said. ‘This trail has been maintained.’
‘I’d have to agree,’ Kevin said. ‘I suppose they’d need to keep them up
for retrievals. The jungle is so thick and grows so fast out here. Lucky
for us, they’ll certainly help us get around as well. As I recall, this
one heads up to the limestone cliff.’
‘If they come out here to maintain trails, maybe there is something to
Siegfried’s story about workmen making the fires,’ Melanie said.
‘Wouldn’t that be nice,’ Kevin said.
‘I smell something bad,’ Candace said, while sniffing the air. ‘In fact,
it smells putrid.’
Hesitantly, the others sniffed and agreed.
‘That’s not a good sign,’ Melanie said.
Kevin nodded and moved off in the direction of the cul de sac. A few
minutes later, with their fingers pinching their nostrils shut, the
three stared down at a disgusting sight: It was the remains of bonobo
number sixty. The carcass was in the process of being devoured by
insects. Larger scavengers had also taken a toll.
Far more gruesome than the state of the corpse was the evidence of how
the animal had died. A wedge-shaped piece of limestone had struck the
poor creature between the eyes effectively splitting his head in two.
The rock was still in place. Exposed soft eyeballs stared off in
opposite directions.
‘Ugh!’ Melanie said. ‘It’s what we didn’t want to see. This suggests
that not only the bonobos have split into two groups, but they’re
killing each other. I wonder if number sixty-seven is dead, too.’
Kevin kicked the rock out of the decomposing head. All three stared at
it.
‘That’s also what we didn’t want to see,’ Kevin said.
‘What are you talking about?’ Candace asked.
‘That rock was shaped artificially,’ Kevin said. With the toe of his
shoe, he pointed to an area along the side of the rock where there
appeared to be freshly made gouges. ‘That suggests tool-making.’
‘More circumstantial evidence I’m afraid,’ Melanie said.
‘Let’s move upwind,’ Kevin managed. ‘Before I get sick. I can’t stand
this smell.’
Kevin got three steps away in an easterly direction when someone grabbed
his arm and yanked him to a stop. He turned to see Melanie with her
index finger pressed against her lips. Then she pointed to the south.
Kevin turned his gaze in that direction, then caught his breath. About
fifty yards away in the shadows of the very back of the cul de sac was
one of the bonobos! The animal was standing ramrod straight and
absolutely motionless, as if he were a military honor guard. He appeared
to be staring back at Kevin and the others just as they were staring at
him.
Kevin was surprised at the creature’s size. The animal was well over
five feet tall. It also seemed oversized in terms of weight. Given its
enormously muscular torso, Kevin guessed the bonobo weighed between one
hundred twenty-five and one hundred fifty pounds.
‘He’s taller than the bonobos that have been brought in for transplant
surgery,’ Candace said. ‘At least I think he is. Of course, the bonobos
for the transplants were already sedated and strapped to a gurney by the
time they got to me.’
‘Shhhhhh,’ Melanie admonished. ‘Let’s not scare him. This might be our
only chance to see one.’
Being careful not to move too quickly, Kevin pulled the gear bag off his
shoulder and got out the directional beacon. He turned it on to scan. It
began to quietly beep until he pointed it toward the bonobo; then it let
out a continuous note. Kevin looked at the LCD screen and gasped.
‘What’s the matter?’ Melanie whispered. She had seen Kevin’s expression
change.
‘It’s number one!’ Kevin whispered back. ‘It’s my double.’
‘Oh my god!’ Melanie whispered. ‘I’m jealous. I’d like to see mine,
too.’
‘I wish we could see better,’ Candace said. ‘Do we dare try to get
closer?’
Kevin was struck by two things. First was the coincidence that the first
live bonobo they’d come across would happen to be his double. Secondly,
if he had inadvertently created a race of protohumans, then he was in
some metamorphic way meeting himself six million years earlier. ‘This is
too much,’ Kevin couldn’t help but whisper aloud.