by K D McNiven
So far as Wilhelm knew, his scientific team had made the greatest strides thus far in regards to DNA testing. Keeping the eggs under wraps from his colleagues, he quietly, on his own time, spent months testing. Especially since he had managed to extract enough DNA from the baby Purussaurus inside the frozen eggs to continue. And upon testing, he was ecstatic to find complete DNA with all of its genes. The genome had maintained its integrity, possessing everything they would need to bring these incredible creatures to life. By injecting the DNA extracted from the baby Purussaurus into an egg cell of an alligator’s DNA, the original core having been removed, Wilhelm was able to duplicate the original donor cell.
Using Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) he produced thousands of copies for that specific DNA strain. PCR had to be done in a controlled environment because of its sensitivity to temperature fluctuation in order to catalyze DNA replication. Higher temperatures accelerated molecules, driving them against each other, whereas lower temperatures slowed the activity of the molecule. The more the molecules collided, the more their shape would be altered, preventing them from binding to the substrate. For Wilhelm, the molecules maintained their stability, entered the active site, achieving the desired results.
His hopes of advancing his research had come into fruition when he put in a call to Daisuke Nakamura, in Japan, a well-known entrepreneur celebrated for investing millions of dollars in Invitrogen Molecular Cloning research. Wilhelm met with him over the next few months in an effort to convince Daisuke to invest in his research. First off, he knew he would need another facility, fully stocked to complete the project. As it turned out, the man turned out to be arrogant and patronizing. Regardless, Wilhelm decided to overlook his loathsome characteristics for the sake of his experimentations. After their meetings, Wilhelm realized Daisuke certainly lived up to his worldwide reputation for being a multi-billionaire, especially after agreeing to dump millions of dollars into Wilhelm’s research project.
It wasn’t until Wilhelm produced the first working genome that Daisuke stepped in and began demanding all sorts of things. Number one, Wilhelm would have his own science laboratory, but it had to be kept under the radar—the reason he landed up in the Brazilian jungle, much to his dismay. Secondly, Daisuke would determine when it would be announced world-wide. No doubt, Daisuke didn’t want there to be any embarrassing glitches that would reflect badly on his name down the road. Then to his consternation, Daisuke informed him he had every intention of starting a zoo in the heart of Japan and would eventually expand it as Wilhelm cloned new species to showcase. This vision was rapidly transpiring. Plans had already been drawn out and nothing or no one would prevent this from becoming a reality; no one would be foolhardy enough to take on Daisuke. He had even sent Wilhelm blueprints of the beginning stages of construction. It appeared he had been pushed to the backseat of the project, and he had no say-so in the matter. He bit his tongue, knowing his avenues of defense was fully quashed. If Daisuke decided to pull his investment, Wilhelm would be out on the streets, his reputation tarnished forever—Daisuke would personally see to it.
Wilhelm tried to visualize a person’s first reaction when they walked by one of the cages and for the first time ever, set their eyes on one of the beasts. Upfront, it all sounded good, but what would it say to the scientific community? That cloning had nothing more to offer than being a sideshow? How would that affect the future? And what if, God forbid, one of the beast’s escaped? Wilhelm had already witnessed the demise of several unsuspecting persons over the past couple of years. The thought still made his stomach churn.
Daisuke had become of late overly pushy. Aggravatingly so. Because he had invested so much money into the project, his demands had become more and more difficult to carry out, forcing Wilhelm to find ways to tolerate the man.
The growling in his stomach reminded him lunch would be ready within the next few minutes. He set aside what he had been doing and headed for the elevator. Pushing the basement button, he felt the slight shift as the elevator began its descent. It chimed, jerked to a stop, and the door slid open.
Across the room, he saw Anna standing near one of the large picture windows, specially designed for this room and could sustain sledgehammer blows. Her head jerked up when she heard him coming her way, and she smiled. Turning ever so slightly, she smoothed back her graying hair and waited for him to kiss her cheek as he always did.
