Project Hannibal

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Project Hannibal Page 21

by Kathryn Hoff


  “What is it?” Estelle asked. It occurred to her that they were very small humans among nervous, stampede-prone giants.

  Cortez nodded toward a group of tall rocks at the edge of the meadow. “Over there—there are wolves hiding in the grass.”

  Sera shrugged. “We’ve been hearing them for days. They won’t bother the mammoths, though, will they?”

  A chill froze Estelle’s spine. “They know there’s a baby,” she said. Nothing would attract a predator faster than the scent of blood, and there was Jade’s bloody afterbirth, littering the ground. “Cortez? We need to get out of here.”

  But all around, nervous mammoths pushed and stamped. A smallish mammoth, the size of a cow, bumped into Sera, knocking her into Estelle’s arms. Anywhere they moved, they were likely to be trampled.

  In the center of the melee, Opal trumpeted loud enough to hurt Estelle’s ears. Legs too weak to stand for long, the tiny infant had collapsed on the ground under her mother’s belly.

  Sera clung to Estelle. “What do we do?”

  “Go up,” Cortez said. “Topaz! Hey-up!” One of the restless mammoths turned, sidling closer. “Kneel!”

  As the mammoth lowered herself, Cortez grabbed Estelle by armpit and hip and heaved her onto the animal’s back. “Excuse me, miss,” he said. With a hand on Sera’s butt, he boosted her onto the mammoth behind Estelle. “Just hang on!” he shouted.

  Hang on to what? The mammoth rose, tilting left, then right. With a scream, Sera clutched Estelle’s waist hard enough to squeeze her breath away.

  Estelle had nothing to grab but the mammoth’s stringy hair. She leaned forward, burrowing her hands into the shag on either side of the mammoth’s neck.

  “A mammoth!” Sera gasped. “I’m sitting on a mammoth!”

  Cortez was already atop one of the others. “Stay on Topaz,” he called. “Whatever happens, don’t fall off!”

  CHAPTER 38

  Attack and defend

  Luis’s perch on Ruby’s back lent him enough height to see the movement in the long grass. Four, five . . . at least a dozen wolves lurked around the herd. A wolfpack was no match for a grown mammoth, but the newborn and maybe even yearling Jet could be vulnerable if the wolves managed to separate them from the protection of the herd.

  His first inkling of trouble had come from Turquoise. The young bull had been at the edge of the herd, keeping a very interested eye on Diamond’s courtship of Pearl.

  When Turq snorted and stamped, Luis had at first thought he might be challenging Diamond again. But then other curious trunks had risen to sniff for danger, and Luis had glimpsed gray forms slinking through the grass.

  The two women were safe enough, as long as they stayed atop Topaz. His deepest concern was for baby Jade.

  The herd clumped together, encircling Opal and her infant and pushing young Jet to the center of the group where he’d be protected. Diamond abandoned his courtship and restlessly patrolled the herd perimeter, Turq in his wake.

  Luis was thrilled. Whether by his training or purely by instinct, the mammoths were responding perfectly. They’d noticed the wolves before he had, identified them as a threat, and taken protective actions. They might still have a lot to learn about living in the wild, but their response bolstered his confidence that the herd could manage on its own.

  A wolf dashed out of the grass. The mammoths shifted nervously, emitting alarm squeals. A second wolf darted in from the left.

  The wolves could never have encountered mammoths before, but they had a strategy that worked reliably against elk and caribou: create a panic, scatter the herd, and attack the weakest.

  But for the mammoths, this was something new—and potentially deadly.

  Another darting feint from the lead wolf.

  Diamond, his testosterone already in overdrive during musth, fell for it. As one wolf after another dashed toward him only to scramble away at the last moment, he charged, turned, and charged again. Each decoy feint drew him farther from the females, allowing other pack members to slink closer to the tiny newborn.

  Turq was even worse, screaming and charging any wolf in sight with no regard for the risk that he might be leaving the herd unprotected.

  “Cortez!” It was the doctor, clinging to Topaz—barely. As wolves crept closer, the core of protective females twisted, trying to keep the multiple threats in sight. Crushing against one another in their panic, rubbing up against the women’s dangling legs. The girl Sera, clutching her aunt, gave Emerald a hearty kick to push her away.

