Leap - 02
Page 13
When the last truck had departed, the metal door was lowered, and the area plunged back into darkness and silence.
“Well, that was interesting.”
Caesare watched the tail lights of the last truck finally disappear into the distance. “How far would you say those trucks can make it on a full tank of gas?”
Clay shrugged. “Uphill, with all that armor, maybe three hundred miles. They wouldn’t use much gas coming down.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
A few hundred yards away, silence swept over the Chinese ship again as it rocked almost imperceptibly in the darkness. The mysterious man standing above the others watched his men disappear again below deck. He dropped his cigarette and mashed it out with the tip of his boot.
Lieutenant Wang Chao turned around and studied the bright lights of Georgetown less than a mile away. He marveled at how well the government had kept the area clear given such a large nearby population. Money spoke, he thought.
Chao then turned and focused on the small group of lights further out at sea. It was a United States ship. A science vessel, he’d been told. Chao displayed a tight grin. He was surprised it had taken the U.S. so long. But it didn’t matter. They had arrived too late. Soon Chao, his team, and their loaded ship would all be gone.
27
General Zhang Wei stared absently at his desk as he laid the phone handset back into its cradle. In his late fifties, with cool eyes and close-cropped gray hair, he was not a man to get excited too soon. But he couldn’t help but smile now. They had done it.
Lieutenant Chao had confirmed it. They were now days from completion, and the small science ship sent by the U.S. had only just arrived. They were far too late. Wei could not have hoped for a better result, especially since they expected, in all probability, to be discovered far earlier. It was a risk that had paid off handsomely. There was now nothing standing in their way. They had made the find of the century and with virtually no international contention at all. Yet when the world found out what the Chinese now possessed, it would leave them utterly shocked.
However, along with the good news from Chao came the unfortunate end to a problem that General Wei had known would have to be dealt with eventually. He reached forward and picked up the remote control to a large television screen on his wall. He powered it on and selected the special input feed he’d watched many times before.
The picture came to life displaying a dismal gray cell at an unidentified location, deep underground. In the corner was a small cot with a figure resting on top. His back was facing the camera.
The General stared silently at the screen. The truth was he felt a small amount of sympathy for the man. His name was Zang, and he had done his country the highest honor of anyone perhaps in China’s entire three thousand year history. Even more difficult, Zang was a true patriot. He had returned to China with one of man’s greatest discoveries, wanting only to enrich the country he loved so much.
In addition, it was clear from the hours of videotaped interrogation that he had absolutely no idea what he’d done wrong, or why he was being held captive. How could anyone who delivered a gift like his be treated so poorly? Zang could only imagine that there had been a terrible mistake. Perhaps the authorities thought he was trying to use this find to his own advantage: to leverage some kind of deal or payment. It was the only thing that made sense.
General Wei had watched for hours the barrage of questions put to Zang. The patriot never wavered from his explanation. More importantly, Zang showed himself to be wholly unable to think independently from the explanation his mind had created. At one point, Wei watched Zang try to ask if something was wrong with his explanation: whether the government had been unable to locate the find in Guyana.
Wei lit a cigarette at his desk and continued staring at Zang’s cell. The problem wasn’t that they could not find Zang’s discovery. It was the opposite. They had found it, right where he said it was. And it was the very same reason that in a few days, Lieutenant Chao would have to kill every single one of his men in Guyana.
Wei picked up the phone and dialed. When the call was answered, he spoke softly and clearly, “End it.”
When the door to Zang’s cell swung quietly open, General Wei held up the remote and turned the television off. Less than sixty seconds later, Zang was dead.
28
Alison gripped the stainless steel railing, unable to decide if she was nervous or scared…probably both. She looked to the port side of the boat at the sun peeking up over the line of the horizon, separating ocean from sky. The water was like glass this early in the morning, making it the perfect departure time.
It was the day they had all been preparing for. Alison looked down and watched Dirk and Sally leap excitedly through the calm water, just ahead of the boat’s surging bow. They were as thrilled as she was and were leading their human friends out into the waters of the Caribbean.
It was a dream come true for any marine researcher but especially for Alison. Not just to observe, but to communicate and participate within the natural world of another species. To experience what they experienced, and to see the world from their eyes was more than she could ever have imagined. Now it was happening. At that moment, she realized it wasn’t nervousness or fear. It was an unbridled excitement which she had never felt before: the point where dreams and miracles met.
Behind Alison, Kelly Carlson sat in the skipper’s seat, looking out over the top of the cabin and scanning the ocean. She wore a tan baseball cap and a long, loose-fitting white T-shirt. Kelly leaned forward and reduced the throttle to match Dirk and Sally’s pace.
Inside, down in the forward starboard hull, Chris stood behind Lee, who was running through yet more system checks on the servers. The sound on the graphs was spiking up and down along the top, much higher than normal. It was the underwater microphone picking up the noise from the boat’s 267 horsepower John Deere diesel engine as they motored forward.
