by K D McNiven
“Where are these beasts you proclaim to have reproduced?”
“I don’t know.”
The corner of Daisuke’s lip curled up. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”
“I mean, I don’t know! Since the attack, they seem to have wandered off somewhere.”
“You can’t be serious, man!”
Wilhelm pursed his lips, his face turning red with frustration. “They’ve always stayed close by. However, the tunnel collapsed near the feeding room preventing them from getting inside. I can only assume they are hanging around the fringes and when we get the area stabilized, they will return.”
“I’ll have more men come ashore then. I want to see them with my own eyes and begin preparing them for transport, pronto.” Daisuke spun on his heels and marched out as briskly as he’d entered.
“Bastard,” he grumbled under his breath, his face darkening. The man’s arrogance made him bristle.
Fumiko nearly ran into Daisuke as she made her way into the lab. Wilhelm heard her sharp intake of air, and he turned in time to see Daisuke push her briskly, making her stumble off balance. Fortunately for her, she was close enough to the wall it kept her from tumbling to the cement floor. One more mark against the wretched man, Wilhelm mused, rushing forward to help steady the delicately-framed doctor.
“I’m so sorry, Fumiko. That was uncalled for.”
“You have no need to apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong.”
He smiled. “I hope you slept well?”
She nodded, brushing back a long strand of raven-colored hair that had fallen across her mahogany-toned cheek. “Yes. It’s a comfortable room. Thank you.”
He couldn’t help but admire her beauty, the slight slant of her dark eyes, the high cheekbones flushed pink, and full lips glossy with red lipstick. She was elegant and warm. Even though he mourned the loss of Anna, it felt good to have another doctor working alongside him.
Now, they would have to plunge into the painstaking task of getting reorganized. He walked over to the incubator where there were more eggs waiting to hatch. Another week he determined as he looked at his chart. The temperature reading, ninety-nine point five degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity at thirty percent. He reached in and turned each egg at a ninety-degree angle and smiled. His greatest accomplishment, he reflected. At the same time, they had become his greatest revulsion. He could not bury the images of his precious Anna, or forget the horror that had befallen her. Every time he closed his eyes, he visualized her blood-soaked hand lying on the floor, and bile caught in his throat.
“Where should I begin?” asked Fumiko, breaking through his morbid thoughts.
“Yes. Well, you can begin by cleaning up some of the broken tubes that wrenched free from the shelves. Not a glamorous job by any means, but it all has to be done.”
She smiled. “I don’t mind. I’m here to assist you.”
Precisely then, Ramon burst through the door, a shocked expression on his face. Out of breath, he said, “One of the Purussaurus’ is down by the river bank. It’s barely breathing and its eyes are glazed over!”
No need to say more. Wilhelm grabbed a leather bag from off the counter and pushed past Ramon, Fumiko following closely behind. Their footsteps echoed through the hallway as they ran hurriedly, taking the steps in near leaps. Even before he saw the creature, Ramon’s description gave him cause to worry. One Purussaurus was worth ten million dollars. One dead Purussaurus, worth zero.
Wilhelm took wide strides, stopping feet away from the beast, the rise and fall of its chest barely visible. Cautiously, he edged his way toward the animal and stooped to determine what it could be dying from. He took a stethoscope from his bag, leaned over the gray-green scaled back, and listened for a heartbeat. The Purussaurus made a grunting sound, its body quivered and then went lax.
Fumiko’s eyes bulged. She had never seen anything like this before. Even though she’d just witnessed its death, she shuddered, looking over her shoulder to make sure there weren’t more of these monsters lingering in the twisted trees and vines. The size of the animal held her entranced.
“What’s wrong with it?” she asked, boldly taking a step closer and bending over to examine it.
“I’m afraid I don’t know,” he said perplexed. The Purussaurus had been tagged after it had broken through the eggshell, its date of birth stamped on a tag behind its ear, a narrow slit. This specimen, eight months old he read out loud. “Get my syringe, Fumiko and let’s take a blood sample. I’m going to also swab its mouth and see what shows up.” With a scalpel, he took a small chunk of the beast’s tongue and slipped it into a plastic Ziploc for testing.
