Vostok

by Steve Alten

  “And have you seen the tooth?”

  “Aye. And missin’ one dinnae stop it from killing tha’ elk last night. Sheriff called me not ten minutes before ye arrived. The remains washed ashore in Invermoriston, jist down the road. Wannae take a peek wit’ me before they dispose of the evidence?”

  It was half past six at night. While my father was enticing Dr. Liao and her entourage into his web of deceit, Brandy, Willy, and I were getting ready to eat dinner in our humble resort abode.

  Suites 300 and 302 were connecting rooms that provided us with the living space of a three-bedroom apartment. There was a kitchen and double balcony overlooking Loch Ness, and a living room filled with baby toys.

  I was feeding Willy in his highchair, and Brandy was reheating day-old Scotch pie when my cell phone rang. It was a California area code.

  Jonas Taylor…

  “Jonas, I was waiting until later to call you. I really appreciate Masao’s offer, but I’ve decided to accept a faculty position at Cambridge.”

  “I understand. The money was dogshit. Unfortunately times have been tough. We may end up selling the facility to a developer who wants to build waterfront condos.”

  “J.T., while I have your ear, have you ever heard of a submersible diver by the name of Ben Hintzmann? He says he trained under Graham Hawkes.”

  “It’s possible. I don’t get up to Hawkes’s facility much these days; we’ve become competitors. My son, David, and I have been designing a new submersible we call the Manta. If things work out, I hope to sell them as the ultimate rich man’s toy.”

  A knock on our other front door hastened the end of the call. “Well, good luck with that. And send my best to Masao.”

  Brandy chided me with a scowl. “Are ye expectin’ anyone, Zach?”

  “No, but I’m secretly hoping it’s the pizza delivery boy. The smell of that re-heated mutton concoction is making me ill.”

  “When ye get yer first paycheck from Cambridge we’ll feast on take-out. Until then I’m making do.” Opening the door to Suite 300, she turned to the man knocking on Suite 302. “Can I help ye? Oh, it’s you.”

  Ben Hintzmann stepped into view. “Evening. Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  Brandy blocked him from entering. “We were jist aboot tae eat supper.”

  “Are you hungry, Ben?”

  Brandy turned to face me, her eyes daggers.

  “No, I ate earlier. The others went to the village with the big fella. I stayed behind hoping we could talk. I can come by later—”

  “It’s all right, come in.”

  Brandy allowed him to squeeze past her before returning to the kitchen. “Something tae drink, then?”

  “No, I’m good. Who’s this little guy?”

  I smiled proudly. “This is our son, William. Willy, say hello to Mr. Hintzmann.”

  Willy smiled bashfully, then swatted his dish of applesauce and strained spinach off the highchair’s tray, turning Ben’s jeans into something that resembled a Jackson Pollock painting.

  “Willy! Ben, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.”

  Brandy wetted a dishtowel and handed it to Ben. “Perhaps one day ye’ll have bairn of yer own?”

  “Bairn?”

  “Baby.”

  “Sure. Maybe. My girlfriend’s more focused on her career.”

  “But ye want a wee un, I can tell. Perhaps this girlfriend of yers is not the marryin’ type?”

  “Brandy!”

  Ben finished wiping down his pants. “Amanda’s still adjusting to me no longer being in the Air Force. And with all the changes, I’m not exactly ready to be anyone’s father. What’s that smell?”

  I inhaled, catching a whiff of the baby’s soiled diaper. Releasing Willy from his chair, I handed him over to his mother. “Brandy, would you mind?”

  “Time for his bath anyway. Serve yerself the mutton pie before it gets cold.”

  “It’s okay, I’ll eat later.”

  Brandy shrugged and carried the baby into the connecting suite, closing the door behind her.

  Ben smiled. “Mutton?”

  “Sheep meat,” I said. “It’s like lamb, only tougher and drier. Want to try some?”

  “God, no. I’d rather eat Willy’s leftovers.”

  “Let’s talk out here.” I led him to the terrace door and outside to the enclosed balcony. The glass walls blunted the cold to near-tolerable levels, the night concealing Loch Ness from view. Ben made himself comfortable in one of our padded rocking chairs while I ignited a portable heater.

