Abominable

by Alan Nayes

  Dammit. She’d had enough. She grabbed the pen and signed. Rising, she gazed stonily at the attorney, the CFO, and lastly, her boss. To Reddic she said, “We sold Goliath out.”

  She stormed from the room.

  “Dr. Hollister. Shelby.”

  Shelby heard Bonds but she refused to stop. The meeting went far worse than she could have imagined. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! she screamed in her head. On top of the disastrous conference room results, she couldn’t block the images of Goliath crying. Great apes don’t cry. But Goliath did. This did nothing to assuage her demoralized psyche. “Damn today!” she cursed out loud, rubbing her temples.

  “Shelby.” Bonds caught her halfway down the corridor.

  She spun. “What the hell do you want?”

  He halted, holding up both hands in surrender. “Whoa, hold on, for what’s it worth, which wasn’t much, I might add, my vote fell along your lines. I even discussed the remote option of having NASA assume the responsibility of Goliath’s upkeep. It was a no go.”

  Shelby wasn’t sure he was being forthright, but the delivery sounded honest. “Yeah, well, thanks for the effort.” She shook her head. “Now I wish Astor and SETI had been correct.”

  “That Goliath came from outer space? Yes, that would have made for a different outcome for sure. And I am sorry for what happened in there. Hell, what a clusterfuck this turned out to be.”

  Shelby couldn’t resist a weak grin. “Appropriately put, Max.” She was suddenly tired of the whole affair. “So what happened with the octahedron? Your people got what they wanted.”

  Bonds shrugged sheepishly. “Nothing.”

  “Nothing?”

  Bonds leaned against the corridor wall, allowing some Center employees to pass. “It vanished.”

  “What? You mean like the UCO?”

  “Maybe it got ‘called back’ as Astor originally hypothesized, or it was preprogrammed to react in this manner at a preordained time if subjected to any unnatural stresses. Maybe it simply altered its atomic structure in such a way it was no longer physically visible. None of the engineers or physicists can come up with a rational explanation except the end result supports the supposition that beings far more advanced than our twenty-first-century scientists designed it.” He continued, “The UCO’s massive energy bursts could have been a sign of it ‘winding down’ so to speak. Like those warning beeps emitted from a ceiling fire alarm gizmo when the battery runs low.”

  “I haven’t heard anything in the news.”

  “And you won’t. The entire UCO/alien octahedron has been placed under a tight security blanket until more information becomes available—which at this juncture means ‘indefinitely.’”

  Shelby’s expression reflected her incredulity. “That’s really just…unbelievable.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  She started to reveal what she’d discovered about the octahedron’s purpose, but then thought what difference would it make?

  Bonds went on. “On a scale of one to ten, NASA’s frustration level is an eleven. Here we had actual proof of extraterrestrial beings visiting earth—I mean what other explanation is there, twenty-eight thousand years ago this super advanced device shows up that a caveman sure as hell didn’t make—and now we have nothing.”

  “No trace of either?” Another idea began to take form regarding the vanishing, but before Shelby could grasp it, Bonds reached out his hand. “Got a plane to catch. Wanted to wish you luck.”

  Shelby shook his hand. “Thanks.”

  “And I’m not requesting a ‘disclosure doc’ from what I just told you,” Bonds added with a grin, “but if you repeat any of this, I’ll simply deny it.”

  “Who would I tell? And who would believe me? No, you won’t see me quoting any of this in the press. Hell, they got my signature.”

  “True, about the ape.”

  “That’s all that’s left is Goliath.”

  Bonds started down the corridor. “And that big boy sure ain’t talking.”

  CHAPTER 31

  Shelby finished her third glass of wine and poured herself a fourth. The pasta salad she’d made for dinner remained untouched on the table. Hell, she contemplated having the entire liter bottle of Merlot as the main course and a bite of salad as the appetizer. Yeah, just get royally drunk. The day had been that bad.

