What she had discovered cast hyenas in a very different light. Brave hunters and attentive parents, they lived in a remarkably complex social structure – and a matriarchy as well. As for their notorious yelping vocalizations, they actually represented an extremely sophisticated form of communication.
She heard a roar, and through her night-vision goggles saw the first of the lions approaching the kill. It was a large female, circling closer. The hyenas barked and snapped at the lioness, guiding their own pups off into the grass. Within a few moments, other lions appeared, and settled down to feed on the hyenas’ kill.
Now, lions, she thought. There was a truly nasty animal. Although called the king of beasts, lions in truth were actually vile and –
The phone rang.
“Makena,” she said.
The phone rang again. Who could be calling her now?
She frowned. Through the goggles, she saw the lionesses look up, heads turning in the night.
Makena was fumbling beneath the dashboard, looking for the phone, It rang three more times before he found it.
She heard him say, “Jambo, mzee.” Yes, Dr. Harding is here.” He handed the phone up to her. “It’s Dr. Thorne.”
Reluctantly, she removed her night goggles, and took the phone. She knew Thorne well; he had designed most of the equipment in her Jeep. “Doc, this better be important.”
“It is,” Thorne said. “I’m calling about Richard.”
“What about him?” She caught his concern, but didn’t understand why. Lately, Levine had been a pain in the neck, telephoning her almost daily from California, picking her brains about field work with animals. He had lots of questions about hides, and blinds, data protocols, record-keeping, it went on and on….
“Did he ever tell you what he intended to study?” Thorne asked.
“No,” she said. “Why?”
“Nothing at all?”
“No,” Harding said. “He was very secretive. But I gathered he’d located an animal population that he could use to make some point about biological systems. You know how obsessive he is. Why?”
“Well, he’s missing, Sarah. Malcolm and I think he’s in some kind of trouble. We’ve located him on an island in Costa Rica, and we’re going to get him now.”
“Now?” she said.
“Tonight. We’re flying to San José in a few hours. Ian’s going with me. We want you to come, too.”
“Doc,” she said. “Even if I took a flight out of Seronera tomorrow morning to Nairobi, it’d take me almost a day to get there. And that’s if I got lucky. I mean – ”
“You decide,” Thorne said, interrupting. “I’ll give you the details, and you decide what you want to do.”
He gave her the information, and she wrote it on the notepad strapped to her wrist. Then Thorne rang off.
She stood staring out at the African night, feeling the cool breeze on her face. Off in the darkness, she heard the growl of the lions at the kill. Her work was here. Her life was here.
Makena said, “Dr. Harding? What do we do?”
“Go back,” she said. “I have to pack.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m leaving.”
Message
Thorne drove to the airport, the lights of San Francisco disappearing behind them. Malcolm sat in the passenger seat. He looked back at the Explorer driving behind them and said, “Does Eddie know what this is all about?”
“Yes,” Thorne said. “But I’m not sure he believes it.”
“And the kids don’t know?”
“No,” Thorne said.
There was a beeping alongside him. Thorne pulled out his little black Envoy, a radio pager. A light was flashing. He flipped up the screen, and handed it to Malcolm. “Read it for me.”
“It’s from Arby,” Malcolm said. “Says, ‘Have a good trip. If you want us, call. We’ll be standing by if you need our help.’ And he gives his phone number.”
Thorne laughed. “You got to love those kids. They never give up. Then he frowned, as a thought occurred to him. “What’s the time on that message?”
“Four minutes ago,” Malcolm said. “Came in via netcom.”
“Okay. Just checking.”
They turned right, toward the airport. They saw the lights in the distance. Malcolm stared forward gloomily. “It’s very unwise for us to be rushing off like this. It’s not the right way to go about it.”