WHERE LEGENDS ROAM

by Lee Murphy

  Still, she didn't like the idea of being threatened and told them so. "Young man, unless you can show me some legitimate reason for your coming out here and harassing me, I will report you to the rangers. My husband is a ranger."

  The first man looked at his companion, who took a couple steps closer to the porch. The first man stared at Mildred, increasing the element of intimidation and said, "Your husband's been dead for six years." Having made their point, the two men left, and Mildred locked herself in the house, too scared to report them for fear of a reprisal.

  ***

  Looking tough but comfortable in well-worn blue jeans, a denim jacket, black T-shirt, and suede boots, George Kodiak cut an imposing figure as he walked across the drizzle-soaked tarmac of Detroit Metropolitan Airport. With his Army duffel bag slung over his shoulder and his hair pulled back into a ponytail, he always drew suspicious looks from security personnel, because he just looked like trouble.

  He came around the main terminal building and saw an unusual plane set alone on the tarmac, away from the commercial airliners. It was a 747 that was painted gold with a blue stripe running its full length. Inside the blue stripe was the name PITTMAN INTERNATIONAL.

  "Good morning." Ron Pearl was approaching him from the direction of the plane with two other men. They were dressed in dark suits and sunglasses, giving the impression of government agents.

  Kodiak stopped. His back stiffened and his muscles tensed in anticipation of a confrontation as they came over to him.

  Two of the men stood on each side of him as Pearl stood in front of him and extended his hand. "It's good to see you again." Pearl was cordial, even friendly, but his sunglasses bothered Kodiak, especially since the weather hardly warranted wearing them.

  Pearl said,"We have to go through a brief security check before boarding the plane. So, if you'll hand Mr. Wieben-- to your left there-- your bag, while Mr. Utenidge checks your person for any concealed devices... Strictly procedure."

  Kodiak handed his duffel bag to Wieben, who set it on the ground and went through its contents, trying to keep everything close to how it had originally been packed. His bag only contained more jeans and shirts, essential toiletries, and an extra pair of boots. Wieben took the extra pair of boots and turned them upside-down to see if anything was hidden inside.

  Utenidge asked Kodiak to raise his arms so he could frisk him, and Kodiak said, "Let me guess. Strictly procedure?" Utenidge ignored him and proceeded to feel him up. "Don't bother with the prostate. I had a physical a couple weeks ago." Utenidge ignored this remark, too, and asked Kodiak to empty and then turn out his pockets. He took out a dollar eighty in change, a comb, and from his back pocket a deck of playing cards that appeared to be marked.

  Utenidge handed Kodiak back the items from his pockets, and Wieben zipped up the duffel bag. Pearl said, "Thank you, Mr. Kodiak. Now, if you'll go up the ramp, we'll be taking off shortly."

  Kodiak picked up his duffel bag and walked up the ramp to the plane.

  When he reached the top step, Wayne Monroe appeared before him, working on what must have been his eighth double Brandy Manhattan. "Wayne, you are the butt-ugliest stewardess I have ever seen."

  "George... George, you are not gonna believe this. Wait till you check this stuff out. It makes Virgin Atlantic look like... like the Wright brothers." Wayne grabbed Kodiak's jacket sleeve as much for balance as to lead him into the plane. The interior had been completely renovated. Having eliminated the standard interior design for this type of aircraft, Pittman took full advantage of the space now available.

  They stood in a spacious and comfortable-looking dining room where the table was large enough to accommodate a dozen people. Each chair was attached to a swivel arm and was anchored to the table which allowed them to move freely without toppling over while the plane was in motion.

  Wayne nodded to a closed door at the head of the dining room and said, "There's a fully stocked kitchen back there. It's got everything-- including a chef. I'd show you, but he damn near bit my head off the first time I looked back there. I'll tell you this, if I'd have had my buck knife with me, there'd be a secret ingredient added to the soup and he'd be singing soprano."

