Insects 2: The Hunted
Page 23
“Do you hear that?” he said, poking Boyd who was already asleep.
“I do,” Suarez said.
The two rose, moving past the rock into the open field where the sound was more distinct. Waving his arms, Duncan shouted, “We’re over here. Over here,” while Suarez scampered up the rock and peered into the distance.
“I see them,” he said, waving his arms excitedly. “I think they see me.”
“Who is it, can you tell?”
“I think it’s Mister Carl and the army or police, I can’t tell.”
“Everybody, get up,” Duncan shouted. “We’re saved.”
117
ONCE AGAIN, INSECTS led the news as media swarmed near the entrance to the Manaus Air Force Base where two AS-350 helicopters brought most of the survivors. Nolan Thomas, accompanied by Jason Gruber, was flown by medical chopper directly to a private hospital in the city where he was stabilized. Joined later by Thomas’s remaining assistants, the men were subsequently flown by private jet to Texas.
While Carl Murphy and his crew gave interviews outside the military base, Howard Duncan, Cody Boyd and Antonio Suarez, dirty, their clothes tattered, slipped out quietly via taxi, returning to their hotel where they spent the night following showers and dinner at the hotel’s restaurant. While Duncan and Boyd had fresh clothing in their suitcases, Suarez had only his shorts. All of their wallets, cards and phones had been taken by the kidnappers and Duncan didn’t want to think about the machinations it would take to have everything restored. He was grateful that he’d left his passport and laptop at the hotel. At least he had identification.
Boyd had many questions, ranging from what would happen to the gear they left at the village to how they would get home. Though Suarez was too timid to bring it up, Duncan wondered how he would pay him for his services. He felt that whatever the amount, it wouldn’t be enough. How long would it take to get a new credit card sent to Manaus?
“What about your girlfriend?” Boyd suggested.
“Who, Maggie? She’s not my girlfriend.”
“OK, a friend. I’m sure she’d help.”
Getting her number from his laptop, he used the room phone to make a collect call. He hoped she would pick up even though the number wouldn’t be familiar. He was surprised that she answered on the third ring.
“Howard, is that you?” she said, excitedly.
“How’d you know it was me?”
“The country code, of course. Who else do I know in Brazil?”
“It’s great to hear your voice,” he said.
“And yours,” she said. “Your expedition is all over the news.”
“Really? I haven’t talked to anyone.”
“Oh, it’s not about you. It seems there was this reality crew involved. The story’s about them.”
Duncan laughed. After answering some of her questions, which she fired off one after another as if reading from a script, he described his situation.
“You need money, don’t you, poor thing? No worry, I’ll have George take care of it. How much do you need? Will five thousand do? I can send more but, you know, the larger the sum the more scrutiny.”
“Five thousand would be great. I’ll be able to pay Antonio. You can’t know how badly I want to get out of here.”
After a brief conversation with George Hamel, Duncan learned that the maximum cash transfer allowed was two thousand nine hundred ninety nine dollars. He would be able to pick it up in a matter of hours from a location near the hotel. He thanked Hamel profusely, after which Cross came on the line.
“You know, you have to come visit me in Chicago when you get back to the states.”
“Oh, I will definitely come to Chicago.”
“Love and kisses,” she said as the call ended.
Duncan felt that he was back in control. He’d showered, ate as much as he wanted, had a good night’s sleep, the specimens were doing well in the jar and money was on the way. But as he thought about it, a problem cropped up that threatened to annihilate his plans.
“Goddamnit,” he mumbled.
“What is it?” Boyd asked.
“How are we gonna get the bugs through customs?”
“Hmmm. I hadn’t thought about that.”
“Neither did I, but all of a sudden that’s a big deal. It’s a deal killer. They’re not gonna let these things go through.”
“Can we hide ’em?”
“How? No way. Shit.”
Duncan’s joy suddenly turned dark. His entire expedition was about capturing specimens, but how did he overlook this part of it? He couldn’t explain it. Perhaps it was because of all the hurdles they had to jump to even get the expedition off the ground. The court case with Suarez, the difficulty finding equipment and transportation. The rush to beat Nolan Thomas into the field. Normally, the specimens he collected were dead and could be shipped out of the country routinely. But live insects that might be considered invasive would never be permitted. There had to be another way.
By noon he had the money in his hand and gave half of it to Suarez, who at first refused most of it but relented when Duncan told him that if he didn’t take it he would give it to the maid. Suarez hugged Duncan like a favorite uncle, mentioned that he would use the money to start a guide business, and left the hotel with a spring in his step and more money than he had ever seen in his pocket.