Lee glanced up and over his shoulder at Chris. “Here goes.” He typed a command that activated a new algorithm designed to identify the signature of the engine and eliminate it. The large spike was immediately highlighted and disappeared from the graph, displaying a more normalized baseline.
“So this will allow us to hear the dolphins but not the other way around?”
“Right,” Lee nodded. “We’re receiving sound from the microphone, which is a lot easier to work with than what we’d be sending out through the speakers. This should allow us to hear them while running the engines in case they need to tell us something.”
“Nice. Everything else look okay?”
“So far, so good.” He glanced at the servers, now strapped to the floor near his feet. It was another benefit of the catamaran design. The amount of heeling or leaning was negligible, reducing the chance of the servers being tipped, even in rougher seas.
“Well, if you don’t need me,” said Chris, “I’m gonna head up top.”
“Sure, go ahead. I’ll be up in a little while after I’ve checked a few more things.”
With a nod and a pat on Lee’s shoulder, Chris stepped through the narrow oval doorway and climbed the half dozen steps into the salon. After stepping out in the warm breeze, he spotted Alison at the bow and trailed along the lifelines to join her. Looking past her, he could see Dirk and Sally swimming effortlessly out in front.
“Everything okay?”
Alison inhaled deeply and smiled. “Couldn’t be better.”
“Anything more from DeeAnn?”
She glanced at her watch. “Not yet. Not for a few more hours.”
DeeAnn had phoned late the night before, letting Alison and the team know they landed safely. They had arrived at Alves’ preserve just after nine o’clock. All told, it was a successful trip, and Dulce seemed to be doing well.
Alison couldn’t hide her enthusiasm. Even though it was still early, everything was progressing according to plan. She crossed her fingers and hoped their good luck woul
d continue.
DeeAnn awoke early and turned over, examining the room. The walls were a soft white, reflecting the early morning sun. The room was decorated in a stylish, natural theme. She spotted some beautiful orange flowers on her dresser and wondered what they were called. Finally, she rolled to the side of the bed and stood up. She dressed and picked up the new, thicker vest, before unplugging it from the wall.
She planned to give Dulce some time that day to acclimate before starting the search. DeeAnn was worried at the possibility of pushing Dulce too hard. Gorillas were introverted creatures, and the last thing she needed was Dulce becoming overly excited. Behaviorally speaking, it was a very small step from excited to frantic.
Alves had given DeeAnn the closest room to the fenced area downstairs, just seconds away. Descending the stairs quietly, she pushed the exterior door open gently to look for Dulce.
The fenced area was larger than it appeared the night before. It measured at least three hundred by another hundred and fifty yards. She spotted the black fur of Dulce’s back hunched over in a nearby corner. DeeAnn watched as Dulce plucked a handful of flowers and sniffed at them, apparently unable to decide if they were edible.
Dulce turned when she heard the metal gate open behind her. She dropped the new handful of flowers and ran excitedly through the tall grass to DeeAnn.
You here, you here.
DeeAnn opened her arms just in time for Dulce to leap into them. At the last second, DeeAnn remembered the vest and cringed as Dulce’s body landed with a thud against it. She promptly lowered Dulce to the ground. “Sensitive,” she replied, tapping the vest. “We have to be careful.”
Dulce gave her a toothy grin. Okay. I careful. She grabbed DeeAnn’s hand and pulled her forward. Come. New flowers. Pretty.
Less than an hour later and after watching Dulce examine much of her new play area, the metal gate squeaked again and Juan Diaz stepped through into the fenced area. He tromped over the tall grass and met them with a smile.
“Morning, Dee.”
“Good morning, Juan.”
Juan watched as Dulce climbed up a small tree to its lowest branch. “How is she?”
DeeAnn began to speak but caught herself. She glanced down at the vest. “Where’s the mute button?”
“We didn’t have time to put one in.”
DeeAnn nodded and instead placed her finger firmly over the small microphone. She also turned the vest away from Dulce just in case. “She’s doing all right. She’s showing some mild signs of anxiety.” She motioned to the area around them. “But out here with us, she seems a little better.”
“Yeah, I could see her starting to get a little upset on the plane.”
“Right. Gorillas are introverted so what we see on the outside is only the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, when they hit their breaking point, we don’t get much warning.”
Juan noticed DeeAnn’s attention shift and he turned to see where she was looking. Mateus Alves was approaching from the large building. Walking through the grass was difficult, even with his cane. A second man was with him, tall and broad, dressed in matching khaki shorts and shirt. DeeAnn and Juan left Dulce playing on the tree while they met the men at the fence.
“Mr. Alves.”
“Greetings, Ms. Draper. Mr. Diaz. I hope you both slept well.” He turned to the man standing just behind him. “I’d like to introduce our head of security, Miguel Blanco. He helps keep things running when I’m away.”
DeeAnn smiled politely. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Hi,” Juan added.