  From the dining room Wayne led him down into the salon; posh, opulent space furnished with leather recliners and sofas, with coffee and end tables finished in black lacquer. There was an entertainment center against the far bulkhead that boasted a big screen television and a DVD player. There was a library of more than a hundred DVDs that ranged from all-time classics, to pornography, to pirated copies of films that hadn't even been released yet. Next to this was a state-of-the-art stereo system. Wayne had put on a compact disc of chamber music that was playing at a comfortable volume.

  "And this..." Wayne took a remote control from a drawer in one of the end tables and pushed a button. The floor opened up in front of the television and a hot tub came up. Wayne laughed like an excited child at Christmas. "Isn't this great? This guy's even richer than me!"

  "We also have six bedroom suites, each with its own bathroom, as well as two private offices, a conference room, a sauna, and a gym, which is really just a Universal weight machine. How do you do? My name is April, and I'll be your flight attendant." April looked like a sixteen-year-old. She walked over to Wayne and pushed the hot tub button a second time, and it went back under the floor. "Once we're in the air, you can use whatever you like." She took Kodiak's bag. "May I put this away for you?"

  "Thanks."

  "Would you like something to drink before we take off?"

  "Canadian Club, straight."

  "Mr. Monroe?"

  "Maybe later, thanks. When will we be taking off?"

  "It will be at least another twenty minutes." She smiled and left them.

  Wayne turned to Kodiak. "You believe this? That Pittman's got some imagination. I am going to try that hot tub. Even if I have to go in naked!"

  Kodiak said, "I hope this thing comes with parachutes."

  April came back with Kodiak's drink. "Once we're in the air, lunch will be served."

  Wayne asked, "What will we be having?"

  "Australian lobster tails, broiled. Prime rib, served with New England clam chowder and a Caesar salad, with shrimp cocktail appetizers. If you need anything else, just push the call button on this console."

  ***

  The plane landed at Emory Pittman's estate in northern Arizona. When Kodiak and Wayne disembarked, they were met by Mark Dubbins, a tall, cadaverous-looking fellow who must certainly have been in his seventies. He was dressed in a conservative tweed suit that looked a size too big for his slight physique. "Mr. Hodiak?"

  "Kodiak."

  "Like the bear," Wayne added.

  "I'm Mark Dubbins. I am Mr. Pittman's personal assistant." Dubbins spoke in a simple monotone that was mildly clipped with the vaguest hint of a British accent. He made none of the gestures customary of an introduction and his eyes were hooded by ancient, wrinkled lids, giving him more the look of an automaton than a human being. "I trust your flight was pleasant?"

  "Very nice, thank you." Wayne was still giddy from the trip and all the toys he got to play with and all the liquor he got to drink.

  Dubbins escorted them to a Range Rover that was mounted with a plexi-glass top for unobstructed observation. "If you gentlemen will allow me to take your luggage..." The mechanical Dubbins took their bags and placed them in the back of the Range Rover, while Kodiak and Wayne got in on the passenger side. Dubbins closed up the back and got in the driver's seat. "It's Mr. Pittman's wish that you be given a tour of the estate, after which you will be brought to the main house to meet with him."

  Kodiak noticed several distinct scars on and about Dubbins' lower face and neck that weren't blatantly obvious, but the sun highlighted their shiny-smooth surface.

  Dubbins drove the Range Rover half a mile from the airstrip to an open range surrounded by hills that reminded Kodiak of some of the places he had worked as a forest ranger. "Mr. Pittman has r
ecreated the environments from several of the earth's continents in order to properly house his collection of wildlife specimens. If you'll look to the right, you will see the buffalo."

  There was a large herd of buffalo grazing lazily upon the thick grasses of the range. They paid little attention to the Range Rover as it cruised past them and across a small creek, heading up to hills that were richly forested with a variety of spruce, cedar, and other pine trees, many of them close to a hundred feet tall, having been planted over thirty years ago. This forest, representative of North America, boasted an abundance of wildlife forms indigenous to the United States and Canada.

  They didn't get to see many of the animals Dubbins told them existed here, because the habitats were far too expansive to see in a single afternoon. The animals they did see included gray timber wolves, grizzly and black bears, and mountain lions.