  She’d visited Goliath before leaving and the primate only looked at her from where he’d arranged the straw to sleep. He never rose or made an attempt to come to the window or the bars even after she’d called his name. Even a layperson could tell the giant was depressed. That makes two of us, Shelby thought ruefully. He wouldn’t even acknowledge her presence with a grunt or growl. She would have felt better if the giant had at least risen up and beat his chest out of anger and frustration. She hoped like hell he didn’t associate the death of his mate and offspring with her or the Center. But how would he tell the difference? He must have witnessed them murdered—those holes in the skulls, two in the adult female—and then he’d been suspended in some advanced way far beyond the capabilities of anything on earth, and then only to awaken in this strange new world. Shit. If she could turn back time, she never would have even shown him the skull.

  “Yeah, Rasheed, he’s going to present quite a challenge. He’ll just lay there so you can shoot him or whatever you have planned. Bastard.” She tried asking Reddic what Ahmen had paid and the figure was confidential—only the attorneys, CFO, board, and Reddic were privy. Fuck it. She hoped it was close to a million.

  She’d even googled Rasheed Ahmen’s name and not much was found. A picture of his opulent estate on the heavily wooded Bear Island came up. And the aerial photo did make out the irregular shoreline to resemble a bear’s hind paw, minus the toes. But as rich as he was she guessed the dearth of public information was because he’d hired one of those search engine privacy firms to keep his name off the Internet highway. Even his net worth was unavailable, though from what John had intimated, it was plainly in the hundreds of millions. She did find one article from ten years ago about a hunting party sponsored by him being suspect in the disappearance of a popular lowland gorilla. Nothing ever came of the investigation and no charges were ever filed.

  She started to drink but lowered the glass. Instead she reached for her cell phone. John was a missed call from earlier, and she tapped his number, checking the time. AKDT—Alaska Daylight Time—was one hour earlier than Pacific Time so it would only be 8:34 p.m. in Fairbanks.

  As soon as he answered, he said, “I heard. So sorry. What are you doing, drinking?”

  Shelby sat back in her chair. “How’d you guess?”

  “That’s what I’d be doing. Bonds spoke with Mendle. Couldn’t say much but I got the gist of the meeting.”

  “The bastard had us sign a nondisclosure statement.”

  “Does that include me?”

  Shelby reflexively shook her head. “Don’t get me in trouble.”

  “I’ll keep you out of trouble. Wish I was there.”

  Shelby sighed. “That would be nice. You could take advantage of a drunk primatologist.”

  “I can be there if you need me.”

  She could tell he was serious and this helped. “I’m a big girl.”

  “Big girls need hugs.”

  Shelby stared at the wine bottle and asked, “Do you have a minute?”

  “I have all evening.”

  He listened while Shelby told him all that transpired since he’d last been in Los Angeles. Some he was aware of such as the loss of the alien artifacts in Virginia. By the time she was through she’d downed two more glasses.

  “Do I detect a slight slur in your voice?”

  This made her smile, but only a moment. “I wish you’d never told me about Ahmen’s private collection. He’s going to murder Goliath.”

  John must have decided it was best to change directions because he replied with, “Do you really think Goliath understands that ju
venile skull is his daughter?”

  Shelby went along. “I do. And it was because the octahedron was removed. It blocked his memory. His reaction caught me totally off guard. He actually touched the small, I guess, alien-made hole above the orbit. Then he cried. It was one of the most unsettling things I’ve ever witnessed in primate behavior,” adding, “excluding of course the recent violence.”

  “It’s hard to imagine a giant like that crying about anything. When is this transfer going to take place?”

  Shelby had the date burned in her memory. “August twenty-seventh at midnight, which I guess is the night of the twenty-sixth. Ahmen wants absolutely no publicity.”

  “I hope he has a big van.”

  “I called him to discuss the diet requirements and environmental concerns while transporting him.”

  “How did he take that?”

  “He passed me off to a man named Ralston who I guess is in charge of making all this happen. It’s ironic because Ralston has been affiliated with APA but my impression is Ahmen’s money has altered his personal philosophy toward the ethical treatment of animals.”

  She could picture the smirk on John’s face when he said, “It’d be nice to place both of them in the same enclosure as Goliath.”

  “Don’t get me going on that.”