“Good morning.” Blanco gave them a slight nod. With dark, hawkish eyes and a deep tan, he looked like a seasoned soldier out of uniform.
Alves looked past DeeAnn. “And how is Dulce faring this morning?”
“So far, so good.” She decided to keep the nuances about Dulce’s behavior just between her and Juan.
“Wonderful. Shall we bring some food out?”
“Please. Otherwise, she’s probably going to eat all of your flowers.”
Alves laughed. “She’s welcome to eat whatever she likes. Though I’m not sure everything would be to her liking. I must admit I’m not well educated on the differences in flora between our two continents. I’ll have food brought out right away. As for the rest of the animals,” he said, waving his arm, “we lost many during the vandalism.” He motioned up the hill, past the nearby fences. “The rest of the preserve is wild and to where most of our remaining animals escaped. I’m afraid it will take some time to find them.”
“I’m guessing that’s where our capuchin monkey is?”
“Yes, we believe so.”
DeeAnn nodded, still staring up the hill. She couldn’t tell what was the preserve and what was…well, Brazil. It was all mountain and jungle as far as she could see. She felt her heart sink at the sheer expanse before them. She was finally faced with the thought she’d been avoiding this entire time. How on earth were they supposed to find a monkey in all of this?
DeeAnn took a deep breath. There was another topic she was dreading, one she couldn’t put off any longer either. She turned to Juan and began unfastening the buckles on the vest. “Juan, would you mind looking after Dulce for a bit?”
“Sure, Dee.”
DeeAnn looked at Alves. “Mr. Alves, can you show me Luke’s room?”
Miguel Blanco unlocked the door and pushed it open. He then stepped out of the way to allow DeeAnn in.
When Blanco turned on the light behind her, DeeAnn gasped.
Alves stepped in from the hallway and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Ms. Draper. We had to leave things as they were the night of the attack, for investigation purposes.”
DeeAnn nodded absently and scanned the room. Several things were turned over or broken and in some cases, both. Clothes were pulled from a small dresser, strewn across the floor. A large desk in the corner had been overturned.
“My God,” she whispered, “what happened?” She turned to Alves and Blanco. “Were they looking for something?”
Alves shrugged. “It appears so. Though I’m afraid we don’t know what. We weren’t exactly working on anything secretive.”
DeeAnn stepped over a broken lamp, suddenly afraid at the possibility of seeing blood. To her relief, there was none.
Alves spoke softly over her shoulder. “Footsteps outside suggest Luke made it out before disappearing. We believe he was picked up and carried from there. Everything we’ve learned seems to suggest it was a raid of vandalism, designed to ruin the preserve. Several systems, including the main air-conditioning system, were destroyed.”
“Why would they want to ruin your preserve?”
Alves shook his head. “I don’t know, Ms. Draper. As I said, I have many enemies who would love to see my businesses fail, but the preserve is different. It is the one thing I’ve done truly for the people of our country: for all the people of South America.”
“Could Luke have seen something? Something he wasn’t supposed to?”
“It’s possible. If he recognized someone, it might explain why they would take him.”
Would it? DeeAnn thought to herself. Would it really explain anything? She wanted desperately to believe Luke was still alive, but she was an analytical person. She couldn’t help asking the obvious question in her head. If Luke had seen something he wasn’t supposed to, why didn’t they simply kill him? Her only explanation was that he didn’t see something…instead, he probably knew something.
She stared at the items on the floor for a long time before turning back around to face her hosts. “And we’re hoping to find this monkey Luke was working with…for what, exactly?”
“Anything,” Blanco answered, in a deep voice. “Whoever did this covered their tracks well. We’re hoping the capuchin can give us a clue as to who it was. A uniform, an insignia, anything. We have a number of pictures we can show him. We’re hoping he can pick something out. At this point, it’s the only option we have left.”
Tears began to well up in her eyes. She blinked hard, chasing them away. With a quick wipe from the back of her hand, DeeAnn looked back at Alves and Blanco. “So do you have any video or audio footage of this monkey Dexter?”
29
Chris found Alison, standing once again on the bow. She was eating a sandwich and watching the water as the boat drifted in place. The gentle swells of late afternoon sun reflected brightly off the water. Dirk and Sally had left to hunt for food, leaving them all with some down time.
“Ali!” Chris walked forward, keeping close to the stanchions.
She turned to see him approaching with the satellite phone in his hand. “Who is it?”
Chris smiled. “Guess.”
She held it to her ear and answered. “Hello?”
“Hello, beautiful.”
Alison grinned. “Well, hi there.”
“How are things going? I presume you’re at sea since your cell phone didn’t pick up.”
“We sure are. We’re over seventy miles out already, almost within sight of St. Kitts. And you’re very sweet for remembering. What are you up to?”
Clay looked at Caesare, who was downing a piece of pizza. “Just watching Steve eat,” he joked. In reality they were less than a mile from the abandoned building they’d spent much of the night atop and were about to head back to it.