  From the back seat Wayne chuckled, and said, "So when do we get to see the Dinosaurs?" Kodiak and Dubbins ignored him.

  At the end of the North American habitat they went through an underground tunnel that ran a thousand feet. When they came out, it was like they were on the other side of the world.

  "Mr. Pittman's most proud of this habitat. It's an engineering marvel. He's almost perfectly re-created a polar landscape in Arizona."

  The temperature had dropped considerably, so Dubbins turned the heater on.

  Dubbins' bland, unemotional voice gave the impression of reciting poorly rehearsed material as he prattled on. "He's imported several varieties of penguin, as well as other Arctic birds, walruses, seals, musk ox, and polar bears."

  "Polar bears?" Wayne wrapped his arms around his torso while waiting for the Range Rover to warm up, and looked around excitedly.

  This landscape was in a deep trench of a canyon that was five miles long and one mile wide. Nearly one-third of this canyon was cut into a granite mountain, which allowed ice to be built up and spread outward, where huge refrigeration coils kept the ground cool from beneath. Massive walls of ice were placed strategically about this part of the landscape to separate the animals that might otherwise attack and do harm to each other.

  There was a lake with several icebergs floating in it, and Dubbins headed in that direction, where much of the action was located.

  The area beyond the lake was temperate and surrounded by gigantic granite walls. On the far side of the canyon musk ox were grazing in a field of vegetation.

  They came to a place where two sections of ice appeared to have smashed together creating a series of ridges and towers. A large bull walrus was sunning himself atop the highest perch that was capable of sustaining his tremendous weight, while several females and younger males lazed on the ice beneath him. In the lake the young played with each other, diving in and out of the water.

  Beyond them Kodiak saw the dorsal fins of a killer whale pod that was cruising by. He couldn't imagine Pittman not having some kind of underwater barrier to keep the whales from getting to the other wildlife, and Dubbins seemed to read his mind. "These whales are not the southern variety that are so well known for their voracious appetites and their attacks on other sea-going mammals. These are of the northern species that feeds solely on fish. This lake, as well as all the rivers and lakes throughout the estate, are well-stocked with salmon and trout."

  About fifty yards away, a huge polar bear spotted the car and started moving after it at more than a casual trot. "My God, look at the size of that thing," Wayne marvelled.

  Dubbins brought the Range Rover through another tunnel, shorter than the first, where a steel gate blocked their passage halfway through. When they stopped, the bear quickened its pace to a full run, and Kodiak watched it with mounting concern. If they did not get through this gate fast, the bear may very likely attack. As the polar bear was one of the deadliest predators in existence, it could easily smash through the plexi-glass canopy and slaughter them. Wayne said, "I remember reading somewhere that if you lie perfectly still a bear will think you're dead and won't attack you. Anybody for giving it a try?"

  An electronic eye detected their presence, and the gate opened, closing behind them, locking the curious bear out.

  Ten minutes later they emerged in a field of bamboo, beyond which trees stood tall against the blue Arizona sky. In those trees dozens of orangutans were swinging on lianas, and leaping from branch to branch at distances that would make an Olympic gymnast shudder. For such awkward, clumsy-looking animals, they were truly at ease in the trees, where they were agile and graceful.

  These were among Kodiak's favorite animals, though he couldn't help but feel a kind of sadness whenever he saw them, because he knew their ultimate demise was only a matter of years. Their habitat in the wild had radically diminished from most of mainland Asia to a few small islands, as they were relentlessly hunted for zoos and scientific studies. Sometime over the next century, he knew man will have wiped them out.

  Kodiak felt a sense of appreciation for what Pittman had created here. This wasn't so much a zoo as it was a wildlife sanctuary, where many endangered species could thrive in environments that mirrored those in the wild.

  When they entered the clearing, they saw giant pandas feeding on the bamboo. Pittman had to have some major political connections, because not only did he have a mating pair of adult pandas, but he possessed two mating pairs, and there were several young feeding alongside the adults.

