Raymond ran a nervous hand through his hair. He didn’t want to hear about any “unexpected contingencies.”
“I was going to ask you how you wanted us to handle Kevin and the women,” Siegfried said. “But with this explanation about the smoke and having given them a good scare, I think the situation is under control.”
“They didn’t get onto the island, did they?” Raymond asked.
“No, they were only at the staging area,” Siegfried said.
“I don’t even like people nosing around there,” Raymond said.
“I understand,” Siegfried said. “I don’t think Kevin will go back for the reasons I’ve given. But just to be on the safe side, I’m leaving a Moroccan guard and a contingent of the Equatoguinean soldiers out there for a few days, provided you think it’s a good idea.”
“That’s fine,” Raymond said. “But tell me, what’s your feeling about smoke coming out of the island, assuming that Kevin is right about it?”
“Me?” Siegfried questioned. “I couldn’t care less what those animals do out there. As long as they stay there and stay healthy. Does it bother you?”
“Not in the slightest,” Raymond said.
“Maybe we should send over a bunch of soccer balls,” Siegfried said. “That might keep them entertained.” He laughed heartily.
“I hardly think this is a laughing matter,” Raymond said irritably. Raymond was not fond of Siegfried, although he appreciated his disciplined managerial style. Raymond could picture the director at his desk, surrounded by his stuffed menagerie and those skulls dotting his desk.
“When are you coming for the patient?” Siegfried asked. “I’ve been told he’s doing fantastically well and ready to go.”
“So I’ve heard,” Raymond said. “I put in a call to Cambridge, and as soon as the GenSys plane is available, I’ll be over. It should be in a day or so.”
“Let me know,” Siegfried said. “I’ll have a car waiting for you in Bata.”
Raymond replaced the receiver and breathed a small sigh of relief. He was glad he’d called Africa, since part of his current anxiety had stemmed from Siegfried’s disturbing message about there being a problem with Kevin. It was good to know the crisis had been taken care of. In fact, Raymond thought that if he could just get the image of that snapshot of him hovering over Cindy Carlson’s body out of his mind, he’d feel almost like himself again.
CHAPTER 13
MARCH 6, 1997
12:00 NOON
COGO, EQUATORIAL GUINEA
KEVIN was totally unaware of the time when a knock interrupted the intense concentration he’d been directing toward his computer screen for several hours. He opened his laboratory door and was promptly greeted by Melanie as she swooped into the room. She was carrying a large paper bag.
“Where are your techs?” she asked.
“I gave them the day off,” Kevin said. “There was no way I was going to get any work done today so I told them to enjoy the sun. It’s been a long rainy season, and it will be back before we know it.”
“Where’s Candace?” Melanie asked. She put down her parcel on the lab bench.
“I don’t know,” Kevin said. “I haven’t seen or talked with her since we dropped her off at the hospital this morning.”
It had been a long night. After having hid in the pathology cooler for over an hour, Melanie had talked both Kevin and Candace into sneaking up to the on-call room Melanie had at the animal center. The three had stayed there getting very little sleep, until the early-morning shift change. Blending in with all the employees coming and going, the group had made it back to Cogo without incident.
“Do you know how to get in touch with her?” Melanie asked.
“I guess just call the hospital and have her paged,” Kevin suggested. “Unless she’s in her room in the Inn, which is what I’d guess since Horace Winchester is doing so well.” The Inn was the name given to the temporary quarters for transient hospital personnel. It was physically part of the hospital/laboratory complex.
“Good point!” Melanie said. She picked up the phone and had the operator put her through to Candace’s room. Candace answered on the third ring. It was apparent she’d been asleep.
“Kevin and I are going to the island,” Melanie said without preamble. “You want to come or hang in here?”
“What are you talking about?” Kevin asked nervously.
Melanie motioned for him to be quiet.
“When?” Candace asked.
“As soon as you get over here,” Melanie said. “We’re in Kevin’s lab.”
“It will take me a good half hour,” Candace said. “I’ve got to shower.”
“We’ll be waiting,” Melanie said. She hung up the phone.
“Melanie, are you crazy?” Kevin said. “We’ve got to let some time go by before we hazard another try at the island.”
“This girl doesn’t think so,” Melanie said, giving herself a poke in the chest. “The sooner we go, the better. If Bertram finds out a key is missing, he could change the lock, and we’ll be back to square one. Besides, like I said last night, they expect us to be terrified. Going out there right away will catch them off-guard.”
“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.