  August 25th, the day before Goliath’s departure, arrived far faster than Shelby would have wanted. It was a Sunday so Shelby was not surprised to find the Center parking lot virtually deserted. All last week she’d worked on reconstructing the Gigantopithecus skeletons—yes, she was still calling them a member of that genus—and spending time with Goliath. But plainly their relationship, if there’d ever been one, had been undermined by the “skull” situation. Goliath barely acknowledged her presence now and he no longer seemed to take interest in the cameras mounted in the enclosure. He ate well, and his weight remained a robust seventeen hundred-plus pounds. His white coat still glistened with vitality under the vitamin D UV lights. Watching him, Shelby had come to realize Goliath really was a “pretty” primate. It was a shame the public never was able to view his regal presence in a natural Arctic exhibit and now they never would.

  Surprisingly, the protests had stopped—on to another cause, she guessed—and no news crews waited outside the entrance anymore, and if a lone reporter caught Shelby walking in or out, Shelby would simple wave friendly and offer a generic “No comment today.”

  The legal game continued and Shelby was scheduled to give a deposition at the beginning of September. She figured that would be the first of many.

  John called just after Shelby returned home early that evening. They talked around the subject until John asked, “So tomorrow night they come for him. I assume you will be there.”

  Shelby’s chuckle was filled with cynicism. “They couldn’t keep me away.”

  She fixed a light dinner and was getting ready to shower when the phone rang again. She had a feeling it would be John or maybe even Ahmen or Ralston so was surprised to see a number she didn’t recognize.

  “Dr. Hollister?” The voice was familiar, though. It belonged to a veterinary assistant at the Center.

  “Yes, this is Dr. Hollister.”

  “Dr. Hollister, I’m not sure you’re aware but I just left the Center and I wanted to run something by you.”

  “You worked on a Sunday? Were you on call?”

  “No. Only this evening.”

  “Is everything all right with Goliath?”

  “That’s why I’m calling.” A long pause. “Is Goliath still scheduled to leave tomorrow night?”

  “Yes, around midnight.” Even as she asked, “Why do you ask?” her internal radar picked up something amiss along the horizon.

  “Well, as I was leaving I saw several police cars parked at the rear loading dock and the Center food supplier was delivering bushels of bananas, oranges, other fruits and vegetables. I mean I counted at least two dozen bins.”

  “I’m sure that’s for Goliath. They’ll need to get the food inside.”

  “That’s what I told the driver, but he said all this was to remain on the dock because a truck would be arriving late tonight to take delivery.”

  “That’s odd.” Then in a flash it came to her. Those sneaky bastards. They weren’t coming for Goliath tomorrow.

  Ahmen was coming tonight!

  It was half past nine when Shelby entered the 405 freeway. She’d tried calling Reddic but he didn’t pick up, which was odd in and of itself. If she was wrong she was only wasting some gas, but if she was right, she wanted to be there to see Goliath off. If she was right, she’d also be royally pissed.

  As soon as she pulled into the lot she silently thanked the alert assistant. She drove past the cruiser parked at the entrance and drove around back. More cruisers, a total of four, waited while at least a dozen men in camouflage fatigues loaded the bins of fruit into the rear cab of the semi. The connected trailer was oversized and Shelby noticed the air conditioning compressor mounted on the roof. At least they got that right. The rear door was a slide-up and was outfitted with a narrow viewing window in one of the folding heavy metal slats. The trailer door was closed at the moment, but not the window. A hydraulic lift and gurney sat near the Center’s rear entrance.

  She parked and approached the loading dock, ignoring the stares of the men. She saw Ahmen speaking with two men in suits. One carried a black valise bag.

  A uniformed officer attempted to cut her off but Ahmen, spotting her, smiled and said, “That’s Dr. Hollister. She’s fine.”

  Ahmen offered his hand to assist her up the steps but Shelby ignored the gesture. “You’re early,” she exclaimed.

  Ahmen made an exaggerated effort to check the expensive watch on his wrist. “Actually we’re right on schedule. We’ll reach Portland by one tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Did Dr. Reddic know you were coming a day early?” she asked, attempting to keep her anger in check.

  “You’ll have to ask him, Shelby.” He motioned to the two suits beside him. “One is my veterinary consultant and the other is a renowned taxidermist. He wanted to see the ape firsthand. Trust me, Goliath is in good hands. And I want to commend you on his preparation. The ape is as docile as a kitten.”

