The chopper lifted into the air and tilted toward the east. The pilot had spotted the car on the road before landing and was now headed to see if it was still traveling in the same direction.
A few minutes later, the last of the city passed below them and disappeared through the side windows, replaced by fields of grass and vegetation, then trees.
***
Li Na heard the deep thundering sounds of the helicopter’s rotors long before she could see it. She pulled back an interior cover revealing the Jaguar’s sunroof and searched the sky. As the sounds grew louder, she finally spotted it behind her, steadily closing the distance between them.
She mashed the pedal down and clung tightly to the steering wheel, trying to keep it straight. While the numbers on the digital speedometer increased, the bushes and trees on the side of the road sped past in a blur.
Her heart felt like it was in her throat, and she was scared to death.
***
Next to the right-side window, Peng could see the car now. It was just a few hundred meters or so below.
The lone black car was moving at an impressive rate of speed, swaying slightly between lanes. The girl appeared to be struggling to keep it straight. And stretching out in front of her lay a highway that disappeared far into the distance.
She had nowhere to hide.
Behind the wheel, Li Na was thinking the same thing. Her mind was racing faster, trying to find a way out. There was no one else on the empty highway, no one at all. How was that possible?
She glanced again at the GPS screen, this time closer, and studied the colors. She found that some of the screen was displaying a darker area, and she fumbled with the controls until she zoomed out.
Li Na looked out through the front window to check the landscape around her. The dark patches were trees! Not quite a forest, but some areas dense enough to help.
Suddenly startled by the bumps on the road, she looked up to straighten the car again with both hands. She needed a place to exit the road. From the screen, the nearest exit appeared to be several kilometers away. She searched for the helicopter again and found it. This time, it was closer but not any lower.
They weren’t trying to stop her, she thought. They were simply following.
54
After what felt like forever, the off-ramp finally appeared ahead of her. But as she drew nearer, the distinct images of orange and yellow barriers emerged, indicating it was not yet finished.
Li Na braked hard, overcompensating before easing down on the gas again to continue forward. Given her limited experience behind a wheel, she was surprised she’d made it this far.
Now with the barriers directly in front of her, she pulled the car to a stop and looked for a way through. They didn’t seem to be affixed to anything, so she eased forward and ran into one. The colored plastic frame was knocked backward, and she rolled over it with a jolt. Once the back tires rolled over, her eyes returned to the ramp in front of the car. It was littered with debris, covered mostly by scattered pieces of asphalt and concrete. But the ramp continued downhill to a wide-open dirt area, where hundreds of large concrete blocks were stacked.
Dozens of the heavy road barriers had fallen over and some had broken into pieces. Then she saw it. Beyond them appeared to be a roughly strewn dirt road, snaking through the fields of weeds and grass toward one of the distant group of trees.
***
The pilot of the Mi-17 helicopter watched with bemusement as the car below navigated off the main highway and onto a small dirt road. It bounced and weaved through the fields toward an outcropping of nearby trees.
The girl clearly knew they were behind her. And enough to know that her only chance was the trees that she was speeding towards. Leaving a very visible trail of dust swirling behind her.
The girl would have had a better chance had she’d stayed in the city. Where it could take hours, or even days, to find her.
But now, once Peng and his men were on the ground, it would take only minutes.
***
Li Na barely made it beneath the trees before what little of the road that remained became blocked by a fallen tree. Old and uprooted from a past windstorm, the tree lay there deteriorating in several large sections. Long dead branches coming from the last piece reached over and down a steep embankment.
This was as far as the car was going.
With her satchel in one hand, Li Na pushed the driver’s door open and jumped out. She quickly approached and had begun to scale a section of the fallen tree’s trunk when she abruptly stopped.
She emptied her hands and hurriedly ran back to the car, which was still running. She climbed inside and peered back at the GPS screen. Reaching forward, she zoomed out on the screen. First once, then several times, until she could see far beyond her location to the city of Shenyang and the ocean beyond. She looked back out through the car’s rear window and located the distant highway to get her bearings.
With that, she backed out again and ran back to the tree trunk. But when she reached down to pick up her satchel, something stopped her. Even with the approaching sound of the helicopter’s rotors, she lingered.
Li Na breathed in deeply, remaining as quiet as she could. Unmoving.
55
The Mi-17 pilot reduced power on his cyclic and gradually eased back on the stick in front of him, slowing his approach. Using his pedals, he rotated slightly to his right, giving him a better view of the car as it rested just under the edge of the trees.
He smiled to himself. The girl wasn’t even smart enough to get completely under the protection of the canopy, where he wouldn’t be able to use his infrared.
Her dumb luck had clearly run out.
***
With the thumping of the helicopter drawing closer behind her, Li Na remained still, almost hovering, and staring strangely at the area around her.
Covered in brown decaying leaves and needles, the ground felt soft underfoot. The tall green trees overhead shaded most of the area, providing not only cover but a cool crispness in the air. But something felt different.
