The boat scraped up the shady patch of shore and came to a stop.
“So far so good,” Jack said. He encouraged the women and Warren to get out. Then, with Warren pulling and Jack paddling, they got the boat high on the beach.
Jack got out and pointed to a stone wall that ran perpendicular to the base of the pier before disappearing into the gently rising sand of the beach. “Let’s hug the wall. When we clear it, head for the Chickee Bar.”
A few minutes later, they were in the bar. The soldier had not paid them any heed. Either he didn’t see them or he didn’t care.
The bar was deserted except for a black man carefully cutting up lemons and limes. Jack motioned toward the stools and suggested a celebratory drink. Everyone was happy to comply. It had been hot in the canoe after the sun came out and especially after the canopy had come down.
The bartender came over immediately. His name tag identified him as Saturnino. In contradiction to his name, he was a jovial fellow. He was wearing a wild print shirt and a pillbox hat similar to the one Arturo had on when he picked them up at the airport the previous afternoon.
Following Natalie’s lead, everyone had Coke with a slice of lemon.
“Not much business today,” Jack commented to Saturnino.
“Not until after five,” the bartender said. “Then we are very busy.”
“We’re new here,” Jack said. “What money do we use?”
“You can sign,” Saturnino said.
Jack looked at Laurie for permission. Laurie shook her head. “We’d rather pay,” he said. “Are dollars okay?”
“What you like,” Saturnino said. “Dollars or CFA. It makes no difference.”
“Where is the hospital?” Jack asked.
Saturnino pointed over his shoulder. “Up the street until you get to the main square. It is the big building on the left.”
“What do they do there?” Jack asked.
Saturnino looked at Jack as if he were crazy. “They take care of people.”
“Do people come from America just to go to the hospital?” Jack asked.
Saturnino shrugged. “I don’t know about that,” he said. He took the bills Jack had put on the bar and turned to the cash register.
“Nice try,” Laurie whispered.
“It would have been too easy,” Jack agreed.
Refreshed after their cold drinks, the group headed out into the sunlight. They passed within fifty feet of the soldier who continued to ignore them. After a short walk up a hot cobblestone street, they came to a small green surrounded by plantation-style homes.
“It reminds me of some of the Caribbean Islands,” Laurie said.
Five minutes later, they entered the tree-lined town square. The group of soldiers lolling in front of the town hall diagonally across from where they were standing spoiled the otherwise idyllic tableau.
“Whoa,” Jack said. “There’s a whole battalion.”
“I thought you said that if there were soldiers at the gate they wouldn’t have to have any in the town,” Laurie said.
“I’ve been proved wrong,” Jack acknowledged. “But there’s no need to go over and announce ourselves. This is the hospital lab complex in front of us.”
From the corner of the square, the building appeared to take up most of a Cogo city block. There was an entrance facing the square, but there was also one down the side street to their left. To avoid remaining in view of the lounging soldiers, they went to the side entrance.
“What are you going to say if we’re questioned?” Laurie asked with some concern. “And walking into a hospital, you know it’s bound to happen.”
“I’m going to improvise,” Jack said. He yanked the door open and ushered his friends in with an exaggerated bow.
Laurie glanced at Natalie and Warren and rolled her eyes. At least Jack could still be charming even when he was most exasperating.
After entering the building, everyone shivered with delight. Never had air conditioning felt quite so good. The room they found themselves in appeared to be a lounge, complete with wall-to-wall carpeting, club chairs, and couches. A large bookcase lined one wall. Some of the shelving was on an angle to display an impressive collection of periodicals from Time to National Geographic. There were about a half dozen people sitting in the room, all of them reading.
In the back wall at desk height was an opening fronted with sliding glass panels. Behind the glass a black woman in a blue uniform dress was sitting at a desk. To the right of the opening was a hall with several elevators.
“Could all these people be patients?” Laurie asked.
“Good question,” Jack said. “Somehow, I don’t think so. They all look too healthy and too comfortable. Let’s talk to the secretary or whoever she is.”
Warren and Natalie were intimidated by the hospital environment. They silently followed after Jack and Laurie.
Jack rapped softly on the glass. The woman looked up from her work and slid the glass open.
“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t see you arrive. Are you checking in?”
“No,” Jack said. “All my bodily functions are working fine at the moment.”
“Excuse me?” the woman questioned.
“We’re here to see the hospital, not use its services,” Jack said. “We’re doctors.”
“This isn’t the hospital,” the woman said. “This is the Inn. You can either go out and come in the front of the building or follow the hall to your right. The hospital is beyond the double doors.”
“Thank you,” Jack said.
“My pleasure,” the woman said. She leaned forward and watched as Jack and the others disappeared around the corner. Perplexed, the woman sat back and picked up her phone.
Jack led the others through the double doors. Immediately, the surroundings looked more familiar. The floors were vinyl and the walls were painted a soothing hospital green. A faint antiseptic smell was detectable.
“This is more like it,” Jack said.
They entered a room whose windows fronted on the square. Between the windows were a large pair of doors leading to the outside. There were a few couches and chairs on area rugs forming distinct conversational groupings, but it was nothing like the lounge they’d initially entered. But like the lounge, this space had a glass-fronted information cubbyhole.