  Shelby gaped at the trailer. Two pinkish-brown eyes watched her from behind the iron bars of the viewing window. “You’ve already loaded him on board!”

  Ahmen grinned. “The twenty milligrams of diazepam was probably unnecessary.”

  Shelby walked to the edge of the dock. She waved weakly and thought she saw the giant blink. Did he even recognize her? “Is he restrained?”

  Ahmen laughed, leaving Shelby the soiled impression he thought the question stupid. “Of course, dear. Heavy metal shackles on his ankles and wrists.”

  “And all these men? Looks like a small army.”

  Another chuckle. “Can’t be prepared enough.”

  She turned and faced him, smelling remnants of a stale cologne. “You plan to kill him.”

  He shrugged dismissively. “Your ape is mine now. And as the legal documents you signed stipulate, there is nothing left for you to do now but remain silent.” He chuckled. “And lest you forget, Goliath was already dead. He was dead twenty-eight thousand years ago. Philosophically, it ultimately became a question of who would put him down. I believe the current resolution serves everyone’s best interests.”

  “Except Goliath’s,” Shelby said ruefully.

  “He’s just a dumb ape. He doesn’t know the difference.”

  Shelby bit off a rebuke. She watched a broad-shouldered younger man leap up and slap the viewing bars, teasing the giant, but Goliath didn’t move.

  Shelby started to protest, but Ahmen called out, “No more of that foolishness, Javad.”

  The man, unaware he was being watched, turned and said, “Sorry, Mr. Ahmen.”

  Ahmen replied, “Everyone will have their fun later. I give you my word.”

&
nbsp; This brought grins all around. Shelby hissed, “You’re cruel.”

  The rich collector feigned a long frown. “And I thought you were here to wish me luck, Shelby. I promise to send you a photo of Goliath once he’s pretty and mounted in my Arctic exhibit.”

  Shelby didn’t say another word, resisting the impulse to slap him. She didn’t want to talk to anyone.

  She left the men to their business and moved further down the dock, noting how the primate’s eyes followed her. She wished like hell there was some way to tell Goliath this wasn’t her doing, his being taken away like this. But there wasn’t. Like Ahmen had said, all she could do was “remain silent.” Fuck this night. Just being near this operation made her feel unclean and sullied. How could everything have gone to shit in so little time?

  As she watched the trailer pull away from the loading dock she knew this would be the last time she saw Goliath alive. She would never accept Ahmen’s invitation to his Bear Island estate. Never.

  It saddened her deeply how the giant primate watched her until the large truck shifted gears and turned onto a virtually deserted Western Ave, followed by two police cruisers.

  “Goodbye, Goliath,” she said to no one.

  For a long moment, Shelby felt too demoralized to move. Then, kicking a dried orange rind off the dock, she returned to her car.

  PART THREE

  GOING HOME

  CHAPTER 32

  For hours on end, the primate would test the strange hard objects around his wrists and ankles. He couldn’t move as before and this bothered the giant, making him tense and agitated. Yet when he tugged, he found discomfort where the sharp edges burrowed into his skin. Instinct indicated he should find another way to free himself. The giant had no way of knowing why visions of the past filled his huge head, just that they did and only recently. Bad visions, frightening visions, visions that threatened to consume him.

  These current images of death and helplessness were not in his head when he’d suddenly found himself able to climb free and crawl onto the snow and ice, and despite his homing instinct being blurry and out of focus, he knew where he wanted to go. Still, it was only a guess that he’d headed across the ice in the correct direction. Now for reasons he would never understand, the destination he desired was as clear as the images flooding his sensorium. He missed the land he recalled, the snow, forests, huge slabs of ice, plunging temperatures. It was with some satisfaction he could tell he was headed north toward the ice valley of his home. He couldn’t comprehend depression and despair, but that was where his primate psyche resided. These little weak beings that hovered all around him frightened him, and most of them he’d learned to mistrust. One exception being the female, but she was no longer around. He hadn’t smelled her scent in over a day, adding to his disquiet. He recalled clearly the beings that had hurt him and his kind in his home valley long ago before the unsettling changes he’d witnessed had been thrust upon him, and though they had looked nothing like the creatures holding him now, one similarity he readily understood. If given the chance he could crush either with little effort and they would cease to be a nuisance.