The branches, still covered in leaves, fluttered in the light breeze, moving slowly––a rhythmic back and forth. The grasses, bushes, and even the rocks felt strangely dissimilar. Even the sound of the helicopter seemed to have changed. Reverberating with a pitch that made them sound slower, or heavier.
Li Na began to waver and reached forward to steady herself against the fallen tree. Yet when her hand touched the deteriorating bark, even it felt different.
But far more difficult to understand was that the billions of tiny bacteria inside her body were slowly and very methodically changing tiny areas of her DNA. And in the process reawakening genes that had been dormant in the human body…for thousands of years.
56
It was called “crate training.” A task left to DeeAnn Draper who was standing under her own tree with a completely different set of problems. Keeping her eyes on Dulce and Dexter, she adjusted the small computer on her chest and approached the primates––both of whom were playing under a stream of water from a garden hose.
Crate training was the way most zoo animals were transported. Weeks of conditioning were involved to train the animals to feel comfortable inside a special shipping crate built for the trip.
But DeeAnn’s goal was not to train her animals to like it. Her challenge was just to train them not to hate it. Dulce’s first trip aboard a plane had been to South America to help search for someone. The second was to return to the same area in search of Dexter. And neither of those trips had ended well. In fact, it was a miracle that one of them didn’t have a nervous breakdown during either trip. And Dexter hadn’t fared much better.
The result was a reaction to cages that was nothing short of terrifying. And it was DeeAnn’s job to coax them in, yet again.
She had already started the discussions with Dulce, but each time she broached the subject, it left her with an uneasy feeling as to just how exactly the gorill
a would do. It also brought to light Dulce’s growing hunger for the out, as she called it––which was gorilla-speak for the “outside,” a simple transliteration, but one that left DeeAnn with a twinge of guilt. Dulce wanted to be with her, there was no doubt about that. But the gorilla was still decidedly and undeniably captive.
Crate training to date had not been nearly as successful as she had hoped, which left her now hoping for a small miracle.
As she approached the two, she pushed the thought from her head and smiled at Dulce. The gorilla was snorting and playing happily beneath the flow of water from a garden hose. She had become fascinated with the emergence of clear water from such a small thing. But after DeeAnn sprayed her for the first time, she became absolutely obsessed––even learning how to turn it on and off by herself.
Yet after several uses, it was DeeAnn who was captivated when Dulce moved from merely playing in the water to actually cleaning herself with it. This was fascinating because Dulce had never seen another human shower themselves.
Now DeeAnn stood still, amused, watching as the small gorilla used her free hand to splash Dexter. The smaller primate returned the interaction with an expression similar to disdain. He reached up and rubbed the top of his small head dry, leering at his playmate.
“Dulce,” said DeeAnn though the vest.
The translation was lost to a sudden, loud snort from Dulce.
DeeAnn repeated. “Dulce.”
“Mommy,” she responded with a smile, lowering the hose. She was nearly waist-high and peered innocently upward with her bright hazel eyes.
“Turn the water off, Dulce.”
After a long a pause that had DeeAnn wondering if Dulce had heard her, the gorilla dropped the hose and waddled several feet to the faucet. She then carefully twisted it closed with her oversized hands.
Once the water was off, Dulce turned and smiled pleasingly at DeeAnn. Water off.
“Good girl.” She stepped forward and retrieved a hand towel from a tree where it was drying. DeeAnn then bent down and used it to rub the top of Dulce’s head, leaving a dry tuft of fur sticking up. “It’s time to go, honey.”
Dulce’s smile immediately returned. We go. We happy.
She peered over Dulce’s head at Dexter, who was gnawing on a green stem, watching them. “And Dexter?”
Yes. Dexter. We happy go. We help.
“Thank you, Dulce.” She swallowed, wishing she could leave them there. “But…we have to fly. Again.”
On metal?
“Yes. On the metal.”
Dulce stared at her as if contemplating. Fly like bird.
“Yes,” she grinned. “Fly like a bird.”
Dulce turned and motioned to Dexter. He didn’t reply.
No cage.
DeeAnn nodded in agreement. “No cage.”
Her reply was troubling. Because DeeAnn knew eventually they would both have to be in a container again, at least for a short time––which left her words insincere, at best.
***
The Luiz Muñoz Marín was the largest airport on the island. As the Airbus A300 thundered from out of the gray cloud cover over the airfield, its glowing landing lights were the first to be seen. They were immediately followed by the plane’s landing gear, and seconds later, a long and dark purple-painted underbelly. The rest of the Airbus appeared white with large block lettering displayed prominently on the side of its fuselage.
Five of the world’s most famous and unmistakable letters: FEDEX.
It was the company best known for the delivery of many of the world’s most important packages. And less known was that the company was also used by many researchers and zoologists to ship crate-trained animals worldwide.
On the ground, waiting on the tarmac under a light drizzle and fading daylight, Steve Caesare glanced at his watch. He then looked to John Clay, standing next to him. “Right on time.”
Clay nodded and scanned their surroundings. They were at the far end of the airport, near the shipping terminal, where there would be significantly less activity. The fewer eyes the better.