Along the beast’s head, he saw grayish to white nodules, and yellowish-brown areas measuring anywhere from six to eight millimeters. Wilhelm also spotted some lesions over its chest and legs. It appeared to be a bacterial or viral infection. He had to wonder if the disease had transferred to the others? The mere thought made him cringe.
“This is an amazing accomplishment, Wilhelm,” Fumiko said breathlessly. “I’ve never seen anything so…so…monstrous. It’s frightening.”
Wilhelm’s gaze flickered upward. He could visually see she was shaken. “They are remarkable, aren’t they? Anna named this one Kron. She always named them and put it on their tags.”
“Anna…your assistant before me, correct?”
Wilhelm lowered his eyes, trembled, his face growing pale. “Yes. A special lady.”
“I can tell you must have loved her very much. I can see it in your eyes.”
“More than life. She was a dear confidant, a friend, and a…”
“I heard what happened to her. I’m so sorry,” she said, touching his arm tenderly. “And Wilhelm, I want to thank you.”
He looked up, surprise on his face. “Thank me? Whatever for?”
“For treating me with honor and respect. Last night…”
“No, no. You don’t need to thank me.”
“I do. You are the first man who did not take Daisuke’s offer. It is unfortunate, but he owns me. I cannot sever the ties or else…” her soft voice cracked.
“Dear me! He wouldn’t…would he?”
“He is ruthless. Once you work for him, you are forever in his debt. He does not let you go.”
Silence followed. Wilhelm caught her meaning. It finally dawned on him that he too would be subjected to his tyranny. Daisuke held the reins in his hands and had the power to jerk them in any direction he chose. There was no way Wilhelm could ever repay the money Daisuke had invested and if the other Purussaurus contracted whatever disease this turned out to be, Wilhelm would be yoked to this man for the remainder of his life. The thought made his stomach churn.
Out of his peripheral vision, he spotted Daisuke rushing up from behind. Dread filled him. Daisuke’s eyes were wide as half-dollars, his mouth sagging in awe as he stared at the monstrous animal lying still on the muddy embankment.
“What’s this? Is the creature dead?”
Inhaling deeply, Wilhelm bobbed his head. “Afraid so.”
“How can this be? We have a contract!”
“I can’t help it, Daisuke! Animals get sick sometimes. I’ll have to run some tests to determine what he died from, but until that time, there’s nothing more I can do.” Stuffing instruments back into his bag angrily, Wilhelm stormed back into the compound, hoping to avoid any more of Daisuke’s harassment.
“You’d better get it figured out, Wilhelm!” came Daisuke’s voice trailing behind him, one fist raised threateningly in the air for impact.
Once in the lab, Wilhelm removed the few samples they had taken. Handing the vial of blood back over into Fumiko’s hand, they walked to their stations and began testing. He tried to convince himself it was an isolated incident, wanting to believe the other Purussaurus’ would not be infected. That being the case, nothing would change except he would be one animal short of fulfilling his contract. However, with the eggs soon to hatch, he would simply have to replace the ot
her one, no harm no foul.
Their testing went well into the early evening. Fumiko called out to Wilhelm, asking him to come and look at the slide beneath the telescope’s ocular lens and let him deliberate on the findings.
Wilhelm bent low, observing the slide, releasing a puff of air. He ran his hand through his snowy white hair, his forefinger pressed to his lips. After a minute of reflection, he said, “What we’re looking at is a pox-like virus, I’m afraid. Parapoxvirus. It happens on occasion in the Brazilian caiman and in alligators. The DNA extracted from the Purussaurus babies was injected into an egg cell of an alligator.”
“You’re saying this is a form of chickenpox?”
“Basically. Though it appears the Purussaurus also contracted a secondary bacterial infection as well.”
“What can you do to prevent the others from contracting it?”
