“No, it hasn’t.” Alison turned and looked back at their research center. The paint was already beginning to fade under the punishment of an unrelenting Puerto Rican sun. The windows seemed older and a little dirtier than she remembered. Or was it just her mind trying to help her let go?
Dirk and Sally appeared next to them in the water.
No sad Alison. We journey.
She smiled at Sally. “No sad.”
They all turned when Dulce rocked from side to side excitedly, then promptly squatted down on the edge of the wooden planks. Alison reached out next to her and patted Dirk on the nose.
DeeAnn tried to smile. “Don’t worry. We’re going to see you soon.”
“I know,” Alison nodded. She looked back at the center briefly. “Funny. Doing the right thing doesn’t make it feel any better.”
“You’re starting to sound like me.”
Alison chuckled and hugged her, then Dulce, who instinctively rose up to embrace Alison with her long fur-covered arms. With an affectionate pat on the gorilla’s head, she turned and approached the short ladder to the boat.
On the side, black hand-painted letters read U.S.S. Dubois and following those was a brightly-colored addition: and Juan. Once under the shade, she sat quietly down in the cockpit. And hoped it was all worth it.
Less than ten minutes later they cast off, with dual engines rumbling aft, churning the water and pulling the craft backward in a slight arcing motion.
The distance between them and the dock continued to grow until Clay finally pushed both throttle levers forward and unleashed the roar of the engines.
31
Two hours later, Dulce burst out from a group of dense bushes, her heart pounding and small black chest heaving. The gorilla’s wide eyes darted back and forth. Searching but finding nothing, she turned around and looked behind her.
She wrinkled her large nostrils and breathed heavily in and out. The smell was all around her. After several seconds, she took a small step and eased forward, now listening carefully.
She never heard it coming.
Just above her head, from the bottom branch of a tree, his small gray head appeared. Without making a sound, Dexter lowered himself down, first by his legs then by his strong tail wrapped firmly around the branch.
Dulce stopped breathing and kept pivoting around, then jumped in the air unexpectedly when Dexter reached down and gave her a playful thump on the head.
She let loose a flurry of shrieks and grunts, smiling and then laughing. Dexter was very good at playing hide. And very sneaky.
The smaller capuchin fell from the tree to the ground and howled. He pointed his tiny hand at Dulce.
You. You.
Dulce laughed so hard she rolled over, continuing all the way back onto her feet.
From the lab upstairs, DeeAnn sat in Lee’s chair, leaning onto the desk and watching from his monitor. The habitat was fully illuminated beneath the darkness of the night sky. Inside, a gentle flow of air-conditioning washed over her from above, drying the last of her perspiration.
Playtime between the two was amazing. Not just from a maternal standpoint but from an analytical one as well. The comradery between the two primates was simply fascinating. And she could clearly see the communication between them taking place, even if IMIS couldn’t translate it.
It still didn’t make complete sense to her. If IMIS could translate between Dulce and Sally, then why wasn’t it deciphering between Dulce and Dexter? Lee had explained it was because IMIS hadn’t recorded enough of Dexter’s sounds and mannerisms to begin decrypting them. But if Dulce understood it, why couldn’t IMIS when it already understood her communication patterns? Lee’s answer to that was because the limited amount that IMIS had already decrypted of the gorilla’s language was still very superficial. The tip of the iceberg really.
She followed Dexter on the screen from camera to camera as he searched for Dulce. He was fascinating to watch. He moved differently. To anyone else, there was little difference between him and the monkey they might see in a zoo. But to DeeAnn’s trained eye, the distinctions could not be more obvious. Dexter moved differently and much more like a human. Not anatomically, but cognitively. The way he watched and observed. Not just the way he saw the environment but the way he understood it. When the wind blew, he would search for the direction of it. And he would study the water funneling through the small artificial stream for hours.
The hair samples she’d taken from him, and the resulting DNA tests, confirmed that he was very old for a capuchin: almost one hundred, which was unheard of. And it suggested that his enhanced cognitive ability was not only due to brain-related genetic changes but also due to his longer life. That enhanced intelligence wasn’t only possible through physiological changes. It was also developed through experience and time. Or in other words, wisdom.
She was watching it before her eyes. Dexter was measurably smarter, which called into question a very big and very controversial theory.
Lucy was the name of the hominin remains discovered in Ethiopia, Africa, and believed by most of the scientific world to be the missing link between apes and humans. It was the crux from where a significant leap forward took place to get humans to where they were today. And while some of that catalyst was related to physiology, DeeAnn now believed that some of it may have also been related to a longer life span. After all, the smarter the species became, the longer they lived. And the more time they had to learn from their mistakes and successes. Something hardly considered before, but Dexter was a living example of that potential. He was the modern equivalent. A second missing link.
There was a knock on the door, and she turned to see Bruna peek inside. “I’m sorry, Misses DeeAnn.”
DeeAnn smiled. “Come in, Bruna.” She still thought it funny that Bruna called her “Misses DeeAnn,” especially since they were nearly the same age.
Bruna stepped inside and crossed the large room. “I’m sorry to bother you.”
“Not at all. What can I do for you?”
The shorter Puerto Rican woman noted the video feed on the monitor and smiled. “I just wanted to talk more before your trip. You want me to keep all machines on, yes?”
“Yes. Just like last time. At least for a while.” Bruna had been a godsend over the last year, keeping on top of all the daily needs of the center. Bruna handled the food and provisions, internal and external maintenance of the old building, and the coordination of the children and their field trips. She was amazing and multitasked like an expert. When asked, she claimed it came from being a mother. And DeeAnn believed it, given that Bruna had six children.
She also had a sixth sense about her, an intuition, which often allowed her to pick up on things others missed.
Now was one of those times.
“Can I help you please, or the monkeys?”
“No, I think we’re all ready. Thank you. Just a ride to the airport would be great.”
“Yes, yes.” She nodded. “I will take you. Early.”
“Thank you, Bruna. I really appreciate it.”
The woman smiled broadly and nodded. She backed up and returned to the large double doors where she slipped out with barely a sound.
DeeAnn continued staring after her long after both doors had closed. She hated the feeling of keeping something from them, even from Dulce and Dexter. But she had no choice. The smaller Dexter was already skittish, and understandably so, given what he’d been through. Unfortunately, that meant she couldn’t take any chances.
Her goal was to keep her two charges as calm and comfortable as possible. For the next three days.