Jack again knocked on the glass. Another woman slid open the glass partition. She was equally as cordial.
“We have a question,” Jack said. “We’re doctors, and we’d like to know if there are currently any transplant patients in the hospital?”
“Yes, of course, there’s one,” the woman said with a confused look on her face. “Horace Winchester. He’s in 302 and ready to be discharged.”
“How convenient,” Jack said. “What organ was transplanted?”
“His liver,” the woman said. “Are you all from the Pittsburgh group?”
“No, we’re part of the New York group,” Jack said.
“I see,” the woman said, although her expression suggested she didn’t see at all.
“Thank you,” Jack said to the woman as he herded the group toward the elevators that could be seen to the right.
“Luck is finally going our way,” Jack said excitedly. “This is going to make it easy. Maybe all we have to do is get a look at the chart.”
“As if that’s going to be easy,” Laurie commented.
“True,” Jack said after a moment’s thought. “So maybe we should just drop in on Horace and get the lowdown from the horse’s mouth.”
“Hey, man,” Warren said, pulling Jack to a stop. “Maybe Natalie and I should wait down here. We’re not used to being in a hospital, you know what I’m saying?”
“I suppose,” Jack said reluctantly. “But I kind of think it’s important for us to stick together in case we have to mosey down to the canoe sooner than we’d like. You know what I’m saying?”
Warren nodded and Jack pressed the elevator call button.
Cameron McI
vers was accustomed to false alarms. After all, most of the time he or the Office of Security was called, it was a false alarm. Accordingly, as he entered the front door of the Inn, he was not concerned. But it was his job or one of his deputies’ to check out all potential problems.
As he crossed to the information desk, Cameron noted that the lounge was as subdued as usual. The calm scene bolstered his suspicions that this call would be like all the others.
Cameron tapped on the glass, and it was slid open.
“Miss Williams,” Cameron said, while touching the brim of his hat in a form of salute. Cameron and the rest of the security force wore khaki uniforms with an Aussi hat when on duty. There was also a leather belt with shoulder strap. A holstered Beretta was attached to the belt on the right side and a hand-held two-way radio on the left side.
“They went that way,” Corrina Williams said excitedly. She lifted herself out of her chair to point around the corner.
“Calm down,” Cameron said gently. “Who exactly are you talking about?”
“They didn’t give any names,” Corrina said. “There were four of them. Only one spoke. He said he was a doctor.”
“Hmmm,” Cameron voiced. “And you’ve never seen them before?”
“Never,” Corrina said anxiously. “They took me by surprise. I thought maybe they were to stay at the Inn since we had new arrivals yesterday. But they said they had come to see the hospital. When I told them how to get there, they left straightaway.”
“Were they black or white?” Cameron asked. Maybe this wouldn’t be a typical false alarm after all.
“Half and half,” Corrina said. “Two blacks, two whites. But I could tell from the way they were dressed they were all American.”
“I see,” Cameron said, while he stroked his beard and pondered the unlikely possibility of any of the Zone’s American workers coming into the Inn to say they wanted to see the hospital.
“The one who was talking also said something strange about his bodily functions working fine,” Corrina said. “I didn’t know how to respond.”
“Hmmm,” Cameron repeated. “Could I use your phone?”
“Of course,” Corrina said. She pulled the phone over from the side of her desk and faced it out toward Cameron.
Cameron punched the manager’s direct line. Siegfried answered immediately.
“I’m here at the Inn,” Cameron explained. “I thought you should be apprised of a curious story. Four strange doctors presented themselves here to Miss Williams with the wish to see the hospital.”
Siegfried’s response was an angry tirade that forced Cameron to hold the receiver away from his ear. Even Corrina cringed.
Cameron handed the phone back to the receptionist. He’d not heard every word of Siegfried’s invective but the meaning was clear. Cameron was to get reinforcements over there immediately and detain the alien doctors.
Cameron unsnapped the straps over both his Beretta and the radio simultaneously. He pulled the radio free and made an emergency call to base while he started for the hospital.
Room 302 turned out to be in the front of the building with a fine view out over the square looking east. Jack and the others had found the room without difficulty. No one had challenged them. In fact, they hadn’t seen a person as they’d made their way from the elevator to the room’s open door.
Jack had knocked but it was obvious the room was momentarily empty although there’d been plenty of evidence the room was occupied. A television with a built-in VCR was on, and it was showing an old Paul Newman movie. The hospital bed was moderately disheveled. An open, half-packed suitcase was poised on a luggage stand.
The mystery was solved when Laurie noticed the sounds of a shower behind the closed bathroom door.
When the water stopped running, Jack had knocked, but it wasn’t until almost ten minutes later that Horace Winchester appeared.
The patient was in his mid-fifties and corpulent. But he looked happy and healthy. He cinched up the tie on his bathrobe and padded over to the club chair by the bed. He sat down with a satisfied sigh.
“What’s the occasion?” he asked, smiling at his guests. “This is more company than I’ve had the whole time I’ve been here.”
