by M A Moore
“Find something you couldn’t live without?” Mike asked her as he moved back to make space for her on the crowded sidewalk.
In answer she held up her wrist. He examined the bracelet and rhino charm with interest supporting her forearm with his right hand. She felt a small surge of energy when his skin touched hers.
“How much?” he inquired, not letting her arm drop.
“Fifty Rand,” she replied. “Too much?” she asked looking in Mike’s eyes to gauge his reaction. He shrugged.
“I’ve never seen one with a charm before. Probably from China.”
He let her arm go and turned to the rest of their reassembled tour group mulling behind him. Mike led his brood up the hill to their transport parked around the corner.
Feeling safe on the bus Amy allowed herself to review the events of the day. The gloom that had assailed her lifted as the more analytical side of her brain went into gear. She had two cell phones. She was confident that the numbers on the back of the charm would unlock the one she got from the man with the dreadlocks. Now she also knew that that particular phone connected her with a former employer, and she didn’t mean the university. Only her associates at the gurukulum and Stephen would use the traditional Hindu greeting.
The other phone must be her link with her cousin. Things were too complicated and too mysterious for her liking. She had no idea why her connections through the ashram had interests in her trip here. The organization tended to be secretive and they had left her alone since Stephen’s death. She wasn’t sure she wanted to reconnect with them. She would just have to be patient, and patience was not a quality that came easily to her.
Chapter 8
Along the Zambezi River Chobe National Parka is the third largest park in Botswana. It has one of the largest concentrations of game in Africa. Only the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Gemsbok National Park exceed it in size, but Chobe remains the most diverse.
Alone in her room Amy entered the four digit number on the back of the rhino charm and unlocked the phone she received at the airport. There were no messages waiting for her. She thought they might use it to track her position so she popped out the power pack to check for a GPS chip. She did not want her location sent to those at the other end, whoever they may be. When she couldn’t find one she turned off the phone to conserve the battery and avoid any incoming calls. She was in no hurry to reconnect with her former employer. She had no idea how to contact them here in Africa. If they wished to communicate with her, they could leave a message.
The phone from the Vortrekker Memorial was a different story. Inside it an unusual piece of electronics caught her attention. She scrutinized the circuitry with an expert eye. The system had a level of sophistication that was beyond that available in a local store in the States. The power pack was atypical as well. The rechargeable lithium battery was smaller and lighter than most, and the tracer chip attached to it in such a manner that it would send a signal independent of whether or not the phone was on. It was an impressive design, and she couldn't think of a way to disable it without destroying the device. The man in the gray suit said they would call when she got to Chobe. They knew where she was, but she had no control over that unless she ditched the phone. This was her only link to her cousin, so that was not an option. She packed her suitcase hiding the airport phone in a special compartment of her purple bag. It would disguise its presence even under rigorous airport security procedures. The other she could just carry. She went to sleep and had unsettling dreams.
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The plane ride next morning to Botswana was short. The terminal at Kasane was small and getting through immigration and customs was no problem. Security found nothing unusual in either piece of Amy's luggage -they didn't even look. Two jeeps from the Chobe Adventure Lodge met the tour group in the parking lot. The vehicles were open-sided with a canopy top to shield passengers from the sun in the dry season and the rain when it was wet. The road was only semi-paved and the sandy spray lifted by the tires made one appreciate being in the lead car. Although the trip to the lodge took less than ten minutes Amy and her companions wore a thin layer of dust when they arrived. The rains had just ended, and Amy had trouble imagining how much dusty sediment this place dealt with in the middle of the dry season.
The Chobe Adventure Lodge sat along the Chobe River, but was not in the national park. The main entrance was within walking distance, but tourists never went there by foot. Wild beasts roamed the town's roads nightly and sometimes during daylight hours. The river is the boundary between Botswana and Namibia. A blue flag on a pole stuck in the mud seemed to move daily as the width of the river changed and each country claimed more of it as its own.
