terminal. He motioned for Melanie to sit down, while he took his own
chair. His fingers played over the keyboard. Soon the screen displayed
the computer graphic of Isla Francesca.
‘I programmed the computer to follow all seventy-three bonobos on the
island for several hours of real-time activity,’ Kevin explained. ‘Then
I had the data condensed so I could watch it in fast-forward. Look what
resulted.’
Kevin clicked his mouse to start the sequence. The multitude of little
red dots rapidly traced out weird geometric designs. It only took a few
seconds.
‘Looks like a bunch of chicken scratches,’ Melanie said.
‘Except for these two dots,’ Kevin said. He pointed to two pinpoints.
‘They apparently didn’t move much,’ Melanie said.
‘Exactly,’ Kevin said. ‘Creature number sixty and creature number
sixty-seven.’ Kevin reached over and picked up the detailed contour map
he’d inadvertently taken from Bertram’s office. ‘I located creature
number sixty to a marshy clearing just south of Lago Hippo. According to
the map, there are no trees there.’
‘What’s your explanation?’ Melanie asked.
‘Hang on,’ Kevin said. ‘What I did next was reduce the scale of the grid
so that it represented a fifty-by-fifty-foot portion of the island right
where creature number sixty was located. Let me show you what happened.’
Kevin keyed in the information and then clicked to start the sequence
again. Once again the red light for creature number sixty was a
pinpoint.
‘He didn’t move at all,’ Melanie said.
‘I’m afraid not,’ Kevin said.
‘You think he’s sleeping?’
‘In the middle of the morning?’ Kevin asked. ‘And with such a scale,
even turning over in his sleep should result in some movement. The
system is that sensitive.’
‘If he’s not sleeping, what is he doing?’ Melanie asked.
Kevin shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Maybe he found a way to remove his
computer chip.’
‘I never thought of that,’ Melanie said. ‘That’s a scary idea.’
‘The only other thing I could think of is the bonobo died,’ Kevin said.
‘I suppose that’s a possibility,’ Melanie said. ‘But I don’t think it is
very probable. Those are young, extraordinarily healthy animals. We’ve
made sure of that. And they are in an environment without natural
enemies and have more than enough food.’
Kevin sighed. ‘Whatever it is, it is disturbing, and when we go out
there, I think we should check it out.’
‘I wonder if Bertram knows about this?’ Melanie asked. ‘It doesn’t bode
well for the program in general.’
‘I suppose I should tell him,’ Kevin said.
‘Let’s wait until we make our visit,’ Melanie said.
‘Obviously,’ Kevin said.
‘Did you come across anything else with this real-time program?’
‘Yup,’ Kevin said. ‘I pretty much confirmed my earlier suspicion they
are using the caves. Watch!’
Kevin changed the coordinates of the displayed grid on the computer
screen to correspond to a specific portion of the limestone escarpment.
He then asked the computer to trace the activity of his own double,
creature number one.
Melanie watched as the red dot traced a geometric shape then
disappeared. It then reappeared at the identical spot and traced a
second shape. Then a similar sequence repeated itself for a third time.
‘I guess I’d have to agree,’ Melanie said. ‘It sure looks like your
double is going in and out of the rock face.’
‘When we go out there, I think we should make it a point to see our
doubles,’ Kevin said. ‘They are the oldest of the creatures, and if any
of the transgenic bonobos are acting like protohumans, it should be
them.’
Melanie nodded. ‘The idea effacing my double gives me the creeps. But
we’re not going to have a lot of time out there. And given the
twelve-square-mile island it will be extraordinarily difficult for us to
find a specific creature.’
‘You’re wrong,’ Kevin said. ‘I’ve got the instruments they use for
retrievals.’ He got up from the computer and went to his desk. When he
returned, he was carrying the locator and the directional beacon that
Bertram had given to him. He showed the apparatuses to Melanie and
explained their use. Melanie was impressed.
‘Where is that girl?’ Melanie asked as she checked her watch. ‘I wanted