They watched the FedEx airliner disappear behind the top of a small building. Clay then scanned the paved roads again. “Hmm.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be here,” Caesare reassured. “This ain’t gonna to be easy for any of them, especially DeeAnn. I think she’s struggling with some things.”
“I know.”
***
Several minutes later, the aircraft appeared again, rolling toward the terminal, where several of the airport’s ground crew guided it to a stop. A tall, motorized stairway followed and was pushed into place. Then the aircraft’s passenger door was swung open by someone inside.
A man in a dark blue and purple uniform stepped out, peering down at Clay and Caesare. The man then descended the stairs, crossing the asphalt.
“John Clay?” he asked aloud, over the whining engines.
“Right here.” Clay walked forward slowly and reached up to shake hands. “This is Steve Caesare.”
“Gentlemen,” the man nodded, speaking in a distinctly South African accent. “I’m James Murphy. I understand we’re here to give you a lift.”
“Much obliged,” Caesare said, shaking hands. “How long will it take you to unload?”
Murphy smiled. “We’ve got nothing to unload here. We’ve been diverted for you and your cargo only.”
Caesare grinned at Clay. “I feel important.”
“I’d say so,” Murphy nodded. “First time I’ve seen that. I’m guessing someone called in one hell of a favor.” He paused, looking around. “Where is your cargo?”
***
After being waved through a security gate, Bruna handed the papers back to DeeAnn, who was sitting behind her on the first bench seat. A sudden bounce sent her higher in the rearview mirror along with Dulce and Dexter, both of whom were sitting awkwardly next to her. Neither one looked comfortable on the vinyl surface. Behind them, the rest of the van was filled with supplies, including two large boxes of food.
Bruna navigated slowly behind two rows of tall hangars before reaching the end of the row, easing to a stop. She studied the area briefly before turning the wheel and continuing forward. Darkness was descending as they reached the end of the terminal and spotted the giant plane with three figures standing below it.
Two of the figures walked briskly toward the van as Bruna came to a gradual stop. She unfastened her seatbelt and turned over her shoulder to DeeAnn.
“You are okay, missus?”
DeeAnn stared silently out through the front window at the terminal’s lights around them and inhaled. “I’m fine.” She looked down at Dulce and winked. The gorilla smiled back.
Seconds later, the side door of the van was opened from the outside and pulled back, revealing the figures of Caesare and Clay.
Caesare’s grin found DeeAnn, pausing for a moment before smiling at Dulce. “There’s my girl!”
With no hesitation, Dulce’s giant smile returned and she immediately jumped from the seat into Caesare’s muscular arms––an exchange that Dexter watched with interest.
Caesare winked. “Nice to see you, Dee.”
She frowned at him sarcastically. She hated being called Dee, much to Caesare’s enjoyment.
Caesare extended his hand, which she ignored as she grasped the handle above the door, lowering herself onto the ground.
“Was it something I said?” he grinned.
She smirked at him, humorously. “It’s always something you said.”
“Aw, come on, Dee. That’s just my Texas charm.”
Caesare was still wearing his grin when he turned back to the van and noticed Dexter carefully observing them. He reached out his free hand and watched the monkey take a tiny step back.
***
The monkey studied him cautiously then looked to Dulce, who was hanging on the large human’s left shoulder. Dexter remained still for a long time before finally taking a step forward. His small, dark eyes gla
nced at the others before returning to Dulce.
***
Patiently, Caesare waited, his hand still out. When Dexter finally moved forward again, the primate reached out and sniffed Caesare’s hand before climbing onto his forearm. He paused again…and nervously crawled higher onto the other shoulder.
When Caesare turned back, DeeAnn was surprised. And more than a little relieved.
Clay chuckled. “Okay, Doctor Doolittle.”
Caesare winked at DeeAnn. “See, Dee? Charm.”
Her expression softened. Their playfulness remained the cornerstone of their love-hate relationship. But it was the trust that Caesare seemed to instill in both the animals that she was absolutely counting on.
With her own grin, she shook her head jokingly. “Maybe you could put that charm to more constructive use.”
“If I had a nickel…” Caesare replied.
With that, DeeAnn turned to Bruna, who had joined them and was now standing next to Clay. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman. “Thank you, Bruna.”
“You are welcome, missus.”
DeeAnn straightened. “I’ll call you when we’re getting ready to come back.”
Bruna nodded warmly, her eyes reassuring DeeAnn. They both knew it was a call that would likely never come.
Murphy approached from behind, now with another man dressed in the same uniform. DeeAnn thanked them and motioned to the back of the van. From there, the men quickly unloaded the boxes and began carrying them back to the plane.
After waiting until they were out of earshot, Caesare glanced briefly at Clay again and spoke for the two of them. “So, DeeAnn. Care to fill us in here?”
Her face grew serious. She watched as Bruna instinctively turned around, stepping back toward the van and giving them privacy.
Ripple (Breakthrough Book 4) Page 19