“Please, not another Mexican standoff,” Melanie said. “We don’t have much time.”
“Okay,” Kevin said. He took a breath and inched around the animal while teetering on the edge. The bonobo watched him but didn’t move.
“This is so nerve wracking!” Kevin complained when he climbed down from the bridge.
“Do we want him to stay here?” Melanie asked.
Kevin scratched his head. “I don’t know. He might be a lure to get the others over here, but then again, maybe he should come back with us.”
“Why don’t we just start walking?” Melanie said. “We’ll let him decide.”
Melanie and Kevin set out for the animal cages. They were pleased when bonobo number one immediately climbed from the bridge and followed.
They walked quickly, conscious that Candace and the other people were waiting. When they got to the cages they didn’t hesitate. Kevin opened the door on the first cage while Melanie did the second.
The animals emerged quickly and immediately exchanged words with bonobo number one. Kevin and Melanie went to the next two cages.
Within only a few minutes, there were a dozen animals milling about, vocalizing and stretching.
“It’s working,” Kevin said. “I’m sure of it. If they were just going to run off in the forest here on the island, they would have already done so. I think they all know they have to leave.”
“Maybe I should get Candace and our new friends,” Melanie said. “They should witness this, and they can help speed things up.”
“Good idea,” Kevin said. He looked at the long row of cages. He knew there were over seventy.
Melanie ran off into the night while Kevin went to the next cage. He noticed that bonobo number one stayed nearby to greet each newly freed animal.
By the time Kevin had released a half dozen more animals, the humans arrived. At first, they were intimidated by the creatures and didn’t know how to act. The animals ignored them except for Warren whom they gave a wide berth. Warren had brought the assault rifle, which Kevin guessed reminded the animals of the dart gun.
“They are so quiet,” Laurie said. “It’s spooky.”
“They’re depressed,” Kevin said. “It could be from the tranquilizer or from having been imprisoned. But don’t go too close. They might be quiet, but they are very strong.”
“What can we do to help?” Candace asked.
“Just open the cage doors,” Kevin said.
With seven people working, it took only a few minutes to get all the cages open. As soon as the last animal had emerged into the night, Kevin motioned for everyone to start toward the bridge.
Bonobo number one, who’d been shadowing Kevin, clapped his hands loudly just as he’d done when Kevin and the women had first come upon him in the cul-de-sac of the marshy field. Then he vocalized raucously before starting after the humans. Immediately the rest of the bonobos quietly followed.
The seven humans led the seventy-one transgenic bonobos in a procession across the clearing to the bridge of their freedom. Arriving at the span, the humans stepped aside. Bonobo number one stopped at the concrete stanchion.
“Sta zit arak,” Kevin repeated as he spread his fingers and swept his hand away from his chest for the final time. Then he pointed toward the unexplored African interior.
Bonobo number one bowed his head momentarily before leaping up on top of the stanchion. Looking out over his people, he vocalized for a final time before turning his back on Isla Francesca and crossing the bridge to the mainland. The mass of the bonobos silently followed.
“It’s like watching the Exodus,” Jack quipped.
“Don’t be blasphemous,” Laurie teased. But, as with all teasing, there was an element of truth. She was truly awed by the spectacle.
As if by magic the animals melted into the dark jungle without a sound. One minute they were a restive crowd milling about the base of the bridge; the next minute they were gone like water soaking into a sponge.
The humans didn’t move or talk for a moment. Finally, Kevin broke the silence. “They did it, and I’m pleased,” he said. “Thank you all for helping. Maybe now I can come to terms with what I did in creating them.” He stepped up to the bridge and pressed the red button. With a whine, the bridge retracted.
The group turned away from the stanchion and began to trudge back to the pirogue.
“That was one of the strangest pageants I’ve ever seen,” Jack said.
Halfway to the canoe, Melanie suddenly stopped and cried: “Oh, no! Look!”