Rustic rooms surrounded a quadrangle of grass irrigated every morning even though the river was still close to flood stage. Signs along the bank said to beware of hippos. The hippopotamus is an aquatic mammal with large tusk like teeth that spends its days in the water and evenings on land browsing for vegetation. They are herbivores, plant eaters, but they kill more humans than any other animal in Africa. All of the lodge’s amenities were open to the elements but common areas such as the lobby and dining terrace had thatched roofs for shade and rain protection. Guest rooms were furnished with dark mahogany furniture and had individual air conditioning and heating units. Amy's bathroom had a claw foot tub and a separate shower and loo.
Mike had wisely clustered his brood on the first floor only a short walk from where they would eat. Each room had two twin beds with canopies of mosquito netting that housekeeping tucked into the mattress during the dinner hour. According to the posted signs this was a malaria-free zone, and May was the low season for outbreaks of the disease. One hoped that someone had told this to the female Anopheles mosquitoes that carried the plasmodium parasite that caused the illness. Each room had double glass doors that opened onto a porch for observing local wildlife in the quad.
A game ride on the Chobe River was the first afternoon’s entertainment. The flat bottom boat had folding chairs, but Amy stood by the rail watching monitor lizards and crocodiles basking along the shore with her binoculars. The lumps of gray flesh topped with occasional cattle egrets turned out to be elephants feeding on the soft green foliage growing in the water. Carmine bee-eater birds swooped the islands of river grass catching insects. Groups of hippos, only their ears and snouts showing, grunted when the boat got too close to them for their own comfort. Mike seemed to be in his element. Amy thought he looked happier and more relaxed than any time since the tour began. The Vortrekker phone sat in her pocket, and for a while she simply forgot its existence. If they were monitoring her location and tracing her movements, she hoped they would wait until she was alone before calling.
They had to share the river with several other watercraft, but the boats meandered the channels slowly to avoid hitting submerged hippos. Amy leaned against a guide rail to steady herself while she watched a group of impossibly ugly marabou storks. A speedboat shot by them. Amy staggered a little when the large wake rocked their small vessel. She fell back into Mike who had been standing behind her as if expecting something to happen. He reached around her with his free arm and held on to the side rail to steady them both. Amy had no trouble regaining her balance, but Mike didn’t let go until the deck leveled out. He took the opportunity to sniff her hair and noticed it smelled of lavender and mint.
When the danger was over Amy looked up at Mike's smiling face over her right shoulder. “Thanks,” Amy said -having him so close made her a little self-conscious.
“Anytime,” Mike replied with a grin before he released her.
He turned his attention to the other passengers. A few empty chairs had fallen over, but no one had gotten hurt. Their navigation pilot was still cursing in a language that Amy didn’t recognize, but she was sure of the intent towards the speeding boat’s captain. Amy wished Mike would turn down his pheromones. The attraction she felt for him was getting stronger and she found hersel
f distracted when he was too near. She didn’t need distractions right now. She had other things to worry about.
That evening after dinner a live three piece band played salsa music at the lounge. A smattering of people drank cocktails at tables surrounding the empty dance floor. Amy sat at the bar alone with a frosty glass of tonic with a lemon wedge and looked over the small crowd of her fellow travelers. Lily and James shared a table with Linda and Paul. Lily swayed her shoulders to the music, practically dancing in her seat. Maxine and Debra had something in tall glasses with umbrellas talking nonstop. Amy felt sorry for the band that played to such an unappreciative audience. She left her drink at the bar and sashayed her way out to the small dance floor. She wore a short blue halter neck shift that fit the curves of her waist. She made a path over to Lily’s table swiveling her hips in time with the music.
“Let’s show them how it’s done, Lily,” Amy encouraged. Lily needed none.