“I heard Ramon shot out the ORI’s cameras and some of their team was attacked by our babies?”
“You heard correctly, Anna. However, it hasn’t soured their taste for snooping.”
Her brows arched with surprise. “Really? They came back? Even after their friend lost his life and the other two all but lost their lives?”
“Some people never learn,” he replied, looking through the glass and smiling. “I see Chloe and Gabriel are having breakfast?”
Anna smiled, her crisp blue eyes beaming. Below, two Purussaurus were consuming chunks of goat meat, blood dripping off their teeth as they ripped and gnawed at the meal. It only took seconds before the meat had been devoured. With a bite force twice as hard as the Tyrannosaurus rex, it made them one of the deadliest animals ever to have lived. The meat they supplied them with turned out to be nothing more than throwing a biscuit to a starving dog. They were ravenous eaters and keeping them supplied continued to be a growing challenge.
“They’ve been staying out longer the last couple of weeks I’ve noticed. Being able to devour ninety-two pounds of meat daily, I believe they aren’t getting enough and they’re wandering farther and farther into the jungle to search out more food supply.”
“One hundred pounds of meat a day would be too difficult for us to have on hand. I guess it was inevitable. A shame so many people have had to die because of their voracious appetite, but we can’t change it. What’s done is done. Soon, they will be taken from here and we won’t have to deal with it until we raise up new ones to take their place.”
Chloe and Gabriel were her two favorites of the six they had cloned. Anna had cared for and nurtured them from the time they broke out of their shells. She missed the time she had held them and hand fed them. Now all she could do was watch from afar. She realized several people had been devoured by them. Something she had to push to the back of her mind—the thought too horrible to dwell on, she mused. It just happened to be the cycle of life and these six Purussaurus were at the top of the food chain here in the rain forest of Brazil.
“They’ve been a bit testy this morning,” she replied, her eyes still trained on them. “Such beautiful creatures.” It still amazed her how enormous they were, standing taller than most vehicles, certainly longer. The lights above glinted off their grayish-green scales and occasionally one of them would look upward at Anna with those amber-colored eyes with the vertical slit at the center. She could sense they still remembered her love for them…at least she hoped they did.
Wilhelm glanced over at her. He could see the adoration in her eyes for the beasts. It would be difficult for Anna when his contributors finally finished up the zoo and came for them. Nevertheless, he’d signed contracts and they had readily paid the expense. The groundwork had already been laid. Now Wilhelm merely bided his time, experimenting on new hybrids, new creations that would astound the world.
***
Meg, Jayden, and Kyle sat at the local bar awaiting Rourke. He’d already been gone for more than an hour and they hoped he had been able to procure new tires for the jeep. If not, they would have to go to Belém, miles away, where Rourke and Jake had located the cages. That would take another two days and Captain Burke made it clear that in the near future he’d be forced to pull anchor and go for more fuel to keep the equipment running, as well as replenish their food supply. The small village, São Porto, where they were located presently had limited resources and supplies but they were hopeful Rourke would find what they needed to get back on the road.
Meg caught sight of the two men Jayden and she had spoken with th
e last time there, sipping suds in the far corner of the room. Like before, they kept their eyes diverted, obviously trying to avoid another encounter with them. Meg still found it difficult to understand why they chose to stay closemouthed. People were dying. Surely, they had to conclude the village people would want someone to come help and make the village a safe haven for their children and families? At least that is what Meg would desire under these circumstances.
Meg saw Jayden’s eyes lock onto the two men and he started to get to his feet. Meg could read his mind. She clutched his shirt sleeve and shook her head. They had made it clear they did not want to talk about the people-eating monster. Jayden would only incite more defiance. The last thing they needed was to make enemies of the locals. They had enough to deal with.
“But…” he said.
“Lay off, we don’t need a bar brawl.”
