” Kevin said. “What I did next was reduce the scale of the grid so that it represented a fifty-by-fifty-foot portion of the island right where creature number sixty was located. Let me show you what happened.”
Kevin keyed in the information and then clicked to start the sequence again. Once again the red light for creature number sixty was a pinpoint.
“He didn’t move at all,” Melanie said.
“I’m afraid not,” Kevin said.
“You think he’s sleeping?”
“In the middle of the morning?” Kevin asked. “And with such a scale, even turning over in his sleep should result in some movement. The system is that sensitive.”
“If he’s not sleeping, what is he doing?” Melanie asked.
Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe he found a way to remove his computer chip.”
“I never thought of that,” Melanie said. “That’s a scary idea.”
“The only other thing I could think of is the bonobo died,” Kevin said.
“I suppose that’s a possibility,” Melanie said. “But I don’t think it is very probable. Those are young, extraordinarily healthy animals. We’ve made sure of that. And they are in an environment without natural enemies and have more than enough food.”
Kevin sighed. “Whatever it is, it is disturbing, and when we go out there, I think we should check it out.”
“I wonder if Bertram knows about this?” Melanie asked. “It doesn’t bode well for the program in general.”
“I suppose I should tell him,” Kevin said.
“Let’s wait until we make our visit,” Melanie said.
“Obviously,” Kevin said.
“Did you come across anything else with this real-time program?”
“Yup,” Kevin said. “I pretty much confirmed my earlier suspicion they are using the caves. Watch!”
Kevin changed the coordinates of the displayed grid on the computer screen to correspond to a specific portion of the limestone escarpment. He then asked the computer to trace the activity of his own double, creature number one.
Melanie watched as the red dot traced a geometric shape then disappeared. It then reappeared at the identical spot and traced a second shape. Then a similar sequence repeated itself for a third time.
“I guess I’d have to agree,” Melanie said. “It sure looks like your double is going in and out of the rock face.”
“When we go out there, I think we should make it a point to see our doubles,” Kevin said. “They are the oldest of the creatures, and if any of the transgenic bonobos are acting like protohumans, it should be them.”
Melanie nodded. “The idea effacing my double gives me the creeps. But we’re not going to have a lot of time out there. And given the twelve-square-mile island it will be extraordinarily difficult for us to find a specific creature.”
“You’re wrong,” Kevin said. “I’ve got the instruments they use for retrievals.” He got up from the computer and went to his desk. When he returned, he was carrying the locator and the directional beacon that Bertram had given to him. He showed the apparatuses to Melanie and explained their use. Melanie was impressed.
“Where is that girl?” Melanie asked as she checked her watch. “I wanted to get this island visit over during lunch hour.”
“Did Siegfried talk to you this morning?” Kevin asked.
“No, Bertram did,” Melanie said. “He acted really mad and said he was disappointed in me. Can you imagine? I mean, is that suppose to break me up or what?”
“Did he give you any explanation about the smoke I’ve seen?” Kevin asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Melanie said. “He went on at length how he’d just been told that Siegfried had a work crew out there building a bridge and burning trash. He said it was being done without his knowledge.”
“I thought so,” Kevin said. “Siegfried called me over just after nine. He gave me the same story. He even told me he’d just talked with Dr. Lyons and that Dr. Lyons was disappointed in us as well.”
“It’s enough to make you cry,” Melanie said.
“I don’t think he was telling the truth about the work crew,” Kevin said.
“Of course he wasn’t,” Melanie said. “I mean, Bertram makes it a point to know everything that’s going on about Isla Francesca. It makes you wonder if they think we were born yesterday.”
Kevin stood up, fidgeted, and stared out his window at the distant island.
“What’s wrong now?” Melanie questioned.
“Siegfried,” Kevin said. He looked back at Melanie. “About his warning to apply Equatoguinean law to us. He reminded us that going to the island could be considered a capital offense. Don’t you think we should take that threat seriously?”
“Hell, no!” Melanie said.
“How can you be so sure,” Kevin said. “Siegfried scares me.”
“He’d scare me, too, if I was an Equatoguinean,” Melanie said. “But we’re not. We’re Americans. While we’re here in the Zone, good old American law applies to us. The worst thing that can happen is we get fired. And as I said last night, I’m not sure I wouldn’t welcome it. Manhattan is sounding awfully good to me these days.”
“I wish I felt as confident as you,” Kevin said.
“Has your playing around with the computer this morning confirmed that the bonobos are remaining in two groups?”
Kevin nodded. “The first group is the largest and stays around the caves. It includes most of the older bonobos, including your double and mine. The other group is in a forest area on the north side of the Rio Diviso. It’s composed mostly of younger animals, although the third oldest is with them. That’s Raymond Lyons’s double.”