“There has been some success using an autogenous vaccine, but very little, I’m afraid. If I’m able to come up with the vaccine, we would have to inject them.” He saw the terror on her face and nodded knowingly. “We would need to use a tranquilizer gun to put them to sleep in order to vaccinate them.”
She saw the lines deepen on his weathered face and realized they were looking at a possible Parapoxvirus epidemic that could wipe out all of Wilhelm’s work in one fell swoop. Empathy filled her. She was fully aware of how explosive Daisuke could be and if he thought he might lose his investment it was hard to determine what he would do to Wilhelm.
“The only way we will know for sure is to entrap one of the other Purussaurus to test for the disease, and then set fire to the one that just died in hopes of destroying further contamination.”
“What will you tell Daisuke?”
“For the moment, I think we’ll keep it under wraps. He doesn’t have to know what we’ve discovered. I’ll do my best to try and find a vaccine somewhere, though it will probably have to be shipped and most likely will take the better part of the week before it gets into our hands. Let’s see how long we can stall Daisuke.”
An hour later, Wilhelm stood at the window overlooking the deer-hide brown river, coiling and twisting like a snake through the dense rain forest. Raindrops spattered off the palm leaves, and in the background, he heard the rumble of thunder. He watched soberly as the Purussaurus was doused with gasoline, then lit like a torch. The orange flames leaped into the air, black smoke curling around the carcass. His body sagged against the wall, his eyes were dark and empty. The whole incident looked bleak at best as his world crashed in on him. First, it had been the death of Anna. Now this. Worse, he had no way to stop it. He saw the writing on the wall. If one animal had contracted the virus, it stood to reason more would follow. And then there were the investors to consider. They would not be reasonable, by any standard. Completely overwhelmed, he wondered where that would leave him?
He felt a hand touch his shoulder and he turned to see Fumiko standing beside him, understanding flashing in her eyes.
“We will figure out something, Wilhelm.”
His lips pressed in a tight line. He appreciated her concern but at the forefront of his mind, he knew there was no safety net to catch him.
Chapter Twenty-One
⁂
“How is your shoulder this morning?” asked Meg, walking out onto the deck where she found Rourke sitting on the railing drinking a cup of coffee, his face shadowed with three-day stubble. Not surprising since their days seemed endless, trying to resolve the Purussaurus dilemma. At night, they were all so tired they fell into bed exhausted.
“Good morning, Meg. Much better. Sore, but that’s to be expected.”
Meg boosted herself onto the railing alongside Rourke, dressed in a pair of khaki shorts, a navy blue tank top, and Converse tennis shoes. Her hair was drawn back into a ponytail that hung to her shoulders and looked very much like a schoolgirl despite her twenty-nine years of age. “What’s the agenda today?” she asked.
“A while ago I spotted a few more men motoring to shore from the Japanese ship. I also heard pounding all morning, so I assume they’re repairing the compound.”
“Which means they intend to do more experimenting and creating more horror for the villagers.” Meg’s radiant smile quickly turned into a frown. “We’ve got to do something, Rourke. How many more people have to die at the hands of these scientists?”
“You’re right, of course. We have to do something. I’m going to go visit the commander today. I hope he’s a bit more helpful in the matter than before. Especially since it’s his village, and he’s supposed to hold vigil over it.” Rourke took a swallow of his coffee and stared out at the long beach washed in golden sunlight. “It looks so utterly peaceful, so alluring, and yet…”
“I know what you mean. Deceptive, isn’t it? Just beyond the backdrop of that thick wall of tangled vines and trees is a deadly monster lying in wait,” she said melodramatically. Without warning, Meg abruptly changed the subject, something she did frequently. “And I want to go along with you to São Brazilia.”
A broad smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re a team, remember?”
“Have you given any thought as to what we can do to get rid of these animals? A shame they need to be put down but when you consider the carnage they’ve left, there’s no other choice.”