  They drove through thirty minutes of winding Asian wilderness trails without seeing another animal. Then they came upon the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple standing among palm trees that swayed in the temperate breezes. A Bengal tiger was lying on the front steps, its body stretched completely out under the sun. Wayne looked up through the plexi-glass top and hoped the tiger wouldn't spot them and suddenly decide on a midday snack. But the tiger didn't seem to care, and as they passed the huge cat simply rolled onto its back, putting one great paw out as if it were reaching for the sun.

  They crossed a series of creeks and bridges that took them to a simulation of the East Indies where they saw a variety of life from that part of the world. Most notably were the saltwater crocodiles, cobras, and Komodo dragons. Dubbins pulled over so they could watch as two ten-foot dragons went to work wrenching hunks of meat from the tattered corpse of a goat that was suspended from a tree. From another tree, three smaller dragons were also watching, waiting for the bigger ones to finish gorging themselves so they could have their turn at the carcass.

  Dubbins drove on.

  Once they were clear of the Asian territories, Dubbins took them through an area the size of a football stadium, which was still under construction. There were men operating earth-moving equipment and clearing the area out.

  Dubbins explained, "This is going to be a saltwater lake. Not unlike the one in the polar habitat, but this particular lake is going to house a great white shark. When it's finished there will be observation windows on all sides."

  Kodiak was doubtful. "A lot of people have tried to keep great whites in captivity and failed. What makes Pittman think he'll have better luck?"

  "Mr. Pittman hopes his will be the first to survive. He believes he knows where all the mistakes were made."

  They drove up the earthen hillside that would someday be under water and came to a ridge that overlooked an African savannah. Dubbins brought the Range Rover down to the flat land, and they watched a herd of elephants lazily making their way across the plain. Even at the distance from which they observed them, these animals seemed majestic and graceful in spite of their bulk.

  Dubbins turned down a road behind the hill, and they lost sight of the elephants. In this small valley a den of lions was resting beneath an acacia tree with the bloody skeletal remains of a recent kill scattered about the ground.

  Wayne asked, "Surely he doesn't let the lions roam with the other animals he's imported?"

  "Not at all. The animals are kept separate by a series of well-hidden electric fences, and deep rivers and lakes. The carcass you saw was a
cow. We turn several of them loose among the various predators so they can plunder them at will."

  Wayne cringed. "Charming."

  The lions ignored them as they passed within fifty feet and drove on. Farther along the savannah they passed the first electric fence.

  There were greater numbers of animals in the next compound, animals that were compatible within the same boundaries: giraffes, rhinoceroses, ostriches. Two ostriches were engaged in pursuing a rhino as the Range Rover entered. Dubbins said, "The rhinoceros have developed a nasty habit of sitting on the ostrich eggs. This infuriates the ostriches who attempt, in vain for the most part, to avenge themselves."

  Kodiak thought he noticed the glimmer of a smile on Dubbins' face, but then it was gone.

  They came to a river where the elephants were now wading. There were also hippos, as well as several large crocodiles sunning themselves on the sandy bank.

  Dubbins drove parallel to the river another mile and then headed toward the woodlands at the base of the next hill, where they saw zebras, wart hogs, and wildebeests roaming about the foliage. They went deeper into the woods where the plant life became more tropical, but was still open. Kodiak spotted an Okapi. This animal was an ancestor to the giraffe, but looked more like a caribou without antlers. The Okapi was thought to have been extinct some twenty to forty million years until it was rediscovered in 1903. It was declared a living fossil and was adopted as the official emblem for the International Society of Cryptozoology.

  The Okapi suddenly seemed distracted, but not by the Range Rover. It looked northward, then darted into the brush. None of the others noticed it, but Kodiak sensed something was about to happen.

  Dubbins cruised through the woods at a steady ten miles per hour.

  Suddenly, something let out a blood-curdling screech and hurdled across the hood of the Range Rover. Dubbins hit the brakes, but whatever the thing was, it was gone, having left a streak of blood across the hood.