  “You’re doing fine,” Luis called. If one of them fell, she might well be trampled.

  The infant cried as shifting mammoth legs came between Jade and her mother. Panicky distress calls came from yearling Jet.

  On the periphery, Pearl squealed—she was on the verge of bolting.

  Luis keyed his tablet to play an elephant’s screaming protect call. It wasn’t loud—just loud enough for his mount Ruby to hear. EeeAAAAhhhaaa!

  The matriarch took up the call. Eee-AAAAhhhaaa! Eeyaahh Eeyaahh!

  As if a drill sergeant had called the troops to attention, the phalanx of mammoths solidified, a menacing row of tusks facing the attackers.

  A yelp came from halfway up the hill. Kanut was striding toward the battle armed with—what? Something in a spray can. A wolf near him frantically rubbed its face on the grass.

  Luis laughed. Bear spray! The trooper had come to battle armed with the pepper spray used to deter bears. He hoped Kanut would remember that mammoth noses were just as sensitive.

  Closer to hand, an overly bold wolf charged in. Pivoting, Turq caught it on his tusks. There was a howling shriek as Turq, with a flick of his head, tossed the wolf a dozen feet into the air.

  Luis pumped his fist. Way to go, Turq!

  Another wolf darted toward the herd. Diamond swung his trunk like he was teeing off at the first hole, and the wolf yelped in surprise and pain. Two more snarling attackers yipped and cavorted just out of trunk range. Diamond stamped and shook his tusks but refused to be drawn away. On the other side, another wolf tried the feint, but this time, not even Turq left his post.

  After that, the wolves lost heart. More than one was limping and the most badly injured one was barely walking. Another few fruitless feints, and as quietly as they had come, the wolf pack faded into the brush.

  Luis grinned. Tell your friends. Tell them to think twice before taking on my mammoths.

  Sera threw up her arms. “They did it! Mammoths one, wolves zero!”

  Luis lavished pats and praise on his mammoth family. “Good girl, Ruby. You really took charge. Opal, great job, keep that baby safe. Em, Pearl, you had me worried for a minute. Follow Ruby’s lead and you’ll be fine. Topaz, my steady girl.” They responded with trunk touches and snorts and rumbles, the mammoths’ vocabulary of reassurance that all was well with the herd.

  “Turq, that was brilliant, the way you tossed that wolf. Diamond”—Luis eyed the big bull—“well done. Control that temper, buddy, and the girls will be all yours—at least until Turq grows up a little.” Little Jet was cowed, staying close to his aunties, as he should. Jade was suckling again—good for her. Young mammoths needed a lot of fuel.

  Slipping to the ground, he helped the teen and the doctor dismount. Both were shaking, laughing and hugging one another. Reassuring themselves with touch, just like the mammoths.

  Sera startled Luis by throwing her arms around him. “That was amazing! I rode a mammoth! Nobody back home will believe it.” She took out her phone—how had she managed to hold on to it?—and snapped a photo.

  Shaking his head, Luis escorted the women away from the milling animals. Excitement over, the mammoths were twittering among themselves like excited children, not yet ready to settle down to the serious business of eating.

  Sera, too, was bubbling over, bouncing as she walked. “I’ve never seen anything like that. The wolves risking their lives to get something to eat. The mammoths risking their lives to save the baby.”<
br />
  Her aunt put her arm over the girl’s shoulder. “Not just the mother,” she said softly. “The whole community. Especially the aunts.”

  Sera nodded like that meant something to her.

  Kanut met them with a grin. “You ladies all right?”

  The doctor halted, arms crossed. “No thanks to you. Where’s your gun? A couple of shots would have dispersed the wolves in a moment.”

  Kanut raised his spray can. “A little deterrent was all that was needed, no need for shooting.”

  The doctor raised her chin. “We might have been killed.”

  With a touch of malice, Luis answered, “He doesn’t have a rifle. He lost it.”

  Kanut snorted. “He means one of his mammoths stepped on it.”

  “After he lost it.”

  Incredulous, the doctor looked from one man to the other. “No rifle? Neither of you? Not even a popgun? This must be the worst rescue ever.”