“Well, no matter what happens, at least Antonio is happy. I wish I could’ve given him more for all that he did.”
Boyd nodded in agreement.
“I wish it was gonna be that easy for us,” he said, looking at the jar. “I wonder how long those guys will last?”
118
JUST AS DUNCAN and Boyd were preparing to go out for dinner, and bring back leftovers for the specimens, the phone rang. Duncan thought it was Maggie Cross, whom he wanted to thank for the money.
“Hi, again,” he said, “We got the money and I can’t thank you enough.”
“Pardon me,” a man’s voice responded.
“Who’s this?” Duncan asked suspiciously.
“My name is Haverty, James Haverty. I work for Biodynamism and I’m wondering if we could talk.”
“What do we have to talk about?”
“I’d rather do it in person, if you don’t mind. I’m in the lobby. If it’s OK with you, I’d like to take you out to dinner.”
Duncan and Boyd were naturally curious about what Haverty would have to say.
“If nothing else, we’ll get a free meal out of this,” Duncan said as they rode the elevator to meet him.
Haverty, dressed casually in khakis and a short-sleeved, collared shirt, greeted them as they entered the lobby, leading them outside to a limousine parked in front of the hotel.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Haverty said as they drove, “I’ve got reservations at Banzeiro. According to TripAdvisor, it’s the best restaurant in Manaus. Ever eat there?”
During dinner, Haverty explained that he’d been sent to look after Nolan Thomas’s needs and arrange for his medical flight to the states. He learned from Jason Gruber that Duncan had live specimens of Reptilus blaberus.
“When I called the home office, they instructed me to talk to you about what we could do to help you out.”
“Really? What kind of help would we need?” Duncan asked.
“Given what you’ve gone through, you probably want to get back home yesterday. Am I right?”
Boyd and Duncan nodded as they ate.
“Well, we can put you on a private charter and have you back home tomorrow morning. How does that sound?”
“Great,” Duncan said, “but why would you do this for us?”
“Yes, cut to the chase, right,” Haverty replied. “Well, the company is obviously very interested in your specimens. And we’re willing to do whatever it takes to get them safely into a lab where you can pursue your research.”
Duncan glanced at Boyd knowingly.
“I don’t have a lab,” Duncan said. “It’s be
en in all the newspapers. I don’t even have a job.”
“I know. Your university suspended you, as I recall.”
“Since I don’t have a lab, I don’t see how you can help me.”
“The company wants to help in any way it can. We know the law. We know that you will never get those specimens through customs, not here, not in the United States.”
“And you can?” Boyd asked.
“In a word, yes.”
“How?”
“The details are unimportant. The company guarantees that we can fly your specimens safely to your lab on our campus.”
“My lab?”
“Yes, a world-class lab with as many assistants as you require and whatever else you need to study and breed your specimens.”
“Hmmm.”
Duncan thought that he must’ve been dreaming. It sounded too good to be true.
“Can I bring Cody?”
“Of course, anyone you want. We operate like an academic institution, only without sports teams, deans and politics. We’re only interested in results.”
“What about remuneration?”
“You tell us how much you want.”
Duncan was taken aback and had no immediate response. Haverty explained that he could make decisions later but that the company was concerned that the specimens were properly cared for.
“We have a portable habitat for them that I’d like to get them into immediately, if that’s OK with you.”
“I’m not gonna let them out of my sight,” Duncan said.
“I understand that entirely. The habitat is too large to carry into your hotel. We rented a private residence in the Adrianópolis neighborhood. You and your assistant are welcome to stay with us. It’s a much better place than where you’re staying and you’ll be able to keep an eye on your specimens while we take care of everything else. If all goes as planned, we should be in Texas tomorrow.”
This is too good to be true, Duncan thought, especially after what he’d been through in the forest. But he had no idea how he could get the specimens out of the country and Biodynamism had a solution that went well beyond his immediate concerns. Boyd seemed happy with it. But so far it was just conversation. He asked how they would formalize their relationship and Haverty said that they would sign a contract in Manaus specifying everything they had discussed and more.
“What do you think, Cody?” Duncan asked as they left the restaurant.
“I don’t think you’ve got a choice. How else can we get the bugs out of here?”
Although Duncan felt anxious about making a decision, the three returned to the hotel where Haverty got his first look at the insects, which were resting at the bottom of the jar.