“How are you feeling?” Jack asked. He grabbed a straight-back chair and sat down directly in front of Horace. Warren and Natalie lurked just outside the door. They felt reluctant to enter the room. Laurie went to the window. After seeing the group of soldiers, she’d become progressively anxious. She was eager to make the visit short and get back to the boat.
“I’m feeling just great,” Horace said. “It’s a miracle. I came here at death’s door and as yellow as a canary. Look at me now! I’m ready for thirty-six holes of golf at one of my resorts. Hey, any of you people are invited to any of my places for as long as you want to stay, and it will all be on the house. Do you like to ski?”
“I do,” Jack said. “But I’d rather talk about your case. I understand you had a liver transplant here. I’d like to ask where the liver came from?”
A half smile puckered Horace’s face as he regarded Jack out of the corner of his eye. “Is this some kind of test?” he asked. “Because if it is, it’s not necessary. I’m not going to be telling anyone. I couldn’t be more grateful. In fact, as soon as I can, I’m going to have another double made.”
“Exactly what do you mean by a ‘double’?” Jack asked.
“Are you people part of the Pittsburgh team?” Horace asked. He looked over at Laurie.
“No, we’re part of the New York team,” Jack said. “And we’re fascinated by your case. We’re glad you are doing so well, and we’re here to learn.” Jack smiled and spread his hands palms up. “We’re all ears. Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“You mean how I got sick?” Horace asked. He was plainly confused.
“No, how you arranged to have your transplant here in Africa,” Jack said. “And I’d like to know what you mean by a double. Did you by any chance get a liver taken from some kind of ape?”
Horace gave a little nervous laugh and shook his head. “What’s going on here?” he questioned. He glanced again at Laurie and then at Natalie and Warren, who were still standing in the doorway.
“Uh-oh!” Laurie suddenly voiced. She was staring out the window. “There’s a bunch of soldiers running this way across the square.”
Warren quickly crossed the room and looked out. “Shit, man. They mean business!”
Jack stood up, reached out, and grasped Horace by the shoulders. He leaned his face close to the patient’s. “You are really going to disappoint me if you don’t answer my questions, and I do the strangest things when I’m disappointed. What kind of animal was it, a chimpanzee?”
“They’re coming to the hospital,” Warren yelled. “And they all have AK-47’s.”
“Come on!” Jack urged Horace while giving the man a little shake. “Talk to me. Was it a chimpanzee?” Jack tightened his hold on the man.
“It was a bonobo,” Horace squeaked. He was terrified.
“Is that a type of ape?” Jack demanded.
“Yes,” Horace managed.
“Come on, man!” Warren encouraged. He was back at the door. “We got to get our asses out of here.”
“And what did you mean by a double?” Jack asked.
Laurie grabbed Jack’s arm. “There’s no time. Those soldiers will be up here in a minute.”
Reluctantly, Jack let go of Horace and allowed himself to be dragged to the door. “Damn, I was so close,” he complained.
Warren was waving frantically for them to follow him and Natalie down the central corridor toward the back of the building, when the elevator door opened. Out stepped Cameron with his Beretta clutched in his hand.
“Everyone halt!” Cameron shouted the moment he saw the strangers. He grabbed his gun in both hands and trained it on Warren and Natalie. Then he swept it around to aim at Jack and Laurie. For Cameron, the problem was that his adversaries
were on either side of him. When he was looking at one group, he couldn’t see the other.
“Hands on top of your heads,” Cameron commanded. He motioned with the barrel of his gun.
Everyone complied, although every time Cameron swung the gun toward Jack and Laurie, Warren approached another step toward him.
“No one is going to get hurt,” Cameron said as he brought the gun back toward Warren.
Warren had gotten within range of a kick, and with lightning speed his foot lashed out and connected with Cameron’s hands. The gun bounced off the ceiling.
Before Cameron could react to his gun’s sudden disappearance, Warren closed in on him and hit him twice, once in the lower abdomen and then on the tip of the nose. Cameron collapsed backwards in a heap on the floor.
“I’m glad you’re on my team for this run,” Jack said.
“We got to get ourselves back to that boat!” Warren blurted without humor.
“I’m open to suggestions,” Jack said.
Cameron moaned and pushed himself over onto his stomach.
Warren looked both ways down the hall. A few minutes earlier, he’d thought of running down the main corridor toward the rear, but that was no longer a reasonable alternative. Halfway down the corridor he could see some nurses gathering and pointing in his direction.
Across from the elevators at eye-level was a sign in the form of an arrow that pointed down the hall beyond Horace’s room. It said: OR.
Knowing they had little time to debate, Warren motioned in the direction of the arrow. “That way!” he barked.
“The operating room?” Jack questioned. “Why?”
“Because they won’t expect it,” Warren said. He grabbed a stunned Natalie by the hand and propelled her into a jog.
Jack and Laurie followed. They passed Horace’s room but the chubby man had locked himself in his bathroom.
The operating suite was set off from the rest of the hospital by the usual swinging doors. Warren hit them and went through with a straight arm like a football running back. Jack and Laurie were right behind.