The two swayed their shoulders to the beat and shuffled their feet around each other. Amy took Lily’s hand and led her in lazy circles on the dance floor. Stopping in front of James, Amy beckoned him to join them. He demurred, but she took his hand and gave him little choice in the matter. Amy passed Lily on to him and moved to the next table in their entourage. By the time Mike made his appearance Amy had all seven members of their tour group dancing in a rather irregular and spastic conga line. Even the band had gotten in the spirit. Mike ordered a Coke and sat at the bar to watch.
The band switched to a slow number. Maxine and Debra retreated to their seats to finish their drinks and Paul and Linda joined them. Amy retrieved her glass and sat there admiring James and Lily as they danced alone, cheek to cheek. When James looked into Lily’s eyes it was with something like adoration. They were a very happy couple who had been together a long time, and Amy was just a little envious.
As she downed the rest of her warm drink Mike moved next to her. “May I buy you another?” he asked.
“I don’t think so. I fall asleep when I have a second.” He took a sniff of her glass. It was tonic without the gin.
“You do realize that you have to have a first one before you start counting a second.”
Amy just smiled, but she was feeling a bit flirtatious. “Dance with me?”
He led her out to the dance floor and rested his hands on her waist. Her eyes only came up a little above his shoulders, and she reached up and put her fingers lightly on them. He moved her around the dance floor in large circles and she followed his lead effortlessly. The band played a sad melody in three-four time. Amy closed her eyes and let Mike guide her in place. After a few moments, he took her right hand in his left, moved his other to the small of her back, and waltzed her around the floor in traditional ballroom fashion. When the music stopped Amy opened her eyes as if awakening from a dream. She made a small curtsy, Mike bowed, and they both laughed.
“You’re a man of many talents, Mr. Stone.”
“Boarding school curriculum,” he replied smiling, but not letting her go yet.
The band began packing up their instruments, and Mike had to release her. “See you in the morning,” she said as she departed taking the path by the river. Mike followed her with his eyes until she disappeared into the darkness.
Amy turned on both cell phones and put them on the nightstand next to her bed. She tucked the mosquito netting around her and fell asleep without the difficulty she had most evenings. She thrashed about with restless dreams, but the phones were silent.
Next morning Amy woke at first light. She showered and checked both cell phones for messages and found none. A monitor lizard and a few warthogs rambled in the water sprinklers, and the large trees shading the area were full of bird song. She made herself a cup of coffee and sat on the porch. She didn’t recall any of the dreams she had that night, but she remembered dreaming, and that they were not pleasant.
The Vortrekker phone started vibrating.
“Hello,” she said suppressing the sense of anticipation she felt inside. The dispassionate attitude she was trying to convey was merely illusion.
“Amy Mohr?” the disembodied voice on the other end of the line asked.
“Speaking.”
“At the coffee stop during this morning’s game drive get yourself away the rest of the group. Someone will meet you and take you to your cousin.”
“That’s not going to be easy. Our program manager is quite protective.”
“You’ll think of something I am sure.” He hesitated only a few moments. “Dispose of this phone at once,” he ordered. “You’ll no longer need it.”
The caller abruptly hung up. Amy stared at the phone for a few seconds. She debated between two options. Keep the cell phone for further study or get rid of it so her position was not so easily monitored. Curiosity won out. She popped open the battery cover, but the case started heating in her hand. Soon it was too hot to handle. She dropped it in the wastebasket in her room seconds before it burst into flames. When the fire died out all that remained was a melted chunk of gray plastic and a lingering metallic smell. Amy pocketed the other cell phone and headed out to breakfast.
Chapter 9
Drones have joined the war on rhino poachers in South Africa: For the first time an unmanned drone has been deployed to track suspected poachers in South Africa. Conservationists strive to tackle the tragedy surrounding the number of endangered rhino deaths.-unidentified government source.