  “Must be nice out here during the summer.”

  “It’s peaceful,” I agreed, flopping down on a lounge chair. “So what’s on your mind? This isn’t a last-ditch effort to recruit me for Vostok, is it?”

  “Just an opportunity to get to know someone I admire. For the record, I wasn’t interested in the Vostok mission until I heard they were recruiting you.” His eyes settled heavily on mine. “When I read The Loch last year, I remember thinking how hard it must have been for you, as a reputable professional in your field, to have been ridiculed by your peers for believing in the water equivalent of Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman.”

  “I had a close encounter. It didn’t matter what my peers believed, I knew the truth.”

  “A close encounter, exactly! The truth can’t be coerced, can it? I mean, it can. People falsify evidence whenever the truth conflicts with their own agenda. They make you sign things and threaten you, but the truth is still the truth no matter how crazy it sounds, right?”

  “Right, uh, what are we talking about?”

  “We’re talking about finding the truth by thinking outside the box. For instance, that giant croc—what if it’s still alive?”

  “Purussaurus? Not likely. It was a saltwater species. Vostok’s fresh water. Besides, the pressure would have crushed its lungs long ago.”

  “What about those fossils Ming’s crew dragged out of the crevasse?”

  “There was no epic battle in Vostok millions of years ago; a python that size could never kill a Purussaurus. I’d wager good money the Crocodylia was already dead when that giant snake found it lying on an Antarctic shoreline and choked attempting to eat it before another predator could claim its prize.”

  “Ming said they traced the ice that held those two creatures back to Vostok.”

  “Translated: the ice sheet dragged it into Vostok and probably across a dozen other subglacial lakes en route to the Amery Ice Shelf. It doesn’t mean the lake was populated with giant crocs and pythons.”

  “Then you think this whole expedition is a waste of time and money?”

  “Not at all. Vostok presents scientists with an incredible opportunity to study what our planet was like during the Miocene. I think there’s a good chance some sort of microbial life has survived. I’m sure the paleo guys will be studying water samples for years.”

  “Be honest, Doc. Why did you really turn down Dr. Liao’s offer?”

  “I thought I made that clear. I don’t want to be away from my family for six months, especially in minus-forty-degree temperatures.”

  “It’s all about that Sargasso Sea incident, isn’t it? In your memoir you wrote about nearly drowning to save your cameraman.”

  “Did drown.”

  “My point is you’d think they’d honor that kind of sacrifice. Instead they blamed you for the crewman you didn’t save. What kills me is the same thing is happening to you again, here in Drumnadrochit. The creature was killing people; she was a serious threat to every villager around Loch Ness, not to mention the tourists. You resolved the problem and risked your life doing it and this is how they repay you—by turning you into a recluse?”

  I felt my blood pressure rise, as if Hintzmann’s words had flipped a switch on an internal furnace. “Where’s this going, Ben?”

  “You and I have a lot in common, Doc. We’ve both made sacrifices. We both answered the call of duty, and now we’re both on the outs. And don’t
tell me you always wanted to teach. The man who solved the mystery of the Loch Ness Monster isn’t going to feel satisfied grading papers. Will those challenges fulfill you for the rest of your days, or will you wake up one morning old and gray, wondering what might have been? See, I get what you’re going through—it sucks being the ugly girl at the dance. But that’s no reason to skip the prom, no reason to settle for a life of mediocrity. For a marine biologist, Vostok is the moon landing. Don’t pass it up. The world remembers Neil Armstrong; no one gives a damn about the back-up astronauts who stayed behind.”

  “Are you done, Hintzmann? Or are there a few more metaphors you’d like to recite? No? Well here’s one to mull over as you leave my home: don’t blame the dog after you step in shit.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “Give it time. I suspect it’ll come to you.”

  4

  “Fools look to tomorrow. Wise men use tonight.”