“You’re right,” he agreed. “It tears me up when I think about all the years that I spent researching them—scuttling around on hands and knees in the mud and scaling rock walls in order to procure just a few scant bone fragments from one of those creatures. And now that I’ve actually gotten to see with my own eyes a living, breathing Purussaurus, I’m forced to eradicate them!” His eyes were hooded with sadness.
Meg reached over and touched his hand tenderly, knowing what this would cost him. “It’s a shame, yes. But Jake lost his life, along with many others. We would be negligent if we didn’t follow through.”
He nodded. “Let’s go speak with Commander Fernando as soon as we finish our coffee and see how far we get this time.”
“My guess is he’s scared to death to try to take them down.”
“Chances are. But unless we get our hands on some of their military equipment there’s not much we can accomplish with mere rifles. It would be like trying to bring a plane down with a slingshot…just won’t work,” Rourke said emphatically.
“If nothing else, maybe the commander will take a look into the permits the scientists applied for originally to see if the Heritage Foundation of Brazil took a bribe. Hopefully, Dietrich Laboratories can be shut down permanently. São Brazilia can’t survive too long with Dietrich pumping out dinosaurs.”
“Maybe when we get to the police station, he’ll have some good news for us. I know I could use some about now. In the meantime, why don’t you put a team together and take along whatever artillery is available to us.”
“Copy that,” she said, hopping down from the railing. She started to leave, stopping briefly to pass a look over her shoulder. “I know this was a dream-come-true for you, Rourke. Sorry, it has worked out this way.”
“Thanks, Meg. While it’s true, I actually had a face to face encounter with one of them. I believe it will stay with me for a lifetime.”
***
As the zodiac scudded over the glassy waves, the team could see a spiral of black smoke curling up into the cerulean sky. They pinpointed it coming from the area where Dietrich Laboratories was built and had to wonder what they were up to now.
“Any luck, the laboratory is burning to the ground,” chuckled Jayden.
“Don’t forget, in spite of what they’ve done, they have accomplished a great feat, where others have failed. This is a historical event,” Rourke said.
“But they aren’t using their skills to better the world. Instead, they’re using it for evil… for their own glory, and they don’t seem to care if others are dying in the process,” Jayden countered.
“And then there’s that,” Rourke rep
lied. “The paleontologist inside of me leaps with sheer wonderment and wants more than anything to cage one of them for study. On the flip side of the coin, my rational mind agrees wholeheartedly with you, Jayden. A shame they couldn’t have used their technology to somehow benefit others.”
Meg hopped over the side of the zodiac as they bumped up against the white sand. Water splashed up around her like a geyser, soaking the hem of her shorts. Kyle joined her and together they hauled the boat onto shore. She had since removed her shoes, slipping them back on once they were on dry ground. From there, they made their way towards the police station.
Jayden hurried his footsteps and came alongside Meg as they walked. She didn’t miss Rourke’s side glance. Obviously, he hadn’t let go of the idea that Meg and Jayden might have something going on behind the scenes. Regardless, he chose to remain silent. A good thing because Meg did not want to have any discord amongst them. In fact, they had managed to stay cordial with one another and she was actually enjoying working alongside him. In many ways, it felt like old times.
She realized Jayden couldn’t be fully oblivious to Rourke’s suspicions about their relationship but it didn’t seem to matter to him. They were friends. Nothing more. And even if they weren’t, it wasn’t any of Rourke’s business.
As usual, they found Commander Fernando leaning back in a wooden chair, his booted feet crossed on top of his desk, a newspaper spread out in his hands. He didn’t seem to be too concerned about the townspeople being eaten alive, or at least that was the picture he painted for observing eyes.
Rourke cleared his throat to advise the commander they were there. “Um-hum. Hate to interrupt your work.”
Fernando lowered the paper, looking annoyed. “Mr. Wolfe,” he said. He pulled his feet off the desk and set the front legs of the chair back onto the floor. “What can I do for you today?”
“I thought we would hear back from you,” Rourke said. “You were supposed to be looking into getting military aid to help with the Purussaurus predicament, or have you forgotten?”