Everyone’s eyes darted across the river in the direction she was pointing. Headlight beams from several vehicles could be intermittently seen through the foliage. The vehicles were descending the track leading to the bridge mechanism.
“We can’t get to the boat!” Warren blurted. “They’ll see us.”
“We can’t stay here, either,” Jack said.
“Back to the cages!” Kevin cried.
They all turned and ran toward the bulwark of the jungle. The moment they ducked behind the cages, the headlight beams swept across the clearing as the vehicles turned to the west. The vehicles stopped, but the headlights stayed on and the engines kept running.
“It’s a group of Equatoguinean soldiers,” Kevin said.
“And Siegfried,” Melanie said. “I can recognize him anywhere. And that’s Cameron McIvers’s patrol car.”
A searchlight snapped on. Its high-intensity light played along the row of cages then swept the bank of the river. It quickly found the canoe.
Even fifty yards away, they could hear excited voices responding to the discovery of the boat.
“This is not good,” Jack said. “They know we’re here.”
A sudden and sustained burst of heavy gunfire shattered the tranquillity of the night.
“What on earth are they shooting at?” Laurie asked.
“I’m afraid they’re destroying our boat,” Jack said. “I suppose that’s bad news for my deposit.”
“This is no time for humor,” Laurie complained.
An explosion rocked the night air, and a fireball briefly illuminated the soldiers. “That must have been the gas tank,” Kevin said. “So much for our transportation.”
A few minutes later, the searchlight went out. Then the first vehicle made a U-turn and disappeared back up the track leading to Cogo.
“Does anybody have an idea what’s happening?” Jack asked.
“My guess is Siegfried and Cameron are going back to town,” Melanie said. “Knowing we’re on the island, they probably feel pretty confident.”
The headlights on the second vehicle suddenly went out, thrusting the entire area into darkness. Even the moonlight was meager since the moon had sunk low in the western sky.
“I preferred it when we had some idea where they were and what they were doing,” Warren said.
“How big is this island?” Jack asked.
“About six miles long and two wide,” Kevin said. “But . . .”
“They’re making a fire,” Warren said, interrupting Kevin.
A dot of golden light illuminated part of the bridge mechanism, then flared up into a campfire. The ghostly figures of the soldiers could be seen moving in the periphery of the light.
“Isn’t that nice,” Jack said. “Looks like they’re making themselves at home.”
“What are we going to do?” Laurie questioned despairingly.
“We don’t have a lot of choice with them sitting at the base of the bridge,” Warren said. “I count six of them.”
“Let’s hope they’re not planning on coming over here,” Jack said.
“They won’t come until dawn,” Kevin said. “There’s no way they’d come over here in the dark. Besides, there’s no need. They don’t expect us to be going anywhere.”
“What about swimming across that channel?” Jack said. “It’s only about thirty or forty feet wide and there’s no current to speak of.”
“I’m not a good
swimmer,” Warren said nervously. “I told you that.”
“This whole area is also infested with crocodiles,” Kevin said.
“Oh, God!” Laurie said. “Now he tells us.”
“But, listen! We don’t have to swim,” Kevin said. “At least, I don’t think so. The boat that Melanie, Candace, and I used to get here is most likely where we left it, and it’s big enough for all of us.”
“Fantastic!” Jack said. “Where is it?”
“I’m afraid it’s going to require a little hike,” Kevin said. “It’s a little more than a mile, but at least there’s a freshly cleared trail.”
“Sounds like a walk in the park,” Jack said.
“What time is it?” Kevin asked.
“Three-twenty,” Warren said.
“Then we only have approximately an hour and a half before daylight,” Kevin said. “We’d better start now.”
What Jack had facetiously labeled a walk in the park turned out to be one of the most harrowing experiences that any of them had ever had. Unwilling to use the flashlights for the first two to three hundred yards, they had proceeded by a process that could only be termed the blind leading the blind. The interior of the jungle had been entirely devoid of light. It was so utterly dark it had been difficult for anyone to even know whether their eyes were open or not.