  —Scottish proverb

  The hamlet of Invermoriston lies ten miles south of Drumnadrochit on the A82 roadway at the junction of the A887, which cuts west through some of the lushest woodlands in the Great Glen. Snaking its way east through the forest’s rocky ravines is the mighty River Moriston. Approaching Invermoriston, the waterway churns into rapids and flows over a series of falls before it passes under the two-hundred-year-old Telford Bridge to empty into Loch Ness.

  It was after eight o’clock at night when a Nessie’s Lair mini-van driven by True MacDonald pulled into a scenic lay-by off the A82. In the front passenger seat was my father. In the back seats were Dr. Liao, Dr. Ahmed, and George McFarland, the engineer from Stone Aerospace.

  Red-and-blue strobe lights from a police vehicle cut across a campground nestled between the highway and shoreline as Deputy Sheriff Mark Plumley made his way up a steep trail to greet Angus.

  “Ye heard, then? This new monster is a hungry one.”

  “Aye. Who found the remains?”

  “Esther Jacobs. She was walking by the water at sunset when it washed ashore. My brother Chris is takin’ photos of whit’s left. Who’s all this, then?”

  “Scientists. They arrived yesterday on business wit’ Zachary. Mind if they ’ave a look?”

  “Jist watch yer step on the rocks. Lots of blood.”

  Plumley shone his flashlight on the trail that cut through the campsite, leading Angus and his entourage to the shoreline.

  Twenty-two months earlier, an American tourist named Tiani Brueggert had arrived at this very destination with her husband, Joel, and their two teenage daughters. Having spent the day hiking the forest trails, Tiani left her tent late that night to soak her swollen feet in the loch’s frigid waters. While returning to the campsite, she was attacked by an amphibious creature more than forty feet in length. It spread her remains across the clearing like an exploded melon. My father made sure he relayed these gruesome details to his guests on their way down to the water.

  The shoreline was covered in smooth rounded stones. Dark waves lapped beneath a barren pier that extended thirty feet into the loch, the boats stored indoors for the winter.

  Chris Plumley, the assistant fire chief and EMS supervisor in Inverness, was busy positioning battery-powered lanterns around the remains of a European red stag. The buck’s four-foot-long antlers were wedged sideways into the ground, the deer’s head propped at an awkward angle facing the heavens. The animal’s hind quarters were missing, its stomach eviscerated.

  The deputy sheriff shone his light on the wound. “Took it in one bite from below as it crossed the loch. This was a big buck, too. Had to weigh forty to fifty stone.”

  Liao covered her mouth as she stared wide-eyed at the half-eaten elk’s spilled innards. “What could have done this? Surely it had to be the same species as the one discovered by your son?”

  “Ye mean a guivre?” Angus shook his head. “The guivre was amphibious. This creature stays in the water. Ain’t that right, Sheriff Plumley?”

  “Aye. This wasn’t a guivre. Big like a guivre, but no’ a guivre, right, Chris?”

  “Absolutely. If this was a guivre like ol’ Nessie, she would have come ashore tae finish her meal.”

  “Good point,” Angus chimed back. “Whitever this one is, she’s big but stays tae the water. She’s not a threat tae the locals.”

  “Agreed,” the Plumley brothers said.

  Dr. Ahmed attempted to interrupt the mental circle jerk. “Excuse me, gentlemen, but how can you possibly surmise all this without having performed a necropsy?”

  “Performed a whit?”

  “A necropsy. An examination of the elk’s remains in order to determine the cause of death.”

  Angus eyeballed the Pakistani as if he had just cursed the Wallace clan. “Are ye daft? Do ye need a bloody examination tae see that the poor animal got his arse bitten off by a water monster?”

  Before Dr. Ahmed could reply, the scene was invaded by three reporters and two photographers, all of whom seemed to appear out of a fog bank.

  “Another feeding, Deputy Sheriff?”

  “Aye, lad, but I’m no expert. Whit dae ye think, Miss… ?”

  “Liao. Dr. Liao. And, yes, it would appear something large killed this elk.”

  The locals swarmed upon her like bees to honey.

  “Dan Porter, Inverness Courier. Assuming a water creature killed this stag, how large would it have tae be to inflict a bite wound this size?”

  “Honestly, I couldn’t say.”

