noise Bertram had grown accustomed to over the years, and it didn’t even
register in his mind.
Despite the distance to the town hall being only a few hundred yards,
Bertram drove. He knew it would be faster, and every minute that passed
raised his curiosity. As he pulled into the parking lot, he could see
that the usually lethargic soldiers were strangely agitated, moving
around the army post, clutching their rifles. They eyed him nervously as
he turned off his headlights and alighted from the car.
Approaching the building on foot, Bertram could see meager light
flickering through the slats of the shutters covering Siegfried’s
second-floor office windows. He went up the stairs, passed through the
dark reception area normally occupied by Aurielo, and entered
Siegfried’s office.
Siegfried was sitting at his desk with his feet propped up on the
corner. In the hand of his good arm he held and was gently swirling a
brandy snifter. Cameron McIvers, head of security, was sitting in a
rattan chair with a similar glass. The only illumination in the room was
coming from the candle in the skull. The low level of shimmering light
cast dark shadows and gave a lifelike quality to the menagerie of
stuffed animals.
‘Thanks for coming out at such an ungodly hour,’ Siegfried said with his
usual German accent. ‘How about a splash of brandy?’
‘Do I need it?’ Bertram asked, as he pulled a rattan chair over to the
desk.
Siegfried laughed. ‘It can never hurt.’
Cameron got the drink from a sideboard. He was a hefty, full-bearded
Scotsman with a bulbous, red nose and a strong bias toward alcohol of
any sort, although scotch was understandably his favorite. He handed the
snifter to Bertram and reclaimed his seat and his own drink.
‘Usually when I’m called out in the middle of the night it is a medical
emergency with an animal,’ Bertram said. He took a sip of the brandy and
breathed in deeply. ‘Tonight I have the sense it is something else
entirely.’
‘Indeed,’ Siegfried said. ‘First I have to commend you. Your warning
this afternoon about Kevin Marshall was well-founded and timely. I asked
Cameron to have him watched by the Moroccans, and sure enough this
evening he, Melanie Becket, and one of the surgical nurses drove all the
way out to the landing area for Isla Francesca.’
‘Damnation!’ Bertram exclaimed. ‘Did they go on the island?’
‘No,’ Siegfried said. ‘They merely played with the food float. They’d
also stopped to talk with Alphonse Kimba.’
‘This irritates me to death!’ Bertram exclaimed. ‘I don’t like anyone
going near that island, and I don’t like anyone talking to that pygmy.’
‘Nor do I,’ Siegfried agreed.
‘Where are they now?’ Bertram questioned.
‘We let them go home,’ Siegfried said. ‘But not before putting the fear
of God into them. I don’t think they will be doing it again, at least
not for a while.’
‘This is not what I need!’ Bertram complained. ‘I hate to have to worry
about this on top of the bonobos splitting into two groups.’
‘This is worse than the animals living in two groups,’ Siegfried said.
‘They’re both bad,’ Bertram said. ‘Both have the potential of
interrupting the smooth operation of the program and possibly putting an
end to it. I think my idea of caging them all and bringing them into the
animal center should be reconsidered. I’ve got the cages out there. It
wouldn’t be difficult, and it will make retrievals a hell of a lot
easier.’
From the moment Bertram had determined the bonobos were living in two
social groups, he’d thought it best to round up the animals and keep
them in separate cages where they could be watched. But he’d been
thwarted by Siegfried. Bertram had considered going over Siegfried’s
head by appealing to his boss in Cambridge, Massachusetts, but had
decided against it. Doing so would have alerted the GenSys hierarchy
that there was potential trouble with the bonobo program.
‘We’re not opening that discussion!’ Siegfried said emphatically. ‘We’re
not giving up on the idea of keeping them isolated on the island. We all
decided back when this started that was the best idea. I still think it