Kevin had gone first to feel his way along the ground, making frequent wrong choices that required backtracking to find the trail. Knowing what kind of creatures inhabited the forest, Kevin held his breath each time he extended his hand or his foot into the blackness.
Behind Kevin, the others had aligned themselves in snakelike single file, each holding on to the unseen figure ahead. Jack had tried to make light of the situation, but after a time even his usually resourceful flippancy failed him. From then on, they were all victims of their own fears as the noctural creatures chattered, chirped, bellowed, twittered, and occasionally screamed around them.
When they finally deemed it safe to use the flashlights, they made better progress. At the same time, they shuddered when they saw the number of snakes and insects that they encountered, knowing that prior to the use of the flashlights they had been passing these same creatures unawares.
By the time they reached the marshy fields around Lago Hippo, the eastern horizon was faintly beginning to lighten. Leaving the darkness of the forest, they mistakenly believed the worst was behind them. But it wasn’t the case. The hippopotami were all out of the water grazing. The animals looked enormous in the predawn twilight.
“They may not look it but they are very dangerous,” Kevin warned. “More humans are killed by them than you’d think.”
The group took a circuitous route to give the hippopotami wide berth. But as they neared the reeds where they hoped the small canoe was still hidden, they had to pass close by two particularly large hippos. The animals seemed to regard them sleepily until without warning they charged.
Luckily, they charged for the lake with a huge amount of commotion and crashing noise. Each multi-ton animal created a new wide trail through the reeds to the water. For a moment, everyone’s heart fluttered in his chest.
It took a few minutes for everyone to recover before pushing on. The sky was now progressively brightening, and they knew they had no time to lose. The short hike had taken much more time than they had anticipated.
“Thank God it’s still here,” Kevin said when he separated the reeds and found the small canoe. Even the Styrofoam food chest was still in place.
But reaching the canoe posed another problem. It was quickly decided the boat was too small and too dangerous to carry seven people. After a difficult discussion, it was decided that Jack and Warren would stay in the reeds to wait for Kevin to bring the small canoe back.
Waiting was hell. Not only did the sky continue to get lighter and lighter, presaging imminent dawn and the possible appearance of the soldiers, but there was always the worry that the motorized canoe had disappeared. Jack and Warren nervously alternated between looking at each other and their watches, while fighting off clouds of insatiable insects. And on top of everything else, their exhaustion was total.
Just when they were thinking that something terrible had happened to the others, Kevin appeared at the edge of the reeds like a mirage and silently paddled in.
Warren scrambled into the canoe followed by Jack.
“The power boat’s okay?” Jack asked anxiously.
“At least it was there,” Kevin said. “I didn’t try to start the engine.”
They backed out of the reeds and started for the Rio Diviso. Unfortunately, there were lots of hippos and even a few crocodiles forcing them to paddle twice the usual distance just to keep clear.
Before they slipped into the foliage hiding the mouth of the jungle-lined river they caught a glimpse of some soldiers entering the clearing in the distance.
“Do you think they saw us?” Jack asked from his position in the bow.
“There’s no way to know,” Kevin said.
“We’re getting out of here by the skin of our teeth,” Jack said.
The waiting was as hard on the women as it had been on Jack and Warren. When the small canoe pulled alongside, there were literal tears of relief.
The final worry was the outboard motor. Jack agreed to attend to it because of his experience with similar engines as a teenager. While he checked it over, the others paddled the heavy canoe out of the reeds into the open water.
Jack pumped the gas, then with a little prayer, pulled the cord.
The engine sputtered and caught. It was loud in the morning stillness. Jack looked at Laurie. She smiled and gave him the thumbs-up sign.
Jack put the motor in gear, gave it a full throttle, and steered directly south, where they could see Gabon as a line of green along the horizon.
