entire screen represented a square fifty feet by fifty feet.
‘Once you are that close, you use this,’ Bertram said. He handed Kevin
an instrument that looked like a flashlight with a keypad. ‘On this you
type in the same information. What it does is function as a directional
beacon. It pings louder the closer it comes to pointing at the animal
you’re looking for. When there is a clear visual sighting, it emits a
continuous sound. Then all you have to do is use the dart gun.’
‘How does this tracking system operate?’ Kevin asked. Having been
immersed in the biomolecular aspects of the project, he’d not paid any
attention to the logistics. He’d toured the island five years previously
at the commencement of the venture, but that had been it. He’d never
inquired about the nuts and bolts of everyday operation.
‘It’s a satellite system,’ Bertram said. ‘I don’t pretend to know the
details. Of course each animal has a small microchip with a long-lasting
nickel cadmium battery embedded just under the derma. The afferent
signal from the microchip is minuscule, but it’s picked up by the grid,
magnified, and transmitted by microwave.’
Kevin started to give the devices back to Bertram, but Bertram waved
them away. ‘Keep them,’ he said. ‘We’ve got plenty of others.’
‘But I don’t need them,’ Kevin protested.
‘Come on, Kevin,’ Bertram chided playfully while thumping Kevin on the
back. The blow was hard enough to knock Kevin forward. ‘Loosen up!
You’re much too serious.’ Bertram sat at his desk, picked up his phone
messages, and absently began to arrange them in order of importance.
Kevin glanced at the electronic devices in his hands and wondered what
he’d do with them. They were obviously costly instruments.
‘What was it about your project that you wanted to discuss with me?’
Bertram asked. He looked up from his phone messages. ‘People are always
complaining I don’t allow them to get a word in edgewise. What’s on your
mind?’
‘I’m concerned,’ Kevin stammered.
‘About what?’ Bertram asked. ‘Things couldn’t be going any better.’
‘I’ve seen the smoke again,’ Kevin managed.
‘What? You mean like that wisp of smoke you mentioned to me last week?’
Bertram asked.
‘Exactly,’ Kevin said. ‘And from the same spot on the island.’
‘Ah, it’s nothing,’ Bertram declared, with a wave of his hand. ‘We’ve
been having electrical storms just about every other night. Lightning
starts fires; everybody knows that.’
‘As wet as everything is?’ Kevin said. ‘I thought lightning starts fires
in savannas during the dry season, not in dank, equatorial rain
forests.’
‘Lightning can start a fire anyplace,’ Bertram said. ‘Think of the heat
it generates. Remember, thunder is nothing but expansion of air from the
heat. It’s unbelievable.’
‘Well, maybe,’ Kevin said. He was unconvinced. ‘But even if it were to
start a fire, would it last?’
‘You’re like a dog with a bone,’ Bertram commented. ‘Have you mentioned
this crazy idea to anybody else?’
‘Only to Raymond Lyons,’ Kevin said. ‘He called me yesterday about
another problem.’
‘And what was his response?’ Bertram asked.
‘He told me not to let my imagination run wild,’ Kevin said.
‘I’d say that was good advice,’ Bertram said. ‘I second the motion.’
‘I don’t know,’ Kevin said. ‘Maybe we should go out there and check.’
‘No!’ Bertram snapped. For a fleeting moment his mouth formed a hard
line and his blue eyes blazed. Then his face relaxed. ‘I don’t want to
go to the island except for a retrieval. That was the original plan and
by golly we’re sticking with it. As well as everything is going, I don’t
want to take any chances. The animals are to remain isolated and
undisturbed. The only person who goes there is the pygmy, Alphonse
Kimba, and he goes only to pull supplementary food across to the
island.’
‘Maybe I could go by myself,’ Kevin suggested. ‘It wouldn’t take me
long, and then I can stop worrying.’
‘Absolutely not!’ Bertram said emphatically. ‘I’m in charge of this part
of the project, and I forbid you or anyone else to go on the island.’
‘I don’t see that it would make that much difference,’ Kevin said. ‘I