  Giggling, Sera pulled her aunt up the hill. “Let it go, Estelle. Mr. Kanut’s right, killing a wolf would be just as bad. I think he was very brave to help chase off the wolves with nothing but a can of pepper spray.” She waved at the old lady, sitting on the camp stool by the tent.

  But the old lady was looking up, scanning the clouds.

  The doctor looked up, too. “Is that thunder?” But there was no smell of rain in the air, and the gray clouds were thinner than they’d been for days.

  The sound steadied and grew louder.

  Kanut grinned broadly enough to stretch his face. “That’s a helicopter!”

  Dr. Dupris threw her arms in the air. “Thank you, Lord!”

  Sera was already sprinting to the tent. “Miss Annie! Miss Annie!”

  “Look! I see it!” The doctor waved, shouting yoo hoo as if the pilot would hear.

  Laughing, Kanut walked with her up toward the camp.

  Luis watched them go with relief. At last, Kanut could take his lost lambs and leave Luis in peace—with all the food and supplies and his own tent and sleeping bag. He’d have plenty of time to let baby Jade strengthen her legs as he took the herd north by easy stages. He’d enjoy the journey, a last few days to say goodbye to his mammoth family before calling for pickup in some tundra meadow.

  Finally, things were going right.

  As the helo circled, Kanut recognized the Black Hawk profile from his army days. Maybe it was a national guard unit coming to rescue them. He didn’t care who it was, as long as the women got to safety and he got back to home and family.

  At the tent, he sorted the old lady’s things into her overnight bag. “You’ll be in Fairbanks soon, Miss Annie.”

  She nodded, a faraway look in her eyes. “I didn’t want to make this trip, you know. Thought I’d be better off spending my last days in the village. But the good Lord knows best, I guess. If I hadn’t come along, I’d never have seen any of this. Those mammoths, back from the dead—who would have thought? And the wolves—seeing them was a special gift. And I’d never have got to know little Sera. She’s a fine girl. I’m hoping I’ve done her and Estelle some good, too.”

  “You’ll have a lot to tell your friends, when you get back home.”

  She chuckled. “I’m glad Sera took her pictures. Otherwise, they’d never believe it.”

  Sera was scrambling to cram clothes back into suitcases. “What about the tent?” she screamed over the noise of the incoming helicopter.

  “Leave it,” Kanut called. Cortez would be pleased—he could keep all the food and gear and stay with the mammoths as long as he liked. He’d been decent, all things considered. Kanut would do what he could to keep him and the mammoths out of trouble.

  All three women waved as the Black Hawk descended, the girl performing an acrobatic gyration that would have the pilot’s eyes popping out.

  The drab green helo touched down fifty yards from the tent, as gently as a noisy bit of thistledown. The door slid open and two figures in camo fatigues stepped out.

  Kanut held Doc Dupris back, letting the men clear the wash from the blades.

  “Thank God you’re here,” she called. “My patient needs to get to Fairbanks Memorial as soon as possible. Do you have a gurney?”

  The taller of the men stepped past her to face Kanut. Smiling, he removed his mirrored sunglasses.

  “Hello, Trooper Kanut,” Major Butterick said. “I had a hunch that tracking you down would be a good idea. Marksman, those are your targets. Within the next ten minutes, I want all those animals dead.”

  CHAPTER 39

  Defection

  On a pier at one of the westernmost points in the continental US, Anjou shivered despite his jacket. Even at midsummer, the wind blowing into Alaska from Siberia chilled him to the bone. If there was one place on Earth colder than Alaska to live in, it had to be Russia.

  Outside the bare shed where Anjou and Ginger had taken shelter, the rain lashed both the pier and the boat bobbing alongside. Men in rainslickers shouted and cursed in unintelligible Russian. The place smelled of fish.

  The next hour would change Anjou’s life. Once he followed Ginger onto that boat, it meant saying goodbye to his country forever. Everything Anjou had been, everything he’d become, everything he’d planned for was in the US—but Ginger was his partner, his mentor, and his lover. What would he be without her?

  Defector. Traitor.

  He glanced at Ginger, standing at his side in raincoat and scarf, seemingly imperturbable.