He pursed his lips, sat back down, and flashed a look of displeasure. Eyes lowered, Jayden began to peel back the label on his beer bottle, looking fully immersed in thought. He was disturbed by the lack of cooperation on their part, and it had not gone unnoticed by Meg.
“The locals need to be involved in capturing the Purussaurus,” he said. “Until they are secured, no one here is safe. Bad enough they have to deal with the alligators.”
“Caiman,” she corrected “And I agree, Jayden, but you can’t force people to do things against their will. These people have been dealing with this horror for several years now. They’re afraid.”
“I suppose.” He didn’t look convinced. “It’s just…why would you slap the hand reaching out to help you?”
Meg shrugged, tipped the beer bottle to her lips and finishing off the dregs. “No idea. I’m not a shrink.”
He chuckled. “Sometimes I wonder.”
Precisely then, Rourke walked through the door and walked over to their table, dropping onto one of the chairs. “Done.”
“They had tires! Great,” Kyle said.
“Not exactly,” he replied, flagging his hand in the air for the waiter. When the waiter stepped up to the table, Rourke ordered a round of beer, passing a look of accomplishment at the three of them. “I found an elderly man who had an old beat-up jeep he’d been working on, the motor suspended by a chain on pole supports. Seeing the likelihood the jeep needed a new motor, I approached him about selling me the tires for a sizable amount of money.”
“Fortunately for us,” Kyle said.
When Rourke’s beer arrived, he gulped down a healthy swallow, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his shirt sleeve. The day was uncomfortably hot and dripping with humidity. “Only one drawback.”
Meg arched her golden brows, cocking her head inquisitively. “Uh oh. What’s the catch?”
A smile tugged at the corners of Rourke’s mouth. “Not as bad as it sounds, Meg. We have to take the tires off, put some air in one of them, and roll them to the jeep to install.”
“We can manage that. The alternative is to go on foot and with what we’ve been through so far, I can’t say any of us would be too eager to take that on,” Jayden said.
“Here, here,” said Kyle raising his bottle of beer, followed by the clink of glass as the team toasted the good news.
After twenty minutes of lingering over idle conversation and cold beer, the four of them hiked to the elderly man’s home. Jayden dragged out the tire iron to loosen the lug nuts, each of them taking turns to remove the set of tires, and before long, they finished up, sweat rolling down their faces. Hot and sticky from the intense sun’s heat.
“I could use another beer about now,” Kyle said, waving his hand in front of his face. “I don’t understand how anyone survives in this kind of heat.
“Suck it up, Bainbridge,” Jayden grinned, giving Kyle a playful elbow to the gut.
Rourke, shoving a wad of bills into the man’s hand, thanked him profusely, and the four of them began rolling the tires in the direction of the jeep, thankfully, not too far from where they were. Another half-hour passed and the tires were mounted. The only thing left was to pump some air into the low tire. Without delay, they made their way to the small station about an eighth of a mile away. Only one gas pump at the dilapidated station, serving as a home as well, but it did have a place to get air in the tire.
Chapter Sixteen
⁂
Back on the road again they made their way through the rainforest paralleling the river. They drove the mile it took to reach the warehouse, disappointed to see the two guards and a vicious German Shepherd standing behind the gate, rifles positioned on them.
“Now what?” asked Meg. “You aren’t going to risk getting shot, are you, Rourke?”
“Thinking about it.”
“Have at it,” she said, an impish grin on her face.
Kyle turned and reached into the back of the jeep, withdrawing a meaty bone. “This is for our friend over there.”
Rourke laughed. “Good thinking, Kyle. Don’t know how well it will work, but it’s worth a try. First, we have to get through those two fellows. Any ideas I’d love to hear them.”
They remained stationed in the middle of the road for a time while they gave thought to how they wanted to proceed in the matter. Since the men had guns it would make it difficult. Not that they didn’t have a couple of rifles stashed in the vehicle, but once bullets started flying, a real chance of one of them becoming wounded crossed their minds.