Reynolds took Mavis for a test run to check out her new systems. Determining distance had always been a weak part of Mavis' performance. She often crashed into objects because Reynolds couldn't tell how close she was to them until it was too late. They were just lucky she was easy to put back together. Giving her radar capabilities was not an option. The necessary equipment was too heavy and cost more than they could afford. Jeffrey came up with an idea using two coordinated cameras. Paul developed the software and Reynolds installed the hardware. Mavis now had stereoscopic vision much like a human or better yet, an eagle.
Reynolds had Mavis fly a hundred meters above a herd of impala. He had to be careful how far away he let her get. He also needed to watch out for obstacles between him and Mavis that would interfere with the signal. The range of his controller varied with both altitude and line of sight. If she was too distant, all sorts of things had the potential for going wrong. If his response time was slow she might crash because he couldn't make adjustments fast enough for her to avoid dangers in her way. Reynolds liked to keep eyes on her. But she was small and that was difficult when she got more than a few hundred meters away. She needed to be able to recognize obstacles in her path and go around them without his intervention. Relinquishing total control would be wrenching for Reynolds -like giving a teenager the keys to the family car and letting them drive solo. He could talk to Paul about adjustments to her software.
Reynolds left his associates Jeffrey and Paul back at their base camp. The team planned on moving south to search for poachers rumored to be near a large herd of elephants there. Jeffrey and Paul collected needed supplies for the venture in a nearby town. Both of these men were descendants of the early Dutch settlers who had come into this region in the 1830s and 40s. Paul was a graduate of the best universities that South Africa had to offer. Jeffrey had picked up his mechanical skills while serving his mandatory four-year military service. The three of them believed that the land and its wildlife were theirs to safeguard for future generations. Paul and Jeffrey found a kindred spirit in Reynolds whom they considered a spiritual brother. They also admitted he was difficult to work with when he got a hair-brained idea in his head. He sometimes took crazy chances that put them all at risk.
Reynolds let Mavis climb to one hundred feet. From there Mavis had about a twelve-mile straight line view to the horizon. The GPS chip he had installed on her gave him a precise location that he could track on his laptop computer using satellite images of the terrain. After letting the software self-adjust the focus on the ground Reynolds beamed
when Lucy and Desi made an appearance on his screen. Lucy and Desi were the nicknames of a pair of white rhinos that frequented this area of the park. He scanned the camera to see if Little Ricky, their young offspring born last season, was close.
No Little Ricky, but Reynolds did locate a jeep with at least two men too nearby for Reynolds’ comfort. Rhino horn sold for lots of money in the Asian market, even though its health benefits would do the user no more good than chewing one’s fingernails. It was unlikely that park rangers were on patrol in the area -budget cuts had been severe. He texted his GPS coordinates and a brief explanation of the problem to Jeffrey and Paul. If they got the message in time they'd be there to back him up. Reynolds couldn't wait. He would take matters into his own hands -just like always. He took out the rifle he kept under the front seat of the jeep for emergencies and made sure it was loaded. He would use it only if he had to. The poachers were a couple of kilometers from Reynolds' location. He put Mavis in a holding pattern letting her scan the area in large circles recording ground activity while he drove to intercept the poachers before the rhinos could come to harm.
From the cover of a tangle of acacia trees Reynolds watched the two men with his binoculars. They were not park rangers, and the threat to Lucy and Desi was real. At least these poachers weren’t professionals. They lacked the sophisticated gear that the terrorist bands had been displaying as of late. They may have only decided to take up poaching to feed their families.
“I’ll be damned if I let them have Lucy or Desi,” Reynolds whispered between clenched teeth.
He knew he should wait for back up. But too many rhinos had gone missing from the park in the last few years. And he thought of Lucy and Desi as personal friends. The poachers left their jeep and approached the animals while they grazed. Reynolds climbed up to a convenient branch carrying the rifle over his shoulder. He saw Little Ricky napping nearby in the tall grass. The men showed some tracking skills. They kept down wind, blowing their man scent away from the pair of beasts.