  “Are you sure defecting to Russia is the only way?” he asked.

  She clucked her tongue. “The only way? Of course not. You’re welcome to remain and debate with the Department of Defense over who owns the research you have done at US government expense—you or they. Of course, that will be after they have arrested you, deported me, and slaughtered your life’s work. Is that what you want?”

  “Of course not, my dear. I’ve always relied on you completely. But what about Zhurov? Are you sure he’s cleared everything with the Russian government?”

  She took Anjou’s arm, urging him forward. “You’ll be welcomed as a hero. Two breeding mammoths is a major coup.”

  He glanced at the shipping container where the two precious mammoths awaited transport. “Yes,” he said thoughtfully. “The important thing is to save Silver and Gold. It’s just—this is such a big step.”

  A crane hoisted a container filled with the equipment taken from the research lab. Anjou clenched his fist so hard his nails bit into his palm. There would be hell to pay if they damaged the cryogenic electron microscope.

  Anjou had achieved so much, but where were the accolades and awards? The television interviews? His picture on national news? In international journals?

  Where was the money?

  The crane chugged. The container lowered into the boat’s hold. Anjou feared that if this strategy failed, his career would similarly disappear from sight, never to be resurrected.

  At a crewman’s signal, Anjou and Ginger walked to the slick gangway to board the boat.

  At the first step from pier to ramp, Anjou hesitated. His gaze wandered back to the bleak shelter behind him. This is it. After tonight, there’s no turning back.

  In that moment, spotlights lit the pier like a Broadway stage. Sirens blaring, two coast guard cutters drew up. “FBI,” squawked a bullhorn. “Stay where you are, hands in sight.” Anjou stepped back onto US soil, arms raised in the air.

  Three of the dockworkers shed slickers to reveal flak jackets with FBI printed in fluorescent yellow. “This boat and crew are under arrest for illegally entering US waters.” The message was repeated in Russian.

  Ginger took two steps onto the gangway, but an armed FBI agent blocked her way. She glared as he locked handcuffs onto her wrists.

  “Ji-Young Kim, you are under arrest for espionage, smuggling, and conspiracy. You have the right to remain silent . . .”

  Other agents rounded up the boat’s crew and frisked them for weapons. To Anjou’s relief, it was all quite civilized
—no gunplay, no desperate attempt to escape.

  A burly agent pulled an unresisting Anjou to the side and patted down his pockets. “You can put your hands down now, sir.” Anjou hoped the man would think it was the cold making his hands tremble.

  The agent reached into Anjou’s jacket and unclipped the microphone.

  “I hope you got all the evidence you need,” Anjou said.

  The man grinned. “Yes, sir. It all came through loud and clear. We appreciate your cooperation.”

  Ginger’s eyes locked on Anjou, wide with surprise and hot with hate.

  “Sorry, my dear,” Anjou said. “I’m afraid your Russian boyfriend is going to be disappointed.”

  CHAPTER 40

  A matter of jurisdiction

  Kanut’s stomach churned. That stuffed-shirt Major Butterick, charging in with his Black Hawk not to help the crash victims but to slaughter the mammoths.

  The young private next to him carried an M14 sharpshooter’s rifle.

  Doc Dupris’s mouth dropped open. “What? Kill the animals? What kind of rescue is this?”

  Butterick pushed Doc Dupris aside. “Lady, I’ll be glad to give you a lift after I’ve finished here. Soldier, fire at will.”

  “Halt, soldier.” Kanut stepped in front of the shooter. I should have my head examined. He put as much bluster into his voice as he could manage. “The army has no authority here.”

  Butterick snapped, “Out of my way, State Trooper. This is federal land.”

  “That gives authority to US Fish and Wildlife, not the army. And under concurrent jurisdiction rules, Alaska State Troopers have . . .”

  Doc Dupris dashed away, down the hill. “Mr. Cortez! Run! They’re going to shoot them!”

  The mammoths were a hundred yards downhill—easy targets for a skilled marksman. Halfway between, Cortez froze like a deer in the headlights. The damn fool was going to get himself killed.

  The sharpshooter looked up at the major, his young face filled with doubt. “Sir, I can’t proceed with civilians in the line of fire.”

 

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