  “Go on, Dr. Liao,” Angus pressed. “Bein’ a proper scientist, I’ll bet ye can provide a proper estimate of this beastie.”

  “I don’t wish to be quoted, Mr. Wallace.”

  “Who’s quoting ye? By the way, my son estimated the guivre at more than twelve meters. Would ye agree this completely different species is probably bigger?”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “Whit aboot ye, Dr. Ahmed? Yer a lake specialist.”

  “Yes. But like I said—”

  Two photographers snapped the visitors’ photos.

  “Issac Pringle, nice tae meet ye, Dr. Ahmed. I understand you and Dr. Liao traveled all the way from Antarctica tae be in Loch Ness. That’s quite a journey. When did you find out we had a second monster?”

  “I didn’t know— no comment. Dr. Liao, perhaps we’d better—”

  “Mr. McFarland, is it?”

  “How did you know that?”

  “You’re a guest at the Lair. Records show ye work for Stone Aerospace. With all the drones yer company builds, how would ye go about locating a second monster trapped in Loch Ness?”

  “That depends. How big is Loch Ness?”

  “Twenty-four miles long, a mile wide, and six hundred feet deep. Deeper still in Nessie’s grotto where Zachary Wallace confronted the last monster.”

  “I’m not sure. Underwater drones perhaps.”

  “Dr. Ahmed, I understand your field of expertise involves extinct species. Is there a chance this new species could be a plesiosaur?”

  “None at all. Again, there’s no need for conjecture once your experts perform a proper necropsy on this animal.”

  Angus interjected. “Then a necropsy could help determine the new monster’s species?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Then you agree Loch Ness has a second monster?”

  “Yes. I mean, no. I mean no comment!”

  Fifteen hours later, an exhausted Ming Liao and her three male associates found themselves in line at the airport in Inverness, waiting to pass through customs. Having barely slept, Liao had spent the better part of the morning arranging for her office in Beijing to wire five thousand U.S. dollars into a Bank of Scotland account belonging to one Angus Wallace. The inebriated Scot had kept her up until dawn, reassuring her that his son would sign commitment papers before the weekend was out, but that his power of persuasion needed persuading. They finally agreed that Angus would receive an additional ten thousand dollars once Liao had received a notarized signed a
greement, which was a far cry from the fifty thousand the Scot had demanded at dinner.

  The finder’s fees were not unexpected. Had she been dealing with the Saudis, Russians, or her own people, the price would have been triple. Dr. Zachary Wallace’s name carried a lot of weight among investors in both the private sector and the Chinese government, and if bribing the marine biologist’s father secured his six-month commitment to the project, then so be it. While negotiations were Liao’s forte, it was her ability to source private and state funding for the Vostok expedition while working with scientists and engineers in both the United States and Australia that ensured she would not be usurped as project director—that and the fact that her biggest donor insisted she make the descent. Dealing with an unsophisticated kilt-wearing buffoon like Angus Wallace was nothing compared to appeasing the heads of private family-run corporations whose combined investment in the Vostok expedition exceeded a billion dollars.

  Stepping up to the immigration officer, she handed the man her passport and airline ticket.

  “Quick in and oot, eh, Dr. Liao?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Won’t ask ye if ye have anything tae declare. I think ye said enough already.”

  “I’m sorry, but what are you referring to?”

  The Scot stamped her passport and handed it back with a wry smile. “No worries, lass. A nod’s as guid as a wink tae a blind horse. Pleasant flight.”

  Perplexed, she continued on to her gate, where her companions had their noses buried in the morning paper. George McFarland was shaking his head. Dr. Ahmed’s eyes were wide, filled with outrage. Only Ben Hintzmann seemed amused by what he was reading.

  “What is it?”

  Dr. Ahmed handed her his newspaper. “Wallace’s father set us up.”

  Liao glanced at the front page of the Inverness Courier. Below the emboldened headlines was a color photo taken of Dr. Ahmed hovering over the bloodied carcass of the mutilated elk.

  INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF SCIENTISTS CONFIRM A NEW MONSTER LURKS IN LOCH NESS