Shaken by the inexplicable behavior of Borya, Draganov and Tsarovich locked themselves in the clinic’s small break room, and have been drinking vodka and arguing passionately for the past hour.
“This is wrong, Sergei Arturovich,” Tsarovich insisted, throwing up his hands in frustration. “We cannot accelerate the Clouded Leopard program until we know what happened to Tanya, and why.”
“The nano-probes are so tiny, a few could have escaped containment,
Draganov argued. “And remember, no one in the Clinic has been infected, only Tanya.”
“And possibly Borya also — both are in daily contact with the animals, and exposed to urine and feces.”
“But we know the probes break down as they pass through a liver,” Draganov reminded. “How many tests did we run? Hundreds, and not one intact probe detected. So it can't be an excretion issue. It must be something else.”
“But what?”
“I don’t know. Perhaps we’ll know more once we expose Tanya to the first of the reversal probes.”
“When will you have it ready?”
“Not by tonight. There are so many switches that must be reversed in the right order, and I must work first on the next Cloud.”
A pained expression filled Tsarovich’s face.
“But — ”
“We have no choice,” Draganov said, shaking his head firmly. “Emerson is a very dangerous man. I have seen him hurt people, and I’m now convinced that and his men are responsible for my brother’s disappearance.”
“So, just one more enlarged Cloud. Is that all he wants?”
Draganov stared down at the floor for a long moment, and then looked back up at Tsarovich.
“No, that is not all. He also wants one of the little ones, Baba — the oldest.”
“For what, a petting zoo?”
“No, for the hunt he plans… soon, perhaps in a few days.”
“No,” Tsarovich shook his head in disbelief, “he cannot possibly want that now. Baba is much too young to be hunted.”
“I know, but Emerson insists. I sent him photos, but he says Baba now looks enough like an adult and that’s all he cares about.”
“Does Borya know of this?”
Draganov’s eyes widened in horror.
“No, he doesn’t, and he must not know until after Baba is gone. Can you imagine how he would react?”
“Badly. Very badly.
“Yes, exactly, so say nothing to anyone. It’s late and I must get to work.”
As the two men get up and leave the small break room, they fail to notice the glowing light on the intercom indicating that someone has been listening.
Tanya’s room
As Tanya continues to stare at the intercom on her lamp table in horror, the little Cloud kitten begins to lick her face happily, his eyes glowing a bright emerald green.
CHAPTER 20
The Graystone Fields Ranch
Michael Hateley was sitting alone in the middle of his spacious and luxurious underground den, sipping at a glass of expensive single-malt scotch and staring contemplatively at the empty section of wall opposite his chair — an area he’d once set aside for his world record Clouded Leopard trophy, but was now re-structuring in his mind for a far grander trophy — when the intercom beeped.
“Yes?”
“Dr. Stuart Jackson Caldreaux is calling, on the secure line, sir.”
Hateley reached over to the receiver on the nearby lamp stand and punched the hands-free button. “Hello, Stuart, how are things going in the Big Easy these days?”
“’Nawlins will rise up from the proverbial ashes once again, just as she always has,” Caldreaux replied in his rich Cajun drawl. “Not sure Ah can say the same fo’ myself, though.”
“Oh, why is that?”
“Ah jest received a call from a mutual friend of ours, tellin’ me that he had to cancel my planned hunt in Thailand and Malaysia next month. Said the po-litical situation is currently too unstable in the southern peninsula. Don’t know ‘xactly what he meant by that, but it did sound a mite ominous.”
“Did you ask him for specifics?”
“Yes sir, Ah did, but our mutual friend was a little vague. Wasn’t tellin’ me the whole story, Ah’m pretty sure — which isn’t like the man, if you know what Ah mean?”
“I agree, that doesn’t sound like him at all,” Hateley said supportively. “He’s always been straight-forward and up-front with me, as far as I know.”
“But that led me to thinking,” Caldreaux went on, “didn’t you go on a hunt with our mutual friend in Thailand just recently, lookin’ for that mythical Giant Clouded Leopard you’re always goin’ on about?”
“Yes, I did. Matter of fact, I just got back a couple of days ago.”
“How’d it go? Any luck?”
“The hunt itself was spectacular. Set myself up a midnight shoot on a bamboo stand, using the two-forty- three Remington and a new fourth-generation Aries Crusader night scope I just picked up; and managed to drop a big Cloud that was prowling around high in the trees about a hundred yards out. Magnificent specimen — had to be in the hundred-and-twenty kilo range; definitely world record class.”
“Pardon me for sayin’ so, Michael, but it sounds like you’re describin’ a big fish what got away, ‘stead of a big trophy you’re havin’ center-stage mounted for our next get-together? Or did I misunderstand your meanin’?”
Hateley sighed. “No, Stuart, you were quite perceptive, as always. It seems our mutual friend managed to lose my trophy on his way out of the country; a major disappointment, as you might imagine. I never even got to touch it.”
“Gawd almighty! How’d he manage to do an outrageous thing like that?”
“I don’t know. Something about increased Ranger patrols in the entire southern peninsula, and having to abandon everything when they ran into an unexpected check-point situation. Like you, I don’t think I’ve heard the entire story.”
“Ah thought we’ve been payin’ a significant premium on our license fees to take care of them penny-ante check-point issues?”
“That was my understanding, too,” Hateley agreed. “Sounds like the Thais might have put a new park and wildlife management team in place. If that’s the case, we may have to renegotiate our access privileges.”
“Damn, Ah sure do hate to hear that. Ah always enjoy our little excursions into that part of the world, both the huntin’ and the socializing’ afterwards. You think it might be a pressure tactic by some of the locals, to try to get us to pay more?”
“That’s always possible,” Hateley said, “but I got the impression it had more to do with how the Thai hunting laws are being interpreted in the field. There was a bit of a confrontation out on the road near our hunting site between our friend and some Rangers on patrol on our last night, which ultimately led our hasty departure. I’d like to believe our mutual friend was being overly cautious in the face of unexpected circumstances in a foreign environment; but, in any case, I can’t imagine it’s going to take very long for things to regain their natural balance.”
“That would be nice.” Caldreaux was silent for a moment. “So Ah guess you’re plannin’ on canceling our dinner arrangements?”
Hateley sighed. “No, I’m not; I can’t see any reason to do that just because I came back empty-handed. And besides, we’ve got a nice menu all planned out for you fellows; just have to change my own entree selection to ‘fricassee of crow.’”