“So those are the critters,” he said. “They look like cockroaches.”
“Cockroaches with knives,” Boyd said.
“So, Dr. Duncan, are you on board with us?”
Duncan took a deep breath and held out his hand.
“Let’s shake on it.”
THE END
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INSECTS: SPECIMEN - AN EXCERPT
“YOU HAVE TO hear this, boss,” Cody Boyd said as he burst into Dr. Howard Duncan’s small, sterile office at Biodynamism, Inc.
Duncan, who had been reviewing a spreadsheet on his desktop computer, gave him the annoyed look of someone who had better things to do then engaging in chit-chat.
“Ever hear of knocking?” he asked peevishly.
“Sorry,” the young researcher said disingenuously as he slipped into a chair facing Duncan. “This comes from Jason.”
Boyd paused as if mentioning the name of Jason Gruber had special magic. Duncan raised his eyes above the black frame of his reading glasses and frowned.
“What is it now?”
“Jason says that Dr. Thomas told his staff to use email if they want to contact him. Can you believe that? No face time.”
“What does this have to do with me?”
Boyd’s enthusiasm melted quickly.
“Nothing, I suppose,” he said, apologetically. “I just thought you might want to know, that’s all.”
“You know how I hate office politics.”
“Technically, this isn’t office politics. If you want to know my opinion, which I’m sure you don’t but I’m gonna give it anyway, I think he’s going nuts.”
“You would too if you were him, don’t you think? The man has been through a lot and I don’t think it’s a good idea to, ah, to report on every foible. Maybe it’s his way of coping.”
“So you don’t think it’s weird?” Boyd pressed.
“After what he’s been through, no, I don’t think it’s weird,” Duncan said, his annoyance growing. “Anyway, shouldn’t you be in the lab working instead of collecting gossip?”
“It’s lunch time,” Boyd said defensively, rising. “Do you not want me to pass along my intel? We’ve been here over two months and I’ll bet you haven’t bothered to learn the names of the people who work for you.”
“Of course I know their names,” Duncan said. “Even if I didn’t, I know your name and you’re my senior assistant and you’d know their names.”
Boyd was incredulous and told himself as he left the office, carefully closing the door behind him, that he would not let Duncan’s attitude bring him down. After all, it was his twenty-seventh birthday. He was still young enough to think it important and worth celebrating and Duncan was forty-five going on sixty, or so it seemed to him. Despite having worked together for three years, the young man didn’t fault his boss for not acknowledging his birthday. The man was essentially a computer illiterate and had never bothered to spend the fifteen minutes it would take to manage his own online calendar where he could easily have entered a reminder. Boyd used to maintain it for him when they were in academia but now that he was Duncan’s senior research assistant the job fell to Malcolm Desmond, one of the two assistants who reported to him. Desmond was older than Boyd and easy going. In the months said he and Duncan had started working at Biodynamism, Desmond had become Boyd’s favorite. They often shared lunch and rode bikes on the company’s expansive, wooded campus. It was Desmond who greeted him with “Happy Birthday, boss,” when they arrived at the lab that morning. This was Boyd’s first supervisory role, and so far he enjoyed it.
Boyd couldn’t help but break out into a wide grin as they ate celebratory breakfast tacos at the cafeteria where they often shared gossip and rumors. Even though everyone who worked at Biodynamism signed confidentiality agreements and was instructed at employee orientation not to engage in rumor-mongering or speculation about the work being done there, the employee manual couldn’t prohibit human nature.
“I thought I put you in charge of Duncan’s calendar,” Boyd said with mock disapproval.
“You did, and I do it,” Desmond responded guardedly.
“Well, why isn’t there a reminder about my birthday?”
“There is,” Desmond said. “He just doesn’t look at it.”
“Is that it?”
“Oh, yeah, I sometimes have to remind him to look at his calendar.”
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“Oh, yeah. All the time. You want to get his attention, you have to talk to him. Isn’t that what you used to do for him when you were working on your master’s?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t care if he read it. My job was to make sure it was updated.”
“Maybe that’s the attitude I should have.”
“No way,” Boyd insisted. “Do as I say, not as I do.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JOHN KOLOEN, A native of Wisconsin, has been a longshoreman, construction worker, newspaperman, magazine publi
sher and bureaucrat. He lives in Galveston, TX, with his wife Laura Burns. He is the author of Insects and Insects: The Hunted.
To receive updates on John’s upcoming books, including future titles in the Insects series, please signup for the free newsletter at watchfirepress.com/jk.
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