Without saying anything, Rourke fired up the engine, and sped down the road a short distance from the warehouse, stopping abruptly without explanation. All eyes turned his way, curiosity marking their faces.
“I’m going to take a look along the bank.”
“What for?” Her words were shrill and strained. She looked mortified that he would even consider getting close to the water after their harrowing experience. There happened to be the matter of the huge opening close by where a Purussaurus might be holed up. She had to admit, fear had its grip on her.
“A feeling,” he said, as he proceeded slowly down the embankment, his boots sinking to the rims in the mud while clinging to a bush growing on the bank next to him to prevent him from sliding into the murky water swirling by.
It was difficult to pull his foot from the muck as he inched his way toward what looked like an extremely large galvanized steel culvert drainage pipe half-submerged in the water. His dark brows hiked, surprised by its being there. In addition, it obviously gave access to the warehouse. What he couldn’t figure out was why would anyone install such a thing, especially with caiman and snakes? One thing for certain, he planned to find out.
Grabbing the lip of the corrugated metal, he swung his body into the pipe, the water swirling around his knees. A strong, invasive, musky odor assaulted his nostrils. He withdrew a military-grade tactical LED flashlight and thumbed the switch on, panning the area with its intense light. The pipe stretched a long distance, taking a jog to the left farther down. He had to admit, he had doubts cropping up knowing he might be walking into a den of Purussaurus, but his overwhelming curiosity won out.
“Rourke!”
“Yup?”
“You need to get back up here,” Meg insisted.
“I’m going to follow it down a bit.”
“Come on, Rourke. You could be walking right into their den!” Meg’s words echoed through the drainage pipe. He didn’t have to determine whether she was hot under the collar; the sharpness of her voice made it abundantly clear. Then again, how could he blame her? No doubt, a fool thing to do.
When Rourke didn’t answer, Meg shimmied down the bank, mud oozing over her shoes, water swirling around her thighs. She gritted her teeth, doing her best to stir up enough courage to continue. She glanced up at the guys who were watching in horror.
“If we don’t come back within five minutes, go to the warehouse. I don’t care how you do it, but break down their damn gate if you have to. Get inside and see what the hell is going on.”
“Be careful, Meg.” The fear on Jayden’s
face spoke volumes. “Really. I don’t think this is a good idea.”
She managed a smile. “Honk the horn if you see any Purussaurus.”
“Got it.”
Kyle passed a glance to Jayden, preparing to hop into the driver’s seat. “They must be out of their minds after what happened to Jake.”
“I hear you, buddy. I can’t figure out why they would do such an irrational thing.”
“Let’s hope they make it out in one piece.”
The two watched in silent horror as Meg managed to swing into the pipe the same as Rourke had done. They searched the thick tangle of the rain forest, their ears sharpened in case they heard the sound of animals approaching. Along the Amazon they had more to worry about than the Purussaurus, considering poisonous snakes, black caiman, and Red-bellied Piranha, amongst other water creatures.
Meg didn’t carry a flashlight but enough light entered from outside to see down the length. Her legs felt like flimsy willow branches as she slogged through the water, her eyes searching to make sure she didn’t collide with any snakes. Her heart drummed with fear, and she scolded herself for being so foolish as to follow after him.
“Rourke!”
“Meg?”
She could see a white light bobbing up and down as he made his way back, and peeked around the corner. “What do you think you’re doing? Get back to the bank, Meg. I’ll finish up here and join you.”
“Not on your life,” she replied, face set like flint.
“Meg, you…”
“I’m going with you, Rourke, like it or not.”
“This isn’t the time to be bull-headed.”
“Let’s drop the matter then. Now, if you want to search out the drainage pipe, let’s hurry up and do it before we have company.”
She had a point. The longer they delayed, the greater the chance they might come face-to-face with one of the dinosaur’s, and that would have deadly consequences. He turned back, holding his flashlight in front of him, casting eerie shadows along the corrugated walls.