EPILOGUE
March 18, 1997
3:45 P.M.
New York City
Lou Soldano glanced at his watch as he flashed his police badge to get him into the Customs area of the international arrivals building at Kennedy Airport. He’d hit more traffic than he’d expected in the midtown tunnel, and hoped he was not too late to greet the returning world travelers.
Going up to one of the skycaps, he asked which carousel was Air France.
“Way down the end, brother,” the skycap said with a wave of his hand.
Just my luck, thought Lou as he broke into a slow jog. After a short distance he slowed, and for the one millionth time vowed to stop smoking.
As he got closer, it was easy to see which carousel he was looking for. Air France in block letters showed on a monitor. Around it, the people were four deep.
Lou made a half circuit before seeing the group. Even though they were facing away, he could recognize Laurie’s hair.
He insinuated himself between other passengers and gave Laurie’s arm a squeeze. She turned around indignantly but quickly recognized him. Then she gave him a hug so fierce, his face turned red.
“Okay, okay, I give up,” Lou managed. He laughed.
Laurie let him go so that he could give Jack and Warren a handshake. Lou gave Natalie a peck on the cheek.
“So, you guys have a good trip, or what?” Lou questioned. It was apparent he was all keyed up.
Jack shrugged and looked at Laurie. “It was okay,” he said noncommittally.
“Yeah, it was okay,” Laurie agreed. “The trouble was nothing happened.”
“Really?” Lou said. “I’m surprised. You know, being Africa and all. I haven’t been there, but I’ve heard.”
“What have you heard, man?” Warren asked.
“Well, there’s lots of animals,” Lou said.
“Is that it?” Natalie asked.
Lou shrugged embarrassingly. “I guess. Animals and the Ebola virus. But like I said, I’ve never been there.”
Jack laughed, and when he did, so did all the others.
“What’s going on here?” Lou said. “Are you guys pulling my
leg?”
“I’m afraid so,” Laurie said. “We had a fabulous trip! The first part was a little harrowing, but we managed to survive that, and once we got to Gabon, we had a ball.”
“Did you see any animals?” Lou asked.
“More than you could imagine,” Laurie said.
“There, see, that’s what everybody says,” Lou remarked. “Maybe someday I’ll go over there myself.”
The luggage came, and they hoisted it onto their shoulders. They breezed through Customs and passed through the terminal. Lou’s unmarked car was at the curb.
“One of the few perks,” he explained.
They put the luggage in the trunk, and climbed in. Laurie sat next to Lou. Lou drove out of the airport, and they were immediately bogged down in traffic.
“How about you?” Laurie asked. “Have you been making any headway back here?”
“I was afraid you weren’t going to ask,” Lou said. “Things have been going down like you wouldn’t believe. It was that Spoletto Funeral Home that was the gold mine. Right now, everybody is lining up to plea-bargain. I even got an indictment on Vinnie Dominick.”
“That’s fantastic,” Laurie said. “What about that awful pig, Angelo Facciolo?”
“He’s still in the slammer,” Lou said. “We have him nailed on stealing Franconi’s body. I know it’s not much, but remember Al Capone was reeled in on tax evasion.”
“What about the mole in the medical examiner’s office?” Laurie said.
“Solved,” Lou said. “In fact, that’s how we have Angelo nailed. Vinnie Amendola has agreed to testify.”
“So, it was Vinnie!” Laurie said with a mixture of vindication and regret.
“No wonder he’s been acting so weird,” Jack said from the backseat.
“There was one unexpected twist,” Lou said. “There was someone else mixed up in all this who has taken us by surprise. He’s apparently out of the country at the moment. When he comes back into the country, he’s going to be arrested for murder of a teenager by the name of Cindy Carlson over in Jersey. We believe Franco Ponti and Angelo Facciolo did the actual killing, but it was at this guy’s behest. His name is Dr. Raymond Lyons. Do either of you guys know him?”